Abstract:
A collapsible container having a novel exchangeable liner is described. The collapsible container system is comprised of a multi-shaped liner with a gasket, an outer bag and a cap. These components comprise a collapsible container device that is less expensive to produce and maintain than common collapsible containers such as the Platypus and Camelbak. The components also comprise a collapsible container that has a variety of shape possibilities unlike tube lined containers such as Playtex baby bottles.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES  
       [0001]     Fadal U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,119  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     This invention relates to collapsible containers having exchangeable liners. Specifically, this invention relates to a new type of multi-shaped collapsible container having an exchangeable liner system, which is less expensive to manufacture, more convenient to operate and seals more reliably than currently available collapsible containers.  
       DISCUSSION OF THE RELEVANT ART  
       [0003]     There are three classes of liners currently used in lined containers and a fourth class cross referenced in Fadal U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,119. The instant invention seeks to teach a fifth liner class.  
         [0004]     The first liner class is referred to herein as simple tube liners. Disposable baby bottle liners are an example of simple tube liners. Simple tube liners are blow molded and then heat sealed, a relatively inexpensive manufacturing process. These liners are employed in one of two ways. First, they may be employed by being stretched over the mouth of their container. This arrangement is depicted in Barr U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,570. Second, they may be employed by being stretched by a component of the container. This arrangement is depicted in Piazze U.S. Pat. No. 2,520,335. Although simple tube liners are inexpensive to manufacture, they require skill to reliably employ and may only assume a tubular shape.  
         [0005]     The second liner class is referred to herein as blow molded liners with self supporting rims. These liner types are employed in Playtex baby bottle applications and are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,365. Like simple tube liners, they are relatively inexpensive to manufacture but may only assume a tubular shape. Unlike simple tube liners, these liners are reliably employed.  
         [0006]     The third liner class is referred to herein as multi-shaped two piece liners with threaded closures (Mc liners). Mc liners are employed by commercially available containers such as the MSR Dromedary Bag, Camelbak Hydration System, Liquipak and Hydrocell. These containers unlike the tube liners above may be multi-shaped. Mc liners are manufactured by dye cutting two sheets of plastic. One of the sheets of plastic is then fitted with a threaded closure component and finally heat sealed to the second sheet of plastic forming an open bag. To seal the bag a threaded cap is screwed onto the threaded closure.  
         [0007]     Although, Mc lined containers allow the user to enjoy container shapes other than tubes, they have the disadvantage of being more expensive than tube liners to manufacture. The extra expense is passed onto the consumer in several ways. First, the consumer purchases a more expensive container. Second, the consumer must incur the extra expense again when purchasing replacement liners. This extra cost tends to discourage consumers from using the containers as often as they might otherwise, or push them into reusing a potentially contaminated container.  
         [0008]     The fourth class of liner is referred to herein as the Fadal liner. It is a multi-shaped two piece liner without a threaded closure. Not having a separate threaded closure reduces the cost of a Fadal liner compared to a Mc liner. However, the Fadal liner has two drawbacks. First, the Fadal liner requires skill to employ reliably. Second, the Fadal liner&#39;s seam crosses the seal of its corresponding container. The seam crossing the seal acts as an seal irregularity and consequently predisposes the container to leaks.  
         [0009]     The fifth liner class taught herein as the instant invention is a multi-shaped liner with a gasket or Mg liner. Mg liners use a gasket rather than a threaded closure as part of its sealing means. Because gaskets are dye cut rather than injection molded, they are less expensive to manufacture than the threaded closures of Mc liners. As well, unlike the Fadal liner, the gasket of the Mg liner may be easily positioned in its respective container and thus provides a reliable sealing means.  
         [0010]     The collapsible container device of the instant invention is comprised of a Mg liner, an outer container and a cap. These components comprise a collapsible container device that is less expensive to produce and maintain than collapsible containers such as the Platypus and Camelbak. The instant invention device may also be manufactured in a variety of shapes unlike the containers using simple tube and blow molded tubes with self supporting rim liners. Finally, the instant invention collapsible container device may be more reliable than Fadal lined containers.  
       OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
       [0011]     Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are:  
         [0000]     To provide a collapsible liquid container that is less costly to manufacture.  
         [0000]     To provide a collapsible liquid container that is less costly to maintain.  
         [0000]     To provide a collapsible liquid container that is more convenient.  
         [0000]     To provide a collapsible liquid container that is more sanitary.  
         [0000]     To provide a collapsible liquid container that seals more reliably. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]     1)  FIG. 1A —perspective view of Mg liner bottom piece before dye cut  
         [0013]     2)  FIG. 1B —perspective view of Mg liner top piece before dye cut.  
         [0014]     3)  FIG. 1C —top view of Mg liner bottom piece after dye cut.  
         [0015]     4)  FIG. 1D —top view of Mg liner top piece after dye cut and after gasket is attached.  
         [0016]     5)  FIG. 1E —top view of Mg liner after the top and bottom piece are sealed together.  
         [0017]     6)  FIG. 1F —perspective view of Mg liner.  
         [0018]     7)  FIG. 2A —perspective view of collapsible bag pieces before dye cut.  
         [0019]     8)  FIG. 2B —perspective view of cap and threaded neck.  
         [0020]     9)  FIG. 2C —perspective view of collapsible bag  
         [0021]     10)  FIG. 2D —perspective view of outer container  
         [0022]     11)  FIG. 3A —cross section of cap.  
         [0023]     12)  FIG. 3B —cross section of threaded neck.  
         [0024]     13)  FIG. 4 —cross section of cap and outer container sealing area.  
         [0025]     14)  FIG. 5 —cross section of assembled collapsible liquid container. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0026]     In the proceeding discussion, the case was made for a less costly, more reliable, more convenient and more sanitary multi-shaped collapsible liquid container.  
         [0027]     Referring to the figures, wherein the showings therein are for the purpose of illustrating a typical embodiment of the invention only, and not for the purpose of limiting the same.  FIG. 5  shows an exploded view of collapsible container  70 . Collapsible container  70  is comprised of outer container  45 , Mg liner  5  and cap  38 .  FIG. 5A  depicts modified closure  37  an alternate to cap  38 , which provides a dispensing means for outer container  45 .  FIG. 5B  depicts closure  39  and modified cap  33 , another alternate to cap  38 . When closure  39  and modified cap  33  are engaged they provide a dispensing means for outer container  45 .  
         [0028]      FIG. 1  shows Mg liner  5  is comprised of top piece  8 , gasket  16  and bottom piece  4 . Top piece  8  and bottom piece  4  are made of any suitable water proof material. Top piece  8  and bottom piece  4  are heat sealed, ultrasonically sealed or adhesive sealed at seam  28  so as to form a leak proof water tight bag. Gasket  16  is comprised of any suitable gasket material, including but not limited to plastic, rubber, vinyl, latex and the like. Gasket  16  is sealed around opening  10  of top piece  8 . Gasket  16  includes cut outs  15 .  
         [0029]      FIGS. 2A, 2B ,  2 C and  2 D show outer container  45  is comprised of an engagement between threaded neck  40 , and collapsible bag  42 . Collapsible bag  42  may be formed from two dye cut sheets of material  34  sewn together, heat sealed, ultrasonically sealed, adhesive sealed or otherwise connected at seam  46 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 3B  shows threaded neck  40  has three functional areas, a threaded portion  41 , a connecting portion  43  and an shelf area  62 . Threaded neck  40  may be made of any suitable water proof material such as wood, glass, plastic, nylon etc. The threaded portion  41  is adapted to engage a corresponding threaded portion of cap  38 , modified closure  37  or modified cap  33 . Connecting portion  43  is adapted to engage mouth area  47  and neck area  44  of collapsible bag  42 . This engagement may be a heat seal, ultra sonic seal, sewn attachment, adhesive attachment, or otherwise affixed. Shelf area  62  is adapted to support gasket  16  of Mg liner  5  by providing a surface for gasket  16  to lie upon. Shelf  62  has posts  64 , which are adapted to engage cut outs  15  of gasket  16 , thereby positioning gasket  16  on shelf  62 .  
         [0031]      FIG. 3A  shows cap  38  has two functional areas comprising threads  58  and seal  56 . Cap  38  is adapted to sandwich gasket  16  of Mg liner  5  between seal  56  and shelf  62  forming a water tight seal.  
         [0032]      FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  shows modified closure  37  and modified cap  33  respectively. Modified closure  37  and modified cap  33  are adapted exactly as cap  38  having a threaded area to engage threaded neck  40  and a seal functioning as seal  56 . Modified closure  37  may include a push/pull or any of the many other commonly employed dispensing means.  FIG. 5B  depicts closure  39 . Closure  39  is a closure that may engage modified cap  33 , thereby providing a dispensing means for modified cap  33  of outer container  45 .  
         [0000]     Operations  
         [0033]     The figures depicting the instant invention are for the purpose of illustrating a typical embodiment of the invention only, and not for the purpose of limiting the same.  FIG. 5  shows a cross sectional view of collapsible container  70 . It can be seen that bottom piece  8  of Mg liner  5  is inserted into open end  61  of threaded neck  40 . Mg liner  5  is eventually inserted completely within outer container  45  except for gasket  16 . Next, as depicted in  FIG. 4 , gasket  16  is positioned on top of shelf  62  so that posts  64  of threaded neck  40  protrude through cuts outs  15 . Once the posts  64  and cut outs  15  are engaged, gasket  16  is fixed in position on shelf  62 .  
         [0034]     Mg liner  5  may be made of relatively thin water tight sheet plastic and therefore in isolation, is susceptible to rupture. However Mg liner  5  is prevented from rupturing once within outer container  45 . Outer container  45 &#39;s dimensions are smaller in every dimension than Mg liner  5 . Thus, once inside outer container  45 , Mg liner  5  is prevented from over expanding by the dimensional limits and strength of outer container  45 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 4  depicts seal  56  of cap  38  engaging gasket  16  fixed on shelf  62  by posts  64 . Once cap  38  is threaded onto threaded neck  40 , a water-tight seal is formed as gasket  16  is sandwiched between seal  56  and shelf  62 , completing the assembly of collapsible container  70 . The device may be accessed by removing cap  38 . Alternatively as depicted in  FIG. 5A  and  FIG. 5B  respectively, modified closure  37  or modified cap  33  and closure  39  may be substituted for cap  38  to provide alternate dispensing means.  
         [0036]     Only one possible means for positioning gasket  16  on shelf  62  is depicted in the drawings; cut outs  15  and posts  64 . Any suitable friction means may be employed including but not limited to, snapping the gasket into place inside open end  61 , utilizing a groove engagement, or utilizing a simple friction engagement.  
       SUMMARY RAMIFICATIONS AND SCOPE  
       [0037]     The objects and advantages of this instant invention are to provide a new collapsible liquid container device, which is less expensive to produce and maintain than Mc lined containers, and has a variety of shape possibilities unlike tube liners. The unique features of the instant invention&#39;s Mg liner, threaded neck and cap accomplish the objects and advantages described in this application. Therefore the novel instant invention promises to be a successful commercial product  
         [0038]     There are multiple features not described previously in this application that merit mention. The instant invention is well suited for practically all markets where liquids are consumed. It has the advantage of being collapsible when stored or shipped, unlike other containers that require just as much space empty as full.  
         [0039]     The outer container of my device may have pockets, snaps, rings, buttons, straps, or other like additions aiding the marketing but not changing the scope of the invention. It may double as a storage device for trash or other valuables when empty. It may assume the character of a puppet or stuffed animal.  
         [0040]     The instant invention is well suited for storing liquids when sanitation is poor such as poverty stricken areas, remote locations or during emergency situations. The container may be insulated against radiation, conduction or convection either by using a removable insulator between the liner and collapsible bag or by fashioning an insulated liner or collapsible bag directly. The collapsible bag may be made of wicking materials to aid evaporation keeping the contents cooler.  
         [0041]     Two liners may be employed at once to create a double liner in which water added to the first liner could be frozen before the second liner was put in place and used.  
         [0042]     Furthermore, the instant device may double as a heating pad, gun rest, back brace, or floatation device. It may function as the first soft baby bottle.  
         [0043]     The opening of the threaded neck may be sized so as to readily adapt to commercial ice and soda dispensers found in convenient stores and other businesses and residencies.  
         [0044]     Various other closures may be substituted for closure  39 , including screw type closures associated with Gatorade closures, as well as a host of other commercially available closures such as snap on closures.  
         [0045]     Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.