Patent Publication Number: US-2009230153-A1

Title: Dispensing Package and Methods of Using and Making

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/494,337 filed Jul. 27, 2006. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to dispensing, and more specifically, to a container designed to allow near complete removal of liquid, and to allow dispensing of contents onto a horizontal surface when the container is held in a horizontal position. The invention also relates to methods of dispensing and to methods of making a dispensing container. 
     2. Background of the Invention 
     Spray bottles and containers are extremely useful and are widely used for many purposes. They provide a storage means for liquids along with providing a controlled atmosphere. Spray containers also provide dispensing nozzles so that the liquid is focused in a concentrated stream or spray. 
     A typical spray bottle includes a spray head at the top of the bottle and a tube that depends into the liquid. The spray bottle head has a trigger lever which activates a small pump. This pump is attached to the tube that draws liquid from the bottom of the bottle. The pump forces this liquid through a narrow barrel and out the nozzle in a specific spray pattern. 
     The tube is usually fairly rigid to insure that it will not become pinched, which would hinder the flow of liquid through the tube. The tube length is often slightly longer than required to reach the inside base of the bottle from the spray head. Thus, the lower pick-up end of the tube is often displaced randomly toward one edge of the base. This insures two important things: (1) that the tube pick-up end is actually near the bottom of the container and can, therefore, potentially deliver much of the last portion of the liquid, and (2) that the tube end opening is not flush with the container base, but is instead potentially open to the remaining liquid. 
     Unfortunately, once the fluid level of the bottle is reduced, the bottle must be held in just the right position to keep the open pick-up end immersed in liquid. For example, if the tube pick-up end is facing the opposite direction of the bottle relative to the spray direction, the bottle must be held such that the spray is directed upward to remove much of the remaining liquid. Alternatively, if the tube pick-up end is facing in the same direction as the spray direction, then the bottle must be held such that the spray is directed downward in order to remove much of the remaining liquid. The direction of the spray is dictated by the position of the uptake and may not be the direction desired. Also, since most spray bottles are opaque, coordination of the uptake with the desired spray direction, to allow complete removal of the contents when the bottle is tilted to the desired position, requires a trial and error procedure and is inconvenient. 
     Consumers have suggested providing a spray bottle with a flat bottom that is thicker at the edges so that the last liquid would remain at the center just below a centered tube pick-up end. This suggested design would allow complete removal of the contents, but only when the bottle is held in the vertical position. This partial solution to the problem is not easily accomplished with conventional blow molding techniques which produce forms having fairly uniform wall thicknesses. This also leaves little tolerance for variation in tube length since too short would not remove all the liquid and too long would block the pick-up end. 
     Various flexible dip tube designs with weighted ends have been proposed to enable a container to spray at numerous angles and to improve the removal of the last remaining liquid content. However, there is no known commercial utilization of these constructions, apparently due to associated high costs and complex construction. 
     Another proposed design utilizes a tapered bottom wall and a dip tube mounted along the side wall at the lowest end of the tapered bottom wall. A mouth and funnel arrangement is necessary to connect the side-mounted dip tube to a second tube coupled to the pump head. Alternatively, a channel built directly into the side wall is proposed to substitute for the side-mounted dip tube. As with previously described designs, the complex tube arrangement and the alternative side channel also involves higher manufacturing costs. 
     What is needed is a package for dispensing a liquid product that maximizes the amount of liquid that can be removed from the package, including removal at a desired angle of distribution as in application to a horizontal surface, is easy for the consumer to use, and is inexpensive to manufacture. These and other objectives will be better understood with reference to the following disclosure. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     By the present invention, a package for dispensing a liquid product is provided which meets the above described needs and overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art. A dispensing package of the present invention comprises a hollow container body including an upper portion and a closed bottom end. The upper portion extends upward to a neck having an aperture therethrough and a pump device attached to the neck. A tube extends through the neck aperture and has a proximal end joined to the pump device, and a distal end with a mouth for receiving liquid positioned at a first bottom edge on the closed bottom end. A biasing surface is provided along the upper portion of the container body. The biasing surface is positioned and sloped to intercept and bias the tube mouth toward the first bottom edge upon insertion of the tube into the container body. 
     In one embodiment, the upper portion of the container body comprises a grooved indentation defining the biasing surface. The groove of the indentation has a diameter sized to effectively capture and guide the tube mouth toward the first bottom edge upon insertion of the tube into the container body. In another embodiment, the container body includes a swan shape defining the biasing surface in the upper portion of the container body, wherein the biasing surface is positioned and sloped to effectively intercept and guide the tube mouth toward the first bottom edge upon insertion of the tube into the container body. 
     In yet another embodiment of this invention, a method of making a package for dispensing a liquid product is provided. The method comprises the following steps. A hollow container body is blow molded to include an upper portion and a closed bottom end. The upper portion includes a biasing surface and extends upward to a neck having an aperture therethrough. The hollow container is filled with liquid product and a tube is inserted. The tube, having a predetermined length and a distal end, is inserted through the neck and aperture toward the bottom end. Upon contact of the tube distal end with the biasing surface, additional downward pressure is applied on the tube such that the tube bends in a predetermined direction, causing the distal end to approach a desired edge of the bottom end. 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the description of preferred embodiments which follows when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a container package constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2A  is a cross section of the container body shown in  FIG. 1  at the closed bottom end. 
         FIG. 2B  is a cross sectional view taken along line  2 B- 2 B in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 2C  is a cross sectional view taken along line  2 C- 2 C in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a container package constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross sectional taken along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a container package constructed in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention 
         FIG. 6A-6D  shows insertion of a tube into a bottle having a punt in the closed bottom end of the container body. 
         FIG. 7A-7D  shows insertion of a tube into a bottle having a biasing surface in the upper portion of the container body. 
         FIG. 8A-8D  shows insertion of a tube into a bottle having a swan shape. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A package  10  of the present invention for dispensing a liquid is illustrated generally in  FIG. 1 . The package essentially comprises a container body  12  including an upper portion  14  and a closed bottom end  16 . Upper portion  14  extends upward to include a neck  18  having an aperture  20  therethrough. A pump device  22  is attached to the neck and is joined to the proximal end  24  of a tube  26 . Tube  26  further has a distal end  28  with a mouth  30  for receiving liquid. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , a biasing means  32 , preferably a punt  34 , biases the mouth  30  to a predetermined bottom edge position  36  on the closed bottom end  16 . The bottom edge occurs where sidewalls  40  meet the closed bottom end  16 . In other embodiments, a biasing surface  68  is provided along the upper portion  14  of the container body  12 , rather than in the closed bottom end  16  of the container body  12 . For example, an embodiment exemplified by  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  utilizes a biasing surface  68  defined by a grooved indentation  80 , and the biasing surface  68  biases the mouth  30  to a predetermined bottom edge position  36  on the closed bottom end  16 . In yet another embodiment exemplified by  FIG. 5 , the container body  12  has a swan shape  84  defining a biasing surface  68 ′ that biases the mouth  30  to a predetermined bottom edge position  36  on the closed bottom end  16 . 
     The container body  12  further includes a lower portion  38 , connecting upper portion  14  and closed bottom end  16  which collectively define a hollow interior of the container body  12  which contains the liquid product. The liquid product dispensed by package  10  of this invention can be many different liquid products including, but not limited to, cleaning solutions, lubricants, soaps and detergents, window cleaners, cosmetic products, lotions, cooking oils, and the like. Container body upper portion  14  and neck  18 , as well as the closed bottom end  16 , are preferably substantially rigid to give overall stability and to allow the container body  12  to remain in an upright position when not in use as shown in  FIG. 1 . The term “substantially rigid” means that while the body may be flexible, a person can use and store the package without appreciably deforming or distorting the neck  18  and the closed bottom end  16 . 
     Container body  12  is preferably constructed from a plastic material. More preferably, the container body is blow molded from a plastic material including, but not limited to, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene and most preferably, high density polyethylene (HDPE). 
     The neck  18  is adapted to engage with a closure  42  of the pump device  22 . Typically, the neck includes external threads for engagement with internal threads on closure  42 ; however, other methods known to those in the art can be used to engage the pump device  22  to neck  18 . Preferably, the neck  18  and closure  42  engage in a leak-tight manner when the pump device  22  is attached to the neck  18  of container body  12 . 
     Pump device  22  is joined to tube  26  which extends downward through the aperture  20  of neck  18  and into the hollow interior of container body  12 , thus placing pump device  22  in fluid communication with the fluid contained within container body  12 . While a wide variety of pump devices  22  can be used in the present invention, a typical pump device  22  is actuated by a handle  44  as shown in  FIG. 1 , or by a lever, pump head or other means such as those well known in the art. Typically, pump device  22  comprises a piston  46 , the main moving element, housed inside a cylinder  48 . Pulling handle  44 , for example, actuates pump device  22  by pushing the piston  46  into the cylinder  48 . The moving piston compresses a spring  50  which causes piston  46  to be pushed back out of cylinder  48  when the handle  44  is released. 
     Typically, a spray bottle has two one-way valves in the pumping system, an inlet valve  52  and an outlet valve  54 . When piston  46  pushes in, the volume of cylinder  48  available for holding liquid shrinks and the pressure within the cylinder increases. The increased pressure causes inlet valve  52  to close and outlet valve  54  to open, forcing fluid out of the pump through a discharge orifice  56 . The discharge orifice  56  can be a standard spray nozzle or a type to deliver liquid as a foam, atomized spray, sharp stream, or the like. The discharge is referred to hereinafter as a spray, but it is understood that other forms can be made as well. As the spring  50  pushes piston  46  back out, the cylinder volume expands, causing the pressure to decrease which, in turn, causes inlet valve  52  to open and outlet valve  54  to close. The decreasing pressure thus pulls fluid from the container body  12  through the mouth  30  at distal end  28  of tube  26  and into the pump cylinder  48 . 
     The ability to remove all of the liquid from the container body  12  is determined mainly by the length and position of tube  26 . Tube  26  is as long as necessary or longer than necessary to reach closed bottom end  16 , and is preferably a length required to reach bottom edge position  36  as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  5 . Biasing the inserted tube end to the front edge of the bottle advantageously allows a user to completely dispense the contents while directing their delivery to a horizontal surface. 
     The material and physical characteristics of tube  26  are determined in part by the fluid properties and desired fluid discharge characteristics, including any negative pressure caused by liquid uptake. In addition, the physical properties, tube diameter and tube wall thickness are chosen to allow the tube to readily bend upon contact with the closed bottom end  16  without crimping or otherwise significantly reducing the cross sectional area available for fluid flow, and to provide sufficient rigidity of the tube wall to withstand negative pressure within the tube during liquid uptake. Examples of suitable materials for construction of tube  26  include, but are not limited to, nylon, polypropylene and polyethylene. 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the tube mouth  30  is preferably biased toward the first bottom edge position  36  by a punt  34  on the closed bottom end  16 . Punts have historically been included in the bottom of glass wine bottles. In the glass-blowing process, a blowpipe was attached to the neck of the bottle until the bottle was transferred to a tool called a punty. A natural and probably intentional result of the punty was a concave indentation at the base of the bottle. The indentation, or punt, insured that the base would not become convex upon cooling, which would make the bottle unable to stand upright. The punt also added to the strength of the bottle, which was important in the bottling of any sparkling wine. 
     A punt, as used herein and in the appended claims, is defined as “a rounded indentation of the container bottom end directed inward toward the hollow interior.”Often, the neck aperture  20  and tube proximal end  24  are in line with the base or the geometric center  57  of the bottom end of the container body  12 . It is common in containers such as beverage bottles to include a centralized punt with the highest point or apex  58  oriented with the center  57  of the base. It is possible, however, to orient the neck of the container body  12  off-center from the container base and/or to include a punt wherein the highest point or apex  58  is not oriented with the center  57  of the base, thus creating an off-center punt. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , an off-center punt  34  biases the tube mouth  30  toward the first bottom edge position  36  on the closed bottom end  16 . The first bottom edge position  36  is located in the forward direction from a vertical axis  60  extending through the neck aperture  20  and the tube proximal end  24 . An “off-center punt”, as used herein and in the appended claims, is defined as “a punt having its uppermost position or apex  58  (the highest point when the bottle is in an upright position as in shelf storage) that is not in vertical alignment with the neck aperture  20  and proximal end  24  of the tube.” 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , it is important that the neck aperture  20 , and thus the point of insertion of the tube  26 , not be aligned with the uppermost position or apex  58  of the punt  34 . This allows the distal end  28  of an initially straight tube  26 , upon insertion, to contact the closed bottom end  16  of the container at a slope  62 , and upon further downward pressure, to curve or bend without crimping and to follow the slope  62  downward to the bottom edge position  36 . The tube length is predetermined to reach this bottom edge position which represents a low, and preferably the lowest, elevation of the inside container body. Thus, the last remaining fluid is located at this position and is available to the mouth of the tube even when the package is held in an upright position. 
     The bottom end cross section  64  can be any shape. For example, the container body  12  can have an elongated or oblong bottom end cross section  64  as shown in  FIG. 2A , wherein the off-centered punt  34  is aligned with the long axis  66  of the bottom end  16 , creating a long taper  70  and a short taper  72  as seen in  FIG. 1 . The bottom edge position  36  is preferably the lowest edge of the long taper  70 . In this embodiment, the uppermost position or apex  58  of the punt  34  is located toward the back  74  of the container body as shown in  FIG. 1 , and the tube  26 , on insertion, impacts the downward slope  62  of the punt coming to rest at the lowest and most forward position  76  of the container body  12  as exemplified in  FIGS. 6A-6D . (The “back of the container body” refers to the side opposing the direction of liquid spray when the liquid is discharged from the container; conversely, the “forward position” refers to the side corresponding to the direction of liquid spray). In this manner, a user has access to the very last liquid in the container body. If necessary, the user can also tilt the package to spray in a downward direction onto a horizontal surface, causing any finally-remaining liquid to flow toward the tube mouth, and allowing the user to remove and use this finally-remaining liquid. 
     Optionally, punt  34  further comprises a punt groove  78  as shown in  FIGS. 2A-2C  running from a point near the apex  58  and down slope  62  toward the most forward position  76  of the container. Punt groove  78  is positioned to intercept tube  26  upon insertion of the tube and to further encourage and guide tube  26  toward the forward position  76  as it is inserted into the container body. 
       FIGS. 3-5  illustrate embodiments wherein a biasing surface  68  is provided along the upper portion  14  of the container body  12  rather than the biasing means or punt  34  in the closed bottom end  16  of the container body  12 . As with the punt  34 , the biasing surface  68  is positioned and sloped to intercept and bias the tube mouth  30  toward the first bottom edge  36  (sometimes referred to herein as the bottom edge position  36 ) upon insertion of the tube  26  into the container body  12 . In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 34 , the back  74  of the upper portion  14  is inwardly recessed to provide a grooved indentation  80  defining the biasing surface  68  wherein the innermost position  86  is on the front or opposite side of a vertical axis  60  extending through the neck aperture  20  and the tube proximal end  24 . The tube  26 , on insertion, impacts the groove  82  at the downward slope  62  of the grooved indentation  80  coming to rest at the lowest and most forward position  76  of the container body  12 , as exemplified in  FIGS. 7A-7D . (As explained above, the “back of the container body” generally refers to the side opposing the direction of liquid spray when the liquid is discharged from the container; conversely, the “forward position” generally refers to the side corresponding to the direction of liquid spray. However, it is understood that the spray head and pump actuation lever  44  could be rotatable). In this manner, a user has access to the very last liquid in the container body. 
     In another embodiment, the container body  12  is given a swan shape  84  as shown in  FIG. 5 . The biasing surface  68  is thus provided by the swan shape  84  having a biasing surface  68 ′ positioned and sloped to effectively intercept and guide the tube mouth  30  toward the first bottom edge  36  upon insertion of the tube  26  into the container body  12 , as exemplified in  FIGS. 8A-8D . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , the back  74  of the upper portion  14  slopes inward in a swan shape to provide a biasing surface  68 ′ wherein the innermost position  86  is on the front or opposite side of a vertical axis  60  extending through the neck aperture  20  and the tube proximal end  24 . The tube  26 , on insertion, impacts the biasing surface  68 ′ at the downward slope  62  of the swan shape  84  coming to rest at the lowest and most forward position  76  of the container body. 
     Using a biasing surface  68  in the upper portion  14  of the container body  12 , has the advantage of freeing design of the closed bottom end  16  for accommodation of structural and stacking purposes, rather than for guidance and biasing of the tube mouth  30 . In one embodiment, the biasing surface  68  is a grooved indentation  80  as shown in  FIG. 3 . The groove  82  of the indentation, as shown in  FIG. 4 , has a diameter  83  sized to effectively capture and guide the tube mouth  30  toward the first bottom edge  36  upon insertion of the tube  26  into the container body  12 . 
     In yet another embodiment of this invention, the container  12  is transparent or translucent. By “translucent” it is meant that one can see through container body  12  to observe the position of the tube  26  and tube distal end  28 . The container body  12  has a punt  34  along the closed bottom end  16  and/or a biasing surface  68  such as a grooved indentation  80  or swan shape  84  along the upper portion  14 . The punt  34 , grooved indentation  80  or swan shape  84  biases the tube mouth  30  toward a bottom edge position  36  upon insertion. A user is able to see the tube mouth  30  at a bottom edge position  36  and tilt the container to deliver the last remaining liquid to the tube mouth  30 . Preferably, tube  26  is colored, or comprises a color, particularly near the tube mouth  30 , so that a user can more readily spot the position of the tube mouth  30  within the container body  12 . If the spray head and pump actuation lever  44  are rotatable, the user is able to choose whether to spray the last remaining liquid at an upward or downward angle by noting the position of the tube mouth  30  and rotating the spray head to deliver liquid in the desired direction. 
     Methods of making the container body  12  of the present invention include blow molding, extrusion blow molding, stretch blow molding, injection molding, and the like. Blow molding is a manufacturing method used in the plastics and polymers industries to create hollow, but strong containers. Preferably, the container body  12  is blow molded using a hollow thermoplastic form, commonly referred to as a parison, produced by extrusion or injection molding. The warm parison is mechanically loaded onto a stand and a divided metal mold comes around it. Before the parison cools, a hollow ramrod is injected into its center and then injected with air or other compressed gas. This expands the parison against the inner surfaces of the mold cavity. The two halves of the mold are then separated and the finished container is released. Thus, if the package  10  utilizes a punt  34 , the portion of the mold corresponding to the container bottom is shaped to form an inwardly recessed bottom. Similarly, if the package  10  utilizes a grooved indentation  80  along the upper portion  14  of the container body  12 , the portion of the mold corresponding to the container upper portion is shaped to form an inwardly recessed grooved indentation. And if the package  10  utilizes a swan shape  84  to provide a biasing surface for the tube mouth, the mold is configured to form a swan shape. 
     Thus, manufacture of the above-described package is simple and adds little or no cost to the overall manufacturing cost. The container body end is formed using standard techniques including a punt, grooved indentation or swan shape as described above. After the container body is filled with product liquid, tube  26 , having a predetermined length and attached to pump device  22 , is inserted as shown in  FIGS. 6A through 6D . Upon contact of the tube distal end  28  with punt  34 , continued downward pressure on the tube causes distal end  28  to progress down the punt slope  62  until it reaches bottom edge position  36 . Tube insertion is similar for embodiments utilizing a biasing surface  68 ′ such as the grooved indentation or swan shape. Upon contact of the tube distal end  28  with the grooved indentation  80  or the biasing surface  68 ′ of the swan shape  84 , continued downward pressure on the tube causes distal end  28  to progress down the groove  82  or biasing surface  68 ′ until it reaches bottom edge position  36 . The pump device  22  is then secured to the container body  12  in a standard procedure, requiring little or no adjustment in current packaging equipment or packaging processes. 
     Thus, the present invention is well adapted to attain the objects and advantages mentioned as well as those that are inherent therein. While numerous changes may be made by those skilled in the art, such changes are encompassed within the spirit of this invention as defined by the appended claims.