Patent Publication Number: US-2010116854-A1

Title: Spout

Description:
The invention relates to a spout for liquid containers having an outlet, in particular bottles, wherein the spout exhibits an elastic and flexible sheet material which can be rolled up for use in order to be inserted as a roll shaped like a sleeve into the outlet of the liquid container, with the sheet material comprising a smooth top side having low surface adhesion toward liquids and the outline of the sheet material being designed with sharp edges. 
     Furthermore, the invention relates to a spout-liquid container-combination. 
     Such a spout is known, for example, from document WO 92/05080 and has been tried and tested on the market for a number of years. The spout allows a liquid to be poured from a liquid container, in particular a bottle, without dripping, if it is inserted into the outlet of the liquid container in a state of being rolled up in the shape of a sleeve, by guiding the jet of liquid across the sharp edge of the spout during pouring and, upon finishing the pouring process, effectively cutting off the jet when pouring is completed by returning the liquid container into the upright position. Cutting off the jet of liquid at the sharp edge of the spout prevents the formation of droplets at the edge, which might otherwise run down the outside of the liquid container. 
     However, said known spout is disadvantageous due to the fact that it is to be stored separately from the liquid container and, in most cases, is also delivered in a separate package. This causes inconvenience for the user because first of all they have to fetch a spout from its storage place and prepare it when they wish to open, e.g., a liquid container in the form of a wine bottle and serve the wine using the spout. It has been shown that in many cases the use of a spout is omitted out of laziness if the spout is not ready to hand. Furthermore, spouts are often lost since they are small, flat structures. It has already briefly been mentioned in WO 92/05080 that, in order to avoid this drawback, the spout is provided with an adhesive zone for direct attachment to a bottle, wherein a tear-off line between the adhesive zone and the spout should enable the spout to be detached for use. Obviously, however, this concept has failed to stand the test, since said text passage was already deleted in European Patent EP 560 777 B1 derived from WO 92/05080 and corresponding spouts have never appeared on the market. The reason for this is perfectly obvious, since by tearing off the spouts along a tear-off line, the sharp-edged outline of the spout is damaged and said spout would thus no longer be able to satisfactorily prevent the formation of droplets. 
     Thus, the problem on which the present invention is based is to develop further a spout of the initially described type in such a way that it can be stuck to the outside of a liquid container for later use without causing damage to the sharp-edged outline during detachment and thus impairing the mode of operation of the spout and, respectively, without impairing the appearance of the spout. 
     The present invention solves the problem posed by providing a spout having the characterizing features of claim  1  as well as by providing a spout-liquid container-combination having the characterizing features of claim  12 . Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the subclaims and in the following specification. 
     With the spout according to the invention for liquid containers, the sheet material exhibits a bottom side opposite to the top side, onto which bottom side an adhesive layer is applied at least in sections which is detachable from the bottom side of the sheet material in an essentially residue-free manner after the adhesive has cured. 
     The distribution of the spout preferably occurs in combination with a liquid container having an outlet, in particular a bottle, wherein the spout is stuck to a surface of the liquid container and, for use, is detachable from the surface of the liquid container, whereby the adhesive layer remains essentially completely on the surface of the liquid container during the detachment of the spout. 
     Due to the invention, it is possible to manufacture at first a semifinished product by applying the adhesive to sheets or rolls of the sheet material and covering it with a backing layer, to subsequently print on said semifinished product and provide it with a coating layer and to subsequently stamp out the spouts in the desired shape so that the outline exhibits a sharp-edged form. Alternatively, first of all, a composite film of the sheet material can be produced, onto which the adhesive layer is applied afterwards, e.g., by printing, and thereupon stamping is performed in order to thus complete the manufacture of the spout and to stick the spout afterwards to a liquid container or also to a different substrate such as a page of a magazine, from which it can be removed by a user after curing without the outline of the spout and hence its function being impaired. By selecting the adhesive according to the invention, it is ensured at the same time that, when the spout is removed, the adhesive is detached from the bottom side of the sheet material of the spout in a residue-free manner and remains on the surface of the liquid container. Since it has already cured, the adhesive cannot enter into a further adhesive bond so that the fact that it stays on the liquid container is not bothersome. Said detachment of the adhesive from the spout in a residue-free manner during removal is an essential element of the invention, since remaining residues would, on the one hand, promote the formation of droplets and, on the other hand, render the spout undesirable for use in connection with drinkable liquids. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, an acrylate adhesive, preferably a water-based acrylate adhesive, is selected as the adhesive. The spouts according to the invention are usable for all kinds of liquids and filling methods, if the adhesive has an operating temperature of between 0° C. and 70° C., preferably between −20° C. and 100° C. In order that the spouts according to the invention can be used without hesitation in connection with food, particularly drinkable liquids, it is furthermore suggested that an adhesive be used which is food safe and in particular unobjectionable with regard to direct contact with liquid foodstuffs. 
     Furthermore, it is preferred to use an adhesive which is a permanently sticking type of adhesive. Under permanently sticking adhesive is understood an adhesive which, after curing, forms a solid layer between the spout and the surface of the liquid container, which remains as a permanent adhesive layer on the surface of the liquid container when the spout is removed, which is why, for optical reasons, said adhesive is also preferred to be colourless. Such a permanent adhesive differs from known volatile adhesive bonds in that the latter form only a temporary adhesive bond which is removed from both substrates to be connected and has to be disposed of as waste. It should be emphasized again that such removal of the adhesive from both sides is undesirable according to the invention, which, however, can be avoided according to the invention if the adhesive has higher adhesion with regard to a substrate such as glass to which the spout is to be stuck than with regard to the material of the bottom side of the sheet material of the spout. This means for the spout-liquid container-combination according to the invention that the adhesive of the spout has higher adhesion with regard to the surface material, such as, e.g., glass, of the liquid container than with regard to the material of the bottom side of the sheet material of the spout. 
     In order that the user can use the spout after the spout has been detached from the liquid container without having to pay attention as to whether the top side or the bottom side lies inside when rolling up, it is furthermore provided that also the bottom side of the sheet material exhibits a smooth surface which has low surface adhesion toward liquids. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the spout, the bottom side of the sheet material is formed from a base layer which comprises a PET-film, optionally vaporized with metal, or a paper layer, optionally comprising a liquid repellent coating. Those materials provide a smooth surface from which the cured adhesive layer can be removed well. On the base layer, a printing layer is advantageously arranged which permits to display information such as, e.g., instructions for use or advertising. In order to meet the demands on the top side of the spout with regard to smoothness and low surface adhesion toward liquids, it is furthermore envisaged to apply a transparent moisture repellent coating layer to the printing layer, which coating layer preferably comprises a transparent hot-stamping film or a lacquer coat. In order that the spouts according to the invention can be transported and stored before being stuck to liquid containers without having to fear damage to the adhesive layer, in particular drying-out, it is furthermore provided that the adhesive layer is covered by a backing layer removable for the purpose of sticking the spout to a substrate. 
    
    
     
       The invention is now illustrated further by way of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  shows a cross-section through a spout according to the invention in a greatly enlarged illustration of the thickness direction; 
         FIG. 2  shows a top view of a bottle with a partially detached spout according to the invention; 
         FIG. 3  shows a top view of a spout according to the invention with an elliptical outline; 
         FIG. 4  shows a top view of a spout according to the invention with an circular outline; 
         FIG. 5  shows a top view of a spout according to the invention with an outline composed of circular arcs; 
         FIG. 6  shows a top view of a spout according to the invention with an outline in the form of a rectangle with the corners cut off; 
         FIG. 7  shows a spout in the rolled-up state in perspective view; and 
         FIG. 8  shows a rolled-up spout inserted into the outlet of a bottle. 
     
    
    
       FIG. 1  shows a cross-section through a spout  1  according to the invention in a greatly enlarged illustration of the thickness direction. The spout  1  comprises an elastic and flexible sheet material  2  which can be rolled up for use, as illustrated in  FIG. 7 , in order to be inserted as a roll shaped like a sleeve into the outlet of a liquid container such as, e.g., into the outlet  11  of a neck  12  of a bottle  10 , which is illustrated in top view in  FIG. 2  and in perspective view in  FIG. 8 , with  FIG. 8  showing the process of inserting the spout  1 . The spout  1  according to the invention exhibits a top side  9  and a bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2 . 
     The bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2  is formed from a base layer  4  which comprises a PET-film, optionally vaporized with metal, or a paper layer, optionally comprising a liquid repellent coating. A printing layer  5  for any type of graphical information is arranged on the base layer  4 . A transparent moisture repellent coating layer  6  is in turn applied to the printing layer  5 , which coating layer preferably comprises a transparent hot-stamping film or a lacquer coat. Said coating layer  6  forms the top side  9  of the sheet material  2  of the spout  1 . 
     Both the top side  9  and the bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2  of the spout  1  are smooth and exhibit low surface adhesion toward the liquids located in the bottle  10  such as, for example, wine. 
     It is preferred to provide the sheet material  2  in the form of sheets or rolls of a composite film from which the spouts are stamped or cut in a desired outline in order to produce an edge of the outline  8  which is as sharp as possible. 
     The shape of the spout is not restricted any further and may, for example, comprise round shapes or basic polygon shapes. Examples of shapes of spouts according to the invention are illustrated in top view in  FIGS. 3 to 6 .  FIG. 3  shows the spout  1  with an elliptical outline.  FIG. 4  shows a circular spout  20 .  FIG. 5  shows a spout  21  with an outline composed of circular arcs.  FIG. 6  shows a spout  22  with an outline in the form of a rectangle with the corners cut off. 
     According to the invention, a layer of an adhesive  3  is applied to the bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2  at least in sections, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment even all-over, wherein the adhesive is one which is detachable from the bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2  after curing in an essentially residue-free manner. The adhesive  3  can be applied to the bottom side  4   a  by common methods such as, e.g., imprinting, spraying, spreading etc. It should be mentioned that the application of the adhesive  3  to the bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2  can be effected before or after the spout shape has been stamped or cut out. After the adhesive  3  has been applied to the sheet material  2 , the adhesive is covered with a backing layer  7  of, e.g., plastic or paper in order to prevent the adhesive from sticking to other objects before the spout  1  is stuck to the liquid container or other substrates. It is best that said backing layer  7  be removed from the adhesive layer  3  just right before the spout  1  is stuck on. 
     Presently, it is preferred to manufacture at first a semifinished product by applying the adhesive  3  to sheets or rolls of the base layer  4  and covering it with the backing layer  7 . Said semifinished product can be stored and transported. For further processing, the semifinished product is provided with a printing layer  5  and a coating layer  6  and the sheet material  2  is thereby completed. Subsequently, the spouts  1  are stamped from the sheet material  2  in the desired shape. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the adhesive  3  which is detachable from the bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2  after curing in an essentially residue-free manner is a water-based acrylate adhesive exhibiting an operating temperature of between 0° C. and 70° C., preferably between −20° C. and 100° C. Furthermore, it is envisaged to use a food safe adhesive which is unobjectionable with regard to direct contact with liquid foodstuffs. Furthermore, it is preferred to use a permanently sticking, preferably colourless adhesive.  FIG. 2  shows a top view of a liquid container in the form of a bottle  10 , with a spout  1  according to the invention stuck to the surface  13  thereof, with the adhesive  3  being cured already after a few hours. If the spout  1  is now detached from the bottle  10 , the adhesive  3  detaches itself from the bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2  in a residue-free manner or, in other words, remains completely on the surface  13  of the bottle  10  as a permanent adhesive layer. The detached spout  1  assumes a flat configuration and is now provided with two smooth surfaces, namely the top side  9  and the bottom side  4   a , which exhibit low surface adhesion toward the liquid in the bottle  10 . It is essential that the adhesive  3  has higher adhesion with regard to the substrate, in this case glass, than with regard to the material of the bottom side  4   a  of the sheet material  2  of the spout  1 . 
     The thickness of the sheet material  2  is selected according to the desired inherent stiffness of the sheet material and usually lies in the range of tenths of a millimetre, but is not limited to those values. Rather, a person skilled in the art chooses such a thickness that the rolled-up spout  1  with its tendency to unroll will press in the outlet  11  against the inner wall of the outlet  11  with sufficient force to establish a largely tight connection between the spout and said inner wall. 
     It should be mentioned that it is envisaged to stick the spouts  1  according to the invention not only to liquid containers for later use, but to apply the spouts also to other substrates such as packages, magazines (as an addition), etc.