Abstract:
A self closing cap for dispensing fluids that is composed of a cap ( 10 ) with a rotating-lid ( 40 ) on top. The cap ( 10 ) having a cylindrical shape with holes ( 16 ) and channels ( 12 ) ( 14 ) on top to direct the fluids and an opening on the bottom to be mounted on a container (FIG.  1 ). Also the cap has a rotating lid ( 40 ) on top that works as a diaphragm ( 44 ), opening and closing according with the pressure of the fluid behind it and not allowing any substances to enter inside the cap ( 10 ). The rotating-lid ( 40 ) also has a plurality of pads ( 48 ) able to block and open the holes ( 16 ) on the cap ( 10 ) to permit the fluid to exit as the user desires (FIG.  8 A).

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of patent application Ser. No. 60/746,142, filed May 1, 2006 by the present inventor. 
    
    
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
     None. 
     SEQUENCE LISTING 
     None. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     This invention generally relates to a cap for fluids that will act as a check valve to let the fluid inside a container exit without difficulty, but at the same time will impede the entrance of other substances like air, water and dirt into the container. 
     2. Prior Art 
     Previously all caps were made just to open and close, leaving the fluid inside the container open to any kind of contamination. Later, inventors started to solve this problem, adding a closeable lid that the user must close to prevent any extraneous fluids or particle(s) from entering inside the container (e.g., flip-top caps). Sometimes this works well enough. However, in some cases, such as creams that can easily get oxidized with air and reduce their potency, this situation becomes critical. At the same time, some fluids used in medical applications need to stay clean and free of contaminants to be safe to use for human applications. All the plastic caps heretofore known in the market suffer from a number of disadvantages:
         (a) All caps currently available in the market allow air to enter in the container. This can result in oxidation of the substance inside the container, it will get damaged or change its properties over time. An example would be an anti-age cream with certain vitamins that in contact with air will change color, thicken and oxidize, losing their anti-aging properties. Another example is a cream that helps to heal scars, but is not effective if put into contact with oxygen. These creams are usually very expensive.   (b) On a normal cap, any contaminants coming from the exterior can enter the container through the cap contaminating and damaging the formula of a medical product. This is especially critical in medical applications where bacteria or other microorganism can enter the container and grow inside. Later the patient who is taking this formula can get infected by the bacteria or other microorganism. This can happen to patients with a low immune system, who can die from an airborne disease coming from the container that has the medicine that is supposed to cure them, rather than infecting them.   (c) The cap needs to have the lid closed to prevent any contaminant from entering the container. Sometimes people do not like to close the lid, forget or do not have time to do it. For example, when dispensing a diaper rash cream, if the baby moves around all the time, there is not time to close the cream while putting a diaper on the baby after using the cream.   (d) The cap also needs to be closed to prevent any fluid inside the container from spilling       

     OBJECT AND ADVANTAGES 
     Accordingly several objects and advantages of the invention are:
         (a) To provide a cap that will act as a check valve when dispensing the product inside. Allowing the product, usually a fluid or fluid-like substance or cream, to exit, but at the same time not permitting the entrance of air, water, bacteria, microorganisms, dirt and other undesirable substances inside the container.   (b) To provide a cap that seals itself, so that no harm will come to the contents of the container if the user forgets to close the cap.   (c) To provide a cap that can be easily injection molded and manufactured very easily.   (d) This cap will be also available with massaging ribs to provide an easier experience when dispensing a cream or other product on the skin. This will help spread the cream or product better with a massaging action and facilitate the absorption of the cream or product by the skin.   (e) To provide a cap that can be set ready to dispense with just one twist of the lid, and to close to prevent any spill with another twist of the lid.       

     Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuring description and drawings. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with the present invention, a self closing cap for dispensing fluids or fluid-like substances comprises a cap with a rotatable lid that is mounted on a container, such as, but not limited to, a collapsible plastic tube. The self closing cap will open only to let the fluid or fluid-like substance exit, and when the desired amount of fluid or fluid-like substance has exited, it will automatically close to prevent any air or other substances from entering the container. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
       Figures 
       In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the cap. 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of the cap. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of cap taken from line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the rotating-lid. 
         FIG. 5  is a plan view of the rotating-lid. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the rotating-lid taken from line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a front view of my invention mounted on a tube. 
         FIG. 8A  is a cross-sectional view of my invention taken from line  8 - 8  in  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 8B  is a section view of my invention during operation taken from line  8 - 8  in  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  is an exploded view of my invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a front view of a second embodiment of my invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a section view of a second embodiment taken from line  11 - 11  in  FIG. 10 . 
         FIG. 12  is an isometric view of a second embodiment of my invention. 
         FIG. 13  is an exploded view of a second embodiment of my invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a plan view of the rotating-lid of a second embodiment. 
         FIG. 15  is a cross-sectional view of the rotating-lid of a second embodiment of my invention taken from line  15 - 15  in  FIG. 14 . 
     
    
    
     DRAWINGS 
     Reference Numerals 
     
         
           10  Cap. 
           12  Radial channels. 
           14  Circumferential channel. 
           16  Raised-hole. 
           18  External-catch. 
           20  Dome. 
           22  Internal-catch. 
           24  Ribs. 
           26  Ring-seal. 
           28  Hole-membrane. 
           40  Rotating-lid. 
           42  Center-hole. 
           44  Diaphragm. 
           46  Undercut. 
           48  Pads. 
           50  Sealing-lip. 
           52  Knurl. 
           54  Internal wall. 
           60  Snap-on-tube. 
           62  Catch. 
           64  Tube-hole. 
           66  Tube-ribs. 
           90  Soft top. 
           92  Lumps. 
           94  Membrane. 
           96  Hole. 
       
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Preferred Embodiment—FIGS.  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 A and  9   
     A preferred embodiment of the closure of the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 7  front view of my invention mounted on a plastic tube  60 . While this is my preferred embodiment, many alternative embodiments are possible, and the specificities listed below should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but merely as providing illustrations of the preferred embodiment.  FIG. 8A , which is a cross-sectional view taken at line  8 - 8 , gives an interior view of how the components are arranged.  FIG. 9  shows an exploded view of my invention. 
     The cap  10  shown on  FIG. 1  has on the top of its surface a plurality of radial-channels  12 , which connect to a plurality of wider circumferential-channels  14 . Inside the circumferential-channel  14  there are a plurality of raised-holes  16 , which are holes with a raised edge around them. The raised-holes communicate to the inside. On the top there is a dome  20 . A section view ( FIG. 3 ) of the cap  10  shows the external-catch  18  and the internal-catch  22  that is used to install it on a tube or pouch  60 . Underneath each raised-hole  16  there is a membrane  28 . The inside of the cap  10  has a plurality of ribs  24 . The cap  10  is made of injected plastic, and preferably polypropylene (PP), although polyethylene can be also used. The cap  10  has also a plurality of ring-seals  26  that will touch the internal-wall  54  of the rotating-lid  40  ( FIG. 8A ). The size of the cap is based on the standard tubes that can be found on the market, although many other tube or container sizes or shapes could be used. For this figure a tube with a nominal diameter of 40 mm and with a neck of 20 mm diameter was chosen. 
     The rotating-lid  40  shown in  FIG. 4  has on top a 3 mm diameter center-hole  42 , and on the sides a plurality of knurls  52 .  FIG. 6  shows a cross-sectional view taken from  FIG. 5  at line  6 - 6  that shows a plurality of the pads  48  each matching the same number of raise-holes  16 . The top of the rotating-lid has a reduced thickness to form a diaphragm  44  which includes a sealing-lip  50 . The rotating-lid  40  is made of injection molded plastic and preferably of either a low or high density polyethylene (LDPE-HDPE) or a softer polypropylene (PP). 
       FIG. 9  shows the components of the invention in an exploded view showing a snap-on-tube  60 , on top of which will be mounted the cap  10  with the rotating-lid  40 . 
     Operation 
     Preferred Embodiment—FIGS.  7 ,  8   a ,  8   b    
     In operation a person uses the self-closing-cap in the following manner. When the rotating-lid  40  is rotated in a counter clock-wise direction the pads  48  move of the way and open the raised-holes  16  on the cap ( FIG. 8B ). At the same time the snap-on-tube  60  receives some pressure from when the user presses the snap-on-tube  60 . This pressure makes the fluid flow. The fluid gets inside the cap  10 , and through the raised-holes  16 . The fluid continues its way to the circumferential-channel  14 , and into the radial-channel  12  ( FIG. 1 ) where it starts lifting up the diaphragm  44  of the rotating-lid  40  which raises with the sealing-lip  50  and leaves the fluid to exit to the exterior through the center hole  42  This is shown in  FIG. 8B  that shows the diaphragm  44  displaced from its normal position. Once a certain amount of fluid is dispensed, the user releases the pressure on the snap-on-tube  60 , and stops the flow. At this point the diaphragm  44  of the rotating-lid  40  recovers its original form using its plastic properties and seals the sealing-lip  50  on the dome  20  of the cap  10  closing the passage to the center-hole  42 . At this point the user could rotate clockwise the rotating-lid  40  closing the raised-holes  16  and preventing the occurrence of any spills if someone accidentally presses the snap-on-tube  60  ( FIG. 8A ). 
     The cap  10  is attached by an internal catch  22  which matches the external catch  62  of the snap-on-tube  60  to keep it from falling ( FIG. 8A ). The ribs  24  will grab onto the tube-ribs  66  of the snap-on-tube  60  to keep the cap  10  fixed in the same position and unable to rotate. 
     The rotating-lid  40  will be mounted using the undercut  46  to grab onto the external-catch  18  of the cap  10  ( FIG. 8A ). The pads  48  will match the circumferential-channel  14  of the cap and will cover or open the raised-holes  16 . 
     The raised-holes  16  have a 0.10 mm raised border around the hole that will help seal better against the pads  48 . At the same time the hole-membranes  28  will give them some flexibility to follow better the shape of the pads  48  to help seal better ( FIG. 8A ). 
     The cap  10  ring-seals  26  are in contact to the internal-wall  54  of the rotating-lid  40 . They seal against any fluid or fluid-like-substance from escaping from this connection ( FIG. 8A ). 
     Description 
     Alternative Embodiment—FIGS.  10 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15   
     In this embodiment the rotating lid  40  has on top a softer-top  90  (FIGS.  10 , 11 , 12 ) which can be over-molded or bi-injected from a different but not limited to a softer material as an thermoplastic-elastomer (TPE) as the ones provided by the brand Santoprene™. This softer-top  90  ( FIG. 13 ), which would usually be a round, or oval shape, is formed by a membrane  94  that has a plurality of lumps  92  on top arranged in different shapes. The membrane  94  has a hole  96  of an appreciable diameter in the center.  FIG. 13  shows an exploded view of the soft-top  90  and the rotating-lid  40 . 
     The operation of this embodiment is similar to the preferred embodiment already described with the exception that the softer-top  90  will be used to provide some massaging effect on the user&#39;s skin to spread better the fluids and fluid-like-substances inside the snap-on-tube  60 . 
     CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE 
     Accordingly the reader will see that, according with the invention, I have provided an improved cap for dispensing fluids and fluid-like-substances that will avoid spills and contaminants entering the container. This economical solution can be used by persons of almost any age. The self-closing-cap has many other advantages in that:
         It permits the fluids and fluid-like-substances to exit without difficulty.   It is easy and cheap to manufacture, with only a few components, which protects the environment.   Its components are made of Polypropylene and Polyethylene that are both recyclable and biodegradable.   It provides a safe way to store special substances (e.g., medicines, anti-aging creams) keeping them safe from contamination.   It can be injection molded in many color combinations or even be transparent, giving it a unique look.   Kids and adults are able to use it very quickly, with minimal training.       

     While the above description contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but as exemplifications of the presently preferred embodiments thereof. Many other ramifications and variations are possible within the teachings of the invention. For example:
         The soft-top can be made of different shapes and materials and having a plurality of holes instead of only one which will make it better at dispensing a fluid or fluid-like substance on the skin or other surfaces.   The cap and rotating-lid can be made in different materials from the ones specified here.   The cap can be mounted on a screw-on-tube instead of a snap-on-tube as specified here.   The cap can be used to fit many of the different plastic tube sizes that are available.   A different container can be used such as a bottle container, connected directly to a hose, or another type of container.   The rotating-lid and cap can have many different shapes, such as circular, oval, triangular, trapezoidal, etc.   The cap and the rotating-lid can be injection molded as one part and later put together with a connection in between that would be a tamper proof feature that could be broken by the user before he/she uses the cap.   The components (such as the rotating lid and the cap) can be made in more than one color, allowing the user to see at a glance if the cap is open or closed.       

     Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, and not by the examples given.