US2571504A - Thermoplastic spray bottle - Google Patents

Description

1951 R. P. VUILLEMENOT 7 THERMOPLASTIC SPRAY BOTTLE Filed Sept. 16, 1949 IN V EN TOR.

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Patented Oct. 16, i951 THERMOPLASTIC SPRAY BOTTLE Robert P. Vuillemenot, River Edge, N. 1., assignor to The Pharma-Craft Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 16, 1949, Serial No. 116,027

. 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a bottle formed from thermoplastic material and more particularly to a bottle to dispense liquid contents, in the form of a spray or mist in the manner of an atomizer.

The invention provides a bottle made of a thermoplastic material, the body portion of which is designed to produce a bellows effect when squeezed, thereby facilitating its use as a dispensing atomizer, this effect being enhanced by the provision of re-entrant side walls to form oppositely disposed accordion pleats, one such accordion pleat extending along each side of the body of the bottle.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention will be pointed out in the annexed claims, the invention itself as to its objects and advantages and the manner in which it may be carried out may be better understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in h which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a bottle embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the bottle shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section on line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a view in cross-section on line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a view on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of a modified form of tube for a spray head.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference characters denote like parts throughout the several views, the bottle, as shown, comprises in general a body portion l0, having a neck portion II, a closure cap I2, a spray head 13 and a tube l4. These several parts are molded, on molding machines, from thermoplastic material.

The body portion is made of a thermoplastic that is pliable or flexible at ordinary temperatures, such, for example, as polyethylene. Particular attention is directed to the particular shape and formation of the body portion of the bottle. It comprises front and back walls [5 and I6 of .generally square or rectangular shape, a top wall H, a bottom wall l8, and side walls l9 and 20. It is clear, of course, that the neck ll extends upwardly from the top wall II. It will be noted that the vertical edges 2|, 22, 23, and 24, at the corners of the body portion are slightly curved so that the front and back walls 15 and 66 are widest about midway betweenthe top and bottom walls of the body portion. The side walls I9 and of the body portion are in. the form of a re-entrant angle; that is, as shown perhaps most clearly in Fig. 5, side wall 19 comprises an inwardly extending portion from the corner of back wall l6 and an inwardly extending portion 26 from the corner of front wall l5. These reentrant side wall portions 25 and 26 meet at apex 21 extending toward the tube I4. Re-entrant portions 28 and 29 of side wall 20 meet at apex 30 extending toward tube ll. As shown, the bottom wall has re-entrant portions 3| and 32 meeting at apex 33 extending toward the interior of the bottle. However, the re-entrant angle is less sharp than the re-entrant angles of the side walls. Preferably, the front and back walls 15 and 16 are made of a greater thickness than the reentrant side walls. 7

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the side walls provide what may be called an accordion pleat down the sides of the bottle. When a force is applied to the front andback walls l5 and 16 toward the interior of the bottle, as by squeezing these walls between the thumb and fingers, the accordion pleats flex readily and deform to decrease the interior volume of the bottle, and when the pressure is released the walls readily return to their normal position and the bottle reverts to its normal volume.

The bottle is admirably suited for liquid cosmetics such as liquid deodorants as it lends itself to use with a spray head which may be inserted in the neck of the bottle thus to form a dispenser which may be used as an atomizer for discharging the liquid deodorant from the bottle in the form of pufls of mist.

As shown, the spray head I3 comprises a single piece of molded, thermoplastic material and includes a top plate 35 having an annular shoulder 36 lying on the rim of the neck-portion H of the bottle. Centrally of the top plate 35, there is, at the outer surface, a pinhole 31 which expands downwardly, providing a chamber 38 in the form of a frustum of a cone. A circular skirt 39 extends downwardly from top plate 35 and engages, in a pressed fit, the inner surface of the neck ll of the bottle. Extending radially from the skirt 39 are a number of baflle portions 40, circumferentially spaced around the interior of the skirts. Baflles 40 terminate short of the axis of the skirt, thus providing a central opening 4| into which is inserted the upper end of the small diameter tube l4 also made of thermoplastic material. The inner ends of baflles 40 forming the central opening 4| are tapered outwardly in a downward direction so that on insertion of the tube II it may be pressed 3 upwardly to insure a gripping action on the tube to keep it in place, it being noted that the upper open end of the tube l4 terminates short of the undersurface of top plate 35, to provide passageways 42a from passageways 42 between bames 40 into the central opening 4| which communicate with chamber 38 in the spray head. The tube I4 extends downwardly into the interior of the bottle. its lower open end terminating short of the bottom wall 32 of the body portion In of the bottle. The removable closure cap I: comprises a cap plate 43 having a downwardly pro- Jecting central lug 44 to engage top plate 35 of the spray head to seal the pinhole 31 and a depending circular skirt 45. This skirt is internally threaded providing a female thread to engage the external thread 46 on the outside of the neck ll of the bottle so that the closure cap I2 may be screwed on the neck of the bottle or unscrewed and removed therefrom.

The bottle, as will be seen from the foregoing description is particularly useful as a dispenser of liquid deodorant. Assuming that the bottle contains such a liquid deodorant and the closure cap is removed, it then serves as an atomizer to discharge the liquid in puffs of deodorant mist. Upon successive squeezes of the bottle by pressing the front and back walls 15 and Ii, the liquid is discharged through the pinhole 31 in little puffs of mist or spray. When the walls I 5 and ii are squeezed between the thumb and fingers, for example, the air in the bottle above the surface of the liquid is compressed, it having been noted above that the re-entrant side walls I! and 20 flex readily along the accordion pleats. The compressed air exerts a pressure on the surface of the liquid and the liquid rises in the tube I4 and is forced out the upper open end of tube l4. Meantime the air pressure forces. air up through passageways 42 between the baffles in the spray head. 'This air passes through passageways 42a into the central opening 4| of the spray head which communicates with chamber 38. The moving current of air atomizes the liquid discharged from the upper end of tube I4 and forces it out of pinhole 31 in a puff of mist. Upon release of the inward pressure on walls l5 and IS, the walls of the bottle return to their normal position, drawing in sufficient air through the pinhole to replace the air forced out by the prior squeeze. Successive puffs of deodorant mist may be discharged from the bottle on rapid ,successive squeezes of the bottle. Thus the bottle serves as a bellows container.

While a particular type of spray head has been described, it will be understood that the bellows bottle described lends itself to be used with other types of spray head which may beinserted in the neck. For example, in some instance and for some liquids a suitable spray head may be provided by providing a V-shaped notch through the wall of the tube i4 above the surface of the liquid in the bottle and then locating the tube so that its upper end engages the interior side walls of chamber 38 with a press fit. In this case baflles 4! may be dispensed with, if desired, as passageways 42 are not then necessary. Such a tube 14a is shown in Fig. 6, a V-shaped notch ll being provided in the wall of the tube with its apex toward the interior of the tube. The notch must be above the surface of the liquid in the bottle. with this type of tube, on squeezing the bottle as described above, the compressed air above the surface of the liquid forces the liquid 4 upwardly in tube l4a to notch 50. Meantime the compressed air causes a current to flow through the notch upwardly through the tube i4a. This atomizes the liquid flowing past the notch and discharges it from the upper end of the tube as a spray.

The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as term of description and not of limitation and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalent of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of invention claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A thermoplastic bottle for liquid cosmetic such as liquid deodorant serving as a dispenser of the liquid contained in the bottle as a spray in the manner of an atomizer which comprises, a body'portion having front and back walls of generally rectangular shape, a bottom wall, a top wall having a hollow neck and flexible re-entrant side walls, said side walls joining said front and back walls, and said re-entrant walls having their apices pointing toward the interior of said body portion, said flexible re-entrant walls forming accordion pleats which flex and deform from normal position to decrease the volume of said body portion when pressure is exerted on said back and front walls by squeezing and which return to their normal position upon release of said pressure to revert the body portion to its normal volume, an atomizer head in said neck having a top plate with a pinhole located centrally thereof and a communicating chamber, a skirt press-fitted into said hollow neck, a plurality of baflles extending inwardly from said skirt and terminating short of the axis of said neck to form a central opening, a tube in said body portion, the upper end of which is pressfitted in said central opening and which terminates below said chamber and the lower end of which terminates near said bottom wall, said baflles providing passageway for air from the interior of said body portion into said chamber, said bottle dispensing liquid contained therein through said pinhole in puffs of mist in response to successive squeezes of said bottle.

2. A thermoplastic bottle for liquid cosmetic such as liquid deodorant serving as a dispenser of the liquid contained in the bottle as a spray in the manner of an atomizer which comprises, a body portion having front and back walls of generally rectangular shape, a top wall having a hollow neck, flexible re-entrant side walls and reentrant bottom wall, said re-entrant bottom and side walls joining said front and back walls, and said re-entrant walls having their apices pointing toward the interior of said body portion notwithstanding hydrostatic pressure exerted by liquid contained in said bottle, said flexible reentrant walls forming accordion pleats which flex and deform to decrease the volume of said body portion when manual pressure is exerted on said back and front walls by squeezing and which return to their normal position upon release of said manual pressure to revert the body portion to its normal volume, an atomizer head in said neck having a top plate with a pinhole located centrally thereof and a communicating chamber, a skirt press-fitted into said hollow neck, a plurality of bailles extending inwardly from said skirt and terminating short of the axis of said neck to form a central opening, a tube in said body portion, the upper end of which is 5 press-fitted in said central opening and which ierminates below said chamber and the lower end of which terminates near said bottom wall, said baflies providing passageway for air from the interior of said body portion into said chamber, said bottle dispensing liquid contained therein through said pinhole in pufis of mist in response to successive squeezes of said bottle.

ROBERT P. VUILLEMENOT.

REFERENCES CITED Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Weitling Aug. 1, 1899 Heiman July 17, 1900 Berger July 21, 1914 Saipas Feb. 15, 1927 Dorment Jan. 10, 1928 Sinkler July 14, 1936 Ferngren Nov. 16, 1937 Parkhurst Mar. 30, 1943 Allen Sept. 7, 1948

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