US3231156A

US3231156A - Container with snap-in plastic nozzle

Info

Publication number: US3231156A
Application number: US229675A
Authority: US
Inventors: Schultz Robert Stephen
Original assignee: American Can Co
Current assignee: Primerica Inc
Priority date: 1962-10-10
Filing date: 1962-10-10
Publication date: 1966-01-25
Anticipated expiration: 1983-01-25

Description

Jan. 25, 1966 R. s. SCHULTZ CONTAINER WITH SNAP-IN PLASTIC NOZZLE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 10, 1962 I BY f a W QV Arroe/vzrs Jan. 25, 1966 R. s. SCHULTZ 3,231,156

CONTAINER WITH SNAP-IN PLASTIC NOZZLE Filed Oct. 10, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jig .7

7 Z/i Z56 Z77 Z29 Z}; 5 Z20 8 57 V 270% 1 INVENTOR.

05597 572 /75 \SCf/UL TZ BY @,Z %6'/ZA ATTORNEYS Jan. 25, 1966 R. s. SCHULTZ CONTAINER WITH SNAP-IN PLASTIC NOZZLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 10, 1962 INVENTOR. 055 7 57f'P/9f/1/ saw/172" United States Patent 3,231,156 CONTAINER WITH SN AP-IN PLASTIC NGZZLE Robert Stephen Schultz, Somerville, N.J., assignor to AmericanCan Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 229,675 4 Claims. (Cl. 222-569) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 860,402 filed December 18, 1959.

This invention relates to containers including snap-in plastic nozzles and especially to collapsible containers of soft metal provided with nozzle inserts of slightly flexible thermoplastic material.

For certain purposes it is desirable to provide metal collapsible containers in "which the nozzles are of other materials, especially where the product to be dispensed is a paste composed of ingredients which may pick up an objectionable color or cast from metal as it is extruded through the neck, or where the neck is used as an applicator for depositing the product on a body part as in the case of an eye ointment.

Such nozzleshave been effectively constructed by molding .them of. plastic material with a flange at the base, placing the flange in a suitable prepared seat on the container, and .then swaging or spinning portions of the container metal into locking position about the flange to hold the nozzle in place. While the results of this procedure are eltectiveinsofar as the container produced is concerned, the extra mechanical operations required to assemble the parts are rather expensive and methods have been sought to avoid this.

In one instance there has been developed a plastic nozzle which can be assembled to the container by merely pushing the nozzle into place so that it snaps into operat'ive position and is firmly held to the container neck. However, the design of this container and nozzle are such that the neck portion of the nozzle requires a slight stretching in order to place the nozzle in the container. This gives, in practice, a very firm mounting for the nozzle, but requires rather high forces in placement of the nozzle, and furthermore necessitates constructing the nozzle with a stepped bore which must not only be carefully fit onto an inserting tool for assembly, but which requires a slightly larger nozzle for a given size of exit passage, as well as necessitating critical control of the nozzle wall thickness so as to keep the inserting pressure within easily operable range.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a combination between a container and a plastic nozzle therefor so arranged that the nozzle can be readily snapped into place with merely a straight pushing action on one end of the nozzle structure without the necessity for first fitting the nozzle bore onto an assembly tool, but which still provides an adequately firm connection between the container and nozzle for all purposes.

It is a feature of the present invention that the resilient action which holds the nozzle in place comes about from the deflection either in an axial or radial direction of a flange at one end of the nozzle, and that it is mainly the periphery of the flange which is deflected by flexing of the flange Wall so that the degree of force required in placement is quite readily controlled without the necessity for maintaining excessively close tolerances on the nozzle wall thickness.

It is afeature of the invention in one of the forms thereof that the container neck is formed with integral threads for reception of the cap threads, so that the cap is not retained by the nozzle, and the question of whether the possibility of nozzle rotatability might interfere with the removability of a tight cap is avoided.

I ice It is also a feature of the present invention that in those cases where the nozzle is provided with threads to receive the cap threads, the container bodypart and the nozzle part are provided with an improved mechanical interlock whichprecludes nozzle rotation so that the latter cannot interfere with removal of a tight cap.

It is a further feature .of the invention that the mechanical interlock design employed is one which is not only readily moldable on the plastic nozzle part, but is also readily obtainable on the container body part simultaneously with the impact extrusion step commonly used to construct collapsible metallic tubes.

Additional objects, features and advantages will appear hereinafter as the description proceeds.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout the same:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation .of one common type of container, namely the collapsible metal tube type, to which the present invention is applicable;

FIGUREZ is an enlarged axial section of a neck portionof the container of FIGURE 1 Withthe cap removed;

ing the samein relaxed position before insertion;

FIGURE 4 .is an axial section similar to FIGURE 2,

but illustrating an alternate form of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a transverse. section taken on line '5- 5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged detail fragmentary section taken in the same direction as FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an axial section similar to FIGUREQ, but showing still another alternate form .of the invention;

FIGURE 8 is a transverse section taken on line'8--8 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is an axial section showing another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 10 is a transverse fragmentary section taken generally along the line Ill-1ii of FIGURE 9; and

FIGURE 11 is a view like FIGURE 9, but illustrating another form which the present invention may take.

Referring now to the drawings, and firstto FIGUREI thereof, the present invention is concerned with containers 11 made up of two separate parts which may be, but are not necessarily, of separate materials. In the form shown, the container body "13 is a collapsible metal tube such as are commonly manufactured lhy impact extrusion from lead, tin and aluminum. The container is completed by:a nozzle insert 15 of relatively stifll but somewhat resilient thermoplastic material, eg, .polyetlhylene, or other material having similar mechanical properties. As shown in FIGURE 2,the body 13 has a conical breast l7 and an integrally-formed threaded neck 19 to which may be threadedly attached the cap 21 (FIGURE 1), the breast and neck fonrning the end member of the container. While the container is shown in FIGURE 1 as being in completely filled 'andlclosed form, heing sealed at the lower end by crimping or by a clip 23, it wil be understood that \during the manipulations involved in inserting the nozzle 15, the tube is still in incomplete condition with the lower end open.

The nozzle 15 comprises a main section. 25 which is designed to fit closely but non-b indingly within the neck 19 of the container body, a nose piece 27, a base flange 2 and a radial retaining rib 31 between the main section and the nose piece. As is seen in FIGURE 3, the flange 29 is flat when in relaxed condition, and the distance between the flange 29 and rib 31, designated X in FIGURE 3, bears a particular relationship to the container dimension. As can be seen in FIGURE 2, this dimension X is made just sufliciently great that when the nozzle is seated, the periphery Olf flange 29 is deflected significantly in an axial direction by the breast 17 02E the container so as to maintain a firm spring pressure keeping the nozzle seated at all times. In other words, the axial distance X between the rib 31 and relaxed flange 29 measured at the radius of flange contact, is less than the axial distance Y between the top of the container body neck and the under surface of the container breast, measured at the radius of flange contact.

While there is here particularly shown and described an arangement wherein the breast 17 is conical and the flange 29 is flat, it will of course be understood that various combinations of non-matching surfaces can be employed for this purpose. For example, the breast 17 can be flat and the flange 29 convex in its lower aspect, or the breast 17 can be even more steeply conical and the flange somewhat less steep and concave in its lower aspect.

From the foregoing it can be seen that all that is necessary to install the nozzle in the container body 13 is to insert the nozzle, nose first, through the open bottom of the container body and project it through the neck 19 from the inside out. Then a firm push at the center of the nozzle overcomes the interference fit between the rib 31 and the neck 19 and forces the former through to its ultimate locked position as shown in FIGURE 2. While it is not essential, the neck 19 may, if desired, be formed with a slight internal taper to assist in leading the rib 31 therethrough.

Attention is also called to the fact that the neck and breast portions of the container are preferably not contoured to fit snugly against the flange in deflected position but are designed to leave a small space 33 adjacent the main body of the nozzle. This simplifies driving the nozzle home and allows suflicient overtravel to insure full locking expansion of rib 31 before the assembly pressure is withdrawn.

When the parts are assembled as shown in FIGURE 2, the cap 21 can be threaded on the threads of neck 19, and regardless of whether the thread fit is tight or not, the independence of the nozzle from the thread assures that cap removal cannot be interfered with by any possibel tendency on the nozzle to turn within the neck 19.

In FIGURES 4 to 6 there is shown another form of the present invention rather similar to the form shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, but differing therefrom in that the neck of the container body is unth-readed and the threads complementing those in the cap 21 are formed instead on the nose piece of the nozzle. Here the container 111 includes a body designated as 113 and has a breast 117 and an unthreaded neck 119. The nozzle 115 has a nose portion 127 including a threaded section 128, a main body portion 125 within the neck 119, a flange 129, and a locking rib 131. The parts are generally similar to those described for FIGURES 2 and 3 and act in generally similar fashion. It should be noted, however, that the flange 129, instead of having a circular periphery, is constructed with a non-circular periphery designed for matching with a corresponding non circular shape formed near the shoulder of the container 119 so as to constitute a non-rotary connection between the two parts. The configuration considered most practical at present is a fine sawtooth shape with teeth 135 being formed on the flange 129 during molding of nozzle 115, and teeth 137 being formed inside the shoulder of body 113 by a properly shaped impact extrusion punch. The fine tooth outline assures easy meshing without requiring intentional orientation, and if desired the upper corners of the teeth 135 may even have a sloping profile to assist in camming the teeth readily into mesh. As can be seen in FIGURE 6, the teeth 135 of the flange 129 are preferably placed at an appreciably smaller radius than the teeth 137 to provide a free meshing action without requiring pressure to effect the meshing fit. From the foregoing it can be seen that when the parts are assembled, the nozzle 115 is locked against rotation with respect to the body 113 so that there is no chance for the nozzle to turn in case there should be an unduly tight fit between the cap and the threads 128.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGURES 7 and 8 there is a container 211 consisting of a body 213 which has a breast 217 and an unthreaded neck 219. The nozzle 215 has a nose portion 227 including a threaded section 228, a main body portion 225 within the neck 219",e and a flange 229 which in this instance is positioned be tween the main body portion 225 and the nose portion 227.

This form of the invention is designed for connection of the nozzle to the container body by approach from the exterior of the container, and consequently the neck 219 includes an external lip ring or flange 220, while the nozzle flange 229 carries a cooperating resilient lock ring 230 designed to have an interference fit with the lip ring 229 and to snap thereover when the nozzle is pushed home. If desired the lock ring 230 may have an interior sloping surface 230' designed to aid in camming it open during placement.

As in the case of the FIGURE 4 form of the invention, it is desirable to secure the nozzle against any possible tendency to rotate if a tight-fitting cap should be placed thereon. Here the result is achieved by non-circular interfitting parts on the main body portion 225 of the nozzle 215, and on the interior surface of the neck 219 of the container body 213. In the particular form shown there are molded on the exterior of the body por tion 313, saw tooth flutes 235 designed to fit internai: saw tooth flutes 237 formed in the neck material. If the container is impact extruded, these latter may be readily formed by properly shaping the female die of the extru sion pair.

It will be noted that the arrangement of parts shown in FIGURES 6 to 8 is adaptable to various kinds of con tainers and is especially useful when the container is by its nature closed on the bottom, or in cases where bottom closure precedes nozzle attachment for any reason.

Another form of nozzle construction embodying the novel concepts of this invention appears in FIGURES 9 and 10, and is designated therein generally by the numeral 3%. The plastic snap-in-place nozzle is formed to include an externally threaded neck portion 301 and a body portion 302, there being located between the neck and body portions a locking ring 303.

The body portion 302 is equipped with a plurality of axially directed toothed serrations 304a which interlock with complementary serrations 304b provided on the inner diameter of neck portion 305 of a metal container C. It may further be seen from FIGURE 9 that the nozzle member 300 has a generally radially directed flange portion 3% which bears against the inner surface of a sloping breast portion 307 on the container C. Additionally, the nozzle body portion 302 has a sloping shoulder portion 308 which receives a mating shoulder portion 309 on the tube neck 305.

In common with the other forms of the instant invention the nozzle member 300 is pushed axially within the container C from the unsealed end thereof to a position of rest and firm locking assembly with the container upper portion by means of the locking ring 303, mating shoulder surfaces 598 and 369, interengaging toothed serrations Nita and 304b, and abutment between the radial flange 3G6 and tube breast portion $137. A rapid snap-in-place connection is achieved, and provision of the axial flutes or serrations prevents relative rotation between the nozzle 3% and container C.

The nozzle construction of FIGURE 9 may be seen to be of relatively shorter neck length as compared with the earlier described forms of the invention, and thus canbe used for a greater diversity of applications than the forms of FIGURES 1 to 8. The relatively short length embodiment of FIGURE 9 is thereby of important application in connection with any product which might pick up an objectionable color or cast from metal as it is extruded through the tube neck, and a typical usage might be with fluoride-containing dentifrices.

Certain applications may dictate the use of a plastic neck insert integral with a body liner for the container, the liner thereby being in substitution for an internal coating applied in fluid form to the interior of the container for protective reasons. This form of the invention is illustrated in FIGURE 11, and the integral insert-liner is designated therein generally by the numeral 400. The member 400 incorporates an externally threaded neck portion 401 for receiving a closure device 402. The nozzle is further provided with an external locking ring 403 engageable with the upper surface of container neck portion 404, and extending in the opposite direction from the locking ring 403 is a plurality of fine toothed serrations 405 on nozzle body portion 406, these serrations making mating contact with complementary serrations 407 on the container neck 404.

The nozzle-liner member 400 is additionally equipped with a radially directed flange portion 408 bearing against .the inner surface of the container breast portion 409, and

extending axially from the flange portion 408 is liner member 410. The liner is sized to make close hugging contact with the inner diameter of container body portion 411, and this same liner may extend essentially completely toward the opposite open end of the container, preferably being slightly shorter than the container body so as not to create a possible interference with the crimping action at the opposite open end of the container.

The nozzle-liner member 400 of FIGURE 11 is installed in substantially the same manner as the preceding forms of the invention, and the nozzle member is effectively locked by provision of the radially directed flange 408 and locking ring 403. As well, the nozzleliner member is restrained against rotation within the container by means of the mating

toothed serations

405 and 407.

From the foregoing it can be seen that I have produced a novel container nozzle combination capable of ready assembly in a simple and practical snap-in fashion but which coincidentally insures that no problems from tight caps can arise as a result of this type of assembly.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A container comprising an end member having an opening therein and being provided with a rib engaging surafce; and a passaged nozzle received in said opening and secured to said end member, said nozzle being formed in one piece of a resilient plastic material and including a body portion insertable through the opening from the side directed toward the container interior, a radially directed flange adjacent the inner end of said body portion, a locking rib on the periphery of said body portion axially spaced from said flange, said rib being of a larger diameter than said opening and capable of being forced through the opening and of resiliently expanding to lock against the rib-engaging surface of the end member, the length of the body of said nozzle between said locking rib and said flange being slightly greater than the distance between said rib engaging surface and the inner surface of the breast portion of said end member thereby causing said resilient plastic material between said locking rib and flange to be locked and under tension between said rib engaging surface and said inner breast surface, and matching toothed serrations on said nozzle and on an inner surface of said end member extending around each of them at locations such that the serrations mesh and slide axially relative to one another upon nozzle instal- U lation and prevent relative rotation between said nozzle and said end member.

2. A container comprising a body, an integral end wall and an upstanding neck member providing a rib engaging surface having an opening therein; a passaged nozzle member received in said opening and secured to said neck member, said nozzle being formed in one piece of a resilient plastic material and including a body portion insertable through the opening from the side directed toward the container interior, a radially directed flange adjacent the inner end of said body portion and bearing against said end wall of said container, a locking rib on the periphery of said body portion axially spaced from said flange, said rib being of a larger diameter than said opening and capable of being forced through the opening and of resiliently expanding to lock against said neck member, the length of the body of said nozzle between said locking rib and said flange being slightly greater than the distance between said rib engaging surface and the inner surface of said end wall thereby causing said resilient plastic material between said locking rib and flange to be locked and under tension between said rib engaging surface and said inner end wall surface, and matching toothed serrations on the body portion of said nozzle and on the inner surface of said neck member and extending around each of them at locations such that the serrations mesh and slide axially relative to one another upon nozzle installation and prevent relative rotation between said nozzle and said neck member.

3. A container of the character defined in claim 2, in which the neck portion has an inwardly directed flange portion bearing against the nozzle body portion and contacting said locking rib.

4. A collapsible tube comprising a tubular body; an integral end wall including a breast portion and an upstanding neck member terminating in an inwardly directed flange portion defining an opening and having an annular tapered surface directed toward the interior of said body; and a one-piece resilient plastic nozzle received in said opening, said nozzle including a tubular body portion secured within said neck member, an annular locking rib spaced from the inner end of said body portion of greater diameter than said opening and capable of being forced through the opening and of resiliently expanding to lock against the upper surface of said neck flange, and a radial outwardly directed flange at the inner end of said body portion snugly conforming to substantially the entire inner surface of said breast portion when said locking bead is locked over said neck flange, said body portion having an annular tapered surface spaced immediately below said locking rib tightly engaged against said tapered surface of said body flange, said neck member and body portion being provided with closely spaced, axial engageable tooth serrations between said radially outwardly directed flange and taper surface, to prevent relative rotation between said end wall and said nozzle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 940,128 11/ 1909 Childs 222-545 2,481,857 9/ 1949 Menheneott et al 222-92 2,760,691 8/ 1956 Henchert 222-566 2,805,006 9/ 1957 Henchert 222-566 2,815,887 12/1957 Ford et al 222-107 2,907,496 10/ 1959 Carstensen 222-566 X FOREIGN PATENTS 540,574 8/1955 Belgium.

854,951 11/1960 Great Britain.

352,278 3/ 1961 Switzerland.

M. HENSON WOOD, In, Primary Examiner. RAPHAEL M. LUPO, LOUIS J. DEMBO, Examiners.

Claims

1. A CONTAINER COMPRISING AN END MEMBER HAVING AN OPENING THEREIN AND BEING PROVIDED WITH A RIB-ENGAGING SURFACE; AND A PASSAGED NOZZLE RECEIVED IN SAID OPENING AND SECURED TO SAID END MEMBER, SAID NOZZLE BEING FORMED IN ONE PIECE OF A RESILIENT PLASTIC MATERIAL AND INCLUDING A BODY PORTION INSERTABLE THROUGH THE OPENING FROM THE SIDE DIRECTED TOWARD THE CONTAINER INTERIOR, A RADIALLY DIRECTED FLANGE ADJACENT THE INNER END OF SAID BODY PORTION, A LOCKING RIB ON THE PERIPHERY OF SAID BODY PORTION AXIALLY SPACED FROM SAID FLANGE, SAID RIB BEING OF A LARGER DIAMETER THAN SAID OPENING THE CAPABLE OF BEING FORCED THROUGH THE OPENING OF RESILIENTLY EXPANDING TO LOCK AGAINST THE RIB-ENGAGING SURFACE OF THE END MEMBER, THE LENGTH OF THE BODY OF SAID NOZZLE BETWEEN SAID LOCKING