US3299464A

US3299464A - Applicator package

Info

Publication number: US3299464A
Application number: US335489A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert J O'brien; Jr Elmer W Griese
Original assignee: EKCO CONTAINERS Inc
Current assignee: EKCO CONTAINERS Inc
Priority date: 1964-01-03
Filing date: 1964-01-03
Publication date: 1967-01-24
Anticipated expiration: 1984-01-24

Description

Jan. 24, 1967 APPLICATOR PACKAGE Filed Jan. s, 1964 R. J. O'BRIEN ETAL J7@ ver@ 507 /ZI/zerld/ 612255, l:

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United States 'Patent 3,299,464 APPLICATOR PACKAGE Robert J. OBrien, Evanston, and Elmer W. Griese, Jr.,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to Ekco Containers, Inc., a cor- .I poration of Illinois Filed Jan. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 335,489

9 Claims. (Cl. 15--506) This invention relates to applicator packages of the kind wherein a dauber housed within the package and carried by the closure may be used to spread or apply a owable liquid or cream-like substance that is contained in the package.

Applicator packages of the aforesaid characterhave found their principal use in connection with liquid or semiliquid shoe polishes, and with cleaning liquids where the dauber functioned as a rubbing means as well as an applicator, andas heretofore used such applicator packages have been so constructed as to require a relatively large container or bottle containing a relatively great quantity of material, and these packages have therefore constituted multiple use packages.

In view of the foregoing it is the primary object of the invention to Venable single use, disposable applicator packages to be produced, and an `object related to the foregoing is to enable such applicator packages to be produced rapidly and economically. Further and more specific objects of the present invention are to provide a novel cover-dauber assembly thatis simple in its design and construction and which is grasped and'used as a dauber in a new and convenient manner, to provide such a coverdauber assembly in which the cover is impervious in character and is adapted to be heat sealed to a container to `hermetically seal the dauber and the liquid or similar material within the container, and to provide such a coverdauber assembly wherein oppositely projecting wings or tabs on the cover may be grasped in unison between the fingers and thumb of the user with the dauber exposed and in position such that the material contained in the dauber may be applied in an efficient and convenient manner.`

Other and further objects of the present invention will beapparent from the following description and claims, andare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, by way of illustration, show apreferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof, and what is now considered to be the best mode in which to apply these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention.

In the drawings:`

' i FIG. 1 is a. full size bottom perspective of a single use applicator package embodying the features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section view of the package immediately after it has been s-ealed;

yFIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and showing the condition within the package after the owable material has been absorbed by the dauber;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view, from the line 4--4 of FIG. 2, showing the-cover-dauber assembly of the package;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional View showing the coverdauber assembly and the container in a separated relation; FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmental portion of FIG. 2; and i FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which the cover-dauber assembly is grasped and used.

' For purposesv of disclosure the invention is herein illustrated as embodied lin a relatively small single `use applicator package that is formed from a shallow top-hanged container 21 having a flexible impervious cover 22 hermeti- ICC cally sealed across the flanged top of the container 21 and yhaving an absorbent dauber 2? xed to the cover 22 within the container 21 where it may absorb the package contents such as a quick drying liquid shoe polish 24. When the cover 22 is separated or pulled from the container 21, oppositely extended tabs or wings W formed on and as parts of cover 22 serve as a holding or handle means whereby the dauber 23 may be supported and manipulated, as an applicator for the liquid material carried in the -dauber 23.

The container 2l as herein shown is circular in plan form and as shown in FIG. 6, is formed from aluminum foil to provide a bottom wall 21B, a smooth sloping side wall 21S, and a smooth surfaced outward ange 21F at the upper edge of the side wall 21S. Preferably the outer edge of the flange 21F has means such as a protective roll 21R formed thereon.

The cover 22 is made from `a paper-aluminum foil laminate which, as shown in FIG. 6, comprises an upper paper sheet 26 laminated to a lower aluminum foil sheet 27, and preferably the lower face of the aluminum foil sheet 27 has an -overall coating 28 of a protective adhesive that may be activated by heat and pressure. The adhesive 28 may thus be activated 4locally in areas opposite the ange 21F to hermetically seal the cover 22 to the flange 21F and thus provide a hermetically sealed package. The

adhesive 28 is also utilized in the present instance to X the dauber 23 in position on the lower or inner face of the cover 22.

The dauber 23 is made from a foamed resilient plastic material of the yopen-cell absorbent type, and preferably the cells of the foam are relatively tine or small so that liquid is discharged uniformly and to the best advantage when the dauber 23 is used in the general manner shown in FIG. 7.

The foam material of the dauber 23 is preferably cellulose, and under this invention the foam; material is obtained in a compressed and `relatively thin dry sheet s0 as to facilitate high speed automatic filling and sealing of t-he packages 20, as will be described. The compressed sheet of foam material has a dry thickness that is but a small fraction of its wet or normal thickness, and preferably a sheet is selected that has a normal or wet thickness approximating or slightly exceeding the depth of the container 21. The compressed, dried foam material is die cut, preferably into square pieces, as shown in FIG. 4, and these pieces are adhesively secured centrally on the lower face of the cover 22. While separately applied adhesive might be used, it is considered preferable to accomplish the mounting of the dauber 23 :by applying heat and pressure which activates the adhesive coating 28. The Icover 22 and the dauber 23 thus provide a sub-assembly which' may be heat sealed to the container 21 after the desired amount of liquid or owable material 24 has been loaded therein, and under the present invention, the cover 22 and the dauber 23 are so formed and related to each other that when the -cover 22 is peeled from the container 21, the oppositely projecting tabs or wings W of the cover 22 may lbe grasped and 4held in the manner shown in FIG. 7 to thereby dispose the dauber 23 in position for effective and convenient use.

In the production of packages 20 high speed conveying and lling mechanisms of conventional design may be employed, and the flowable or liquid material 24 is introduced into successive containers in a measured amount that is suicient for the single use or operation to be performed. Preferably the measured ll is such that it may be absorbed completely by the dauber 23. The size and depth of the container 21 is related to this measured till in such a way that when the cover 22 is put in place,

as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the dry compressed dauber 23 will be spaced from the upper surface of the fill material 24. Thus, the cover-dauber unit may be put in place rapidly and by automatic means without danger of splashing or displacing the ll material 24 onto the anges 21F or the sealant layer 28. Contamination of the seal area is thus avoided, and the cover 22 may be sealed reliably to the ilange 21F by application of heat and pressure in a knwon manner and by conventional means.

When the hermetic sealing operation Ihas been cornpleted, the dauber 23 remains in its dry `compressed form as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 until further handling in packing or shipping brings the liquid material 24 into contact with the dauber 23. When this occurs, the liquid is absorbed by the foam material which at this time expands in thickness and assumes its normal wet thickness as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7. All or substantially all of the fill material is absorbed by the dauber 23, and although slight traces of the fill material may remain outside the dauber 23, as indicated at 24T in FIG. 3, these traces are negligible in practice and will not ordinarily run or spill from the container 21 after the package 20 has been opened.

When contents of the package 2i) are to be used, the package 2t) rnust be opened by peeling the -cover 22 from the container 21, an-d to facilitate this opening Operation as well as the subsequent handling and use of the cover-dauber assembly, the cover 22, the container 21 and the dauber 23 are related to each other in a particular manner. Thus it will ybe observed in FIGS. 1 and 4 that the cover 22 is basically of diamond shape with the corners of the diamond rounded, the two corners at the ends of the minor axis of the cover 22 :being rounded at 122 so as to constitute portions of a circle 122C centered at the intersection of major and minor axes and having a diameter equal substantially to the outer diameter of the ange 2llF. As will be evident in FIG. 4, the square dauber 23 is disposed on the cover 22 with opposite sides 23S of the `dauber 23 parellel to the minor axis of the cover, and this serves to increase the effective length of the Wings W. Thus in FIG. 4 the Wings W are indicated as extending to the sides 23S of the dauber 23.

When the cover 22 is in place on the container 2l, the rounded corners 122 of the cover 22 fall directly over portions of the edge of the ange 21F, and the user may thus grip and 'hold the container by engaging opposite edges of the flange at opposite ends of the minor axis of the cover. While holding the `container in this manner in one hand, the user may peel back the wings W in succession, leaving portions of the cover 22 in the regions of the corners 122 still attached to the container 21.

The user may then engage and hold the two wings W in the relation shown in FIG. 7, and `by then grasping and pulling on one or both of the released portions of the flange 211:, the opening operation may be completed. Hence, at the end of the opening operation the .user has the cover-dauber unit under control and ready for immediate use as shown in FIG. 7. As the dauber 23 is removed from position within the container 21 it carries the entire measured quantity of liquid or ow- :able material and the container 21 may therefore be discarded at once, while the dauber cover unit may be discarded after the desired use has been made thereof.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that the present invention provides a new and useful single use applicator package, and that the package thus provided is simple and economical in character and is adaptable for rapid production by known types of automatic equipment.

It will also be evident that the single use applicator package provided by this invention may be handled, opened and used in a simple and convenient manner.

Thus, while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated herein, .it is to -be understood that changes and variation may Vbe made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a hermetically sealed single use applicator package, a shallow metal-foil container having a side wall and a continuous smooth surfaced outwardly extending flange about the top of the side wall, a cover made from a paper-metal foil laminate extended across said container and having the metal foil thereof hermetically sealed to the flange of said container, said cover having a dauber made from open cell foam material secured centrally to said metal foil of the cover within said container, flowable material in said container in an amount that may be absorbed and carried in substantially in its entirety by said dauber, and said cover having integral wing members extending in opposite directions beyond said ange for use in peeling the cover from the container and thereafter for holding and supporting the dauber while using the dauber to apply said owable material to a surface or the like.

2. In a hermetically sealed single use applicator package, a shallow metal-foil container having a side wall and a continuous smooth surfaced outwardly extending flange about the top of the side wall, a cover made from a papermetal foil laminate extended across said container and having an exposed metal foil layer hermetically sealed to the flange of said contaier, said cover having a dauber made from open cell foam material secured centrally to said metal foil layer within said container, flowable material in said container in an amount that may be absorbed and carried substantially in its entirety by said dauber, and said cover having integral wing members extending in opposite directions beyond said flange for use in peeling the cover from the container and thereafter for holding and supporting the dauber while using the dauber to apply said material to a surface or the like, said dauber being cut to a square layer with opposite side edges of the dauber arranged perpendicular to the direction in which said wings project.

3. In a cover-dauber unit adapted to be extended across a top flange metal foil container and to be sealed vto the flange of such a container to produce a hermetically sealed single use applicator package, said unit comprising a papermetal foil laminate adapted to close the top of a container and having a pair of integral wing members extending therefrom at diametrically opposite points beyond the edge of such a container, and a compressed dry open cell foam member secured to the foil side of the laminate centrally thereof.

4. A cover-dauber unit according to claim 3 wherein said foam member is made for cellulose. l

5. In a cover-dauber assembly adapted to be adhesively secured in place across and in hermetically sealed relation to the open top of a shallow top-flanged container, said cover-dauber assembly comprising a paper-metal foil-laminate adapted to span and close the container, and a body of open cell foam material secured to the foil side of said laminate and spaced from the edges thereof.

6. A cover unit according to claim 5 wherein the exposed face of the metal foil has its lower surface cornpletely coated with an adhesive adapted to be activated to seal the cover unit to opposed ange areas of a container.

7. In a hermetically sealed applicator package, an open top container having a owable material therein, a cover hermetically sealed to said container and having a cornpressed dry open cell foam member carried on its inner face in position to absorb such flowable material and function as an applicator when the cover is removed from the container.

S. In a hermetically sealed applicator package, an open top container having a llowable material therein, `a cover hermetically sealed to said container and havinga compressed dry absorbent member carried on its inner face 5 6 in position to absorb such flowable material and function References Cited by the Examiner` as an applicator when the cover is removed from the con- UNITED STATES PATENTS tainer.

9. In a hermetically sealed applicator package, an open 2007238 7/1935 Anderson 15-244 top container having a owable material therein, a re- 5 FOREIGN PATENTS movable cover hermetically sealed to said container and 780 443 7/1957 Great Britain.

having a compressed, expandable, absorbent member carried on the inner face of said cover, said member being ROBERT W' MICHELL, Primary Examiner; of such size relative to said container and made of such material that it expands and absorbs such owable mate- 10 CHARLES A' WILLMUTH Examiner' rial upon contact therewith and functions as an applica- P. R. ARVIDSON, Assistant Examiner. tor when the cover is removed from the container.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3 ,299,464 January 24 1967 Robert J. U'iBrien et alc.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4, line 28, for "contaier" read container n; line 52, for "for" read from d 4 Signed and sealed this 24th of October 1967.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Ir. EDWARD J. BRENNER Attesting Officer C Commissioner of Patents

Claims

9. IN A HERMETICALLY SEALED APPLICATOR PACKAGE, AN OPEN TOP CONTAINER HAVING A FLOWABLE MATERIAL THEREIN, A REMOVABLE COVER HERMETICALLY SEALED TO SAID CONTAINER AND HAVING A COMPRESSED, EXPANDABLE, ABSORBENT MEMBER CARRIED ON THE INNER FACE OF SAID COVER, SAID MEMBER BEING OF SUCH SIZE RELATIVE TO SAID CONTAINER AND MADE OF SUCH MATERIAL THAT IT EXPANDS AND ABSORBS SUCH FLOWABLE MATERIAL UPON CONTACT THEREWITH AND FUNCTIONS AS AN APPLICATOR WHEN THE COVER IS REMOVED FROM THE CONTAINER.