Tubelike dispenser package

Abstract

An aperture forming structure, which when attached to or integrally formed in dispenser packages for flowable substances allows reclosure and single or multiple uses. The aperture forming structure includes a break away tip member of thermoformable plastic. The break away tip includes a hollow protrusion from a surface. The intersection of the hollow protrusion and the surface is a fault line. Rupturing of the fault line creates an aperture from which the contents of the dispenser package may exit. A cap may be integrally formed with the aperture forming structure and detached for protecting the hollow protrusion or for closing the aperture created when the fault line is ruptured. The aperture forming structure can be made by heating a relatively stiff substantially flat thermoformable sheet of and then stretching the sheet to create a first and a second hollow protrusion in a tiered configuration. A rupture line is placed at the intersection of the first and the second protrusions. The sheet may be attached to a pouch or containment member formed from a flexible sheet which contains any flowable substance. The disclosed opening and closure concepts are especially effective when used on a tetrahedral-shaped tube. Several dispenser packages include a sealed dispensing container with an easy opening aperture forming structure entirely made from a single sheet of plastic, which is reclosable after a single use by use of an integral formation.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to provisional patent application serial No. 60 / 078,415, herein incorporated by reference.[0002] This invention relates to easy opening, self-contained, easy to use, single or multiple use dispenser packages capable of economical, high speed production, manufactured from a broad range of materials, many of which are recyclable. They may contain such products as syrups, cream, cheeses, salad dressings, shampoo, hand-cream, liquid detergents, motor oil, toothpaste, pet food and many other products. It additionally relates to a package which has the capability of dispensing the contained product, e.g., mouthwash, cough syrup, confections, alcoholic beverages, etc., directly into the mouth of the user, and which also includes a reclosure cap member formed as an integral part of the package and which preferably is connected to the package by a tether or hinge member also formed integrally with the package. It will also be seen that the easy opening...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a new and improved method and apparatus for creating an aperture in a thermoformable plastic material for use in a dispenser package. The aperture can be easily and reliably opened by the user and provides a means for dispensing the contents of the package in a directionally controllable stream. The invention also provides a new and improved reclosable package with an integrally formed cap member that can be easily attached to a container wall or surface. The cap member can be formed from a single piece of plastic film and is recyclable. The invention also provides a new and improved method of making a dispenser package from recyclable plastic material. Overall, the invention provides a more efficient, reliable, and user-friendly way to create and use dispenser packages."

Problems solved by technology

Although this type of package is universally used, it is also universally disliked by the consumer.

Creating the initial tear to break the packages seal is often very difficult, often requiring the assistance of the user's teeth.

Moreover, once the initial tear is created, the laminated foil and / or plastic material not only often tears in an uncontrolled fashion, but the holding pressure exerted by one of the user's hands often forces the contents out of the envelope not only before the user is ready to apply the contents, but even before the tearing motion is complete.

Opening these packages leads to frayed tempers, broken fingernails, and chipped teeth, as well as other problems.

In the case of invalids, arthritis sufferers and other handicapped people, opening these packages is virtually impossible.

Yet another problem associated with these prior packages is the impossibility of efficient reclosure, thereby precluding multiple use of the package, with consequent waste of the unused contents.

Further disadvantages include the sachet's inability to function effectively with low viscosity products such as coffee cream, mouthwash or alcoholic beverages, due to the inability of the torn opening to control the direction of flow of such liquids from the package.

These packages also are generally totally unrecyclable, and therefore become environmental pollutants.

Such packages are often used as coffee creamers and have many disadvantages, including difficulty in peeling off the top in order to open, as well as difficulty in pouring, accidental spilling, and the inability to be reclosed so as to preclude more than a single use.

These packages only dispense dry, solid flowables with the assistance of gravity, and cannot be used to contain, no less dispense, "wet" or liquid flowable materials.

Small, very expensive, metal capped bottles are used for alcoholic drinks and are either poured or consumed directly from the bottle.

They never truly reclose and at best are messy and unclean looking.

This little injection molded duo is costly to make and to install, possibly on the order of 3 to 5 cents and is commonly used on large gable top juice containers in the half gallon size.

These are expensive, high profit items selling for about three dollars each and can bear the extra tariff for the screw-on outlets.

Producers however are reluctant to increase carton cost significantly and the public continues to use difficult to open cartons.

Another disadvantage currently experienced with dispensing packages is the closing of the outlet opening.

Both the separately molded gasketed cap and the threaded tube result in increased manufacturing costs.

Additionally, the cap, as often as not, is dropped and / or lost while it is being threaded on or off.

Thus, the cap members currently in use have the disadvantage that they tend to increase the overall cost of manufacture of the dispensing package.

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