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(11) | EP 0 132 875 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Pouring adapter insert |
| (57) @ A pouring adapter insert for bottles containing tiquid products, allowing quick
delivery ofthe desired quantity of liquid without spurting or glugging. |
[0001] The present invention relates to a new and improved pouring adapter insert for use on bottles for liquid products.
[0002] Bottles for dispensing liquids are frequently provided with a pouring adapter fitment located within the neck of the bottle, which influences the flow and prevents spilling and dripping of the contents. Such fitments usually fit over and engage the edge of the neck of the bottle and have provisions for egress of liquid and inlet of air. They frequently have an annular pouring lip.
[0003] U.S. Patent 3.980.211 discloses a pouring adapter- closure assembly which regulates the flow of the liquid to avoid spurting and glugging. It has however been found that this kind of configuration is not regulating the flow in the same satisfactory way for liquids with different types of viscosity.
[0004] U.S. Patent 3.693.847 discloses a bottle cap and pouring fitment assembly, which pouring fitment is located inside the neck of the bottle. Here again, it has been found that this pouring fitment does not operate equally well with liquids of different viscosities.
[0005] It has also been found that with none of the existing pouring adapter inserts, the desired quantity of liquid can be dispensed in a sufficiently short time without spurting or glugging, if the liquid has a certain degree of viscosity. Dispensing of a given quantity in a short period of time may be desirable e.g. for metered dispensing of liquid detergents or softeners,
[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a pouring adapter insert for use on bottles for liquid products, which regulates the flow of the liquid to avoid spurting and glugging.
[0007] It is a further object of the invention to permit dispensing a given quantity of liquid within a given time limit without spurting or glugging.
[0009] It has been found that, in order to properly control the flow of liquid without spurting or glugging, and at the same time have a given quantity of liquid delivered in a certain time-limit, it is not sufficient to just arrange for egress of liquid and inlet of air. The critical requirement to comply with is rather the way in which the air is guided into the bottle, the volume of air being dependent on the quantity of liquid to be dispensed and the speed at which the given quantity has to be dispensed. This speed will, in turn, be influenced by the viscosity of the product to be dispensed.
[0010] Additionally, the insert can be provided with other functional features which are already known like an annular drip free pouring lip, or a disc-like bottom wall for surge control of the product.
[0011] A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawings in which
- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the pouring adapter insert of Fig. 2;
- Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the pouring adapter insert, taken along line 2-2 of Fig, 1;
- Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the pouring adapter insert located inside a bottle neck, taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.
[0012] Referring to the drawings, the pouring adapter insert is preferably made of a resilient flexible material to facilitate easy insertion into the bottle neck and subsequent stable positioning in said bottle neck.
[0013] Pouring adapter insert 1 as shown in Fig. 2 presents a circular wall, the top part 3 of which is vertical whereas the lower part 4 is slightly tapered. The bottom surface has a conical shape. The top edge of the insert is equipped with an annular drip-free pouring lip 8. Slightly below this pouring lip 8 a peripheral horizontal flange 7 is provided to position the insert on the upper edge of the bottle neck. The diameter of the pouring adapter insert is such that the vertical part 3 of the wall frictionally engages the interior of the bottle neck. A certain number of slots 5 are foreseen in the tapered part 4 of the wall.
[0014] Figure 1 shows a top plan view of the same pouring adapter insert 1, whereby 7 indicates the peripheral positioning flange, 8 the peripheral drip-free pouring lip, 6 the conical bottom and 5 the slots foreseen in the tapered part 4 of the wall.
[0015] Figure 3 shows the pouring adapter insert of figure 2 frictionally engaging vertical bottle neck 2 and resting with flange 7 on the upper edge 9 of said vertical bottle neck 2.
[0016] In order to properly guide the air into the bottle and permit the liquid to be dispensed without spurting or glugging, it has been found that the upper 1/3 of slits 5 should be positioned alongside the lower part of vertical bottle neck 2, whereas the lower 2/3 of slits 5 should reach into the body 10 of the bottle.
[0017] The dimensions and number of slits is dependent on the quantity of liquid to be dispensed, the viscosity of the liquid to be dispensed and the speed at which this has to be achieved. It has, however, been found that, when the number of slits is at least 5, there is no orientation problem when inserting the pouring adapter insert into a bottle neck of a bottle not having a perfectly cylindrical shape.
[0018] The above described pouring adapter insert has been tested for dispensing a liquid having a viscosity ranging from 50 to 100 CPS. The result to be reached was to have 37 cc delivered within 2 sec. without spurting or glugging and without the need for a measuring device. This was absolutely impossible without insert since the flow was dependent upon the user as no controlling means were provided. When using the type of flow control device as described in the above U.S. patents 3,693,847 or 3,980,211 after having adapted the dimensions to the viscosity of the liquid to be dispensed, it was found that, in order to dispense the desired quantity, more than 2 sec. were required and some glugging still occurred when it was tried to dispense the liquid more rapidly. Testing the inserts with a transparent bottle neck clearly indicated that it was the way in which the incoming air was meeting the egressing liquid, that was creating the nlugging.
[0019] Subsequently the same test was repeated with the pouring adapter insert of the present invention. An oval bottle with a vertical cylindrical bottle neck of 15 mm high was filled with the liquid. An insert having a circumferential wall height of 30 mm, measured from below the peripheral flange, of which the top 10 mm had a vertical shape whereas the bottom 20 mm had a slightly tapered shape, was provided and frictionally inserted into the bottle neck, resting by a peripheral flange on the upper edge of said bottle neck. The slightly tapered part of the peripheral wall, forming an angle of 5°, was provided with 5 slits, each 20 mm high and 2,5 mm broad. The inside diameter of the pouring adapter insert was 18 mm at the top and 15 mm at the bottom. It was found that, by tilting the bottle once, 37 cc were dispensed in 1,7 sec. without any spurting or glugging.
[0020] The test was repeated under the same conditions with a similar insert, with the variation that the lower part of the circumferential wall was not slightly tapered but had the same vertical shape and was in fact an extension of the top part. The lower part was provided with 5 slits, and the top 1/3 of each slit was positioned against the lower part of the vertical bottle neck. Here again 37 cc were dispensed in 1,7 sec. without any spurting or glugging.
[0021] It has to be understood that variations in shape of slits, of retaining means, of dimensions all fall within the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. The exact configuration of the outside of the bottle neck, the insert positioning/retaining means and pouring lip will also depend on the closure cap selected for the bottle.
1. Pouring adapter insert (1) for a vertical bottle neck (2) having a circular wall
(3,4) presenting a number of vertical slits (5), a bottom surface (6), a retaining
means (7), characterized in that said circular wall is divided into a full upper vertical
section (3) and a lower section (4) provided with vertical slits (5), the 1/3 of lower
section (4) of the circular wall adjacent the full vertical section (3) of said circular
wall, being positioned alongside the lower part of the vertical bottle neck (2).
2. Pouring adapter insert according to claim 1, characterized in that lower section
(4) provided with vertical slits (5) is tapered.
3. Pouring adapter insert according to claim 1, characterized in that at least 5 vertical
slits (5) are foreseen in the tapered or straight section (4) of the circular will.