Sealable and Dispensing Pouring Spout

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to an arrangement for use in dispensing fluids from containers and more particularly to a pouring spout that can be selectively opened or closed to dispense fluids or other materials from a container.

2. Description of Related Art

Many types of fluids are used to lubricate, cool and maintain the smooth operation of cars, trucks, motorcycles, recreational vehicles such as ATV's and jet skis, lawn movers and the like. Such fluids namely, antifreeze, motor oil, transmission fluid, windshield wiper fluid and the like are sold by auto after market shops and supermarkets in standard size containers. In place of the steel cans of yesterday, many of these fluids today are sold and stored in plastic containers which are readily made in large quantities and low cost by plastic molding injection techniques. Hundreds of thousands of pint, quart and gallon containers of the above-mentioned fluids are purchased every year by motorists for use and storage in do it yourself efforts to maintain their own cars, trucks and other vehicles or equipment. Similarly, service stations and garages, that perform routine automobile service and repairs, stock, use and store such fluids for replacement during a maintenance, repair or inspection procedure or to add needed quantities. Spillage of such fluids on the garage floor, sidewalk, lawn or on any surface where such fluids are being dispensed or stored contributes significantly to the pollution of the environment if they soak into the ground of evaporate into the atmosphere. Furthermore, these automobile fluids easily stain both asphalt and cement driveways and floors which readily absorb such fluids and therefore produce an unsightly mess. Once spilled on these surfaces, oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid, power steering fluid and the like are very difficult if not impossible to clean off such surfaces.

A number of funnel or spouts have evolved over the years for coupling to and dispensing fluids from containers. Typical well known conventional pouring spouts are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,757,831 and 2,736,469 issued to Schmidt and Stone, respectively, These patents disclose spouts for containers, such as gasoline cans, which are formed as a one piece elongated tapering curved tubular spout with an annular flange on the base end of the tubular spout. A screw threaded locking collar mounted over the spout annularly engages the flange and is threaded onto the neck of a container and tightened to hold the flange into tight engagement with the neck. Screw caps threadedly attached to the open end of the spout seal these spout when not in use. Disadvantageously, with these conventional spout structures it is difficult if not impossible to control or adjust the amount of fluid being dispensed from the container. Overfilling or spillage are therefore inevitable consequences. Furthermore, if the caps are misplaced or lost the fluids within the container can be spilled from the container if accidentally tipped or evaporate into the atmosphere.

Stopper type mechanism also evolved that more readily dispense liquids in desired amounts as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,305,127; 2,759,643 and 2,591,231 issued to Baranne, Dahlin and Broadway, respectively. The container closure arrangements in these patents, however, are relatively complex and intricate, and therefore the structures disclosed in these patents are expensive to manufacture by standard plastic molding injection techniques.

There is accordingly a need for a reliable, simple, yet inexpensive spout arrangement that is easy to use, dispenses desired amounts of fluids and provides for reliable storage of any quantities remaining in the container.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a spout which is simple in design, easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and durable in construction.

It is another further object of the invention to provide a spout that can be manufactured by low cost plastic molding techniques.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a pouring spout that can be used on standard size containers.

It is an advantage of the invention to provide a spout that can be easily opened or closed during a pouring operation operation by manipulating the spout with a thumb and finger of one hand.

A sealable and dispensing pouring spout structure for attachment to containers holding oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid and the like according to the present invention comprises three pieces: a tubular body member, a collar member and a spout shaped member which are joined together in a span-together connection arrangement. The tubular body member at one end is provided with an attachment means for securing it to the neck of a standard container, which is typically threaded. At the other end of the tubular body member is a stopper or closure means which is attached thereto. The collar member is fixedly mounted over the tubular body member, and the tubular body member and collar member cooperatively define therebetween a cam surface or slot means. The spout shaped member is rotatably mounted on the tubular body member and has a cam follower or protrusions which engage the cam surface or slot means. By rotating the spout shaped member the cam arrangement causes the spout to move inwardly and outwardly over the tubular body member. The spout shaped member when rotated inwardly cooperates with the stopper or closure means to seal the pouring end of the tubular body member, thereby preventing fluids from being dispensed from the container. On the other hand, when the spout shaped member is rotated outwardly an opening is provided for fluid flow from the container.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the sealable and dispensing pouring spout mounted on a container in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially broken away side elevational view of a tubular body member employed in the pouring spout of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the tubular body member of FIG. 2 taken along line 3--3;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a collar member employed in the pouring spout of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the collar member of FIG. 4 taken along line 5--5;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a spout shaped member employed in the pouring spout of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the spout shaped member in FIG. 6 taken along line 7--7;

FIG. 8 is a partially broken away perspective view of the tubular body member and collar member;

FIG. 9 is a partially broken away cross-sectional view of the tubular body member and collar member assembled together illustrating the unique cam follower means according to the invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the assembled pouring spout in a closed position;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the assembled pouring spout in an open position;

FIG. 12 is a stretch out view illustrating the cam follower which is formed cooperatively by the tubular body member and collar member.

Referring now with more particularity to the drawings, wherein like or similar parts are designated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, a sealable and dispensing pouring spout arrangement 20 is illustrated in FIG. 1 coupled to a container 22 such as may be used to hold antifreeze, oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid, gasoline or the like. The container is shown in a slightly tipped position for a pouring operation, herein illustrated to a conventional automobile radiator 21 and as such the contents of the container would be antifreeze or water. The spout 20 may be made in any desired size to fit any desired cylindrical neck. Although the dispensing closure may be made of any suitable material, flexible synthetic plastic material is preferred such as polyethylene which is particular suitable for constructing the pouring spout 20 since it is pliable and resilient and may be deformed slightly so that minor irregularities in structure may be compensated. However, any other material which is resistant to and compatible with the fluid or other matter to held in the container may also be used as a material for manufacturing the pouring spout.

The pouring spout 20 is composed of three parts: a tubular body member 24 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3; a collar member 26 illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, and a spout shaped member 28 illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, which shall be individually described hereinbelow. These parts may be readily individually made by conventional plastic molding injection techniques

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate one of the three pouring spout parts, namely, tubular body member 24 which is composed of a cylindrically shaped larger diameter base section 30 and a cylindrically shaped smaller diameter top section 32, both disposed along longitudinal axis 25. The larger diameter base and smaller diameter top sections 30, 32 are joined by an annular shoulder 34 which is substantially perpendicular to the top and base section providing a flat annular surface. Three equally spaced ramps 36, 38, 40 are disposed on annular shoulder 34 in circumscribing relationship to the cylindrically shaped smaller diameter top section 32. Each ramp has a flat angled surface portion 42 which extends upwardly from the annular shoulder 34 to a short flat surface section 43. The three ramps 36, 38, 40 may be spaced inwardly a predetermined distance from the base section annular upper edge 31, the predetermined distance preferably being the depth of the key slots described hereinbelow. The angled flat surface portions 42, 43 provide a cam surface which will complement opposed surface portions of similar ramps in the collar member described below. Three slots 44, 46, 48 are formed in the peripheral cylindrically shaped outer surface of the lower base section 30 extending longitudinally from annular shoulder 34 and terminating a short distance from the bottom 50 of base section 30.

The cylindrically shaped larger diameter base section 30 has internal threads 54 on the inner cylindrically shaped surface thereof which provides a means of attaching the tubular body member to the external threads of a neck of a container. These threads 54 are typically made in standard configurations used in the industry. An annular lip or seal 56 is formed on the inner surface of the shoulder above the threaded section. The seal 56 preferably includes a double arch or beads 60 and 62 joined together by depression 64. Escape or leakage of fluids through a container neck is prevented by the pressure engagement between the neck annular surface and this double bead arrangement.

A stopper member 70 is attached by plurality of ribs 72 to the mouth or pouring end 73 of the cylindrically shaped smaller top section 32. While the stopper member may be of a disk shaped or plug configuration or other suitable shaped, a more preferred stopper member structure 70 is illustrated which comprises a cup-shaped member 74 which may have a generally cone shaped outer surface and an annular sealing ring 76. The outer surface of the annular sealing ring may have a generally frusto-conical shape which has less taper than the tapered shoulder portion of the spout shaped member 28 to be described below. The cone shaped outer surface of the stopper member cup-shaped portion tapers inwardly into the mouth or pouring end of the tubular body member which surface arrangement provides a more laminar type flow to fluids passing through the tubular body member and exiting the pouring end 73 thereof.

The next component part of the pouring spout arrangement 20, namely collar member 26 is composed of a substantially cylindrically shaped body having a longitudinal axis 27, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. The collar member 26 has a plurality of elongated ridges 72 or other protuberances extending longitudinally along the outer surface 74 thereof. Three equally spaced ramps 78, 80, 82 are disposed on the cylindrically shaped inner wall 84 of collar member 26. Each ramp has a flat angled surface portion 81 which extend downwardly from upper short flat section 88 to a lower short slightly angled section 86. Square shaped keys 90 extend longitudinally downwardly from each of the flat sections 92 which are intermediately disposed between closely spaced pairs of the upper and lower sections 86 and 88. The square shaped keys 90 have a thickness, or in other words extend inwardly, a distance substantially equal to the depth of the key slots 44 in tubular member 24 and are of substantially the same length as these key slots.

At the bottom of the collar member cylindrically body is an annular inwardly extending retaining lip 94. The annular lip 94 is used in conjunction with the keys to fixedly mount the collar member to the tubular body when assembled. The keys and key slots prevent the collar member from rotating on the tubular body member, thereby keeping the respective opposed complementary ramps of the tubular body and collar members in alignment after assembly, as illustrated in more detail below.

The third component part of the pouring spout arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, namely spout shaped member 28 is composed of a larger diameter cylindrically shaped lower section 102 of a uniform internal diameter which decreases into a smaller diameter cylindrically shaped upper section 104 of a uniform internal diameter, both disposed along longitudinal axis 29. the upper and lower sections 102 and 104 are joined by annular tapered shoulder section 105. The inner wall of the tapered shoulder preferably has a greater angle of taper than that of the outer surface of sealing ring 76 of the tubular shaped member 32 (shown in FIG. 2) which will thereby provide a tight seal over the entire annular extent of the tapered shoulder when the two sealing surfaces are brought into contact.

A cam follower means is provided on the outer surface 107 of the larger cylindrical section 102. The cam follower means comprises three equally spaced lobes or protrusions 106, 108, 110 extending radially outwardly from the outer surface 107 adjacent to the bottom surface 112 of larger diameter lower section 102. A plurality of longitudinally extending ribs or vanes 114 on the outer surface 107 provide structural strength for the spout shaped member as well as providing means for grasping the member.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate more clearly the unique cam follower means in accordance with the principles of the invention. As shown in FIG. 8, one half of the cam follower means is constructed into tubular body member 24 and the other complementary half of the cam follower means into collar member 26. The cam follower means, as described above, preferably takes the form of complementary ramps formed on the tubular body member and collar member which have opposed surfaces forming a slot therebetween. In the example provided in this preferred embodiment, collar member 26 has three downwardly inclined ramps (ramp 82 being shown) and tubular body member 24 has three upwardly inclined ramps 36, 38, 40 of about the same length and having about the same angle of inclination. Constructing the cam follower means of complementary ramps in the two separate members greatly reduces the complexity of the plastic molding process in fabricating the spout and therefore greatly reduces the ultimate cost of the pouring spout 20.

To construct the cam follower means, the collar member 26 is slidably inserted over tubular body member 24, the lip 94 of collar member 26 being snapped over the bottom edge 51 of the tubular body member larger diameter section 30 as illustrated in FIG. 9. The three keys 90 of the collar member slide into key slots 44, 46, 48 in the larger diameter base section. The key and key slots in combination with the lip and base section snapped engagement provide a means to secure or lock the collar member and the tubular body member together in fixed relationship. The assembly of the collar and tubular body member provides for a cam follower means which takes the form of three slots 85. Complementary ramp surfaces of the tubular body and collar members cooperate to form cam follower surface from the two opposed inclined ramp surfaces 42 and 81. The three slots 85 gradually incline from a low point or lower slot section 87 between the upper surface of shoulder 34 and lower slightly angled short section 86, to a high point or upper flat slot section 89 between the top of the tubular member ramp flat section 43 and collar member flat section 88. The low points or lower slot sections 87 correspond to the spout 20 being in a fully closed position where no fluid will flow therethrough, and the high point or upper slot section 89 corresponds to the spout 20 being in a fully open condition.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show the spout 20 in fully assembled condition. To assemble the spout 20 from the three above described component parts 24, 26, 28, the spout shaped member 28 is rotatably mounted over the tubular body member 24 smaller diameter top section 32 with respective ones of the spout lobes 106, 108, 110 resting on respective ones of the ramps 36, 38, 40. The collar member 26 is then slidably inserted over the spout shaped member 28 and larger diameter base section 30, and annular ring 94 snapped over the lower edge 51 of the base section. The keys and key slot align the opposed complementary ones of the ramps 36, 38 40 with the corresponding ones of the ramps 78, 80, 82. The three lobes are slidably contained within slots 85 formed by the complementary ramp pairs. One or more sealing rings may be formed in the inner cylindrically shaped wall of the larger diameter lower section of spout shaped member 28 or on the outer cylindrically shaped wall of the smaller diameter top section 32 of tubular member 24. The sealing ring provides a sealing means to prevent the passing of materials from a container coupled to the spout 20 through the pouring end of the tubular body member from along the external surface thereof toward the attachement end. The sealing means illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 are a pair of annular projecting ridges 120 disposed around the interior cylindrically shaped wall 123 of the spout shaped member 28 larger diameter lower section 104 which sealingly engage the outer cylindrically shaped wall 121 of the smaller diameter top section 102 of tubular body member 24.

Operation of the spout arrangement will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12. FIG. 12 is a stretch out view of the cam follower means illustrating the lobes 106, 108, 110 in three different locations of travel along slots 85. FIG. 10 shows the pouring spout in its fully closed position, and FIG. 11 illustrates the pouring spout 20 in its fully open position. To achieve the fully closed position, the spout shaped member 28 is rotated downwardly, the lobes 106, 108, 110 traversing downwardly within the inclined slots 85 until the lobes enter and lock into the lower flat slot section 87 by frictional engagement with collar member slightly angled surface portion 86. At this point, the annular sealing ring portion 76 of stopper member 70 engages the inner annular corner 109 of spout shaped member 28 where the smaller diameter upper section and tapered shoulder 105 of the spout shaped member 28 meet, and the lobes 106, 108, 110 each press upwardly against the upper surfaces 86 of their respective lower slot sections 87. The opposed upward pressure of the lobes against the ramp surfaces 86 and downward pressure of the tapered shoulder against the sealing ring effectively locks the spout shaped member 28 in a fully closed position. The lower slightly angled short section 86 has a relatively small angle of taper "x" preselected such that the lobes will cinch against this short section and the stopper against the spout shaped member before the lobes reach the end wall of the lower slot sections 87. The sealing ring and tapered shoulder form an annular seal closing off the pouring mouth of the tubular member. The annular ring may be made of relatively thin and of relatively pliable and resilient material such that it may be deformed slightly to conform to any minor irregularities on the structure and thus provide a good seal.

To open the spout for a pouring operation, the spout shaped member 28 is rotated or turned such that the three lobes 106, 108, 110 traverse upwardly in their respective slots and enter the upper flat slot section 89, as shown in FIG. 11. On tipping the container as illustrated in FIG. 1, liquid contents flow through tubular body member 24 and out the pouring end or mouth thereof provided by ribs 72, and over the cup-shaped stopper and out the smaller diameter section 104 of spout shaped member 28. The amount of fluid flow can be regulated by the rotating the spout shaped member to any intermediate position.

An important advantage of the present invention is the three piece construction and its simplicity rendering it highly desirable for plastic molding by conventional machines at low cost. The collar member may be provided with indicia in the form of "ON " and "OFF" labels and the spout shaped member with an arrow which cooperatively when aligned indicate that the spout 20 is in either a fully open condition or fully closed position as shown in FIG. 1.

The above-described detailed description of a preferred embodiment described the best mode contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the present invention at the time this application was filed and is offered by way of example and not by way of limitation. Accordingly, various modifications may be made to the above-described preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that although the invention has been described and shown for a particular embodiment, nevertheless various changes and modifications obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains are deemed to lie within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.