US2891700A - Collapsible containers - Google Patents

Description

June 23, 1959 M. MAYNARD COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 19, 1956 M. MAYNARD COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERS June 23, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1956 United States Patent CQL MSI LE QO A R 'Michael Maynard, London, England, assignor to Gestetner *Limited, London, England, a British company App i ation Nov mb 1. 1 Serial No- 622,920

Claims. ((1222-92) This invention relates to collapsible .containers for pasty materials and semi-solids and particularly concerns containers for ink used in duplicating machines, wherein :the ink is withdrawn, during operation of the machine, by a pump driven with the machine (or manually actuated) and suitably .connectedto the nozzle of the container. .iSuch containers may be made of .a thermoplastic or other soft material. In previous containers :of this type .it is Eknown to ensure .eifective Withdrawal of uthe'ink by means of .a feed tube which connects with the nozzle .and extends the =container'to near the bottom' thereof, the ink being :drawn up the tube and "through .the nozzle by the .pump. :On withdrawal of the ink the container collapses and it is ncessary to ensure that on collapse .a transverse closure band is not formedacrossthe'containcr'beneath which ink is trapped as .the trapped ink is wasted. The feed tube referred t has be n-provid d w th a view t prevent h m tion-of enclosure band. It is the object of this invention to prov de m an by which t e a v di v age i overcome w h u r s. ug t te d tu e fit ed o th c ntainer.-

Aeeq d ng t t s invent o the co ta ne comprises a non-tubular member within the container and extendhas fr m ea the sho de the eo to near the bott m an adapt an o apse of t e wal e -the containe to de e w th a t wa l a a hwise ex en n tu 1ar-p .ses e Thememh r may be p fo ate slotte or s r d ee the wi e ormed s hat sa d p a e ay s P aced-i1;s mmu ie tien' ht ush t e perfor ns r t li e iththe ins st nt the ema ner u oundin h p sa ew vhe p esen tiav u on may be ca ed nt f n a number or .ways and several of these will now be descr ed, :by av ftexama e In one ar an emen ther is t e wi h container and extending from .near: the shoulder to near the bottom .ofthe container '3. U.-s ection member the wall of which ma b re te ateds s t e As th i is wi h from the containera d the walls thereof collapse the lat- .tercorne against the member and define therewith the longitudinal passageway referred to. The inkwis .drawn up the container through the longitudinal passageway and the rieratieas r slat tha the in is fed into the longitudinal passageway for convenient withdrawal. The open side of the member may face directly towards one .side wall of the container or it may face towards one ,Sideedge-thereof -it being understood that the side edge "extends downwardly of the container to one end ofthe'bottomiclosure. Instead-of a U-section member an H- or C-seetion member may be provided. If an H- mernb er is provided it is preferred that the longitudinal grooves {therein facesideways "of the container and that 2,891,700 Patented June .23, 1.9.59

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member-is substantially less than the diameter of the container. In order, therefore, to support the member within the container there may be provided radial arms at the top and/ or bottom of the member to engage the inner surface at the sides of the container. The radial arms may be formed in one with the member or separately formed and subsequently attached thereto. 'In any event they are preferably fiat so as not to prevent the collapse of the container.

In an alternative arrangement the container may be made from a thermoplastic tube which is attached to 'a moulded shoulder, the tube being extruded in long lengths and cut into convenient pieces for such container. The extruded tube is formed with one or more internal ribs which constitute a lengthwise extending member which forms the longitudinal passageway .on collapse of the container. I

In yet another arrangement the member is constituted by a corrugated plate extending substantially from the bottom of the container to'the shoulder and substantially fully across the width of the container.

The present invention is illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings of which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a filled container,

Figure 2 is a transverse section of the container of Figure 1, the contents of the container having been withdrawn so that the walls of the container have collapsed,

Figure '3 is a'brokenaway perspective view of another embodiment .of-a filled container,.and

Figure 4 is a transverse section through yet another embodiment of the invention, the full lines indicatingthe position of the parts when the container is filled and the dotted lines indicatingthe portion of theparts when the contents of the container :have been withdrawn.

The collapsible container illustrated in Figure 1 is adapted to contain ink for use in duplicating machines and comprises a body 5 made of a thermoplastic material, an integral shoulder 6, a nozzle 7 and .a closure cap The bottom of the container is closed as at 9. The body 5 of the-container is filled with the ink through the bottom thereof and, having been filled, is closed as at 9.

There is inserted into the container 5 a member generally indicated at 10, the member 10 being in the form of a corrugated plate as more particularly shown in Figure 2. The member 10, when the container is full, extends substantially from the bottom of the container to the shoulder and substantially fully across the width of the container. While the member 10 is preferably made of a synthetic resin material it maybe made of metal or any other known -or convenient material which is inert to the contents of the container. 7

As the ink is withdrawn from the container through the nozzle 7 the walls of the container collapse and, as shown in Figure 12., extend across the ridges of the corrugated member to define lengthwise extending passageways 11 through which the ink travels to beneath the shoulder 6 and hence out through the nozzle 7.

It will be observed from Figure 2 that the container when collapsed has considerably greater width than that of the member 10. During collapse the Walls along the sides of the member .10 come into contact, as at '12, but, having regard to the nature of the material of the wall, the wall along the sides of the container defines a lengthwise extending passage 13 along which the ink may travel to beneath the, shoulder 6,, i k being forced into p s ge 13 and towards the member 10 as the wall comes together .at .12.

The corrugations of the member 10 are so designed as to ensure that when in the fully collapsed condition of the container the Wall thereof extends across the ridges of the corrugations as shown in Figure 2. If the ink is highly viscous there is a greater tendency for the walls of the container to enter the troughs of the corrugated member and to close the passageways 11. To prevent this the ridges of the corrugations may be brought closer together and the depth of the troughs 11 increased.

As stated above the longitudinal passageway extends to the shoulder but the member does not communicate directly with the nozzle of the container. It may be that if a container is partly used and put away an air space is formed beneath the shoulder which prevents subsequent efiective withdrawal of the ink. To reduce or prevent this it is preferred to extend the nozzle inwardly of the container as a short tube. The length of the tube is sufficient to ensure that having regard to the viscosity of the ink the latter will remain in the tube so that when the container is re-used the pump will be effective to withdraw ink from the container. Alternatively the length of the nozzle 7 may be increased and the diameter of the discharge orifice therethrough reduced to such an extent that, having regard to the viscosity of the ink, it is ensured that the frictional resistance of the ink within the discharge nozzle will prevent the ink from being withdrawn from the discharge nozzle.

Alternative embodiments of the invention are illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

In Figure 3 there is shown a container within whose body 5 there is mounted a channel member 14 which, as in the case of the member 10, extends from near the shoulder of the tube (not shown) to near the bottom thereof. Although as shown in Figure 3 the channel member 14 is substantially of U-section it could be made substantially of H-section or C-section if so desired. It will be noted from Figure 3 that the width of the channel member 14 is substantially less than the diameter of the body 5' when filled and, in order to prevent the channel member 14 falling from side to side within the body 5', the member 14 is provided with one or more radial arms 15, which may be integral with the said member or secured thereto. Thus in Figure 3 the channel member 14 is shown as provided adjacent both its top and its bottom with a pair of aligned radial arms 15 adapted to engage the inner surface of the container. The arms 15 are fiat and will not, therefore, prevent collapse of the container. The member 14 may, as shown, be provided with perforations or slots 14' so that, when the walls of the container collapse against the member 14, ink will be fed into the longitudinal passageway provided by the channel shape of the member 14.

In Figure 4 there is shown an embodiment of the invention in which the body 5" of the container is provided with a plurality of internal ribs 16. Thus the container of Figure 4 may be made from an internally ribbed thermoplastic tube which is attached to a moulded shoulder, the tube being extruded in long lengths and cut into convenient pieces for such a container. On withdrawal of the ink, the container assumes the form shown in dotted lines and it will be noted that the ribs 16 contact the walls of the container so as to prevent their collapse against each other and provide lengthwise-extending tubular passageways 17 for the withdrawal of the ink. Each rib 16 extends from near the shoulder to the bottom of the container and thus constitutes a nontubular member performing a function similar to that of the members 10, 14 of Figures 1 and 3 respectively.

I claim:

1. A permanently collapsible container for pasty materials and semi-solids comprising a body portion, a nozzle, a shoulder interconnecting said body portion and nozzle, a channel member within said body portion extending from near the shoulder to near the bottom of the body portion, said channel member having a width substantially less than that of the body portion when filled, and at least one radial arm on said channel member adapted to engage the inner surface of the body portion, said channel member being adapted, on collapse of the wall of said body portion, to define with said wall a lengthwise-extending tubular passageway commumcating both with said nozzle and with the bottom of the body portion.

2. A permanently collapsible container for pasty materials and semi-solids comprising a body portion, a nozzle, a shoulder interconnecting said body portion and nozzle, a channel member within said body portion extending from near the shoulder to near the bottom of the body portion, said channel member having a width substantially less than that of the body portion when filled, and at least one pair of aligned radial arms on said channel member adapted to engage the inner surface of the body portion, said channel member being adapted, on collapse of the wall of said body portion, to define with said wall a lengthwise-extending tubular passageway communicating both with said nozzle and with the bottom of the body portion.

3. A permanently collapsible container for pasty materials and semi-solids comprising a body portion, a nozzle, a shoulder interconnecting said body portion and nozzle, two oppositely disposed walls forming the walls of said body portion, and a rigid perforated channel member within said body portion extending from near the shoulder to near the bottom of the body portion, said member having a width substantially less than that of the body portion when filled, at least the greater part of said member being spaced from the inner surfaces of the walls of the body portion, said member, upon collapse of the walls of said body portion, defining with said walls a lengthwise-extending passageway communicating both with said nozzle and with the bottom of said body portion, the perforations through said channel member permitting the passage of the contents of the collapsible container therethrough into said passageway when the contents are being extracted from said container.

4. A permanently collapsible container as claimed in claim 3 wherein the rigid perforated channel member is of U-section.

5. A permanently collapsible container for pasty materials and semi-solids comprising a body portion, a nozzle, a shoulder interconnecting said body portion and nozzle, two oppositely disposed walls forming the walls of said body portion, a rigid slotted channel member within said body portion extending from near the shoulder to near the bottom of the body portion, said channel member having a width substantially less than that of the body portion when filled, and arms extending from the said member width-wise of the container so as to locate said member in the container, said channel member, upon collapse of the walls of the body portion, defining with said walls a lengthwise-extending passageway communieating both with said nozzle and with the bottom of said body portion, the slots through said channel member permitting the passage of the contents of the collapsible container therethrough when the contents are being extracted from said container.

References (Cited in the file of patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 972,095 Booth Get. 4, 1910 1,109,110 Clark Sept. 1, 1914 1,844,215 Edwards Feb. 9, 1932 2,643,027 Fink June 23, l

FOREIGN PATENTS 724,974 France lFeb. 5, 1932 1,074,166 France Mar. 31, 1954 A an .e. r-"-

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