US3169562A

US3169562A - Combination cap and coupler

Info

Publication number: US3169562A
Application number: US188090A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gogel Sidney
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-04-17
Filing date: 1962-04-17
Publication date: 1965-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 1982-02-16

Description

Feb. 16, 1965 s. GOGEL 3,169,562

COMBINATION CAP AND COUPLER Filed April 17, 1962 FIG.8 43

will/ w INVENTOR SIDNEY GOGEL Fl G. 9

ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,169,562 Patented Feb. 16, 1965 3,169,562 COMBEIATION CAP AND CQUPLER Sidney Gogol, 1096 Lana Place, North Bellmore, N.Y. Filed Apr. 17, 1%2, Ser. No. 188,090 11 Qlaims. ((31. 141384) This invention relates to a combination cap and coupler to be used as a cap for a container and also as a coupler for transferring the contents of one container to another.

The combination cap and coupler according to the present invention is formed as a single integral unit and may be supplied with a container, such as for example with a collapsible tooth paste tube, instead of the customary cap unsually furnished therewith. When used with tooth paste tubes, the combination cap and coupler of the present invention will serve as a cap during daily use of the contents of the tube. When the tube is nearly. empty, it often becomes difiicult and bothersome to remove the last portion of the contents of the tube, particularly when, the tube has not been squeezed from the bottom and the bottom edge has not been rolled up. Children, for example, are particularly prone to squeezing the tube from the middle or the top rather than from the bottom. In such cases the last portion of the contents are distributed helter skelter throughout the length of the tube. Such tubes which still have tooth paste therein are often discarded and the contents remaining therein is wasted. By using the combination cap and coupler of the present invention it is possible to transfer such partial contents into another tube which has only been slightly used, thereby salvaging the partial contents of the tube in one simple operation. This, therefore, also avoids the bothersome task of transferring the last and difficult to remove portion of the tooth paste to a tooth brush each time it is used and also makes it possible to transfer the contents of a tube or squeeze bottle that has accidentally ruptured, thereby preventing the drying out of products such as tooth paste, shaving cream, glue, ink, alcohol, perfumes, etc.

Although, according to the above description, the present invention is particularly adaptable for use with collapsible tooth paste tubes, it is to be understood, as will become apparent from the following description, that it may be adapted equally as well for use with squeeze bottles of any other type container.

Heretofore, devices have been used for transferring the contents of collapsible tubes from one tube to another. In one known device, a tube is made with an externally threaded nozzle which is adapted to engage the internal thread of the nozzle of another tube. The disadvantage of this device is that the nozzles of each one of the two tubes have to be made of a dilferent size and construction.

In another known device, a coupling was provided with a pair of squeeze bottles, the coupling having internally threaded portions for engaging the externally threaded necks of the two squeeze bottles. The coupling could also be provided with an externally threaded stopper adapted to engage one internally threaded portion of the coupling while the other threaded portion of the coupling would engage the threaded neck of a squeeze bottle. In this way, the combining of the separate coupler and separate stopper would function as a closure for one of the bottles. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that it requires two separate pieces to seal the container so that if either the coupler or stopper were misplaced, the squeeze bottle could not be sealed because neither the coupler alone nor the stopper alone could provide a closure.

It is the general object of the present invention to avoid and overcome the foregoing and other difliculties of and objections to prior-art practices by the provision of a combination cap and coupler having the appearance of a cap but which may be used as a cap or as a coupler.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a combination cap and coupler having a relative simple construction and which may be manufactured at a relatively low cost.

Still another object is to provide a combination cap and coupler which may be made of plastic and which may be made to conform to the general shape and appearance of caps currently being used.

A further object is to provide a combination cap and coupler which may be used for containers having different sized outlet nozzles.

A still further object is to provide a combination cap and coupler which may be used initially as a cap on a container and later converted to a coupling by punching out an easily removable wall portion.

The aforesaid objects of the present invention and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds are achieved by providing a combination cap and coupler formed as a single integral unit and which has at least two connecting means, one of which is used as for securing the cap-coupler to a container when it is used as a cap and another which is used for securing the capcoupler to another container to which the contents of the first said container are to be transferred.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment showing an integral separating wall between two threaded portions and a cover plate over the end of one of the threaded portions.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cap-coupler of FIG. 1 with a portion of the separating Wall and the cover plate removed.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross section of an alternate embodiment of the separating Wall.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are variations in construction of the integral separating wall.

I FIG. 6 is a plan view of another embodiment in which a permanent separating wall is provided.

FIG. 7 is a sectional View taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional View of a further embodiment of the cap-coupler shown coupled to two containers.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment which may be used for various size containers.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement, of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

With specific reference to the present invention illustrated in the drawings and referring particularly to FIG. 1, the combination cap-coupler, indicated generally at 19, has a casing element 11 which may have a general shape resembling an ordinary conical tooth paste cap having an integral annular ring 12 at one end.

One end portion of the element 11 is provided with an opening having threads 14 therein adapted to engage the threads of a nozzle 16 of a container 18. The other end portion is similarly provided with an opening 20 having threads 22. Between the two end portions, wall means formed integral with the element 11 are provided. The integral wall means consists of an annular ring 24 and a cylindrical plug 26, both of which are formed integral with the element 11. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the arrangement of the ring 24 and the plug 26 is such that any compressive forces acting on the right hand face of plug 26 will be transferred as a compressive force through the ring 24 to the element 11. Such compressive forces will pass through the outer peripherial edge of the plug 26 to the peripherial edge of the ring 24- so that the plug 26 and ring 24 will act, in effect, as a valve plug and valve seat respectively. When the threads 14 of the element 11 are secured to the nozzle 16 of the container 13, the end of the nozzle 16 will abut the right hand side of plug 26 with sufiicientforce to provide a seal between the end of the nozzle 16 and the face of the plug 26 without danger of the wall means separating from the element 11 since the annular ring 24 will provide the necessary support for the plug 26. Thus FIG. 1 shows how the cap-coupler 1% functions as a cap.

In order to use the cap-coupler as a coupler, the cover plate 28, which is held on one end of the element 11 by any known means such as by the annular flange and groove shown in F1G.1, is removed from the element 11 and the plug 26 is punched out by any readily available oblong object such as the end of a pencil. The oblong object is inserted in the opening 2i and pressed against the left face of the plug 26. As can be seen in EEG. 1, the plug 26 is joined to the ring 24 by a marginal area having a cross section which is narrower than any other portion of the wall means so that the force of the oblong object acting on the plug 26 will separate the plug 26 from the ring 24 along this narrow or marginal cross section. After the plug 26 has been removed a second container 30 having a nozzle 32 is threaded into the threaded portion 22 of the element 11. The end of the nozzle 32 may abut one face of the ring 24 to provide a seal therebetween. The container 13 is then connected to the element 11 and the end of the nozzle 16 may abut against the ring 2 in the area where the plug 26 was broken oil as shown in FIG. 2. Thus FIG. 2 illustrates how the cap-coupler 19 may be used as a coupler for transferring the contents of container 18 to the container 30. The cover plate 23 need not be provided. If provided it would close off the end of the element 11 and keep the opening 29 free of foreign matter. Also the cover plate 28 would make the cap-coupler appear like a closed top cap.

As an alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the plug 26a may be joined to the plug by a cylindrical extension 34. When the plug 24a is punched out as described above, the wall means will part through the cylindrical extension 34 which is the weakest area of the wall means.

It is to be noted that in the embodiments of FIGS. 13, the end of the container nozzles provide a seal with the wall means. However, the cap-coupler according to the present invention, may be provided with other means for establishing the seal between the nozzles and the capcoupler. For example, the cap-coupler may be provided with tapered thread to engage tapered thread of the nozzles so that the seal may be provided between the tapered threads rather than against the wall means.

Further embodiments are shown in FIGS. 4 and in which the wall means are provided with weakened areas so that it may easily be punched out by a sharp blow. The wall means of FIG. 4 show an integral wall member 36 consisting of cone shaped portions and a cylindrical portion between the cone shaped portions wherein the cone shaped portions, cylindrical portion, and element 1111 are all formed as an integral unit. It will be noted from FIG. 4 that a weakened area is formed at the annular area where the cylindrical portion joins the element 11b. The wall means is designed so that it is strong enough to withstand the ordinary forces produced by the fluid pressure of the contents of a container acting thereon, but not strong enough to withstand the force of a sharp blow imparted by an oblong object.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 except the wall means 360 is provided with spherical portions rather than cone shaped portions.

A further embodiment is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 in which a permanent wall means is used. In this embodiment, a threaded passage 37 is provided for the coupler while a separate passage 39 is provided for the cap. The passage 39 is separated from the passage 37 by a permanen wall 4%. The general shape or" the cap-coupler according to this embodiment may be cylindrical such as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 or conical as shown in FIG. 8. In this latter figure,

passages

37a and 39a are provided similar to the corresponding passages of FIGS. 6 and 7. Two containers 4-2 and 43 are shown threaded in the passage 37a of FIG. 8.

Since dillerent containers may have difierent size threads, a combination cap-coupler may be provided with two or more cap-couplers held together as a single unit such as shown in FIG. 9. Means are provided for securing each cap-coupler 5t), 52, 54 to an adjacent cap-coupler. This means may be, for example, in the form of an annular flange adapted to engage the annular grooves as shown in FIG. 9. The flange-groove arrangement serves to hold the cap-couplers 5t), 52, 54 together as a. unit but they may be easily separated merely by pulling one away from the other. The individual cap-

couplers 5t

52, 54 may be made to take the form of any one of the embodiments shown in FiGS. 15 and is not necessarily limited to the form shown in FIG. 9. The complete unit shown in PEG. 9 may be supplied with a container and the individual cap-coupler units separated to be used as couplers or caps for other containers having different size outlet nozzles. In order to adapt any of the capcouplers in the embodiments of FlGS. 18 for use with diiierent size containers, it is also possible to use different size passages on each cap-coupler so that one passage would be adaptable to be connected to a container having a certain size discharge nozzle while the other passage of the same cap-coupler could be adaptable to be connected to another container having a dir'ferent size discharge nozzle. Thus for example, the size of the thread 14 in FI". 1 could be made different from the size of the thread 22.

If desired, the plug 26 in FIG. 1, after it has been detached from the element 11, may be replaced within the element 11 so that the element 3.1. may be used as a cap once again. bus when the plug 26 is replaced, its outer peripheral edge will seat on one side of the ring 24 and be held in place by the end of the nozzle 16 after the nozzle E6 is screwed on the threads 14. In this way the end of the nozzle 16 is sealed as it presses the plug 26 against the ring 24.

The invention hereinabove described may be varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular device selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details of the structure shown and described.

I claim:

1. A combination cap and coupler for containers, comprising a casing element, said casing element having a pair of internally threaded recesses, wall means between said recesses formed integral with said casing element, an integral tubular section being incorporated between the wall means and the casing'element; said wall means cooperating with one of said recesses to serve as a cap for a container, said wall means being adapted to be removed from the tubular section which is integral with said casing element by the severing of said wall means from the tubular section, to thereby provide communication between said recesses so that said casing element can serve as a coupling for transferring the contents of one container connected to one threaded recess to another container connected to the other threaded recess.

2. A combination cap and coupler for containers, comprising a casing element having two recesses, said recesses each having connecting means for connecting the casing element to containers, wall means formed integral with ist:

said casing element for isolating the recesses from one another, said wall means cooperating with one of said recesses to form a cap, said wall means being adapted to be separated from the casing element to thereby provide communication between said passageways so that said casing element may be used as a coupler.

3. A combination cap and coupler as set forth in claim 2 wherein said wall means consists of a member having opposed cone shaped portions and a cylindrical portion between and formed integral with said cone shaped portions, the outer cylindrical wall of said cylindrical portion being joined with said casing element by an integral connection.

4. A combination cap and coupler as set forth in claim 2 wherein said wall means consists of a member having opposed spherical portions and a cylindrical portion between and formed integral with said spherical portions,

the outer cylindrical wall of said cylindrical portion being joined with said casing element by an integral connection.

5. A combination cap and coupler as set forth in claim 2 wherein said wall means includes an annular ring on the inside of said casing element; a cylindrical member joined to one side of said annular ring; said ring, cylindrical member, and casing element being formed as a single integral unit with the narrowest cross section of the Wall means being at the juncture between the ring and the cylindrical member.

6. A combination cap and coupler as set forth in claim 2 wherein said wall means consists of an annular ring on the inside of the casing element; a hollow cylindrical member joined to one side of said annular ring; a solid cylindrical member joined to one end of the hollow cylin der; said ring, hollow cylinder, and solid cylinder being formed as an integral unit with the narrowest cross section of said wall means being through the walls of said hollow cylinder.

7. A combination cap and coupler as set forth in claim 2 wherein said containers are provided with nozzles adapted to be connected to the recesses of the casing element, said wall means cooperating with the end of said nozzles to form a seal therebetween.

8. In a combination cap and coupler for containers, comprising a casing element, said casing element having two recesses with connecting means for connecting the casing'element to containers, wall means formed integral with said casing element for isolating said recesses from one another, one of said passageways being adaptable to be connected to a container to serve as a cap, the other of said recesses being internally threaded, the threads at opposite ends of said second recess being in opposite directions, said section recess being adaptable to be connected to a container to act as a coupling, the axes of said recesses being substantially perpendicular to one another.

9. in a combination cap and coupler as set forth in claim 8' wherein said casing element is in the shape of a truncated cone.

10. In a combination cap and coupler as set forth in claim 8 wherein said casing element is in the shape of a cylinder.

ll. A combination cap and coupler comprising, a plurality of casing elements, means for detachably connecting adjacent pairs of said plurality of casing elements, each of said casing elements having a pair of connecting means for connecting to containers, the size of the connecting means of one casing element being different than the connecting means of any other of the said plurality of easing elements, each casing element having integral wall means separating the two said connecting means, said integral wall means being joined to its respective casing element by a portion having a cross sectional area which is narrower than any other cross sectional area of the respective wall means so that the wall means may be separated from its respective casing element along this narrow cross section when suflicient force is applied to the wall means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNlTED STATES PATENTS 129,820 7/72 Hathway 222-541 1,319,928 10/19 Shields 222-538 XR 2,302,621 11/42 Luboshez -41 2,773,521 12/56 Persson 141-383 XR 2,881,953 4/59 Kuschel 141-383 XR 3,083,916 4/63 Neel 222-541 XR LAVERNE D, GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

Claims

2. A COMBINATION CAP AND COUPLER FOR CONTAINERS, COMPRISING A CASING ELEMENT HAVING TWO RECESSES, SAID RECESSES EACH HAVING CONNECTING MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE CASING ELEMENT TO CONTAINERS, WALL MEANS FORMED INTEGRAL WITH SAID CASING ELEMENT FOR ISOLATING THE RECESSES FROM ONE ANOTHER, SAID WALL MEANS COOPERATING WITH ONE OF SAID RECESSES TO FORM A CAP, SAID WALL MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO BE SEPARATED FROM THE CASING ELEMENT TO THEREBY PROVIDE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID PASSAGEWAY SO THAT SAID CASING ELEMENT MAY BE USED AS A COUPLER.