| Container closure with membrane-piercing punch -> Monitor Keywords |
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  Container closure with membrane-piercing punchRelated Patent Categories: Bottles And Jars, Closures, Combined Or ConvertibleContainer closure with membrane-piercing punch description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070181522, Container closure with membrane-piercing punch. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/743,102, filed Jan. 6, 2006, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND [0002] The present disclosure relates to closures for mounting on the top of bottles or other containers, and in particular, to a container closure including a "flip-top" cap. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a container formed to include a top opening covered by a thin membrane arranged to close and seal the top opening. SUMMARY [0003] A package in accordance with the present disclosure includes a container, a seal arranged to close an opening into an interior region formed in the container, and a closure coupled to the container to cover the seal. In illustrative embodiments, the closure includes a body adapted to be coupled to the container and a seal opener mounted for movement relative to the body to pierce the seal while the closure body is coupled to the container. In illustrative embodiments, a thin membrane made of sealing material provides the seal. [0004] According to the present disclosure, a closure includes a body formed to include a product-discharge outlet and adapted to mount on a filler neck of a bottle or other container. The closure also includes a membrane opener coupled to the body for movement relative to the body between a raised position lying away from a membrane seal closing an open mouth into the filler neck of the bottle or other container and a lowered position piercing the membrane seal. Once the membrane seal is pierced, fluid retained in an interior region of the bottle or other container can be discharged through the product-discharge outlet. [0005] In illustrative embodiments, the closure also includes a flip-top cap appended to a hinge arranged to support the flip-top cap for movement from a closed position on the body covering the product-discharge outlet to an opened position away from the body uncovering the product-discharge outlet. In use, once the flip-top cap (or other cap) is moved to an opened position to expose the membrane opener, a user pushes downwardly on the opener to move the opener relative to the body to pierce the membrane. Fluid material retained in the bottle can then flow through the pierced membrane into and through the product-discharge outlet for consumption by the user. [0006] In one illustrative embodiment, the membrane opener is coupled to a top wall of the body and located in side-by-side relation to the product-discharge outlet. In another illustrative embodiment, the membrane opener is coupled to the body and located, at least in part, in the product-discharge outlet and is formed to include fluid-discharge ports to allow fluid material to flow from the bottle, in sequence, through (1) the opening formed in the pierced membrane, (2) the fluid-discharge ports formed in the membrane opener, and (3) product-discharge outlet. [0007] Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0008] The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which: [0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a closure formed to include a product-dispensing spout and a membrane opener shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1 showing that the closure is adapted to be mounted on a filler neck of a bottle or other container closed by a membrane seal also shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1 to provide a package for a fluid material; [0010] FIG. 2A is a partial perspective view of a package including the closure of FIG. 1 mounted on a bottle, with a portion of the closure broken away to reveal a membrane seal coupled to a top edge of the filler neck of the bottle and showing that the closure includes a body coupled to the filler neck to cover the membrane seal and a flip-top cap that has pivoted on a hinge relative to the body to assume an "opened" position to expose (1) a product-dispensing spout included in the body and (2) a membrane opener including a push button located alongside the spout and coupled to a top wall of the body; [0011] FIG. 2B is a side elevation view of the "opened" closure of FIG. 2A; [0012] FIG. 2C is a front elevation view of the opened closure of FIGS. 2A and 2B; [0013] FIG. 2D is a top plan view of the opened closure of FIGS. 2A-C showing (on the right) a closure mount comprising the body and the membrane opener and (on the left) a closure unit comprising the flip-top cap and a hinge interconnecting the body and the flip-top cap and showing the product-dispensing spout in a "6 o'clock" position on the closure body and the membrane opener labeled "PUSH" in a "12 o'clock" position on the closure body; [0014] FIG. 2E is a sectional view taken along line 2E-2E of FIG. 2D showing that the membrane opener is mounted for movement on a top wall of the body and comprises a "raised" push button providing a punch support, a central downwardly extending membrane-piercing punch coupled to the underside of a ceiling of the raised push button, and several downwardly extending membrane spreaders coupled to the underside of a frustoconical side wall of the raised push button and arranged to surround the membrane-piercing punch; [0015] FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the underside of the closure body shown in FIGS. 2A-2E showing twelve membrane spreaders arranged in a circle on the underside of the frustoconical side wall of the push button and the single membrane-piercing punch coupled to the underside of a round ceiling of the push button; [0016] FIGS. 4-8 show manual "push-activated" movement of the membrane opener relative to the closure body to pierce the membrane seal mounted on the bottle filler neck to allow fluid material to flow out of the bottle past an "opened" membrane seal through the product-dispensing spout formed in the closure body; [0017] FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2A showing arrangement of a thin membrane seal on a top edge of the bottle filler neck to cover and seal a top opening formed in the bottle filler neck so that fluid material stored in the interior region of the bottle is retained in the bottle and showing the push button of the membrane opener in an initial raised position relative to the bottle and a downwardly projecting sharpened tip of the membrane-piercing punch of the membrane opener located just above the membrane seal; [0018] FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing downward movement of the punch and of the push button toward the lowered position shown in FIG. 6 in response to a downward force applied manually by a user to an exterior surface of the push button to cause the downwardly projecting sharpened tip of the punch to contact and begin to deform the "stretched" underlying thin membrane seal; [0019] FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIGS. 4 and 5 showing further downward movement of the push button relative to the closure body to reach the lowered position to cause the downwardly projecting sharpened tip of the punch to pierce the membrane seal and showing use of the membrane spreaders provided on the push button around the punch to spread the pierced membrane seal in radially outward directions to expand and maintain a fluid-flow aperture in the pierced membrane seal after the user has lifted a finger away from the lowered push button; [0020] FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIGS. 4-6 showing flow of fluid material from the bottle through the fluid-flow aperture formed in the pierced membrane seal and maintained by the membrane spreaders and then through the product-dispensing spout formed in the body of the closure without having first removed the closure from the bottle to break or remove the membrane seal; [0021] FIG. 8 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2A showing the push button included in the membrane opener after it has been moved manually as suggested in FIG. 6 to assume the lowered position shown in FIG. 7; Continue reading about Container closure with membrane-piercing punch... Full patent description for Container closure with membrane-piercing punch Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Container closure with membrane-piercing punch patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Container closure with membrane-piercing punch or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Towel and bottle system Next Patent Application: Closure for a container that holds a free-flowing product Industry Class: Bottles and jars ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Container closure with membrane-piercing punch patent info. 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