US 4,712,936 AGranted

One-piece cap and brush and method of forming it

OwnerMilton Kesslerinventor

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Abstract

A container closure includes a cap for sealing a container against leakage, and a brush-like pliable member for spreading contents of the container. The cap includes a top wall, an internally threaded skirt depending from perimetrical portions of the top wall, and a stem depending from a central portion of the top wall. The brush includes a paddle-shaped member or a plurality of bristles which depend below the stem for brushing the contents of the container onto a surface. The cap and the brush are formed as a one-piece structure. A method of forming the one-piece cap and brush includes the step of molding the cap using a specially configured mold which has at least three relatively movable parts for defining a mold cavity and for effecting a pop-off type of ejection of the threaded skirt from the mold once the integral cap and brush have been molded. The brush bristles can have relatively large diameters as molded, and can be elongated after molding as by stretching to reduce their diameters and to give bristles of proper pliability.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A method of forming a one-piece internally threaded cap and brush structure for closing a container and for spreading liquid content of the container, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a mold having at least three relatively movable mold parts which cooperate to define a cavity configured to form a one-piece cap, stem and brush structure which includes:
(i) a top wall;
(ii) a skirt depending from the top wall and formed integrally therewith, the skirt having threads formed on its inner surface;
(iii) an elongated stem depending from central portions of the top wall along a central axis of the mold cavity and formed integrally with the top wall;
(iv) a brush formed of discrete bristles depending from the stem and formed integrally therewith;
and wherein said mold includes a cavity for forming said elongate stem with a plurality of discrete bristle projections integrally extending axially therefrom;
(b) injecting molten plastics material into the mold cavity to form the cap and brush structure;
(c) removing the cap and brush structure from the mold cavity by effecting relative movement of the three mold parts, with two of the mold parts separating to open the mold cavity to permit removal of the cap and brush structure from the mold cavity, and with a third of the mold parts moving in a direction paralleling the central axis to engage the cap and brush structure and to pop the threaded shirt off such one of the other two mold parts as formed the threaded inner surface of the skirt;
and
(d) elongating the plurality of discrete bristle projections to diminish their cross-sections, the elongation being effected after the cap and brush structure is removed from the mold cavity.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.