Dispensing container

A dispensing container which includes:

• a) a moulded bottle formed in one piece and comprising at least two distinct compartments for accommodating different fluent materials, each PG,17 compartment having an outlet at an operatively upper end thereof, the compartments having equal total volumes and also having equal cross-sectional areas at each level of the bottle, the bottle having a cross-section which tapers in a direction from a bottom portion to a top portion thereof;
• b) a pouring spout communicating with each of the compartment outlets, the pouring spouts being spaced apart from one another with the centres of the pouring spouts lying on an imaginary straight line, each pouring spout being defined by a continuous circumscribing wall which is spaced apart by the circumscribing wall of any other pouring spout not shared by any other pouring spout;
• c) a single cap dimensioned to fit onto the operatively upper end of the bottle and having sealing means for sealing all the pouring spouts simultaneously when so fitted;
• the design of the spout and bottle being such that when the cap is removed and the bottle is tilted away from an upright orientation with the imaginary straight line remaining horizontal, the contents of the compartments are dispensed simultaneously at equal flow rates and in distinct streams, from the compartments without cross contamination between adjacent streams, and when the bottle is thereafter returned to an upright orientation, fluent material originating from one compartment is prevented from flowing back into any other compartment and cross-contamination of the compartments is avoided, and
• d) an air vent associated with each compartment which is also sealed by the cap when the cap is fitted onto the operatively upper end of the bottle;
• the provision of an air vent for each compartment outlet allowing air to enter each compartment as the contents of the compartments are dispensed, thereby ensuring that the contents of the compartments are dispensed smoothly in their distinct streams,
• the cap and bottle having cooperating clip formations which engage one another in clipping fashion when the cap is correctly fitted onto the upper end of the bottle.