Integrally blow-molded container and closure
AssigneeGraham Packaging Company, L.P.
InventorsJay Arnold, David W. Cargile, Richard K. Ogg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A blow-molded container (10) having a closure flap (14) formed of compressed material (32) integral with the container (10). Preferably, the container body (12) has a normally-closed fill port (16) and a dispensing port (18) which can be selectively opened and closed by the closure flap (14). The closure flap 14 is provided with multiple hinges (34, 38, 50) to allow the closure flap (14) to fold reversely upon itself and to allow the dispensing port (18) to be opened and closed while the fill port (16) remains closed.
Claims20
An extrusion blow-molded container (10) and compression molded integral closure comprising:
- an extrusion blow-molded body portion (12) having a top wall (22) with at least one dispensing port (18) located thereon;
- and
- a co-extruded closure flap (14) extruded integral with said top wall (22) of said body portion (12) and compression molded along a mold parting line (24) extending longitudinally of said body portion during extrusion blow molding of the container (10), said closure flap (14) having a primary live hinge (34) adjacent said top wall (22) of said body portion (12) and a closure portion (40, 42) for releasably sealing said dispensing port (18), said primary live hinge lying in a plane which extends upwardly of said top wall (22) for permanently tethering said closure flap to said body portion and enabling selective opening and closing of said dispensing port.
An extrusion blow-molded plastic container (10) for storing and dispensing a fluent product, comprising:
- an extrusion blow-molded body portion (12) for storing the product;
- said body portion (12) having a top wall (22) with an upstanding fill port (16) extending upwardly therefrom for initially receiving the product in said body portion (12);
- said body portion (12) having a dispensing port (18) for dispensing product from said body portion (12), said dispensing port (18) being located on said top wall (22) and being offset from said fill port (16);
- and
- a co-extruded closure flap (14) extruded integral with said top wall (22) of said body portion (12) and compression molded along a mold parting line extending longitudinally of said body portion to-provide a primary live hinge (34) therebetween, said closure flap (14) moveable about said primary live hinge (34) into a position sealing said fill port (16) and releasably sealing said dispensing port (18), said primary live hinge lying in a plane which extends upwardly of said top wall (22) for permanently tethering said closure flap to said body portion and enabling selective opening and closing of said dispensing port.
An extrusion blow-molded dispensing container and closure combination (10), comprising:
- an extrusion blow-molded container body (12) having a top wall (22) with a dispensing port (18);
- a co-extruded closure flap (14) extruded integral with said top wall (22) of said container body (12) and compression molded along a mold parting line extending longitudinally of said body portion during extrusion blow-molding thereof, said closure flap (14) having an integral primary hinge (34) affording pivoting of said closure flap (14) between a closure position blocking flow from said dispensing port (18) and an open position affording dispensing from said dispensing port (18), said closure flap (14) having opposed side edges (66a, 66b) extending from said primary hinge (34), and said primary live hinge lying in a plane which extends upwardly of said top wall (22);
- a pair of protrusions (22c, 22d) extrusion blow-molded integral with said container body (12), said pair of protrusions (22c, 22d) extending in spaced parallel relation along said closure flap side edges, said pair of protrusions (22c, 22d) having outer surfaces that cooperate with said closure flap (14) to provide said container (10) with a smooth surface contour in the region of said closure flap (14) when in said closed position.
A method of blow-molding a container (10) for storing and dispensing fluent products, comprising the steps of:
- extruding a tube of plastic within a mold to form a container body (12), said mold comprising a pair of mold halves (28,30) which co-operate to form a primary mold cavity (60) for the container body (12) and which form a secondary mold flash cavity (62) on a parting line (24) therebetween;
- and
- simultaneously with blowing said tube formed in said extruding step, compressing a portion of the tube of plastic in said flash cavity (62) along the mold parting line (24) to form a co-extruded closure flap (14) having a primary live hinge (34) integral with said container body (12) lying in a plane extending upwardly from said container body for permanently tethering said closure flap to said container body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.