US2258395A - Tube - Google Patents

Description

C. A. TOME Oct. 7, 1941.

, TUBE Filed Oct. 2'7, 1959 lNVENTOR (QI ZCZQZEJ A J5me I v Patented Oct. 7, 1941 umrso STATES TUBE Charles A. Tome, Wilmington, Del. f Application October 27, 1939, Serial No. 301,517

'6 Claims. This invention relates to a collapsible container. The invention particularly relates to a tabricated dispensingcontainer combining a dispenslng head, a flexible tubular member, and an advantageousmethod and means for uniting them.

The fleld oi collapsible dispensing tubes is at present dominated by metallic containers, which are usually made of tin, lead, or aluminum, or

, combinations of metals, and are substantially one piece, either being integral or so made by soldering or'the like. Such containers are entirely satisfactory with non-corrosive substances, but are entirely unsuited to act as containers for other materials. It has been proposed to make such tubes out of materials, such as regenerated cellulose, for instance, by spirally windingstrips or regenerated cellulose and gluing the overlapped portions. Such tubes have a disadvantage that they are not'continuous, and tend to split at the seams. All :such tubes have also been unsatisfactory because no wholly satisfactory method of joining the collapsible body to the rigid head has been invented. It has been proposed, in U. S. PatentNo. 2,002,718, for example, to form a rigid head and to draw overthat head a tube of smaller diameter locking the two in place with a metallic ring. Thereare several objections to this construction, among which is this that pressure applied to the contents tends to separate the tube metal except when such tubes are used for noncorrosive materials, and which can be used with materials corrosive to metallic containers. Another object is to produce a tube having a head of any desirable shape and a body portion conforming both to the size and shape thereof. Another obiect of the invention is to form a dispensing container having, other than a circular shape out of a circular tube. Another object of the invention is to form a connection between the body portion of a flexible tube and the head which becomes more tightly sealed as pressure is applied.

The objects of the invention are accomplished by the invention which is herein described and which involves, generally speaking, a flexible tube, a perforated head having a flange or skirt, and a compression member to hold the tube against the skirt.

(o1. sci-e) panying drawing and the attached specification,

but it is understood that this: description does not limit the invention beyond the scope of the appended claims. I In the drawing Figure 1 is a dismantled view of an excellent form of theinvention; Figure 2 is a preferred form of my invention, shown in section. Figures 3 and 4 are views in section and from above, respectively, 01' the locking disk used in th form of invention shown in Figure 2..

In Figure 1, III is a tube of material, such as regenerated cellulose, which can be extruded in a manner similar to the method which is used for the making of sausage casings.

any satisfactory flexible material; H is ahead having a neck portion 12 and a flange or skirt l3; I4 is a bore extending completely through the head so that the contents of the tube can be forced out through th neck; I 5 is a groove in the inner periphery of the skint I 3. The head is preferably made of some strong plastic material which is highly resistant to corrosive materials. it is a locking ring or head having a flatface I5,

I l' of the head, and having a circumferential ring l1 iorcooperation with the groove l5. In assembling this construction the tube I0 is properly seated within the skirt l3 and the ring I6 is forced into place, locking the tube between the ring I1 and the groove IS. The ring I! may be integral with the member It or it may be a separate member seated in a groove therein. In ordinary cases it will be satisfactory if made integral with the 38 member 16.

The tube can also be bonded to the head by a suitable cement if desired, in which case a lockingdmember of less pressure "can sometimes be use In a great many instances it is unnecessary to make the locking ring larger than the skirt in order to obtain proper sealing. Usually a sufficiently tight closure is effected by using a locking ring of the same size as'the interior of the skirt, since the tube itself will furnish sufficient locking action. In some instances, where a tube of considerable thickness is employed, it is desirable to use a locking ring of less diar'neter than the inside of the skirt.

in Figures 2, 3, and 4. In these figures, 5| is a dispensing head made of appropriate material; 52 is a skirt on the head; 53 is a circular groove in the head alined with the inner side of the The invention will be illustrated in the accomskirt 52: 54 is an annular groove in the skirt This tube can be made of cellulose acetate, of papenor of which wili preferably contact with the fiatface A preferred form of the invention is disclosed I Just below the groove 53; I! is a portion of the head acting as a shoulder; 8! is an annular disk having convex form and made of some material suc as compressed fiber having considerable strength and resilience; i1 is a hole in the center of the disk; 58 are slots in the edge of the disk.

I Another. method of describing the invention is to say that the head, Ii or II, has a cavity formed by skirt, l3 or 52, which is enlarged by the groove.

In assembling this form of thejinvention a tube of appropriate material, having a circumference equal to that of the interior of the skirt 52, is inserted in the head and made to project into the groove 53. A spring disk, as shown in Figure 3, is then inserted in the tube and pushed into the head until it is emplaced in the groove It. The disk is then sprung by pressing upon the center thereof so that its curvature is reversed, as shown in Figure 2. In this position it abuts against the supports 55 within the head forming a lock which cannot be broken by attempts to pull the tube from the head. The reason for this is probably that a pull on the tube 58 is transmitted around the shoulder formed bythe lower angle of the groove so that the largest component thereof is transversely of the tube rather than longitudinally. This transverse pull tends, therefore, to increase the existing curvature of the disk rather than to decrease it. That tendency to increase the curvature is prevented by the support 55 so that the tube can be separated from the head only by actually crumpling the disk, which requires a far greater force than would ever be applied to the tube in normal operation.

When pressure is applied to the tubes of the dispensing containers of my invention the increase in pressure within the tube forces the locking member more tightly against the tube and the skirt of the head so that there is an increase of sealing rather than a tendency to separate. So strong is this sealing that the full weight of a man has proved insuflicient to break the joint between a tube and its head. This is particularly advantageous in connection with substances which tend to dry out in the neck of the container on standing.

The dispensing heads can be made of artificial resins of phenol-formaldehyde type, vinyl resin type, cellulose plastic type, methyl methacrylate type, of hard rubber or of any other material of suflicient strength and sufilcient resistance to the corrosive action of the particular material which is to be contained in the tube. member can be made of the same or of different material. It is obvious that, although the invention is of particular value with the materials I described, the invention is not to be limited to a particular material. In each instance the shapes of the conforming members will be so chosen that they make the best use of the materials selected.

An advantage of my invention is thatnon-circular tubes of substantially the same head and body size. can be made. Another advantage bf the invention is that a two-part tube is produced in which the application of pressure tends to seal rather than to separate the Joint. Another advantage of the invention is that a tube of a non-circular container can be made from a circular tube. Other advantages of my invention, will be in part apparent and in part elsewhere herein set forth.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 280,456, filed June 22, 1939.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

1. A non-metallic dispensing container having a comparatively rigid non-metallic dispensing head, a flexible non-metallic tube, and means to Join the head piece and tube, said head being perforated'to permit the extrusion of the material within the tube and having a skirt with a groove about its inner circumference, said means to Join the head piece and tube comprising a locking member having a perforation in alinement with that of the head and having a protruding ring locking the tube within the head in cooperation with the said groove. q J

2. A dispensing container comprising a com paratively flexible tube and a comparatively rigid head having a depending skirt, a circumferential groove in the skirt, and means to force the tube into the groove comprising a reversible, convex locking piece.

3. A container comprising a comparatively flexible tube, a comparatively rigid head having a cavity to receive the tube with an interior circumferential shoulder formed by an enlargement of the cavity and means to Join the tube to the head comprising a locking piece of limited flexibility and of normal size greater than the least circumference of the shoulder, whereby the seat- The locking ing of the locking piece will warp a portion-of the tube about the shoulder.

4, In a container a relatively rigid headhavv head comprising a resilient disk for holding the tube in place by warping it around the shoulder whereby forces acting parallel to the axis of the tube are changed to a direction radial thereto.

6. A container comprising a flexible tube, a head having a cavity in which the tube is received, said cavity being the diameter of the tube near its mouth but of larger diameter thereabove, and means to force a portion of the tube into the enlarged portion or the cavity and to hold it there, whereby to lock tube and head together.

CHARLES A. TOME.

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