A POURING FITMENT FOR A CONTAINER
The present invention relates generally to a pouring fitment and specifically to a pouring fitment intended to be secured to a container by means of an adhesive.
Pouring fitments are used extensively on carton bricks, where they are secured around an opening in the carton to facilitate smooth pouring of the carton contents e.g. fruit juice or milk.
These fitments include a base part which usually comprises or includes a flat plate i.e. a flange for receiving adhesive. In a standard process a ring of adhesive is applied to a flat area around the carton brick orifice and the fitment is pressed onto the carton with the flange around the orifice. The adhesive is sandwiched between the flange and the flat area to stick the fitment to the carton.
However, the application of the adhesive and the positioning of the fitment are not precise operations. Furthermore, if too little adhesive is used the fitment does not stick well, or possibly not at all. Accordingly an excess of adhesive is usually applied to the flat area to ensure that the fitment can be pressed on within certain tolerances, and still receive sufficient adhesive on a substantial part of the base flange.
The problem with applying too much adhesive to a flange is that the adhesive spreads beneath and beyond the flange. By spreading outwardly of the flange excess adhesive becomes visible on the exterior of the carton brick, • which is unsightly.
The carton brick orifice is often initially protected by a panel which is surrounded by a score line to allow it to be removed. By spreading inwardly the adhesive can cover over the score line. Once set, the adhesive can impede or prevent removal of the panel .
WO-A-01/96199, addressed this issue by describing a pouring fitment of the type intended to be secured around an opening in a container by means of an adhesive located between the base of the fitment and the container, wherein the base includes a recess on its outer periphery. This recess accommodates excess adhesive, for preventing the spread of adhesive beyond a periphery of the base when the fitment is secured to the container. However, it has been found that the excess adhesive, although collecting in the recess, does not always form a bond between the container and the pouring fitment.
The present invention seeks to address this problem. Accordingly, the present invention provides a pouring fitment of the type intended to be secured around an opening in a container by means of an adhesive between the base of the fitment and the container, wherein the base includes one or more recesses adapted to hold adhesive, for preventing the spread of adhesive beyond a periphery of the base when the fitment is secured to the container, characterised in that, the one or more recesses have one or a plurality of projections extending therein.
By providing projections in the recess, the internal volume of the recess is reduced and the internal surface
area of the recess is increased. These factors increase the adhesion between the container and the pouring fitment since there is less volume for the glue to fill and there are additional points of contact for the adhesive to adhere to.
Further, the projections can be used to direct the flow of adhesive within the recess. By shaping and positioning of the projections, adhesive can be directed, for example, so that levels of adhesion can be maximised. This might be achieved by directing adhesive so as to concentrate it into one or more adhesive pools, rather than allowing the adhesive to settle more thinly over a larger area.
The projections may comprise one or a plurality of walls which at least partially segment the interior of the recess . The recess may be shaped such that it tapers in axial section. The recess can be arranged so that the adhesive is squeezed through the narrowest portion of the recess first, where it is more likely to stick. The present invention also provides a container having a fitment as described herein.
The present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig.l is a schematic perspective view of a part of a paperboard carton including a known fitment;
Fig.2 is a sectional view of the fitment of Fig.l prior to application to the carton;
Fig.3 is a sectional view of the fitment of Fig.l following application to the carton;
Fig.4 is a sectional view of a fitment according to the present invention prior to application to a carton;
Fig.5 is a sectional view of the fitment of Fig.4 following application to the carton; Fig.6 is an enlarged sectional view of the recess arrangement of the fitment of Fig.5;
Fig.7 is a sectional view of an alternative recess arrangement ;
Fig.8a is a sectional view of an alternative recess arrangement ;
Fig.8b is an underplan view of the recess arrangement of Fig.8a;
Fig.9 is a sectional view of an alternative recess arrangement ; Fig.10 is a sectional view of an alternative recess arrangement ; and
Fig.11 is a sectional view of an alternative recess arrangement .
Referring first to Fig.l, there is shown a laminated paperboard carton generally indicated (1) . The carton (1) is provided with a fitment generally indicated (2) comprising a housing (3) and a closure (4) .
Referring now also to Figs. 2 and 3, the housing includes an upstanding cylindrical sidewall (5) and a base part generally indicated (6) and comprising a flat annular flange (βa) . The flange (6a) extends from the lower end of the sidewall (5), perpendicular to the main axis of the sidewall.
The carton is provided with a pre-scored track (7) defining a removable panel (8) which initially covers the carton orifice.
The closure (4) comprises a top panel (9) and an outer skirt (10) . The skirt (10) is provided with some means of attachment to the cylindrical sidewall, for example, screw threads or a snap bead.
Fig.2 shows the fitment just prior to application. A bead of adhesive (11) is applied around, the orifice. In Fig.3 the fitment has been pressed onto the carton. There is too much adhesive to be spread over the flange (6a) . As a result the adhesive spreads past the edges of the flange (6a) and beyond the peripheries of the base (6). The adhesive (11) is visible from the exterior of the fitment, and covers the pre-scored track (7) making removal of the panel (8) more difficult.
Referring now to Figs. 4 to 6 , the base part (106) again includes a flange (106a) . The base (106) also includes an annular recess (112) extending around the outer periphery of the flange (106a) .
At the inner periphery of the flange (106a) is a downwardly extending lip (113) .
When the fitment (102) is applied to the carton (101) the adhesive (111) spreads over the flange (106a) . However, in this case the lip (113) prevents flow inwardly of the base (106) . The recess (112) is positioned to lie in the path of the spreading adhesive and the excess adhesive therefore flows outwardly of the flange (106a) and into the recess (112).
The recess (112) accommodates the excess adhesive and serves to increase the surface area of the base (106) which is exposed to the adhesive. In effect the wall of the recess (112) becomes part of the adhesive contact area of the base (106) . This serves to increase the adhesion of the housing (103) to the carton.
Fig.7 shows one embodiment of the present invention, in which the recess (212) is provided with a projection (214) . The projection (214) extends partly into the recess (212) and in this embodiment is a single, centrally positioned, continuous annulus extending around the recess (212) .
In other embodiments (not shown) one or a plurality of such projections could be segmented to form nodules, or could extend from any part of the recess .
In Fig.8a a central annular protection (314) extends the full height of the recess (312) and thus divides it. Fig.8b is an underplan view and shows the annular projection (314) . In addition the recess (312) has radially extending struts (315) which intersect the projection (314) and divide the recess into six compartments. This again serves to increase the surface area of the recess which can contact adhesive. In addition the struts (315) help to resist shear forces. In the embodiment of Fig.9 the flange (406a) is flanked by two recesss (412a, 412b) to accommodate adhesive flowing in either direction.
In the embodiment of Fig.10 a recess (512) is positioned within the flange (506a) . In this case the recess (512) is likely to receive adhesive by direct
entry and through spreading from the flange (506a) . By placing a recess within the flange the amount of adhesive available to spread over the flange is reduced because it is held by the recess. This reduces the likelihood of adhesive spreading beyond the peripheries of the base (506) .
In the embodiment of Fig.11 the recess (612) is positioned at the outer periphery of the flange (606a) . In this embodiment the wall (616) defining the recess tapers in axial section, with the narrowest section adjacent the inner periphery of the flange (606a). When adhesive is squeezed into the recess it progressively contacts further up the inclined wall (616), ensuring contact with the wall.