A BOTTOM DISPENSING PACKAGE

Abstract

The invention refers to a bottom dispensing package for a flowable composition, comprising a squeezable container for housing the flowable composition, a base element that is fixed to the container, whereby the base element comprises an orifice, whereby the orifice is placed in the direction of gravity beneath the container when the dispensing package is placed in its head-stand position on the base element, whereby the base element further comprises a closure connected to the base element and the closure can be moved back and forth between a closed position in which the closure closes the orifice and an open position in which the composition can be released through the orifice.

Claims

1. A bottom dispensing package for a flowable composition, comprising a squeezable container for housing the flowable composition, a base element that is fixed to the container, whereby the base element comprises an orifice whereby the orifice is placed in the direction of gravity beneath the container when the dispensing package is placed in its head-stand position on the base element, whereby the base element further comprises a closure connected to the base element and the closure can be moved back and forth between a closed position in which the closure closes the orifice and an open position in which the composition can be released through the orifice, characterised in that the base element has a circumferentially closed first contact surface with the container, and/or the container has a circumferentially closed second contact surface with the base element, whereby the first contact surface and/or the second contact surface comprises a plurality of mainly parallelly arranged micro sealing lips which extend in orthogonal direction from the first contact surface of the base element and/or from the second contact surface of the container, whereby in a cross-sectional view the micro sealing lips having a tapering contour extending in the direction out of the contact surface, whereby the micro sealing lips having a lip height >0.5 ?m, and the micro sealing lips show a circumferential length which extend from 10%-100% over the circumferentially closed contact surface, and the circumferential length of the micro sealing lips is aligned between +?75-135? to the joining direction of the base element and the container whereby the circumferentially closed first contact surface and/or the second contact surface show(s) a micro sealing lip density >10 micro sealing lips per cm.sup.2, and the micro sealing lips comprise an E-Module <2000 MPa.

2. The bottom dispensing package according to claim 1, characterised in that the relative contact surface between the base element and the container is >10 mm.sup.2.

3. The bottom dispensing package according to claim 1, characterised in that the base element is fixed onto the container so that the surface contact pressure between the first contact surface of the base element and the second contact surface of the container is >1 kp/cm.sup.2.

4. The bottom dispensing package according to claim 1, characterised in that the base element further comprises a slit-valve, which is especially configurated to prevent the composition to pass the slit-valve as long as container is not squeezed by a user.

5. The bottom dispensing package according to claim 1, characterised in that the container is not sealed by a removable liner element.

6. The bottom dispensing package according to claim 1, characterised in that the base element, including the orifice and the closure, and/or the container is made from PET or the base element is made from a PP or HDPE and the container is made from a PET, HDPE or PP.

7. The bottom dispensing package according to claim 1, characterised in that the flowable composition has a viscosity between 4-9.

8. The bottom dispensing package according to claim 1, characterised in that the flowable composition has a ReDox-Potential Eh of +200 to +600 mV at pH7.

9. The bottom dispensing package according to claim 1, characterised in that whereby the dispensing package further comprises at least one tamper evidence indication means for especially visually indicating if the closure has once been moved out of its closed position and whereby the composition may contact a slit-valve of the closure when the closure has not been moved once out of its closed position.

Description

[0027] In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail on the basis of figures without limiting the general concept of the invention.

[0028] FIG. 1 a bottom dispensing package in a perspective view,

[0029] FIG. 2 a base element with an opened closure in a perspective view,

[0030] FIG. 3 a base element with a closed closure in a cross-sectional view,

[0031] FIG. 4 a cross-sectional detailed view if the connection between the container and the base element,

[0032] FIG. 5 schematic cross-sectional sketches of the micro sealing lips, and

[0033] FIG. 6 schematic views on different micro sealing lip configuratuions.

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a bottom dispensing package 1 for a flowable composition 6. The dispensing package comprises a squeezable container 2 for housing the flowable composition 6 and a base element 3 that is fixed to the container 2. The base element 3 further comprises a closure 7 connected to the base element 3 which can be moved back and forth between a closed position 9 in which the closure 7 closes the orifice 4 and an open position 10 in which the composition 6 can be released through the orifice 4. The orifice 4 is placed in the direction of gravity beneath the container 2 when the dispensing package 1 is placed in its head-stand position on the base element 3. In FIG. 1, the closure 7 is shown in its closed position 9.

[0035] FIG. 2 shows the closure 7 in its open position. In the shown examples the closure 7 is a lid, that is connected to the base element 3 by a hinge 8. As it can be seen from FIG. 2, the base element 3 comprises a cylindrical orifice 4, which extends from the base element 3 in an axial direction away from the container 2.

[0036] The dispensing package 1 further comprises at least one tamper evidence indication mean 11 for especially visually indicating if the closure 7 has once been moved out of its closed position 9. The tamper evidence indication means 11 ensures a tight and defined closure of the closure 7 prior to the first use of the dispensing package by a user. The closure 7 is fixed onto a contact surface 14 of the base element, at least as long the closure has not been opened by a user.

[0037] Corresponding to the cylindrical shape of the orifice 4, the closure 7 has a cylindrical closure element 16, whereby the inner shell surface of the closure element 16 contacts the outer shell contact surface 14 of the orifice 4.

[0038] The base element 3 is fixed onto a contact surface 13 of the container 2, which can be seen from a joint view on FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. This interface between the base element 3 and the container 2 has a significant impact on the oxygen and humidity transfer from the outside into the container 2.

[0039] The base element 3, including the orifice 4 and the closure 7 is made from PET.

[0040] The base element 3 has a circumferentially closed first contact surface 13 with the container 2, and the container 2 has a circumferentially closed second contact surface 24 with the base element 3.

[0041] In the shown embodiment of FIGS. 3-5 the first contact surface 13 comprises a plurality of mainly parallelly arranged micro sealing lips 25 which extend in orthogonal direction from the first contact surface 13 of the base element as it is shown in FIG. 5. In this cross-sectional view the micro sealing lips 25 having a tapering contour extending in the direction out of the first contact surface 13.

[0042] The micro sealing lips 25 having a lip height 16 between 0.5-50 ?m. As it is indicated in FIG. 5, not all micro sealing lips 25 have the same lip hight 16 due to according tolerances in the manufacturing process. Also, the distance between the micro sealing lips 25 may vary due to this reason.

[0043] Due to the tapering contour of the micro sealing lips 25 the micro sealing lips 15 are elastically and/or plastically deformed against the contact surface 14, thereby realising multiple of linear seal sections between the first contact surface 13 of the base element 3 and the second contact surface 14 of the container 2. This is shown in illustration b (bottom) of FIG. 5. As it can be seen from FIG. 5, the initial lip hight 16 of the micro sealing lips 15 is reduced (16a) due to the pressure build up and pressure maintenance between the base element 3 and the container 2 when the base element 3 is assembled on the container 2. It has been proven to be beneficial for this elastically and/or plastically deformation that the micro sealing lips 25 comprise an E-module between 500-1500 MPa.

[0044] FIG. 6 shows different possible configurations of the micro sealing lips 15 and their circumferential layout. In general, the micro sealing lips 25 show a circumferential length 17 which extend from 10%-100% over the circumferentially closed first contact surface 13 and/or second contact surface 24.

[0045] In the illustration a of FIG. 6 a configuration is shown in which all micro sealing lips 15 have a circumferential length 17 which extend to 100% over the circumferentially closed first contact surface 13. In other words, each micro sealing lip 15 forms a closed ring.

[0046] In the illustration b a configuration is shown in which the sealing lips 15 do not form closed rings as in the embodiment of illustration a. Their circumferential length 17 does not extend to 100% over the circumferentially closed first contact surface 13. Hence, the micro sealing lips 15 form a labyrinth with a path via that the flowable composition 6 can enter the labyrinth, e.g. by capillary forces.

[0047] In the illustration c a configuration of micro sealing lips 25 is shown, in which the circumferential length of the micro sealing lips 25 is aligned between +75-135? to the joining direction 18 of the base element 3 and the container 2. In this configuration the micro sealing lips 25 are not oriented strictly parallel to each other what can be easily derived from FIG. 6c. Surprisingly, this configuration also shows excellent oxygen and/or humidity barrier characteristics and is more tolerant regarding manufacturing tolerances forming the micro sealing lips 25.

[0048] The circumferentially closed first contact surface 13 shows a micro sealing lip density between 50-500 micro sealing lips 25 per cm 2.

[0049] The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the figures. The above description is therefore not to be regarded as restrictive, but as explanatory. The following patent claims are to be understood in such a way that a named feature is present in at least one form of implementation of the invention. This does not exclude the presence of further features. If the patent claims and the above description define first and second features, this indication serves to distinguish two features of the same kind without establishing an order of priority.

REFERENCES

[0050] 1 bottom dispensing package [0051] 2 container [0052] 3 base element [0053] 4 orifice [0054] 5 slit-valve [0055] 6 flowable composition [0056] 7 closure [0057] 8 hinge [0058] 9 closed position [0059] 10 open position [0060] 11 tamper evidence indication mean [0061] 13 contact surface [0062] 14 contact surface [0063] 15 contact surface [0064] 16 closure element [0065] 17 circumferential length [0066] 18 joining direction [0067] 24 contact surface [0068] 25 micro sealing lip