CONDIMENT DISPENSER

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] Benefit is claimed of US patent application Ser. No. 60/701,145, filed, July 21, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein as if set forth at length.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The invention relates to condiment dispensers. More particularly, the invention relates to container/dispensers for flowable condiments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] A squeeze container for dispensing a condiment has a flexible container body. A flowable condiment is within the container body. A cap assembly has: an inner closure member mounted to the body; and an outer closure member mounted relative to the inner closure member for rotation about a closure axis. A first of the inner and outer closure members has an open portion and a blocking portion. The second of the inner and outer closure members has a plurality of separate openings and a second blocking area _. , said rotation providing a plurality of conditions where each of the openings is individually aligned with the open portion to permit flow of the condiment through that opening and a closed condition wherein the blocking portion of the second closure member blocks the open portion of the first closure member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] The views of the drawings show one particular implementation of a condiment dispenser closure assembly wherein:

[0005] FIG. 1 is an end view of a closure assembly.

[0006] FIG. 2 is an underside view of the closure assembly of FIG. 1.

[0007] FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the closure assembly of FIG. 1.

[0008] FIG. 4 is an end view of an outer member of the closure assembly of FIG. 1. [0009] FIG. 5 is an underside view of the outer member of FIG. 4.

[0010] FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the outer member of FIG. 4.

[0011] FIG. 7 is a side view of the outer member of FIG. 4.

[0012] FIG. 8 is an end view of an inner member of the closure assembly of FIG. 1.

[0013] FIG. 9 is an underside view of the inner member of FIG. 8.

[0014] FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the inner member of FIG. 8.

[0015] FIG. 11 is a side view of the inner member of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] FIG. 1 shows a condiment container/dispenser 20 including a body 22 and a cap/closure assembly 24 (e.g., all of molded plastic). The assembly 24 includes an inner member 26 secured to the body and an outer member 28 carried by the inner member. A food product (e.g., a condiment) 30 is within the body 22. Exemplary condiments include ketchup, mustard, and natural or imitation mayonnaise.

[0017] The exemplary body 22 may be a flexible plastic bottle or tube (e.g., with a heat crimped end) with an externally threaded mouth engaged by an internally threaded body of the inner member 26. The inner and outer members each have a sidewall 34; 35 spanned by a web 36;37 at an upper end of the sidewall. The inner member 26 may be locked to the body by body projections captured in recesses 40 at a lower end of the closure inner member. The closure outer member 28 may be captured against longitudinal extraction by cooperation of a locking rib 42 and a flange 44. [0018] The inner member 26 includes an open area or aperture 50 in the web 36. The aperture 50 is along an annular raised area 52 engaging the underside 54 of the outer member web 37. The provision of a raised area provides a central gap between the webs 36 and 37 and helps provide good sealing between the closure members around the aperture 50. An unapertured sector 56 lies beyond the aperture 50. [0019] Detented relative rotation of the closure members about the axis 500 is provided by cooperation of detent projections 60 on the inner member and detent compartments 62 on the outer member at lower rims of the respective sidewalls. The detent mechanism permits detented registry of one of a plurality of areas of the outer member web with the aperture 50. The exemplary closure includes six such areas and six detented positions at 60° angles. The areas respectively include five open areas/apertures 70A-70E and an unapertured blocking area/portion 72. When the area 72 is aligned with the aperture 50, the closure assembly is in a closed condition. The apertures 70A-70E each have different sizes and/or shapes (which may be convoluted). When one of the apertures 70A-70E is aligned with the aperture 50, the condiment in the body 22 may be dispensed through such aperture (e.g., to be applied to main food product such as a sandwich portion, entree, or the like). [0020] Dispensing may be by hand squeezing of the body 22. If particularly viscous, the condiment may be extruded to produce an elongate extrusion whose cross-section corresponds to the shape of the selected aperture 70A-70E. If less viscous, the condiment may be dispensed in a shaped dollop. After dispensing, the closure assembly may be returned to the closed condition.

[0021] One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described.

Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.