DISPENSING CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS

This invention relates to dispensing containers, especially for snack items such as biscuits or pieces of dried fruit, and to dispensing closures for containers.

Many snack items such as crisps are packed in bags or sachets. Once opened, even if opened with care, the contents can easily spill out, leading to loss of the contents and/or to soiling whatever they fall on. Such bags or sachets are not, accordingly, suited to be used by toddlers or small children who tend to be messy.

US-A-4328904, US-A-4884717 and US-A-2003/0062366 all disclose anti- spill containers for snack foods having a lid or cover of flexible material.

EP-A-1902973 discloses dispensing containers in the form of a cup, the open face of which is bridged by a flexible elastic dispensing membrane comprising a dispensing slit opening, preferably in the form of a wavy line. In order to access the contents of the container, the user inserts the thumb and one or more fingers of the hand into the body of the cup, with the sides of the slit constituting resilient flaps which deform inwards to allow the inserted thumb and finger(s) to remove contents from the container. When the user's hand is withdrawn, the flaps return to their original position in the plane of the membrane and so stop the contents from falling out of the container if it is inverted or tipped over. The container may further comprise a secondary peelable membrane with gas and moisture barrier properties that is removably sealed on the cup edges above the dispensing

membrane. A problem with this known container is that the resilient flaps tend not to seal the dispensing slit opening adequately after the thumb and finger(s) have been inserted and removed, so allowing the contents of the container to fall out. This is particularly the case if the membrane is of complex construction including an aluminium foil layer.

The present invention seeks to provide improved dispensing containers.

According to a first feature of the present invention, there is provided a dispensing container comprising a container body with an opening, the opening being bridged by a substantially tear-resistant dispensing membrane bonded to the periphery of the opening, the membrane having at least one slit or aperture to permit access to the interior of the container, and characterised in that the membrane has at least two slits running in different directions, each terminating just short of the intersection of the lines of the slits, leaving a rupturable section of the membrane material between them.

Preferably the membrane has a pair of partly or wholly pre-cut slits running in different directions, the pieces of the areas of the membrane between adjacent slits being connected together by a rupturable section of membrane material.

Access to the interior of such a container may be achieved only after rupturing the rupturable section of membrane material and, if the slits are only partly pre-cut, tearing the final portion of membrane material to form the slits. Partial pre-cutting may take the form of a set of short straight line cuts through the membrane material along the length of the slit.

Alternatively, the membrane material can be e.g. laser-cut only part way through its thickness for part of the length of the slit. Preferably the pair of partly or wholly pre-cut slits are in the form of a cross with its centre uncut substantially at the centre of the opening on the container body. When the rupturable section formed by the uncut parts of the two intersecting slits is broken, the membrane is then formed of four resiliently deformable flaps. An alternative construction is with three, five or six slits radiating from an uncut portion at the centre of the membrane.

A particular advantage of this form of arrangement for the slits is that it enables the user, if desired, to release just one of the flaps by pressing down on that flap only. The rupturable section is left holding the other flaps together at the centre. This enables the advantages of the invention to be obtained when the contents are relatively weighty, for example grapes or olives, without needing to use a heavier or thicker grade of material for the membrane.

The rigidity of the membrane material should be such as to prevent the easy falling out of the container contents when the container is inverted or tipped on to its side once the rupturable section has been ruptured.

The rigidity of the membrane material will depend on its thickness and on the material of which it is made, but may also be dependent on surface texturing or embossing thereof, which may enable the use of a very thin membrane which nonetheless is sufficiently rigid in use to prevent accidental spillage.

A preferred material for the dispensing membrane is a stiff resilient polyethylene terephthalate film of thickness between 40 to 80 urn, for example 50 μηη. The dispensing membrane may be formed of a plastics film having a coating of heat-seal adhesive on one side enabling it to be heat-sealed in known fashion to the periphery of the opening in the container body. The periphery is conventionally a narrow rim or flange which provides the container body with a certain resistance to deformation when squeezed laterally, and an annular surface on to which a lid or cover may be sealed. The material of the dispensing membrane is preferably substantially inextensible, with a very low extension at break, so that rupture of the rupturable section is easily achieved without distortion of the membrane section being pressed; it usually occurs with a satisfying audible "click" or "pop".

Preferably a peelable cover membrane is provided over the dispensing membrane. The cover membrane and dispensing membrane should be selected so that they do not hold together at all (save at the edges where the cover membrane may be heat sealed to the dispensing membrane) or are so weakly bonded together that the dispensing membrane is not removed from the container when the cover membrane is peeled off.

Texturing of the dispensing membrane aids this. The cover membrane may if desired be slightly larger than the dispensing membrane and formed of a material which may be folded or crimped round the rim or flange

conventionally provided at the open end of the container.

The peelable cover membrane is preferably a food grade aluminium foil, preferably embossed and of basis weight 90-110 gsm, and with a polystyrene-based heat-seal lacquer. Optionally a polyester film of thickness 40 to 80 μηι, e.g. 50 m, may be laminated to the aluminium foil to provide an enhanced good gas and moisture barrier.

The cover membrane may conveniently be applied in a separate step from the application of-the dispensing membrane to the container, but it is conceivable that the cover membrane and dispensing membrane may be assembled together first and the combined "bi-!aminate" membrane then sealed to the top of the container in a single operation. In order to assist peeling off the cover membrane, it preferably incorporates a tab which projects from the edge of the container and which can be easily grasped when the user wishes to remove the cover membrane. Such a tab may be heat sealed to a matching tab on the dispensing membrane, where the tab on the dispensing membrane is connected to the remainder of the dispensing membrane via a line of weakness or perforations so that the dispensing membrane tab shears from the remainder of the dispensing membrane when the cover membrane is peeled off, and cannot act as a tab to enable the dispensing membrane to be peeled away from the periphery of the container.

The presence of a tab on the outer periphery of the dispensing membrane is advantageous, particularly in the case of circular dispensing membranes, as such a tab occupies a specific position relative to the pre-cut slits, and can accordingly be used to position the dispensing membranes in automatic filling and closure machinery, so that they can be reliably picked up one-by-one by a suction device which then moves to position the dispensing membrane on top of the container body, with the suckers on the suction device being positioned to engage the dispensing membrane between the slits.

The thickness and other properties of the dispensing membrane need to be selected having regard to the intended content of the container - heavier items need more rigid membranes than lighter ones, and further

considerations include the geometry of the arrangement of the slits and of the periphery of the opening on the container, which may, for example, be circular, oval, square or. oblong (usually with rounded corners) or even other shapes. The body of the container may be tapered or rounded or cylindrical. The invention also relates to a dispensing closure for containers comprising an assembly of a defined dispensing membrane and a peelable membrane as defined above, and which, when applied to the periphery of a container opening, provides a container in accordance with the present invention. The periphery of the dispensing membrane and the peelable membrane may be pre-bonded to form a single composite structured lid, which is then simply applied to the open container after it has been filled with the desired contents.

Although the containers according to the present invention are particularly suited for dispensing food items, they may be used satisfactorily for dispensing a variety of other items or materials where spillage can occur and accordingly a degree of containment of the contents is desirable after the container has been opened.

One such item is pills, where the retention provided by the membrane stops or reduces losses if the container is dropped or tipped by an elderly user. The membrane can bridge the open end of a canister which has a customary lid, optionally with childproof closure features built into it. In this area of application, it is not always convenient to extract pills by pushing a finger into the container (which is small relative to a "snack pot"), but, by suitable design, the arrangement of slits and resilient flaps can operate as a very convenient "single pill dispenser" - if the container is wholly or partly inverted and then gently shaken, just one pill at a time tends to get past the flaps. A further advantage is that if the membrane is relatively opaque, even if a child removes a lid from such a pill container, the pills themselves cannot be seen, so the child is less likely to mistake them for a

confectionery product. Additionally, the fact that the closure membrane needs to be ruptured to gain access to the pills acts as an additional "tamper evident" feature; wording on the exterior of the container may makes it clear that the pills are not to be taken if, on removing the lid, the closure membrane has been breached.

The containers of the present invention may also be used for powders or liquids. Once the membrane has been ruptured the contents can be dispensed by inverting the container, usually with an accompanying shake, with the membrane then acting as a flow restrictor for the contents.

According to a further feature of the present invention, there is provided a disposable drinking vessel comprising a container with an opening and filled with liquid to be drunk, the opening being sealed closed by a dispensing membrane bonded to the periphery of the opening, the membrane having portions designed to form a relatively small drinking aperture adjacent the periphery, and a small air intake aperture remote from the drinking aperture, and a peelabie cover membrane covering the dispensing membrane, and adhered thereto such that when the peelabie membrane is peeled away from the dispensing membrane, the portions designed to form a drinking aperture and an air intake aperture are removed from the dispensing membrane by the cover membrane. Once so opened, the contents of the container can be drunk through the drinking aperture whilst air entering the air intake aperture replaces the liquid drunk.

The invention is further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment with a peelabie membrane removed- prior to rupturing of the bridging means,

Figure 2 shows a perspective view with a peelabie membrane removed and with the bridging means and the dispensing membrane deformed allowing access to the container contents; and Figure 3 shows a disposable drinking vessel.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a dispensing container 1 which may typically be formed from plastics, e.g. by vacuum forming. Container 1 has a container body 2 with an opening 3.

The opening 3 is covered by a substantially tear-resistant dispensing membrane 4 bonded to the periphery of the opening. The membrane 4 was formed of 50 pm thick polyethylene terephthalate film (T/Clear Co-Ex, ex Combi).

Membrane 4 has two slits 5A, 5B formed as a cross. The centre of each slit is not perforated and lies substantially at the centre of the membrane. This defines four resiliently deformable flaps 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D each shaped as quadrant of a circle and with their points connected together at the centre by a frangible or rupturable web of the membrane material. As shown in Figure 2, deforming of the flaps (e.g. with thumb and finger, not shown) allows a user to gain access to the interior of the container, and thus to food denoted "X" in the container body 2. Membrane 4 is textured by being pin embossed (represented by the dotted surface) to add rigidity and resilience to the membrane material. The slits 5A and 5B although shown in the drawing as having width, are preferably simple slits in the membrane material, i.e. no material is punched out of the membrane itself.

The frangible or rupturable bridging means join the points of the quadrant- shaped-flaps-and-are denoted 7.

A peelable cover membrane 8 with an integral pull tab 8A is provided over the dispensing membrane. The peelable membrane 8 was made of 100 gsm aluminium foil, random grub embossed with a 3.7 gsm polystyrene heat seal lacquer on one side (ex Chadwicks of Bury). This provides a good gas and moisture barrier. Cover membrane 8 is releasably sealed at its periphery to the periphery of the dispensing membrane 4 by means of the polystyrene heat seal adhesive which provides a bond of strength less than that bonding the periphery of the dispensing membrane 4 to the periphery of the container body opening 3.

The pin embossed texturing of the dispensing membrane 4 helps prevent it bonding to the cover membrane 8 so that the dispensing membrane 4 is not removed from the container when the cover membrane 8 is peeled off.

In use the cover membrane 8 is first removed and the rupturable bridging means 7 then broken by applying downward pressure on the flaps 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D. The flaps can then be deformed downwards allowing access to and removal of at least some of contents "X" by the thumb and forefinger. When the contents have been removed, the resilience of the flaps allows the flaps to rebound to the position shown in Figure 1 whereby to form a planar membrane 4 across the opening 3 of the container which reduces the risk that the contents of container 1 will fall out if the container is inverted or tipped over.

During manufacture, the periphery of dispensing membrane 4 and peeiable membrane 8 may be pre-bonded together before heat sealing the assembly on to the periphery of the container body opening 3.

Dispensing container 1 is particularly suitable for snack items such as crisps or- the like and its use materially reduces the risk of a child spilling the contents and soiling their clothes and surrounding articles.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown a disposable drinking vessel comprising a container 10 with an opening 1 1. The container 10 is filled with liquid to be drunk. The opening 11 is sealed closed by a dispensing membrane 12 bonded to the periphery of the opening. Membrane 12 has a drinking aperture 13 adjacent the periphery, and an air intake aperture 14 remote from the drinking aperture on the opposite side of the periphery. A peelable cover membrane 15 is provided to cover the dispensing membrane 12, and adhered to it across its entire surface area, but not as strongly as the membrane is bonded to the periphery of the opening. In use, the peelable membrane 15 is removable by peeling off pulling-on tab 16, whereafter the contents of the container may be drunk through the drinking aperture 13 whilst the air intake aperture 14 replaces liquid drunk with ambient air. The liquid aperture 13 and air intake aperture 14 are both sufficiently small to allow no or only a reduced flow of liquid from the container if liquid is not being drunk and the liquid level is above the drinking or air intake aperture.

Drinking aperture 13 and air intake aperture 14 may be formed by laser cutting their shape as a weakened wall portion in the dispensing membrane 12 to a sufficient depth that the shapes 13A and 14A of the aperture 13 and 14 remain bonded to the peelable membrane 15 as the peelable membrane is removed.