END CAP FOR A PRESSURE CAN

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the end cap of a can, such as an end cap of the assembly foam can, which is intended to protect the top of said can, where the output valve is at the end of said can, and where the end cap comprises an additional holding space for accessories, such as protective gloves, instructions or other necessary means meant to be supplied with the can.

[0002] In the context of the present invention the term "can" means primarily an aerosol can or a pressure can containing a product under pressure, such as polyurethane foam (Makroflex™, Penosil™, etc) or other similar product.

[0003] At the end of such can there is usually an output valve for delivering the product. Depending on the type of the output valve or the nozzle at the end of the can, the product is delivered either with the applicator supplied with the can (i.e. a plastic tube with a special end piece) or with a special foam gun, which is screwed onto the end of the can.

Background Art

[0004] Previously accessories supplied with the can (i.e. fine plastic tube to be inserted into the corresponding opening of the output valve) have been fixed with the adhesive tape onto the outer side of the can or onto the outer side of the end cap of the can, where on the end cap there is an additional suspension opening or other fastening means for that purpose.

[0005] In case flexible accessories, such as protective gloves for protecting user's hands (i.e. rubber gloves, preferably thin plastic gloves made of PVC), must be supplied with the can, it is not practical to fasten them onto the outer side of the can or onto the end cap of said can, because accessories can become detached and get lost on the filling or on the packaging line of the cans or during transportation of the cans. It may also happen, that a passer-by may take said accessories fastened to the outer side of the can or its end cap from the shelf of the store.

[0006] Also an additional operation is required to be performed on the production line to fasten said accessories onto the outer side of the can, which also requires additional equipment. Besides the accessories fastened to the outer side of the can or its end cap hinder packaging and transportation of cans on the production line.

Disclosure of Invention

[0007] This invention is aimed at the elimination of the above-mentioned

shortcomings. To that end the present invention proposes an end cap for the can, where inside of the end cap an additional holding space is formed with the help of a holding member for storing a pair of gloves (or a package of gloves), instructions, nozzles, etc. With such a solution the manufacturer of the end cap is able to incorporate necessary accessories (i.e. a pair of protective gloves) into the end cap and the end cap containing said accessories can be put onto the can in a usual manner, in which connection there is no need to make any changes on the filling line of the cans or on the part of the line, where the end caps are put onto the cans.

[0008] According to the present invention, an end cap for a can is proposed, comprising generally a cylindrical side wall and having at the one end of the cylindrical side wall an end wall and having at the other end of the cylindrical side wall a securing means for securing said cap on top of the can.

[0009] Inside the cap, a holding member is secured in the vicinity of the end wall, where between said end wall and said holding member a holding space is formed for storing accessories, such as protective gloves, a package containing protective gloves, instructions or nozzles, etc, meant to be supplied with the can.

[0010] Holding member is formed mainly with a disk-shaped flange and it has a centre part protruding towards the end wall of the end cap. In the preferred embodiment the centre part of the holding member is in the form of a truncated cone.

[0011] In the preferred embodiment the holding member comprises openings in order to make it possible to poke the holding member out of the end cap (with the help of a finger tip or a screw driver) and take out the accessories from the holding space between the end wall of the end cap and the holding member.

[0012] Preferably the holding member is secured inside the end cap with

protrusions protruding from the inner side of the side wall of the end cap, where as the protrusions engage behind the disk-shaped flange of the holding member and prevent the holding member from falling out of the end cap.

[0013] Preferably the end cap of the can and the holding member inside of the cap are made of plastic material, such as polyethylene (PE) or other suitable plastic material.

[0014] Accessories, such as protective gloves, can be placed into the holding space either wrapped in plastic film or unprepackaged.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0015] Further the invention and its specific embodiment is described in detail with references to the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG 1 depicts an axonometric view of pressure can with an end cap;

FIG 2 depicts an end view of end cap according to FIG 1 ;

FIG 3 depicts a side view of pressure can with end cap according to FIG 1 ;

FIG 4 depicts a section view of the end cap according to invention along cut line A-A on FIG 3;

FIG 5 depicts a detailed view of B on FIG 4;

FIG 6 depicts an axonometric view viewed from below of an end cap with a holding member placed and secured inside said cap;

FIG 7 depicts an axonometric view of a holding member; and

FIG 8 depicts in an axonometric exploded view a position of the holding member in relation to the end cap before inserting and securing said holding member into the end cap.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] FIGS 1 and 3 depict a typical pressure can 2 having an end cap 1

according to the invention. The end view of the end cap 1 is depicted on

FIG 2.

[0017] FIG 4 depicts a section view of an end cap 1 according to the invention, the cap having been put onto the top of the can 2, whereas the end of the can 2 is depicted for the sake of clarity of the drawing in a simplified manner, that is without an outlet valve of the end of the can.

[0018] The cap 1 for a can has a generally cylindrical side wall 10, having at the one end of the cylindrical side wall 10 an end wall 8 and having at the other end of the cylindrical side wall 10 securing means 11 for fixing said cap 1 on top of the can 2. In this specific embodiment said securing means

11 comprise protrusions protruding from the inner side of side wall 10 of the end cap, whereas the protrusions are intended to be engaged with a groove around the end part of the can 1 , see FIGS 4 and 6.

[0019] Additionally inside of the end cap 1 , side wall 10 comprises snap catches 7 protruding from its inner side, whereas the snap catches are also in the form of the protrusions and they are intended to secure the holding member 12 inside the end cap 1.

[0020] In this specific embodiment the inner side of the side wall 10 of the cap 1 also comprises reinforcement ribs 6 for stiffening said side wall.

[0021] The holding member 12 has mainly a disk-shaped flange 3 and it has a centre part 4, which in the working position protrudes towards end wall 8 of the end cap 1. In this specific embodiment the flange 3 comprises at its edge recesses 5 for the reinforcement ribs 6.

[0022] The centre part 4 is in the form of a truncated cone in order to allow the cap 1 provided with the holding member 12 to be placed on the top of the can 1 so that it does not come into contact with the outlet valve on the end of the can.

[0023] In the working position of the end cap 1 the holding member 12 is secured with snap catches 7 inside of the end cap 1 close to the end wall 8 so, that inside of the end cap 1 between said end wall 8 and said holding member

12 a holding space is formed. For the sake of clarity of drawings, the accessories, such as protective gloves, package of protective gloves etc, are not depicted.

[0024] There are several snap catches 7 and they are equally spaced from each other on the inner side of the side wall 10 of the end cap 1.

[0025] The holding member 12 comprises openings 9 in order to allow the holding member 12 to be removed from the end cap 1 and to allow access to the accessories in the holding space.

[0026] When assembling the end cap 1 , the accessories to be supplied, such as package with protective gloves are first placed inside said end cap 1 and then holding member 12 is placed inside the end cap 1 to prevent accessories from falling out the end cap 1. After that the end cap 1 is ready to be handled and positioned to the top of the can 2 in a known manner.

[0027] As it can be seen from the FIGS 1 to 3, the external design of the end cap 1 according to the invention does not differ from the end caps known from the prior art. Therefore it can be used on the existing production lines, where end caps are placed on top of the cans without changing the production lines.

[0028] Above described embodiment is only one option from many. The invention is not limited to the above illustrative embodiment, but for the person skilled in the art many other embodiments are apparent in the scope of the claims.

List of Reference Numbers

[0029]

1 - end cap

2 - can

3 - flange of the holding member

4 - centre part of the holding member

5 - recess

6 - reinforcement rib

7 - snap catch of the holding member

8 - end wall of the end cap

9 - opening of the holding member

10 - side wall of the end cap

11 - means for securing end cap to the top of the can

12 - holding member