CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/796,353, filed January 24, 2019, incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Many consumer products, such as creams, lotions, soaps, shampoos, etc., can be generally characterized as viscous fluids that do not easily flow based solely on gravitational forces. The nature of such fluids are that they tend to physically collect across smallish orifices and entrap air during a physical transfer. As such, containers of these fluids are more easily filled or dispensed with the addition of a supplemental energy source (like static pressure from a propellant gas or centrifugal pump, or physical displacement like squeezing a bottle or from a displacement type pump). The present invention is directed to a particular container generally characterized as a squeeze bottle that is used to dispense personal products such as hair shampoo and hair conditioner and the like. Other materials, containers, and fluids are also within the scope of the invention.

[0003] In current manufacturing or filling facilities, a positive displacement metering device is typically used to transfer a set volume of hair shampoo or hair conditioner from a filling reservoir, through filling conduits, and through the open top of and into a squeeze bottle. In some instances a filling probe is physically inserted into the receiving bottle's lower surface to fill from its bottom to its top, to avoid entrapping air in the shampoo or conditioner and thus reduce the opportunity for interfering with reliable and repeatable filling. After a bottle is filled, a cap or closure is installed. Sometimes a tamper-indicator (like shrink film) is then applied. Typically, a cap has an integral valve, so the cap doesn’t need to be removed when a consumer squeezes a bottle to dispense shampoo or conditioner from it. Integral valves are preferred, especially in a shower where a bottle and its cap are wet and slippery and a cap is easily dropped.

[0004] When a consumer perceives a shampoo bottle to be empty, the bottle must be disposed of as solid waste or enter the recycling stream. However, the bottle is rarely completely emptied and there is typically a non-negligible quantity of shampoo or conditioner remaining in a bottle that, due to its viscosity, is hard to extract. Due to the difficulty of removing this residual product, many consumers simply dispose of the bottle when the time for the product to reach the nozzle is beyond a few seconds. This leads to waste of the product, and premature replacement of the bottle.

[0005] A smallish percentage of consumers refill a bottle from another larger bottle (“a refill”), however, the viscous properties of shampoo or conditioner make it time-consuming to refill by pouring with or without a funnel, or messy to refill by squeezing with or without some physical coupling between the bottles. As a result, typically significant amounts of shampoo or conditioner are lost to waste every product cycle, cycle after cycle, and a package / bottle must be disposed of as solid waste or enter the recycling stream.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] In the present invention, a refillable and recyclable squeeze bottle is used to dispense the viscous product. To accomplish this, in a manufacturing, filling, or retail facility, a volume of viscous liquid such as hair shampoo or hair conditioner is transferred from a filling container, through filling equipment, and through the bottom valve of and into a squeeze bottle.

[0007] A bottle is equipped with a valve on its upper end. It‘s not mandatory to install a top valve before a bottle is filled. If a top valve is installed before a bottle is filled, then the top valve is opened to vent air during filling. A top valve may be integrated directly with a bottle (like installed by“snapping-in” to a plastic bottle), and it is not mandatory for a bottle to have an additional removable cap or closure. If an additional removable larger cap or closure is not installed, then a bottle with top and bottom valves that are smaller and more restrictive is less vulnerable to tampering or the introduction of foreign material. A bottle is essentially“more-sealed” than a current bottle with a cap or closure.

[0008] Because a bottle is filled through its bottom, a mechanism is present to separate any air entrapped in the shampoo or conditioner and vent it through the top of the bottle (with or without the top valve installed), and physically inserting a filling probe into a bottle is not required for reliable and repeatable filling.

[0009] After a bottle is filled, it’s not mandatory for it to have an additional removable cap or closure installed, but its top valve (like a“flip top” or“pop top” valve) is then closed. Sometimes a tamper-indicator (like shrink film) is applied. When a consumer opens the top valve and squeezes a bottle to dispense shampoo or conditioner from it, typically in a shower when a bottle and its cap are wet and slippery, it’ s not mandatory for it to have an additional removable cap or closure installed that would be easily dropped.

[0010] When a consumer perceives a bottle to be empty, although there’s still typically a significant volume of shampoo or conditioner remaining in a bottle that’s hard to get out, a bottle can be re-filled as described above, and it’s not mandatory for a bottle to be disposed of as solid waste or enter the recycling stream. A significantly larger percentage of consumers can refill a bottle more easily than from another larger bottle with less time and less mess. As a result, significant amounts of shampoo or conditioner are not lost to waste, and it’s not mandatory for a package / bottle to be disposed of as solid waste or enter the recycling stream.

[0011] If a local retail facility has a bottle refill system, then it is not mandatory for a consumer, retailer, or recycler to ship a bottle all the way back to a remote manufacturing or filling facility such as in a pre-addressed return mailer package. If a consumer refills a bottle at a local retail facility coincidental with a shopping trip, then certain additional costs for packaging (like the return mailer), transportation, and/or shipping are avoided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is an elevated, perspective view, partially in phantom, of the present invention;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

[0014] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view illustrating the direction of fluid ingress during filling; and

[0015] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view showing egress of the fluid by squeezing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] The present invention relates to a shampoo/conditioner squeeze bottle that is filled at a bottom surface and dispensed at an upper surface through, in a preferred embodiment, a non-threaded or non-removable flip valve. Figure 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention comprising a plastic shampoo or conditioner bottle 10. The bottle 10 is plastic and is compressible ("squeezable") to allow a user to expel a viscous fluid such as shampoo or conditioner through a spout/port/opening on the upper end 12. The bottle 10 is cylindrical with a base 14 at a lower end and a spout 16 on the upper end, where the spout 16 is preferably incorporated into a semi-permanent closure of the bottle 10. In one

embodiment, the closure is press-fit into the upper end 12 of the bottle and includes flip top spout 16 that pivots open and closed (see Figures 1 and 2). The closure 18 can also be integrally fit into the bottle 10 with the spout 16 snapped into place later or formed as part of the top of the bottle.

[0017] As seen in Figures 2 - 4, formed in the base 14 of the bottle 10 is a recessed port 20 that includes a one-way valve 22 for introducing product into the bottle 10 during the filling process. The valve 22 can be a ball check valve that allows fluid in, but will not allow fluid to escape when the bottle is squeezed (and thus pressurized). The one way valve 22 may include first and second openings 34 for conveying fluid into the bottle's interior. The recessed port 20 may be cylindrical extending up from the lowermost surface of the base 14 and include an engagement surface 24 to interface with a filling station (not shown). Arrows 26 show the direction of fluid flow into and through the bottle 10 as air is forced out through the spout 16. Once the bottle 10 is filled with product, the spout 16 is closed, the bottle 10 is disengaged from the filling station, the one way valve 22 closes the port 30 where product enters the bottle, and the shampoo or conditioner is ready to be dispelled for use. No residual product is lost, since the filling operation adds to any remaining product and the reuse of the bottle eliminates consumer packaging waste.

[0018] Figure 4 shows how the product is dispelled from the bottle 10. The bottle is inverted and the spout 16 is opened to establish a path out of the bottle 10. The valve 22, using a spring and ball as is known in the art, closes the port 30 to prevent product from exiting the ingress opening. Squeezing the bottle pressurizes the interior volume and forces product through the spout 16, as indicated by arrows 32. Since the closure 18 is integral with the bottle 10 in this embodiment, there is no fumbling with opening or closing the cap to refill the product and the entire unit is of a single construction. This bottle 10 can be used many times over, saving waste, packaging, lost residual product, and time.

[0019] Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and depicted, the invention is not intended to be restricted to any single described or depicted embodiment. Rather, a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize and appreciate many substitutions, alternations, and modifications, and the present invention is intended to include all such substitutions, alterations, and modifications. Accordingly, unless expressly stated herein, the scope of the present invention is properly determined by the appended claims using their customary and ordinary meanings consistent with this disclosure.