FIELD The present invention relates generally to a bottle with an applicator for removal of a contents contained in the bottle and, more particularly, to bottle having a shaped inner surface.

BACKGROUND Bottles with applicators for removal of the contents contained within the bottle have previously been used and have been produced in various designs, see, e. g., Vauquelin U. S. Patent No. 4,955,745, issued September 11,1990.

Such bottles have been used, for example, for containing cosmetic products.

However, it has generally proven difficult and inconvenient to evacuate all or most of the product contained in such bottles according to the conventional designs. This is due to the fact that a certain amount of product tends to collect in regions of the interior of the bottle that are not accessible to the applicator and thus cannot readily be evacuated by the applicator. As a result, frustrated consumers may tend to waste the inaccessible portion of the product.

In addition, the packaging of cosmetic products is an important part of the overall consumer appeal of the product. Thus, aesthetically appealing packaging is crucial for consumer acceptance of cosmetic products. Furthermore, cost- effectiveness in manufacturing is also an important consideration for such bottles.

Thus, there remains a desire to provide a bottle having an applicator that provides ready evacuation of the contents contained therein without a substantial amount of waste, and which is aesthetically appealing. There further remains a desire for cost-effective manufacture of such bottles. None of the existing art provides all of the advantages and benefits of the present invention.

SUMMARY The present invention relates to a bottle for housing a contents comprising: (a) a base having a shaped internal cavity adapted to receive an inner portion in fitted engagement; (b) an inner portion having a shaped external surface, an interior, and a neck extension; (c) a cover fitted to the base and provided with an aperture through which the neck extension of the inner portion is received; and (d) an applicator having a cap engageable with the neck extension of the inner portion, and having a conduit by which the contents can be evacuated from the interior of the inner portion, wherein the shape of the inner portion causes the contents to collect at a pooling location.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will become evident to those skilled in the art from a reading of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the invention, it is believed that the present invention will be better understood from the following description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the component parts of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a top view of the cover component shown in Fig. 2; Figs. 4a and 4b are partial side sectional views of other preferred embodiments of the present invention; Fig. 5a is a simplified side sectional view of a conventional bottle with applicator; Fig. 5b is a simplified side sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 6 is a side view of the component parts of another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A preferred embodiment of the bottle 10 of the present invention is shown in Fig. 1. Generally the bottle 10 is comprised of a base 20, a cover 30, an applicator 40, and an inner portion 50. The bottle 10 houses a contents 12, for example, a non-solid cosmetic composition such as a facial moisturizer.

The relationship of the base 20, the cover 30, the applicator 40, and the inner portion 50 can be more clearly seen in Fig. 2. The base 20 is provided with a shaped internal cavity 22 into which the inner portion 50 is securely fitted, so as to avoid separation of these component parts during transport or during use by the consumer. The inner portion 50 may be secured into the internal cavity 22 by mechanical force, adhesive, chemical bonding, fusion of the component materials, or by any other suitable means known to one of skill in the art.

The cover 30 fits atop the base 20, with the neck extension 54 of the inner portion 50 received through the aperture 32 (see Fig. 3) that is provided in the cover 30. The cover 30 may be held in place by securing it to the base 20 by mechanical force, adhesive, chemical bonding, fusion of the component materials, or by any other suitable means known to one of skill in the art.

The applicator 40 has a cap 44 to provide sealing closure between the applicator and the remainder of the bottle 10, preferably at the area of the neck extension 54 of the inner portion 50. For example, threads 55 may be provided in the neck extension 54 for securing the applicator cap 44 closed when the bottle 10 is not in use. A conduit 42 which is insertable into the interior 53 of the inner portion 50 provides access to the contents 12 so that a desired amount of the contents 12 can be removed from the interior 53 for use by the consumer.

Preferably, the overall shape of the bottle 10 is substantially as shown in Fig. 1. The cross section of the bottle 10 is preferably not a true ellipse or circle, but rather is a truncated ellipse. The truncated ellipse shape can most clearly be seen in Figs. 1 and 3. In Fig. 3, the edge 36 is the truncated edge. The truncated ellipse shape is believed to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the bottle 10.

Alternatively, the bottle 10 may be provided with a regular circular or elliptical shape. However, it should be noted that any other shape, e. g., square, rectangular, may be provided as desired.

The base 20 is preferably comprised of a solid piece of material, having a bottom exterior surface 26, which is typically flat such that the bottle 10 will stand upright when stored. The bottom exterior surface 26 may additionally be

provided with a rounded indentation 26a to prevent the bottle 10 from rocking when standing upright.

The base 20 is preferably formed from a plastic material, for example styrene-acrylonitrile (referred to as"SAN"or"AS") or polyethylene terapthalate (referred to as"PET") polymer. Preferably, the base is transparent such that the shaped surfaces 22 and 52 are visible to the user of the bottle 10.

Preferably, either or both of the base 20 and the inner portion 50 are transparent such that the shaped internal cavity 22 of the base 20 and the shaped exterior surface 52 of the inner portion 50 are visible. If both of the base 20 and the inner portion 50 are transparent, the pooling location 56 (described in greater detail below) is further visible. It may be desirable for the pooling location 56 to be visible, because the contents 12 would also then be visible to the consumer, who could thereby more easily appreciate the improved evacuation attributes of the bottle 10. However, it is to be noted that the appearance of either or both of the base 20 and the inner portion 50 need not be transparent in order for the bottle 10 to provide the improved evacuation attributes.

The inner portion 50 has a shaped external surface 52 that preferably approximates the shape of the internal cavity 22 of the base 20. This shape, which preferably has a degree of curvature, can be provided in different ways.

For example, a continuously round shape may be produced, for example, via a molding process. Or, the curvature can be provided by scoring, planing, texturing, or otherwise contouring the external surface 52 to approximate the desired degree of curvature.

If the base 20 is transparent, the shaped internal cavity 22 of the base 20 may cause distortion of the appearance of the rounded inner surface due to refraction and/or reflection of the light passing through the base 20. Thus, altering the refractive and/or the reflective properties of the base 20 can intentionally be used to create or enhance a desired visual appearance. For example, providing a matte finish to the internal cavity 22, or to the lower portion 28 of the internal cavity 22, could be used to eliminate or to alter this effect.

The inner portion 50 is preferably formed from a material that is compatible with the rheological properties of the contents 12 to be placed in the interior 53 such that the contents will readily flow down the side walls 53a of the interior 53 and collect at the pooling location 56 without unevenly clinging to the side walls 53a of the interior 53. For example, polypropylene tends to be

rheologically compatible with certain facial moisturizers, while glass may tend to be rheologically compatible with certain other facial moisturizers.

Alternatively, at least the interior 53 or the side walls 53a of the interior 53 are chosen to be compatible with the rheological properties of the contents 12 to be placed in the interior 53, while the exterior or the exterior side walls need not necessarily be compatible.

In addition, it is also aesthetically preferable for the base 20 to be formed from a solid piece of material such that the air space is minimized between the base portion 20 and the inner portion 50. Such an embodiment is shown in Figs.

1 and 4b. However, if desired, an air space 60 may be maintained in this region, as shown in Fig. 4a.

As shown in Fig. 2, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention the base 20 substantially encloses the majority of the inner portion 50. In this embodiment, the cover 30 fits atop the base 20, as previously described.

Referring to the embodiments shown in Figs. 4a and 4b, the cover 30 (instead of the base 20) may substantially enclose the majority of the inner portion 50.

In Figs. 4a and 4b, the cover 30 and the base 20 are shown as fitted together near the bottom of the bottle 10 in the area indicated by the reference numeral 75; however, it will be understood by one of skill in the art that these two portions may be joined or fitted together at any desired location or in any desired relationship. For example, each portion may extend over about half the external surface 52 of the inner portion 50. In addition, further enhancement of the aesthetic appeal of the bottle may be enhanced by providing various combinations of the component portions of the bottle in different colors or of different materials.

The applicator 40 may be of any type generally known in the art.

Preferred are applicators that provide a desired degree of suction by which evacuation of the contents 12 can be enhanced. Preferred are eye droppers, for example as shown in Fig. 2, and pumps as shown in Fig. 6. Alternative designs for the applicator 40 include brushes, pens, dip tubes, syringes, or any other type of applicator known to those of skill in the art.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 6.

In this embodiment, a pump type applicator is provided. In this embodiment it may further be desirable to provide a cover 70 so that the dispensing portion of the applicator is not exposed to the atmosphere during periods of non-use.

The bottle 10 of the present invention offers improved evacuation of the contents 12 as compared to conventional bottles. As shown in Fig. 5a, which is a simplified representation of a conventional bottle 100 with an conduit-applicator 142, once the level of the contents 12 held such a container or a bottle reaches a low level, a certain amount of the contents 12 becomes inaccessible to the tip 148 of the conduit 142. That amount becomes difficult and inconvenient to evacuate from the bottle, and is a nuisance for consumers. This frequently leads to waste of the inaccessible amount of the contents.

The amount of inaccessible contents present in conventional bottles such as that shown in Fig. 5a may be estimated as half of the remaining area inside a box containing a sphere. Although the preferred cross sectional shape for the bottle 10 of the present invention is a truncated ellipse, an estimation based upon a square cross section is useful to illustrate that a certain amount of contents remains inaccessible. This estimate may be calculated as follows.

V = (L'- (4/3) 7c) r' 2 For example, assuming that"r"is the radius of the sphere,"L"is the length of a square box inside of which the sphere is placed,"W'is the width of the square box, and"H"is the height of the square box, then 2r=L=W=H, and V=(8- (4/3) 7i) r3 2 Thus, the volume of space will always be positive in value for any positive value of"r", because 8- (4/3) 7r is equal to 3.8112. Thus, it can be seen that the amount of inaccessible contents remaining in a bottle may be significant.

The problems with evacuation and wasted contents that exist in the conventional designs may be avoided by use of the bottle 10 of the present invention. The shaped inner surface of the bottle 10 creates a pooling location 56 for the contents 12. Preferably, as described above, the contents 12 are rheologically compatible with the side walls 53a of the inner portion such that contents 12 will not excessively adhere to the side walls 53a but rather will collect at the pooling location 56 of the inner portion 50. The pooling location 56 preferably coincides with the location of the conduit tip 48 of the applicator 40 for

removal of the contents 12 at the pooling location 56; thus, a greater amount of the contents is accessible by the applicator for evacuation.

In addition, the design of the bottle 10 of the present invention may permit the shaped inner surface of the inner portion of the bottle as well as the pooling location to be visible to the consumer without any loss in the aesthetic appeal of the bottle. Thus, the consumers can visually appreciate the improved evacuation properties of the bottle of the present invention.

Previously, a bottle similar in appearance to the bottle 10 of the present invention has existed but has been made from a single body portion of glass to which an applicator for evacuation of the contents is fitted. The known glass design has no portion corresponding to the inner portion 50 of the bottle 10 of the present invention. Although aesthetically appealing, the glass design may be said to have certain drawbacks in terms of potential for breakage and cost- effective manufacture. Further, the known glass design has been provided with a conventional flat interior surface (see Fig. 5a) and thus a certain amount of product contained therein is inaccessible to the conduit tip of the applicator.

It is believed to be difficult to produce a glass or plastic bottle with a rounded inner surface from a single body portion while still maintaining the desired aesthetic appeal and without substantially increasing the size of the bottle.

The embodiments disclosed herein have many advantages. For example, they can provide improved evacuation of the contents of the bottle, improved aesthetic appearance, with cost-effectiveness during manufacture.

All cited references are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Citation of any reference is not an admission regarding any determination as to its availability as prior art to the claimed invention.

It is understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes in light thereof will be suggested to one skilled in the art without departing from its scope.