FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to spray containers. In particular, the present invention relates to a device to be attached to a spray container to facilitate delivery of the contents of the spray container when required. The device may include a cap for the spray container or a clip to be attached to the spray container. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Spray containers include aerosol spray containers and pump operated atomisers. Aerosol spray containers and pump operated atomisers are commonly used to deliver a wide range of active substances in paint, deodorant, insect repellent, shaving creams, cleaning agents, lubricants and edible oils.

Aerosol containers and pump atomisers perform most efficiently when operated in the upright position. This is a function of the design of aerosol containers and pump atomisers which invariably have an internally located delivery tube. In the case of aerosol containers, such delivery tube is connected to a valve which is released by means of a push button incorporating spray nozzle at the top of the container. In the case of pump atomisers, a valve mechanism is used to enable air to be introduced into the atomiser as a propellant gas.

Although the following description relates primarily to aerosol containers, the same problems are encountered with pump atomisers when they are inverted. In an upright aerosol container, a delivery end or bottom open end of the internally located delivery tube is usually below the level of the active substance to be expelled. Hydrocarbon propellant gas, which usually resides in a layer above the active substance, and thus has a lesser specific gravity than the active substance, is used to propel the active substance. The active substance is propelled from the container via the internally located delivery tube by opening the valve.

In certain situations, such as the application of insect repellent to the legs of a user or the application of paint to surfaces at low levels close to the ground, the aerosol container is invariably inverted by the user from its upright position. The inversion of the aerosol container reduces the performance of the spraying function and may completely inhibit the spraying function in certain circumstances.

In the inverted position, the active substance displaces the position of the propellant gas in the container. In the inverted position the active substance is located adjacent the valve while the propellant gas is located above the active substance. The delivery end of the internally located delivery tube is consequently located within the propellant gas layer in the inverted container. When residual active substance remaining in the internally located delivery tube is expelled, the internally located delivery tube is filled with the propellant gas. With prolonged operation in the inverted position, propellant gas alone is expelled. Consequently, unused active substance may remain and cannot be expelled from the container when the propellant gas is exhausted. It will be appreciated that a similar problem arises with pump atomisers which depend on air for their operation as the propellant gas.

In normal operation, an aerosol container or pump atomiser is held by encircling the hand around the body of the container and pressing down on the push button spray nozzle located at the top of the container with a forefinger.

Conventional aerosol spray containers and pump operated atomisers also suffer from other disadvantages especially when operated by children or adults with small hands and those with arthritic, muscular or congenital afflictions effecting the function of the hands. In these situations, aerosol containers are often held in both hands and the push button is operated by means of a thumb.

In the case of pump operated atomisers the problem is compounded as a greater effort is needed with repeated pumping action for dispensing the relevant active substance. In such application, single handed operation is often not possible by persons with small or weak hands .

A number of different types of spray delivery arrangements have been designed to overcome one or more of the disadvantages associated with conventional spray delivery systems.

For example, GB 2211491 discloses an aerosol can cap which has two apertures in a peripheral wall of the cap where one aperture provides an outlet for an aerosol and the other aperture provides a passage through which a finger may be inserted and depress a nozzle. US 3876113 discloses a safety cap which has a passage where only an adult's finger can insert, reach and depress a nozzle of a spray container. US 3884398 discloses a cap for a spray container which has an aperture in a top wall of the cap and multiple recesses formed in a peripheral wall of the cap. In use, the cap is depressed at the recesses thereby causing relative movement of the peripheral wall to actuate an assembly located in the container.

However, it appears that the abovementioned prior art does not allow a spray container to operate in a substantially upright position in circumstances where the spray container would normally be used in an inverted or horizontal position. Furthermore, there appears to be few if any spray delivery systems which allow a spray container to be held in an alternative manner and assist the very young, elderly and the physically disadvantaged in operating a spray container. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides a device for the single handed operation of a spray container by a user, the device comprising attachment means for attaching the device to the spray container and finger holding means, the finger holding means being

arranged to retain one or more fingers of the user thereby maintaining the spray container in a substantially upright position and allowing the user's thumb to operate an outlet valve of the spray container. The container will usually include a body suitably of cylindrical shape, a neck portion surrounding a spray nozzle and a cap which is attached to the neck portion or body.

The finger holding means may comprise one or more projections, sockets, apertures or recesses arranged to allow the user's fingers to abut and/or grip the device and thereby hold the container when in use. The finger holding means preferably comprises opposed finger loops and may form part of a plate, cap or circlip as described hereinafter.

The attachment means in one embodiment may be a web or plate having an arcuate slot. Preferably the arcuate slot has a configuration that permits it to be pushed onto and firmly engage the neck portion of the aerosol container or pump atomiser. Preferably the web or plate is formed from a template of aluminium or other light metal sheeting or alternatively plastics material of an equivalent stiffness and strength may be used.

Alternatively, the attachment means may comprise a cap of the container which may be modified as described hereinafter in the preferred embodiment. In this specific embodiment, the cap may incorporate an integral finger holding means such as opposed finger loops.

In another alternative, the attachment means may include a circlip incorporating the finger holding means in the form of opposed finger loops.

Suitably the circlip has mutually adjacent ends resiliently biased away from each other. The circlip may be formed from spring steel or equivalent metal or if moulded from plastic may have strengthening and stiffening webs incorporated in its design. If desired, there may be provided a connection strap which connects the abovementioned circlip to another circlip wherein one

circlip engages to an upper part of the container and the other engages a lower part of the container. Alternatively, a connection strap may incorporate suitably adapted to engage the lower part of the spray container.

The device may also include a valve actuating means such as a pivot member or push button spray nozzle. In the preferred embodiment, the container cap may be modified to include the movable valve actuating member. The device may also include an extension means to accommodate retention of containers of varying lengths. A suitable extension means may comprise a push rod which is attached to a connection strap which is adapted to contact an aerosol actuating button or pump atomiser activator in use. The push rod may have a finger button located above the connection strap.

In another arrangement the cap may include finger cavities or apertures in opposed portions of a continuous peripheral wall of the cap and a thumb aperture located in a top wall of the cap for operation of the spray nozzle.

The attachment means may permanently affix the device to the spray container whereby the device forms part of the spray container as manufactured. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure IA is a perspective drawing of the device of the invention in its simplest form and an adjacent container;

Figure IB shows a template for the formation of the device as shown in Figure IA;

Figures 2A and 2B show the device of Figure IA which additionally incorporates attachment means for the base of an aerosol container or pump atomiser;

Figure 2C shows a device with extension means to grip containers of varying lengths;

Figure 3A shows a cap with weakened portions in a top and side walls of the cap; and Figure 3B shows the cap of Figure 3A adapted for use with an aerosol container according to the invention; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a cap; Figure 5 is a cross-section of the cap represented in Figure 4 and attached to a spray container; Figure 6 is a front perspective view of the spray container and cap shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a front perspective view of the spray container and cap shown in Figure 6 and with a user's right hand gripping the cap; Figure 8 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the cap and spray container of Figures 4 to 7. ^* DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the illustrations in detail, there is shown in Figure IA an aerosol spray container 1 to which may be fitted a device 2 having a web 3 in which there is an arcuate slot 4 which enables the web 3 to be pushed onto and engage the neck 5 of the container l.

The arcuate slot 4 is biased to firmly grip the neck 5 of the container 1 by slightly inwardly extending portions 4a.

For the purposes of holding the aerosol container 1 in a relatively upright position, there are finger loops 6 for the insertion of fingers to hold the aerosol container 1 in a substantially upright position where it can be operated by pushing down on the push button spray nozzle 7 with a thumb.

Referring to Figure IB, it can be seen that the template used to form the device 2 of Figure IA has opposed tab members 9 which are folded along fold lines 8 and curved to form the finger loops 6 of the device.

Referring to Figure 2A, it can be seen that the device 10 in this particular embodiment comprises a top

clip assembly 11 with opposed finger loops 12. Clip assembly 11 includes a circlip lla which has opposed arcuate ends 15. Clip assembly 11 is connected to a bottom clip assembly 13 by means of a connection strap 14. Although not shown in this embodiment, it will be appreciated that the clip assembly 11, the clip assembly 13 and the extension strap 14 may be formed as an integrated structure.

The clip assembly 13 comprises a circlip 13a which in this embodiment is associated with a base plate 13b. It will be evident to the skilled reader that the base plate 13b is optional and that its presence will restrict the use of the device 10 to aerosol containers and pump atomisers of a predetermined length. The clip assembly 13 also has opposed arcuate ends 16. The arcuate ends 16 facilitate the attachment of the device 10 to an aerosol container or pump atomiser having a cylindrical body.

Referring to Figure 2B, it can be seen that the device 17 in this embodiment includes an extension strap 18 with a specially adapted base member 19 in the form of a convex portion adapted to engage a concave base of an aerosol container or pump atomiser. In this embodiment, the aerosol container or pump atomiser attachment means is in the form of a circlip 20 with arcuate ends 20a and finger loops 21.

Referring to Figure 2C, the device 32 has an aerosol container attachment means in the form of a circlip 22 having a connection strap 23 with a push rod 24. The push rod 24 is located by holes 23b and 25b in lugs 23a and 25a attached to connection strap 23 as shown. The lug or web 25a has finger loops 25 to enable the operation of an aerosol container or pump atomiser via the push rod 24. The lower end of the push rod 24 is provided with an enlarged portion or boss 26 which is adapted to engage the push button spray nozzle of the aerosol container and the upper end of the push rod 24 is a button 27 for engagement by the thumb of a user. In

this embodiment, circlip 22 is attached to connection strap 23 at 22a.

The base member 28 shown in device 32 has a circlip 28a and a base plate 28b and is identical to and subject to the same limitations as described for the base member 13 of Figure 2A. Alternatively, base member 28 may be replaced by the specially adapted base member 19 shown in Figure 2B. Both circlips 22 and 28 have arcuate ends 30 and 31 respectively to facilitate attachment of the device 32 to a cylindrical bodied aerosol container or pump atomiser. The benefits of this embodiment is that it enables an aerosol container or pump atomiser to be used at levels close to the ground without the user having to crouch or bend as much as if the device did not contain the push rod 24.

Referring to Figure 3A, it is shown that a plastics cap 33 which is normally supplied with aerosol containers 1 has weakened portions 35 in the form of perforations such that the weakened portions 35 may be pushed out with moderate finger pressure.

In Figure 3B, the cap of Figure 3A is shown with the weakened portions removed to form finger holding apertures 37, a spray access aperture 38 and a push button access aperture 39. As with the other embodiments, the aerosol container 1 may be held in a substantially upright position using the finger holding apertures 38 and the push button spray nozzle 7 of the aerosol container 1 operated with the thumb through aperture 39 when spraying at levels close to the ground.

It will be appreciated by the skilled addressee that the spray access aperture 38, although shown as circular in this embodiment, may be ellipsoidal or other suitable shape depending on the spray pattern of the push button spray nozzle 7. It will also be appreciated that the push button access aperture 39 will have to be of a certain minimal size to accommodate a thumb of an average user.

In an alternative embodiment, the cap may having a pivoting lever to open the valve and releasing the aerosol instead of an aperture in the top of the cap and a push button spray nozzle. With reference to Figure 4, there is shown a cap 40 for a spray container. The cap 40 comprises a container attachment means in the form of a continuous skirt 41, a finger holding means in the form of finger loops 42, a recess 43 within which is an aperture 44, a spray nozzle 45, a spray outlet 46, and an actuating means in the form of a valve actuating member 47 for releasing the aerosol. The finger loops 42 have a section 48 for retaining fingers. The cap 40 has curved surfaces 49 which are each adjacent to respective finger loops 42. In Figure 5, there is shown the cap 40 and spray container 50. The spray container 50 includes a lower rim 51, an upper rim 52 and a valve 53. The valve actuating member 47 includes a spray nozzle 45 which is substantially L-shaped providing communication between the valve 53 and the spray outlet 46. One end 54 of the spray nozzle 45 surrounds the valve 53 whereas the other end 55 forms the spray outlet 46. The valve actuating member 47 is attached at 56 of the cap 40. The skirt 41 has two lips (58,59) forming a continuous groove for locating the cap 40 on the lower rim 51.

In Figure 6, there is shown spray container 50 with cap 40. There is also shown the finger loops 42, the recess 43, the aperture 44, the spray nozzle 45, the spray outlet 46, and the valve actuating member 47. Figure 7 shows the spray container 50 and cap 40 represented in Figure 6 held by the user's fingers. Figure 7 shows a right hand holding the cap 40. The user's first finger 58 grips finger loop 42a whereas the user's middle finger 59 grips finger loop 42b. The user's thumb 60 depresses and releases the valve actuating member 47.

In use, the cap 40 is held by either the right hand or the left hand whereby the first and middle fingers are

positioned beneath the finger loops 42. The fingers support the finger loops 42 and hence the cap 40 and spray container 50. To expel the aerosol from the spray outlet 46, the thumb depresses the valve actuating member 47 and hence the spray nozzle 45. The spray nozzle 45 subsequently presses against the valve 53. The valve 53 opens and releases aerosol into the spray nozzle 45 and out through the spray out 46 to the target site. Aerosol release is stopped when the valve 53 is closed and the thumb is lifted off the valve actuating member 47.

Figure 8 is a further embodiment of the cap 40 shown in Figures 4-7. In Figure 8, there is shown a spray container 61 and cap 62. The cap 62 has a skirt 63, finger loops 64, a recess 65, and an aperture 66. Figure 8 also shows a spray nozzle 67 with a spray outlet 68. The spray nozzle 67 in one embodiment is separate from the cap 62. In an alternative embodiment, the spray nozzle 67 is integral with the cap 62.