The Procter Gamble Company

Michael T Brown

Andrew Julian Wnuk

Ronald W Kock

H Norman Reiboldt

Stephen W Harding

Donald E Jones

A method and apparatus is for inserting a flat flexible bag having a rigid fitment into a bottle through a small bottle finish, and expanding the bag inside the bottle. The flat flexible bag can be grasped and oriented via the fitment utilizing a friction chuck. The fitment also enables the bag to be sealed to the bottle in an air-tight manner by interference fit. A biased plunger extends into the bag through the fitment. The plunger helps push the bag through a funnel while a vacuum is applied to the bag through the plunger. The funnel includes two angled plows which cause the bag to fold in a 'C' shaped configuration. This insures reliable expansion of the bag upon releasing a blast of air into the bag. During the expansion process an air vent channel permits escape of the air between the bag and the bottle. An exemplary package formed utilizing this method and apparatus is a squeeze pump package having a thin film beam spring vent valve. The valve includes a thin film beam spring located against a substantially cylindrical interior surface of the bottle over an aperture. A method and apparatus for assembling a beam spring vent valve is also discussed.

Method and apparatus for inserting a bag into a bottle

A bag-in-box composite container where the inner bag is easily separable from the outer box. In a preferred embodiment, a rigid one-piece outer box having a continuous side wall and a pair of end panels joined thereto defines a hollow box cavity. At least one of the end panels has a first aperture and at least two additional apertures therein. An inner bag is located within the hollow box cavity of the outer box. The inner plastic bag has a pouring spout with an annular flange connected thereto. The pouring spout extends through the first aperture in the end panel of the outer box. The annular flange of the pouring spout includes a pair of heat stakes which extend through the apertures in the end panel of the outer box. The heat stakes prevent relative rotation between the pouring spout and the outer box while temporarily securing the inner bag to the outer box. Upon emptying of the liquid contents, the inner bag is then separated from the outer box by depressing the pouring spout downward.

Separable bag-in-box composite container

A liquid-containing paperboard laminate carton including a one-piece plastic spout having a pair of opposing flanges sealed about an aperture in one of the carton walls to both the innermost and outermost surfaces of the carton wall. The double flange configuration not only forms a mechanically positive interlock between the plastic spout and the carton wall, but even more importantly, isolates the cut edges of the aperture from exposure to liquid either from within the container or from the environment through which the carton must pass from the point of manufacture until it is ready for disposal after its contents have been consumed. The spout preferably includes a liquid passageway having a membrane-type seal across its discharge orifice to provide evidence of tampering and a resealable closure member such as a screw cap or a snap-on closure held in place by means of a mating ring or groove on the spout. The cross-sectional area and configuration of the liquid passageway and discharge orifice in the spout are designed to prevent complete blockage by liquid when the package contents are being dispensed during a normal dispensing cycle, i.e., when the package is not being held completely upside down. Method and apparatus for securing the one-piece spout in sealed liquid type relation of both surfaces of the carton wall either sequentially or simultaneously are also disclosed.

Moisture impervious carton having one-piece pouring spout sealed to

A barrier laminate for making containers and cartons that substantially resist the absorption of essential oils and flavoring components, e.g. peel oil, as well as the oxidation of 1-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) normally found in various beverages such as fruit and citrus juices. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the present laminate comprises a substrate material having a thin layer of PET-G (glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate) bonded to the substrate's inner and outer surfaces, said PET-G layer becoming the beverage-contacting surface of containers made from such a laminate. In other particularly preferred embodiments, the barrier laminate also includes one or more intermediate layers of oxygen barrier materials between the laminate's substrate and beverage-contacting layer of PET-G. Also disclosed are methods of making such barrier laminates and containers therefrom.

Growing community of inventors

Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Michael T Brown