The Procter Gamble Company

Theodore P Merz

Robert S Dirksing

Coenraad E Riemersma

Richard M Girardot

Ronald W Kock

Robert H Van Coney

Malcolm B Lucas

Peter James Hargraves

Paul K Platt

Packaging for coffee which is to be packed as quickly as is feasible after roasting, i.e., without undergoing substantial off gassing. The packaging preferably comprises a semi-rigid, substantially gas-impervious container capable of withstanding the pressures generated by the release of carbon dioxide and other gases from the fresh roasted coffee in the container. The semi-rigid container is preferably comprised of plastic and predetermined portions of the container are preferably capable of undergoing limited deformation. This prevents instability of the base of the container, thereby keeping its vertical axis erect, and ensures that the container does not become jammed within the shipping case in which it is transported due to lateral expansion. The semi-rigid container includes resealable closure means which are capable of: initially forming and maintaining a substantially gas tight seal between the package and the atmosphere until the package is initially opened by the end user and establishing a reseal which is effective to substantially resist ambient atmospheric pressure changes upon snug reapplication of the closure means to the container. Means are preferably provided to prevent aspiration of the pressurized coffee, particularly when it is in granular form, from the discharge orifice of the container upon initial opening by the consumer. Roasted coffee product placed in packaging of the present invention prior to subsantial off gassing exhibits greatly improved aroma retention and reduced oxidation over the normal useful life of the package from initial opening by the consumer to emptying.

Packaging of fresh roasted coffee exhibiting improved aroma retention

A package comprising a paperboard carton having an open end which is closed by a hingedly connected plastic lid, the lid and the carton together forming a latch to hold the lid in its closed position prior to initial opening of the package and between dispensing cycles. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the plastic lid includes a 'U' shaped channel about its periphery, the channel having a projection located on one of the innermost surfaces of the 'U'. The open end of the paperboard carton includes a folded over flap. Either the flap or the carton sidewall to which it is attached includes an aperture which is complementary in size and shape to the projection on the plastic lid. The lid is maintained in its closed position by entry of the projection on the 'U' shaped channel of the plastic lid into the aperture in the paperboard.

Paperboard carton with latching plastic lid

A bistable expandable bottle preferably including a concentrated material to be diluted, said bottle being comprised of convex shaped bellows when in its expanded condition, said bottle also including opposed handle means for facilitating the extension of the bottle from its collapsed to its expanded condition. In a preferred embodiment a self-venting closure is also employed to seal the orifice in said bottle to permit extension of the bottle from its collapsed to its expanded condition without loosening or removing of the closure.

Bistable expandable bottle

The invention disclosed is an apparatus for making a thermoplastic film embossed with tapered bosses having perforations in the tips of each boss through use of a metallic pattern roll and a heated perforating roll. The apparatus and method allow a film having tapered bosses with decreased cross-sectional areas leading to a perforation to be formed without use of expensive vacuum forming methods. The invention discloses a film 10 being heated by a heating means 14 to a deformable state and being embossed on an embossing surface 16 of embossing roll 13 under pressure from the silicone rubber surface 33 of first pressure roll 15. The flm on the apex, 262 of the cone 26 on embossing surface 16 is removed to perforate the cone by perforating roll 17, which is a resilient hollow metal tube heated from a radiant heater mounted on the inside of the hollow metal tube. The perforated film is then embossed a second time by the action of a second embossing roll 18 and then rewound onto a rewind roll.

Apparatus for embossing and perforating a running ribbon of

The invention disclosed is an apparatus and method to make a thermoplastic film embossed with tapered bosses having perforations in the tips of each boss through use of a metallic pattern roll and a heated perforating roll. The apparatus and method allow a film having tapered bosses with decreased cross-sectional areas leading to a perforation to be formed without use of expensive vacuum forming methods. The invention discloses a film 10 being heated by a heating means 14 to a deformable state and being embossed on an embossing surface 16 of embossing roll 13 under pressure from the silicone rubber surface 33 of first pressure roll 15. The film on the apex of the cone 26 on embossing surface 16 is removed to perforate the cone by perforating roll 17, which is a resilient hollow metal tube heated from a radiant heater mounted on the inside of the hollow metal tube. The perforated film is then embossed a second time by the action of a second embossing roll 18 and then rewound onto a rewind roll.

Method for embossing and perforating a running ribbon of thermoplastic

Spray dispensing of a metered quantity of a preferably semi-liquid product from a filled container having a fixed wall provided with at least one and preferably a plurality of generally open and unobstructed discharge passageways. A moveable wall spaced apart from the fixed wall is impacted with a moving mass to induce a pressure pulse in the product sufficient to surge a metered quantity of product less than the entire content of the container through the generally open and unobstructed discharge passageways with sufficient velocity as to break away from the passageways and the remaining product within the container for ballistic travel generally normal the fixed wall outwardly of the container. A plurality of uniform discharge passageways and a proper match of product formulation and energy input produces a generally uniformly moving cluster of generally uniformly defined and moving particles. The cluster of particles may be aimed toward a target surface and the deposition pattern thereon may, by proper selection of energy and product, define a projection of the discharge passageway pattern selectively comprising either a discrete projection of the individual discharge passageways or a generally uniform coverage of the passageway locus set. A specific, preferred embodiment is as a non-contact dispenser of a stable, non-crusting, anhydrous, thixotropic antiperspirant cream, dispensed at a relatively low velocity so as to adhere to axilla surfaces with a minimum of rebound.

Spray dispensing

Apparatus comprising means for blow molding a preform having a body which is longitudinally partitioned by a bulkhead having the size, shape, and orientation required in a finished, precisely partitioned bulbous-shape container to convert the preform into such a finished bulbous-shape container while constraining the bulkhead from changing size, shape, or orientation during the blow molding operation. An integrated injection-blow molding embodiment is disclosed as well as discrete injection molding and blow molding apparatuses.

Growing community of inventors

Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Theodore P Merz