GB2188305A

GB2188305A - Lined containers for liquids

Info

Publication number: GB2188305A
Application number: GB08607331A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Derrick Raymond Gatley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-03-25
Filing date: 1986-03-25
Publication date: 1987-09-30
Also published as: GB8607331D0

Abstract

A container from which a liquid, especially wine, may be dispensed, comprises a flexible liquid-tight inner bag provided with an outlet valve (18) and a rigid outer casing (10) provided with an aperture through which the valve extends. The outer casing has a lower portion (32) with an upward wall (36) having an upper edge provided with a first semicircular recess, and an upper portion (38) with a downward wall (40) having a lower edge provided with a second semicircular recess (42) which with the first recess defines the aperture. The valve neck may have a circumferential groove engaged by the edge of the aperture to hold the valve firm. The inner bag may be inside an intermediate container, optionally a commercial wine box. The outer casing may include insulation, contain a cooling medium and have a drain tray for melted ice under a perforated platform for the inner bag. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Container This invention relates to a container,and particularly to a container in which liquids can be kept in a flexible inner liner, and from which the liquid can be conveniently dispensed.

One form of container of this generai type is presently available and used for packaging and selling wine, and is commonly known as a wine box.

The container is essentially a rectangular corrugated cardboard outer protective container and a flexible plastics inner linerwhich, when filled with liquid, almost completely fills the outer container. The inner liner is a flexible bag sealinglyfastened, for example by moulding, on to a dispenservalve ortap, and the outer container is permanently closed overthefilled inner liner during manufacture, except that a tab can be opened in the outercontainerto allowthevalve or tap to be exposed and drawn outto a position in which it can be operated.

The whole composite container is discarded when it is empty, as it is not practicable to refill it. Thus it is not economic to provide additional features that would add significantlyto the cost.

Awine box of th is kind has many advantages over the use ofthe usuai bottles. It is strong and unlikely to be broken by rough handling; it is light in weight and of an economical shape for packing and shipping; a carrying handle can easily be provided; air is normally prevented from reachingthewine until the container is virtually empty; and nearlythe whole surface of the outer container can readily be printed with a wide range of designs and information.

Nevertheless, wine boxes do have disadvantages.

External printing may be desirable from a marketing point of view, but may not match all consumers' tastes, and is often not particularly attractive. As dispensing the wine is ideally a one-handed operation, the box needs to be stable; yet when the box is only partfull, it is very much lighter in weight, and so is apt to move or tip when dispensing the latter part ofthe contents. Wine in a wine box is generallyconvenientforoutdoormeals in summer, butthe wine may become overheated in the sun.

The present invention accordingly provides a containerfora liquid, especiallyfor beverages and particularlyforwine, comprising a flexible liquid-tight inner bag provided with an outlet valve and a rigid outer casing provided with an aperture through which the valve extends; the outer casing is in at least two parts whereby it can be opened on a line passing through the said aperture, to permitthe inner bag to be placed in and removed from the outer casing. Preferably, the valve has a neck portion provided with means adapted to engage at least part of the edge of the aperture, and such means may bea circumferential or part circumferential external groove aboutthe neck portion of the valve.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the outer casing comprises a lower portion including an upstanding wall member having an upper edge provided with a first generally semicircular recess therein; and an upper portion co-operating with the lower portion for completing the enclosure of the inner bag, the upper portion including a downwardly extending wall member having a lower edge provided with a second generally semicircular recess therein; the upper portion being movable with respect to the lower portion to an open position in which the inner bag can be placed into or on the lower portion with the neck of the valve in the first recess, or removed from the casing.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated, by way oaf example only, in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an isometric view of an assembled container; Figure2 is an isometric view of the container of Figure 1 with the upper portion of the outer casing removed, that is to say in an open position; and Figure 3 is an isometric view showing part ofthe interior of the upper portion ofthe casing.

The container illustrated in the drawings comprises an outer casing 10 and an innerflexible plastics bag 12 (Figure 2) containing liquid, in this case wine. The inner bag is in an intermediate box 14, and the inner bag and intermediate box as illustrated represent a conventional wine box of the kind described. While this arrangement is convenient atthe present time, due to the ready availability of such conventional wine boxes, it shouid be understood that the present invention is not limited in this respect and enables a flexible inner bag to be used without the intermediate box, or with an intermediate boxthat is more economical to manufacture by virtue of requiring a less heavy duty construction or not needing to be made so visually appealing.

The front wall of the intermediate box 14 has an opening 16 exposing that partofthe inner bag 12to which a dispenser valve 18 is sealed. The opening is typically made by the user tearing away an area of the box 1 4that has been weakened for this purpose during manufacture by perforating the outline ofthe area to be removed. Externally, the valve comprises an annularflange 20 next to the inner bag, a cylindrical neck portion 22 ofsmallerdiameterthan theflange,adiscportion24ofsimilardiametertothe flange 20, and a valve housing 25 above a downwardly directed spout 26 carried on the front of the disc portion.There is a press pad 28 overthe valve housing for opening the valve and two wings 30 on either side ofthe valve housing, with the object of providing supports to enable the valve to be operated with one hand.

The annularflange 20,the cylindrical neck portion 22 and the outer edge of the disc portion 24 define an annulargrooveencirclingtheneckofthevalve.

An internal passage, normally closed bythevalve, communicates between the flexible inner bag and the spout.

Other known forms of valve may be used. These include rotary valves, which are not suitable for use in conventional wine boxes because the flexible bag could be twited and eventuallyweakened whenever the valve was operated. These valves are however very simple and cheap to manufacture, and may for example consist of a hollow cylindrical plastics sleeve, with an open lower end, a handle on the upper end and a single flow control opening on its curved wall, which is a snap fit vertically into the spout; rotation of the sleeve controls the liquid flow by the alignmentofthe opening with the horizontal internal passage through the neck of the valve.

Since, in accordance with the present invention, the neck of the valve can be located securely bythe outer casing, such valves can be used.

The outer casing 10 is in two parts. A lower portion 32, best seen in Figure 2, includes a rectangular base panel 34 provided with a wall member 36 upstanding near its front edge. The height of the wall member36 coincides with the centre line of the neck portion 22 ofthe valve, and to accommodate the neck ofthe valve a semicircular recess is cut centrally into the top edge ofthewall member. The thickness ofthe wall member is just less than the distance between the valve flange 20 and disc 24, so thatthe flange and the outer edge ofthe disc closely embrace and engage that part of the edge of the wall memberthat defines the semi-circular recess.

The upper portion 38 of the outer casing 10 is shown in Figure 3. It is formed as a rectangular box with an open base and a downwardly extending front wall member 40 which terminates short ofthe base at a height which, in the closed container (Figure 1), brings it into abutment with the top edge of the upstanding front wall member 36 on the lower portion 32. To accommodate the neck ofthe valve, a semicircular recess 42, complementaryto that in the lower wall member 36, is cut into the bottom edge of the downwardly extending wall member 40. In the assembled casing 10, the edge of the wall member 40 atthe recess 42 is engaged by the upper part ofthe neck groove ofthe valve between the flange 20 and the disc 24.

It can be seen that the valve is located in the circular aperture in the casing formed by the two opposing semicircular recesses, and thereby prevented from moving into or out of the casing. In an alternative embodimentofthe invention,the valve is provided with a non-circular neckshank, preferably polygonal, such as square or octagonal, and the casing is provided with complementary recesses to preventthe valve from rotating about any horizontal axis. In this way further alternative rotary valve mechanisms turning about a horizontal axis may be used without straining the flexible bag.

The upper portion 38 of the casing is fitted vertically on to the lower portion 32. To ensure positive location of the two parts, each side wall 44 of the upper portion has a vertical groove 46 on its inner faceto accommodate one side edge of the upstanding wall member 36, and the lower edges of the side walls 44 are internally rebated at 48to embrace the side edges ofthe base panel 34.

The lower portion 32 may be provided with feet on which the assembled container can stand. These are typicaliy provided in the form of spaced hemispherical rubber pads affixed to the under surface ofthe base panel 34.

Essentially, the container described has two parts: the outer casing 10, which is reusable, and the inner liquid container, which is discarded after use. The intermediate box 14, if used, will normally be assembled on to the inner flexible bag during manufacture and filling, and will be discarded with the empty bag. Since any such intermediate box will be protected and invisible in use, economies can be made in its manufacture. On the other hand, since the outer casing will represent a single purchase by the consumer, it can be made with less regard to economy. The casing can accordingly be made of heavier materials, to improve the stability of the container, and likewise of more attractive materials, such as wood or decorative laminates.It can be given improved insulating properties, either by the use of insulating materials for the casing itself, or by the provision of an insulating lining. Since the outer casing is not manufactured in close contact with the flexible inner bag, space can be made available between the casing and the bag for the introduction of a cooling medium, such as crushed ice or a freezer pack; in the case of crushed ice, a drain tray can be provided in the lower portion ofthe casing under a perforated platform for the inner bag. As has already been described, a container in which the neck ofthe valve is firmly located by the outer casing also permits a wider variety ofvalve mechanisms to be employed.

Although only one embodimentofthe invention is illustrated in the drawings, it will be appreciated that many variations beyond those already described are feasible. For exampie, the outer casing maytake many different forms. The side walls 44 and the rear wall 50 shown in the drawings on the upper portion 38 ofthe casing may instead be carried on the lower portion 32, which has the advantage of providing lateral supportfortheflexible inner bag 12 when locating it in the container in the absence of any intermediate box 14. The line passing through the valve aperture on which the outer casing is opened may be differently placed; for example, the division between the upstanding wall member36 and the downwardly extending wall member40 may be made along two parallel vertical lines extending from either side of the valve aperture to the base panel 34, so that the upstanding wall memberis reduced to the same width as the aperture and the downwardly extending wall member reaches to the base panel on either side of it. As a further refinement, the upper portion of the casing may be split vertically, from front to back, and hinged to the lower portion atthe sides, so that the casing can be opened without entirely removing the upper portion.

Claims

1. Acontainerfora liquid, comprising aflexible liquid-tightinner bag provided with an outlet valve and a rigid outer casing provided with an aperture through which the valve extends; the outercasing being in at least two parts, whereby it can be opened on a line passing through the said aperture, to permit the inner bag to be placed in and removed from the outer casing.

2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the valve has a neck portion provided with means adapted to engage at least part of the edge ofthe aperture.

3. A container according to claim 2 wherein said means is a circumferential or part circumferential external groove aboutthe neck portion of thevalve.

4. A container according to any one ofthe preceding claims wherein the valve extends generally horizontallythrough the aperture when the container is in its normal operating orientation.

5. A container according to claim 4wherein the outer casing comprises a lower portion including an upstanding wall member having an upper edge provided with a first recess therein; and an upper portion co-operating with the lower portion for completing the enclosure ofthe inner bag, the upper portion including a downwardly extending wall member having a lower edge provided with a second recess therein; the upper portion being movable with respect to the lower portion between a closed position in which the two recesses cooperate to define the said aperture, and an open position in which the inner bag can be placed into or one lower portion with the neckofthevalve inthefirst recess, or removed from the casing.

6. A container according to claim 5wherein the said recesses are generally semicircular.

7. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the valve is provided with a non-circular neckshank, andthe aperture in the casing is of complementary form, whereby the neck of the valve is prevented from rotating in the aperture.

8. A container according to claim 7 wherein the valve is a rotary valve actuated by manual rotation of a control member about an axis in alignment with the neck of the valve.

9. Acontaineraccording to any one of claims 1 to 7wherein the valve comprises athumb press pad for opening the valve and twofingergrips on eitherside thereof providing supports to enable the valve to be operated with two fingers and a thumb of one hand.

10. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wh e rei n the va Ive is a rota ry va Ive com prisi ng a flow control member operatively rotatable about an axis perpendicularto the neck of the valve.

11. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the inner bag is in an intermediate box inside the outer casing.

12. Acontaineraccordingto anyoneofthe preceding claims wherein the outer casing comprises heat-insulating material.

13. A container according to any one of the preceding claims comprising a cooling medium between the casing and the bag.

14. A container according to any one of the preceding claims comprising a drain tray in the lower portion of the casing under a perforated platform forthe inner bag.

15. Acontainerfora liquid, substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.