US2718983A - Collapsible tube - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 27, 1955 DESKEY 2,718,983

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE Filed Dec. 5, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. flown/.0 DES K5;

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Sept. 27, 1955 Filed Dec. 3, 1949 D. DESKEY COLLAPSIBLE TUBE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. DQAMLQ DES/(EV,

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COLLAPSIBLE TUBE Donald Deskey, New York, N. Y., assignor to The Procter 85f gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation Application December a, 1949, Serial No. 130,885

7 Claims. Cl. 222-92 My invention relates to collapsible tubes from which the contents may be dispensed by squeezing, the material issuing through a neck or extrusion orifice, ordinarily covered with a cap or closure. Such tubes are usually formed of metal, but may be formed of other substances.

nited States Patent 0 As is well known, such structures have hitherto comprised a cylindrical hollow body having a shouldered closure at one end provided with the neck and extrusion orifice together with the cap. The tubes have been filled in the upside-down position, after which the cylindrical wall adjacent the open end is flattened or fish-tailed and folded over on itself to form a closure, sometimes with the addition of a clip to hold the folds.

A primary object of my invention is to provide improvements in containers of this class.

More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide a tube in which the walls furnish better display space for decoration, printing or instructions.

It is an object of the invention to provide a tube which may be packaged in a paperboard carton or the like, where the carton has better display surfaces for decoration, printing or instructions.

It is an object of my invention to provide a tube which in one modification will hold a greater quantity of contents in proportion to the space it takes up in packaging, storage and shipment; and it is also an object of my invention to provide a tube which when packaged in an appropriate paperboard carton will provide a greater quantity of contents per unit of cross-sectional area of the paperboard carton.

It is an object of the invention to provide collapsible tubes of novel and highly attractive appearance.

It is an object of my invention to provide a tube which does not present the ordinary fat-fill problem or presents it in a very much diminished degree.

The contents of collapsible tubes are dispensed by squeezing the tube; and in the theoretically perfect use of such tubes, the squeezing pressure should be exerted progressively from the bottom toward the top, collapsing the walls into the plane of the original fish-tailed bottom closure, and rolling this closure toward the top of the tube as the bottom portion is emptied of its contents. In actual practice, however, the proper mode of dispensing the contents is seldom followed. Most users tend to squeeze the tube at some point or points remote from the bottom closure, and frequently collapse the walls toward each other in such a way that they approach a plane other than the plane of the bottom closure. Again, and especially where the contents are relatively stifi and viscous, there is a tendency to grasp the body of the tube in the hand and squeeze powerfully without regard to the manner in which the walls collapse. Thus the Walls of the tubeduring use become creased and rumpled so that, when it becomes necessary to roll up the bottom closure in order to continue to exert effective pressure in dispens ing the contents, it is usually necessary to refold the walls. Yet again, where the ordinary fat-fill is employed, the

2,718,983 Patented Sept. 27, 1955 walls are initially creased adjacent the bottom closure otherwise than along the lines on which they should fold when the bottom closure is rolled up. All of these causes tend to produce severe crimping of the walls, frequently resulting in wall failure and loss of contents. These causes also make for uneven rolling of the bottom, incomplete dispensing of the contents, and waste even where the walls of the container do not fail.

It is an object of my invention to provide a collapsible tube of such shape as substantially to enforce the squeezing of the tube and the collapsing of its walls toward a plane which is a prolongation of the normal plane of the bottom closure.

It is an object of my invention to provide a tube which may be more perfectly emptied and in which the rolling up of the bottom closure element as the contents are dispensed is facilitated and rendered more accurate.

It is an object of my invention to provide a collapsible tube which will be devoid both initially and after a period of use of extraneous creases and wrinkles in the tube walls which make for wall failure or interfere with complete emptying of the tube.

In one aspect of my invention it is my object to provide a tube with walls pre-creased along the final fold lines which they should assume as the tube is emptied.

It is also an object of my invention to provide, as hereinafter set forth, a tube having certain advantages for use with contents subject to shrinkage after filling.

These and other objects of my invention which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe certain exemplary embodiments. Reference is made to the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of one form of collapsible tube made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a side wall elevational view of the closed tube.

Figure 3 is an end wall elevational view thereof.

Figure 4 is a perspective view looking downwardly toward the top of the tube.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of a tube body having a greater ratio of major to minor axes.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view with parallel or substantially'parallel side walls and rounded end walls.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of a tube body in which the side walls are formed as a pair of opposed arcs meeting each other at relatively small angles.

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of a tube of generally elliptical shape but with end wall portions so configured as to provide preexisting fold lines.

Figure 9 is a side wall elevational view of a tube having a cross-section such as that shown in Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of the walls of another form of tube having the collapsing advantages to which one aspect of my invention is addressed.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I attain its general objects by providing a collapsible tube having a non-cylindrical cross-sectional shape, i. e. a shape having a major transverse axis and a minor transverse axis where there is a substantial difference in length of the axes, and by forming the bottom closure of the tube in substantial alignment with the plane of the major transverse axis. An elliptical cross-sectional shape is an exemplary one falling within the scope of my invention, a shape which can readily be distinguished from a truly cylindrical shape by the feel of the article in the users hand. In fact, the tube wall appears essentially divisible into broad face portions and narrow face portions conveniently termed side walls and end walls; and the tendency of the user is to exert pressure on the tube against the broader face portions or side walls collapsing them toward each other. As the side wall portions arebroa'dened at the expense of the end wall portions, they become better adapted for the displaying'of printing, decoration or instructions.

In Figure I have shown in cross-section the wall 2 of a tube having a very much flattened elliptical shape in which the ratio of the minor axis A to the major axis B' is nearly 1:4. In this instance it will be apparent that nearly the whole of the wall area may be referred to as side wall faces or portions, andthat theobserver-can see at one time very nearly half-of the entire wall area of the tube.

In'Figures l to 4 inclusive I have illustrated a'tube having a ratio of the minor-axis to the major axis of approximately 1:2. The tube is generally indicated at 3. It has a shouldered top portion 4, preferably curved as shown for appearance sake, adispensing neck 5, and a cap-6 for the neck of any convenient or-decorative form. The .extraordinary breadth of the side wall portions 7, in Figure 2,-as compared with the end wall portions 8 in Figure 3 will be immediately apparent. When the side wall portions 7 are collapsed toward each other or fish-tailed in forming the bottom closure, they are distorted far less than would be the case if such a closure were formed by fish-tailing the wall portions of a cylindrical tube. In other words, the length C of the bottom closure exceeds the major axis of the cross-section of the tube by an amount which is a much smaller percentage of the major axis than it could be of the diameter of the tube if the walls were cylindrical in shape. Consequently in forming the bottom closure there is much less distortion of the tube walls than is encounteredin conventional tubes, and no necessity for creasing the walls along fold lines which are divergent from those along which the tube should fold during collapsing.

Since collapsible tubes are Ordinarily packaged in paperboard cartons, it will now be apparent that a paperboard carton, such as that shown in dotted lines at 9 in Figure 1, shaped to contain my tube, will be of elongated, rectangular shape as distinguished from the square cross-sectional shape required with ordinary cylindrical tubes. This provides a carton with relatively broad side wall faces and relatively narrow end wall faces, as will be apparent; and the side wall faces of the carton again offer a better opportunity for the displaying of decoration, printing or instructions.

While the area of an ellipse of a given perimeter is less than the area of a circle having a circumference equal to the perimeter of the ellipse, tubes of my construction can be made to fit paperboard cartons cross-sectionally substantially as well as the cylindrical tubes which are conventional in the art, even considering the fact that paperboard cartons for cylindrical collapsible tubes are frequently made with lesser transverse dimensions than the length of the fish-tailed bottom of the tube. My elliptical tubes can have their bottom closures tilted in the cartons, and in any event, the difference in the length of the bottom closure and the major axis of my tubes is less than the diiference between the diameter of the circle and the length of the bottom closure in the conventional tubes. Furthermore, while the ellipse is exemplary of one crosssectional shape of the tubes of my invenion, it is not the only shape which fulfills the objects set forth above. .By way of example, reference is made to Figure 6, wherein there is shown in cross-section the wall ofa tube having broad, fiat, planar and substantially parallel side wall portions 10 and 11 and relatively narrow end wall portions 12 and 13 which are rounded in configuration. Such a tube, if placed in a relatively closely conforming paperboard carton, will have a cross-sectional area more nearly conforming to the cross-sectional area of the carton than would be the case if the carton were square in crosssection and the tube walls were truly circular.

"In Figures 2 to-4 inclusive, 14 represents a clip on the bottom closure. Clips are, of course, optional; but in the practice of my invention it is possible to use a relatively broad clip or a relatively broad rolled-over and crimped bottom closure which facilitates the rolling of the tube and the progressive dispensing of its contents.

Yet other shapes are possible within the purview of my invention, and Figures 7 to 10 inclusive are illustrative of shapes whereby the advantages above set forth are obtained together with an initial advantage in that the'walls of the tube'are effectively pre-creased along lines which they should follow in collapsing and in the rolling up of the bottom of the tube. In Figure 7 a non-elliptical shape is shown in which the side wall portions 15 and 16 are arcuate and meet each other, as at 17 and 18, at angles which are sharp enough to suggest and define lines of fold. The side portions 15 and 16 may be intersecting arcs of equal circles, but they may have other shapes and may include non-arcuate portions.

In Figure 8 I have shown in cross-section a tube body 19 which, again, is elliptical or substantially so, but is characterized by end wall ridges 20 and 21 which, again, suggest and define lines of fold. A side elevation of a tube having the cross-section of Figure 8 is shown in Figure 9. Other cross-sectionsmay be employed, and it will nowbe evident to the skilled worker in the art that the ridges, preformed creases, or score lines 20 and 21 may be imparted to tubes of any cross-sectional shape, but preferably to tubes havingsubstantially longer major than minor axes, in which event the ridges 20 and 21 will be in line with the major axis.

I have shown yet another shape in Figure 10 which is essentially hexagonal, with broad side wall portions 22 and 23 and end wall portions 24 and 25 which are made up of angularly related. parts providing the creases or fold lines 20a and'21a. Other shapes may be employed without departing from the'spirit'of my invention.

In. the ordinary cylindrical tubes of the conventional art, it ishighly desirable to register the direction of the fishtail or bottom end'closure with the printing on the tubes. This can be done by manual positioning of the tubes in the holders of the tube filling and closing machine with attention to theprinting or sometimes automatically by the electric eye. A further advantage of the tubes of my invention lies in the fact that no manual positioning or provision of positioning equipment is required. Since the major and minor axes of my tubes are not the same, the tubes will'fit into the holders on the tube filling and closing machine in only one orientation, resulting in an automatic registry'of the direction of the bottom closure.

Another advantage lies in the packaging of contents subjectto shrinkage, as for example in the packaging of a hot, liquid, detergent composition which sets to a jellylike form on cooling accompanied by slight shrinkage. In my tubes a slight collapsing of the walls due'to shrinkage is not nearly'so apparent. Moreover, the open bottom ends of my tubes may be distorted to a more nearly cylindrical shape-during or prior to filling so that they will accept a greater quantity of contents without overfilling, after which a re-shaping of the tube bottom end to the non-cylindrical shape of the shoulder end will compensate for theshrinkage prior to the closure of the bottom,-or even thereafter. I

My tubes may be formed by methods well known in the art, particularly when they are made from highly ductile metal and when thewall thickness is ample. Metal tubes are ordinarily formed by an impact extrusion procedure in which substantially flat slugs of ductile metal, such as lead, tin, aluminum, and'alloys of these metals, having upper and lower surfaces shaped to correspond with the cross-sectional dimensions and shape of the finished tube and of the dies, are placed in the cavity of a mold or female die and extruded therefrom by a plunger or male die which isbrought down under great pressure within the opening of the mold, the clearance between the plunger and mold determining the thickness of the tube wall. If the wall thickness is reduced too much, it is found that the metal walls tend to part during extrusion at the points of greatest curvature and greatest distance from the mid-pointi. e. at points near the ends of the long axis of the impact extrusion dies. This difficulty may be overcome by providing slightly greater clearance between the male die and the outer mold at these points. With a wall thickness of of an inch over the greater part of the periphery, good extrusion has been obtained when the thickness is increased to about 8 /2 to V1000 of an inch at and near the outer extremes of the major axis.

Furthermore, my tubes are of distinctive, novel and attractive appearance, lending themselves to the merchandising and display of products, which is of particular value in connection with the broader display surfaces presented by my tubes and the cartons in which they are packaged.

Having thus described my invention in certain exemplary embodiments, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A collapsible tube for the one-hand dispensing of in crements of plastic material introduced into the said tube through an open end thereof, said open end adapted to be pinched closed to form a flat fish-tail bottom closure, said tube comprising a collapsible tubular body of substantially constant periphery throughout its length formed of flexible material and having afiixed to one end thereof a relatively rigid shouldered outlet end member provided with a symmetrically located dispensing orifice and a removable cap, said end member and said body having a shape which is elongated in cross-section with a major axis at least twice as long as the minor axis, and with printed material on the outer portions of said body registered with respect to the major axis of said cross-section, whereby the said tube may be oriented in a holding element of a filling machine, whereby by reason of such orientation the pinching of the open end of the tube to form a fish-tail bottom closure after filling may be registered automatically with the major axis of said cross-sectional shape and with said printed material, and whereby when said tube is filled and closed, a tactile shape is provided enforcing the exertion of collapsing pressure thereon substantially in line with the minor axis of said cross-sectional shape.

2. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein the said tube is a seamless extruded article of metal.

3. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein the said tube is a seamless extruded article of metal, and wherein the said cross-sectional shape is substantially elliptical.

4. The collapsible tube claimed in claim 1 having relatively broad side wall portions spaced from each other in the direction of the minor axis, and lying in substantially parallel planes.

5. The collapsible tube claimed in claim 1 having wall portions meeting each other at acute angles so as to form crease lines upon which the wall-s of the tube are predisposed to bend, said crease lines being substantially in line with the major axis of the tube.

6. A collapsible metal tube for one-hand operation in the dispensing of a plastic material in increments, said tube having a relatively rigid shouldered end with a centrally disposed dispensing orifice and a removable cap, and an extruded seamless tubular body of substantially constant periphery throughout its length formed integrally with said shouldered end and having opposite said shouldered end a fishtail bottom closure, said shouldered end and tubular body both being characterized by a crosssectional shape which is elongated in one transverse direction, having a minor axis and a major axis, the ratio of the minor to the major axis being not greater than 1:2, and the flat folded seam of said fish-tail bottom closure substantially coinciding with the plane of the major axis of the cross-sections of said end and body, whereby a tactile shape is presented enforcing the exertion of collapsing pressure on said tube substantially in alignment with the minor axis of said cross-sectional shape.

7. The collapsible tube claimed in claim 6 in which the cross-sectional shape of the end member and tubular body is substantially elliptical.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 614,410 Price Nov. 15, 1898 1,293,860 Mock Feb. 11, 1919 1,699,549 Stanley Jan. 22, 1929 1,972,793 Prendergast Sept. 4, 1934 2,176,513 Smith Oct. 17, 1939 2,341,835 Williams Feb. 5, 1944 2,401,784 Zahara June 11, 1946 2,552,870 Scherer May 15, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 24,237 Great Britain Oct. 28, 1915

Claims (1)

1. A COLLAPSIBLE TUBE FOR THE ONE-HAND DISPENSING OF INCREMENTS OF PLASTIC MATERIAL INTORDUCED INTO THE SAID TUBE THROUGH AN OPEN END THEREOF, SAID OPEN END ADAPTED TO BE PINCHED CLOSED TO FORM A FLAT FISH-TAIL BOTTOM CLOSURE, SAID TUBE COMPRISING A COLLAPSIBLE TUBULAR BODY OF SUBSTANTIALLY CONSTANT PERIPHERY THROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH FORMED OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL AND HAVING AFFIXED TO ONE END THEREOF A RELATIVELY RIGID SHOULDERED OUTLET END MEMBER PROVIDED WITH A SYMMETRICALLY LOCATED DISPENSING ORIFICE AND A REMOVABLE CAP, SAID END MEMBER AND SAID BODY HAVING A SHAPE WHICH IS ELONGATED IN CROSS-SECTION WITH A MAJOR AXIS AT LEAST TWICE AS LONG AS THE MINOR AXIS, AND WITH PRINTED MATERIAL ON THE OUTER PORTIONS OF SAID BODY REGISTERED WITH RESPECT TO THE MAJOR AXIS OF SAID CROSS-SECTION, WHEREBY THE SAID TUBE MAY BE ORIENTED IN A HOLDING ELEMENT OF A FILLING MACHINE, WHEREBY BY REASON OF SUCH ORIENTATION THE PINCHING OF THE OPEN END OF THE TUBE TO FORM A FISH-TAIL BOTTOM CLOSURE AFTER FILLING MAY BE REGISTERED AUTOMATICALLY WITH THE MAJOR AXIS OF SAID CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE AND WITH SAID PRINTED MATERIAL, AND WHEREBY WHEN SAID TUBE IS FILLED AND CLOSED, A TACTILE SHAPE IS PROVIDED ENFORCING THE EXERTION OF COLLAPSING PRESSURE THEREON SUBSTANTIALLY IN LINE WITH THE MINOR AXIS OF SAID CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE.

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