United States Patent (15) 3,666, 182 Cureton (45) May 30, 1972 54) SQUEEZE BOTTLE with MEANS for 2,987.26 6/196 Mccuiston Et Al
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United States Patent (15) 3,666, 182 Cureton (45) May 30, 1972 54) SQUEEZE BOTTLE WITH MEANS FOR 2,987.26 6/196 McCuiston et al................. 239/327 X LOCATING END OF DELVERY TUBE 852,828 5/1907 Dorment et al.... ... 28, 173 R X (72) Inventor: Glen L. Cureton, Chattanooga, Tenn. 1, 85,649 6/1916 Fowler................................... 128/250 2,096,247 l.0/1937 Holden..... .222/21 | X (73) Assignee: Chattem Drug & Chemical Company, Chattanooga, Tenn. 2,796,294 6, 1957 McKinnon............................. 2391327 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. 22 Filed: Apr. 24, 1970 Assistant Evanliner-John J. Love (21) Appl. No.: 31,580 Attorney-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross & Simpson 52 U.S. Cl................................ 239/327, 128/173,222/2 57 ABSTRACT 5ll int. Cl.......................................................... B05b 11/00 A squeeze bottle particularly useful for emitting a horizontal (58) Field of Search..........., 239/327; 128/73, 173.1, 73.2, spray, the bottle being composed of a flexible plastic material 128/173.3, 250,206, 208,249; 222/206, 21 1, 212, and having a dispensing nozzle located in an off-center posi 213, 214, 215 tion adjacent one corner of the bottle enclosure, with a flexi ble delivery tube extending from the nozzle into the enclosure. (56) References Cited Means are provided in the enclosure itself which guide the end of the delivery tube upon insertion into the enclosure to a UNITED STATES PATENTS position which is diagonally opposite to the corner of the en 3,141,574 7/1964 Donoghue.......................... 222/207 X closure in which the nozzle is located. 394,775 12/1888 Kneuper................................ 2391327 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED MAY 30 1972 3, 66 S, 32 3,666, 182 1. 2 SQUEEZE BOTTLE WITH MEANS FOR LOCATINGEND where the inlet end of the tube is disposed substantially OF DELVERY TUBE diagonally opposite to the edge adjacent which the nozzle is BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION located. With this arrangement, a mist-type, non-dripping spray is provided in a horizontal direction when the bottle is 1. Field of the Invention squeezed, and the length of the delivery tube and its location This invention is in the field of squeeze bottles for dispensing a horizontal spray particularly useful in spraying dispensed.assures that virtually all of the contents of the bottle will be the throat. It provides a nozzle and delivery tube assembly located at opposite corners of the enclosure whereby a spray BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS or mist can be discharged from the nozzle, while automatically O locating the end of the delivery tube to pick up substantially Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will all of the contents of the bottle. be readily apparent from the following description of certain 2. Description of the Prior Art preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the Throat spray compositions must be dispensed as a fine mist accompanying drawings, although variations and modifica at the affected area if they are to be effective, Some work has 15 tions may be effected without departing from the spirit and been done with aerosol throat spray containers, but these con scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure, and in which: tainers are too costly to permit the product to be in competi FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a squeeze bottle produced tion with other sore throat products such as drops and according to the present invention; lozenges. While plastic squeeze bottles are inexpensive, con FIG. 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in cross-sec ventional bottles of this type do not do a satisfactory job in 20 tion of the bottle of FIG. 1, with the cap removed; spraying the throat. Squeeze bottles of the nasal spray type FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the bottle shown in FIG. direct the spray straight up. If the container is tilted to the side 1; to accommodate the horizontal mouth cavity, the liquid runs FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating the position of the down the delivery tube and may gag the user or the contents bottle during spraying; are no longer in contact with the inlet end of the delivery tube. 25 FIG. 5 is a view partly in elevation and partly in cross-sec In addition, if the user attempts to spray the throat area by tion of a somewhat modified form of the present invention; bending the head and neck down to accommodate a vertical and or slightly tilted nasal spray container, the spray does not FIG. 6 is a view partly in elevation and partly in cross-sec adequately reach the back of the throat which is the affected tion of a further modified form. area. 30 Another structure which has been tried includes a plug or DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENTS tip for a nasal spray bottle that directs the spray horizontally In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates generally a from an upright container. This system also is not satisfactory squeeze bottle composed of polyethylene or similar type of because the spray hits the inside of the lips and cheeks and the 35 flexible plastic material usable for this purpose. The particular fore part of the tongue. This is often undesirable since many bottle shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 has a generally rectangular cross throat sprays contain a local anesthetic which then numbs the section. For purposes of convenience, the opposed walls 11 lips, cheeks or tongue. It is also difficult to direct the spray so and 12 are referred to as end walls, the walls 13 and 14 are that any of it reaches the back of the throat, referred to as side walls, and the walls 15 and 16 are referred Pump spray dispensers used in conjunction with a plastic or 40 to as top and bottom, respectively. glass bottle are still another alternative. These have the same disadvantage as the horizontal spray squeeze bottle in that the The bottle 10 has a neck portion 17 which may be integral contents hit undesirable areas in the mouth. This system has with the remainder of the receptacle or suitably secured the further disadvantage of high cost and the inability to pro thereto. The neck portion 17 has a threaded portion 18 which vide the unit in a small size which is desirable from the stand 45 is arranged to receive a cap 19 in threaded engagement when point of carrying the dispenser in the pocket or purse of the the bottle is not in use. The neck 17 is also formed into a noz use, zle portion 20 containing a relatively small orifice for spraying There are some disclosures in the prior art of using guide the contents of the receptacle in a generally horizontal surfaces to position a delivery tube in a dispenser, but not in direction as shown in FIG. 4. the manner suggested by the present invention. Kharasch U.S. 50 A flexible delivery tube 21 has one end tightly received Pat. No. 3,244,331 describes an aerosol capsule which is so within the nozzle portion 20. The opposite end 22 is posi formed that the delivery tube is guided into a sump, thereby tioned to be at the low point of the reservoir of liquid in the assuring that substantially all of the contents of the capsule receptacle, as illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings. will be dispensed, McDonnell U.S. Pat. No. 3,409, 181 dis As best seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the neck portion 17 is posi 55 tioned off-center with respect to the longitudinal center of the closes a bottle in which the bottom is provided with indenta receptacle so that when the squeeze bottle is turned to an tions or lands to guide the tube end into the central portion of angle of 90 as illustrated in FIG. 4, no liquid will drip out the bottle. through the nozzle opening. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTON It will also be seen from FIGS. 2 and 4 that the delivery tube 60 21 is made of sufficient length so that it extends down to the The present invention provides a plastic squeeze bottle par bottom of the reservoir. The positioning of the delivery tube ticularly adapted for spraying the throat or other areas which 21 is accomplished by providing guide means within the require a substantially horizontal spray, and includes a plastic receptacle itself. In the form of the invention shown in FIGS. squeeze bottle which may be composed of the usual to 4, this guide means is provided by shaping the end wall 12 polyethylene or the like. The squeeze bottle may have a sub 65 and the base 16 so as to provide a serpentine inwardly extend stantially rectangular cross-section or a circular one, or any ing baffle 23 upon insertion of the delivery tube 21 into the other suitable shape, but one of the features of the present in receptacle, the end 22 of the tube is guided by the arcuate sur vention is the location of the dispensing nozzle which hereto face provided by the baffle into a position in which it is sub fore has been placed on the longitudinal axis of the bottle to stantially diagonally opposite the neck 17 of the bottle. an off center position in which it is in proximity to an edge of 70 In use, the nozzle 20 is inserted part way into the mouth as the bottle. Extending into the nozzle is a flexible dispensing illustrated in FIG. 4 and directed at the rear of the throat, the tube.