Pour Spout
A container has a body, a spout fitment, and a cap. The body has a body opening. The spout fitment is within the body opening and secured by a backlocked mechanical engagement. The cap is threadingly mounted to at least one of the body and spout fitment. The cap has a sealing surface sealingly contacting a sealing surface of at least one of the body and spout fitment.
1 . A container comprising:
a body having:
a neck extending to a body opening and having a neck projection;
a spout fitment within the body opening and secured by a backlocked mechanical engagement and having a recess capturing the neck projection to resist rotation of the spout fitment relative to the body; and
a cap threadingly mounted to at least one of the body and spout fitment and having a sealing surface sealingly contacting a sealing surface of at least one of the body and spout fitment.
2 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the spout fitment comprises:
an inner wall;
an intermediate wall; and
an outer wall; and
the neck has:
a rim at the body opening; and
an upper portion proximal of the rim and between the intermediate wall and outer wall.
3 . The container of claim 2 wherein:
the backlocked mechanical engagement is provided by an inward projection on the spout fitment outer wall and an outward projection on the neck upper portion.
4 . The container of claim 3 wherein:
at least one of the inward projection on the spout fitment outer wall and the outward projection on the neck upper portion is a full annulus projection.
5 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the fitment comprises at least one barb providing the backlocked mechanical engagement.
6 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the fitment comprises a circumferential array of barbs providing the backlocked mechanical engagement.
7 . (canceled)
8 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the fitment comprises a trough with at least one drain aperture.
9 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
a portion of the cap is externally threaded to threadingly engage an internally threaded portion of the fitment.
10 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
a portion of the cap is internally threaded to threadingly engage an externally threaded portion of the body.
11 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the body consists essentially of HDPE;
the spout fitment consists essentially of polypropylene; and
the cap consists essentially of polypropylene.
12 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the body has an integrally molded handle; and
an interior compartment of the body extends through the handle.
13 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the fitment is neither adhered nor welded to the body.
14 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the fitment is not threadingly engaged to the body.
15 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the cap sealing surface is along an underside of a flange of the cap.
16 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the cap sealing surface is along an underside of a flange of the cap.
17 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the cap sealing surface is formed by inboard and outboard walls of a downwardly open channel;
the body sealing surface is formed by a rim region of the body captured within the channel.
18 . The container of claim 17 wherein:
the first flange is positioned to permit strained contact with the second flange;
in a removed state of the cap, the first flange is non-contacting with the second flange.
19 . The container of claim 1 further comprising:
1.0-6.0 liters of a liquid within the body.
20 . The container of claim 1 further comprising:
at least 1.0 liter of liquid detergent or fabric softener within the body.
21 . A container cap and spout assembly comprising:
a spout fitment having:
a spout having an opening;
a sidewall having an internal thread and a plurality of external barbs;
a trough between the spout and sidewall; and
a drain aperture open to the trough; and
a cap having:
an external thread engaged to the spout fitment sidewall internal thread; and
a flange.
22 . The assembly of claim 21 wherein:
the opening is asymmetric.
23 . The assembly of claim 21 consisting essentially of the spout fitment and cap, each consisting essentially of a single molding.
24 . The assembly of claim 21 wherein:
the body consists essentially of HDPE;
the spout fitment consists essentially of polypropylene; and
the cap consists essentially of polypropylene.
25 . A container body comprising the unitarily molded combination of:
a base;
a sidewall extending upward from the base;
a neck having:
a distal first portion defining an opening;
a second portion below the first portion; and
a third portion below the second portion,
wherein an interior surface of the neck has:
a circular cross-section along at least part of the second portion;
at least one inward projection in the first portion; and
at least one location of on the third portion radially outboard of said circular section.
26 . The container body of claim 25 further comprising:
an integrally molded handle.
27 . The container body of claim 25 wherein:
no one of the at least one inward projection has a circumferential extent more than 10°.
28 . The container body of claim 25 wherein:
the projection is recessed from the rim.
29 . The container body of claim 25 wherein:
the neck is unthreaded.
30 . A method comprising:
delivering at least 1.0 liter of a liquid into a container body;
inserting a spout fitment into a neck portion of the container body, the inserting being after the delivering and comprising a resilient deformation of at least one of the spout fitment and container body followed by an at least partial relaxation so as to engage a locking surface of the spout fitment to a locking surface of the container body to resist a reverse extraction; and
threading a cap onto at least one of the spout fitment and container body.
31 . The method of claim 30 wherein:
the threading is at least partially before the inserting.
32 . The method of claim 30 wherein:
the inserting consists essentially of a linear insertion; and
the inserting flexes a barb of the spout fitment, the spout fitment locking surface comprising a trailing end of the barb.
33 . The method of claim 30 wherein:
the threading or a further threading brings a flange of the cap into direct sealing contact with a rim of the container body.
34 . The method of claim 33 wherein:
the direct sealing contact comprises capture of the rim in a channel along the underside of the flange.
35 . The method of claim 33 wherein:
the flange is a first flange and the threading or further threading flexes the first flange into contact with a second flange of the cap.
36 . (canceled)
37 . (canceled)
38 . The method of claim 36 wherein:
there is no welding or adhesive bonding of the spout fitment to the container body before the delivering.
39 . The method of claim 30 further comprising:
during the inserting, supporting the container body via a flange along the neck portion.
40 . The container of claim 1 wherein:
the body has a hollow neck flange, the projection extending from the hollow neck flange.
41 . The container of claim 40 wherein:
the hollow neck flange is positioned to permit the body to be supported from an underside of the hollow neck flange during filling of the body with a liquid.
42 . A container comprising:
a body having:
a neck extending to a body opening; and
a hollow neck flange;
a spout fitment within the body opening and secured by a backlocked mechanical engagement; and
a cap threadingly mounted to at least one of the body and spout fitment and having a sealing surface sealingly contacting a sealing surface of at least one of the body and spout fitment.
43 . A container comprising:
a body having a body opening;
a spout fitment within the body opening and secured by a backlocked mechanical engagement against longitudinal extraction and by means on the body and on the fitment for preventing relative rotation of the body and the fitment about a central longitudinal axis of the opening; and
a cap threadingly mounted to at least one of the body and spout fitment and having a sealing surface sealingly contacting a sealing surface of at least one of the body and spout fitment.