Granted Patent B2

US 8,814,004 · App. 13/609,697 · Granted Aug 26, 2014

Inventors: Anton Letica (Bloomfield Hills, MI); Randall J. Corbett (Macomb, MI); John R. Selina (Brighton, MI)

Assignee: Letica Corporation

Abstract

Claims (17)

1. A tamper evident, pull-out spout for a container having a lid comprising:

a flanged annular body adapted to be attached to an opening in a lid;

a flexible spout integral with the body and being foldable concentrically into the body to provide a storage position but extendable outwardly from the body for use;

a cap threadably engagable with the spout for closing same and rotatable in opposite on and off directions;

at least one bail integrally attached to the cap in surrounding relation and being further attached to the cap by at least one frangible section which must be broken to raise the bail to a use position; and

means for preventing rotation of the cap relative to the spout in the off direction whenever the spout is in the stored position, said means comprising at least one one-way stop formed on an interior surface of the annular body and at least one lug formed on an outside surface of the cap and dimensioned to cooperate with the one-way stop on the body to permit rotation in the on direction but to prevent rotation in the off direction whenever the spout is in the stored position but permit rotation of the cap in both directions whenever the spout is extended at least partly to the use position.

2. A spout as defined in claim 1 wherein the cap is provided with two symmetrically arranged, semi-circular bails and the cap has two diametrically opposed lugs formed on said outer surface.

3. The spout as defined in claim 1 wherein the spout body and cap are molded plastic components.

4. The spout as defined in claim 1 further including a removable membrane seal disposed within the interior of the spout and having an integral pull ring for forcible removal thereof.

5. An extendible plastic spout for use in combination with a closure for a container comprising:

an externally threaded, generally cylindrical neck portion;

a flexible spout portion integral with the neck portion and coaxial therewith and extending radially outwardly into an integral cylindrical surround that is concentric with the neck portion and progressively invertible by outward pull on the neck portion, said surround having at least one radial shoulder having a circumferential stop;

a cap having a top surface and being threadedly engaged with the threaded neck portion for rotation relative thereto, said cap having at least one circular pull ring molded in a flush condition with the top surface, said pull ring being joined to the cap by at least one frangible anchor section and at least two non-frangible anchor sections;

said cap having at least one radially extending lug that, when the cap is threaded onto the neck portion, abuts said shoulder to prevent rotation of the cap in the off direction when the neck portion is fully recessed into the surround,

whereby, removal of the cap requires breaking said frangible anchor section by raising said pull ring from the flush condition, pulling the neck portion outwardly to clear the abutting relationship between the lug and shoulder, and rotating the cap after clearing said abutted relationship.

6. An extendible plastic spout as defined in claim 5 wherein the cap has two diametrically opposite lugs and the surround defines two diametrically opposite shoulders acting as stops for respective lugs, the cap further having two semi-circular pull rings, each molded flush with the top of the cap.

7. An extendible plastic spout as defined in claim 6 further comprising a closure joined by integral molding to the spout surround.

Assignments (35)

Continuity (1)