CN117545561A

CN117545561A - Pesticide container

Info

Publication number: CN117545561A
Application number: CN202280017234.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 谷洪勇; 杨春明
Original assignee: Syngenta Crop Protection AG Switzerland
Current assignee: Syngenta Crop Protection AG Switzerland
Priority date: 2021-02-26
Filing date: 2022-02-25
Publication date: 2024-02-09
Also published as: WO2022180252A1

Abstract

There is provided a pesticide product bottle comprising a trigger sprayer attached at a top opening and a pesticide dispensing cap at a side opening, wherein the axis of the side opening is at an acute angle to the axis of the top opening, and the bottle is ergonomically configured to reduce the risk of operator exposure during filling, mixing or dispensing.

Description

Pesticide container

The present invention relates generally to containers for dispensing pesticides. More particularly, the present invention relates to spray bottles for applying aqueous pesticides.

Residential lawns, gardens and home areas typically use chemical pesticides. The user applies various chemicals to combat many undesirable pests. One convenient method of application is to use a container with a trigger-type pump nozzle to dispense a dilute aqueous formulation of the desired pesticide. One disadvantage of trigger actuated pump sprayers is that when the bottle is not properly grasped during normal operation, the operator may be exposed to liquid being sprayed from the nozzle and/or miss the spray target desired by the operator.

Many pesticides are now provided to consumers in highly concentrated form, rather than in a ready-to-use diluted aqueous form. This has the advantage of reducing transportation costs and packaging expenditures for the pesticide provider. A disadvantage for the consumer/end user is that the concentrated pesticide formulation must be properly measured, pipetted and diluted with water before the spray bottle is used, which creates the risk of incorrect pesticide dosage. In addition, the pipetting, mixing and dilution steps also increase the risk of inadvertent exposure of the user to the pesticide.

A pre-dosed amount of a capsule of concentrated active ingredient may be used in combination with a screw closure for a container (as shown for example in WO 12048922) to reduce these risks. In order to use such a capsule cap with a conventional single-neck trigger sprayer, the user needs to exchange the trigger spray screw cap with the capsule cap to add the pesticide concentrate to the container and then replace the trigger spray screw cap to begin spraying. These cap exchange steps may increase the risk of accidental exposure of the user to the pesticide.

US2008083779 discloses a pesticide-triggered spray container assembly having an opening for receiving a removable product cartridge stored in a recess in a side wall. However, such container construction can be cumbersome, and it is difficult to easily grasp and balance the container while filling, mixing, and dispensing the pesticide. If the user fails to hold the container properly, the user may be exposed to the liquid product within the container, or such liquid may spill erroneously.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a pesticide-triggered spray container assembly having a configuration that reduces the risk of exposure of an operator to a pesticide or chemical during filling, mixing, or dispensing. It is also desirable to provide a container with a more comfortable and ergonomic grip.

In order to improve the above, the technical solution of the present invention provides a pesticide bottle having two openings with a threaded neck and a side wall of hexagonal configuration. The top neck opening of the bottle mates with a trigger actuated pump sprayer having a threaded cap for screw attachment to the bottle. The side neck opening mates with a pesticide dispenser in the form of a screw closure that contains a capsule with a pre-dosed amount of concentrated pesticide. The sidewalls of the bottle are provided in a hexagonal configuration, wherein 4 sidewalls have a convex outer surface and two sidewalls have a flat outer surface, and the sidewalls are ergonomically arranged to facilitate easy gripping and handling during filling, mixing, and spraying or dispensing of the pesticide or chemical product.

Conveniently, when an empty bottle is provided to a consumer operator, both the trigger spray cap and the cap containing the capsule with a pre-dosed amount of concentrated pesticide are attached thereto. In this way, the consumer operator can prepare a diluted aqueous pesticide spray solution at the time of application with reduced risk, because the bottle is easy to grasp and handle compared to conventional trigger spray bottles, and can be filled with an appropriate amount of water and concentrated pesticide by simplified measurement, pipetting and dispensing steps.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a rear perspective view of a bottle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front perspective view of a bottle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a front view of a bottle according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a rear view of a bottle according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a top view of a bottle according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of a bottle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7a is a side view of a trigger actuated pump sprayer with a threaded cap and associated siphon tube according to one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7b is a perspective view of a screw closure cap containing a capsule that can contain a pre-dosed amount of concentrated pesticide according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7c is a front perspective view of the bottle of fig. 1-6 assembled with the trigger actuated pump spray device of fig. 7a and the screw closure containing the pesticide capsule of fig. 7b, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a rear perspective view of the bottle of fig. 1-6 assembled with the trigger actuated pump spray device of fig. 7a and the screw closure containing the pesticide capsule of fig. 7b, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts. The following description is provided to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the invention described herein.

According to the present invention there is provided a pesticide product bottle comprising a trigger sprayer attached at a top opening and a pesticide dispensing cap at a side opening, wherein the axis of the side opening is at an acute angle to the axis of the top opening.

In one aspect, the present invention proposes a pesticide bottle 1. The purpose of the pesticide bottle 1 is for application, in particular spray application, of the pesticide. As can be seen from the figures, the bottle 1 presents a particular ergonomic shape and pattern.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a pesticide product bottle comprising: (1) A bottle having a top wall, a bottom wall and six side walls defining a hollow space therein for containing a liquid, and wherein the side walls are of hexagonal configuration, wherein 4 side walls have a convex outer surface and two side walls have a flat outer surface; (2) A top opening having a threaded neck and centrally disposed on the top wall for receiving the trigger sprayer; and (3) a side opening having a threaded neck and located on an upper portion of the convex sidewall for receiving the pesticide dispensing cap; wherein the axis of the side opening is at an acute angle to the axis of the top opening.

As illustrated in fig. 1 to 8, a trigger actuated pump spray bottle 1 is described which reduces the risk of exposure of operators of such sprayers to pesticides.

As illustrated in fig. 1-6, the body of the bottle or container 1 has eight walls including a top wall 20 (fig. 5), a bottom wall 22 (fig. 6), and six side walls 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, and 34 such that the side walls are in a hexagonal configuration. In one embodiment, sidewalls 24 and 30 have flat outer surfaces and sidewalls 26, 28, 32 and 34 have convex outer surfaces.

In one embodiment, the sidewalls are provided in an irregular hexagonal configuration having: two opposite major sides 24 and 30, each having a flat outer surface; and four minor sides 26, 28, 32, and 34, each having a convex outer surface. The opposite major sides 24 and 30 are parallel to each other but not coextensive. The opposite minor sides 28 and 34 are parallel to each other but not coextensive. The opposite minor sides 26 and 32 are parallel to each other but not coextensive. The major side 24 is at an obtuse angle to the minor side 26 and an acute angle to the minor side 34. The major side 30 is at an obtuse angle to the minor side 32 and an acute angle to the minor side 28. In another embodiment, the major side has a flat outer surface and the minor side has a curved or convex outer surface (with adjacent ends curved inwardly toward the top and bottom, respectively). In one configuration, bottle 1 is sized to be about 80cm wide (between the corners of adjacent minor sides), about 153cm long (between the corners farther from the opposite major sides), and about 143cm high from bottom to top (203 cm high open from bottom to top). In one embodiment, the width of the bottle 1 (the distance between the parallel flat side walls 24 or 30) is such that the bottle can be comfortably and securely gripped by the end user.

Referring again to fig. 1-6, bottle 1 has a top opening 14 centrally disposed on top wall 20 (fig. 5) and a side opening 36 located on an upper portion of side wall 34 (fig. 2). The axis B of the side opening 36 is at an acute angle to the axis a of the top opening 14. Openings 14 and 36 have corresponding top thread necks 10 and side thread necks 16. In one embodiment, the top neck 10 is attached to the top wall 20 via a hexagonal base 12. With the exception of side opening 36 and side neck 16, bottle 1 has substantially equal halves along a plane shared by the bottle edges joining sidewalls 26 and 28 and the bottle edges joining sidewalls 34 and 32.

In another embodiment, as seen in fig. 2-3 and 7c, the sidewall 34 may further include a measuring line (e.g., 500ml and 1000 ml) to assist the end user in filling the bottle 1 with an appropriate amount of dilution water, and then introducing the concentrated pesticide into the bottle 1 via the pesticide capsule cap 42 (fig. 7 b).

As illustrated in fig. 7a and 7c, the bottle 1 is typically associated with a standard trigger actuated pump sprayer 40. The trigger-actuated pump sprayer 40 typically includes a pump body and a trigger lever pivotally coupled to the pump body, wherein the pump body may include a pump cylinder (not otherwise shown) attached to a piston. When the operator pulls the trigger lever, the piston engages the pump cylinder, thereby drawing liquid from the bottle via the siphon tube and spraying via the adjustable nozzle in a manner well known in the art. Pump sprayer 40 may be coupled to a threaded cap 41 to mount sprayer 40 to the top threaded neck 10 of bottle 1 (as shown in fig. 7b, 8). During operation, the aqueous spray solution is drawn from the bottle 1 by pumping via a siphon tube and sprayed via an adjustable nozzle to a user selected target.

As shown in fig. 7b and 7c, the bottle 1 is also typically associated with a standard dispensing cap 42 having a threaded plastic screw closure 43 with a capsule 44 containing a concentrated pesticide formulation. The capsule lid 42 may be provided in a variety of configurations (e.g., as shown in WO 12048922). Fig. 7b depicts the cover 42 with the top removed to show the internal components of one possible configuration. Fig. 7c depicts a cap 42 associated with the bottle 1 and having a closed top cover (such as a flexible male membrane). For example, when an operator presses the male film cover of the cap 42 in a downward direction, the pressure plate at the top of the capsule 44 activates a piercing member that breaks up a blister pack containing a predetermined amount of pesticide concentrate (such as liquid, solid, one or more tablets, flowable powder, or granular form). The pesticide concentrate is then released into the bottle, which preferably has already contained dilution water or is to be filled via the top opening 14 to contain dilution water.

As further illustrated in fig. 7c and 8, the assembled configuration of the bottle 1 with the trigger pump sprayer 40, cap 41 and pesticide dispensing cap 42 is shown. This configuration reduces the risk to the operator during preparation of the diluted aqueous pesticide spray solution, wherein: the trigger spray cap may be removed/reset to fill the bottle with an appropriate amount of dilution water (optionally using 500ml/1000ml measuring lines) and a predetermined amount of pesticide concentrate is added separately from the dispensing cap 42 into the bottle 1.

The above-described spray bottle with a pesticide concentrate dispenser may facilitate a method of applying a diluted aqueous pesticide spray solution to a target pest, the method comprising: removing the trigger spray cap 40 from the bottle 1; filling a proper amount of dilution water into the bottle; resetting the trigger spray cap; and adding a predetermined amount of the pesticide concentrate to the bottle using the dispensing cap 42. The method may further ensure that direct contact with the pesticide concentrate and/or pesticide spray solution dispensed by the operator of the spray bottle is avoided.

In one embodiment, the container 1 is ergonomically configured to facilitate firm grip by the end user's hand such that the index finger and adjacent fingers grasp one of the flat side walls 24 or 30, the opposing thumb grasps the other of the flat side walls 24 or 30, while the convex side walls 26 and 28 (or 32 and 34, as the case may be) are firmly held by the palm of the hand. This configuration reduces the risk of exposure of the operator to the pesticide or chemical during filling, mixing or dispensing.

For example, the container 1 may be firmly gripped by the end user during the following steps: a filling step during which the pesticide or chemical is released into the bottle via the dispensing cap and dilution water is added to the bottle via the top or side opening; a mixing step of mixing the pesticide and the dilution water during the mixing step; and/or a dispensing step during which the aqueous pesticide (or other chemical) spray solution is applied to the desired target by activating the trigger sprayer.

The bottle 1 may be made of injection molded polymer or plastic material. In some embodiments, the bottle may be formed from a thermoplastic polymer such as polypropylene or HDPE. Biodegradable plastics are also contemplated. For example, the bottle may contain a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyhydroxyalkanoates, polylactic acid, starch blends, cellulose-based plastics, and lignin-based polymer composites.

The invention is not limited to the details of any of the foregoing embodiments. The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this document (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1. A pesticide product bottle, the pesticide product bottle comprising: (1) A bottle having a top wall, a bottom wall, and six side walls, wherein the side walls are in a hexagonal configuration, wherein 4 of the side walls have a convex outer surface, and two of the side walls have a flat outer surface; (2) A top opening having a threaded neck and centrally disposed on the top wall for receiving the trigger sprayer; and (3) a side opening having a threaded neck and located on an upper portion of the sidewall for receiving the pesticide dispensing cap; wherein the axis of the side opening is at an acute angle to the axis of the top opening.

2. The bottle of claim 1, comprising a trigger sprayer attached at the top opening and a pesticide dispensing cap attached at the side opening.

3. The bottle of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the side walls are in an irregular hexagonal configuration having two opposing major sides and four minor sides such that the opposing major sides are parallel to but not coextensive with each other, the two opposing minor sides of the first set are parallel to but not coextensive with each other, and the two opposing minor sides of the second set are parallel to but not coextensive with each other.

4. The bottle of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pesticide dispensing cap comprises a pesticide concentrate that is a liquid, a solid, one or more tablets, a flowable powder, wettable particles, or wettable powder.

5. The bottle of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bottle is made of a plastic selected from polypropylene or HDPE.

6. The bottle of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bottle is made of a biodegradable plastic selected from the group consisting of polyhydroxyfatty acids, polylactic acids, starch blends, cellulose-based plastics, and lignin-based polymer composites.

7. The bottle of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bottle is ergonomically configured to reduce the risk of operator exposure during filling, mixing or dispensing of a pesticide or chemical using a spray bottle.

8. The bottle of any one of the preceding claims, having a width of about 80cm, a length of about 153cm, and a height of about 143cm from bottom to top.

9. A method of applying a diluted aqueous pesticide spray solution to a target pest, the method comprising: removing the trigger spray cap from the bottle of claim 1; filling the bottle with a suitable amount of dilution water; resetting the trigger spray cap; and adding a predetermined amount of a pesticide concentrate to the bottle using the dispensing cap.