Pretreatment cup

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9228288-B2
Application number	US-201213477597-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 22, 2012
Priority date	May 23, 2011
Publication date	Jan 5, 2016
Grant date	Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

A pretreatment cup that encourages the customer to pretreat stained fabrics with a liquid laundry detergent composition, the pretreatment cup having a pretreatment region that is differentiated from other parts of the cup by a difference in material, color, translucency, surface texture, a line, and mixtures thereof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A pretreatment cup ( 10 ) comprising:
a base comprising an exterior base surface ( 50 );
a wall comprising an exterior wall surface ( 60 ); and
an opening ( 40 ) circumscribed by a rim ( 170 ), wherein the opening is at least partially opposite the base;

wherein:
the exterior base surface ( 50 ) is connected to the exterior wall surface ( 60 ) at an exterior periphery ( 70 );
a surface selected from the group consisting of: the exterior base surface ( 50 ), the exterior wall surface ( 60 ), and mixtures thereof, comprises a pretreating region;
the pretreating region comprises a spreading region ( 80 ), the spreading region ( 80 ) comprising spreading protrusions ( 90 ), wherein the spreading protrusions ( 90 ) are selected from the group consisting: of lines, dots, and mixtures thereof; and

the spreading region ( 80 ) has a curvature and a center of mass, such that when the pretreatment cup is positioned with the centre of mass of the spreading region ( 80 ) on a non-deformable surface, the pretreatment cup can be tilted a maximum of about 45° before the spreading region is no longer in contact with the non-deformable surface; characterized in that:
the pretreating region is differentiated from at least part of the remaining combined area of the exterior base surface ( 50 ) and the exterior wall surface ( 60 ) by: a difference in material, colour, translucency, surface texture, a line, and mixtures thereof.

2. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein at least part of the pretreatment cup ( 10 ) is opaque.

3. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the pretreating region is differentiated from at least about 25% of the remaining combined area of the exterior base surface ( 50 ) and the exterior wall surface ( 60 ).

4. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 3 , wherein the pretreating region is differentiated from at least about 50% of the remaining combined area of the exterior base surface ( 50 ) and the exterior wall surface ( 60 ).

5. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 4 , wherein the pretreating region is differentiated from at least about 75% of the remaining combined area of the exterior base surface ( 50 ) and the exterior wall surface ( 60 ).

6. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according claim 1 , wherein the pretreating region is differentiated from at least part of the remaining combined area of the exterior base surface ( 50 ) and the exterior wall surface by ( 60 ) by at least two differences selected from differences in: material, colour, translucency, surface texture, a line, and mixtures thereof.

7. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the spreading protrusions ( 90 ) are arranged in a pattern selected from the group consisting of: radial, concentric, spiral, or mixtures thereof.

8. The pretreatment cup according to claim 1 , wherein the spreading protrusions ( 90 ) have a height from the exterior base surface ( 50 ) of from about 0.2 mm to about 4 mm.

9. The pretreatment cup according to claim 1 , wherein the spreading protrusions comprise lines having a length of from about 2 mm to about 40 mm.

10. The pretreatment cup according to claim 9 , wherein the spreading protrusions comprise lines having a length of from about 4 mm to about 15 mm.

11. The pretreatment cup according to claim 1 , wherein the spreading protrusions comprise dots having a width of from about 0.2 mm to about 5 mm.

12. The pretreatment cup according to claim 11 , wherein the spreading protrusions comprise dots having a width of from about 1 mm to about 3 mm.

13. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the spreading region ( 80 ) has a curvature and a center of mass, such that when the pretreatment cup is positioned with centre of mass of the spreading region ( 80 ) on a non-deformable surface, the pretreatment cup can be tilted a maximum of about 15° before the spreading region is no longer in contact with the non-deformable surface.

14. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the spreading protrusions ( 90 ) are made from a material having a hardness, as measured on the Rockwell scale (ISO 2039-2), of from about 50 to about 150.

15. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 14 , wherein the spreading protrusions ( 90 ) are made from a material having a hardness, as measured on the Rockwell scale (ISO 2039-2), of from about 70 to about 110.

16. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the spreading region ( 80 ) is at least partially located on the exterior base surface ( 50 ).

17. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the pretreating region comprises a scrubbing region ( 110 ), wherein the scrubbing region ( 110 ) comprises scrubbing protrusions ( 120 ).

18. The pretreatment cup ( 10 ) according to claim 17 , wherein the scrubbing region ( 110 ) is at least partially located at the exterior periphery ( 70 ).

Assignees

• Davis William John
• Mcneill David James
• Van Den Bergh Pieter Paul Dirk Jenny Maria
• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Davis William John
• Mcneill David James
• Van Den Bergh Pieter Paul Dirk Jenny Maria

Classifications

• B65D1/265

  Drinking cups (B65D81/3865 takes precedence, holders for plastic cups A47G23/0208) · CPC title

• D06F3/00

  Hand rubbing apparatus (corrugated tub-walls D06F1/04) · CPC title

• D06F39/024 Primary

  mounted on the agitator or the rotating drum; Free body dispensers · CPC title

• B65D47/42

  with pads or like contents-applying means · CPC title

• A46B11/0013

  dispensing by gravity or by shaking · CPC title