Disposable travel pouch

Abstract

A disposable travel pouch, a method of making a disposable travel pouch and a method of using a disposable travel pouch. The pouch is sized to accept a quantity of fluent materials such that even when full does not exceed permissible maximums under governmental commercial airline passenger regulations. The construction of the pouch is such that it has sufficient flexibility to allow a substantial entirety of the fluent material contained within to be dispensed by squeezing. A filling structure and a dispensing structure cooperate to allow ease of both filling and dispensing operations, while also allowing a user to switch between a relatively large diameter spout in the filling structure and a relatively small diameter spout in the dispensing structure. The filling structure may be integrally-formed with a body of the pouch while the dispensing structure is separately attachable. An additional closure may be included with the dispensing structure.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A disposable travel pouch comprising:
 a squeezable body defining a volumetric region therein that is configured to contain no more than about 100 milliliters of a flowable substance;   a filling structure secured to the squeezable body and comprising a port that permits the introduction of a fluid into the volumetric region; and   a dispensing structure secured to the squeezable body through the filling structure, the dispensing structure comprising a port that permits the removal of the fluid contained within the volumetric region, wherein the filling structure port is larger than the dispensing structure port.   
     
     
         2 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 1 , wherein the dispensing structure port and at least the portion of the filling structure port that is adjacent the dispensing structure port define a substantially axisymmetric cross-sectional area profile. 
     
     
         3 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 2 , wherein the filling structure port defines a diameter of between 20 millimeters and 25 millimeters, while the dispensing structure defines a diameter of less than 10 millimeters. 
     
     
         4 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 3 , wherein the filling structure port defines a diameter of 22 millimeters, while the dispensing structure defines a diameter of 5 millimeters. 
     
     
         5 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 2 , wherein the portion of the filling structure port that is adjacent the dispensing structure port defines a substantially axisymmetric cross-sectional area profile while the portion of the filling structure port that is adjacent the volumetric region defines a substantially non-axisymmetric cross-sectional area profile. 
     
     
         6 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 1 , wherein the dispensing structure is formed as part of a cap that is removably affixed to the filling structure. 
     
     
         7 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 6 , wherein the cap forms a threaded connection with the filling structure. 
     
     
         8 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 7 , wherein the cap further comprises a hingedly connected lid that when engaged with the dispensing structure substantially closes the dispensing structure port. 
     
     
         9 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 8 , wherein the hingedly connected lid further comprises a closure that extends into the dispensing structure port when the hingedly connected lid is in a closed position. 
     
     
         10 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 1 , wherein a region that defines where the filling structure is secured to the squeezable body comprises a permanent attachment to define a fluid-tight fit between them. 
     
     
         11 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the squeezable body, filling structure and dispensing structure is made from a material selected from the group consisting of a polypropylene-based material, a silicone-based material, a polyethylene-based material and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The disposable travel pouch of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the fluid-tight sealed edges is sized to define an aperture therein, the aperture sized to accept a string therethrough. 
     
     
         13 . A method of making a disposable travel pouch, the method comprising:
 forming a squeezable body to define a volumetric region therein that is configured to contain no more than about 100 milliliters of a flowable substance;   securing a filling structure to the squeezable body such that a port defined in the filling structure establishes fluid communication with the volumetric region; and   providing a dispensing structure that is configured to be secured to the squeezable body through the filling structure, the dispensing structure defining a port therein that permits the removal of a fluid contained within the volumetric region, wherein the filling structure port is larger than the dispensing structure port.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the dispensing structure is removably secured to the filling structure. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the dispensing structure and the filling structure defined a threaded connection between them. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the forming is achieved through a method selected from the group consisting of heat sealing, ultrasonic welding, hot melt adhesive and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         17 . A method of forming a disposable travel pouch, the method comprising:
 attaching a filling structure to squeezable body such that a volumetric region defined by the squeezable body that is configured to contain no more than about 100 milliliters of a flowable substance is fluidly coupled to the filling structure through a port defined in the filling structure establishes fluid communication with the volumetric region; and   providing a selectively attachable dispensing structure that defines a port therein such that upon attaching the dispensing structure to the filling structure, a flowpath formed between them permits the removal of a fluid contained within the volumetric region, wherein the filling structure port is larger than the dispensing structure port.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein selective attachment of the filling structure and the dispensing structure is through a screw-based threaded contact between them. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising joining a plurality of sheets of a plastic-based material to one another in order to form the squeezable body. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 defining an aperture within at least one fluid-tight sealed edge of the squeezable body; and   connecting the squeezable body to a string through the aperture.