Dispensing container manufacturing apparatus and methods

Claim 1

A collapsible tube assembly comprising a flexible tubular body having a longitudinal seam containing overlapped layers of sheet material of the body wall and a dispensing head structure secured upon one end of said body, said head structure comprising an inner hollow element having an inclined annular shoulder, a reduced diameter nozzle section projecting longitudinally from the inner periphery of said shoulder, an annular skirt projecting longitudinally from the outer periphery of said shoulder, a narrow annular external flange at the free end of said skirt and a shallow external surface recess extending longitudinally from said flange along said skirt and along said shoulder, and an outer hollow element disposed in tight substantially nested relation with said inner element, said outer element having an annular shoulder of corresponding inclination with and surrounding the annular shoulder of said inner element, a longitudinally extending nozzle section surrounding the nozzle section of the inner element, and a longitudinally extending skirt surrounding the skirt of the inner element with the outer diameter of the skirt of said outer element being substantially equal to the outer diameter of said body one end, said body one end extending over said external flange and then being bent inwardly at an angle in a first annular portion, then extending longitudinally between said skirts and then being bent inwardly at a second annular portion to pass between said shoulders, and said body seam being substantially confined in said recess, whereby said tube body and head structures are non-deformably internested and so mechanically interlocked as to resist axial separation of the tube body and head structure due to normal axial pull.