AU6666500A - Tamper evident container - Google Patents

Description

P/00/01 1 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 S S

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ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention title: Tamper evident container

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The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: mcmmm M011013685101999995 4.04.2000 TAMPER EVIDENT CONTAINER Field of the Invention The present invention is directed to improvements in or relating to tamper evident containers, and more particularly but not exclusively to improvements in wide mouth containers suitable for foodstuffs such as ice cream and yoghurt.

Background of the Invention Many devices have been developed in the field of packaging of fluid and semi-fluid products such as foodstuffs or beverages. These often include containers with re-usable closures where, following filling of the container, the closure is secured to the container so •that the container contents are not exposed. Depending upon the contents of the container the closure may provide an air-tight seal to preserve the contents from exposure to the atmosphere. The filled closed container is then sent to a retail outlet and offered for sale.

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Containers of this type can include tamper-evident devices to prevent or deter tampering 15 with the contents of the container.

It has been observed that there can be a range of difficulties associated with both manual or automated processes for securing closures to containers for foodstuffs such as ice cream and yoghurt. For example, such closures are generally constructed so that they may simply e• be pressed down upon the mouth of the container to form a snap-fit engagement.

However, in some cases the closure construction is such that there must be very accurate alignment between the container and closure when the closure is applied thereto. Where misalignment occurs the closure may not be properly applied and the contents of the container may therefore remain exposed. In other constructions, the removal of the tamper evident means can have the effect of reducing the degree of locking between the closure and the container with the result that the closure when reused after the initial opening is not securely fitted or locked on the container. In other constructions, there may be recesses or hollows formed between the closure and the container which are open to receive unwanted contaminants or debris.

It is an object of this invention to provide a container and closure which obviates or ameliorates one or more of the foresaid disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention The present invention accordingly provides in one aspect a container and closure therefor having, downwardly directed ramp means external to the container extending from a side wall of the container, an upwardly directed strip extending from the ramp means to define a recess between the ramp means and the upwardly directed strip, tamper indicating means which may preferably be associated with the strip, a closure having a lid for closing off a mouth of the container, and S10 a circumferential skirt depending from the lid, the construction of container and closure being such that during application of the closure to the container, the ramp means push outwardly against the skirt to guide the skirt into the eo recess so that a lower portion of the skirt is located in the recess out of reach of fingers until such time as the tamper indicating means are disturbed.

1 15 In other aspects, the invention provides containers and closures therefor constructed in the manner defined in the preceding paragraph.

The container and/or closure may be moulded from plastics materials. Most suitably they are moulded from plastics material The moulding process used may be an injection moulding process.

The container may be provided with an upstanding wall. The wall may be straight or curved. It may include one or more corners. Suitably the wall outline is generally round or polygonal. The wall outline may be generally square or rectangular.

The container may have a base which connects with the wall or walls. Suitably the base is substantially horizontal.

Means may be provided in the wall and or base of the container to improve rigidity thereof.

For example the container wall may include a step. The step may be circumferential. The step may be located below but close to the lip of the container. The region between the lip and step may form a container rim or finish.

The downwardly directed ramp means may be provided immediately below the lip of the container. The ramp means may be located between the step and the lip. The ramp means may be continuous or discontinuous. They may extend around the entire perimeter of the container or they may extend for one or more portions of the perimeter. They may take the form of an angled skirt. The angled skirt may depend at an angle from the container rim.

Similarly the upwardly directed strip may extend part or all of the way around the wall of the container. However, it is preferred that it extend entirely around the circumference of the container. The upwardly directed strip may include securement means for securing the 'closure to the container. It may also include sealing means to seal off the recess from o. 10 contamination. The sealing means and the securement means may take the form of an inwardly directed rib provided on the strip. Suitably it is provided at the top of the strip. It oooo S* •°may be constructed so that it abuts the skirt of the closure.

The skirt of the closure may include complementary sealing and/or securement means.

2 These may interact with the sealing and/or securement means of the strip to hold the closure on the container whilst helping to seal off the recess. These complementary means :-are suitably in the form of a rib provided externally on the skirt. The rib may be shaped so that it abuts an internal wall of the strip. Alternatively and/or additionally it may abut a lower edge of the rib formed on the strip.

The lower portion of the skirt and the ramp means may be constructed so that they abut each other. Thus the lower portion of the skirt and ramp means may be in sealing engagement when the closure is applied to the container. The skirt and strip may abut each other in such a manner that there is no channel or recess formed between the two which is open to receive dirt or debris.

One or more additional ribs may be provided on the closure and/or container to aid sealing.

Suitably, the container may be provided with a circumferential rib immediately below the rim. The rib may be arranged to seal against a circumferential flange depending from the underside of the lid of the closure.

An upstanding internal wall may be formed in the lid of the closure. Suitably, this wall is constructed so as to abut the inside surface of the wall of the container. The upstanding internal wall may include a circumferential rib to aid sealing between the closure and the container.

The construction of upstanding internal wall in the lid and depending flange, is such that it creates a downward facing recess underneath the lid. The downward facing recess may be shaped so as to receive the lip of the container.

The ramp means may include a portion which makes an acute angle with the walls of the container. It may be joined to a portion which is substantially parallel to the walls of the container. The substantially parallel portion may in turn be joined to a connecting portion which joins the ramp means to the upwardly directed strip.

The strip suitably extends for at least most of the way around the perimeter of the •container. Most suitably it will extend all of the way around the perimeter. It may be joined to the ramp means by a region of weakening. The region of weakening may be in the connecting portion. The region of weakening may be adapted to facilitate detachment of at least part of the strip from the ramp means. The tamper indicating means may include this detachable part.

•Tab means may be provided on the strip to facilitate at least partial tearing away of the strip from the ramp means. Additionally, the strip may be joined to itself by way of a line 0* of weakening to facilitate detachment of the strip from itself to indicate tampering.

S•Suitably, the tab means are attached to the strip at or near the line of weakening.

-In order to assist removal of the closure from the container when the tamper indicating •means have been broken, it is preferred that the tamper indicating means be located at a corner of the container. This is because it is generally easier to manipulate the edge of a corner of the closure skirt as compared with a straight section in order to remove the closure.

The region of weakening in the joint between the strip and ramp means may take the form of bridges or regions of lesser thickness or combinations of these. The same may apply with regard to the weakened portion constituting the join of the strip with itself near the tab means.

In another aspect the invention provides a method for filling a container and closing it with a closure as described. The method includes the steps of providing a source of contents for the container, filling the container with the contents, and closing the container by securing a closure as described to the container. The method may involve a filling step which is known in the art for filling a container with contents. The container may be provided on a moving conveyor assembly line as is also known in the art. A closure according to the invention may be fitted to the container manually, or it may be fitted to the container in an automated fashion by the use of a vacuum lifter or similar to lift and move the closure to bring the closure into substantial alignment with the container.

The invention will now be described in relation to particularly preferred embodiments which are shown in the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container with closure according to one "embodiment of the present invention: S 10 Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross-section along the line x-x shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the container of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a fragmentary view of a tearaway section of the container.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments Referring to Figures 1 to 4, there is shown a container with closure applied. This 15 combination is designated 1.

The container 3 is a wide mouth container of generally square cross-section. It is suitable S. for packaging of ice creams or yoghurt. It may be moulded in one piece by conventional moulding techniques such as injection moulding of thermo-plastics. It includes side wall and a base 7.

A closure 9 has been fitted over the rim 11 of the container in abutment with the lip 13 to seal the opening of the container.

A step 15 extends around an upper part of the perimeter of the side wall to lend stiffness to the container in the region of its mouth.

An integral ramp 17 depends downwardly from around the container side wall. It is joined to the wall in the region of the rim of the container and extends to connect with the upstanding outer strip 21 via the join 24.

The outer strip and ramp define a recess 19 between them.

It is noted that the join shown in Figure 2 in the position indicated has the same thickness as the ramp and most of the upstanding strip. However, at the corner region best seen in Figure 3, the join is replaced by a series of tear bridges 23 with gaps 28 therebetween.

Furthermore, whilst the strip is shown as being circumferentially continuous, it includes a weakened portion 22 of lesser thickness to allow the strip to be broken from itself when the tear tab 25 is pulled away.

The tear tab is itself joined in parallel to the strip by two tear bridges The end of the tear tab 26 connects to the strip in the region of the weakened join 22.

The strip is provided with a circumferential rib 27 directed inwardly towards the rim. A further circumferential rib of much smaller size 29 is provided on the outside of the rim near the lip of the container.

The closure includes a lid portion generally denoted 40 which extends to cover the mouth of the container to the join with the circumferentially depending skirt 47.

Between the centre of the lid portion and the skirt there is a shallow recess 42 joining with 15 a vertically directed wall 44.

ooooo In turn the wall connects with a circumferentially extending outer lid portion 45 from which depends a flange 46.

S"A small recess 48 is defined between the flange 46, outer lid portion and wall 44.

The circumferential skirt 50 depends from the annular outer lid portion. It is provided with a thick rib 52 extending around the outer surface thereof. A further smaller rib 56 is provided on the wall 44 to aid sealing.

After filling of an empty container, the closure is snap fitted thereon simply by pushing it down upon the container rim.

This action causes the lower edge of the closure skirt 50 to pass through the large recess 54 defined between the upper part of the strip and container rim and to bear upon the ramp 17.

As the closure is pushed down further the ramp pushes the bottom part of the skirt outwardly and guides it into the lower recess 19.

Thus when the closure is fully applied, the bottom of the skirt is in sealing abutment at the region 58 with the ramp. Furthermore the ramp is pushing the skirt outwards so that the rib 52 is in abutment with the strip 21 thereby enhancing the overall seal. Similarly the skirt in pressing against the ramp, has the effect of pushing the container sidewalls inwards to press against the vertically directed wall 44 of the closure and hence enhance the sealing and interengagement between the closure and container.

Furthermore, because the rib 52 sits underneath the rib 27, removal of the closure is prevented by the abutment between the two ribs.

The rib 27 also abuts the skirt to further enhance sealing and to prevent entry of material into the recesses 19 and 54. Additional sealing is provided by the ribs 29 and 56. They abut each other in such a way that there is no opening or channel formed which could be a 10 region for receiving dirt or debris.

The closure may be removed by pulling on the tear tab 25 to break the tear bridges 23 and and weakened join 22 to move a portion of the strip out of registry with the closure skirt thereby exposing the bottom of the skirt to finger manipulation. Thus the closure may be simply grabbed underneath and pulled off the container. Because the tear portion extends around a corner there is good access for fingers to remove the closure when the tamper indicating tear portion is partially severed to move it out of engagement with the skirt.

However it still remains connected to the strip as there is not a second weakened join to facilitate such removal. A second weakened join can be included if complete removal of the tearable portion of the strip is desired.

In the illustrated embodiment, only a small number of tear bridges are shown. Of course, it is to be understood that any number of tear bridges can be used even to the point where they extend completely around the container. However, in most instances this will not be desirable because it is best to leave the major portion of the strip intact so that it can still act to aid in resealing of the container and to lock the closure onto the container when it is reapplied after use.

Equally, it should be appreciated that other forms of tamper-proofing can be used as is known in the art. For example, the bridges might be replaced with a line of reduced thickness of plastic thereby facilitating easy tearing of the strip from the container.

Whilst it has been convenient to describe the present invention in relation to particularly preferred embodiments, it is to be appreciated that other constructions and arrangements are considered as falling within the scope of the invention. Various modifications, 8 alterations, variations and/or additions to the constructions and arrangements described herein are also considered as falling within the scope of the present invention.

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Claims (43)

1. A container and closure therefor having: downwardly directed ramp means external to the container extending from a side wall of the container, an upwardly directed strip extending from the ramp means to define a recess between the ramp means and the upwardly directed strip, tamper indicating means associated with the strip, oooo a closure having a lid for closing off a mouth of the container, and a circumferential skirt depending from the lid, 10 the construction of container and closure being such that during application of the closure to the container, the ramp means push outwardly against the skirt to guide the skirt into the recess so that a lower portion of the skirt is located in the recess out of reach of fingers until such time as the tamper indicating means are disturbed.

2. A container and closure according to claim 1 wherein the container is moulded from plastics materials in an injection moulding process.

3. A container and closure according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the container has means in the wall of the container to improve rigidity thereof.

4. A container and closure according to claim 3 wherein the means is a step in the container wall.

5. A container and closure according to claim 4 wherein the step is located below but close to the lip of the container.

6. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the container has means in the base of the container to improve rigidity thereof.

7. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the downwardly directed ramp means is provided immediately below the lip of the container.

8. A container and closure according to claim 5 wherein the ramp means is located between the step and the lip.

9. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the ramp means extends around the entire perimeter of the container. A container and closure according to any one of claim I to 8 wherein the ramp means extends for one or more portions of the perimeter.

11. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the ramp means takes the form of an angled skirt.

12. A container and closure according to claim 11 wherein angled skirt depends at an angle from the container rim.

13. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the 10 upwardly directed strip extends substantially entirely around the circumference of the container.

14. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the upwardly directed strip includes securement means for securing the closure to the container. 15 15. A container and closure according to claim 14 wherein the securement means is an inwardly directed rib provided on the strip.

16. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the upwardly directed strip includes sealing means to seal off the recess from contamination.

17. A container and closure according to claim 16 when depending from claim 15 wherein the sealing means is the inwardly directed rib provided on the strip.

18. A container and closure according to claim 15 or claim 17 wherein the rib is provided at the top of the strip.

19. A container and closure according to claim 15 or claim 17 wherein the rib is constructed so that it abuts the skirt of the closure. A container and closure according to claim 16, claim 17, or claim 18 or 19 when depending from claim 16, wherein the skirt of the closure includes complementary sealing means to interact with the sealing means of the strip to seal off the recess.

21. A container and closure according to claim 14, or any one of claims 15 to 20 when depending from claim 14, wherein the skirt of the closure includes complementary 11 securement means to interact with the securement means of the strip to hold the closure on the container.

22. These complementary means are suitably in the form of a rib provided externally on the skirt. The rib may be shaped so that it abuts an internal wall of the strip. Alternatively and/or additionally it may abut a lower edge of the rib formed on the strip.

23. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the lower portion of the skirt and ramp means are in sealing engagement when the closure is applied to the container. 10 24. A container and closure according to claim 23 wherein the lower portion of the skirt °and the ramp means are constructed so that they abut each other. A container and closure according to claim 24 wherein the skirt and strip abut each other in such a manner that there is no channel or recess formed between the two. I

26. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein one or more ribs are provided on the closure to aid sealing.

27. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein one or more ribs are provided on the container to aid sealing.

28. A container and closure according to claim 27 wherein the container is provided with a circumferential rib immediately below the rim.

29. A container and closure according to claim 28 wherein the rib is arranged to seal against a circumferential flange depending from the underside of the lid of the closure. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein an upstanding internal wall is formed in the lid of the closure.

31. A container and closure according to claim 30 wherein the internal wall is constructed so as to abut the inside surface of the wall of the container.

32. A container and closure according to claim 30 or claim 31 wherein the internal wall includes a circumferential rib to aid sealing between the closure and the container.

33. A container and closure according to any one of claims 30 to 32 wherein the upstanding internal wall in the lid and depending flange creates a downward facing recess underneath the lid.

34. A container and closure according to claim 33 wherein the downward facing recess is shaped so as to receive the lip of the container. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the ramp means includes a portion which makes an acute angle with the walls of the container.

36. A container and closure according to any one of claims 1 to 34 wherein the ramp means is substantially parallel to the walls of the container. *37. A container and closure according to claim 36 wherein the substantially parallel portion is joined to a connecting portion which joins the ramp means to the upwardly 10 directed strip.

38. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the strip extends for at least most of the way around the perimeter of the container.

39. A container and closure according to any one of claims 1 to 37 wherein the strip extends all of the way around the perimeter. 15 40. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the strip is joined to the ramp means by a region of weakening.

41. A container and closure according to claim 37, or any one of claims 38 to 40 when depending from claim 37, wherein the region of weakening is in the connecting portion.

42. A container and closure according to claim 40 or claim 41 wherein the region of weakening is adapted to facilitate detachment of at least part of the strip from the ramp means.

43. A container and closure according to claim 42 wherein the tamper indicating means includes the detachable part.

44. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein tab means are provided on the strip to facilitate at least partial tearing away of the strip from the ramp means. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the strip is joined to itself by way of a line of weakening to facilitate detachment of the strip from itself to indicate tampering. 13

46. A container and closure according to claim 44 wherein the tab means are attached to the strip at or near the line of weakening.

47. A container and closure according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the container has corners and the tamper indicating means is located at a corner of the container to assist removal of the closure from the container when the tamper indicating means have been broken.

48. A container and closure according to claim 40, or any one of claims 41 to 47 when depending from claim 40, wherein the region of weakening in the joint between the strip and ramp means takes the form of a bridge. 10 49. A container and closure according to claim 40, or any one of claims 41 to 48 when depending from claim 40, wherein the region of weakening in the joint between the strip and ramp means takes the form of a region of lesser thickness.

50. A container and closure according to claim 45, or any one of claims 46 to 49 when depending from claim 45, wherein the weakened portion constituting the join of the strip with itself near the tab means takes the form of a bridge.

51. A container and closure according to claim 45, or any one of claims 46 to 50 when depending from claim 45, wherein the weakened portion constituting the join of the strip with itself near the tab means takes the form of a region of lesser thickness. °52. A method for filling a container and closing it with a closure, the method including the steps of providing a source of contents for the container, filling the container with the contents, and closing the container by securing a closure to the container, the closure and container being in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 51.

53. A method according to claim 52 wherein the closure is fitted to the container in an automated fashion by the use of a vacuum lifter or similar to lift and move the closure to bring the closure into substantial alignment with the container.

54. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 51. A closure according to any one of claims 1 to 51.

56. A container having a tear tab substantially as herein described with reference to figures 3 and 4. Ruskin Industries Limited 20 October 2000