CA1278779C - Plastic or resin top construction for a dispensing can - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract A foolproof sanitary pour type of end cap is provided for a container or can that may be used for providing and dispensing powdered or granular items, such as foods, vitamin and medicine capsules or liquids, such as carbonated soft drinks. The cap body provides an initial completely hermetically sealed cover for the container after the goods have been placed therein for shipment, storage and sale. The sealed relation is such that the inside of the container and its contents cannot be exposed without tearing-off a membrane closure portion across a centrally disposed, inset pouring spout or collar. When the contents are to be first used, a swingable closure lid is opened and the membrane is removed by a pull tab. However, the remaining contents can be then closed-off by the swingable lid which has means for maintaining the contents in a sealed-off relation from the ambient atmosphere and has latching means for flexibly retaining it in closed position until an additional quantity of the contents is to be used.

Description

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Specification This invention relates to a new sealing-off end closure cap for a can or container that has a somewhat universal application irrespective of the nature of its contents, whether a carbonated pressurized liquid or a granulated or powdered solid material that is to be dispensed.
However, it is especially suitable for providing a substantially hermetically sealed container for use in dispensing solid food and medical items.
It has been devised to meet a problem in the art which has existed for many years and as related to screw caps and to metal lid pull tabs. In the first instance, to provide a tamperproof seal, it has been necessary to use some form of plastic sealing cover which has to be cut and torn-off before the cap can be unscrewed. Thereafter, the cap has to be screwed-down tightly after each removal of a portion of the contents and has to be unscrewed when an additional portion is needed. On the other hand, pull tabs such as presently used for soft drink cans are difficult to initially grip and open, and when opened, leave any unused portion of the contents exposed, subject to spillage and spoilage.
I previously developed a bellows-like spout type of construction for dispensing carbonated drinks and the like and which is set forth in my U.S. Patent No. 4,560,081 of December 24, 1985. In this construction, a bellows-like lid spout is mounted for expansion when a closure lid is opened. This eliminates the need for a fingernail-breaking pull tab construction and provides a convenient and sanitary means for intermediate drinking of the liquid contents. Also, since the lid is constructed to close-off the pour opening, the liquid contents can be stored for subsequent usage.

_ _ ~-~78~9 There has, however, been a need for a type of lid which will be especially suitable for dispensing powdered or granular goods, such as foods and other edible materials which should be protected from tampering or substitution of poisonous material. In this respect, the need is for a lid that will have a hermetic seal and one that cannot be opened without spoiling the seal and thus alerting the prospective purchaser that there may have been tampering with its original contents.
The present invention thus deals with a type of end cap that will be tamperproof, and at the same time, will enable a subsequent periodic dispensing of its contents which contents will be protected in the interim by a hinged sealing-off lid.
It has been an object of the invention to devise an inexpensive and practical end cap for a storage and dispensing container that will be substantially tamperproof as to its initial contents, that has an easily gripped initial tear tab and an initial tear-out hermetic sealing-off wall or membrane, and that will, aEter being irst opened, enable retaining any contents in a substantially seal~d-off relation during interim storage.
Another object has been to develop a unitary type of end cap that will be initially tamperproof and, at the same time, that will enable a pour-dispensing of its contents from an opening that is protected by a sealing-off closure lid.
A still further object of the invention has been to provide an end cap unit for a dispensing container which will inherently provide a fully sealed-off tamperproof protection of its contents, which will enable an easy and practical initial breaking of its seal and dispensing of its contents, and which will further enable the contents to be displaceably sealed-off, so that they may be quickly and easily opened and closed-off ~7~ 79 and dispensed from time to time and kept in a fresh, useable condition.
These and other objects of the invention will appear to those skilled in the art from the description of the disclosed embodiment, the drawings and claims herein set forth.
Figure 1 is a top plan view of an end cap constructed in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-section taken along the line II-II of Figure 1 illustrating how a pair of containers of the invention may be endwise stacked; in this figure, an end closure cap of the invention is shown in its initial, hermetically sealing-off mounted relation over the open mouth of a can or container.
Figure 2A is a fragmental section on the scale of Figure 2, particularly illustrating the lapped-over, sealed-off mounting of lip edges of the end cap of Figure 2 with lip edges of the container and in such a manner as to keep the edges of the lid within an annular plane o~ extens~on of the wall of the container;
Figure 3 is a Eragmental section in elevation on the scale of Figure 2 and taken along the line III of Figure 1 at 90 with respect to Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a fragmental side section in elevation of the construction of Figures 2 and 3 showing its swingable lid in a released, upwardly extending, flexed relation and also showing a pull tab of its tear-out sealing wall in an upward, ready position, as released from its downwardly flexed positioning shown in Figures 2 and 3;
Figure 5 is a fragmental section on the scale of and of the structure of Figure 4 showing the tear-out sealing wall in the process of being removed from within a pouring collar, and preliminarily to an initial usage of the contents of the ~'~78779 container; this represents the initial pulling-out of the tamperproof sealing-off wall portion of the construction prior to initial usage of the contents of the container;
And, Figure 6 is a greatly enlarged corner fragment of the construction of Figures 2, 3 and 4 showing the reduced thickness, connecting tear-out, annular rim portion of the sealing-off wall or membrane for the pour opening of the pouring collar of the construction.
An end cap A having a body of a suitable relatively inexpensive, easily, unitarily molded material, such as a plastic resin having suitable characteristics of resiliency, elasticity and tensile strength is the preferable medium of the construction. End cap A serves as a closing body for the open end of a can or container B and is adapted to be mounted, as shown in the drawings, ;n a turned or crimped-over, hermetically sealed-off relation with respect to an open end portion of the container ~. As indicated in Figure 2A, a fluid-pressure-proof, intermediate seal1ng layer of latex 14 may be applied between an outer peripheral, turned-over edge or rim portion 13 of the cap A and a slightly inwardly offset, cooperating, and interlocking edge portion 11 of the container or can B. This serves to not only keep out outside ambient contamination, but to preclude an undiscoverable introduction of extraneous materials into the can as does the fact that the cap A is initially of a unitary, one-piece construction. It further provides a seal that, in the case of a pressurized fluid or liquid content, will withstand a pressure build-up of a maximum of about 140 psi. This is well above the minimum industrial requirement of 90 psi for carbonated soft drink containers. The extra factor of safety is advantageous, since fluid pressure tends to build-up when carbonated drinks are shaken-up in handling and shipping. Even when powdered, or granular canned goods, etc. are involved, a slightly positive fluid pressure can be used to further preclude entry of outside contaminants. That is, it may be desirable to provide an inert gas content under a slight positive pressure when the goods are being stored over a long period of time.
As noted from the above discussion, the container cap construction of the invention is devised to enable a universal type of application for the needs of different materials and, at the same time, to provide an easily removable type of initial opening or exposure of its contents. A normally upwardly biased, projecting pull tab 21 is shown extending from a centrally disposed, cross-extending, tear-wall type of end closure wall or membrane 20. The wall 20 extends across inner annular edges of a pour collar 17 that projects slightly inwardly from and in a perpendicular relation with respect to a cross-extending, substantially planar, outer, peripheral mounting and closing end wall portion 12 (see Figure 2). The tear-out wall or membrane 20 is secured in a hermetically sealed relation around its outer periphery by a tear rim portion 22 oE a reduced thickness. As shown in Figure 3, the tear-out wall 20 provides a tamperproof, hermetic seal for the contents of a container B until it is initially removed by a consumer gripping and pulling the tab 21 upwardly and in a right hand angular relation, as indicated by the arrow of Figure 5. A swing lid 25 (see Figure 3) is adapted to initially enclose the pull tab 21 within spacing within the collar 17 that is defined by the lid and the tear-out wall portion 20 (see Figures 2 and 3).
After the user has torn-out the wall or membrane 20 which is shown of an upwardly convex and inwardly concave shape, a desired quantity of the product involved may then be poured-out of the container B. After this, swing-over closure ~ z78~

lid 25 may be used to provide an auxiliary or a secondary seal for the remaining contents.
Comparing Figures 2, 4 and 5, it will be seen that lid 25 has an annular, projecting sealing rim or tongue portion 29 that is adapted to resiliently engage within a complementary sealing groove portion 16 of the wall 12 when the lid is in its closing-off, downwardly flexed position. Such a full, supplemental closing and sealing-off relation is maintained by cooperating latching portions 15 and 28 (see Figure 2A) respectively of the wall 12 and of the lid 25. Thus, the lid 25 has a primary function of providing a quick, uncomplicated and easy entry and closing-off of the pour opening defined by the collar 17 after the initial seal represented by the tear-out wall 25 facilitates its release from a sealing, latched, closing-off "down" position. During storage and shipment, the lid 25 will be in its "down" or closing position and thus, will serve to keep the pour collar 17 and the tear-out wall 20 clean and sanitary.
The lid 25, the end wall 12 and the collar 17 may be of a heavier thickness than the tear-out wall 20 and its pull tab 21. The lid 25 is preferably outwardly biased or has an as-formed memory such that, when released from its latched relation, it will swing about its hinge portion 26 to an outwardly open position that may be substantially normal to the end wall portion 12. This is also preferable as to the pull tab 21. Its hinge or swing portion 26 is shown of a slightly lesser thickness.
The tear-out wall portion 20 is connected by annular tear-off rim portion 22 of minimum thickness consistent with a maximum fluid pressure to which the container b is to be subjected. I contemplate the use of cross ribbing on at least one face (not shown) of pull tab 21 and of lift tab 27 for the ~ ~78779 lid 25. I also contemplate mounting the cap A within an opening provided in an end lid of a container or can rather than about its outer edge portion 11. In such a case, the end wall 12 may be provided with an edge groove such as 16, about its outer periphery which will tightly fit over and receive an inner peripheral open edge portion o~ the container end lid therein.
A hermetic seal will be provlded by the use of a latex layer therebetween, similar to 14 of Figure 2.
As shown in Figure 2, the container or can B has mounting such that both its lip edge 11 and the overlapping lip edge or rim 13 of the end cap lie behind an annular plane of extension of the side wall 10 of the container. As a result, a group of containers B can be sidewise closely stacked for storage and shipment. Also, as shown, the raised relation of the rim 13 and the inwardly sloped rim of the bottom of the container (see the dot and dash lines o Figure 2), enable the containers to he stacked endwise in an aligned relation. This is somewhat similar to the type oE construction shown in my earlier mentioned patent. However, in the present instance, a thin layer of sealing latex 14 (see Figures 2 and 2A) is shown applied between the container edge 11 and the latched-over, annular lip or rim portion 13 of the end cap A. This provides a further assurance of a hermetic, pressure-sealing off of the contents. Although, for the purpose of illustration, I have shown a somewhat circular-shaped pour-opening-defining collar 17 (see Figure 1), it will be apparent that any suitable shape may be used.
The invention particularly deals with a unitary end cap body of plastic resin construction which may be mold-formed in one operation to provide a complete construction. In this connection, as previously indicated, the pull tab 21 as well as the lid 25 are to be preferably formed with a memory or outward ~8~79 bias that insures a normal, upwardly extending tensioning, such that when released from a downwardly positioning, they will automatically return in a resilient or elastic manner to an "up" positioning. Also, as previously pointed out, the construction is preferably of plastic resin material and one which has necessary characteristics of tensile strength under fluid pressure as well as of a suitable resiliency or elasticity. In this connection, I have used as an optimum polypropylene and next in preference a polyethylene of the polyolefin generic classification.

Claims (21)

1. A foolproof sanitary pour type of end cap for sealing-off positioning over an open dispensing end of a container for powdered or granular goods, fluids, and the like which comprises, a cap body adapted to extend across and close-off the open dispensing end of the container in a fully secure sealing-off relation thereon; said body being defined by a substantially planar outer peripheral mounting portion, a radially inwardly positioned pouring collar that extends in a substantially perpendicular relation from and within said peripheral mounting portion, a sealing-off wall having tear-off rim edges integrally connected within and about aid collar to fully close-off an open pouring area defined thereby, and a pull tab on said wall; a lid swingably mounted on said body for movement between a downward closing-off position over said collar and an upwardly open position with respect thereto, said lid in its closing-off position being adapted to enclose said pull tab and said tear-out wall within said collar, and latching means between said body and said lid for releasably retaining said lid in its downward closing-off position over said collar.

2. An end cap as defined in claim 1 wherein, said lid and said mounting portion have cooperating annular tongue and groove portions that seal-off said collar when said lid is swung downwardly to its closing-off position over said collar.

3. An end cap as defined in claim 1 wherein said lid is adapted to automatically swing to an upwardly open position when released by said latching means.

4. An end cap as defined in claim 3 wherein said pull tab is adapted to swing to an upwardly extending position with respect to said sealing-off wall when said lid swings to its upwardly extending open position.

5. An end cap as defined in claim 1 wherein said cap body is of plastic material, said lid is swingably connected to said outer peripheral mounting portion by a hinge portion that normally urges said lid towards a substantially fully open upper position with respect to said cap body, and said pull tab is adapted to swing to a substantially upstanding position when said lid is swung to its open upper position.

6. An end cap as defined in claim 1 wherein, the container is adapted to receive a pressurized fluid, and said tear-out wall is connected to and within said collar by a tear-out portion of relatively thin thickness and of a sufficient strength to withstand a pressure build-up of fluid within the container.

7. An end cap as defined in claim 1 which is of a polyolefin plastic resin material throughout.

8. An end cap as defined in claim 1 wherein, said peripheral mounting portion, said collar and said lid are of a relatively heavy thickness of plastic material, and said tear-out wall is a plastic membrane of lesser thickness than said collar and lid and is connected by a portion of relatively thinner thickness of plastic material to and within said collar.

9. An end cap as defined in claim 8 wherein said latching means is also of plastic material, and said lid is mounted on said peripheral portion of said cap body by a plastic hinge of lesser thickness than said lid.

10. An end cap as defined in claim 1 which is fully constructed of plastic material and wherein, said outer peripheral portion of said cap body is adapted to be mounted in a securely sealed-off relation about outer edges of the open dispensing end of the container, and said lid and said body have cooperating interfitting portions for maintaining said lid in a fully sealing-off relation with respect to said collar when said lid is in its downward closing-off position over said collar.

11. An end cap as defined in claim 1 wherein, said pull tab is adapted to flexibly extend upwardly above said collar from said tear-out wall when said lid is in its upwardly open position, and said lid is adapted to abut and move said tab downwardly within said collar when it is swung downwardly into its closing-off position over said collar.

12. An end cap as defined in claim 1 wherein, said tear-out wall is a membrane-like wall of plastic material and has an upwardly-outwardly convexly shaped outer side and an inwardly-downwardly concavely shaped inner side as positioned within said collar, and said pull tab is also of plastic material and extends from said outer side of said membrane-like wall.

13. An end cap as defined in claim 1 wherein, said end cap is of plastic material and has a lapped-over joint with respect to the open dispensing end of the container, and a layer of sealing-off latex is interposed between said end cap and the container at said joint.

14. An end cap as defined in claim 1 which is entirely of plastic material and wherein, said lid is swingably connected to said peripheral mounting portion by a plastic connecting portion of lesser thickness than said lid and having an upwardly biased memory, and said tear-out wall is connected to and within said collar by an outer peripheral edge of lesser thickness and of sufficient strength to withstand gas pressure within the container.

15. A dispensing container for powdered or granular goods, fluids, capsules and the like having a foolproof sanitary pour type of closing-off end cap which comprises, a unitary cap body adapted to extend across and close-off an open end of the container in a fully sealing-off relation thereover, said body having a substantially planar outer peripheral end wall portion, an inwardly-extending collar secured in said peripheral portion to define a pour opening, a tear-out closure wall mounted within said collar to initially close-off the pour opening during handling of the container, a pull tab secured to said closure wall for removing said closure wall from said collar and exposing the pour opening, a closure lid swingably mounted on said end wall portion for opening and closing movement over the pour opening of said collar and with respect to said end wall, annular cooperating tongue and groove portions carried by an under portion of said lid and by said end wall of said body for sealing-off the pour opening of said collar when said lid is in a closing-off position with respect to said collar, and cooperative latching means carried by said lid and said wall for releasably retaining said lid in a closing-off position with respect to said collar.

16. An improved container of the character shown and described for powdered or granular goods, fluids and the like whose contents may be under a positive fluid pressure which comprises, a foolproof sanitary pour type of end closure for the container, said end closure having a substantially planar body adapted to extend across and close-off an upper open dispensing end of the container in a fully secure sealing-off relation thereon, a radially inwardly positioned pouring collar extending from and within a central area of said end closure, a lid swingably mounted on said end closure for movement between a downward closing-off position over said collar and an upwardly open position with respect thereto, a sealing-off wall having a pull tab and a tear-off rim edge integrally connected about said collar to fully close-off said lid and an open pouring area defined by said collar with respect to contents of the container, latching means between said end closure and said lid for releasably retaining said lid in its downward closing-off position over said collar, an upwardly extending shoulder defined about the outer extent of said end closure that consists of a rim of said end closure and an upper edge portion of the side wall of the container that are in a crimped-in interlocked relation with each other, said shoulder extending above an upper horizontal extent of said end closure and said lid, said container at its lower end having a convexly downwardly-inwardly extending shoulder about its outer extent that is shaped to rest in a supported radially inwardly positioned relation on the defined shoulder of a lower positioned can of the defined construction in such a manner as to support an upper container of the defined construction in a vertically aligned securely retained stacked relation on a lower can of the defined construction and essentially to retain the bottom end of the upper container in a fully upwardly spaced-apart relation, with respect to said end enclosure and lid of the lower can.

17. An improved container as defined in claim 16 wherein a sealing latex is interposed between said rim of said end closure and said upper edge portion of the side wall.

18 . An improved container as defined in claim 16 wherein, said rim of said end closure is turned upwardly-over and downwardly into said upper edge portion of the side wall of the container, and said upper edge portion is curved upwardly and outwardly within said rim.

19. An improved container as defined in claim 18 wherein a sealing-off resin is interposed between crimped-in interlocked portions of said rim and said end closure.

20. An improved container as defined in claim 16 wherein said end closure, said lid and said collar are of a polyolefin resin material.

21. An improved container as defined in claim 16 or 17 wherein, said end closure, said collar and said lid are of a relatively heavy thickness of plastic material, said sealing-off wall is a plastic membrane of a lesser thickness than said end enclosure, collar and lid, said upper shoulder is radially inwardly offset to keep it within an annular plane of the outer side wall of the container, said latching means is also of plastic material, and said lid is mounted on said end closure by a plastic hinge of lesser thickness than said lid.