CH719432A1 - Plastic flap closure for closing a container. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a hinged closure (11) made of plastic for closing a container, comprising a base body (13) which can be attached to the container, a closure cap (15) for closing a pouring opening provided within the base body (13) with a jacket (21 ) and a cover disk (23) adjoining the jacket (21), a joint which connects the base body (11) and the closure cap (15) in an articulated manner and enables the closure cap (15) to be extended relative to the base body (13). a closure position can be pivoted into an open position and vice versa and a first opening protection (25), which indicates whether the closure cap (15) is originally closed or not. The first opening protection is implemented by a sliding element (25), which is held on the closure cap (15) in a displaceable and non-detachable manner and is connected to the base body (13) with at least one predetermined breaking point (27) before the closure cap (15) is opened for the first time.

Description

Field of invention

The invention relates to a hinged closure made of plastic for closing a container according to the preamble of claim 1 and an injection molding process for producing a hinged closure according to the preamble of claim 17.

State of the art

From the prior art in the field of plastic flip closures (also referred to as flip caps), closures with a base body, a cap articulated to the base body and a first opening protection device are known. The first opening protection shows whether the hinged closure is originally closed or has already been opened. A tear-off tape is usually used as first opening protection, as shown in Figure 1. The tear-off strip is connected to the base body and the cap so that it can be torn off before the folding closure is opened for the first time. Only when the tear-off tape has been torn off can the cap be pivoted relative to the base body. Once the tear-off tape has been torn off, it releases a trough on the cap, which makes it easier to open the cap. However, the hinged closure cannot meet future regulations and requirements that all plastic parts of a container must remain attached to it and be disposed of with it.

Task of the invention

[0003] The disadvantages of the prior art described result in the task of creating a folding closure which meets the regulations and rules set out in the last paragraph.

Description

The solution to the problem is achieved with a folding closure made of plastic for closing a container by the features listed in the characterizing section of patent claim 1. Further developments and/or advantageous embodiment variants are the subject of the dependent patent claims.

The invention is preferably characterized in that the first opening protection is implemented by a sliding element which is held displaceably and non-detachably on the closure cap or on the base body and with at least one predetermined breaking point with the base body or the closure cap before the closure cap is opened for the first time connected is. These features create a folding closure with a first opening guarantee, in which there are no loose parts and accordingly all plastic parts are disposed of together after the closure has been used. The folding closure according to the invention therefore meets all future regulations and regulations that all parts of a plastic container must be disposed of together.

In a further particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the sliding element can be moved from a first position in which the predetermined breaking point is intact to a second position in which the predetermined breaking point is broken. This means that a consumer can immediately see whether the closure has already been opened, because the predetermined breaking point, in particular a predetermined breaking bar, is then broken and the sliding element is in the second position.

It has proven to be useful if the displacement of the sliding element from the first position to the second position takes place in the vertical direction upwards. As a result, when the sliding element is moved into the second position, not only is the first opening protection removed, but the closure cap can also be folded into the open position at the same time.

A recess is expediently provided on the jacket, in which the sliding element can be moved from the first position to the second position. The sliding element is reliably held and guided in the recess. In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, a further recess is provided on the base body, in which the sliding element is completely accommodated in the second position. This makes it possible to realize an embodiment in which the sliding element and the predetermined breaking webs on the closure cap can be injection molded.

The invention is also preferably characterized in that a projection is formed on the outside of the sliding element, which serves as a displacement projection for a finger. The projection, which also represents a step, enables particularly simple and practical operation of the sliding element. When opening for the first time, the sliding element can simply be pushed into the second position and the cap can be opened at the same time.

The sliding element can expediently be moved from bottom to top or from top to bottom from the first position to the second position. This allows producers to make a choice as to whether sliding down or up is desired.

In a further particularly preferred embodiment, a first or a second visual indicator is provided on the sliding element and on the recess behind the sliding element, which is covered by the sliding element in the first position and can be seen in the second position indicates whether the folding closure is originally closed or not. This allows the user to immediately see whether the folding closure is originally closed or has already been opened. The indicator can be a word, an image or a color, for example green as the first indicator and red as the second indicator.

To lock the sliding element in the first and second position, a first and second locking lug is formed on the side edges of the sliding element.

In a further particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, first and second ramps arranged one above the other are formed on the lateral edges of the recess. The locking lugs can reliably lock onto the first and second ramps, thereby forming the first and second positions.

It proves to be particularly advantageous if the ramps are oriented vertically and rise from bottom to top on the side edges of the recess, whereby the clear width of the recess is narrowed upwards by the ramps in the direction of displacement. This defines a single direction of displacement of the sliding element from bottom to top, first into the first position and then into the second position. A reverse direction of displacement is reliably prevented. If an attempt is made to force the sliding element in this sliding direction, the locking lugs will break off. This makes manipulation of the first opening guarantee obvious.

The first and second locking lugs can expediently be locked above the first and second ramps, whereby the locking lugs interact with the first or second ramps in a form-fitting manner. The positive locking enables a defined locking position, which once achieved cannot be reversed.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, a holding element is formed on the jacket, which holds the sliding element in the recess. The holding element ensures that the sliding element is inseparably connected to the closure cap and still remains displaceable.

The holding element expediently covers at least the second ramps. This protects the locking lugs and the ramps from mechanical damage and manipulation. This design of the holding element can be realized in an injection mold using a dovetail drop core.

[0018] Because the positive connection between the locking lugs and the first or second ramps can only be released under destruction, a downward displacement of the sliding element under the influence of force can be reliably detected. During such a manipulation, the locking lugs break off.

It is advantageous if the base body, the closure cap, the joint, the sliding element and the predetermined breaking point are formed in one piece in an injection mold. This means that the hinged closure can be completely formed in a single injection mold without any further assembly steps.

Another aspect of the invention relates to injection molding processes for producing a hinged closure. The invention is also characterized in that the injection mold is designed in such a way that the folding closure is injection molded in one piece and in the open position and that the first opening protection is produced by closing the folding closure for the first time. This means that all parts of the hinged closure can be formed in a single injection mold, which leads to a quick and therefore cost-effective manufacturing process. The assembly state is achieved by locking the locking lugs above the first ramps, which creates the original closure (first opening guarantee).

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the sliding element is connected to the base body or the closure cap through the predetermined breaking point during injection molding. This allows the sliding element to be formed and removed from the mold as an integral part of the folding closure.

The first and second ramps are expediently formed together with the recess by a slide or a dovetail drop core. This means that the entire hinged closure can be manufactured and demolded in a single injection mold using common demoulding techniques.

Further advantages and features emerge from the following description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention with reference to the schematic representations. It shows, not to scale: Figure 1: a perspective view of a hinged closure according to the prior art; Figure 2: a front view of a folding closure in a first embodiment with a sliding element in a first position; Figure 3: a front view with the sliding element in a second position; Figure 4: another front view with the sliding element in the first position; Figure 5: a further front view with the sliding element in the second position; Figure 6: a first perspective view of the folding closure after removal from an injection mold; Figure 7: a second perspective view of the hinged closure after removal from the injection mold; Figure 8: a front view with the sliding element in the first position in a second embodiment; Figure 9: a perspective view of the folding closure after removal from the injection mold in a third embodiment; Figure 10: a perspective view of the folding closure from Figure 9 with the displacement element in the first position and Figure 11: a perspective view of the folding closure from Figure 9 with the displacement element in the second position.

[0024] In Figures 2 to 7 and Figure 8, a folding closure is shown in a first and second embodiment, which is designated overall by the reference number 11. 1 shows a folding closure, as is known from the prior art, which bears the reference number 1. The folding closure 11 has in common with the folding closure 1 that they each have a base body 13, a closure cap 15 and a joint 17. The joint 17 holds the closure cap 15 on the base body 13 and the closure cap can be pivoted on the joint from a closed position to an open position. In the closed position, the closure cap 15 closes a pouring opening 19 provided within the base body 13. The closure cap 15 has a jacket 21, to which a cover disk 23 is connected. The folding closure 11, including the base body 13 and the closure cap 15, is preferably cylindrical. The base body can be screwed or plugged onto a neck of a container 20 in a known manner. The dimensions of the folding closure 11 correspond to those of a folding closure 1 according to the prior art. The container is indicated in Figure 5.

The closure caps 1 and 11 have first-opening protection, which ensures that it is immediately apparent from the hinged closure whether it is originally closed or has already been opened. In the folding closure 1, a tear-off strip 3 is provided, which additionally connects the closure cap 15 to the base body 13 via predetermined breaking webs. Before opening for the first time, the tear-off tape must be torn off. However, this has the disadvantage that the tear-off tape 3 does not remain on the folding closure 1 and must be disposed of separately from the folding closure immediately after it is opened for the first time.

The folding closure 11 overcomes this disadvantage of separate disposal of the first opening protection in the following way: On the outside of the casing 21, a sliding element 25 is held in a displaceable and captive manner. Before the closure cap 15 is opened for the first time or moved for the first time, the sliding element 25 is held in a first position (closure position) with two predetermined breaking points or webs 27 on the base body 13. From this first position, the sliding element 25 can be moved upwards in the vertical direction on the casing 21 into a second position (open position). The predetermined breaking webs 27 tear, whereby the first opening is clearly and obviously indicated, not only because the predetermined breaking webs 27 are destroyed, but also because the sliding element 25 is in the second position. By moving the sliding element 25 from the first to the second position, not only is the first opening guarantee broken, but at the same time the closure cap 15 can also be pivoted into its open position.

A recess 29 is provided on the jacket 21, in which the sliding element 25 is accommodated and can slide. Both the sliding element 25 and the recess 29 are preferably rectangular in shape. So that the sliding element 25 has an approach for displacement, a displacement approach 31 is provided on its underside.

To lock the sliding element 25, a first and second locking lug 33a, 33b are formed on its lateral edges. The locking lugs 33a, 33b interact with first and second ramps 35, 37. The ramps 35,37 are formed on the lateral edges of the recess 29. The ramps 35,37 are arranged one above the other and rise in the recess from bottom to top. This allows the locking lugs 33a, 33b to be brought into the first position by sliding over the first ramps 35 from below. The locking lugs 33a, 33b reach the second position by sliding over the second ramps 37 from below. The ramps 35,37 are designed in such a way that the sliding element can no longer be pushed back over the ramps once it is in the first or second position. If the sliding element 25 is nevertheless pushed downwards with force, the locking lugs 33 are destroyed, whereby manipulation of the folding closure is immediately recognizable. The locking lugs 33 are held in a form-fitting manner above the first and second ramps 35, 37, with only one displacement direction for the sliding element 25 from bottom to top being realized first via the first ramps 35 and then via the second ramps 37.

So that the sliding element 25 is held in the recess in the radial direction, a holding element 39 is formed on the jacket 21, which overlaps the sliding element 25 in the first and second positions. The sliding element 25 is therefore accommodated in a slot, delimited by the bottom of the recess 29 and the holding element 39. 8 shows, the holding element 39 can cover at least the second ramps 37 in order to protect them. As a result, the holding element 39 is also held more stably on the jacket 21, since the side edges of the holding element 39 are also connected to the jacket 21. In addition, in this embodiment, the locking lugs and ramps are protected from mechanical influences by the holding element 39.

The ramps and the sliding element can also have a greater thickness than the depth of the recess in order to enable particularly stable locking of the locking lugs on the ramps. In this embodiment, the ramps 35, 37 protrude beyond the outer contour of the jacket 21.

A third embodiment of the folding closure 11 is shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. This embodiment is used in particular for ketchup bottles. There is no need for a previously known sealing film, which closes the neck of the bottle and acts as a guarantee of first opening. Here too, the sliding element 25 serves as a first opening guarantee, which means that the laborious unscrewing of the folding closure 11 to remove the sealing film before first use can be eliminated.

In this third embodiment, the sliding element 25 is held on the base body 13 in a displaceable and non-detachable manner. For this purpose, the sliding element 25 is held on the closure cap 15 or the jacket 21 with two predetermined breaking webs 27 before the first use. 9 shows the hinged closure 11 as it looks in the production state after being removed from the injection mold. When closing for the first time, the sliding element 25 locks with the locking lugs 33a, 33b in a further recess 30. A slot 41 is provided in the further recess 30, into which the sliding element 25 is inserted. The folding closure 11 after being closed for the first time with the closure cap 15 is shown in Figure 10. The predetermined breaking webs 27 are intact.

In addition to the intact predetermined breaking webs 27, the word “safe” (first optical indicator 42) can be read on the front of the sliding element. This tells the user that the folding closure 11 is originally closed. The sliding element 25 can be pushed down through the slot 41 into the further recess 30 using the sliding approach 31 until it is completely accommodated in the further recess 30 and is therefore in the second position. The predetermined breaking webs 27 break and the depression 29 becomes visible. Because the word “open” (second optical indicator 44) is visible at the recess 29 and the predetermined breaking webs 27 are broken, it can be seen that the closure cap 11 is no longer originally closed. So that the sliding element 25 can no longer be moved from the second position into the first position, it tilts or wedges in the further recess.

The closure cap 15 is shown in Figures 9 to 11 as a substantially rectangular flap, which can be received in a recess 43 of the base body. In the third embodiment, the closure cap 15 can also be designed as a cylindrical cap, as shown in the first embodiment.

The base body 13, the closure cap 15, the joint 17, the sliding element 25 and the predetermined breaking webs 27 are formed in one piece in an injection mold. The injection mold is designed such that the hinged closure 11 is injection molded in the open position. The sliding element 25 and the predetermined breaking webs 27 are injection molded on the base body 13 or on the closure cap 15. Only after the folding closure 11 has been removed from the mold is the first opening protection produced by closing the folding closure 11 for the first time. The locking lugs 33a, 33b lock with the first ramps 35 or in the slot 41.

The folding closure 11 has no parts that can be lost, which means that it is always disposed of as a whole piece and not in individual parts. A sealing film, for example made of aluminum, can also be dispensed with, thereby avoiding further waste.

Legend:

[0037] 1 hinged closure according to the prior art 3 tear-off strip 11 hinged closure 13 base body 15 closure cap 17 joint 19 pouring opening 20 container 21 casing 23 cover disc 25 sliding element 27 predetermined breaking point, predetermined breaking webs 29 recess 30 further recess 31 displacement projection 33a, 33b first and second locking lug 35 first Ramps 37 Second ramps 39 Holding element 41 Slot 42 First optical indicator 43 Recess 44 Second optical indicator

Claims (19)

1. Folding closure (11) made of plastic for closing a container (20). - a base body (13) which can be attached to the container (20), - a closure cap (15) for closing a pouring opening (19) provided within the base body (13) with a jacket (21) and a cover disk (23) adjoining the jacket (21), - a joint (17), which connects the base body (11) and the closure cap (15) in an articulated manner and enables the closure cap (15) to be pivoted relative to the base body (13) from a closed position into an open position and vice versa and - an initial opening protection (25), which indicates whether the closure cap (15) is originally closed or not, characterized, that the first opening protection is implemented by a sliding element (25), which is held displaceably and permanently on the closure cap (15) or on the base body (13) and with at least one predetermined breaking point (27) before the closure cap (15) is opened for the first time Base body (13) or the closure cap (15) is connected. 2. Folding closure according to claim 1, characterized in that the sliding element (25) can be moved from a first position in which the predetermined breaking point (27) is intact to a second position in which the predetermined breaking point (27) is broken. 3. Folding closure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the displacement of the sliding element (25) takes place from the first position to the second position in the vertical direction upwards. 4. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a recess (29) is provided on the jacket (21), in which the sliding element (25) can be moved from the first position to the second position. 5. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a further recess (30) is provided on the base body (13), in which the sliding element (25) is completely accommodated in the second position. 6. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a projection is formed on the outside of the sliding element (25), which serves as a displacement projection (31) for a finger. 7. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sliding element (25) can be moved from bottom to top or from top to bottom from the first position to the second position. 8. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the sliding element (25) and on the recess (29) behind the sliding element (25), which is covered by the sliding element (25) in the first position and in the second Position can be seen, a first or a second visual indicator (42,44) is provided, which shows whether the folding closure (11) is originally closed or not. 9. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a first and second locking lug (33a, 33b) are formed on the lateral edges of the sliding element (25). 10. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that first and second ramps (35, 37) arranged one above the other are formed on the lateral edges of the recess (29). 11. Folding closure according to claim 10, characterized in that the first and second ramps (35, 37) are vertically oriented and rise from bottom to top on the side edges of the recess (29), whereby the clear width of the recess (29). the ramps (35,37) are narrowed upwards in the direction of displacement. 12. Folding closure according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the first and second locking lugs (33a, 33b) can be locked above the first and second ramps (35, 37), whereby the locking lugs (33a, 33b) with the first or the second ramps (35,37) interact positively. 13. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a holding element (39) is formed on the jacket (21), which holds the sliding element (25) in the recess. 14. Folding closure according to claim 13, characterized in that the holding element (39) covers at least the second ramps (37). 15. Folding closure according to one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that the positive connection between the locking lugs (33a, 33b) and the first or second ramps (35, 37) can only be released by destruction. 16. Folding closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the base body (13), the closure cap (15), the joint (17), the sliding element (25) and the predetermined breaking point (27) are formed in one piece in an injection mold. 17. Injection molding process for producing a hinged closure (11) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized, that the injection mold is designed such that the hinged closure (11) is injection molded in one piece and in the open position and that the first opening protection (25) is created by closing the folding closure (11) for the first time. 18. Injection molding method according to claim 17, characterized in that the sliding element (25) is connected to the base body (13) or the closure cap (15) during injection molding through the predetermined breaking point (27). 19. Injection molding method according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that the first and second ramps (35,37) are formed together with the recess (29) by a slide or a dovetail drop core.