CN110770140A

CN110770140A - Lid for a packaging container for receiving a one-piece powder or liquid

Info

Publication number: CN110770140A
Application number: CN201880039822.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 安布罗休斯·坎波利斯
Original assignee: An BuluoxiusiKanbolisi
Current assignee: An BuluoxiusiKanbolisi
Priority date: 2017-06-15
Filing date: 2018-06-12
Publication date: 2020-02-07
Also published as: EP3638601A4; AU2019261803A1; AU2018236738B2; AU2018236738A1; WO2018227242A1; AU2018236738A8; US20200198860A1; EP3638601A1

Abstract

A cap for a container having a liquid food product, the cap comprising a nozzle sealed at one end by a cap and at the other end by a foil, and comprising a blister pack containing an ingredient to be added to the liquid food product at the time of consumption, the fully assembled cap being adapted to be sealingly attached to the container having an opening sealed by a foil. Various mechanisms are proposed to break the foils of both the lid and the container to allow the ingredients to mix with the liquid food product. The cap may also include a seal to prevent ingress of particles and/or water.

Description

Lid for a packaging container for receiving a one-piece powder or liquid

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a packaging container (for example the well-known Tetra Pak for dispensing beverage products)^TMContainer) closure or cap. The closure means comprises a powder or fluid which is added to the beverage prior to consumption.

Background

Sealing methods for food and beverage containers are well known and varied, the most common being a lid or cover.

The technique for manufacturing filled beverage containers is rather complex, in which the packaging is folded in the shape of a web, filled with the chosen liquid food product and sealed, usually with an aluminium foil which is perforable. The lid is then glued or ultrasonically welded to the container directly over (on top of) the foil and typically includes a mechanism for perforating the foil immediately prior to consumption. Thus, after the container is sealed, the lid is attached to the filled container.

Beverages comprising another or secondary ingredient, such as tablets or powders added to a liquid, are becoming increasingly popular. Typically, such beverages include a blister pack contained within a lid, the blister pack being adapted to store the material separately from the liquid in the container.

Preferably, the second ingredient is added immediately prior to consumption, especially when the ingredients to be added are UV sensitive or do not have a long shelf life when mixed or degrade due to heating. The addition of ingredients at the time of consumption also simplifies the production and filling of the beverage.

This is impractical because there are large amounts of different types of ingredients that can be added to liquid food products. Therefore, closures for bottles comprising a blister pack are known to be suitable for the following liquids: the liquid is free of gas and when sealed in a container, the liquid has little or no carbonization pressure, as there is little gas dissolved in such liquid and hardly any carbonization pressure is generated in the sealed container. However, they are not suitable for beverages with carbonation pressures and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a design feature in the form of a substrate which alleviates the above problems or at least provides the public with a useful alternative to known products.

Disclosure of Invention

In a first aspect, the invention comprises a cap adapted to be sealingly attached to a container having a top wall and an opening sealed by a first foil, the first foil extending below the top wall, the container holding a liquid foodstuff, the cap comprising a spout sealed at one end by a lid and at the other end by a second foil or a rupturable material and comprising an ingredient to be added to the liquid foodstuff upon consumption, the cap comprising means for perforating both foils to allow the ingredient to mix with the liquid foodstuff, wherein the first foil and the second foil are not in contact when the cap is attached to the container, there being a gap between them.

Preferably, the lid comprises a blister pack, the bottom of which serves as the second foil of the lid.

It should be noted that any of the aspects described above may include any feature of any of the other aspects described above, and may suitably include any feature of any of the embodiments described below.

Drawings

Preferred features, embodiments and variants of the invention can be seen from the following detailed description, which provides sufficient information for a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention. The detailed description is not to be taken as limiting the scope of the foregoing summary in any way. Detailed description reference will be made to the following several figures.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cover according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a cover according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a cover according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a cover according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a cover according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a cover according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and is

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a cap including a dynamic seal according to another embodiment of the present invention; and is

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative cover including a dynamic seal.

Parts list

10 cover

12 top wall

14 opening

16 foil

18 spray nozzle

20 cover

21 needle

22 cover plate

24 anti-dismantling ring

26 component (A)

28 pull ring

30 cutting ring

32 fin

34 tooth

36 turnover cover

38 Top cover

40 film

42 extension part

44 blade

46 skirt part

48 inner wall

50 sealing lip

52 feet

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts. The dimensions of some of the elements shown in the figures may have been modified and/or exaggerated for clarity or illustrative purposes.

Referring to fig. 1, a lid 10 is shown according to one embodiment of the present invention. The lid 10 is glued or welded to a container having a top wall 12, an opening 14 in the wall 12 sealed by a foil 16.

The cap 10 includes a cylindrical spout 18 and a hood 20 that seals the top of the spout 18 with a hood plate package 22 sandwiched between the spout and the container extending to seal the bottom of the spout and adapted to match the area of the opening 14. The blister pack includes an integral needle 20 and is filled with the desired ingredients to be added to the liquid food product in the container.

The shroud 20 includes a tamper-evident ring 24, as is well known in the industry. When the cap 20 is removed by unscrewing the cap 20 from the nozzle, the user presses on the blister pack causing the needle 21 to penetrate both the blister pack and the foil 16, thus causing the desired composition 26 to flow into the container. The needle 21 may be an integral part or a separate part within the shroud.

The lid pack is then removed using the pull ring 28, and it may also be adapted to remove the foil to make the liquid food product easy to dispense.

Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment, in which the cover comprises a cutting ring 30. As the shroud rotates, the fins 32 engage the cutting ring, pushing it downward and rotating it through an angle of approximately 270 degrees, cutting the bottom of the blister pack and the foil with the teeth 34, thereby releasing the ingredients into the container. The foil is then bent into the container, thereby allowing a large quantity of liquid food to be dispensed.

Yet another alternative embodiment is shown in fig. 3, where the blister pack still includes a cutting loop 30, but the blister sheet 22 is positioned above the cutting loop. To release the ingredients, the flip cover 36 is flipped up, the blister pack is pressed to cause the needle to perforate its bottom, and then the top cap 38 is rotated, thereby pushing the cutting ring down and releasing the ingredients into the container.

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment in which the lid 10 itself is filled with the composition 26 and sealed at the bottom by a film 40, but without a blister pack. Upon rotation, the hood engages the cutting ring, pushing it down and cutting through the

membranes

40 and 16. The cut foil remains attached to the lid and container (or bottle) and simply pushed open. Notably, the two films do not contact each other with a gap between them. This has the following advantages during the manufacturing process: the lid may be attached to a known container with a membrane without having to change the attachment of the lid to the container, while the contents of the lid are sealed to keep it sterile. That is, the lid is attached by welding or gluing around the sealed opening of the container, without gluing to the container membrane.

In another embodiment shown in fig. 5, the shroud has an extension 42 that includes a cutting blade 44. After unscrewing the cap, it is inverted and pushed into the nozzle 18 to penetrate the bottom of the blister pack and the foil 16 to release the composition into the container. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 6, the mask includes a spacer ring 46 that is peeled away and discarded, and then the mask is simply twisted down to cause the blade 44 to perforate the mask plate and membrane 16. The cap is then simply unscrewed from the nozzle to allow the liquid food product to be dispensed.

It will be appreciated that although the above embodiments show the foil of the cap extending beyond the bottom opening of the nozzle, it is not intended to limit the scope of the foil to any size. All that is needed is that the foil of the lid seals it and different design solutions will achieve this.

Also, although referred to as a foil, it should also be understood that it may be made of any other suitable material that may be sealed and may also be perforated, such as epoxy coated foil, plastic (as examples only).

Packaging of liquids for human consumption currently involves the use of aseptic packaging which sterilizes the product and packaging separately, then combined and sealed in a sterile atmosphere, as opposed to canning where the product and packaging are first combined and then sterilized. When filled with ultra high temperature treated (UHT) food products (liquids such as milk and fruit juices or processed foods such as vegetables and preserved fruits), aseptic packages can be stored for up to one year without refrigeration, with the result that distribution and storage costs and environmental impact are greatly reduced and product shelf life is also extended.

Aseptic techniques enable food to be kept fresh for more than 6 months without risk of contamination, loss of nutrients or alteration of the taste of the product. The entire filling process is performed in a sterile environment, both sides of the packaging material are sterilized and the package is sealed below the liquid level to avoid contamination.

In this case, as mentioned above, the lid can be effectively sterilized before it is placed on the container. While such a step is not absolutely required when using dry ingredients, it may be desirable when using liquid ingredients that may not have sufficient preservative to ensure longevity.

The reader will now appreciate that on-line pre-filled lids may be used for attachment to liquid food containers. This enables the manufacturer to choose what type of component can be attached to the container, thereby greatly increasing the consumer's options and alleviating the need to try and fill the cap with the required components post manufacture. This can be achieved as long as the lid itself is sealed and the container is sealed and both seals are broken simultaneously so that the ingredients can be added to the liquid food product.

The present invention therefore teaches in its simplest form a dispensing cap comprising a top, a nozzle and a base, the dispensing cap being attached to a container holding a liquid food product and being sealed to contain ingredients which are mixed with the liquid food product at the time of consumption. Of course, the lid may also be used to seal the container after it has been activated, thereby enabling the liquid food product to be consumed within a few days.

Although the lid as described above may be used for attachment to a container that has been pre-filled with an ingredient, in some cases, especially if the ingredient is not in a blister pack, it may be desirable to ensure that the lid is sealed from the environment to prevent dust and/or moisture from entering the lid. This can be achieved by the embodiments shown in fig. 7 and 8.

Thus, in fig. 7, the cap 10 is shown to include a skirt 46 extending from the top of the cap and having a shape and configuration to engage the inner wall 48 of the spout 18. The length of the seal is important because it needs to be engaged at different lid positions. This type of seal is commonly referred to as a dynamic seal because the seal is located on a vertical plane and is designed to work between the planes so that any up and down movement of the lid does not immediately damage the seal. The tension does not cause the seal to break even if the cap is rotated. The entire lid is then glued to the container at the round foot 52.

Fig. 8 shows an alternative shape of the seal, wherein the shape of the seal is such that the sealing lip 50 is pressed against the inner wall of the nozzle. The seal also moves up and down along the sealing edge.

Although not illustrated, the liquid food may be a carbonated beverage. In these products, the storage component of the container is in direct contact with the liquid or gas in the container, and the material used to make the foil is typically selected for piercing by the user based on its barrier properties to moisture and gas. Parameters that can affect the physical strength of the substrate include surface area and base thickness, and the increased thickness of the substrate has the consequence of increasing the difficulty of piercing the substrate. In the case of carbonated beverages, for example, when the liquid in the bottle contains gas, a large amount of pressure is generated within the sealed container, which may physically damage the substrate in the blister pack, possibly causing breakage during storage.

A disk may be positioned below the nozzle, the disk having a central aperture for the pin to pass therethrough. The disk provides the necessary mechanical strength to ensure that the container foil remains intact and does not perforate solely due to pressure from the carbonated beverage.

Other advantages and modifications may be fully realized by the present invention without departing from the scope thereof. While the invention has been shown and described as embodied in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus. Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.

In the specification and claims, if any, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or groups of integers.

Claims

1. A lid adapted to be sealingly attached to a container having a top wall and an opening sealed by a first foil, the first foil extending below the top wall;

the container holds a liquid food product, the lid comprising a nozzle sealed at one end by a closure and at the other end by a second foil or rupture material and comprising an ingredient to be added to the liquid food product at the time of consumption;

wherein the first foil sheet and the second foil sheet are not in contact when the lid is attached to the container, there being a gap between them.

2. The lid of claim 1, comprising means to perforate both foils to allow the ingredients to mix with the liquid food product.

3. The lid as in claim 1, wherein the ingredient is contained in a blister pack located in the lid.

4. A lid as claimed in claim 3 wherein the bottom of the blister pack acts as the second foil.

5. The lid of claim 1, wherein the lid includes a foot adapted to sealingly attach to a top wall of the container.