DE29706672U1 - Container with pre-lockable screw cap - Google Patents

Description

MAUSER-WERKE GmbH -1- G 1042 Container with pre-locking screw cap

The invention relates to a container with a pre-locking screw cap and attached grid ring as tamper-evident protection according to the features in the preamble of claim 1.

The container is provided with appropriate means for mutual locking in the area of the threaded screw connection of the filling or emptying opening, which can be closed gas- and liquid-tight using the screw cap, and the screw cap itself.

The container can be a metal container or a plastic container with a corresponding filling and removal opening in the top or removable lid; the screw cap is provided with a separately prefabricated and attached or with a one-piece molded-on grid ring as a tamper-evident seal, which breaks off at thin connecting webs as predetermined breaking points when the screw cap is loosened or unscrewed for the first time. A container of this type is already described in the applicant's older German utility model G 295 02 309.

In order to prevent the loosely screwed-on screw cap from coming loose and getting lost during transport from the manufacturer to the filling station due to shaking movements or vibrations, e.g. during lorry transport, the container is equipped with interacting means for pre-locking the screw cap onto the container on the threaded connection of the filling or emptying opening and the screw cap. This ensures 100% protection against dust.

In the previous design of such a container closure with pre-locking characteristics of the screw cap, the pre-locking cams on the base of the threaded connector, which protrude axially upwards, were arranged as a container-side means for manufacturing reasons, i.e. to ensure that the blow mold halves could be opened without interference to remove the blow molded article, in the mold dividing plane of the blow mold halves. In the case of improperly separated slug pieces (hose residues) along the pinch seam, undesirable film formation could occur, which has a disruptive effect on the pre-locking function. The pre-locking cams protruding upwards can also partially impair the ability to screw on the screw cap completely if, for example, they come into contact with the lower edge of the screw cap in the case of a short threaded screw connector and thus act as an undesirable screw stop.

-2-

The known design of the screw cap pre-locking was therefore disadvantageously dependent on very narrow screw thread height tolerances.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a container in which these disturbances can no longer occur and the pre-locking of the screw cap on the threaded plug is improved.

This object is achieved according to the invention by the characterizing features of patent claim 1.

The arrangement of at least two spaced-apart twisting projections on the upper edge of the base, which protrude radially outwards, ensures that when the screw cap is tightened by a certain partial turn on the threaded screw socket, at least two spring tongues of the locking ring reach the fixed but releasable pre-locking position in a safe and trouble-free manner. In this case, small amounts of drawing film residue from the cut-off remaining piece from the mold parting seam can no longer have a detrimental effect on the pre-locking function.

In this version, after slightly tightening the screw cap by about half a screw cap turn, at least two of the locking elements on the screw cap side or the elastic spring tongues of the locking ring come into a holding connection with the pre-locking cams in such a way that automatic or unintentional turning back of the screw cap due to transport vibrations is reliably prevented, but the screw cap can be unscrewed again by overcoming the releasable anti-twist lock or the elastic spring force of the spring tongues. This makes it possible for the screw cap to be screwed onto the container in a pre-locking position for safe transport with dust protection guaranteed and to remain securely in this locking position.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, twelve radially outward-protruding, evenly spaced-apart twisting projections are formed on the upper edge of the threaded base, which can be brought into operative connection with twelve elastic spring tongues of the ratchet ring of the screw cap. This ensures that when the screw cap is rotated by approx. 90°, three spring tongues are already in operative connection with the twisting projections on the container side, and the screw cap is securely pre-latched on the threaded socket. Since the twisting projections are spaced at 30° intervals on the circumference of the threaded base

are distributed, turning the screw cap by a little more than 90° results in a noticeable and audible triple kick with a sufficiently firm fit of the pre-locked screw cap.

In an embodiment of the invention, two diametrically opposed driver projections are formed on the upper edge of the ratchet ring (= tamper-evident ring) facing the screw cap, which engage in a form-fitting manner in corresponding opposite recesses in the lower edge of the screw cap. The driver projections could also be implemented in the same way on the lower edge of the screw cap with a corresponding recess in the upper edge of the ratchet ring or as a combination of both designs. This advantageous design of the positively interlocking driver projections reliably prevents any noticeable stress or overstretching of the thin connecting webs, on the one hand when putting on = screwing the screw cap into the pre-locking position, and on the other hand when firmly closing the screw cap into the sealing closure position. When the screw cap is unscrewed for the first time = loosening it from its tight seal, the thin connecting bars to the firmly locked-in grid ring break off and a clearly visible separation and spacing of the two parts occurs as the two reversed or correspondingly slanted surfaces of the driver projections on the lower edge of the screw cap and on the upper edge of the grid ring (or vice versa) slide over each other and the grid ring is pushed downwards. This means that even when the screw cap is screwed on again, a clearly visible gap remains between the screw cap and the grid ring, so that it is immediately clear whether the tamper-evident seal is still in place (originally sealed container) or whether the container has already been opened in the meantime (e.g. without authorization).

In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the twisting projections end flush with the surface of the base at the top and protrude at right angles from the cylindrical outer wall of the base on their underside, with at least two, but preferably six, twisting projections being arranged at the upper end of two, preferably six, circumferential locking projections. The undercuts of the protruding twisting projections ensure that after loosening or unscrewing the screw cap, the sheared-off locking ring (= tamper-evident ring) remains on the base of the threaded connector and also in overhead positioning or when shaken

-4-des
container cannot fall down.

Advantages of the container design according to the invention:

The tamper-evident ring or grid remains firmly fixed to the threaded connector after the screw cap has been unscrewed and therefore cannot fall into the lower container to be filled when the liquid contents are poured out, i.e. when the container is tilted. The tamper-evident ring also locks securely into place when the screw cap is put on.

The invention is explained and described in more detail below using an embodiment shown in the drawings. They show:

Figure 1 shows a screw cap according to the invention with an integrated grid ring,

Figure 2 shows the bottom view of the screw cap according to Fig. 1,

Figure 3 shows a side view of a container-side inventive

Threaded screw socket,

Figure 4 is a plan view of the threaded screw connector according to Fig. 3,

Figure 5 is an enlarged partial sectional view of a portion of the thread

Screw socket according to Fig. 4,
Figure 6 is an enlarged partial sectional view along section line A - B in

Fig. 5 and

Figure 7 also shows an enlarged partial sectional view according to section line

C - D in Fig. 5.

Figure 1 shows a screw cap 12 with an integrated, molded-on grid ring 14. The one-piece screw cap 12 and the grid ring 14 are made of high-molecular polyethylene (PE). The grid ring 14 is connected to the screw cap 12 only via several extremely thin connecting webs 16 - preferably six - as tear-off predetermined breaking points. These connecting webs 16 have a small cross-section of only about one square millimeter. Also visible is a raised driver projection 18 formed on the grid ring 14 with a right-hand vertical stop edge 20 and a left-hand sliding bevel 22. A correspondingly shaped recess 24 is formed in the lower edge of the screw cap 12, into which the driver projection 18 protrudes in a form-fitting manner. Four rectangular, continuous recesses 26 are also formed from the upper edge of the grid ring 14.

designed, by which the height of the inner spring tongues 34 is reduced. The grid ring 14 is designed in the same way on its back. The two driver projections 18 on the upper edge of the grid ring 14 engage in corresponding recesses 24 in the lower edge of the screw cap 12. When the screw cap 12 is tightened, the right-hand vertical stop edge of the driver projection 18 comes into contact with the correspondingly designed vertical stop edge of the screw cap 12 and, in particular when the screw cap is tightened into its gas and liquid-tight closing position, large torques can be transmitted without any noticeable load on the connecting webs 16.

When the screw cap 12 is loosened or unscrewed, the flat slope of the screw cap edge comes into contact with the corresponding sliding slope 22 on the left-hand side of the driver projection 18. In addition to the circumferential fixation of the grid ring by the spring tongues 34 or locking lamellas locked behind the locking projections 32 on the base circumference, the sliding of the two inclined surfaces on each other causes the grid ring to be axially pressed off the screw cap, which safely tears open the predetermined breaking points or the thin connecting webs 16.

From the bottom view of the screw cap 12 with the ratchet ring shown in Figure 2, the spring tongues 34 (= locking elements of the ratchet ring) which are positioned obliquely opposite to the unscrewing direction of the screw cap 12 and the thin connecting webs 16 which serve as predetermined breaking points between the ratchet ring 14 and the screw cap 12 can be seen.

In Figure 3, the threaded screw connection 28 of a container 10 with a lower base 30 is shown in a side view and in Figure 4 in a top view. On the outer circumference of the base 30, the six sawtooth-shaped locking projections 32 (= locking elements on the container side) pointing in the direction of unscrewing are designed as continuous vertical webs. On the upper outer edge of the base 30, twelve radially outwardly projecting twisting projections or pre-locking cams 36 can also be seen.

In Figure 5, these locking projections 32 and twisting projections 36 are shown again in enlarged detail.

In the sectional views in Figure 6 and Figure 7 according to section line AB and CD in Figure 5, the arrangement of the axial twisting projection 36 on the upper side of the base 30 as well as the radially outwardly projecting edge projection 38 running around the upper edge of the base 30, behind which the spring tongues 34 of the

-6-

Grasp the grid ring 14 and prevent the sheared grid ring 14 from falling off.

Function description:

At the packaging manufacturer, the screw cap 12 with the ratchet ring 14 is screwed onto the threaded screw socket 28 of a suitably designed container up to the detachable pre-locking position. The secure pre-locking of the screw cap 12 with the ratchet ring 14 is achieved by at least two, preferably all twelve spring tongues 34 or locking lamellae of the tamper-evident ring or ratchet ring in conjunction with the at least two, preferably twelve radially outwardly projecting twist projections 36 or pre-locking cams on the cylindrical outer wall of the screw socket base 30. When the container is gently closed or when the screw cap is screwed on up to the pre-locking position, after about a fourth! to half a turn of the screw cap, at least two or more (maximum all twelve) spring tongues come into active contact with the twist projections. The elastic spring tongues of the ratchet ring are rotated with a slight torque over the pre-locking cams or twisting projections, whereby the spring tongues bend elastically outwards and slide over the right-hand flat run-on slope 40 of the pre-locking cam 36 until they spring back into their normal position and lock into place or spring back into their normal position in the pre-locking position. This means that the screw cap is optimally secured for transport against twisting or unintentional self-loosening due to shocks or vibrations, without significant stress being placed on it with the potential for the connecting webs 16 = predetermined breaking points to crack.

At the filler, the screw cap is unscrewed from the pre-locking position and removed from the container. When the screw cap is released from the pre-locking position, the spring tongues 34 slide elastically over the left-hand flat return slope 42. The return slope 42 of the twisting projection 36 is designed to be so flat or inclined that the spring tongue tips cannot be compressed. To release from the pre-locking position, only the elastic spring force of two or more spring tongues has to be overcome. After the container has been filled at the filler, the screw cap is screwed firmly onto the container and the spring tongues are permanently positioned behind the sawtooth-shaped locking projections 32 on the circumference. The screw cap can then only be

by tearing off the tamper-evident ring = grid ring, it can be loosened and unscrewed. After unscrewing the screw cap 12 from the sealing position and tearing off the so-called break points, the tamper-evident ring or grid ring 14 remains fixed on the base 30 because the spring tongues engage positively behind the radially projecting underside of the twisting projections. This reliably prevents the tamper-evident ring from falling off or falling down, even when the container is positioned upside down and shaken.

The screw cap according to the invention can be provided with a separately prefabricated and attached grid ring. In a preferred embodiment, the screw cap is made in one piece with an integrated molded grid ring made of high molecular weight polyethylene (PE) and thus meets all approval-related requirements with good low-temperature strength properties. The functioning of the pre-latching and the holding of the sheared grid ring on the threaded connector requires a functional interaction between the screw cap and the threaded screw connector.

MAUSER-WERKE GmbH - 8 - G 1042

Reference number list

10 containers

12 screw cap

14 Grid wreath

16 connecting bars/breaking points

18 Driver projection

20 vertical stop edge

22 Sliding slope

24 corresponding recess

26 rectangular molding (14)

28 threaded screw connectors

30 Sockets (28)

32 circumferential locking projections (30)

34 inner spring tongues (14)

36 radial twist projection

38 flat ramp (36)

40 flat return slope (36)

Claims (12)

MAUSER-WERKE GmbH -10- G1042 ■PATENT CLAIMS 1.) Container (10) with screw cap (12) and attached grid ring (14) as tamper-evident security, whereby the container (10) is provided on the threaded screw connector (28) with projections (32) on the outside, behind which spring tongues (34) of the grid ring (14) engage in a non-releasable manner in the closed position of the screw cap (12) in such a way that when the screw cap (12) is unscrewed again, several thin connecting webs (16) formed between the screw cap (12) and the grid ring (14) break off as predetermined breaking points, whereby corresponding locking elements (36, 34) are provided on the container side and on the screw cap side, which when the screw cap (12) is slightly screwed on - before it reaches its final sealing closure position and before the locking elements (34) of the grid ring (14) permanently engage behind further base locking projections (32) - reach a mutually retaining operative connection or pre-locking position in such a way that the screw cap (12) is reliably prevented from turning back or loosening itself, but the screw cap (12) can be easily unscrewed again by overcoming a certain holding force (corresponding to the elastic spring force of the spring tongues 34), characterized in that at the upper edge of the base (30) at least two radially outwardly projecting, spaced-apart twisting projections (36) are designed in such a way that when the screw cap (12) is tightened, they can be rotated by a certain partial revolution on the threaded screw socket (28) with at least two spring tongues (34) of the locking ring (14) into a mutually retaining, but releasable pre-locking position. 2.) Container according to claim 1, characterized in that at least four radially outwardly projecting, evenly spaced-apart twisting projections (36) are formed on the upper edge of the base (30) and can be brought into operative connection with at least four elastic spring tongues (34) of the grid ring (14). -11 - 3.) Container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that at least six radially outwardly projecting, evenly spaced-apart twisting projections (36) are formed on the upper edge of the base (30) and can be brought into operative connection with at least six elastic spring tongues (34) of the grid ring (14). 4.) Container according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that on the upper edge of the base (30) there are twelve radially outwardly projecting, evenly spaced twisting projections (36) which can be brought into operative connection with twelve elastic spring tongues (34) of the grid ring (14). 5.) Container according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the radially outwardly projecting pre-locking projection(s) (36) (= pre-locking cam) are designed in a roughly part-circular manner in plan view with a flat run-up slope (38) on the right and a flat return slope (40) on the left, whereby the spring tongues (34) of the locking ring (14) which are set at an angle to the rear in the screwing direction initially slide elastically with their side flank over the flat run-up slope (38) when the screw cap (12) is put on = screwed on and engage with their tongue tip in a form-fitting manner in the pre-locking position behind the pre-locking projection (36) and when the screw cap (12) is unscrewed = released from the pre-locking position by overcoming the spring force of the spring tongues (34), the tongue tip slides elastically over the flat return slope (40) of the radial twisting projection (36) slide. 6.) Container according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5,
characterized in that the axial thickness (height) of a torsional projection (36) is approximately 1.5 mm to approximately 2.5 mm, preferably approximately 1.8 mm. 7.) Container according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, characterized in that the extension of a twisting projection (36) - measured from the cylindrical outer wall of the base (30) is approximately 1.0 mm to 2.5 mm, preferably approximately 1.5 mm. 8.) Container according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, characterized in that the twisting projections (36) are flush with the surface of the base (30) at the top and protrude at right angles from the cylindrical outer wall of the base (30) on their underside. 9.) Container according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, characterized in that at least two, but preferably six, twisting projections (36) are arranged at the upper end of two, preferably six, circumferential locking projections (32). 10.) Container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 9, characterized in that at least one protruding driver projection (18) is formed on the lower edge of the screw cap (12), preferably two or more diametrically opposed driver projections (18) are formed, which engage in corresponding opposite recesses (24) in the upper edge of the grid ring (14). 11.) Container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the driver projection (18) has a steep stop edge (20) on the right-hand side, ie directed anti-clockwise, and an oblique or flat sliding slope (22) on the left-hand side, ie directed clockwise, and the opposite recess (24) is shaped accordingly. -13- 12.) Container according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the lower edge of the radially outwardly projecting pre-latching projections (36) on the outer circumference of the base (30) can be positively gripped by the radially inwardly pointing spring tongues (34) of the latch ring (14) when the screw cap (12) is screwed on in the closed position.