EP0088337B1 - Tamper-proof closure of plastics material - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tamper-evident closure cap for bottles comprising an external bead in the vicinity of their neck, this capsule comprising a plastic cover and tear-off means cooperating, before the first opening of the corked bottle, with said bead for retaining the seal in a tamper-resistant manner on the neck, said cover being provided with a plate intended to be applied on the end face of the neck, the upper face of said plate being raised relative to the part of the plate intended to apply against the end face of the neck, and a sealing skirt projecting downward on said plate and intended to be forced into the neck to cooperate with the inner surface of the latter, and said tearable means consisting of an annular guarantee strip, made in one piece with the cover, extending the outer side wall lower of the cover plate downward, having an inner bead for hooking to said bead of the neck and comprising a gripping tab for tearing, said strip being connected to the lower edge of the outer lateral wall of the tray line of least resistance. Such a capsule is known from patent FR-A-1 395 665.

On conventional closure caps intended for so-called ring bottles, the lid is retained on the neck of the bottle, before the first opening of the latter, using a cap or metallic cap, crimped either behind the neck ring, or, in the case of a throat ring, in the throat of the latter. These known "composite" capsules not only imply manufacturing and installation problems on the bottles, precisely because of their constitution in two parts made of different material and the need to crimp the metal cap, but also have multiple disadvantages from the point of view of use. Thus, the tearing of the metal cap at the first opening of the bottle often presents difficulties and is not free from the risk of injury.

To facilitate the tearing of the metal cap, it has already been proposed to provide a tear strip connected to the cover by a line of least resistance and comprising a gripping tab. However, this gripping tab protrudes from the capsule, which prohibits the installation of capsules at high speed because it is necessary to orient the capsules for their presentation in a well-defined angular position, precisely because of this protruding tongue. Furthermore, this projecting gripping tab can give rise, when handling corked bottles, to untimely openings or at least to untimely partial tears of the metal caps, which again entails risks of injury.

We have also already proposed (see for example FR-A-1 395 665) closure caps made in one piece of plastic material with very diverse tamper-evident means, but these tamper-evident means always include protrusion which require orientation during installation, hence the impossibility of laying at high speed, present risks of snagging and untimely opening, and involve the use of complicated mold, hence a price high cost.

The same problems arise for capsules intended to cooperate, not directly with a bottle neck, but with a pouring body attached to a bottle and having an external bead in the vicinity of their pouring spout.

We also know, from patent application FR-A-2 414 006, a capsule on which the tamper-evident means cannot be separated from the closure means, the whole forming a capsule on which a side wall sector, provided of an attachment bead sector, can be separated from the neck by tearing, while remaining integral with the capsule, to allow the first uncorking.

The present invention relates to a plastic closure cap which, while being produced in one piece, in a simple mold, therefore at a reduced cost price, ensures perfect inviolability, eliminates the risks of inadvertent opening. , for example during the handling of the bottles, and is of a simple and easy use as well at the time of the first opening of the bottle as during the subsequent refills and uncorkings.

On the closure cap according to the invention, the cover plate has a lower central part surrounded by a raised external part and interrupted on an angular sector, so as to delimit on the top of the plate a kind of cavity or niche asymmetrical in shape, and the tongue extends upwards, in the interrupted sector of the raised external part, up to the height of the upper edge of the external lateral wall of the plate to complete the latter and is connected on its two edges lateral to the outer side wall of the cover plate by two lines of least resistance, one of which extends down to the line of least resistance connecting the strip to the lower edge of the outer side wall of the plate and the other of which is extended downwards through the guarantee strip to the lower edge of the latter.

The cap cap as a whole, of cylindrical or frustoconical external configuration, matching the ring of the bottle, is perfectly smooth and does not have any part projecting laterally, upwards or downwards, which would allow hooking during the handling of the bottles or a support to violate the capsule, i.e. to force it without tearing the warranty strip. It is thus possible to place the capsules at high speed, without prior orientation.

Preferably, the tongue of the guarantee strip has, at its free end, a gripping tab oriented inward, that is to say in the recess. This further facilitates tearing of the guarantee strip, this tab providing a better grip on the user's finger.

To facilitate molding, it is advantageous for said tab for gripping the tongue to originate below the free end of the tongue, that is to say below the upper edge of the plate of the cover, and s 'obliquely extends inward and upward without exceeding the upper edge of the outer side wall of the cover plate.

In order to simplify the tearing of the guarantee strip, it is advantageous that the line of resistance extended downwards across the guarantee strip comprises a substantially vertical upper part followed by a lower part inclined in the direction of circular tear of the warranty strip.

It is advantageous for said raised external part of the cover plate to have an inverted U-shaped profile stiffened by substantially vertical axial ribs, the lower edges of which come to bear on the end face of the bottle neck. This high and ribbed shape of the cover plate gives the latter good rigidity, facilitating unclogging and plugging operations and offering good resistance and even a damping effect to mechanical stresses which occur during storage and transport of corked bottles.

To further improve the grip of the cover during the filling and uncapping operations, it is advantageous for the outer lateral wall of the cover plate to be extended down below the support plane of the cover. '' seal on the end face of the neck of the bottle.

To clearly indicate any attempt to breach the capsule with the aim of removing the capsule using a tool by lifting it from below, it is advantageous for the guarantee strip to have several vertical lines of lesser resistance extending from said inner bead up to the lower edge of the strip.

• la Fig. 1 est une section d'une capsule de bouchage conforme à l'invention, prise dans un plan axial passant par la languette de déchirure de la bande de garantie;
• la fig. 2 est une vue en élévation latérale de la capsule de la fig. 1, prise en face de la languette de déchirure;
• la fig. 3 est une vue du dessous de la capsule de la fig. 1;
• la fig. 4 est une vue du dessus de la capsule de la fig. 1.

Referring to the appended drawing, an illustrative and nonlimiting embodiment of the subject of the invention will be described below in more detail; on the drawing:

• Fig. 1 is a section of a closure cap according to the invention, taken in an axial plane passing through the tear tab of the guarantee strip;
• fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the capsule of FIG. 1, taken in front of the tear tab;
• fig. 3 is a view from below of the capsule of FIG. 1;
• fig. 4 is a top view of the capsule of FIG. 1.

The closure cap illustrated in the drawing intended for a bottle with a grooved ring comprises a cover 1 and a circumferential guarantee strip 2 connected to the lower outer edge of the cover 1 by a line 3 of less resistance.

The cover 1 comprises, in a manner known per se, a plate 4 intended to be applied to the end face of the neck of the bottle to be capped, and a sealing part 5 projecting downwards on said plate. The sealing part 5 which is, in the example illustrated, in the form of a substantially cylindrical skirt is intended to be forced into the neck to cooperate with the inner surface of the neck.

The plate 4 of the cover 1, instead of being flat and of small thickness, has a central part 6 surrounded by a raised external part 7, except on a relatively small angular sector, as it appears above all in FIG. 4. The raised part 7 has an inverted U-shaped profile and has internally radial vertical ribs 8, the lower edge 9 of which defines the bearing part of the cover 1 on the end face of the bottle neck. The raised outer part 7 and the lower central part 6 of the plate 4 of the cover 1 therefore delimits a sort of cavity or niche 10 of asymmetrical shape whose function will appear later.

The guarantee strip 2 which is in the extension of the external lateral wall of the cover 1 is extended upwards by a tongue 11 at the place where the raised external part 7 of the plate 4 of the cover 1 is interrupted . The tongue 11 here acts as an external side wall of the cover 1, that is to say that it complements here the external side wall of the cover 1, formed on the rest of the periphery by the raised part 7 of the plate 4 of the cover 1.

The tongue 11 has, at a distance below its upper end, a gripping tab 12 which is inclined or curved upwards and inwards so as to extend into the cavity or recess 10 without however protruding upwards the raised upper part 7 of the plate 4.

The tongue 11 is connected to the central part. bottom 6 of the plate 4 by a line of least resistance 13 and, on each side, to the outer wall of the raised part 7 of the plate 4 by a line 14, 15 of least resistance. Line 14 extends down to the line of least resistance 3 connecting the ring 2 to the lower edge of the cover 1. The other line 15 extends substantially vertically down to beyond the line 3, that is to say inside the strip 2 and is then extended to the lower edge of the strip 2 by a line of least resistance 15a inclined in the direction of the extension of the other side line 14.

Warranty strip 2 has interior ment a bead 16 used for hooking the capsule to the throat of the throat ring of the bottle. This bead 16 is interrupted at the end of the line of least resistance 15 so as not to hinder the tearing of the strip 2 along this line.

The strip 2 finally comprises several lines 17 of less resistance, distributed over the periphery, these lines extending from the bead 16 to the lower edge of the strip 2.

The complete capsule, molded in a single piece of plastic material, has an external shape of revolution, smooth, without any projecting part neither laterally, nor upwards or downwards. This capsule can thus be placed in any angular position on a bottle, without any prior orientation, which allows very high laying rates.

When the bottle is opened for the first time, a finger is engaged in the cavity or niche 10, in the direction suggested by the asymmetrical shape of this niche 6, in order to grasp the tab 12 of the tongue 11 and exert a pull towards the outside. on the tongue 11. This causes the tear of the horizontal line 13 and the tear of the lines 14 and 15 to the line 3. The tear then continues on the line 15 until reaching the inclined line 15a, which automatically prints at the tongue 11 a deviation in the direction of the inclination of the line 15a. The user is thus led to continue the tearing movement in the printed direction, that is to say to carry out a circular tearing over the entire length of the line 3. At the end of this tearing circular, the guarantee strip 2 is completely separated from the cover 1 which remains on the bottle neck.

The warranty strip being thus removed, the cover 1 is released and can be removed and replaced at will. The raised shape of the plate 4 of the cover 1 favors the grip of the cover during these uncorking and filling operations.

It should also be noted in this regard that in the example shown (see fig. 1), the outer side wall of the plate 4 of the cover 1 is extended downward below the bearing surface of the cover 1 on the end face of the neck, this surface being defined by the lower edges 9 of the ribs 8.

Thanks to the smooth external shape of the closure cap according to the invention, it is possible to apply a decoration or, for example, a tax stamp or counter, without any difficulty.

Although the capsule as described above and shown in the drawing is intended for a bottle with a grooved ring on which the inner bead 16 of the guarantee band 2 is hooked in the intermediate groove of the ring, the capsule conforms to the invention can be adapted without any difficulty to any type of bottle rings. To do this, it suffices to provide the latching bead 16 at an appropriate height below the bearing surface 9 of the cover 1 on the end face of the neck so that the bead 16 comes to hang behind a shoulder. of the ring.

Furthermore, the capsule can also be used on a bottle provided with an added pouring body, in which case the skirt 5 is pressed into the pouring spout and the internal bead 16 cooperates with an external bead of the pouring body.

It goes without saying that, without departing from the scope of the present invention, it is possible to make numerous modifications and variants to the capsule described and shown. Thus, the sealing part 5 projecting from the plate 4 of the cover 1 could be, for example, in the form of a cup closed at the bottom and open at the top, instead of being in the form of a skirt or overturned bucket open at the bottom and closed at the top. The lines of least resistance 14 and 15 could also have different shapes. The same applies to the gripping tab 12 of the tongue 11 of the guarantee strip 2.

Claims (7)

1. Tamper-proof closure for bottles having an outer bead in the vicinity of their neck, this closure comprising a plastic cap (1) and tearable means (2) which, before the first opening of the closed bottle, interact with the said bead to retain the cap on the neck in a tamper-proof manner, the said cap being equipped with a plate (4) intended to be laid onto the end face of the neck, the upper face of the said plate (4) being raised relative to the part (9) of the plate intended to be laid against the end face of the neck, and with a sealing skirt (5) projecting downwards on the said plate and intended to be force-fitted into the neck to interact with the inner surface of the latter, and the said tearable means consisting of an annular guarantee strip (2) which is produced in one piece with the cap, extends the outer side wall of the plate (4) of the cap (1) downwards, has an inner bead (16) for catching on the said bead of the neck and possesses a gripping tab (11, 12) for the purpose of tearing it, the said strip (2) being connected to the lower edge of the outer side wall of the plate (4) by means of a line of less resistance (3), characterised in that the plate (4) of the cap (1) has a low central part (6) surrounded by a raised outer part (7) interrupted over an angular sector, so as to delimit a sort of asymmetric cavity or recess (10) on the top of the plate (4), and in that the tab (11) extends upwards, in the interrupted sector of the raised outer part (7), to the height of the upper edge of the outer side wall of the plate (4), in order to complete the said outer side wall, and is connected, on its two lateral edges, to the outer side wall of the plate (4) of the cap (1) by means of two lines of less resistance (14, 15), one (14) of which extends downwards to the line of less resistance (3) connecting the strip (2) to the lower edge of the outer side wall of the plate (4) and the other (15) of which is extended downwards through the guarantee strip (2) to the lower edge of the latter.

2. Closure according to Claim 1, characterized in that the said tab (11) has, at its free end, a gripping lug (12) directed inwards, that is to say into the said recess (10).

3. Closure according to Claim 2, characterized in that the said gripping lug (12) starts below the free end of the said tab (11) and extends obliquely inwards and upwards, without going beyond the upper edge of the outer side wall of the plate (4) of the cap (1).

4. Closure according to Claim 1, characterized in that the said line of less resistance (15) extended downwards through the guarantee strip (2) comprises a substantially vertical upper part and a lower part (15a) inclined in the direction in which the circular tearing of the guarantee strip is to be carried out.

5. Closure according to Claim 1, characterized in that the said raised outer part (7) of the plate (4) of the cap (1) has a transverse profile in the form of an upturned U, stiffened by axial vertical ribs (8), the lower edges (9) of which form the part of the plate (4) intended to bear on the end face of the neck of the bottle.

6. Closure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer side wall of the plate (4) of the cap (1) is extended downwards beyond the bearing plane of the plate (4) on the end face of the neck of the bottle.

7. Closure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the said strip (2) has, distributed over the periphery of the closure, several lines of less resistance (17) which extend from the said bead (16) to the lower edge of the strip (2).

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