EP0170601A2 - Disposable container, especially for infants' food - Google Patents

Abstract

Disposable baby bottle after use. The bottle has a closure assembly, provided with a disc (2), a seal (3) and a ring (4) aimed at the neck of the container. Application: packaging of food drinks and liquids, in particular for infants.

Description

The subject of the present invention is a container to be discarded after use and intended for feeding more particularly infants and hereinafter called "bottle", said bottle and its contents being previously sterilized during packaging.

Sterilization can take place according to any known process.

Containers of this type, in which the bottle is in fact a lost package, are known. They are generally sold in a grouped form of four or six containers, filled for example with fruit juice, closed by a metal cap.

For use, the cap is removed and a teat is fitted to the container by means of a ring which screws onto a corresponding thread on the container.

This presentation is quite impractical and has multiple drawbacks.

First of all, the aseptic conditions are sometimes dubious, insofar as it is the same ring which is used for all the containers of the same pack.

In addition, there is a risk that unscrupulous people steal the ring from a pack in the store, which makes it difficult to use.

Finally, the metal caps do not offer any guarantee of inviolability, therefore of asepsis, with respect to the content of the container. There is in fact no way for the consumer to ensure that the container has never been opened before.

The object of the invention is to remedy these various drawbacks by proposing packaging of the disposable bottle type after single use which is reliable with regard to asepsis, which includes a guarantee of inviolability and which is capable of solving the problems of sealing.

According to the invention, this result is obtained with a container to be discarded after use and intended for feeding more particularly infants, of the "baby bottle" type, said baby bottle and its content being previously sterilized during packaging, characterized in that '' it is closed by a closure assembly with a guarantee of inviolability comprising a disc closing the neck of the bottle, a seal being interposed between said disc and the upper edge of the neck against which it comes to be applied , the disc being held by a ring screwed onto the neck and comprising a tamper-evident device.

Such an assembly is filled, for example, with fruit juice and sterilized as it is.

Sealing is ensured jointly by the disc and the seal which are applied against the neck by the ring screwed onto it and by the vacuum coming from sterilization.

The closure device essentially comprises on the one hand a disc on which is placed a seal capable of absorbing imperfections and of being applied elastically against the edge of said neck without being driven in rotation, which would deteriorate and could compromise the sealing, and on the other hand a ring.

To ensure a perfectly sealed closure, one is led to produce the ring in a rigid synthetic material which does not have sealing qualities, but which on the other hand has a high resistance to tearing.

The disc will be made of any material having an absolute seal against any release or gas infiltration. In particular, it should allow the preservation of sterility conditions.

I1 may for example be metallic, the seal being applied to the periphery thereof.

According to another embodiment, the disc and the seal may have come in one piece.

Taking into account the depression caused by sterilization in the container, the disc will be held by "suction" against the upper edge of said container.

In order to manage to open the container without any particular effort, provision will be made, according to an advantageous mode of implementation of the invention, for the ring to have a circular internal boss, of internal diameter smaller than the external diameter of the disc, over the entire internal periphery of the ring or only according to one or more sectors thereof.

Thus without particular effort, unscrewing the ring allows detachment by the boss of the disc, which breaks the vacuum created by sterilization in the container.

According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, allowing optimal industrialization, provision may also be made for the discs to be snapped into appropriate receptive structures for the ring so that the assembly can be brought as it is before its placement on the bottle.

The container according to the invention will also include a tamper-evident device such as, for example, but not limited to, that described in French patent application No. 74.39911 to which express reference is made here.

For use, it is necessary to unscrew the ring, therefore detach it by rotation of the ring, remove the ring and the seal-disc assembly. We then have a teat on the bottle, which is secured by the ring.

• - la figure 1A est une vue partielle en coupe longitudinale au niveau du goulot d'un récipient conforme à l'invention en position fermée.
• - la figure 1 B est une vue partielle en coupe longitudinale au niveau du goulot d'un récipient conforme à l'invention en position d'utilisation.

The invention will be better understood with the aid of the description below of an embodiment given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• - Figure 1A is a partial view in longitudinal section at the neck of a container according to the invention in the closed position.
• - Figure 1 B is a partial view in longitudinal section at the neck of a container according to the invention in the use position.

We will first refer to FIG. 1A.

• - un corps (1),
• - un disque métallique (2),
• ' - un joint d'étanchéité (3),
• - une bague (4) reliée à un anneau d'inviolabilité (5).

The container according to the invention comprises, respectively:

• - a body (1),
• - a metal disc (2),
• '- a seal (3),
• - a ring (4) connected to a tamper-evident ring (5).

The body (1) is generally made of glass or any other synthetic material whose physical characteristics are compatible with the various treatments, in particular sterilization.

• - un filetage externe (7),
• - une nervure périphérique d'arrêt (8) dont le rôle sera
• . explicité ultérieurement.

I1 includes at the neck (6):

• - an external thread (7),
• - a peripheral stop rib (8) whose role will be
• . explained later.

On the upper edge (9) of said neck is applied the periphery of the metal disc (2). A seal (3) is interposed at the level of the contact zone between the disc (2) and the edge (9). the central part of the disc (2) is preferably shaped according to a boss (10) whose function will be explained later.

To obtain a perfect seal, the disc (2) is kept applied against the neck (6) by means of the ring (4) screwed onto the thread (7) of the container. This ring will preferably include ribs (11) facilitating its operation by the user.

To perfectly center the disc (2), the ring (4) is hollowed out at its upper part according to a chamfer (12) which cooperates with the boss (10) to position the disc (2) exactly.

To guarantee inviolability, the ring (4) cooperates with the sealing ring (5) of which it is secured by means of a collar (13).

The flange (13) came integrally with the ring (5) according to a weakening zone constituted by a line of lesser thickness or a succession of bridges that can be cut.

According to another embodiment, the ring (4), the collar (13) and the ring (5) have come from molding.

In the case shown, the assembly (13-5) is independent of the ring (4). This controls the movement of the collar (13) by means of a shoulder (14) which cooperates with a corresponding shoulder (15) of the collar.

The flange has an internal diameter slightly greater than that of the external diameter of the stop rib (8).

On the other hand, the tamper-evident ring (5) has an annular re-entrant part (16) whose internal diameter is less than the external diameter of the stop rib (8).

When the user unscrews the ring (4), it rises relative to the container (1) so as to gradually release the plate (2). In doing so, the assembly (13-5) follows the progression of the ring until the part (16) abuts against the stop rib (8).

A more sustained effort from the user then causes the junction between the ring (5) and the flange (13) to break. The ring can then be completely unscrewed, so as to replace the disc (2) with a nipple (17).

The ring (5) falls on the bottom of the body (1) of the container, thus visualizing the opening of the container.

We will now explain the internal structure of the ring (4) at its upper part.

As indicated above, the sterilization treatment, carried out on the container fitted with the disc and the screwed ring, leads to the creation, on cooling, of a depression in the bottle which tends to apply, independently of the ring, the disc (2) and the seal. (3) against the neck of the bottle.

When opening, it is therefore necessary to take off this disc, which is achieved by a circular boss (18), formed around the entire periphery or only on one or more sectors of the internal face of the ring (4).

The opening of the bottle during the first use does not imply any particular effort to break the tamper-evident ring and then the integral boss of the threaded ring takes off the sealing disc breaking the vacuum created by the hot filling or the pasteurization.

The closing and opening torque is therefore perfectly suited to young people because of the three-piece construction: tamper-evident ring, sealing disc and threaded ring providing a good grip without, however, injuring the hands.

To optimize the industrialization of the implementation of the containers according to the invention, it is advantageous to provide that the disc (2) and the ring (4) are made integral with each other before screwing on the bottle . This can be achieved by the boss (18).

Advantageously, this can also be achieved by snapping the disc into an adequate receiving structure of the ring, for example by producing an undercut on the peripheral zone of the boss (10) of the disc.

This structure must nevertheless allow the free rotation of the disc relative to the ring so that there is always compression of the seal at the time of screwing without rotation thereof, due to the adhesion to the glass.

Claims (8)

1. Disposable container after use and intended for feeding more particularly infants, of the "baby bottle" type, said baby bottle and its contents being previously sterilized during packaging, characterized in that it is closed by a stopper assembly with guarantee of inviolability comprising a disc (2) for closing the neck of the bottle, a seal (3) being interposed between said disc and the upper edge of the neck against which the latter comes to apply, the disc being held by a ring (4) screwed onto the neck and comprising a tamper-evident device. 2. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the disc (2) is metallic. 3. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the disc (2) is made of synthetic material. 4. Container according to claim 3, characterized in that the disc (2) and the seal (3) have come in one piece. 5. Container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the disc (2) has a central boss (10) which cooperates with a recess in the ring (4) to position the disc (2). 6. Container according to claim 5, characterized in that the recess of the ring comprises a chamfer (12). 7. Container according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the disc snaps into suitable receiving structures of the ring. 8. Container according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the ring has on its internal face a boss (18) circular formed on the entire periphery or only on a plane or several sectors of said internal face of the ring (4).

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