EP0318603A1 - Récipient unitaire inviolable - Google Patents

Récipient unitaire inviolable Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0318603A1
EP0318603A1 EP87116087A EP87116087A EP0318603A1 EP 0318603 A1 EP0318603 A1 EP 0318603A1 EP 87116087 A EP87116087 A EP 87116087A EP 87116087 A EP87116087 A EP 87116087A EP 0318603 A1 EP0318603 A1 EP 0318603A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
container
body portion
skirt
bottom member
closure
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP87116087A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Morris Bach
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority to US06/915,121 priority Critical patent/US4703610A/en
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to EP87116087A priority patent/EP0318603A1/fr
Publication of EP0318603A1 publication Critical patent/EP0318603A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D1/00—Containers having bodies formed in one piece, e.g. by casting metallic material, by moulding plastics, by blowing vitreous material, by throwing ceramic material, by moulding pulped fibrous material, by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
    • B65D1/02—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents
    • B65D1/0223—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents characterised by shape
    • B65D1/023—Neck construction
    • B65D1/0238—Integral frangible closures
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D11/00—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material
    • B65D11/02—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material of curved cross-section
    • B65D11/04—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures designed for pouring contents

Definitions

  • the invention relates to containers, and more partic­ularly a tamper proof container which is closed and perma­nently sealed immediately after filling, without the use of applied seals.
  • U.S. Patent No. 4,131,211 related to a bottom closure for a container body formed without a bottom, where the bottom closure was applied after filling.
  • a unitary tamper proof container is formed of two assembled components, each of which is itself a single integrally molded component.
  • the first component is an upper portion or outer shell which has a body portion, a neck and a cap or closure, all formed as one in the molding process.
  • the closure preferably is inverted but may be in the upright position just above the neck, and closing the neck, con­nected to the neck by integral thin plastic material which can be cut or broken by the ultimate consumer. The closure can then be screwed or snapped onto the neck between con­sumer uses.
  • the second component of the container is a bottom por­tion which includes an upwardly extending skirt or walls of such dimension and of sufficient height as to closely slide together with the body portion and provide a large area of tight contact between the bottom skirt and the body portion, for adhesion or heat bonding of the two together over a substantial area, to form a high-integrity permanently bonded seal.
  • the bottom skirt extends inside the body portion and entirely up to the neck, so that the assembled container becomes and appears as a single piece, with no obvious lines of junc­ture or assembly between the two components.
  • the second component may include an overlapping annular flange at its bottom, to overlap the bottom end of the body portion, or such a flange can be included on a shoulder of the body portion, to overlap the top of the bottom skirt, if the bottom skirt is on the outside of the body portion as described below.
  • the entire container is formed of a substantially transparent plastic material, permitting inspection of the contents without opening. It is preferable that the filled container be marketed without a cover or box, so that the purchaser can examine the container while it is on the shelf.
  • the outer surface of the con­tainer optionally includes low-profile frangible fins for further indication of tampering or attempted tampering of the container.
  • the fins are positioned and configured so that any forceful gripping or twisting of the container by a person's hand will fracture portions of the fin, providing indication of attempted tampering.
  • the fins can be included on any of the embodiments described.
  • the bottom portion of the container is sized to fit and slide inside the body portion, preferably up to the container neck, it can instead fit over the outside of the container body so that the skirt of the bottom portion becomes the external surface of the assembled container body.
  • the first component or upper portion can include a shoulder just below the neck, so that the bottom skirt can be received just under and against the shoulder to produce a substantially flush surface on the outside of the container.
  • the internal body protion preferably extends down to and against the inside surface of the container bottom, again to provide a one-piece appearance.
  • Figures 1 and 2 show one embodiment of a unitary tamper proof container 10 in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
  • the container 10, in the assembled form shown in Figure 1, includes two com­ponents: an upper portion or outer shell 12 which is integrally molded as one piece, and a lower or bottom member 14, which preferably extends up into the outer shell 12 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and which is also molded as one piece.
  • the upper portion or outer shell 12 includes a body portion 16, a neck portion 18 which may be provided with screw threads 20 as shown, and a cap or container closure 22, all formed as a single molded piece.
  • the cap 22 in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, is inverted with respect to the container so that a roof or top panel 24 of the cap is oriented downwardly toward the open, hollow con­tainer neck 18 and actually closes the neck in the form as produced, as shown in Figure 1.
  • a thin web at 26, such as in the form of a thin band as shown in Figure 2 extends between the cap and the top of the neck portion so as to complete the closure of the neck in this manufactured confi­guration. This thin plastic 26 is severable by the ultimate consumer as by cutting with a knife, or, if the material is thin enough, by simply applying a forceful twisting to the cap while holding the container body.
  • the cap is simply turned over to its up­right configuration, and it may be screwed onto the threads 20 on the container neck.
  • the assembled container as shown in Figures 1 and 2 is of such dimensions that the body portion of the outer shell fits very closely over the outside of an upwardly ex­tending skirt portion 28 of the bottom member. This is partially shown by dashed lines in Figure 1.
  • the bottom skirt portion 28 extends a substantial distance up the in­side of the body portion, at least half way, and preferably up to and against a shoulder 30 just below the neck, so that there is a very large area of close contact between the two plastic walls. This provides an opportunity for a high-integrity sealed and permanently fixed connection between the two, which can be accomplished by a high integrity plastic adhesive, or by heat sealing (such as by ultrasonic bonding).
  • the two components are so securely and permanently affixed together that they cannot be separated without destruction of the container, making obvious the tampering attempt.
  • the skirt portion 28 in the preferred embodiment abuts against the bottom surface of the shoulder 30 to partially conceal the juncture of the two components at that location and to give the appearance and the structural characteristics of a one-­piece container.
  • the two components are preferably flush or nearly flush, further making the assembled container appear unitary. With this bottom edge juncture configuration the assembled container may be put through a further step of heat application to the bottom periphery to actually fuse the two plastic layers together at that location.
  • Figure 6 shows heat being applied (arrows 29) to fuse the layers 16 and 28 into one contiguous mass around this annulus at the bottom.
  • the cap cannot be removed without an obvious showing that this "seal" has been broken, so that any consumer or layman can see that the container has been tampered with subsequent to its leaving the assembly process at the point of filling and assembly.
  • the tamper proof container of the invention therefore avoids the need for any applied seals such as have conven­tionally been used across the cap and neck in prior attempts to prevent undetected tampering.
  • These prior applied seals have typically comprised flexible band or tape-like seals adhered to the cap and neck.
  • Figure 3 shows in cross sectional view another form 31 of the invention, wherein the container closure or cap 32 is integrally formed as part of an outer shell 34, but with the cap in an upright position rather that inverted as in Figure 1. Although this presents more difficulty in molding of the outer shell, such molding may generally be accomplished with certain types of blow molding.
  • thin plastic material 36 secures the bottom edge of the closure 32 to the top edge of the threaded neck 38.
  • Figure 3 also shows the container 31 in a square or rectangular configuration except for the neck 38 and the cap 32.
  • the container can take almost any shape in accor­dance with the general principles of the invention, so long as it permits a sliding together assembly of an outer shell and a bottom portion as illustrated.
  • the container bottom por­tion may include an outwardly extending hip 39 at the bottom periphery to form an essentially flush outer surface between the lower part of the outer shell 34 and the hip 38 in the assembled container.
  • Figure 4 illustrates several alternate forms of the invention, in an assembled container 40.
  • the skirt 42 of the bottom portion 44 of the container is positioned in overlapping relationship over the outside sur­face of a body portion 46 of an upper component generally identified at 48.
  • a shoulder 50 on the upper component or outer shell 48 of diameter or outer dimension slightly larger than that of the body portion 46 which contacts the bottom skirt 42, in order to present a substantially flush surface at the exterior of the container.
  • the container may be generally cylindrical, square, rectangular or any other desired general shape.
  • the upper component 48 is filled in inverted position prior to assembly of the container.
  • the overlap of the bottom skirt over the body portion still affords a large area of tight contact between the skirt 42 and the body portion 46, so that the two may be adhered in permanently sealed relationship upon assembly with contents inside.
  • the upper component 48 generally will be inverted to receive the contents, prior to application of the bottom portion 44.
  • closure or cap 52 may be of the snap-on type, rather than a screw-on closure as illustrated above.
  • Other forms of clo­sure engagement may also be employed.
  • the clo­sure 52 is in inverted position, with a thin portion of in­tegral plastic 54 sealing the two together until cut or broken by the consumer.
  • the plastic material of the outer shell 48 of the em­bodiment shown in Figure 4, and preferably also of the bot­tom portion 44, is of a yieldable type which will permit the cap or closure 52 to yield slightly in order to snap over a boss or ring 56 of a neck portion 58.
  • the closure 52 (or 22 or 32, above) may be a child-proof closure if desired, of a type within the limitations of molding the upper component as one integral piece.
  • FIG 5 is illustrated a container 10 a , similar to the container 10 of Figure 1, in plan sectional view.
  • the outer wall 60 of the container 10 a whether it be the outer surface of the outer shell or of the bottom portion, has integrally molded on its surface one or more frangible fins 62, extending generally vertically on the outer sur­face 60 to provide further indication of tampering or attempted tampering.
  • the frangible fins 62 will fracture in areas where they are gripped tightly by a hand in a twisting motion. Thus, if someone attempts to open the container with a forceful gripping, at least portions of the fins 62 will reveal this.
  • the fins 62 may be included on any of the embodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein.
  • Figures 7, 8 and 9 show variations to the tamper proof containers shown in Figures 2 and 4.
  • a container 70 has a bottom member 71 similar to that of Figure 2, but with an annular flange 72 extending radially outwardly by a distance substantially the same as the thick­ness of the container's body portion 73 of an upper component 74.
  • the bottom edge of the body portion 73 upon assembly, rests against (or in very close proximity to) the annular flange 72.
  • This construction provides additional security against tampering, being generally similar in concept to the configuartion shown in Figure 3.
  • a tamper proof container 80 has a bottom member 81 with an annular flange 82 and also a lip 83 ex­tending upwardly from the flange, so positioned as to form an annular channel to closely receive the bottom edge of the body portion 84 between the lip 83 and the exterior of the skirt portion 86 of the bottom member. This provides still further security against tampering, as by attempted insertion of a knife, and also provides additional area for gluing of the two components.
  • Figure 9 shows a modification similar to that of Figure 8, but on a tamper proof container 90 similar to that of Figure 4, i.e. with a bottom skirt 91 which extends over the outside of the body portion 92 of an upper component 93.
  • a bottom skirt 91 which extends over the outside of the body portion 92 of an upper component 93.
  • the upper edge of the skirt 91 is closely received between the lip 94 and the exterior of the body portion 92.
  • additional security against tampering is provided in this embodiment wherein the bottom member skirt extends over the outside of the body portion of the upper component.
  • the tamper proof containers in accordance with the invention preferably are transparent, for additional verification of the integrity of the contents by visual inspection. This permits the manufac­turer to inspect the product before it leaves the plant, as well as giving the consumer the opportunity to inspect the product on the shelf.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
  • Closures For Containers (AREA)
EP87116087A 1986-07-21 1987-11-02 Récipient unitaire inviolable Withdrawn EP0318603A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US06/915,121 US4703610A (en) 1986-07-21 1986-10-03 Unitary tamper proof container
EP87116087A EP0318603A1 (fr) 1987-11-02 1987-11-02 Récipient unitaire inviolable

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP87116087A EP0318603A1 (fr) 1987-11-02 1987-11-02 Récipient unitaire inviolable

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0318603A1 true EP0318603A1 (fr) 1989-06-07

Family

ID=8197412

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP87116087A Withdrawn EP0318603A1 (fr) 1986-07-21 1987-11-02 Récipient unitaire inviolable

Country Status (1)

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EP (1) EP0318603A1 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008049249A1 (fr) * 2006-10-23 2008-05-02 Deltona Innovations Ag Semi-produit pour fabriquer un dispositif d'ouverture
FR3008681A1 (fr) * 2013-07-19 2015-01-23 Gerard Lang Flacon en matiere synthetique cassable

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2857067A (en) * 1956-07-30 1958-10-21 Lehmans-Leroy Adolfo Guy Containers
FR1523299A (fr) * 1967-03-17 1968-05-03 Ct Europ Du Conditionnement Pl Dose de produit à diluer ou à dissoudre
GB2028215A (en) * 1978-08-11 1980-03-05 Tetra Pak Dev Blow moulding packaging containers
EP0011292A1 (fr) * 1978-11-16 1980-05-28 NOVOPLAST VERPACKUNGEN GmbH & Co. KG Récipient d'emballage en forme de gobelet
EP0126575A2 (fr) * 1983-05-09 1984-11-28 Cosden Technology Inc. Récipients recouverts soudés à friction
US4703610A (en) * 1986-07-21 1987-11-03 Morris Bach Unitary tamper proof container

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2857067A (en) * 1956-07-30 1958-10-21 Lehmans-Leroy Adolfo Guy Containers
FR1523299A (fr) * 1967-03-17 1968-05-03 Ct Europ Du Conditionnement Pl Dose de produit à diluer ou à dissoudre
GB2028215A (en) * 1978-08-11 1980-03-05 Tetra Pak Dev Blow moulding packaging containers
EP0011292A1 (fr) * 1978-11-16 1980-05-28 NOVOPLAST VERPACKUNGEN GmbH & Co. KG Récipient d'emballage en forme de gobelet
EP0126575A2 (fr) * 1983-05-09 1984-11-28 Cosden Technology Inc. Récipients recouverts soudés à friction
US4703610A (en) * 1986-07-21 1987-11-03 Morris Bach Unitary tamper proof container

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008049249A1 (fr) * 2006-10-23 2008-05-02 Deltona Innovations Ag Semi-produit pour fabriquer un dispositif d'ouverture
US8372328B2 (en) 2006-10-23 2013-02-12 Deltona Innovations Ag Semi-finished product for producing an opening apparatus
FR3008681A1 (fr) * 2013-07-19 2015-01-23 Gerard Lang Flacon en matiere synthetique cassable

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Effective date: 19900531