EP0706954B1 - A process for manufacturing a venting cap, and a venting cap thus obtained - Google Patents

A process for manufacturing a venting cap, and a venting cap thus obtained Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0706954B1
EP0706954B1 EP94870161A EP94870161A EP0706954B1 EP 0706954 B1 EP0706954 B1 EP 0706954B1 EP 94870161 A EP94870161 A EP 94870161A EP 94870161 A EP94870161 A EP 94870161A EP 0706954 B1 EP0706954 B1 EP 0706954B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
housing
cap
membrane
protrusion
skirt
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.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP94870161A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0706954A1 (en
Inventor
Richard Mark Baginski
Neil John Rogers
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.)
Procter and Gamble Co
Original Assignee
Procter and Gamble Co
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 DE69427229T priority Critical patent/DE69427229D1/de
Application filed by Procter and Gamble Co filed Critical Procter and Gamble Co
Priority to AT94870161T priority patent/ATE201178T1/de
Priority to ES94870161T priority patent/ES2156148T3/es
Priority to EP94870161A priority patent/EP0706954B1/en
Priority to PT94870161T priority patent/PT706954E/pt
Priority to DK94870161T priority patent/DK0706954T3/da
Priority to HU9702418A priority patent/HU220361B/hu
Priority to US08/817,470 priority patent/US5882454A/en
Priority to CA002202635A priority patent/CA2202635A1/en
Priority to CN95196598A priority patent/CN1064629C/zh
Priority to JP8513394A priority patent/JPH10507430A/ja
Priority to PCT/US1995/013211 priority patent/WO1996011857A1/en
Priority to CZ971036A priority patent/CZ103697A3/cs
Priority to AU38325/95A priority patent/AU3832595A/en
Publication of EP0706954A1 publication Critical patent/EP0706954A1/en
Priority to MXPA/A/1997/002752A priority patent/MXPA97002752A/es
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0706954B1 publication Critical patent/EP0706954B1/en
Priority to GR20010400129T priority patent/GR3035887T3/el
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime 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
    • B65D51/00—Closures not otherwise provided for
    • B65D51/16—Closures not otherwise provided for with means for venting air or gas
    • B65D51/1605—Closures not otherwise provided for with means for venting air or gas whereby the interior of the container is maintained in permanent gaseous communication with the exterior
    • B65D51/1616—Closures not otherwise provided for with means for venting air or gas whereby the interior of the container is maintained in permanent gaseous communication with the exterior by means of a filter

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of packaging for liquid substances which generate gases, more particularly to venting caps.
  • the container containing the substance may be subjected to severe stress which usually causes bulging or stress cracking. Bulging refers to the deformation of the container, while stress cracking may cause leakage or even bursting. Thus to avoid these phenomena, it is necessary to vent the container, i.e. to provide means whereby the pressure build up inside the container may be relieved. In other words, it is necessary to provide means whereby the gas generated by the liquid substance can escape to the ambient, while leaktightness of the container is maintained.
  • One means of achieving this is by providing a cap with a hole, and a membrane inserted in the cap, covering the hole.
  • the membrane is permeable to gases but not to liquids.
  • a first problem is that semi permeable membranes are expensive materials. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a venting cap which uses as little membrane material as possible. This object implies not only using small membranes, but also providing a process for manufacturing such a cap which drastically reduces the amount of wasted membrane material, i.e. the amount of membrane material not used for manufacturing caps. This process should of course be compatible with high production speeds required by modern industry.
  • a venting cap wherein a small membrane is secured to the inner surface of the cap's top wall by ultrasonic welding. Because ultrasonic welding is an essential requirement for providing the arrangement, drastic limitations are imposed on suitable materials for that arrangement. i.e. one can only use materials which can be ultrasonically welded. The '259 arrangement thus does not provide the desired flexibility either.
  • US.4.136.796 discloses a venting cap comprising a liner cap with internal threads, into which a venting module is screwed.
  • DE9208612U discloses a venting cap comprising a main cap to which a venting membrane is fitted, which is maintained by a housing.
  • FR-A-2259026 discloses a venting cap comprising a main cap to which a venting membrane is fitted.
  • EP 382146 (D4) to Unilever discloses a cap which comprises a foam like substrate.
  • the present invention encompasses a process for making a venting cap, said process comprising the steps of:
  • the housing with its fitted membrane are made by insert injection molding.
  • the present invention further encompasses a venting cap obtainable by a process according to the preceding claims, said cap comprising a top wall (2) and a depending skirt (3), said top wall or said skirt comprising a substantially tubular protrusion (5) extending therefrom, said cap further comprising a hole (4) through the thickness of said top wall or said skirt, said hole corresponding to said protrusion, said cap further comprising a semi permeable membrane (7), said membrane being fitted in said cap by means of a housing (6) in which said membrane is fitted, said housing being fitted with said protrusion in said cap, the cross sectional outer dimension of said housing being smaller than the cross sectional inner dimension of said skirt.
  • the present invention encompasses a venting cap (1).
  • the cap according to the present invention can be made from a variety of materials, and particularly suitable materials include (thermo)plastic polymers or copolymers, including polyethylene (high and low density), polypropylene, polystyrene, polyester, polyvinylchloride, polycrabonate, nylon, PETG.
  • the cap (1) comprises a top wall (2) and a depending skirt (3).
  • the cap cooperates with the neck of a container (8) onto which it is to be fixed, e.g. by force fitting, screwing, snapping, etc..
  • the cap comprises a hole (4) through the thickness of the top wall or the skirt, which will allow the gases generated inside the container to escape to the ambient. It is to be understood that there can be one or several holes in the cap.
  • the cap further comprises a substantially tubular protrusion (5) extending from the side wall or the top wall.
  • the protrusion can extend inwards from the inner surface of the top wall or the skirt, i.e. towards the inside of the container, as in fig 1, or outwards from that surface, as in fig.2. In the latter case, if the thickness of the top wall or skirt is sufficient, the protrusion is provided by the hole, or more precisely by the periphery of the top wall or skirt delimiting the hole. It is essential that the protrusion should correspond to the hole.
  • the protrusion must surround the hole, so that after the housing (6), described hereinafter, with its membrane is fitted in the protrusion, any contact between the hole and the inside of the container, when the cap is on the container, must be through at least a portion of the membrane (7).
  • the protrusion may be formed, e.g. molded with the cap, or it may be assembled with the cap after it is formed, e.g. by glueing, spin welding, interference fitting, etc.
  • the cap further comprises a semi permeable membrane (7).
  • semi permeable it is to be understood that the membrane is sufficiently permeable to the gasses generated inside the container, in order to allow these gasses to escape to the ambient, and sufficiently impermeable to the substance contained in the container in order to prevent significant leakage, preferably all leakage.
  • the present invention is not limited to any particular type of membrane material. Suitable materials include polyethylene (high and low density), polypropylene, polyester, nylon, PTFE.
  • the preferred membrane materials for this application are:
  • the membrane is fitted in a housing (6) which is, in turn fitted with the protrusion (5).
  • the housing and the protrusion (5) may further comprise a variety of securing means. Suitable securing means include mating screw threads, as well cooperating ridges and grooves for snapping said housing around or into said protrusion.
  • the housing (6) and the protrusion (5) may also be simply glued together, spin welded, or interference fitted together.
  • the protrusion may be the housing may be arranged together so as to firmly hold the top wall or skirt.
  • the protrusion may be a tube with a dependent rim at one of its extremitie. This protrusion is then introduced through the hole from either side of the cap, so that the rim rests on the top wall or skirt. The housing is then fitted with the protrusion on the other of said either side.
  • cross sectional outer dimension (dH) of said housing is smaller than the cross sectional inner dimension of said skirt (dS).
  • housings with fitted membranes are commercially available. Housings whose dimensions are particularly compatible for use in a vented cap are commercially available from GVS, Via Rome 50, 40069, Zola Predosa (bo), Italy.
  • the cap according to the present invention allows for a great flexibility in the variety of caps into which such housings can be fitted, and also in the design of the housing. Indeed, the connection between the housing and the cap does not rely on the internal dimensions of the skirt, and/or the container's neck, as most prior art arrangements proposed. Only a determined protrusion size is required, and this can be built in existing caps in a straightforward manner. For the same reason that the fitting of the membrane in the cap does not depend any longer on the dimensions of the cap, the present invention allows for the use of smaller membranes.
  • the present invention allows the use of membranes which can be smaller than or as small as the surface of the hole.
  • membranes used herein have a surface which is at most from 25% to 50% of the inner surface of the top wall, preferably at most from 5% to 10%
  • the membrane and the portion of the housing which houses the membrane should be coaxial.
  • the thickness (t) of the housing, at least in its region where it houses the membrane should be as small as possible, preferably of from 3 mm to 10 mm, most preferably of from 1 mm to 3 mm.
  • a cap according to the present invention can be manufactured by a process which is another embodiment of the present invention. In its broadest definition, the process comprises the three steps of:
  • the first and second steps can naturally be performed in any given order while the third step can only be performed after the first two steps.
  • the first step listed corresponds to the forming of the cap, with its hole and protrusion, without the housing and the membrane. It can be performed by any of the techniques available for this purpose such as injection molding, blow molding, thermoforming, injection blow molding.
  • This step may be completed in a single operation or several operations. For instance a cap may be molded in a first operation, and a hole can be drilled in the top wall in a second operation.
  • the protrusion can be separately manufactured, but it will advantageously be formed together with the cap, e.g. by molding.
  • the final result of this step is a cap with a hole and a corresponding protrusion, ready to receive the housing with its fitted membrane.
  • the second step listed is the manufacture of the housing and the fitting of the membrane in the housing.
  • this step can be achieved by an "insert molding operation" where:
  • an apparatus which comprises a plurality of mold cavities for a plurality of housings, with corresponding rods, operating simultaneously.
  • the membrane and the portion of the housing which houses the membrane should be substantially coaxial. Indeed, referring to Fig 4.1, coaxiality (along axis A) of the housing and the membrane creates less unused part of membrane sheet whereas, as in Fig 4.2, if the housing is not coaxial (axis A) with the membrane (axis A'), then a much larger portion of membrane sheet shown in hatched lines is wasted, and only a small portion of that membrane sheet material is used to make the membrane.
  • the thickness (t) of the housing should be as small as possible, because the thickness of the housing corresponds to a portion of the membrane material sheet which is not used to make membranes.
  • the thickness of the housing should be less than 5 mm, most preferably less than 1 mm.
  • the surface of said sheet which is not used to make membranes is less than 80% of the total surface of said sheet, preferably less than 50%, more preferably less than 25%.
  • the third step listed is the assembly of the housing with its fitted membrane produced in the second step, into the cap produced in the first step.
  • this step There are no particular limitations on this step, which depends essentially on whether the housing and the cap have means for cooperating, and if yes on the nature of these means. Suitable operations in this third step may thus include glueing, interference fitting, spin welding, snap locking, or screwing of the housing in the cap. Interference fitting can be preferred as it is the quickest.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Closures For Containers (AREA)
  • Self-Closing Valves And Venting Or Aerating Valves (AREA)
  • Gas Exhaust Devices For Batteries (AREA)
  • Prevention Of Fouling (AREA)
  • Viewfinders (AREA)
  • Separation Using Semi-Permeable Membranes (AREA)
EP94870161A 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 A process for manufacturing a venting cap, and a venting cap thus obtained Expired - Lifetime EP0706954B1 (en)

Priority Applications (16)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT94870161T ATE201178T1 (de) 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 Verfahren zur herstellung einer entlüftungskappe und mit diesem verfahren hergestellte entlüftungskappe
ES94870161T ES2156148T3 (es) 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 Proceso para fabricar una tapa de ventilacion, y tapa de ventilacion obtenida de este modo.
EP94870161A EP0706954B1 (en) 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 A process for manufacturing a venting cap, and a venting cap thus obtained
PT94870161T PT706954E (pt) 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 Um processo de fabrico de uma tampa de ventilacao e uma tampa de ventilacao obtida atraves do mesmo
DK94870161T DK0706954T3 (da) 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 Fremgangsmåde til fremstilling af en udluftningshætte og en således opnået udlufningshætte
DE69427229T DE69427229D1 (de) 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 Verfahren zur Herstellung einer Entlüftungskappe und mit diesem Verfahren hergestellte Entlüftungskappe
AU38325/95A AU3832595A (en) 1994-10-13 1995-10-13 Process for manufacturing a venting cap
CA002202635A CA2202635A1 (en) 1994-10-13 1995-10-13 Process for manufacturing a venting cap
HU9702418A HU220361B (hu) 1994-10-13 1995-10-13 Eljárás levegőztető fedél előállítására és az így előállított levegőztető fedél
JP8513394A JPH10507430A (ja) 1994-10-13 1995-10-13 ベンティングキャップ製造方法
PCT/US1995/013211 WO1996011857A1 (en) 1994-10-13 1995-10-13 Process for manufacturing a venting cap
CZ971036A CZ103697A3 (cs) 1994-10-13 1995-10-13 Způsob výroby odvzdušňovacího uzávěru
US08/817,470 US5882454A (en) 1994-10-13 1995-10-13 Process for manufacturing a venting cap
CN95196598A CN1064629C (zh) 1994-10-13 1995-10-13 制造透气盖的工艺
MXPA/A/1997/002752A MXPA97002752A (es) 1994-10-13 1997-04-14 Procedimiento para fabricar una tapa de ventilacion
GR20010400129T GR3035887T3 (en) 1994-10-13 2001-05-17 A process for manufacturing a venting cap, and a venting cap thus obtained

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP94870161A EP0706954B1 (en) 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 A process for manufacturing a venting cap, and a venting cap thus obtained

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0706954A1 EP0706954A1 (en) 1996-04-17
EP0706954B1 true EP0706954B1 (en) 2001-05-16

Family

ID=8218677

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP94870161A Expired - Lifetime EP0706954B1 (en) 1994-10-13 1994-10-13 A process for manufacturing a venting cap, and a venting cap thus obtained

Country Status (14)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0706954B1 (es)
JP (1) JPH10507430A (es)
CN (1) CN1064629C (es)
AT (1) ATE201178T1 (es)
AU (1) AU3832595A (es)
CA (1) CA2202635A1 (es)
CZ (1) CZ103697A3 (es)
DE (1) DE69427229D1 (es)
DK (1) DK0706954T3 (es)
ES (1) ES2156148T3 (es)
GR (1) GR3035887T3 (es)
HU (1) HU220361B (es)
PT (1) PT706954E (es)
WO (1) WO1996011857A1 (es)

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5752629A (en) * 1996-04-12 1998-05-19 The Procter & Gamble Company Passive venting for pump dispensing device
JP4443386B2 (ja) * 2004-11-09 2010-03-31 三菱電機株式会社 電子制御機器
US7993609B2 (en) 2008-12-30 2011-08-09 Sterilucent, Inc. Package for chemicals
JP5666336B2 (ja) * 2011-02-15 2015-02-12 東海興業株式会社 複合成形品
CN102528449B (zh) * 2012-01-17 2014-07-16 广州洁特生物过滤制品有限公司 一次性细胞培养瓶透气盖装配机
CN112550937A (zh) * 2020-11-27 2021-03-26 绍兴永耀电器有限公司 透气防漏防爆瓶体
WO2023274529A1 (en) * 2021-06-30 2023-01-05 Hoffmann Neopac Ag Sterile dropper tube

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2403244C3 (de) * 1974-01-24 1980-12-04 Riedel-De Haen Ag, 3016 Seelze Für Gase permeable, flüssigkeitsdichte Absperrvorrichtung
US4136796A (en) * 1974-04-11 1979-01-30 Greif Bros. Corporation Vented closure
US4337104A (en) * 1978-10-10 1982-06-29 Becton, Dickinson And Company Method for manufacturing a roller bottle
CN87203820U (zh) * 1987-03-16 1988-04-06 澄海县东里镇塑料二厂 盛液容器的透气防溢盖
US4765499A (en) * 1987-12-29 1988-08-23 Von Reis Charles Filter cap
DE3903509A1 (de) * 1989-02-06 1990-08-09 Unilever Nv Behaelterverschluss mit innendruckbegrenzer
DE9208612U1 (de) * 1992-06-26 1993-10-28 Huber Verpackungen GmbH + Co, 74613 Öhringen Gebinde aus Blech

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CN1064629C (zh) 2001-04-18
HUT77542A (hu) 1998-05-28
JPH10507430A (ja) 1998-07-21
GR3035887T3 (en) 2001-08-31
AU3832595A (en) 1996-05-06
MX9702752A (es) 1997-07-31
PT706954E (pt) 2001-09-28
CA2202635A1 (en) 1996-04-25
EP0706954A1 (en) 1996-04-17
DK0706954T3 (da) 2001-07-30
CN1168657A (zh) 1997-12-24
DE69427229D1 (de) 2001-06-21
ES2156148T3 (es) 2001-06-16
CZ103697A3 (cs) 1998-06-17
ATE201178T1 (de) 2001-06-15
HU220361B (hu) 2001-12-28
WO1996011857A1 (en) 1996-04-25

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