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
  • B65D51/1622—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 passage for the escape of gas between the closure and the lip of the container mouth
• • 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

• This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for providing a vented closure for a container and it particularly relates to venting members for container closures.
• An known type of container closure is a cap having a none-gas tight screw thread fitting with the complimentary thread neck of a container and a seal in the cap to form a gas- and liquid- tight seal with the container neck.
• Liquid containers can become over or under pressurised and the container damaged, such as by ballooning or crushing, depending on the liquid to be contained and the ambient temperatures.
• One solution is to make the container strong enough to resist such changes, another solution is to fit the container with a gas vent.
• the choice of solution is mainly an economic one, depending upon whether or not it is cheaper to make the container stronger or to fit a gas vent.
• a method of providing a vented closure for a container, the closure and container having complimentary none gas-tight features by which the closure may be removeaby attached to close the container comprises fitting a venting member to form a liquid-tight, gas-venting seal between the closure and the container and provide a venting gas path from the container through the venting member to atmosphere via the complimentary closure and container features.
• a method of converting a sealed to a vented closure for a container comprises replacing or bypassing the sealing member with a venting member to form a liquid-tight, gas-venting seal between the closure and the container and provide a venting gas path from the container through the venting member to atmosphere via the complimentary closure and container features. No modification to either the closure or the container is required when using the method of the present invention.
• a venting member in a venting closure for a container, the closure and container having complimentary, none gas-tight features by which the closure may be removeaby attached to the container, a venting member is shaped and dimensioned to fit as a liquid-tight, gas-venting seal between a given closure and container and, in use, provide a venting gas path from the container through the venting member to atmosphere via the complimentary closure and container features.
• the vented member may designed to replace or by-pass a sealing member, forming a fluid- tight seal between the closure and the container, and form a liquid-tight, gas-venting seal between the closure and the container.
• a liquid container can be provided with a gas vent according to the present invention simply and economically; no modification of the container or closure being required, simply the provision of a suitable venting member together with taking advantage of the potential gas flow path already present between the closure and container attachment features.
• the venting member is microporous; for example a microporous membrane.
• microporous membranes for vented closures are that they work at zero differential pressures and are bi-directional; i.e. they vent gases in both directions, in and out of a container.
• the main disadvantage of such use of microporous membranes is that their operating efficiency is severely reduced when wetted by a liquid, such that the membrane hardly works at all.
• the complimentary closure and container features form an air-side labyrinth seal that, in use, acts to prevent passage of liquid to the venting member.
• the venting member is an insert for the cap. Gas flow means may be provided between the insert and the cap.
• the insert has a liquid-side capillary port that, in use, acts to permit passage of gas and prevent passage of liquid to the venting member.
• the capillary port is dimensioned so that the surface tension of a liquid to be contained in the container prevents that liquid from normally contacting the microporous membrane; this both improves membrane efficiency by preventing membrane wetting and protects the membrane from liquid-induced forces and loads that may occur during operational use of the filled container.
• Fig.1 is a cross-sectional view of a microporous membrane vented closure for a liquid container in accordance with the present invention
• Fig.2 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the closure of Fig. 1 :
• Fig.3 is a cross-sectional view of a container neck
• Fig.4 is a cross-sectional view of the closure of Fig. 1 screwed onto the neck of Fig. 3
• Fig. 5 is a side elevation corresponding to Fig. 4;
• Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of part of Fig. 4.
• a microporous membrane vented closure 10 consists of a generally circular insert 12 moulded from a suitable rigid plastics material, such as LDPE, to generally conform to the inner shape of a container cap 14.
• the insert 12 has a central aperture 16 with an air-side, surrounding, axially upwardly extending, cylindrical lip 18 and a radially extending liquid-side rim 20.
• the rim 20 has a liquid-side, surrounding, axially downwardly extending, cylindrical rib 22.
• the aperture 16 is closed on the liquid-side by a microporous membrane 24, for example of "GORTEX®", that is bonded, such as by welding, within the rib 22 to the rim 20 to form a liquid seal therewith.
• the membrane 24 is protected on the liquid-side by a moulded plastic cup 26, having cylindrical upper part the external diameter of which is an interference, liquid-tight fit within a liquid-side, axially extending, cylindrical, outer rib 30, that co-axially surrounds rib 22.
• the cup 26 has an external, radially outwardly extending flange that acts as a stop against the rim of rib 30, to control the depth of insertion of the cup upper part.
• the cup 26 has a hemispherically-shaped bottom part that is provided with a central port 28; the port 28 is dimensioned so that it can act as a capillary port, using the surface tension of a liquid to be contained in the container act to prevent that liquid from normally entering the cup.
• Outer rib 30 is an integral part of and depends from a dished central portion 32 of the insert 12 that flares upwardly and outwardly from lip 18 to a corrugated rim portion 34.
• the rim portion 34 has two concentric peripheral grooves 36 and 38 respectively opening upwards, to accommodate an integral sealing flange 40 that depends within the container cap 14, and downwards, to accommodate the rim 42 of a container neck 44.
• the air-side, cap facing surface of insert 12 is roughened and the dished central portion is provided with integral ribs 46 extending radially to the rim portion 34.
• the vented closure 10 comprising insert 12 with membrane 24 and cup 26 is fitted within a conventional container cap 14 and the whole assembly is screwed onto the neck 44 of a container 48.
• Gases within the container 48 can vent- through the microporous membrane 24, within the insert cylindrical lip 18, though notches 50 in the rim of lip 18, between the under-surface of cap 14 and the ribs 46 on the facing surface of insert 12, around and between cap sealing flange 40 and the roughened, cap-facing surface of insert groove 36, around and between the roughened, cap-facing surface of insert groove 38 and the cap
• a sealing ring 58 is located between the neck rim 42 and the insert groove 38 to seal the insert with the container; as the insert, perforce, by-passes the cap's integral sealing flange 40..
• This complex gas passage effectively forms a labyrinth seal on the air-side of the microporous diaphragm; thus;- the cap protects the membrane from any contamination coming from outside during storage or transport of the container; the same cap can be used for vented and non-vented applications, simply by insertion of a vented closure into the cap; the membrane is welded to the insert to ensure that it remains liquid tight; and, the cap has no gas ports or perforations.
• a non-vented cap-closure can readily and simply be converted to a vented closure by either replacing or by-passing the existing sealing member within a conventional container cap 14 with insert 12, including membrane 24 and cup 26; provided that there is a sufficient gas leakage path between the cap and neck threads.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)
• Manipulator (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (7)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=27268593

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Families Citing this family (7)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1997
  • 1997-11-18 BR BR9714638-2A patent/BR9714638A/pt unknown
  • 1997-11-18 AU AU49572/97A patent/AU731992B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1997-11-18 JP JP52332398A patent/JP2001504068A/ja active Pending
  • 1997-11-18 DE DE69718934T patent/DE69718934T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-11-18 CN CN97199818A patent/CN1100709C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1997-11-18 ES ES97912337T patent/ES2191832T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1997-11-18 WO PCT/GB1997/003117 patent/WO1998022363A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1997-11-18 EP EP97912337A patent/EP0954487B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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