EP2112086B1

EP2112086B1 - Container with a lid, an adapter and a cap

Info

Publication number: EP2112086B1
Application number: EP09158333A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gilberto Ceredi
Original assignee: Fceredi SpA
Current assignee: Fceredi SpA
Priority date: 2008-04-23
Filing date: 2009-04-21
Publication date: 2011-03-09
Anticipated expiration: 2029-04-21
Also published as: DE602009000819D1; ATE501053T1; EP2112086A8; EP2112086A1; ITBO20080257A1

Abstract

Container (1) provided with a lid (3) having an opening (4); a collar (6) having an axis (5), encircling the opening (4) and provided with an annular end rib (7); and a closing assembly (8) of the opening (4); and wherein the closing assembly (8) is provided with an adapter (9) defined by an annular body coaxial to the axis (5) and having, at one end, a first annular cavity (11) housing the rib (7), and at the other end an annular appendix (18) having an external thread and an internal annular surface (18a); and a cap (10) having a second annular cavity (20) housing the annular appendix (18); the second annular cavity (20) having an external side wall (21) that is internally threaded for screw coupling with the thread of the adapter (9), and an internal side surface (23) coupled to the internal annular surface (18a) of the annular appendix (18); and a third annular cavity (28) obtained in the annular appendix (18); the annular surface (18a) of the appendix (18) and the internal side surface (23) of the second cavity (20) being tapered towards the lid (3).

Description

The present invention relates to a sealed container.
In particular, the present invention relates to a sealed container of the type comprising a lid in which there is an opening; a collar having an axis, that encircles the opening and is provided with an annular end rib; and a closing assembly of the opening; and wherein the closing assembly comprises an adapter defined by an annular body coaxial to the axis and having, at one end, a first annular cavity housing the rib, and at the other end an annular appendix having an external thread and an internal annular surface; and a cap comprising a second annular cavity that houses the annular appendix; the second annular cavity comprising an external side wall, that is internally threaded for screw coupling with the thread of the adapter, and an internal side surface coupled to the internal annular surface of the annular appendix.
Sealed containers of the type described above are widely used as the closing assembly can be press-fitted on the opening of the container, i.e. simply by applying a force to the closing assembly towards the opening; and this type of coupling creates no particular problems and requires no particular precautions, for example to make sure the closing assembly is properly centred with respect to the opening.
For example, the patent application US-Al-2004045967 discloses a sealed container comprising an upper opening, a collar that encircles the opening and is provided with an annular end rib and a closing assembly of the opening. The closing assembly comprises, in turn, a cap which is internally threaded and an adapter defined by an annular body having, at one end, a first annular cavity housing the rib, and at the other end an annular appendix having an external thread for screw coupling with the cap.
It is important to note that the containers of the type described above can contain, for example, paint or varnish and, for many products, the container must ensure a perfect seal to prevent any undesirable leaking of the product. This problem is particularly felt when the cap is unscrewed following a first opening thereof, as the product taken from the container can soil the components of the closing assembly and, as it hardens, impair subsequent unscrewing due to the cap becoming stuck on the adapter.
The sealed containers of the type known in the prior art and described above have the drawback of not guaranteeing undeniably a perfect seal, especially on the coupling between the adapter and the cap.
The object of the present invention is to provide a sealed container, which is easy and inexpensive to produce and is able to guarantee the air-tightness and hermetic seal of the container even after a first use.
According to the present invention there is provided a sealed container according to that claimed in claim 1 and, preferably, according to that claimed in any one of the subsequent claims depending directly or indirectly on claim 1.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating some non-limiting embodiments thereof, in which:

figure 1 is a partial and exploded schematic perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the container according to the present invention;
figures 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views on an enlarged scale of a detail of figure 1 according to the prior art;
figures 4 to 9 are cross-sectional views on an enlarged scale of respective embodiments of the detail of figures 2 and 3 according to the present invention;
figures 10a to 10h are diametrical cross-sections of respective alternative embodiments of a detail of figures 4 to 9;
figure 11 is a plan view of a further detail of figures 4 to 9.

In figure 1, with numeral 1 is indicated a container made of plastic or metal material, in which a cup-shaped body 2 is closed by a lid 3 provided with an opening 4. The opening 4 has an axis 5 and is encircled by a cylindrical collar 6, an upper edge of which is folded outwards from the opening 4 to form a reinforced annular rib 7.
According to figure 2, a prior art closing assembly 8 of the opening 4 comprises a adapter 9 made of plastic and a cap 10, which is substantially capsule-shaped and made of metal material, both coaxial to the axis 5.
The adapter 9 is defined by an annular body, that is a substantially in the shape of an upturned Y and is provided, at one end thereof facing towards the lid 3, with an annular cavity 11 and is defined by two side walls 12 and 13, which are coaxial to the axis 5, and a surface 14 of an upper end. The side wall 12 comprises a receiving portion 15 increasing in thickness towards the surface 14 of the upper end and defining an opening for the rib 7, and an internal portion 16, which is engaged by the rib 7 and is joined to the receiving portion 15 by means of an annular shoulder 17. The adapter 9 also comprises an external annular appendix 18, which is coaxial to the axis 5 and comprises an external thread 19 to enable the screw coupling with the cap 10.
The cap 10 comprises a peripheral annular cavity 20 coaxial to the axis 5 and engaged by the annular appendix 18. The peripheral annular cavity 20 is defined by an external annular side wall 21, coaxial to the axis 5, of which the end facing towards the lid 3 is folded inwards so as to form a spiralled edge, which defines an internal thread 22 that couples, in use, with the external thread 19 to secure the cap 10 on the adapter 9. The peripheral annular cavity 20 is also defined by an internal side surface 23, which cooperates with an internal cylindrical surface 18a of the annular appendix 18.
The prior art container 1 illustrated in figure 3 is similar to that illustrated in figure 2 and, where possible, the same reference numbers are used to indicate their corresponding parts.
According to that illustrated in figure 3, the closing assembly 8 is defined by a plastic adapter 9 that is substantially identical to the adapter 9 of figure 2, and by a cap 10, which is substantially capsule-shaped, is also made of plastic material and is screwed onto the adapter 9.
The cap 10 comprises a main circular body 24 from which an internal annular appendix 25 and an external annular appendix 26 extend towards the lid 3 and are coaxial with respect to one another and to the axis 5 and which mutually define the peripheral annular cavity 20 engaged by the annular appendix 18 of the adapter 9. The external annular appendix 26 has an internal cylindrical surface 27 provided with the internal thread 22 which couples, in use, with the external thread 19 to secure the cap 10 on the adapter 9. A side surface 23 of the internal annular appendix 25 cooperates instead with the cylindrical surface 18a of the annular appendix 18 of the adapter 9.
In use, after introducing the product into the container 1 through the opening 4, the latter is closed by pressing the closing assembly 8 onto the collar 6. During the application of the closing assembly 8, the rib 7 engages the annular cavity 11 of the adapter 9 by means of a snap-on coupling mechanism until coming between the base surface 14 and the annular shoulder 17 to create a positive coupling between the adapter 9 and the collar 6.
As the coupling between the surfaces 18a and 23 is a sliding cylindrical coupling that creates a relatively limited seal, when the cap 10 is screwed onto the adapter 9 for subsequent uses of the container 1 it is not normally able to prevent the product from leaking out of the container 1 if the latter is not always kept in a vertical position.
This type of drawback is eliminated with the containers 1 of figures 4 to 9, in which figures 4 to 6 illustrate a first improvement, achieved according to the present invention, of the prior art container 1 illustrated in figure 2, while figures 7 to 9 illustrate a second improvement, achieved according to the present invention, of the prior art container of figure 3.
In figures 4 to 9, where possible the corresponding parts of the different embodiments are designated using the same reference numbers used in figures 2 and 3.
The only difference between the embodiments illustrated in figures 4 and 7 is that the cap 10 illustrated in figure 4 is similar to that illustrated in figure 2, while the cap 10 illustrated in figure 7 is similar to that illustrated in figure 3.
Otherwise, in the embodiments illustrated in figures 4 to 7, the adapter 9 is substantially H-shaped and comprises, at one end thereof, opposite the end provided with the annular cavity 11, an annular cavity 28. The annular cavity 28 is defined by a base surface 29 and by two annular side walls, designated respectively by numbers 30 and 31, which are coaxial to the axis 5 and engage the peripheral annular cavity 20 of the cap 10; according to figure 11, the side walls 30 and 31 are joined to one another by radial diaphragms 32 that are uniformly distributed about the axis 5 so as to define a multitude of compartments 33.
The side surface 23 of the peripheral annular cavity 20 is tapered towards the lid 3 and is divided into two cylindrical portions, designated respectively by numbers 34 and 35, which have different diameters and are joined to one another by means of an annular shoulder 36. The side surface 23 cooperates with the cylindrical surface 18a of the adapter 9, which is also tapered towards the lid 3 and is divided into two cylindrical portions, designated respectively by numbers 37 and 38, which have different diameters and are joined to one another by means of an annular shoulder 39.
The embodiment illustrated in figures 5 and 6 and the embodiment illustrated in figures 8 and 9 are identical to the embodiment illustrated in figure 4 and, respectively, to the embodiment illustrated in figure 7, from which they respectively differ in that the rib 7 of the collar 6 is folded towards the axis 5.
It is apparent that the rib 7 of the collar 6 could selectively have all the further geometrical developments illustrated in figure 10.
It is important to note that the container 1 in the various embodiments illustrated in figures 4 to 9 has numerous advantages. During the screwing of the cap 10 onto the adapter 9, the tapered shape of the internal surface 18a and of the side surface 23 make it possible to obtain an interference-free coupling (figures 6 and 9) in an initial phase of screwing the cap 10 onto the adapter 9, and to achieve the press-fitting of the appendix 18, from both the inside and the outside, inside the peripheral annular cavity 20 of the cap 10 when said cap 10 is screwed down completely (figures 4, 5, 7 and 8). Said press-fitting is made possible by the presence of the cavity 28 obtained axially in the appendix 18.
It is important to note that the compartments 33 obtained in the adapter 9 constitute a potential collection basin for the excess product each time the container 1 is used; the threads 19 and 22 of the components 9 and 10 can thus be kept clean so that the screw coupling between said two components 9 and 10 is not impaired during subsequent use.

Claims

Container (1) comprising a lid (3) having an opening (4); a collar (6) which has an axis (5) and which encircles the opening (4) and is provided with an annular end rib (7); and a closing assembly (8) of the opening (4); and wherein the closing assembly (8) comprises:
an adapter (9) defined by an annular body coaxial to the axis (5) and having, at one end, a first annular cavity (11) housing the rib (7), and at the other end an annular appendix (18) having an external thread and an internal annular surface (18a); and

a cap (10);

the container (1) being characterized in that

the cap (10) comprises a second annular cavity (20) housing the annular appendix (18); the second annular cavity (20) comprising an external side wall (21), which is internally threaded for screw coupling with the thread of the adapter (9), and an internal side surface (23) coupled to the internal annular surface (18a) of the annular appendix (18); and

the container (1) comprises a third annular cavity (28) obtained in the annular appendix (18) ; the internal annular surface (18a) of the appendix (18) and the internal side surface (23) of the second cavity (20) being tapered towards the lid (3).
Container according to claim 1, wherein the annular surface (18a) and the side surface (23) are both divided into two cylindrical portions (34, 35, 37, 38) which have different diameters and are joined to one another by means of respective annular shoulders (36, 39).
Container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the third annular cavity (28) is defined by a base surface (29) and by two annular walls (30, 31) coaxial to the axis (5).
Container according to claim 3, wherein the annular walls (30, 31) are joined by radial diaphragms (32) which are uniformly distributed about the axis (5).
Container according to claim 4, wherein the radial diaphragms (32) define a multitude of radial compartments (33) in the adapter (9).