EP3122647B1 - Crown cork closure and a closing method - Google Patents

Description

The invention comprises a cap-like closure system for containers, in particular for bottles (glass bottles), the closure system having on the inside in the region of the mold ends a deformable sealing material which closes cavities at least in the periphery of the container bottom pointing end. Bottle caps are very common and known as closures for containers, in particular for beverage bottles made of glass, esp. For beer and soft drink bottles. These consist of a circular piece of sheet metal with a crown-shaped curved edge and a sealing insert. This was initially made of cork, which provided as a compressible intermediate piece between the bottleneck and sheet metal for the necessary tightness. Today, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene (PE) are common. Furthermore, crown corks are usually coated with protective coatings for corrosion protection reasons.

The most common crown cork has 21 points, the advantage of the odd number of teeth is that they are not directly opposite and thus prevents tilting in the feed units.

Crown corks are placed on the container by means of capping machine, which leads with the aid of, for example. A magnetic stamp supplied crown cork and presses it on the bottle neck. At the same time a cylindrical area around the crown cork lowers, which ensures that the serrated edge is bent over or around the mouth area of the container is crimped.

The DE 4018121 A1 discloses such a method for closing containers in which crown corks are sealed onto the mouth end of a container to form a sealing press fit between the closure element and the container, wherein in a first closing phase a preliminary clamping connection and in a subsequent closing phase the final sealing press fit is produced. In this case, the preliminary clamping connection of the closure element with the container is produced by plastically deforming the crown cork. The closing process according to the DE 4 018121 A1 is multi-level, with different, ie increasing closure forces. Another Kronkorkenverschließer is in the DE 4036306 A1 discloses in which a stapling head is provided which has the above, for flanging the crown cork edge movable pin elements. In this case, a pneumatic drive device is provided for generating a feed movement for the stapling head.

A particularly hygienic device is used in the DE 35 15 334 A1 discloses, in which case the closure of the container takes place in a sterile room, which is generated by means of a protective gas. Furthermore, from the US 2,974,816 A a closure system according to the preamble of claim 1 with a crown cap known, which does not bear sealingly against the upper edge of the mouth, but in which at its outer edge a peripheral to the container neck seal is provided in the form of an elastic material.

The US 3 261 895 A also discloses a crown cap, which is provided for better tightness with a foamable material in its top wall.

Even if the method and the devices customary for this purpose are widely used, there is a problem in that the container mouth is frequently wetted with product during the filling process directly in front of the capper, which then spoils in the cavity which results below the applied and crimped crown cap teeth can be done by mold growth. In any case, the spaces below the crown cork form a partially open cavity in which contamination is unavoidable and with which the consumer comes in contact with the lips.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide a closure system which has improved hygienic properties.

This object is achieved according to the invention with a closure system comprising a deformable sealing material on the inside in the region of the mold ends, which closes the cavities at least in the circumference of the end facing the container bottom, and is further carried out according to claim 1. In such a cap-like closure system for containers, crown caps are provided which a variety of serrated or tooth-like shape ends, as alternately elevations and depressions or valley sections, have. These are usually of an odd number, to avoid blockages in the transport routes. These crown corks are at least partially formed of a metallic and / or aluminum-containing material (basic body) and may comprise an inner coating of one or more layers (rubber, plastic) to improve the sealing between the container mouth and the underside of the crown cork. The bottle cap is shaped so that

the mold ends according to the intended, the mouth of the container closing deformation, the generally known corrugated or jagged radial contour, so that one or more cavities between the outer mouth close container surface and the mold ends are formed, wherein in the region of the mold ends, a deformable sealing material is provided which closes the aforementioned cavities. The cavity closure does not have to be complete in the axial direction, but at least a ring-shaped or annular closure or sealing element is achieved in the circumferential direction.

The sealing material is applied to the base body. This combination of the sealing material and the main body of the crown cap can be done immediately before or in the capper, so that body and sealing material from two different Vorhalte- and supply or transfer systems provided and connected to a single closure (bottle caps) before applying to the bottle ,

In order to be as universally usable as possible, the sealing material in the blank of the base body is ideally introduced into the near-valley valleys of the inside, that it does not or only slightly surmounted the raised portions. Ideally, the sealing material should not protrude beyond the main body in the region of the elevations on the inside perpendicular more than 1 mm, ideally, the material overhang of the sealing material should be in the range of 0 to 0.5 mm and priority is to choose a range of less than 0.2 mm ,

Such small or missing protrusions of sealing material on the body inside prevent shearing during placement and closing by the usual sealing tools and also a secure attachment of the body without a larger geometry or otherwise changed design of the body is required.

In this case, as the inside of the base body that side which points in the intended position in the direction of the container mouth or rests there. Thus, the outside of the body is the corresponding other side the main body and carries esp. In the central area regularly a decor, a logo and / or a logo to address end consumers. In a non-inventive example, the sealing material may be a rubber or foam material, esp. A rubber or foam-like material whose outer surface in the ratio of the inner surface has no or substantially no pores to complicate the incorporation of impurities. In this case, a germicidal or proliferation-inhibiting ingredient may be added to the sealing material, such as silver, zinc or copper particles or other permissible substances.

In a particularly advantageous (but not according to the invention) embodiment, the sealing material is formed as a disc-shaped or plate-like shaped piece in the manner of a sealing pad, which has at least two more or less concentric areas. One area is the radially outer area (edge area), which is formed as a bead-like rim or sealing contour. This may be suitably contoured to match the forming ends, i. also have a tooth-like structure. The inner area forms the shallower middle part, which forms the mouth seal on top of the container. This may possibly have a mating to the container muzzle pad or contouring, as a muzzle seal.

The sealing pad can be so connected to the base itself or attached to this or be (before the closure of the container) that the sealing pad over the entire surface of the body rests, that is fixed in position, for example. By gluing. Alternatively it can be provided that only a partial surface of the inner and / or the outer region is fixed in position on the base body, so that stretching or movement in the material of the sealing pad is easily possible to achieve an optimum sealing position. According to the invention, a sealing material is used which is an activatable material in terms of volume. In this case, the term "activatable" is to be understood below as meaning that the sealing material has a first volume size (expansion) before or during the attachment of the main body or the cap-like closure system, and that a second volume size due to force change and / or energy input (Extension) can be initiated. Thus, the crown corks occupied with a small volume of sealing material can be stored and transported in a space-saving and esp. Manner without damaging the softer sealing material as loose goods. The desired increase in volume for the ideal closure of the unwanted cavities is caused by the mechanical deformation of the crown caps and the closure of the container. Alternatively, this activation and enlargement can also take place in the feed path of the crown cork to the container, if this is already present in an at least partially determined position and / or orientation.

In this case, the activation takes place in particular by the entry of heat energy by the sealing material expands under the influence of heat and / or melts, so that all capillaries and cavities filling spatial redistribution occurs. In this case, the main body of the crown cap can be heated by contact heating, radiator or inductively, so that by means of heat conduction, the sealing material is indirectly heated.

Since, in particular, in the case of glass bottles, these are cold after being filled through the product, as a rule in a temperature range below 15 ° C., in particular below 10 ° C., it may be advantageous for the heat to be in a very limited range from vertically from above is introduced into the material of the crown cork, namely the opening of the container covering portion, so that no or only a very small heat input into the surface of the container takes place, esp. The sealing material also serves as a thermal insulation.

Alternatively (but not in the context of the invention), the sealing material may have a so-called memo effect, which is that a compressed, reduced volume shape after pressure reduction is retained for a while or the original, enlarged volume shape is slowly sought again. The reduction in volume can be made such that the sealing material of the bottle caps is briefly pressed in the supply line to the container or the crown corks and the sealing material are stored under pressure or pressure that the volume reduction in the sorting and Zuleitsystem to the capper or container is already given. Here are, for example, materials made of a polyurethane or this comprehensive materials to call. The reformation process can also be done by means of energy input supported or accelerated in a comparable manner, where executed above. According to the invention the sealing material is one or more orders of a hot and / or hot melt adhesive, which is then at least partially fused after deformation and closing by a suitable energy input. In this case, in particular, a hot melt adhesive can be provided, which is softer and more elastic before the aforementioned heating, as after the fusion (embrittlement, curing). So that the opening of the crown cork or container, generates a kind of breakage in the adhesive, which can be perceived optically light by the consumer in particular. An improvement of the cap-like closure system of all of the aforementioned variants is that the sealing material is radially beyond the shaping ends, that this free sealing material forms a kind of circlip or ring, which must be injured when opening the container because he eg partially deformed, breaks and / or splits. Thus, the sealing material also serves as a tamper-proof and Hygienenachweis. The hygiene can be further improved if the sealing material at least partially contains germicidal or germ-inhibiting substances, such as, for example, silver or copper compounds or other known chemicals.

In this case, the sealing material can additionally be acted upon at least partially, ie spatially limited, so that the sealing material hardens or embrittles more strongly in this area or altogether. If necessary, such an effect can take place by means of UV radiation, further energy input, cold shock or in any other suitable manner.

In one variant, the sealing material contains, for example, components that are UV-curable. In this case, a chemical reaction takes place during the curing by a UV polymerization. Namely, are provided in the sealing material, possibly only in the edge region, photoinitiators that occur in the initial form in a double bond. If a UV radiation is introduced by means of emitters, the photoinitiators are activated, whereby the double-bond of the photoinitiators is broken by the high-energy UV radiation, so that free radicals form and a non-reversible crosslinking with, for example, fillers and binders to macromolecules takes place. This results in a hardening and embrittlement.

Thus, a method for closing containers with a cap-like closure system according to one of the previous embodiments is also included, in which after the step of deformation of the forming ends followed by a recovery and / or activation step, in which by pressure relief or indirectly via energy input into the crown cap or directly by energy input into exposed surfaces of the sealing material, an at least temporary change in shape and / or state of the sealing material is caused. This is usually an increase in volume of the sealing material, in which the cavities are closed.

An improvement is that after the deformation and activation of the sealing material, the sealing material projects with a ring or coronary region, the free forming ends axially out and by the activation and / or by an additional treatment step the outstanding, free sealing material so esp. Also is enlarged in the radial direction that this covers the axially downwardly facing edges of the crown cap and thus forms a ring or ring below the free forming ends, which ideally has the same or a larger outer circumference, as the largest outer circumference of the forming ends in the deformed closure state.

Another improvement with regard to the avoidance of mechanical injury possibilities is that the outer valley portions of the closure element are filled with a flexible filler material in whole or in part. In this case, this filling material should not project beyond the raised teeth in order not to be deported by the closing tool during the deformation of the basic body. This filler material could be an analogous material to the aforementioned sealing materials and in particular also be activated.

Alternatively or additionally, it is also possible that the radially outer edges of the base body are covered with an edge material, such as, for example, a sealing wax or a heating or hot melt adhesive. This edge material forms an optically advantageous mechanical protective edge on the lower edge of the main body after mounting on a container. By means of a thermal aftertreatment, the edge protection can be smoothed out in an analogous manner and finished as a manipulation safeguard.

For machine-side realization of the aforementioned embodiments, the corresponding units, such as heaters, radiators, compressors, etc. are provided, which are arranged in a suitable manner. For the possibly very small area heating or irradiation advantageously laser and / or lens systems are provided.

For example, energy-rich lasers which are directed from obliquely down onto free surfaces of the adhesive application and / or which are directed radially only onto the region of the molding ends under which the adhesive application is arranged are particularly advantageously suitable for fusion of a hot-melt adhesive.

The other known process steps before and after the capper can be correspondingly combined in an analogous manner as needed. These are suitable inspection and control units before and / or after the capper, cleaning and Hygienisierungseinheiten to suck the contaminants and possibly make a sterilization of the closures. In particular, it is advantageous to provide a closure inspection after the capper, which checks the proper closure quality and the presence of the crown cap and optionally produced retaining rings below the crown cap

As feeding systems are known units which transport the closures to the capper while taking into account the orientation and location and set. The desired directional orientation is maintained in such transport units. Furthermore, the transition of the bottle cap to the capper via pick & place station (s), via blowing devices or other suitable elements.

If necessary, an orifice shower can be provided before the actual closing step in order, for example, to wash away foam residues

The capper itself has known capping heads that can apply the described crown cap. The capper is advantageously a capper in a circumferential design with a plurality of capper stations, each comprising at least one closure tool. An alternative is that the closure tool, by means of which the base body is formed on the container mouth and this is closed, serves as a heat energy-conducting or -übertragendes element by this example. Is formed for inductive heat transfer or even inductively heated.

In an alternative embodiment, the energy input (esp. The thermal energy input) takes place additionally or solely in a treatment station, which is arranged downstream of the capper, wherein the means for energy input correspond to the aforementioned means. For uniform energy input, it is advantageous if the container to be treated is rotated about its vertical axis during transport in the treatment section, wherein the closure and the container mouth are exposed. The devices for energy transfer, for example. Heating elements, spotlights, etc., for example, can be arranged next to the transport path of the container.

For example, if the container is enclosed with an energizing gripper, rotation is not required. Thus, advantageously, the activation of the sealing material could be carried out on a discharge conveyor, esp. An outlet star with suitable heatable head and mouth grippers.

In this case, a curing and / or embrittlement unit is advantageously provided after the capper position or unit, but this may also be an integral part of the capper station, which is activated as required, i. can be switched on.

Claims (10)

1. Cap-like closure system for containers, which comprises a crown cork as a basic body exhibiting a plurality of prong-like or tooth-like shaped ends, formed at least partially from a metallic and/or aluminium-containing material, and an inner side intended for contact with the container and an outer side, wherein the basic body of the crown cork is shaped in such a way that, after the appropriate forming process to close the mouth of the container, the shaped ends form one or more hollow spaces between the outer container surface and the shaped ends, wherein a deformable sealing material is provided on the inner side in the region of the shaped ends, which closes the hollow spaces at least in the circumference of the ends facing towards the container base,
   characterised in that
   the sealing material is one or more applications of a hot adhesive and/or melt adhesive, and is a material which can be activated in order to increase its volume.
2. Cap-like closure system according to claim 1, characterised in that the sealing material projects radially over the shaped ends.
3. Cap-like closure system according to any preceding claims, characterised in that the sealing material projects over the basic body in the region of elevations on the inner side perpendicularly by not more than 1 mm, ideally only by 0 to 0.5 mm.
4. Cap-like closure system according to any preceding claims, characterised in that the sealing material contains at least area by area a bacterial inhibiting or bactericidal substance.
5. Cap-like closure system according to any preceding claims, characterised in that valley sections of the shaped ends on the outside of the base body are occupied at least partially with a filling material and/or the outer edge of the basic body is occupied by an edge material.
6. Method for the closing of containers with a cap-like closure system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the containers and the crown corks are conveyed, characterised in that after the step of shaping the shaped ends, an activation step follows, with which, indirectly by the introduction of energy into the crown cork or directly by the introduction of energy into exposed surfaces of the sealing material, an increase in the volume of the sealing material is incurred.
7. Method according to claim 6, characterised in that the introduction of energy takes place in a transport station and/or treatment station downstream of the closure device.
8. Method according to claim 7, characterised in that the introduction of energy takes place during a continuous transport of the containers.
9. Method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterised in that the change of shape and/or state of the sealing material takes place in such a way that, after the deformation and after the activation, projecting sealing material covers the free shaped ends radially, and therefore forms a ring or rim beneath the free shaped ends.
10. Method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterised in that the sealing material is applied onto the basic body of the crown cork, wherein the step of bringing together the sealing material and the basic body takes place directly before or in the closure device, wherein the basic body and sealing material are provided from two different retention and storage units, and are conveyed by corresponding delivery or transfer systems to a connecting unit, and there, before application onto the respective container, are connected to form one single closure element (crown cork).