EP4100335A1 - Hinged stopper - Google Patents
Hinged stopperInfo
- Publication number
- EP4100335A1 EP4100335A1 EP21751336.5A EP21751336A EP4100335A1 EP 4100335 A1 EP4100335 A1 EP 4100335A1 EP 21751336 A EP21751336 A EP 21751336A EP 4100335 A1 EP4100335 A1 EP 4100335A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- stopper
- tongue
- knurls
- closure shell
- gap
- 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.)
- Pending
Links
- 239000004033 plastic Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 25
- 230000002093 peripheral effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 10
- 210000002105 tongue Anatomy 0.000 claims description 72
- 238000007789 sealing Methods 0.000 description 10
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 7
- 230000000295 complement effect Effects 0.000 description 6
- 238000000465 moulding Methods 0.000 description 6
- 239000011324 bead Substances 0.000 description 4
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 description 3
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000002537 cosmetic Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000035622 drinking Effects 0.000 description 1
- 210000003811 finger Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 239000012530 fluid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000007769 metal material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004806 packaging method and process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 210000003813 thumb Anatomy 0.000 description 1
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
- B65D55/00—Accessories for container closures not otherwise provided for
- B65D55/16—Devices preventing loss of removable closure members
-
- 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
- B65D41/00—Caps, e.g. crown caps or crown seals, i.e. members having parts arranged for engagement with the external periphery of a neck or wall defining a pouring opening or discharge aperture; Protective cap-like covers for closure members, e.g. decorative covers of metal foil or paper
- B65D41/32—Caps or cap-like covers with lines of weakness, tearing-strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices, e.g. to facilitate formation of pouring openings
-
- 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
- B65D41/00—Caps, e.g. crown caps or crown seals, i.e. members having parts arranged for engagement with the external periphery of a neck or wall defining a pouring opening or discharge aperture; Protective cap-like covers for closure members, e.g. decorative covers of metal foil or paper
- B65D41/32—Caps or cap-like covers with lines of weakness, tearing-strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices, e.g. to facilitate formation of pouring openings
- B65D41/34—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt
- B65D41/3423—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt with flexible tabs, or elements rotated from a non-engaging to an engaging position, formed on the tamper element or in the closure skirt
- B65D41/3428—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt with flexible tabs, or elements rotated from a non-engaging to an engaging position, formed on the tamper element or in the closure skirt the tamper element being integrally connected to the closure by means of bridges
-
- 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
- B65D2251/00—Details relating to container closures
- B65D2251/10—Details of hinged closures
- B65D2251/1008—Means for locking the closure in open position
-
- 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
- B65D2401/00—Tamper-indicating means
- B65D2401/15—Tearable part of the closure
- B65D2401/30—Tamper-ring remaining connected to closure after initial removal
Definitions
- the present invention relates to the field of liquid packaging, wherein it is very common to seal the aperture of a container with a stopper as “caps”.
- Such container is an individual object.
- the container is usually made of plastic, glass or metal material.
- the container can be a bottle filled with a fluid or a liquid, especially of a food or a cosmetic product.
- the stopper can be made of metal or plastic material. According to the invention, the stopper is made from plastic material. A plastic stopper is mainly obtained through a molding process.
- the tamper band of a stopper comprises an inner annular bead, located at a bottom part.
- Such inner bead cooperates with an outer annular ring made on the bottle neck.
- the bead goes over the outer ring and gets engaged under the outer ring in order to lock the tamper band relative to the bottle neck. So, when opening, the tamper band remains locked on the bottle neck and only the closure shell is moved up. During the opening, the bridges of the weakness line are torn apart from the closure shell, which is separated from the tamper band and the bottle neck.
- a snap type stopper comprises inner annular area and the bottle neck fixation feature comprises outer fixation ring, in order to slot in force the stopper on the bottle neck.
- a snap type stopper comprises a closure with a movable sealing roof from a closing position to a part opening, and reversely. The roof may be separating upon opening or may remain connected with the closure shell.
- the stopper can be of the screw type with a snap roof.
- the weakness line is broken to separate the closure shell from the tamper band.
- the consumer upwardly pushes with a finger, especially the thumb, against an edge of the roof diametrically located at the opposite of the hinge. So the roof is raised up and pivots around the hinge. After opening, the roof remains attached thanks to the hinge to the tamper band, which is secured on the container neck.
- Known stopper has one or two hinge(s) made of a peripheral wall of the stopper.
- the top end of the hinge(s) is linked to the bottom edge of the closure shell and the bottom end of the hinge(s) is linked to the top edge of the tamper band. So each side of the hinge(s) connected to the weakness line. In the case of two hinges, they are angularly spaced by a vertical gap into the closure shell.
- a know solution consists of a stopper with a closure shell comprising a rear tongue.
- the gap is especially shaped as an inverted “U”, with two vertical lateral parts top linked by a slit, delimiting a middle area.
- the roof pivots until the tongue cooperates under the slit against the outer surface of the middle area, to secure the closure shell into the opening position.
- the opening path of the roof can be more than 180° from the closing position. So the roof secured does not interfere anymore with the aperture of the bottle neck in the open position.
- a drawback of a stopper with a rear tongue is that the known tool is not designed to receive the rear tongue.
- the inner walls of the tool must be modified with a hollow complementary shaped to engage the tongue.
- the hollow must be angularly positioned to face to tongue by rotating the tool relative to the stopper (or reversely) when engaging the tool on the stopper; such operation is difficult to implement industrially.
- An object of the present invention is to improve a plastic stopper which of a screw type with a movable roof of a closure shell linked to a tamper band through hinge(s) spaced with a gap comprising a middle area.
- the roof comprises a tongue located over the hinge(s), especially over the middle area to cooperate against the outer surface of the middle area into a secured open position of the closure shell.
- the stopper also comprises knurls distributed around the peripheral wall of the closure shell. The knurls are shaped to be engaged into a complementary tool.
- the stopper according to the invention comprises:
- the two hinges pivotably link the bottom edge of the closure shell and the top edge of the tamper band;
- the tongue(s) outwardly and laterally extends from the roof, the tongue(s) is located over the middle area of the gap;
- the knurls are distributed around a peripheral wall of the closure shell;
- the tongue(s) is shaped alike one of the knurls.
- the gap has an inverted “U” shape, a “U” shape, an ⁇ ” shape or a double “I” shape.
- the middle area comprises one or several portion(s) of the knurls.
- FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic top view of the stopper of the figure 1 ;
- FIG 6 is a diagrammatic perspective rear view of a stopper according to a second embodiment
- FIG 7 is a diagrammatic top view of the stopper of the figure 6;
- FIG 8 is a diagrammatic rear view of the stopper of the figure 6;
- FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic lateral view of the stopper according to the first embodiment, into an opened secured position of the closure shell;
- FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic lateral view of the stopper according to the first improvement of the second embodiment
- FIG 13 is a diagrammatic rear view of the stopper according to a third improvement of the second embodiment. Detailed Description
- phrases such as 'configured to' perform a function can include any or all of being sized, shaped, positioned in the arrangement, and comprising material to perform the function.
- the stopper 1 is made of a plastic material.
- the stopper 1 globally has a tubular shape.
- the stopper 1 is made of one or several plastic piece(s). Especially the stopper 1 is integrally made of one plastic piece by a molding fabrication step. Other parts or elements of the stopper 1 can be created into the plastic piece through a cutting or slitting step during the manufacturing process.
- the stopper 1 comprises a closure shell 2 and a tamper band 4.
- the closure shell 2 and the tamper band 4 are linked together, the tamper band 4 being top connected around the bottom of the closure shell 2.
- the stopper 1 comprises a weakness line 6 with bridges 8.
- the bridges 8 separably link a bottom edge of the closure shell 2 and a top edge of the tamper band 4.
- the bridges 8 are distributed almost all along the weakness line 6, regularly or not.
- the bridges 8 are torn until they break when opening the closure shell 2.
- the bridges 8 are made during the molding step or after through a cutting or slitting step of the weakness line 6.
- the tamper band 4 internally comprises retaining features.
- the retaining features secure the stopper 1 when sealing the bottle neck.
- the retaining features can form a collar. Usually, after the collar is inverted inside the tamper band, in bottle sealing the collar locks the tamper band 4 and the entire stopper 1 against a tamper evident ring outwardly located around the bottle neck.
- the retaining features can also be an inner bead, made when molding, that do not need to be inverted like the collar.
- the stopper 1 further comprises knurls 18.
- the knurls 18 are distributed around a peripheral wall of the closure shell 2.
- the knurls 18 are distributed around the stopper 1 in a regularly way or not.
- the knurls 18 are almost vertically or vertically orientated. Two adjacent knurls 18 are regularly spaced apart.
- the knurls 18 are almost identical and have the same shape, the same dimensions (height, width and thickness). Some knurls 18 can be shorter or less high, in order to position the stopper 1 relative to the tool thanks to typically a vision system.
- Such knurls 18 are designed to cooperate with a tool, also called “capping chuck”, used to apply the stopper on the bottle neck.
- a tool also called “capping chuck”, used to apply the stopper on the bottle neck.
- the tool comprises inner complementary grooves and is shaped to engage the stopper 1 from top to bottom.
- the cooperation between the knurls 18 and the grooves block any angularly free movement of the stopper 1. So when rotating the tool or the bottle neck, the stopper 1 is screwed on a bottle neck in order to seal the aperture, until the retaining features of the tamper band 4 engages with the ring of the bottle neck.
- the stopper 1 can be of a snap type, without thread(s) but with inner retaining features of the closure shell 2 and/or of the roof, which is movable through the hinges 10.
- the stopper 1 comprises at least one gap 12.
- the at least one gap 12 is located between the two hinges 10. So the two hinges 10 are spaced apart and the gap 12 is located on a side of each hinge facing the other hinge 10.
- the gap 12 has a shape with a middle area 22.
- the gap 12 has a “U” shape like, an inverted “U” shape, an ⁇ ” shape or a double “I” shape.
- the gap has an inverted “U” shape.
- the inverted “U” shape gap also comprises a slit 14.
- the slit 14 is managed into a horizontal part of the inverted “U” shape of the gap 12.
- the gap 12 also comprises two vertical or almost vertical parts, which are laterally located.
- the protruding shape of the tongue(s) 16 relative to the roof of the closure shell 2 allows the tongue(s) 16 to cooperate below the slit 14 against the middle area 22 until the closure shell 2 comes into a totally opened position blocked into an angular position, more than 180° relative to its closure position.
- the folding of the hinges 10 combined with the cooperation of the tongue(s) confer a bistable position of the closure shell 2, especially into the opening position.
- the tongue(s) 16 perfectly fits with the inner grooves of the tool, when the stopper 1 is engage therein.
- the tool can be similar to a normal one, as the tool is symmetrical relative to a center point. Moreover, the tool and the stopper 1 can be engaged together whatever the angularly position relative from one to each other.
- the knurls 18 has a width and the tongue(s) 16 has a width, the width of the tongue(s) is almost the same as the width of the knurls 18. So the tongue(s) 16 has almost the same width as the knurls. In other words, each tongue 16 has the same or less angular length than a knurl 18. So the tongue(s) 16 can insert into the grooves of the tool.
- the knurls 18 has a thickness and the tongue(s) 16 has thickness, the thickness of the tongue(s) 16 is almost the same as the thickness of the knurls 18. So the tongue(s) 16 has almost the same thickness as the knurls 18. In other words, each tongue 16 has the same or less radial length than a knurl 18. So the tongue(s) 16 can insert into the grooves of the tool.
- the tongue(s) 16 As the tongue(s) 16 is located at the top edge of the stopper 1 in an aligned way with the surface of the roof, with the gap 12 and the slit 14 just underneath, the tongue(s) 16 has a smaller height than the knurls 18.
- the expression “almost” relating to above dimensions is considered as strictly identical or a little bit more or less depending on the required space to engage the tool when sealing the stopper 1 on the bottle neck.
- the spacing can be approximately between 0.05mm to 1 mm.
- the stopper 1 comprises only one tongue 16. As especially visible on figure 1 and 4, the one tongue 16 is centered relative to the gap 12. So the one tongue 16 is located at the most distal point relative to the center of the stopper 1.
- the tongue 16 can be located at another angular position, as the one tongue 16 is still located over the slit 14.
- the inverted “U” shape of the gap 12 comprises a middle area 22 under the slit 14. So such middle area 22 is connected to the tamper band 4 and the top edge cooperates with the tongue(s) 16 to secured the closure shell 2 into the open position.
- the middle area 22 comprises one or several portion(s) 20 of the knurls 18. The portion(s) 20 is vertically aligned with the tongue(s) 16. So the forces applied by the grooves of the tool on the tongue(s) 16 are also distributed to the portion(s) 20.
- the top end of the tongue(s) 16 cooperates with a top edge of the portion(s) 20 to secure the closure shell 2 into the opened position. So the portion(s) 20 is located on a bottom portion of the middle area 22, under the contact surface of the end of the tongue(s) 16 in the opened position.
- Such improvement is shown in figure 11.
- Such first improvement can be combined with the first embodiment such as shown in figure 5, or the second embodiment, such as shown in figure 9.
- the bottom end of the tongue(s) 16 cooperates with a bottom edge of the portion(s) 20 to secure the closure shell 2 into the opened position.
- the portion(s) 20 are interrupted. So the portion(s) 20 has a top part and a bottom part vertically spaced, so that the end of the tongue(s) 16 cooperates into the interruption of the portion(s) 20.
- Such third improvement can be combined with the first embodiment or the second embodiment, such as shown in figure 13.
- the stopper 1 comprises one tongue 16 and the middle area 22 comprises one portion 20 of one knurl 18.
- the one tongue 16 and the one portion 20 are vertically aligned.
- the stopper 1 comprises three tongue(s) 16.
- the stopper 1 comprises three portions 20. Each of the three portions 20 is located and vertically aligned under each of the three tongues 16.
- the stopper 1 comprises less or more portions 20 and correspondent tongues 16.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Closures For Containers (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US202062971273P | 2020-02-07 | 2020-02-07 | |
PCT/IB2021/050574 WO2021156704A1 (en) | 2020-02-07 | 2021-01-26 | Hinged stopper |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP4100335A1 true EP4100335A1 (en) | 2022-12-14 |
EP4100335A4 EP4100335A4 (en) | 2024-02-28 |
Family
ID=77199792
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP21751336.5A Pending EP4100335A4 (en) | 2020-02-07 | 2021-01-26 | Hinged stopper |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20230056087A1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP4100335A4 (en) |
CA (1) | CA3163971A1 (en) |
MX (1) | MX2022008888A (en) |
WO (1) | WO2021156704A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US11993436B2 (en) * | 2019-04-15 | 2024-05-28 | Alpla Werke Alwin Lehner Gmbh & Co. Kg | Container closure |
Family Cites Families (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
UA57867C2 (en) * | 1998-12-04 | 2003-07-15 | Л Енд М Сервісис Б.В. | Sealing closure cap for a container with fixing flange |
EP1319605A1 (en) * | 2001-12-14 | 2003-06-18 | GEFIT S.p.A. | Push - pull type closure for containers |
ITFI20030282A1 (en) * | 2003-11-05 | 2005-05-06 | Viroplastic S R L | CAPS WITH INTERNAL THREAD FOR BEVERAGE BOTTLES |
MX2010000062A (en) * | 2007-06-22 | 2010-06-01 | Si Joong Kwon | Container with anti-loss and anti-idle-rotation cap. |
CA3082235A1 (en) | 2017-12-15 | 2019-06-20 | Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. | Closure cap for a container |
-
2021
- 2021-01-26 MX MX2022008888A patent/MX2022008888A/en unknown
- 2021-01-26 US US17/797,099 patent/US20230056087A1/en active Pending
- 2021-01-26 CA CA3163971A patent/CA3163971A1/en active Pending
- 2021-01-26 EP EP21751336.5A patent/EP4100335A4/en active Pending
- 2021-01-26 WO PCT/IB2021/050574 patent/WO2021156704A1/en unknown
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20230056087A1 (en) | 2023-02-23 |
MX2022008888A (en) | 2022-08-15 |
EP4100335A4 (en) | 2024-02-28 |
CA3163971A1 (en) | 2021-08-12 |
WO2021156704A1 (en) | 2021-08-12 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION HAS BEEN MADE |
|
PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
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STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: REQUEST FOR EXAMINATION WAS MADE |
|
17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 20220705 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A1 Designated state(s): AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR |
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DAV | Request for validation of the european patent (deleted) | ||
DAX | Request for extension of the european patent (deleted) | ||
A4 | Supplementary search report drawn up and despatched |
Effective date: 20240130 |
|
RIC1 | Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant |
Ipc: B65D 41/32 20060101ALI20240124BHEP Ipc: B65D 55/16 20060101AFI20240124BHEP |
|
RAP1 | Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred) |
Owner name: TETRA LAVAL HOLDINGS & FINANCE S.A. |