ES2239204T3 - CLOSURE OF PERFORATION AND CUTTING. - Google Patents

Abstract

A plastics closure (1) for a container of the type having an opening sealed by a thin severable membrane. Rotation of the closure with respect to the container is used to effect separation of a panel of the membrane from the remainder of the container. The closure end plate (20) is provided with opening means (30) which include piercing means (65) to pierce through the membrane, and cutting means (70) to cut through the membrane as the closure is rotated. In addition the opening means have retaining means (75) which lift and retain the panel as it is separated. The end plate (20) is movable from a stable raised position to a stable lowered position with respect to the membrane to effect piercing. <IMAGE> <IMAGE>

Description

Closure of drilling and cutting.

The present invention generally relates to a plastic closure for a container of the type that has a laminar closure member such as a thin sectional membrane which defines and seals an opening, and a closure of plastic material of this class in which means are provided in the closure itself to open the container The present invention deals more particularly of a closure of plastic material in which it is used the rotation with respect to the container to effect a separation to the less partial of the laminar closure member with respect to the rest of the container.

An example of this type of closure system is a cylindrical container closed at one end to define a base and sealed at the other end by a laminar closure member, for example an aluminum foil panel or the like. In the past, they have been conveniently arranged in the material closure itself plastic opening means to separate the panel from the rest of the container. For example, it is known from US Pat. No. 6039198 the arrangement of cutting or drilling means in a plastic material closure.

For any such system to succeed it is preferable that the separation of the laminar closure member from the Rest of the container is as simple as possible. It also observes by the inventor that the removal of the closing member Laminating the container is an important step. If the panel sectioned of the laminar closure member is simply pushed towards the inside the container or does not separate completely, this could hinder access to the contents of the container and the user can who does not want to risk contaminating the content of the container by the introduction of the sectioned panel.

In many closures of plastic material of the prior art these cutting means or of general type drilling on an upper surface of the closures of plastic material. For example, many tubes are sealed with a sheet panel that is perforated using a spike or the like arranged on an upper surface of the closures. When desired open, the container closure is removed to expose the panel sheet and inverted before drilling through the panel.

In the present invention the opening means can be arranged in any suitable part of the closure, by example on an upper surface, so that the closure is invest before opening takes place. However it is it is preferable that the opening means are arranged in the inside the closure so that they are not exposed to the atmosphere before they enter the container during opening, so that a normal screwdriver movement can be used to cut the blade When this is the case, it is clear that the means of opening must be separated from the laminar closure member during transport and storage and must be selectively attachable to make the opening. The document EP-A-0937653, which describes a closure according to the preamble of claim 1, and the document US-A-5,082,136 expose a closure of plastic material of this class.

Consequently, a closure of plastic material for a container of the type that has an opening sealed by a laminar closure member. The extreme plate of closure carries an opening element, or a plurality of them, which they have drilling means to drill through the member of laminar closure and cutting means to cut through the member of laminar closure as the material closure is rotated plastic with respect to the container; the opening elements they also include retention means to lift and retain the panel of the laminar closure member during or after cutting. Further, the end plate is mobile from a stable high position to a stable lowering position with respect to the closing member laminate to drill. The closure is characterized because the retention means comprise a surface circumferentially inclined that extends upward moving away from a leading edge that is below the plane of the laminar closure member when the end plate is in the lowered position, to raise and retain the member panel of laminar closure on the closure as it is rotated.

The opening elements are thus mobile between an elevated retracted position and an extended lowered position. In the raised position the opening elements remain above of the laminar closure member, and in the lowered position at least part of the opening means are kept below the member to the extent that drilling is required and allow a subsequent cut, elevation and retention of the member of closure as the plastic material closure is rotated with relation to the vessel

Therefore, it is a feature of the present invention that both the separation and withdrawal steps are make the closure of plastic material on its own and, in addition, that perform using only the closing rotation with respect to container.

The presence of the retention means simplifies the opening of the container, and has the benefit additional removal of the laminar closure member without requiring an additional participation by the user.

The end plate may be surrounded by a annular band that is mobile between stable positions inclined towards up and down to allow the end plate to move between the raised and lowered positions.

The end plate can be rigid; This allows apply one off directly to the panel, which then transfers the force to the opening elements.

A spring action arrangement is preferred for the end plate. This means that the force necessary to completely move the plate from its raised position to its Lowered position must be overcome before the plate moves. This It is particularly useful in situations where the member of laminar closure is formed by a material that is probably will stretch when pressure is applied by a tool drilling. It is more likely that a sharp sharp movement from a drilling tool cleanly drill the material. An additional advantage of this push-button arrangement is that it only requires movement from the end plate and not since the closing.

During the movement of the elements of opening from the raised position to the lowered position of the end plate, these are preferably substantially perpendicular to the laminar closure member at least at the point of contact, since this is ideal for drilling. If of a flat rigid end plate, the teeth would therefore be positioned perpendicular to the panel and plate movement it would be perpendicular to the laminar closure member. However, it could use a tilt away from the perpendicular to get other benefits such as better panel retention cut laminate. A flexible convex end plate would change the inclination of the teeth as it moves and would require thus a proper initial inclination to guarantee the perpendicularity in the contact position.

In a preferred embodiment the elements of opening comprise a projection similar to a tooth or a plurality thereof.

The drilling means, the cutting means and the retention means may all be formed in the element of opening or in the same of these elements. In this case, all The elements can be identical to simplify production. Although the principle of the present invention is applicable to all containers of this general type, a preferred embodiment uses a screw thread coupling to secure the cover to container. Of course, others could apply equally well. systems of this class, for example a coupling coupling by spring.

When a plurality of elements is present opening, these can be arranged around or next to the periphery of the end plate of the closure. This maximizes the size of the opening created from the size of the closure. Of course, the elements could be arranged some distance from the periphery, which would result in the removal of one more panel Small laminar closure member. In practice, the positioning of the elements will be dictated by the size required of the opening and the size of the end plate of the closing.

The opening means can be formed as a integral part of the closure although, of course, it will be understood that they could also be formed as a separate and detachable element that It can be fixed before opening the container.

An advantage of such systems is the evidence Externally obvious visual that the container has been opened. Since the end plate moves from an elevated position to a lowered, the distinction between raised and lowered positions provides a characteristic of tamper evidence fraudulent Additionally, a band of evidence may be available of frangible removable fraudulent manipulation of the closure of plastic material when it is removed from the container, activating to indicate that the means of opening.

The present invention of a present invention will now be described. more particularly, by way of example, with reference to attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a closure of plastic material according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the closure of figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross section of the closure of figure 2 taken along the line III-III;

Figure 4 is a cross section taken at along line III-III of figure 2 when the opening means are in the lowered position;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the closure of figure 1 with the opening means shown in a lowered position;

Figure 6 is an enlarged side view of a opening element arranged in the closure of plastic material of figure 3; Y

Figure 7 is a front view of the element of opening shown in figure 6.

Referring first to the figure 1, a closure of generally indicated plastic material is shown with 1 comprising an annular skirt 10 closed at one end by a circular end plate 20 that is attached to the skirt 10 by a ring band 25.

Referring now also to figure 2, mutually separated around the periphery of the surface inside the panel 20 there is a plurality (in this case twelve) of opening elements that hang down, indicated usually with 30. When viewed in the cross section of the Figure 3, the opening elements 30 are shown as protrusions similar to teeth. As you can see, a thread 40 of screw in the lower end of the annular skirt 10, in the inner surface, to allow coupling with a container (not shown). As can be seen in figures 1 and 3, the band annular 25 is tilted upwards and as such keeps the plate 20 in a first elevated position.

A plane is also shown in figure 3 notional indicated with 50 which is defined by the level of the closure laminate (not shown) when the closure is attached to the container. Be you will notice that in the first position of panel 20 the elements of opening are kept separate from plane 50.

Referring now to figures 4 and 5, shows panel 20 in a second position in which the elements opening 30 now extend below the level of plane 50. The panel 20 is shown in a second position and the annular band 25 It is displayed in a tilted down state. The movement of panel 20 from the first position shown in figure 3 to the second position shown in figure 4 is achieved by a downward pressure on panel member 20, which causes the movement of the annular band 25 from its inclined orientation up to its orientation tilted down. The first and second positions of the plate 20 are stable positions and the intermediate positions between the two are unstable in such so that the movement between the first and second positions is a spring action that provides the force for the element opening extends below the level of the closing member laminate as described in greater detail below. The raised and lowered positions of plate 20 are visually distinguishable; this serves as a feature of evidence of fraudulent manipulation In some embodiments (not shown) the plate 20 can be prevented from returning to the first position or a removable element can be provided in a frangible manner to prevent the relocation of the closure without evidence in the own closing that the plate 20 has been activated to open the container.

Referring now to figures 6 and 7, shows an opening element 30 in more detail. Each element of opening 30 includes a generally rectangular body 60. A generally triangular perforating portion 65 extends from a lower edge of body 60; a cutter portion usually triangular 70 extends from a side edge of the body 60. The position of plane 50 with the opening elements in its lowered positions, as shown in figure 4, illustrates that in the lowered position the panel 20 has allowed drilling through of the laminar closure member and has placed the cutting portion transversely to plane 50 such that the movement rotary closing with respect to the vessel will now provide the force for the cutting member to cut through the member of laminar closure.

In addition a retention portion 75 extends from one side of the body to be substantially in line with the part of the cutting portion with which it intersects. The retention portion is a generally flat projection that is extends transversely to the body. You can see that the edge front 80 of the retention portion 75 is slightly by below plane 50. As the container and the closure of plastic material is rotated relative to each other, the portion cutter 70 cuts through the laminar closure member, which is then raised by the inclined retention portion.

Therefore, when the closure of the plastic material with respect to the container, the panel of the member Laminar closure will separate from the rest of the container. In addition, the laminar closure member panel will be held together by the retention portions 75 on the lower side of the closure 1. When the plastic material closure is unscrewed further and is removed from the container, the panel of the laminar closure member is remove with it and can therefore easily depart from the closure of plastic material, if necessary, before screwing the Close on the container.

Claims (9)

1. A closure (1) of plastic material for a container of the type having an opening sealed by a member of laminar closure, in which the end plate (20) of the closure carries a opening element (30), or a plurality of them, which has piercing means (65) for drilling through the member of laminar closure and cutting means (70) to cut through the laminar closure member as the closure of is rotated plastic material with respect to the container, including, in addition, the opening elements retaining means (75) to raise and retain the panel of the laminar closure member during or after of the cut, where the end plate (20) is mobile from a stable high position to a stable lowered position with with respect to the laminar closure member to effect the drilling, characterized in that the retention means (75) comprise a circumferentially inclined surface that extends upwardly away from a leading edge (80) that is below the plane of the laminar closure member when the end plate (20) is in the lowered position , to thereby lift and retain the panel of the laminar closure member in the closure as it is rotated. 2. A closure according to claim 1, wherein the end plate (20) is rigid and is fixed to the side skirt (10) of closing by a band (25) that is mobile between positions tilted up and down to allow the plate extreme be moved between raised and lowered positions. 3. A closure according to claim 1 or the claim 2, wherein the opening elements (30) are arranged around the periphery of the end plate (20). 4. A closure according to any of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the end plate (20) is substantially flat. 5. A closure according to any claim precedent, in which the movement of the end plate (20) is a spring action. 6. A closure according to any claim precedent, in which the opening elements (30) are substantially perpendicular to the laminar closure member in the point of contact between the piercing means and the member. 7. A closure according to any claim precedent, in which the opening elements (30) are substantially perpendicular to the end plate (20). 8. A closure according to any claim preceding, in which the movement of the end plate (20) is substantially perpendicular to the laminar closure member. 9. A closure of plastic material according to any preceding claim, wherein the piercing means (65), the cutting means (70) and the retention means (75) are formed in the same opening element (30).