FR2779702A1 - Tamper proof cap for bottles such as a medicine bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

The seal comprises of a sealing frangible ring (22) that is placed over the thread (6) situated at a bottle neck (2). A cap (12) is then placed over the frangible ring to effect closure of the bottle. Upon rotation of the cap, the ring will break and become detached from the bottle. This process allows a user to easily determine if a bottle has been previously opened or tampered with.

Description

The present invention relates to a screw closure device comprising

  a closure cap and a separate tamper-evident device. This closure device is intended to seal jars or bottles. These containers can be made of synthetic material or glass. In order to produce a tight, tamper-evident closure, it is known to bond a cover made of a metal sheet covered with a film of synthetic material, by heat-sealing, to a rim delimiting the opening of a jar or a bottle. A sealing cap is then screwed or snapped over the cover. A disadvantage of such a stopper is that it is first necessary to remove the stopper cap to realize if the jar or the bottle has already been opened. It is therefore not possible to quickly see whether or not the container has already been opened. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a closure device of the inviolable type which makes it possible to immediately visualize whether the container on which it is placed has already been opened or not. Advantageously, the installation of this device will be simple. To this end, the proposed screw closure device is of the screw closure device type comprising a closure cap and a separate tamper-evident device, the closure cap having a bottom and a skirt, a thread being provided to allow screwing the cap on a neck of a container. 30 According to the invention, the tamper-evident device has a first part intended to take place in the closure cap, as well as a second part forming a tamper-evident ring. , connected to the first part, intended to be placed at least partially outside the closure cap and provided with inclined tongues intended to cooperate with stops produced on the neck of the container so that the tongues retract when screwing the cape on the neck but are braced against the stops when a unscrewing movement is operated, means being provided to ensure the rotation of the first part relative to the skirt, and at least one breakable zone being

  associated with the part forming the tamper-evident ring.

  Thus, the first part of the tamper-evident device is driven by the stopper cap when the stopper device is screwed on. The tamper-evident ring portion is also driven without being

  hampered by the stops, since the tabs retract.

  During the first unscrewing, the tongues are braced on the stops and by exerting a sufficient unscrewing torque, the rupture of the ruptible zone is caused. This irreversible deformation then remains visible, even when the closure cap is repositioned. In a first embodiment, the part forming the tamper-evident ring comprises several sectors

interconnected.

  In this case, the at least one breakable zone may be formed each time by a breakable bridge connecting two neighboring sectors of the ring-forming part.

inviolability.

  In this case, when the closure cap is screwed back on, it can be seen that the bridges connecting the different sectors of the ring-forming part

of inviolability are broken.

  The breakable zone, at least one in number, can also be constituted each time by a breakable bridge connecting the part forming a tamper-evident ring to the first part of the tamper-evident device. In this case, the part forming the tamper-evident ring detaches from the tamper-evident device and remains on the neck of the container. After replacing the closure cap, it can be seen that the part forming the tamper-evident ring is detached. In the case where the part forming a tamper-evident ring comprises several sectors, the part forming a tamper-evident ring is advantageously connected to the first part of the tamper-evident device by breakable bridges and two sectors adjacent to the part forming a tamper-evident ring are preferably linked

by breakable bridges.

  In one embodiment, the means provided for achieving the rotation blocking of the first part of the tamper-evident device comprise at least one assembly consisting of an axial groove and an axial rib of a shape complementary to the shape of the groove, the rib being produced on the first part of the tamper-evident device and the groove on the skirt of the closure cap or vice versa. In another embodiment, the tamper-evident device comprises two annular parts of polygonal shape. In this case, each branch of the part of the tamper-evident device forming a tamper-evident ring preferably comprises an inclined tongue. The invention also provides an embodiment in which the skirt has a cylindrical inner surface of polygonal section, the first part of the tamper-evident device has a shape

  cylindrical circular, and projections are made at the periphery of the first part to come to take place each at an edge of the inner surface of the skirt.

  An advantageous variant of this embodiment provides that the thread allowing the cape to be screwed onto the neck is produced on the interior surface of the first part of the device

inviolability.

  In any case, the invention will be well understood at

  using the following description, with reference to the drawing

  diagram attached, showing by way of nonlimiting examples, several embodiments of a

  closure device according to the invention.

  Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view, partially cut of a closure device according to the invention and a neck of a container intended to receive this device, Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an alternative embodiment of '' a corking device mounted on a bottle neck,

  Figure 3 is a sectional view along line III-

  III of Figure 2, Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of a plugging device, the plugging cap being partially in section, and Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment of a device corking

according to the invention.

  FIG. 1 represents a bottle 2 comprising a neck 4 provided with a thread 6, a device

  tamper-evident 8 and a closure cap 10.

  The bottle 2 is made of synthetic material. However, the closure device according to the invention can also be adapted to a glass bottle. This bottle is for example intended to contain a drink, carbonated or not, or pharmaceutical products. The closure cap 10 has a bottom 12 and a threaded skirt 14. It is made so as to be able to effect a tight closure of the bottle 2. This cap 10 is for example made of polypropylene. The bottom 12 of this cap 10 can for example comprise a chimney 16 extending axially towards the inside of the cap and cooperating with the internal wall of the neck 4 for

  perfect the seal (figure 2).

  An annular recess 18 is provided at the free end of the skirt 14, on the internal face of the latter, in order to receive the tamper-evident device 8. Four grooves 20 extending axially, opening out on the side of the end free of the skirt, are regularly distributed in the recess 18. FIG. 1 shows grooves of semi-circular section, but any other shape (rectangular, dovetail, etc.) can be envisaged. The tamper-evident device 8 comprises an upper ring 22 connected to a lower ring 24 by bridges 26. It is for example made of polyethylene

high density (HDPE).

  The upper ring 22 has an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the annular recess 18. In addition, it has on its radially outer face four ribs 28 extending axially and

  regularly distributed around the periphery of the ring 22.

  These ribs 28 have a section adapted to the section of the grooves 20 of the recess 18. In the example shown in FIG. 1, these ribs 28 are therefore of substantially semi-cylindrical shape. The heights of the recess 18, the upper ring 22, the grooves 20 and the ribs 28 are substantially equal in the example shown in Figure 1. An alternative embodiment

  could however provide for different heights.

  The lower ring 24 has on its inner face six tongues 30 (only two are visible in Figure 1) inclined relative to a plane tangent to the inner surface of the ring 24. These tongues 30 are elastically deformable. They cooperate with stops 32 projecting at the periphery and at the base of the neck 4. The stops 32 are six in number, and like the tongues 30, they are offset from one another by 60. The stops 32 are at the height of the tongues 30 when the closure cap 10

is screwed on the neck 4.

  The inclination of the tongues 30 is such that they retract when they meet a stop 32 when the cap 10 is screwed onto the neck 4. To facilitate this retraction, the stops 32 each have an inclined face 34 relative to a plane tangent to the

outside surface of the neck 4.

  On the other hand, when the cap 10 is unscrewed, the

  tabs 30 are braced against the stops 32.

  To this end, the stops 32 have a surface 36 extending radially. The free end of the stops 32 comes to bear against this radial surface 36 during unscrewing. The lower ring 24 is formed of two sectors 38 which are connected by connecting bridges 40. The

sectors 38 are identical.

  When the tamper-evident device 8 is in place in the closure cap 10, the lower ring 24 protrudes from the skirt 14. This lower ring 24 is thus visible when the closure device is in position

mounted on the neck 4.

  The operation of this closure device is

the following.

  The sealing cap 10 and the device

  tamper evident 8 are made by molding separately.

  They are then assembled, the ribs 28 coming to take place in the grooves 20. An assembly with a slight tightening is preferable. The cape 10 is then screwed onto the

neck 4.

  During the first unscrewing, the closure cap 10 will cause the upper ring 22 to rotate with it, the force being transmitted by the ribs 28. The bridges

  26 also drive the lower ring 24.

  The free end of each tongue 30 abuts against the radial face 36 of the corresponding stop 32

  causing a bracing of the tongues 30.

  To be able to operate the unscrewing at least one break will occur. There are two preferred cases: the bridges 26 connecting the lower ring 24 to the upper ring 22 break or the bridges 40 connecting the sectors 38 of the lower ring break. In the first case, the lower ring 24 remains intact, but it remains on the neck 4 of the bottle, since it can no longer be driven in rotation and translation by the upper ring 22. By screwing the cap cap 10 on the neck 4, a clearance between the lower ring 24 which is detached from the rest of the closure device and the bottom of the skirt 14 appears. When the cap is removed, the user can remove the lower ring 24 by sliding it on the neck and also remove the upper ring 22 from the closure cap. In the second case, the lower ring 24 remains attached to the upper ring 22. However, the sectors 38 of the lower ring 24 being free from each other, the lower ring 24 will move apart and thus allow the passage of the tongues 30 on the stops 32. This spacing causes plastic deformation of the bridges

  26 connecting the upper ring and the lower ring.

  When the closure cap 10 is screwed back onto the neck 4, the sectors 38 will be in a separated position which will indicate that the bottle 2 has already been opened. As in the previous case, the user can also remove the tamper-evident device 8 from the

  plugging when the plugging cap 10 is removed.

  Figures 2 and 3 show an alternative embodiment whose operation is identical to the variant of Figure 1. The only difference lies in the drive mode of the upper ring 22. We do not find here grooves and ribs. Here, the annular recess 18 is of polygonal section (hexagonal in the drawing). The skirt 14 of the plugging cap 10 can also have an external surface of hexagonal section. The lower 24 and upper 22 rings resume this hexagonal shape. There is also produced, in a different manner than for the first variant, a blocking in rotation of the upper ring 22 with respect to

at the sealing cap 10.

  In FIGS. 4 and 5, the skirt 14 of the plugging cap 10 has outer and inner surfaces of octagonal section, the upper ring 22 is circular cylindrical while the lower ring 24

  is cylindrical with an octagonal section.

  In these two embodiments, the lower ring 24 is made in one piece (there is therefore no bridge 40) and is connected to the upper ring 22 by bridges 26 placed substantially in the middle of each side of the octagon. Tabs 30 are provided at

  proximity to each corner of the octagon.

  The ribs 28 of the previous embodiments are replaced by protrusions 42, eight in number, regularly distributed around the periphery of the upper ring 22 and coming to cooperate with the internal edges of the skirt 14 so as to block the upper ring 22 in rotation. Stops 44 are provided in the skirt 14, on either side of the projections 42 to perfect the blocking in rotation. In the embodiment of Figure 4, ribs 46 extending peripherally are formed at the inner surface of the skirt 14. Similarly, a peripheral rib 47 is formed near the free edge of the skirt 14. These the ribs have the function of axially positioning the upper ring 22 in the closure cap 10 while preventing it from moving axially. The thread 48 of the plugging cap 10 is produced on the inner face of the skirt 14. This surface being of polygonal section, the thread 48 is not continuous and is interrupted, in particular at the edges. On the side of the bottom of the plug, a groove 50 is made to receive a seal 52 as shown in FIG. 5. This seal 52 is for example a heat sealable seal. It can be implemented as described above, in the preamble, with reference to the state of the prior art. In this case, the seal 52 is heat sealed on the edge of the neck 4, before the establishment of the closure device. Another way of proceeding, also known to those skilled in the art, is to place the seal 52 in the closure cap 10, to screw this cap 10 fully onto the neck 4 and then to heat by induction in order to seal the seal. seal on the edge of the neck 4. The embodiment of Figure 5 differs from that of Figure 4 in that the upper ring 22 has a greater height. It is large enough to come up against a peripheral rib 54 delimiting the groove 50. As a result, we no longer find on the inside face of the skirt 14 of the cap cap 10 of net 48 nor of rib 46. The net n 'is more produced on the sealing cap 10 but on the upper ring 22. This is advantageous, because it is technically easier to produce a thread on a circular cylindrical wall than on another type of wall.25 The operation of these two embodiments is identical. The closure cap 10 and the tamper-evident device 8 are produced by molding separately. The upper ring 22 of the tamper-evident device takes its place in the skirt 14 of the closure cap, the projections 42 being received at the edges of the skirt 14, each time between two stops 44. The cap 10 thus equipped is screwed on a

corresponding neck 4.

  During the first unscrewing, the closure cap 10 drives the tamper-evident device 8 in rotation. The free end of each tongue 30 abuts against the radial face 36 of a stop 32. If the unscrewing torque is sufficient, the bridges 26 give way, allowing a complete unscrewing of the cap 10. In both cases, once once the cap 10 has been removed, it is possible to remove the lower ring 24 which has remained on the neck 4. In the embodiment of the

  Figure 4, one can also remove the upper ring 22 from the inside of the cap cap. However, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, such removal is not advised, since it is then no longer possible to screw the closure cap 10 back on the neck 4.

  The tamper-evident device according to the invention allows the use of several techniques for sealing the container for which it is intended. Thus, the example of FIG. 2 shows a seal produced at

  using a self-sealing skirt, or chimney, 16.

  The example in Figures 4 and 5 shows

  the use of a heat sealable seal 52.

  It goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above by way of nonlimiting examples: on the contrary, it embraces them

all variants.

  Thus, the tamper-evident device does not necessarily have a lower ring comprising several sectors (Figures 4 and 5). The latter, when they exist, can be in any quantity. In the variant of FIGS. 2 and 3, one could for example have six sectors, to each of them would be associated a trigger guard for the connection with the upper ring and a tongue

corresponding to a stop.

  Just as the bridges connecting two sectors can be deleted, the bridges connecting the upper and lower ring can also be removed. It suffices that one or the other of this type of bridges is present. 35 So therefore, when connecting bridges defining several sectors of the lower ring are present, the bridges connecting the lower ring to the upper ring can be replaced by an area

plastically deformable.

Claims (10)

  1. Screw closure device comprising a closure cap (10) and a separate tamper-evident device (8), the closure cap (10) having a bottom (12) and a skirt (14), a thread being provided. in order to allow the cap to be screwed onto a neck (4) of a container (2), characterized in that the tamper-evident device (8) has a first part (22) intended to take place in the cap cap (10), as well as a second part (24) forming a tamper-evident ring, connected to the first part (22), intended to be placed at least partially outside the closure cap (10) and provided with tabs ( 30) inclined intended to cooperate with stops (32) produced on the neck (4) of the container so that the tongues (30) retract when the cape (10) is screwed onto the neck (4) but come brace against the stops (32) when a loosening movement is effected, in that means (20, 28) are provided seen to ensure the blocking in rotation of the first portion (22) relative to the skirt (14), and in that at least one breakable area (26,40) is   associated with the part (24) forming a tamper-evident ring.   2. Clogging device according to claim 1, characterized in that the part (24) forming a tamper-evident ring comprises several sectors (38) interconnected.   3. Clogging device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the at least one breakable zone is constituted each time by a breakable bridge (26) connecting the part (24) forming a tamper-evident ring to the first part (22) of the device inviolability.   4. Clogging device according to claim 2, characterized in that the at least one breakable zone is each time formed by a breakable bridge (40) connecting two sectors (38) neighboring the part (24) forming tamper-evident ring. 5 5. Clogging device according to claim 2, characterized in that the part (24)   forming a tamper-evident ring is connected to the first part (22) of the tamper-evident device by breakable bridges (26) and in that two sectors (38) adjacent to the part (24) forming a tamper-evident ring are connected by breakable bridges (40).   6. Clogging device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the means   provided for locking in rotation the first part (22) of the tamper-evident device comprise at least one assembly constituted by an axial groove (20) and   an axial rib (28) of shape complementary to the shape of the groove, the rib being produced on the first part (22) of the tamper-evident device and the groove 20 on the skirt (14) of the closure cap or vice versa.   7. Clogging device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the device   tamper evident (8) has two annular parts (22,24) of polygonal shape. 8. Corking device according to claim 7, characterized in that each branch of   the part (24) of the tamper-evident device (8) forming a tamper-evident ring comprises an inclined tongue (30). 9. Clogging device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the skirt (14)   has a cylindrical inner surface of polygonal cross section, in that the first part (22) of the tamper-evident device (8) has a circular cylindrical shape, and in that protrusions (42) are produced at the periphery of the first part (22) to take their place each at an edge of   the inner surface of the skirt (14).   10. Clogging device according to claim 9, characterized in that the thread allowing the cape (10) to be screwed onto the neck (4) is produced on the inner surface of the first   part (22) of the tamper-evident device (8).