FR2918351A3 - PLUG, CONTAINER HAVING PLUG AND METHOD OF RECYCLING. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plug (10) having a valve (40) and a plug body (20) for supporting the valve. The valve is constituted by an elastomeric material having a density of less than 1, and the cap body is made of a plastic material having a density of less than 1. The present invention also relates to a container having such a cap, the container consisting of Plastics having a density greater than 1. The invention also relates to a method for recycling the stopper and / or the container.

Description

The present invention relates to a cap having a valve and a body of

  cap for supporting said sou-pape, which is typically used to close a container opening, in particular a dispensing opening of a bottle. The present invention also relates to a container, in particular a bottle, having such a cap. The invention also relates to a method for recycling such a stopper and / or a container having such a stopper.

  A plug having a valve and a plug body for supporting said valve and a container having such a plug are known in various forms. 5,954,237, for example, discloses a dispensing valve cap which has a cap body and a cap, wherein a self-sealing valve is disposed in the cap and held in position by a ring. restraint. It is an object of the present invention to provide a stopper and container having a stopper which have advantages with respect to subsequent recycling of the stopper and / or container and one or more materials used therein. This object is achieved by a stopper according to claim 1 and a container having a stopper according to claim 8. A stopper and a container may be combined to form a "package", which is also concerned with the invention. Claims 2 to 7 relate to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the stopper according to Claim 1, Claims 9 and 10 relate to particularly advantageous embodiments of the container according to Claim 8. Claims 11 and 12 relate to a process for recycling such a container. cap or container and / or container having such a cap.

  In accordance with the present invention, the plug has at least one valve and a plug body for supporting said valve, and is characterized in that said valve is made of an elastomeric material having in particular a density of less than 1, and said plug body is a plastic having a density of less than 1. The term "density" as used herein is the ratio of the density of the material to the density of the water as as reference material. A density of less than 1 means that the density of the material is less than 1 g / cm3. A plug according to the invention has the advantage that, during recycling, inexpensive systems called "separation by dense media" can be used, while ensuring that the container material, which is usually polyethylene terephthalate (PET) may be completely separated from both the valve material and the plug material, in contrast to the prior art devices, in which the valve material is typically a silicone material which has a density greater than 1, this which results in contamination of the bottle material by the valve material. The advantages of the present invention are particularly important in that the PET can be 100% recycled and reused, so that contamination by other materials should be strictly avoided, while typically floating materials are not readily available. that is, the plug body material (s) (for example, polypropylene (PP)) can be treated separately (eg passed through separating or incinerated strainers).

  The present invention therefore ensures that, in particular, the valuable PET material can additionally be used by various recycling aspects in the most efficient manner and with contamination inferior to that known in the prior art. From this point of view, it should be noted that there are various ways to recycle PET, typically by mechanical recycling or depolymerization. During mechanical recycling, the recovered materials can be used as is or mixed with new polymer. The depolymerization process breaks the polymer molecules. The final product resulting from this process can be used to make new PET products.

  In a preferred embodiment, the density of the material of said plug body is between 0.5 and 0.95, preferably between 0.7 and 0.95 and more preferably between 0.8 and 0.95. In a preferred embodiment, the density of the elastomeric material of said valve is between 0.5 and 0.99, more preferably between 0.90 and 0.99 and even more preferably between 0.95 and 0, 99. Separation during the recycling process from materials having a density greater than 1, for example PET as typically used for containers, is better in the case where the material of the valve plug body has a density. which is substantially less than 1. Preferably, a silicone material having a density of less than 1 and in the more specific ranges mentioned above is selected for the valve material because the material It is particularly advantageous with regard to the elastic properties necessary for the operation of the valve in the plug.

  Preferably, for example, a silicone material as described in US 6,297,291 B1 may be used. For the plug body, a material other than a silicone, preferably polypropylene (PP), is preferably used. Polypropylene can be used in amorphous form as well as in crystalline form, the density in the case of an amorphous form being typically-in the area of 0.85 g / cm3 and in the case of a crystalline form in the area of 0.95 g / cm3. In a preferred embodiment, the valve is a self-sealing valve and preferably a slit valve. The present invention also relates to a container having a cap as described above, the container being made of a plastic material having a density greater than 1, preferably between 1.2 and 1.5 and even more preferably between 1.3 and 1.5. With such a material, the container material can be very effectively separated from the plug material by using low cost "mid-point separation" systems as described above. Preferably, the container is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

  PET typically has a density of about 1.33 g / cm3 to 1.4 g / cm3, preferably in the region of about 1.37 g / cm3. The present invention also relates to a method for recycling a stopper and / or container (or so-called "package" including a stopper and container) as described above and for recycling one or more materials used in these, which comprises the steps of: - cutting the cap and / or the container into pieces, - transferring the cut pieces into a tank filled with a liquid having a specific gravity of 1, and separating the floating pieces from the pieces pawn-giants. As used in the present specification and claims, the term "cut" denotes the processing step of making pieces of the components, and may include cutting, grinding, de-chipping, or the like. As a liquid in the tank, water is preferably used, since this guarantees a low cost filling of the tank used in the recycling treatment and does not cause any environmental problem in this case. concerning the liquid used, when this liquid must be rejected. Preferably, the plugs and / or containers are cut into. pieces (for example, particles), the largest dimension of each being preferably 9.5 mm or less. Preferably, the dimension is sufficiently small to ensure that the single cut pieces do not contain materials of two different components or elements (for example, the plug material and the container material), so that a very good separation of materials can be obtained. Other features and advantages of the present invention will now be described with reference to the following description of specific embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the plug of the present invention, and FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a method of recycling a plug or container having a plug according to the present invention. and the respective devices used for such a recycle process. Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a plug 10 according to the present invention, in a perspective view. The plug 10 has a plug body 20 and a valve 40, which is inserted into and held by the plug body 20. The plug 10 of this embodiment also includes a cap or cap 60, which is connected to the plug body 20 by a hinge 80. It is noted that a cap 60 such as the cap 60 shown in FIG. optional feature, other embodiments according to the present invention having only a plug body 20 and the valve capless, or alternatively with another cap which can, for example, be screwed onto the plug body.

  The embodiment of the plug shown in Figure 1 comprises, in the cap 60, a central hollow dome 64 having a height sufficient to receive a spout 22, and a central column 62 positioned coaxially. in the dome 64 of the cap 60. The cap 60 provides a cover for the valve 40 and the spout 22 surrounding the valve 40, as can be seen clearly in FIG. 1. The central column 62 located in the cap dome is arranged to prevent an opening of the valve 40 when the cap 60 is in a closed position on the plug body 20, while the central column 62 is disposed in the cap and shaped so that when the cap 60 is closed, the central column 62 is disposed in the cavity formed by the spout 22.

  As can be seen in the exploded view of FIG. 2, the valve 40 is inserted into the plug body 20 and secured in its position by a retaining ring 42. In other embodiments, it is also possible to use other possibilities for fixing the valve 40 in the plug body, for example without additional element such as the retaining ring, for example by shape adjustment or by bonding the poppet 40 in the plug body 20 or by any other suitable means. In the preferred embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, the plug body 20 and the cap 60 having the hinge 80 are made of polypropylene (PP) having a density of 0.85.

  The retaining ring 42 is constituted by an identical material. The valve 40 is made of a low density silicone material having a density of between 0.97 and 0.99. The valve 40 may have any suitable configuration. The particular configuration of the valve shown has features which are described in US Pat. Nos. 5,954,237, 5,213,236 and 5,409,144. FIG. 3 schematically shows a process for recycling a plug and / or container having a plug. chop according to the present invention and devices used for such recycling treatment. As can be seen in FIG. 3, a container or bottle 100 having a cap 20 and a cap 60 is put into a mill 200, in which the cap and the container are cut into pieces 220. These pieces 220 are pieces of a material having a density of less than 1, namely pieces 220A, and pieces of material having a density greater than 1, i.e. pieces 220B. The pieces 220A come from the plug body 20 (including the cap 60), the valve 40 and the retaining ring 42, while the pieces 220B originate from the container or the bottle 100. The pieces 220 (220A, 220B) are placed on a conveyor 300, which transports the pieces 220 to a tank 400 filled with water 420. The pieces 220A having a density less than 1 will then automatically float on the water 420, while the pieces having a density greater than 1, i.e. pieces 220B, will sink to the bottom and be withdrawn from tank 400 for later use, so that effective separation using a low cost such as a dense media separation system is achieved.

  The features described in the foregoing description, in the claims and / or the accompanying drawings may, both separately and in any combination thereof, be a material for realizing the invention in its various forms.

Claims (12)

  A cap (10) having a valve (40) and a plug body (20) for supporting the valve (40), characterized in that the valve is made of an elastomeric material having a density of less than 1, and the body cap is made of a plastic material having a density of less than 1.   2. Stopper according to claim 1, characterized in that the density of the elastomeric material of the valve (40) is between 0.5 and 0.99.   3. Stopper according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the density of the plastic material of the plug body (20) is between 0.5 and 0.95.   4. Stopper according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the valve (40) is constituted by a silicone-based material.   5. Stopper according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the material of the plug body (20) is polypropylene.   6. Stopper according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the valve (40) is a self-sealing valve.   Bib according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the valve (40) is a slit valve.   Container having a stopper according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the container (100) is made of a plastic material having a density greater than 1.   9. Container according to claim 8, characterized in that the density of the plastic of the container (100) is between 1.2 and 1.5.   10. Container according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the container (100) consists of polyethylene terephthalate.   11. A process for recycling a plug (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 7 and / or for recirculating a container (100) according to any one of claims 8 to 10, comprising the steps of - cut the cap (10) and / or the container (100) into pieces (200; 220A, 220B), - transfer the cut pieces (220; 220A, 220B) into a tank (400) filled with a liquid ( 420) having a density of 1, and -separating the floating pieces (220A) of the streaming pieces (220B).   12. The method of claim 11, characterized in that the chopped pieces have a maximum dimension of 9.5 mm.