GB1588794A

GB1588794A - Closure means

Info

Publication number: GB1588794A
Application number: GB1616/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1977-01-18
Filing date: 1978-01-16
Publication date: 1981-04-29
Also published as: CA1103211A; JPS53108591A; DE2801277C2; FR2377334B3; NO780167L; DK148506C; NO146158C; IT1092272B; DK148506B; SE409684B; FR2377334A1; DK22878A; NO146158B; IT7819308A0; CH624073A5; SE7700467L; DE2801277A1; AU3247878A

Abstract

The device intended to close a substantially cylindrical opening consists of two plastic parts which are separate from one another and are arranged axially one after the other. The one, lower part (11) can be fixed in a sealing manner by its lower region on the edge (13) of the opening of the container and has inside it a centrally arranged axial tube projection (26) onto whose inner surface at least one annular flange (29, 30) is moulded. The other, upper part forms a cap (10) and has a centrally arranged, axially projecting sealing stopper (16) which is cylindrical on the outside and can be inserted into the tube projection (26) in such a way that the flange (29, 30) grips around it with its free edge in a spring-elastic and sealing manner. Only a small effort is required for inserting and removing the cap (10). <IMAGE>

Description

(54) CLOSURE MEANS (71) I, ALRIK CIVER LINSTRÖM, a Swedish subject, of Vingakersplan 12, S--125 40 Alvsjo, Sweden, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement : The present invention relates to closure means for closing and sealing containers such as bottles, jars and the like having a mouth which is substantially cylindrical on the inside.

Tog a long time it has been known to use a stopper of cork, rubber, plastics or other elastic material, particularly when it is a question of containers with relatively large tolerances on the inner diameter of the mouth. The diameter of the stopper has to be somewhat larger than the inside diameter of the container mouth, so that the stopper is compressed during insertion and thereby provides a seal. The stopper is usually in contact with the inside of the mouth along the whole of the part of the stopper which is pushed into the mouth. This involves a relatively large contact surface forming a sealing surface, but simultaneously forming a friction surface. In certain cases the stopper must be pressed in with relatively large force, so that it must also be pulled out with a correspondingly large force.If, furthermore, the contents of the bottle is a liquid which is sticky and also possibly has the property of drying out, a film of the liquid serving as a cementing agent can be obtained between the stopper and the mouth, making it very difficult to pull the stopper out.

In the mass production of glass bottles, for example, the inside diameter of the mouth in a certain series of bottles can vary within relatively wide limits. This means that the stoppers must be dimensioned for the greatest diameter allowed for the mouth. But the same stopper is also required to be usable for the least mouth diameter in the series, where the stopper will thus be most compressed and thereby offer the greatest resistance to insertion and removal. The necessary maximum forces can usually be exerted by normally healthy and strong persons, but for handicapped or weak persons, it can be impossible to pull out such a stopper, or press it into the mouth sufficiently hard for obtaining a seal.

In order to obtain a more easily handled closure it is conceivable to use a screw cap or a snap-on cap. In practice, however, such closures will also be in many cases nearly impossible to open with the small force and capacity of movement which can be achieved by a gravely disabled person. If a screw cap is to seal satisfactorily, there is the requirement that its end wall engages against the bottle mouth with a certain pressure, which in turn requires that the cap is tightened with a rather large force, and this usually means that a force at least as great is required to unscrew the cap. With regard to snap-on caps, relatively large forces are also required here, since these caps must be pressed over a bead when closing or opening.

Against the background of the abovementioned drawbacks in known closures, the invention has the object of providing a closure means with a stopper retained with very little frictional force in the sealing position irrespective of whether the mouth diameter of the container is in the upper or the lower portion of the tolerance range allowed for the prevailing series of containers.

This is achieved by a closure means which according to the invention is characterised in that said means consists of two separate main parts of plastics mzaterial, namely a bottom part, which at its lower end is sealingly attachable to the mouth edge of a container, and having interiorly a central, axial tube-like sealing portion interiorly formed with two annular flanges, axially spaced and each extending slopingly downwards and inwards, and an upper part having a central, axial, outwardly cylindrical or slightly tapering stopper, which can be introduced into the tube-like sealing portion, whereupon each of the flanges grips resiliently and sealingly with its free edge about the stopper, and the flanges keep the stopper in a coaxial position in the tube-like sealing portion of the lower part.

Preferably the lower part consists of elasti cally yielding plastics material and has an internal groove into which an external bead around the edge of the container mouth can be pressed and secured. Since the lower part is of elastically resilient plastics material, it can be pressed onto a container mouth into a secured position, and the mouth does not need to be precision made, but can be allowed to have a relatively wide diameter range.

The tube-like sealing portion is associated with the rest of the bottom part in such a way that deformation consequent on pressing of the bottom part onto a container mouth does not significantly deform the tube-like sealing portion. The free edge of each flange forms an eleastic sealing ring, the diameter of which can be kept within narrow limits since the lower part can be injection moulded with high precision in plastics material in a known manner.

The upper part consists of a cover having a cylindrical or slightly tapering stopper portion. The outer diameter of the stopper is somewhat larger than the inner diameter of the free edge of said flanges. When the stopper is pressed down into the lower part, it will expand the flange somewhat, so that the flanges engage with an elastic sealing pressure against the stopper. Since the upper part with stopper can also be an injection moulded plastics component, the stopper can be made with great accuracy, so that the engagement pressure of the flanges against the stopper will be substantially constant for the whole series of a certain size of closure means. Prior to fitting of the closure means to to a container, the upper part is put together with the lower part as a unit, which can be pressed securely onto the container mouth by known closure machines.

Sealing tests on bottles with a closure means according to the invention have shown that the stopper seals extremely effectively, while the force for inserting the stopper into the lower part is very small.

Similarly, a very small force is also required for withdrawing the stopper, and it can be selected sufficiently small so that it substantially falls below the forces required in closures known up to now, where a stopper is pressed down sealingly in direct contact with the inside of the container mouth.

The closure means according to the invention can thus be handled comfortably by persons who, for different reasons, cannot achieve the same forces as a normal healthy and strong person.

For retaining the closure means closed during transport of a container, it is preferable for the closure means to be provided with a bayonet fastening, between the upper part and lower part. The upper part can then be turned from a free position where it can be pulled out of the lower part to a locking position where locking teeth on the upper part coact with peripheral locking ribs on the lower part. Without any inconvenience, the bayonet fastening can be so made that the upper part can be turned relatively easily from the locking position to the free position, since tightening down the bayonet fastening does not affect the efficient seal obtained between the stopper and the flange or flanges. In some cases it is, however, desirable to have a closure means where the bayonet fastening is relatively difficult to open after it has been locked.This is applicable to such containers which preferably cannot be opened by infants, e.g. children of about 3 to 4 years old. For this purpose, it is suitable to use an upper part wherein the locking teeth are somewhat larger than locking teeth allowing turning with relatively small force. The larger locking teeth will then engage harder against the locking ribs or engaging portions of the lower part, so that turning the upper part between the free and locked positions is substantially more stiff. If the cover is also made with a smooth outside, a small child cannot open the closure means.

The closure means is also preferably provided with a security seal which must be broken in order to open the closure.

In cases where the closure means according to the invention is combined with a security seal which must be broken, and a locking device such as a bayonet fastening, it is usually necessary for the handicapped person to have help in opening the container for the first time. Thereafter the handicapped person can open and close the closure means without difficulty, using only small force These and other distinguishing features and advantages of the invention will be explained more fully while referring to one closure means embodying the invention, sgown as an example in the accompanying drawings. In these drawings: Figure 1 is an axial section through the closure means, mounted on the mouth of a bottle and with the upper part withdrawn to an intermediate position in relation to the lower part clamped onto the bottle; Figure 2 is a cross section according to the line 2-2 in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view to an enlarged scale of a portion of the means shown in Figure 1, and shows a security seal means; Figure 4 is a section along the line 4--4 in Figure 3 through the security seal means; Figure 5 is a development of a portion of the inside of the lower part, provided with a number of peripheral locking ribs incorporated in a bayonet fastening for locking the closure means; Figure 6 is a section along the line 6-6 in Figure 5;; Figure 7 is a section along the line 7-7 in Figure 3 showing one of the radial teeth of the bayonet fastening; and Figure 8 corresponds to Figure 4, with the difference that the upper part is pressed down into its bottom position on the lower part, the security seal being shown in an unbroken condition.

The closure means consists of two main plastics parts made by precision injection moulding, i.e. an upper part 10 serving as a cover or cap, and a lower portion 11 attached to the mouth of a container, which in the example shown is a glass bottle 12 with an external bead 13 around its mouth, whereon the bottom part is clamped fast. The upper part may be of relatively hard plastics material, while the lower part is of somewhat softer and elastically yielding plastics material.

The cap or upper part consists of a cylincal wall 14 which is closed with a flat wall 15 at its upper end. From the underside of the flat wall 15 there extends coaxially a cylindrical tubular stopper 16.

The cylindrical wall 14 has an external groove 17 at its bottom edge, and at a plurality of places in this groove the upper part is formed with radially projecting locking teeth 18. In the example shown, the bottom sides 19 and top sides 20 of the teeth are chamfered to facilitate fitting the upper part to the lower part.

At a place along the circumference of the cylindrical wall 13, there is an axial pocket 21, having side walls 22 and an upper wall 23, as is apparent from Figures 3 and 4.

The bottom part 11, which is of an elastically resilient plastics material, consists of a cylindrical well 24 formed on its inside with a radial annular intermediate wall 25, having its inner edge merging into an upwardly directed tubular sealing portion 26 and a downwardly directed sleeve 27. In use, the sleeve 27 engages sealingly with the inside of the mouth of the bottle 12. Below the intermediate wall 25, the cylindrical wall 24 is formed with an inwardly directed head 28, gripping below the beaded edge 13 of the bottle. Fitting the lower part onto the bottle is carried out in a known way by pressing it axially downwards onto the mouth of the bottle, the cylindrical wall 24 deflecting outwards over the beaded edge 23 and the bead 28 snapping over the beaded edge 23 into the locked-on position shown.The part will be securely and tightly clamped onto the edge bead 13 even if the bottle mouth is not manufactured with any great dimensional accuracy.

On the inside of the cylindrical tube-like sealing portion 26 there are two annular flanges 29, 30, axially spaced and each extending slopingly downwards and inwards.

In the Figures, the cylindrical stopper 16 is shown inserted into the lower part and has expanded the elastically resilient flanges 29, 30 somewhat so that these engage with a certain pressure against the stopper to achieve an effective seal.

At its upper end the tube-like sealing portion 26 is flared into a sealing flange 31 which also facilitates pouring a liquid from the container.

Above the intermediate wall, the cylindrical wall 24 forms an annular edge portion 32. On the inside of this there are formed peripheral locking ribs 33 (Figure 5) with the chamfered cross section apparent from Figure 6. The ribs are spaced from each other to form gaps 35 with which the locking teeth 18 can be meshed or unmeshed. At one end, each rib includes a sloping downwardly directed guiding portion 36 extending right down to the intermediate wall.

When the upper part is fitted to the lower part, forming a unit which is subsequently to be fitted to the mouth of a container, the upper part is first placed in a predetermined rotary relationship to the lower part (e.g. as shown in Figure 2) whereafter both parts are pressed together into the position shown in Figure 8. The locking teeth 18 of the upper part will thereby be guided into a position past the locking ribs 33 while the annular edge portion 32 is elastically pressed out, whereafter the locking teeth finally snap down into the locking position below the locking ribs, where the chamfered upper sides 20 of the locking teeth engage against the chamfered bottom sides of the ribs 33.Chamfering the top sides 20 of the locking teeth makes it possible to open the security seal by withdrawing the upper part 10 axially without first turning it to the free position where the teeth are opposite the gaps 35 between the ribs. The force required for this withdrawal is comparatively large however, for which reason this possibility is only intended as an alternative if the person using the closure does not understand that the upper part must be turned to disengage the bayonet fastening.

When the upper part is turned, the teeth 18 will strike against the sloping guiding portions 36 to ride up on these and out through the gaps 35.

If it is desired to have an upper part with a stiff bayonet fastening, this can be easily arranged by making the locking teeth 18 somewhat larger so that, for example, they press harder against the inside of the annular portion 32 or against the bottoms of the ribs 33. The bayonet fastening can thus be made so stiff that small children, e.g. those about 3 to 4 years old, cannot open the fastening. Opening can be made even more difficult by making the outside of the upper part completely smooth.

As shown in Figures 3, 4 and 8, there are three axial, relatively slender pins 39 formed at the edge of the annular portion 32 to carry a locking tongue 40 with parallel side edges and a cross section tapering towards its upper end as indicated in Figure 4. When the upper part 10 is pressed down from the intermediate position in Figure 4 to the bottom position in Figure 8, the locking tongue 40 will be urged into a locking position in the pocket 21 to form a security seal. In this position the locking teeth 18 are under the ribs 33. The security seal is further such that the locking tongue is completely sunken and thus does not form any projection which can be a hindrance in handling the closure means according to Figure 8 in a closure machine.

The security seal is not shown in Figures 1 and 2. If it is present, it serves to determine the rotary relationship of the upper part to the lower part required prior to pressing together.

To break the security seal, the upper part is turned relatively to the lower part, the pins 39 being so slender that they are sheared off without difficulty. The locking tongue remains trapped in the pocket 21.

As is apparent from Figure 8, the flanges 29, 30 seal against the stopper 16 in such a way that a possible excess pressure in the container urges the flanges 29, 30 into harder contact against the stopper. On its part, the sealing flange 31 engages sealingly against the underside of the flat wall 15 and is so directed that, in the event of a negative pressure occurring in the bottle, the flange 31 will press harder against the wall 15. This can be of importance when the bottle is filled with wann contents, which is allowed to cool after fitting the closure means to the container.

WHAT I CLAlM IS: 1. A closure means for closing and sealing containers such as bottles, jars and the like having a mouth which is substantially cylindrical on the inside, characterised in that said means consists of two separate main parts of plastics material, namely a bottom part, which at its lower end is sealingly attachable to the mouth edge of a container, and having interiorly a central, axial tube-like scaling portion interiorly formed with two annular flanges, axially spaced and each extending slopingly downwards and inwards, and an upper part having a central, axial, outwardly cylindrical or slightly tapering stopper, which can be introduced into the tube-like sealing portion, whereupon each of the flanges grips resiliently and sealingly with its free edge about the stopper, and the flanges keep the stopper in a coaxial position in the tube-like sealing portion of the lower part.

2. A closure means as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the upper part is formed at its lower edge with a plurality of radially outwardly directed teeth distributed about the circumference of the upper part, said teeth coacting with a plurality of peripheral, bayonet fastening ribs formed on the circumference of the lower part, for enabling opening of the closure by turning the upper part relative to the lower part to a position where the teeth are free from the ribs and the upper part can be withdrawn axially from the lower part.

3. A closure means as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the plastics material of the lower part has such resilience that fitting the upper part to the lower part can be done by pressing the teeth of the upper part axially against the ribs, the complementally meshing surfaces of the teeth and/or ribs being chamfered so that the teeth cause a radial deformation of the ribs and the corresponding portion of the lower part, to such an extent that the teeth can snap past the ribs into the locking position of the teeth.

4. A closure means as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the lower part is formed at its end edge facing the upper part with one or more easily sheared axial pins, carrying an axial locking tongue, the latter being inserted in a complementary axial pocket in the upper part, so that turning the upper part in relation to the lower part causes shearing of the pin or pins.

5. A closure means as claimed in claim 1, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. at the edge of the annular portion 32 to carry a locking tongue 40 with parallel side edges and a cross section tapering towards its upper end as indicated in Figure 4. When the upper part 10 is pressed down from the intermediate position in Figure 4 to the bottom position in Figure 8, the locking tongue 40 will be urged into a locking position in the pocket 21 to form a security seal. In this position the locking teeth 18 are under the ribs 33. The security seal is further such that the locking tongue is completely sunken and thus does not form any projection which can be a hindrance in handling the closure means according to Figure 8 in a closure machine. The security seal is not shown in Figures 1 and 2. If it is present, it serves to determine the rotary relationship of the upper part to the lower part required prior to pressing together. To break the security seal, the upper part is turned relatively to the lower part, the pins 39 being so slender that they are sheared off without difficulty. The locking tongue remains trapped in the pocket 21. As is apparent from Figure 8, the flanges 29, 30 seal against the stopper 16 in such a way that a possible excess pressure in the container urges the flanges 29, 30 into harder contact against the stopper. On its part, the sealing flange 31 engages sealingly against the underside of the flat wall 15 and is so directed that, in the event of a negative pressure occurring in the bottle, the flange 31 will press harder against the wall 15. This can be of importance when the bottle is filled with wann contents, which is allowed to cool after fitting the closure means to the container. WHAT I CLAlM IS:

1. A closure means for closing and sealing containers such as bottles, jars and the like having a mouth which is substantially cylindrical on the inside, characterised in that said means consists of two separate main parts of plastics material, namely a bottom part, which at its lower end is sealingly attachable to the mouth edge of a container, and having interiorly a central, axial tube-like scaling portion interiorly formed with two annular flanges, axially spaced and each extending slopingly downwards and inwards, and an upper part having a central, axial, outwardly cylindrical or slightly tapering stopper, which can be introduced into the tube-like sealing portion, whereupon each of the flanges grips resiliently and sealingly with its free edge about the stopper, and the flanges keep the stopper in a coaxial position in the tube-like sealing portion of the lower part.