GB2134499A - Tamper-indicative closures for containers - Google Patents

Abstract

Containers and closures for containers are disclosed which comprise positive means of indicating whether or not the container closures (11) have been removed or tampered with. Generally the container closures (11) comprise thermoplastic caps (12) having annular strips (13, 61) at the free edges of the cap skirts which are separated from the remainder of the skirts by tear lines (21) or tear rings (60), the strips being friction-welded to the containers. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tamper-indicative closures for containers The present invention relates to tamper indicative closures for containers and more particularly discloses thermoplastic tear-off caps for pharmaceutical and food containers. Conventional pharmaceutical containers generally utilize directly opening caps or else utilize what is termed in the industry as "child-proof" closures. These generally provide easy access to the contents of the containers but do not present any barrier to tampering with the container contents while in shipment and while being displayed on the store shelves.

Within the last several months tampering with pharmaceuticals and over-the-shelf medications has reached almost epidemic portions.

The problem has reached such a state that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to implement rules requiring tamper-resistant packaging for non-prescription drugs.

Conventional containers having tamper-resistant closures are known in the art; such containers utilizing caps such as metal foil caps which are crimped and sealed to the container tops. This process is expensive and time consuming due to the number of steps required in crimping and sealing the top to the container. Furthermore, removal of the container lid serves to destroy the lid and limits the useful lifetime of the product in the container. Other tamper-indicative closures consist of caps which must be glued and/or fusion bonded to the container neck in order to prevent tampering with the contents.

The present invention overcomes these deficiencies of the prior art by providing a container and accompanying tamper proof closure which are rapidly and efficiently joined together to form a tamper-indicative container.

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a container comprising one embodiment of the present invention; Figures 2 and 5 are partial cross-sectional side views of two different cap systems for the first embodiment; Figure 3 is a partial side view of the closure cap indicating that it has been removed and replaced; Figure 4 is a top view of the embodiment of Fig. 1; Figures 6 and 7 are top cross-sectional views taken at lines 6-6 and 7-7 in Figs. 5 and 2 respectively; Figure 8 is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 9 is a partial side cross-sectional view of the cap section of the embodiment of Fig. 8; Figure 10 is a top cross-sectional view of Fig. 8;; Figure 11 is a partial side view of the embodiment of Fig. 8 after the tamper-indicative seal has been broken; Figure 12 is an elevational side view of another embodiment of the present invention; Figure 13 is a partial side view of the embodiment of Fig. 12; Figure 14 is a partial elevational side view of the container to which the cap has to be attached; Figure 15 is top view of the embodiment of Fig. 12; Figure 16 is yet another embodiment of the present invention shown in elevational side view; Figure 17 is a closure cap for use on the embodiment of Fig. 16; Figure 18 shows the container after the cap has been tampered with; Figure 19 is a top view of the container of Fig. 18; Figure 20 is a side elevational view of a fifth embodiment of the invention; Figure 21 is a partial side view of the container of Fig. 20 after it has been tampered with;; Figure 22 is a partial side view of the container to which the closure has to be attached; Figure 23 is a top view of the container of Fig. 20.

The present invention discloses containers and closures which are arranged to provide a fused seal connection between the container and the container closure. The container closure generally has a tear strip which allow a separation of the main portion of the closure from the fused portion of the cap on the container. Fig. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the invention in which a container 10 manufactured from a thermoplastic material such as polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinylchloride, polyethylene terephthalate, or some other acceptable thermoplastic material, contains a closure cap assembly 11.

Cap 11 comprises a snap-on portion 1 2 and a tamper indicator ring 1 3. Cap assembly 11 preferably is manufactured from the same thermoplastic material or a compatible thermoplastic material with that of container 10.

Also, cap assembly 11 is preferably formed in a single integral section of a single thermoplastic material. The cap may be injection molded, blow molded, or formed by any other conventional thermoforming technique from molten thermoplastic material or from preexisting sheet material.

Referring now to Fig. 2, a partial crosssectional side view is illustrated of the container 10 and the tamper-indicative closure cap assembly 11 is illustrated. In Fig. 2 cap 11 is more clearly shown to have a main cap portion 1 2 which fits down over a peripheral wedge-lock external shoulder 14 formed on the upper end of neck 1 5 of container 10.

Locking shoulder 1 4 preferably has a top wedging surface 1 6 and a flat bottom locking surface 1 7. Shoulder 14 preferably passes around substantially all of the container neck portion except for a small opening indicated at 18 in Fig. 3. Main cap portion 12 likewise has a complimentary locking lug 1 9 formed on the inner wall of cap 11 and marked exteriorly by a small triangle 20. Preferably lug 1 9 is smaller than opening 1 8 in peripheral shoulder 14. When cap 1 2 is placed down over container 10, locking lug 1 9 will catch under locking shoulder 14 except when arrow 20 is lined up with slot 18, thereby allowing lug 19 to move upward past locking lug 14.In addition to the main cap 1 2 is a tamper-indicative ring 1 3 which is integrally formed with cap assembly 11 and separated thereby by a thin score line 21. This line may be formed during the thermoforming of cap 11 or may be cut later by any conventionai scoring or trimming machine. The tear ring 1 3 extends downward from main cap 1 2 and contacts fusion shoulder 22. This is a peripheral shoulder having an arcuate surface 23 and a thin contact periphery 24 at its outer edge. The size of shoulder 22 is arranged for slight interference fit with tamper-indicative ring 13.

Thus, in summary, tamper-indicative closure system 11 comprises a main cap 1 2 and a tear ring 13 separated by score line 21. The container neck 10 has a first, or upper, projecting lock ring, or shoulder, 14 projecting outward and having a cam surface at the top and a locking surface at the bottom. A release opening 1 8 provides release for a locking lug 1 9 formed in main cap 1 2. The product manufacturer who will utilize the container receives the empty container 10 and places the desirable contents in the container. The closure assembly 11 is placed over container 10 such that the only contact between the closure assembly 11 and the container is at the thin edge 24 of ring shoulder 22.The lid is then spun at a predetermined rotational velocity to create friction heat between shoulder 22 and tear ring 1 3. After a predetermined amount of time, the spinning is stopped and the inertia of the spinning components is the only energy imparted to the closure cap 11. As the heated thermoplastic material in ring 1 3 and shoulder 22 cools, the rotational energy of the mandrel and cap 11 is quickly absorbed and the spinning stops.

The mandrel is then removed from the cap and the cap is effectively sealed on the bottle at shoulder 22.

Tear tab 25 has been formed in tear ring 13 and provides a weakened or pre-cut section af the tear ring which protrudes radially outward from the ring 1 3 and allows the ultimate user of the container to grasp the tab and to tear ring 1 3 from main cap 1 2. Also, since the contact area 24 between the shoulder 22 and ring 1 3 is so small, the user can relatively easily tear ring 1 3 from its frictionwelded engagement on shoulder 22. At this point tear ring 1 3 is removed and the main cap 1 2 is no longer fusibly connected to container 10 and the container will have the appearance shown in Fig. 3.This appearance will indicate to a user that the absence of ring 1 3 means that the top may have been opened.

This absence is indicated by a bare ring 22 exposed to view. Preferably a printed legend may be utilized on or near ring 22 to indicate that if the legend is visible, the container has been opened previously. Fig. 7 indicates a top cross-sectional view taken at line 7-7 of Fig.

2 showing the main cap 12, the locking shoulder 19, and the container wall 10.

Fig. 4 is a top view of the cap, indicating alignment of arrow 20 with the release slot 18 of shoulder 14. This release slot 1 8 is indicated by a pair of score lines 26 formed on lower friction welding shoulder 22.

Alignment of arrow 20 is aided by arrow 27 formed on top of cap 12.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a modified embodiment of Fig. 1 in which the thin peripheral friction welding shoulder 22 has been replaced by a number of projecting friction lugs 32, generally about 1 2 in number. These lugs are formed integrally on the container neck 10 and project outward for an interference fit inside the lower friction welding ring 1 3. The knife edge 24 of shoulder 22 has been replaced by a relatively flat or partially cylindrical outer surface formed on the outer periphery of each shoulder 32.The curvature of the outer cylindrical surface of shoulders 32 should closely match the curvature of the inner cylindrical surface of ring 1 3. In this modified embodiment, opening of the container is accomplished in the same manner, i.e., the pull tab 25 is lifted and the ring 1 3 is torn from main cap 12 along score line 21.

The spacing of lugs 22 allows additional leverage and force to be applied to tear ring 1 3 to remove it from the container and allow removal of cap 1 2. As long as the consumer can determine that ring 1 3 remains fused to shoulder 22 and cap 12 remains attached to ring 13 at line 21, he can be assured that the contents of the bottle have not been exposed.

Figs. 8-11 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention in which a protective cap or "overcap" is utilized to protect the normal opening and closing cap of the bottle. In this invention a bottle 40 similar to the bottle 10 of Fig. 1 contains a neck section 41 having a neck opening 42. A snap-on cap 43 similar to cap 1 2 of the first embodiment is utilized with alignment means 44 and an interior locking lug (not shown) similar to that of 14 in Fig. 2.

In this embodiment the tamper indication means consists entirely of the overcap 45 which is temporarily sealed to container 40.

Overcap 45 comprises a main protective cap section 46 upon which is integrally formed a tear strip 47 having a broken area 48 and a protruding tab 49. Strip 47 is defined with respect to cap 46 by a score line 50 passing peripherally therearound. it is preferable that cap 45 be formed by some convenient thermoforming techique such as injection molding or blow molding, wherein strip 47 can be formed integrally with cap 46. Fig.

9 illustrates the means of attachment of cap 45 to container 40. In this view, which is a partial side view showing cap 45 in crosssection, it can be seen that tear strip 47 projects downward until it makes interference contact with the rounded side wall of container 40. A slight interference fit is preferable at this point. The main cap 46 is designed to project upwardly a sufficient distance to allow a clearance C between the top or "undercap" 43 of the container and the uppermost top portion of cap 45.

In normal operations, empty containers 40 will be placed into the filling line and nestable cap sections 45 will be placed in a denester near the filling line. The cap assemblies 45 will be denested and advanced along the filling line in proximity to the containers 40.

The pharmaceutical or food product will be placed into containers 40 along the filling line and a capping line will place the standard snap-on cap 43 over the neck 41 of the container thereby enclosing the contents of it.

The denested cap assembly 45 will then be brought into snug-fitting engagement in a spin-welding mandrel and the mandrel will be brought up to a predetermined speed while the cap is located directly above container 40.

When the spin-welding mandrel has reached a predetermined speed, such as for example 1000 to 3000 rpm, the mandrel will advance downward bringing cap 45 over container 45 until tear strip 47 contacts container 40.

Immediately prior to contact between tear strip 47 and wall section, the rotational force is removed from the spin-welding mandrel and it is allowed to rotate freely. Then the mandrel moves on down a fraction of an inch, contacting tear strip 47 with container 40, and the rotational energy of the cap and the mandrel, plus the friction fit between the two thermoplastic parts, fuses the cap onto the container by the friction welding process.

Thus the tear strip 47 is peripherally sealed on shoulder of container 40 and the contents of the container cannot be removed until tear strip 47 has been completely torn free of the container and the overcap 46.

When tear strip 47 has been torn from the bottle and the overcap, the overcap will have no support and will be freely removable from the container. The container will then have the appearance as shown in Fig. 11. Any purchaser of the product who sees that the overcap 46 is no longer tightly secured to the container will be informed that the container may have been tampered with. A legend can be printed on the cap top 43 to the effect that the contents may have been tampered with if overcap 45 is no longer attached to the container. This is indicated in Fig. 10.

Figs. 1 2 through 1 5 illustrate a third embodiment of the tamper-indicative closure for a thermoplastic container. In this embodiment a container 51 having neck section 52 with a standard opening 53 therethrough is closed by closure assembly 54. Fig. 14 illustrates the construction of neck section 52 in which a peripheral wedge-type locking shoulder 55 similar to the previous embodiments is formed on the neck section. A release opening 56 is formed in locking shoulder 55 which corresponds to a locking lug (not shown) formed internally in upper cap section 57 of cap assembly 54. An abutment shoulder 58, which also serves as an indicative shoulder, is formed peripherally around neck section 52 directly below locking shoulder 55 and serves to provide an abutment surface for top cap section 57.A third peripheral shoulder formed integrally on neck section 52 is the spinwelding shoulder 59 formed below abutment shoulder 58.

In Fig. 1 2 the cap assembly 54 comprises the upper main snap-on cap 57 to which is integrally attached a tear ring 60 and spinwelding ring 61. The structure of top cap 57 is similar or identical to that of the previous two embodiments, and a locking lug is located interiorly in cap 57 to engage locking ring 55 on neck 52. The cap assembly 54 is preferably formed in a single integral thermoplastic section by means such as injection molding or thermoforming from plastic sheet.

In the thermoforming or injection molding operation, main cap 57 is separated from tear strip 60 by a thin score line 62 and, likewise, spin-welding ring 61 is separated from tear ring 60 by a separate score line 63.

In typical operation the empty container 51 is placed in a filling line similar to the procedure in the preceeding embodiment. Likewise, nested cap sections 54 are placed in a denester and advanced to a spin-welding mandrel located in close proximity to the filling line. The pharmaceutical or food product is then placed into container 51 and the cap assembly 54, which is held in a spin-welding mandrel by means such as vacuum and/or friction, is brought up to a predetermined friction-welding speed somewhere between 1000 and about 10,000 rpm. The spin-welding mandrel is then lowered onto the container 51 and, immediately prior to contact, the rotational driving force is removed from the spin-welding mandrel to allow free rotation of the mandrel. The kinetic energy of the mandrel and the top is then absorbed when the spin-welding ring 61 engages shoulder 59.Preferably shoulder 59 is slightly larger by several thousandths of an inch in diameter than the internal diameter of spin-welding ring 61 to create an interference fit and enhance the friction welding process. Then as the freely-spinning mandrel lowers cap 54 onto neck 52 it is brought rapidly down to engage friction welding ring 61 onto friction welding shoulder 59. The energy of rotation of the cap and mandrel is then absorbed in the friction between the two friction welding elements and fusion of the cap to the bottle is achieved.

Thenceforth, to obtain access to the contents of the bottle, the tear ring 60 must be removed from cap assembly 54 to separate upper cap 57 from spin-welding ring 61 which is tightly fused to neck 52 by means of shoulder 59. For this purpose a free-extending tab member 64 is located on tear strip 60 and likewise a score or weakened area 65 is formed in the tear strip to allow initiation of tearing around score lines 62 and 63. Thus the consumer must lift tab 64 and pu(l circularly around cap assembly 54 to tear strip 60 from the cap assembly and to separate the snap-on lid 57 from the permanently secured ring 61. After removal of tear strip 60 the container will take on the appearance of the container shown in Fig. 1 3.

Looking at Figs. 1 3 and 1 5 one can see the process by which a consumer can determine if the container has been entered or tampered with. Fig. 1 5 is a top view of the snap-on lid 57 indicating a printed legend "Do not accept if center tear strip is removed". As an alternative, and as previously mentioned, abutment shoulder 58 becomes visible only when tear strip 60 has been removed from the container. It may be desirable to make container 51 from one color thermoplastic material and to make abutment shoulder 58 of a brightly contrasting colored thermoplastic material. For example, container 51 could be made of a white polystyrene and neck 52 would likewise be a white polystyrene.Cap assembly 54 could be of a white thermoplastic material such as polystyrene or polypropylene and shoulder 58 would be of a bright contrasting color such as red or blue, molded on neck 52.

If a color such as red were selected for shoulder 58, the legend on top of cap 57 as shown in Fig. 1 5 would read "Do not accept if red shoulder is visible below cap".

Referring now to Figs. 1 6 through 19, a fourth embodiment of the invention is disclosed. Fig. 1 6 illustrates a container 70 having an overcap 71 attached thereto. The overcap 71 is illustrated better in Fig. 17.

This comprises a main upper cap 77 and a lower tear ridge 78 formed integrally with upper cap 77. Tear strip 78 is separated from top cap 77 by a serrated score line 76 which provides a thin tearable integral connection between cap 77 and ridge 78. The attach ment of cap assembly 71 to container 70 is similar to the attachment process of the sec ond embodiment described in conjunction with Figs. 8 through 11. In this embodiment a permanently retained friction-welded ridge 78 replaces the tear strip of the previous embodiment. A single cap assembly 71 is formed by means such as injection molding or thermoforming means such as blow molding to have a main overcap 77 and a downwardly extending friction welding shoulder 78. The internal diameter of shoulder 78 is designed for interference fit over the upper shoulder of container 70.Container 70 has the usual main snap-on cap 72 similar to the snap-on cap of the previous embodiments. As previ ously mentioned, a serrated score line 76 separates main cap 77 from shoulder 78.

In typical operation, the empty container is filled with product in the filling line and the usual snap-on cap 72 is then placed over the products in a tight-fitting engagement to pro vide an air-tight closure for the bottle. The filled bottle with the snap-on cap then pro gresses down the filling line to a position where it is below a spin-welding mandrel containing top assembly 71. Top 71 is then spin-welded onto container 70 with shoulder 78 being fused to the upper shoulder 75 of container 70. As a result, the container and its products are sealed in a tamper-indicative manner and the ultimate consumer must re move the overcap 77 in order to obtain access to the products in container 70.This is achieved by grasping the bottle 70 in one hand and the overcap 77 in another hand and twisting in a rotational direction to separate overcap 77 from permanently welded ridge 78 along score lines 76. After removal of overcap 77, the container will have the appearance as illustrated in Fig. 18. The top of cap 73 should be imprinted with the leg end illustrated in Fig. 1 9 to indicate to the consumer that the bottle has been tampered with.

Alternatively, as previously described in an earlier embodiment, shoulder 74 of container 70 can be made of a brightly contrasting color to the other container components and the legend on top of the bottle can refer the visibility of this shoulder to indicate tampering with the bottle or its contents. It should be noted that, although no legend is illustrated for for the top of overcap 77, it would be prefer- able to place directions thereon for opening the overcap. Such a legend might read "Twist to tear cap loose to obtain contents".

Figs. 20 through 23 illustrate a fifth em bodiment of the invention which is similar to the previously described fourth embodiment.

In Fig. 20 a container 80 has a cap assembly 81 removably fused thereto. Cap 81 com prises a main overcap 82 and a friction weld ing shoulder 83. Bottle 80 comprises a snap ring shoulder 84 of similar construction to the previous embodiments and an abutment shoulder 85 peripherally located around the neck portion of the container. A spin-welding shoulder 86 encircles the neck of the container below abutment shoulder 85 and projects radially outward therefrom further than 85. Cap assembly 81 comprises overcap 82 separated from spin-welding shoulder 83 by score line or weakened area 87. A snap-on cap 88 similar to that of prior embodiments is secured sealingly over container 80. Cap assembly 81 is attached to container 80 by spin-welding fuse strip 83 to shoulder 86.

Removal of overcap 82 is necessary to gain access to the main snap-on cap 88 to remove products from container 80. This is achieved by twisting overcap 82 to tear at score line 87 and remove from friction-welded shoulder 83.

Fig. 23 is a top view of the bottle having overcap assembly 81 attached to bottle 80.

Fig. 23 illustrates the legend "Tear overcap by twisting", indicating the means for obtaining access to snap-on lid 88. Fig. 21 illustrates the container 80 after the overcap has been removed. A similar legend can be placed on top of cap 88 indicating that removal of the overcap indicates tampering with the contents. Alternatively, shoulder 85 can be made of a bright contrasting color and a legend accordingly placed on top of snap-on cap 88.

Although a specific preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in the detailed description above, the description is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms or embodiments disclosed therein since they are to be recognized as illustrative rather than restrictive, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited. For example, the material of the containers and the closures can comprise polyethylene, propylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinylchloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate glycol, copolymers of these polymers, or any other suitable thermoplastic material utilized in making containers. Likewise barrier type materials such ethylene vinyl alcohols, polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinylidene chloride, and styrene acrylonitrile can be utilized in place of or in conjunction with the aforementioned polymers. Also, whereas the present invention dicloses spin-welding as a means of friction welding the closures to the tops, it is also obvious that non-cylindrical containers and closures can likewise be friction-welded by means such as oscillatory bonding rather than spin-welding. Thus the invention is declared to cover all changes and modifications of the specific examples of the invention herein disclosed for purposes of illustration which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (26)

1. A tamper-indicative container assembly comprising: a container having a closed bottom end; saiS container having an open, upper neck portion formed thereon of a thermoplastic material; and, a closure cap assembly comprising a cap for said bottle and an integral friction-welding ring on said cap; said cap and ring being formed of a compatible thermoplastic material and joined together by a tearable section of said material; and, said ring being adapted for friction-welding engagement on said container.

2. A container assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the tearable section comprises a thin tear-line in the thermoplastic material.

3. A container assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the tearable section comprises a tear strip formed by two close, relatively parallel, thin tear-lines.

4. A container assembly as claimed in Claim X, 2, or 3, wherein the closure cap assembly comprises an overcap and the container assembly further comprises an undercap adapted for tight-fitting closure engage ment on said bottle neck portion under said overcap.

5. A container assembly as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said cap comprises a tightfitting closure cap adapted for engagement over said bottle neck opening, and said friction-welding ring is a tear-ring adapted to be friction-welded to said neck and is further adapted to be stripped from said neck and said cap to allow removal therefrom.

6. A container assembly as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said cap comprises a tightfitting closure cap adapted for engagement over said bottle neck opening, and said friction welding ring is removably connected to said cap by said tear strip.

7. A container assembly as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said friction-welding ring is formed on said overcap with a thin tear line therebetween and is further adapted to be stripped from said cap and said container simultaneously.

8. A tamper-indicative thermoplastic overcap assembly for protective coverage over a closed container having a removable closure cap; said assembly comprising a thermoplastic overcap adapted for covering said closure cap in noncontacting relationship therewith, and a friction-weld ring formed around the bottom of said overcap, adapted for friction-welding engagement with a container, and further adapted to be torn from said overcap with a moderate amount of human exertion.

9. An overcap assembly as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the weld ririg and the overcap are integrally formed of a single thermo plastic material and are separated by a thin tear line.

10. An overcap assembly as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the tear line comprises a serrated score line.

11. An overcap assembly as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the weld ring is further adapted to be; removed from said overcap and from a container simultaneously.

1 2. A tamper-indicative closure assembly for sealing engagement over a container having an upwardly extending neck opening with at least one friction welding shoulder projecting outwardly therefrom; said closure assembly comprising: a tight-fitting closure cap for engagement in a closing position over said neck opening, a weld ring on said closure cap formed of a material that can be frictionwelded to said friction welding shoulder; and tearable connecting means removably connecting said weld ring to said closure cap.

1 3. A closure assembly as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the closure cap and the weld ring are integrally formed of a single thermoplastic polymer.

14. A closure assembly as claimed in Claim 13, wherein the closure cap and the weld ring are connected by a thin, tearable score section of polymer.

1 5. A closure assembly as claimed in Claim 13, wherein the closure cap and the weld ring are connected together by a tear ring formed by two spaced apart, relatively parallel score lines between said cap and said ring.

16. A tamper-indicative container assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 7. A method of packaging consumer products in a tamper-indicative container; said method comprising: forming a friction welding surface on the upper portion of a container surrounding the neck portion of said container; providing a thermoplastic closure cap for said container, said cap having a lower friction-welding rim and an upper cap, with a tearable peripheral section separating said cap from said rim; filling said container with a desired amount of preselected product; and, friction-welding said rim to said welding surface.

18. A method as claimed in Claim 17, wherein the friction-welding step comprises spin-welding.

19. A method as claimed in Claim 17, wherein the friction-welding step comprises oscillatory welding.

20. A method as claimed in Claim 17, 18 or 19, wherein the tearable section comprises a single, thin score line in the thermoplastic cap material.

21. A method as claimed in Claim 17, 18 or 19, wherein the tearable section comprises a tear strip formed by at least two relatively parallel, thin score lines formed in the thermoplastic material.

22. A method of packaging consumer products in a tamper-indicative thermoplastic necked bottle, said method comprising: forming on said bottle radially outwardly projecting thermoplastic shoulder means for frictionwelding of a thermoplastic cap thereon; forming a thermoplastic protective cap having a top cap portion and a bottom welding ring separated by tear means; filling said bottle with a predetermined amount of desirable products; and, friction welding said welding ring to said shoulder means.

23. A method as claimed in Claim 22, further comprising the step of placing an inner seal cap on the bottle immediately following the filling step.

24. A method as claimed in Claim 22 or 23, wherein the friction welding step comprises spinwelding and the tear means comprises at least one thin score line formed in the thermoplastic material.

25. A method as claimed in Claim 22, 23 or 24, wherein the shoulder means is formed on the bottle below the neck thereof.

26. A method as claimed in Claim 22, 23 or 24, wherein the shoulder means is formed on the neck portion of the bottle.