GB2251428A

GB2251428A - A tamper proof closure

Info

Publication number: GB2251428A
Application number: GB9024382A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew M Clark
Original assignee: United Distillers PLC
Current assignee: United Distillers PLC
Priority date: 1990-11-09
Filing date: 1990-11-09
Publication date: 1992-07-08
Also published as: GB9024382D0

Abstract

A tamper proof closure for a container 1 comprises portions 2 & 3 which may be rotated relative to one another. Upon rotation of portion 3 relative to 2 a ball (6, fig 4), or similar, resting in a housing (23, fig 9), is forced into tube 5 or the container by projections (22, fig 9), the portions 2 & 3 co-operate with a sleeve 18 having a thread at 25, the lower portion of the sleeve 18 is fixed to the container 1. Located within the sleeve and fixed by teeth 30, is a lower plate 7, which forms a unit fixed to the container's neck, and an upper plate 8, which is fixed with respect to the upper portion of the sleeve by teeth 29. When the portion 3 is rotated anticlockwise ratchet teeth (20, fig 8), on the upper plate 8 ride over their corresponding recesses (21, fig 8) in the lower plate 7, allowing a frangible web 18c to break. Once the upper portion 3 is removed fluid may be poured through a fluid outlet 9 which is a push fit construction (fig 4). A frangible strip 4 may be provided between the portions 2 & 3. The fluid outlet and container's neck may be sealed by discs 15 & 16. The closure may be made of polypropylene and the tube of polystyrene. <IMAGE>

Description

A CLOSURE The present invention relates to a closure for a container, in particular, a closure for a bottle which prevents counterfeiting/passing-off and tampering.

It is known to provide closures for bottles which include a tear strip which must be removed before a threaded cap can be unscrewed to release the contents. However, it has provided relatively easy to re-attach the tear strip thus enabling the genuine contents of the bottle to be removed and replaced by a substitute which is more often than not of lower quality. Another method of preventing tampering has been to allow the release of a coloured dye into the contents but this has proved unappealing to the purchaser who fears that the dye could have medical consequences if consumed.

It is also known that counterfeiters purchase empty bottles which are original and did contain genuine product. By use of mechanical or manual devices the counterfeiters totally (or in part) remove the closure and replace it after the bottle has been refilled with very little evidence of the closure having been breached. If in carrying out this action it is necessary to damage a component part of the closure, the counterfeiters merely replace that component part or reassemble it by means of glue, etc. These refilled bottles are then sold/passed-off as genuine product to unsuspecting customers. It has, therefore, long been considered desirable to produce a closure which prevents counterfeiting/passing-off and which provides clear visual indication of tampering or simply indicates that the closure has been opened.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a closure for a container comprising a first portion located on the open end of the container, a second portion connected to the first portion, the second portion being rotatable with respect to the first, wherein means are provided for indicating opening of the closure which are released into the container by rotation of the second portion with respect to the first portion and which cannot be removed from the container during normal emptying ot its contents.

Preferably, the indicating means is moveable from a first position before the closure is opened to a second position after the closure is opened.

Preferably, the first position is one in which the indicating means is concealed by the closure.

Preferably, the indicating means are held in the first position by locating means which release the indicating means after a predetermined rotation of the second portion.

Preferably, the locating means postion the indicating means such that there is sufficient clearance to allow the indicating means to rattle if a container upon which the closure is located is shaken.

Preferably, first and second plates are located within the first and second portions and can rotate with respect to each other.

Preferably, a cylindrical sleeve is located between the first and second portions and the first and second plates.

Preferably, the sleeve comprises first and second sleeve sections connected by a frangible sleeve section broken by rotation of the second portion with respect to the first.

Preferably, the second sleeve section is provided with threads on its outer surface to allow unscrewing of the second portion from the container.

Preferably, the first sleeve portion fixes the first portion and the first plate with respect to the open end of the container.

Preferably, there are stop means provided between the first and second plates which ensure that after the indicating means has been released further rotation of the second plate with respect to the first is prevented thus enabling the second outer portion to be unscrewed from the threads in the second sleeve section.

Preferably, a ratchet mechanism is provided to ensure rotation of the second outer portion with respect to the first in one direction only.

Preferably, a set of teeth and corresponding recesses are provided between the first and second plates.

Preferably, the indicating means comprises a hollow tube and a ball which is slidable within the tube, one end of the tube being connected to the closure.

Preferably, the locating means is a flexible rim on the inner surface of the tube.

Preferably, the first plate carries the hollow tube and the ball and the second plate has a projection which forces the ball over the flexible rim after a predetermined rotation of the second plate with respect to the first plate.

Preferably, the projection seals the hollow tube once the ball has been forced over the flexible rim.

Preferably, the first and second portions are connected by frangible means which are broken when the second portion is rotated with respect to the first portion.

A preferrred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a part elevational and part sectional view of a closure according to the present invention in place on the neck of a bottle; Figure 2 shows the closure in Figure 1 when the upper portion of the closure has been rotated; Figure 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the closure in Figure 1; Figure 4 is an exploded view of the components in Figure 3; Figure 5 indicates how the components of Figure 4 co-operate with each other:: Figure 6 shows the closure in Figure 3 when the upper portion of the closure has been rotated; Figure 7 is a detailed view of the inner components of the closure; Figure 7a is a view of Figure 7 from above; Figure 7b is a view of Figure 7 from below; Figure 8 shows detail of the ratchet mechanism in the upper and lower plates; Figure 8A is a view in direction X of Figure 8; Figure 8B is a view in direction Y of Figure 8; Figure 8C is a view in direction Z of Figure 8; Figure 9 is a view taken at approximately 450 through section A-A in Figure 8.

Figure 1 shows a closure according to the present invention located on a bottle 1 which comprises a lower outer portion 2 which is connected to the bottle neck and an upper outer portion 3 which is connected to the lower outer portion 2 by frangible strips 4. A transparent tube 5 extends from beneath the lower outer portion 2 into the neck of the bottle 1. The tube 5 is closed at its lower end 5a.

In Figure 2 the upper outer portion 3 of the closure has been rotated anticlockwise with respect to the lower outer portion 2. This rotation breaks the frangible strips 4 which connected the upper and lower outer portions and at the same time a ball 6 is released from within the closure and falls to the bottom of transparent tube 5. Thus an onlooker is able to determine whether the closure has been opened or tampered with merely by checking to determine whether the transparent tube 5 contains a ball 6.

Although frangible strips 4 are provided in this embodiment they are clearly not a necessary feature but serve to act as a further indication of tampering.

Figure 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the closure in Figure 1. The upper and lower outer portions 2 and 3 co-operate with a sleeve 18 having various projections on its inner and outer surfaces.

The sleeve 18 comprises an upper section 18a which is provided with an external thread 25 which co-operates with corresponding grooves 26 on the inside of the upper outer portion 3. The upper section 18a is connected to a lower section 18b by a frangible middle section 18c. The lower section 18b engages the bottle neck by means of a flange 27 which fits into a corresponding groove in the bottle neck.

Located within sleeve 18 are upper and lower plates 8 and 7 which can rotate with respect to each other.

Upper plate 8 is fixed with respect to upper sleeve section 18a by means of flange 28 which engages teeth 29 in upper plate 8. Lower plate 7 is fixed with respect to lower sleeve section 18b by means of flange 30 which engages teeth 31 in lower plate 7.

Lower outer portion 2, lower sleeve section 18b and lower plate 7 comprise a unit which is fixed with respect to bottle neck 1 when the upper outer portion 3 is rotated anticlockwise. The closure also comprises a fluid outlet which is generally indicated at 9 having a flared mouth 12. The fluid outlet 9 passes through lower and upper plates 7 and 8. Disc 16 is a sealing wad which ensures that the flared mouth 12 does not allow leakage of fluid and is fixed in the upper protion 3 of the closure.

Figure 4 is an exploded view of the components inside the sleeve 18 in Figure 3. The mouth 12 of the fluid outlet 9 is a push fit in hollow body 10.

Body 10 passes through upper plate 8 and mouth 12 then fits into body 10. Body 10 is provided with a flange 11 which serves to locate the body 10 in the correct position with respect to upper plate 8. The lower portion of body 10 is provided with a series of slots 32 which extend around the periphery of body 10 and allow the passage of fluid from the bottle to the mouth 12. The lower portion of body 10 is a push fit onto funnel-shaped insert 13 which is itself a push fit onto a cap 14 provided with holes 33 for the passage of fluid. The fluid outlet 9 is a sliding fit in lower plate 7 and upper plate 8 is a push fit onto lower plate 7. The transparent tube 5 and ball 6 fit into a recess in the lower plate 7. Ball 6 sits on a rim 24 in the upper portion of tube 5.

Finally, disc 15 is a push fit in the depending flange 19 which extends from below lower plate 7.

Disc 15 is a compressible diaphragm which provides liquid and odour ingress sealing on the top ring surface of the glass bottle 1. Depending flange 19 co-operates with projection 19a on the inner surface of sleeve 18b. The vertical distance between projection 19a and projection 27 is designed such that when the closure is applied to the bottle it requires vertical pressure to locate projection 27 within the recess in glass bottle 1. This in turn applies downward pressure on projection 19a which co-operates with flange 19. This downward pressure compresses disc 15 against the top of the glass bottle surface ensuring a liquid and odour ingress seal all round the circumference of the glass surface. The inner circumference wall of flange 19 also acts as a locating area for disc 15.

The fluid outlet 9 is constructed in such a way that each of the push fit connections will give way if an attempt is made to insert anything into the bottle through the mouth 12. This will prevent effective syphoning of the contents if, in the unlikely event, the upper outer portion is removed without the ball 6 being released into tube 5. The lower cap 14 and insert 13 will become free and fall into the contents of the bottle to indicate to the user that tampering has taken place.

Figure 5 is identical to Figure 4 execept that reference numerals have been removed and replaced by arrows indicating how the various components fit together.

Figure 6 shows the closure in Figure 3 when the upper outer portion 3 has been rotated anticlockwise with respect to the lower outer portion 2. The frangible strips 4 will break away and the ball 6 which was previously concealed within the closure falls into tube 5 and comes to rest at its closed end. The middle portion 18c of the inner sleeve 18 is also broken during rotation.

Figure 7 shows the components of the closure which are located within sleeve 18. Figure 7A is a view from above in direction A in Figure 7. The upper surface of upper plate 8 can be seen and the inside of mouth 12. Figure 7B is a view from below in direction B in Figure 7. The tube 5 can be seen extending from disc 15 which is located within flange 19. The cap 14 of the fluid outlet 9 can also be seen.

Figure 8 is an exploded detailed view of parts of a ratchet mechanism provided in the upper and lower plates 8 and 7. The circumferential teeth 29 in upper plate 8 have been removed to show the inner details more clearly and mouth 12 is also not shown to facilitate viewing of lower plate 8. Two sets of three projections or teeth 20 extend downwardly from upper plate 8 and engage in a respective set of six recesses 21 in the lower plate 7 when the closure is constructed. The teeth 20 and recesses 21 are shaped such that only rotation in an anticlockwise direction is possible. When the closure is mounted on a bottle neck the teeth 20 will engage in the first three recesses 21 to the left in the drawing and will move over the recesses during rotation until they sit in the last three recesses to the right in the drawing.

Thus, the teeth 20 and recesses 21 act as a ratchet mechanism allowing only rotation in an anticlockwise direction. The upper plate 8 also includes a projection 22 which is solid with a recessed groove 34 which locates the ball 6 before activation and which forces the ball 6 into tube 5 when the closure is opened. As is clear from Figure 9, the projection 22 extends outwardly for a greater distance to the left of the figure and gradually decreases to the right thus forming an arc shaped groove 34. The projection 22 sits above a housing 23 in the lower plate 7 before rotation is begun. The housing 23 comprises three walls extending upwardly from lower plate 7. The housing 23 surrounds the ball 6 which sits at the top of tube 5 by resting on a small rim 24. Before rotation takes place the ball 6 is of such dimensions that there is a small clearance between itself, projection 22 and housing 23 which is sufficient to make a rattling sound if the bottle is shaken. This will provide a further indication that the closure has not been opened. The dimensions of the projection 22 and the recessed groove 34 are such that when the upper outer portion 3 is rotated anticlockwise it will slide within the housing 23 and force the ball 6 past the rim 24 and release it into tube 5. When the ball 6 has been released the projection 22 will then cover the entrance to tube 5 ensuring that the entrance is sealed thus preventing ball 6 from returning to its original position inside the mechanism.

The housing 23 also provides a stop mechanism such that after the initial rotation has been effected and the ball 6 released, the upper plate 8 and lower plate 7 will rotate no further with respect to each other. In this way, continued rotation of the upper outer portion 3 will result in it screwing off the threads 25 in the upper sleeve 18a. The closure will then be ready to allow passage of the contents of the bottle through mouth 12. Clearly, the ratchet mechanism ensures that an initial rotation in the clockwise direction is not possible thus avoiding the upper portion 3 being removed without the ball 6 being forced into tube 5 to indicate that the bottle has been opened.

Figure 8A is a view in direction X in Figure 8.

The location of the teeth 20 and projection 22 are indicated by broken lines. The position of housing 23 and ball 6 are also indicated by broken lines. In this figure one can see that a portion of upper plate 8 is cut away to allow rotation up to the body 10 of fluid outlet 9. When the radius of the cut away portion is rotated sufficiently to abut the body 10 further rotation is prevented (mouth 12 is not in position in this figure). The angle through which the radius rotates will correspond to the angle through which projection 22 rotates before it abuts the stop provided by housing 23.

Figure 8B is a view in direction Y in Figure 8 from below upper plate 8. Again, the teeth 20 and projection 22 are indicated.

Figure 8C is a view in direction Z in Figure 8 from above lower plate 7. In this figure the recesses 21 can be seen and housing 23 for ball 6.

Figure 9 is a view at approximately 450 through section A-A in Figure 8. In this figure one is able to see the arcing of recess 34 in projection 22 and the walls of housing 23. The arcing ensures that projection 22 is able to sit above housing 23 before rotation is begun without contacting ball 6 in any way.

Thus, the present invention provides a closure which prevents counterfeiting/passing-off and which indicates tampering simply looking at the tube 5 within a bottle neck or similar container.

Moreoever, it would be extremely difficult to rescue the ball 6 and relocate it at the top of tube 5 without removing the entire closure. Thus the re-attachment of the frangible strips 4, in this case, would be ineffective. Furthermore, once opened the ball 6 will no longer rattle within the closure.

Clearly, the closure according to the present invention will easily prevent the re-use of the empty bottle by a counterfeiter since once the indicating means has been actuated, the counterfeiter will be unable to obtain access to the indicating means without destroying the closure thus preventing re-use of the indicating means. This renders the empty bottle useless for counterfeit product.

To merely refill the bottle would be futile. A potential purchaser being offered a supposedly unopened genuine bottle would immediately identify that the indicating means had been previously activated (the ball being visably trapped in the tube) and that the bottle was likely to contain counterfeit product or at the very least the sealed closure had been tampered with.

As a further indication of tampering the outer portions could be constructed of a plastic which suffers stress marks if an attempt is made to remove the closure as a whole from the bottle neck.

Although only one embodiment of the invention has been described, it is clear that other visual indication means could be used. For example, the transparent tube could be dispensed with and the ball or any similar small piece allowed to fall into the bottle.

Furthermore, the hollow transparent tube could be open-ended and extend into the fluid in the bottle so that if the ball was of a similar density it could act as a level indicator once the bottle had been opened.

Suitable materials for the closure would be plastics and polypropylene. The tube could be made from polystyrene.

Claims

1. A closure for a container comprising a first portion located on the open end of the container, a second portion connected to the first portion, the second portion being rotatable with respect to the first, wherein means are provided for indicating opening of the closure which are released into the container by rotation of the second outer portion with respect to the first portion and cannot be removed from the container during normal emptying of its contents.

2. A closure as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the indicating means is moveable from a first position before the closure is opened to a second position after the closure is opened.

3. A closure as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the first position is one in which the indicating means is concealed by the closure.

4. A closure as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein the indicating means are held in the first position by locating means which release the indicating means after a predetermined rotation of the second portion.

5. A closure as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the locating means postion the indicating means such that there is sufficient clearance to allow the indicating means to rattle if a container upon which the closure is located is shaken.

6. A closure as claimed in any preceding claim wherein first and second plates are located within the first and second portions and can rotate with respect to each other.

7. A closure as claimed in Claim 6 wherein a cylindrical sleeve is located between the first and second portions and the first and second plates.

8. A closure as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the sleeve comprises first and second sleeve sections connected by a frangible sleeve section broken by rotation of the second portion with respect to the first.

9. A closure as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the second sleeve section is provided with threads on its outer surface to allow unscrewing of the second portion from the container.

10. A closure as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the first sleeve portion fixes the first portion and the first plate with respect to the open end of the container.

11. A closure as claimed in Claim 9 wherein there are stop means provided between the first and second plates which ensure that after the indicating means has been released further rotation of the second plate with respect to the first is prevented thus enabling the second outer portion to be unscrewed from the threads in the second sleeve section.

12. A closure as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a ratchet mechanism is provided to ensure rotation of the second outer portion with respect to the first in one direction only.

13. A closure as claimed in Claim 12 as dependent on any of Claims 6 to 11 wherein a set of teeth and corresponding recesses are provided between the first and second plates.

14. A closure as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the indicating means comprises a hollow tube and a ball which is slidable within the tube, one end of the tube being connected to the closure.

15. A closure as claimed in Claim 14 as dependent on Claim 4 wherein the locating means is a flexible rim on the inner surface of the tube.

16. A closure as claimed in Claim 15 as dependent on Claim 6 wherein the first plate carries the hollow tube and the ball and the second plate has a projection which forces the ball over the flexible rim after a predetermined rotation of the second plate with respect to the first plate.

17. A closure as claimed in Claim 16 wherein the projection seals the hollow tube once the ball has been forced over the flexible rim.

18. A closure as defined in any preceding claim wherein the first and second portions are connected by frangible means which are broken when the second portion is rotated with respect to the first portion.

19. A closure for a container substantially as herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.