IL45722A - Tamper-proof plastic closure - Google Patents

Description

Tamper-proof plastic closure ALCA S.A.

Shis Invention relates In general to tamper-proof Closures consisting of a One-pieoe molded element of plastic material of the general type comprising a tear-off ring having an internal bead adapted to engage, and be retained by, an external annular groove formed in the neck of the oontalner, bottle or vessel to be closed, said ring being conneoted to the main body of the closure along a horizontal annular thinner portio of lesser strength, whereby the closure cannot be opened for the first time without opening said ring and oonsequently tearing same along said line of lesser strength, thus clearly showing that the oontalner has been, opened after the filling and irst closing thereof. The closure body, comprising a depending cylindrical inner skirt or like portion fitting in the neok of said oontalner, oan be re-used many times for reolosing the oontalner* One-pieoe tamper-proof closures of this general and known type comprise, on the closure body to be used for re-oloslng the container, an outer peripheral grip - ring or oarown depending in a skirt-like manner rom the top sur ce of the closure and bearing on the upper edge of the' neck -of said container, and in this case the aforesaid tear-off line of lesser strength is fozmed along the lower edge of said grip-rin the latter being thus somewhat extended downwards by said retainin and tear-off ring, this last-named ring being opened, in the upward direotion and then removed b tearing same when openin the olosure for the first time.

One-piece tamper-proof closures of the type broadly set forth hereinabove are particularly adapted for stopping bottles and can accomodate different bottleneck contours, provided tha , th retaining ring has a mating contour for each bottleneck contour, These closures have thus become very popular sinoe they permit of avoiding the known combination of a plastic gasket with a metal tamper-proof crown, which is a source of complication in the capping operations while increasing appreciably the cost of a complete closure,, However in actual use it was observed that when a downward pressure is exerted on the top of a olosure of this known type, an elastic deformation of the olosure could be obtained in some oases, with the consequence that the retaining ring was separated from the. bottle, thus affording a partial release of the inner bead of this .ring from the groove formed in the outer surfac of the bottleneck, and possibly the removal of the complete olosur without opening said ring or breaking the annular line of lesser strength thereof, so that the tamper-proof characteristic of the device was de initively lost.

It is the essential"ob-jet of this invention to impart a oomplete reliability to tamper-proof olosure devices of the type broadly set forth hereinabove, and to this end the essential feature of this invention resides in the fact that the retaining ring, instead of being connected to the lover edge of the grip ring of the closure main body, constitutes an external skirt rising to the top surface of this body and connected thereto by a line of lesser strength substantially ooplanar with said to surface, i.e. above the closure body.

With this arrangement, when a pressure is exerted on the top of the closure a shearing effort is exerted on the aforesaid line of lesser strength (to be referred to hereinafter as the "weaker" line) instead of causing the skirt to be tilted in the dlreotion likely to start the removal of the closure from the bottleneck, so that the annular weaker line is broken immediately, this line being furthermore clearly visible on top of the olosure, so that the tamper-proof feature of the olosure can be detected immediately from the absence of any rupture.

According to a complementary feature characterising this invention the junction formed along an annular line between the outer retaining skirt and the olosure top may be obtained by molding a series of connecting points or bridges disposed at spaced intervals along said annular tear-off weaker line . and adapted to be broken in succession when tearing off the outer skirt.

A conventional arrangement facilitating the gripping of the olosure body when re-using the latter as a simple stopper or oapsule consists in forming along the outer periphery of the upper outer marginal portion or crown of this body a circular series of vertioal spaoed lutes or splines having or example a semi- piroular configuration in horizontal section* In a particularly advantageous form of embodiment of this invention as applied to plastic closures provided with the above-defined externally fluted or splined ring portion, the outer skirt is assembled by molding to the top face of the closure through relatively fragile radial "bridges" associated with the successive flutes or splines, and preferably ooplanar with the top surfaoe of the closure.

Also advantageously, the outer skirt has a downward extension in the form of a tear-off tongue similar to the tongues already known in the art which are associated with closures of the lateral peripheral tear-off type, and one edge of this tongue Is formed with an extension in the fozm of a weaker line which, in th case of the present Invention, extends throughout the height of said outer skirt, whereby after this outer skirt has been opened - from bottom to top along said line, pulling the tongue laterally will produce the desired tearing action along said upper annular weaker line by successively breaking the fragile bridges formed by molding between the top edge of said skirt and the flutes or splines of said permanent closure grip-ring. She aforesaid skirt- opening line may extend vertically, but a generally preferred embodiment consists in slightly inclining this line on the side of the tear-off tongue in order to orient the tearing force in the direction contemplated for continuing and terminating this tearing action after said outer retaining skirt has been opened from bottom to top.

Figure 1 is a vertical axial half-sectional, half- elΘvational view'of the bottle olosure aooording to this invention, /'the dash and dot lines designating the oontour of the bottleneck upper portion to which corresponds the example illustrated; Figure 2 is a fragmentary section showing the same closure as seen in plane view from above; Figure 3 is a fragmentary broken-line section of the retainin "skir , taken along the ascending skirt-opening line; Figure 4 is an elevational view of the closure, showing on a smaller scale the external retaining skirt imparting the tamper-proof characteristic to the devioe, and Figure 5 is a corresponding view of the re-closing devic after the removal of the external retaining skirt.

Referring first to Figure 1, the bottleneok 1 for whic the closure according to this Invention is intended Is shown in dash and dot lines. In this example, the upper edge of the neck comprises a somewhat ' swollen portion 2, and the contour, of the outer surface of this neck comprises from top to bottom a convex bead or upper edge 3» a groove 4 and a oonvex portion 5 of larger radius than said bead 3» at the base of said upper neck portion* She one-piece tam er-proof olosure according to this ' invention oonsists of a single molding of thezmoplastlo material suitable and known composition, including a top surfaoe or wall 6 having a depending or down-turned outer peripheral cylindrical edge 7 formed with external splines consisting of vertical spaced flutes 8. Shis edge 7 is adapted to bear on the upper edge of the bottleneok and constitutes a grip-ring for removing and re-fittin the olosure body when refusing the devioe. ' The olosure body further comprises an inner cylindrical depending skirt 9 adapted to fit in substantially sealing engagement in the bottleneck, and the lower edge of this skirt 9 -has a bevelled portion 10 facilitating the introduotion of-this , skirt with a oertain degree of elastio deformation into the bottleneck 1.

She above-described closure is so far of a known general type but according to the present invention it is oompleted by a retaining and tamper-proof external skirt 11 having on its inner surfaoe, at a suitable height, a bead 12 assisting in introducing the main inner skirt 9 into the bottleneck 1 with a oertain degree of elastio deformation.

According to this invention, the retaining skirt 1 . ' extends up to the plane of said top surfaoe 6 of the closure and the upper edge of this skirt 11 is somewhat thicker or widened, as shown at 13. This outer skirt"is molded integrally with the closure and its upper, widened edge 13 is oonneoted to the upper edges of said flutes or splines 8 through bridges or like elements 1 constituting links spaced from each other along the entire outer periphery of the closure.

The outer skirt* 11, along a relatively small portion of its oircumferenoe, carries an extension in the form of a tear-off tongue 15 of substantially right-angled triangular shape, with one vertical side 16 and an inclined side 17, as already mentioned hereinabove. Furthermore, the skirt 11Λcomprises a thinner oblique line 18 extending from the top of vertloal side 16 to the top of the skirt, the nclination of this line 18 being directed preferably toward the tongue side, so that pulling the tongue 15 will open the skirt 11 throughout its height along said oblique ' line 18, whereafter all the bridges 14 are torn off in the horizontal direction started by said 'oblique orientation of the incipien tear-off line 18.

I is thus dear that the vertical contour illustrated or the skirt 11 corresponds to the bottleneck 2 shown in Figure 1 and that it would differ in the case of other bottleneck contours, provided that it is adapted to cause the skirt to be retained In groove or under a shoulder of said bottleneck contour.

Sinoe according to the invention the spaced bridges 14 are looated atop the closure of this invention) they are dearly visible and it can be seen at a glanoe if they are unbroken, this proving immediately that the bottle has not been opened after the initial filling thereof, for the closure struoture is such that any attempt to open it would break said bridges 14» even if one' oould remove the closure without opening the skirt 11 along the thinner line 18. Under these conditions 'it is clear that the ' present invention assists considerably in reinforcing the ' ' inviolability of the closure. In fact, if a pressure were exerted on the top of this closure with a view to release the skirt 1 .. from the bottleneck groove 4 without opening this skirt 11 at' 18, the considerable shearing stress thus exerted against the"bridge elements 14 would break these elements immediately, at least alon one fraotion of the closure olroumferenoe* It Is also dear that to open a bottle sealed by means of a olosure according to this invention it is only neoessary to pull the tongue 15 upwards so as to firstly open the skirt from its lower edge to its top along the line 18, and then to separate this skirt from the olosure main body by successively .breaking the bridge elements 14 constituting fragile links connecting said skirt to said main body, Although a specific orm of embodiment of this invention has been deseribed hereinabove and Illustrated in the accompanying drawing, it will readily occur to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be brought thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the . appended claims.

Claims (3)

What We claim is :

1. · One-piece tamper-proof plastio closure comprising a closure body suitable for re-closing the container and formed wit a grip-ring bearing on the top of the oontainer to be closed and an inner skirt fitting into said neck, wherein ah outer retaining and tamper-proof skirt extends to the top surface of said olosure to which said skirt is connected through the medium of a circular line of lesser strength, substantially co-planar with said top surface and adapted to constitute a tear-off line after said oute skirt has been opened ¾n the upward direction by using any suitable means.

2. One-piece tamper-proof plastio olosure as set forth i Claim 1, wherein the junction between the upper edge of said oute Ί skirt and the top surface of said olosure body consists of a series of relatively fragile connecting elements molded Integrall therewith and spaced along the outer periphery of said olosure body.

3. One-piepe tamper-proof plastio olosure as set forth i Claim 2, comprising a closure body havin an external upper crown formed on its outer vertical surface with vertical spaced splines or flutes, said relatively fragile elements connecting said skirt to said olosure top. surface being formed between the thinned inne edge of said upper end of said outer skirt and the successive splines or flutes of said olosure body.