JPH02180161A - Sealable lid assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make it possible for consumers to determine whether or not a container has been contaminated before use by placing a lid assembly fabricated in advance so as to close its opening, applying heat to a strip assembly surrounding a container body so as to make it shrink, and forming a tamper evident seal between the lid member and the container. CONSTITUTION: A lid member 18 composes a part of a sealable lid member 26 and is equipped with a sealing strip 28 extending around the circumference of a rim portion 20. The sealing strip 28 has a pressure sensitive adhesion tape of the first strip 30 one side of which is pasted with an adhesive layer of synthetic rubber resin or another adhesive corresponding to this. The strip 30 is provided with the first portion adhered to outer face 21 of the rim portion 20, and also the second portion adhered to the second strip composed of heat shrinkable film 34 relatively hard with respect to the first strip 30. The second strip 34 is hopefully made of a relatively hard polymer material that shrinks with heat, for instance, glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate or vinyl chloride.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a one-part tamper-evident closure used to prove that a container has not been opened after being sealed. In particular, the present invention relates to a tamper-evident closure for containers that is easy to install and can be incorporated on existing lines at minimal cost.

[Prior Art and Problems] Current packaging membranes often use tape bands or other tamper-evident seals around the lids of packaged goods to prevent consumption if the container is ruptured or contaminated before use. This allows the person to be confirmed. Such tamper-evident seals are particularly advantageous for use in containers such as those for food storage. Examples of such seals and devices used to apply the seals to containers include Donnay, US Pat. No. 3,873,018. With this device, an additional station is provided on the production line to stretch the tape band after placing the lid on the container between the container lid and each container body. Thus, tamper-evident seals for containers are conventionally installed at a separate manufacturing step following assembly of each container.

One disadvantage of such prior art devices is that the equipment required to place a tamper-evident seal on a container is relatively expensive to purchase.

Moreover, such equipment is relatively bulky and requires a considerable amount of factory floor space.

There has been a long-unmet need in the prior art for a device for applying tamper-proof seals to containers that is inexpensive to purchase, easy to maintain, and does not require a large amount of space on production plant floors. It is clear that there are.

Objects and Arrangements of the Invention The present invention provides a sealable lid assembly of the type adapted to be placed on and sealing a container;
The assembly includes a lid having a lower rim portion with an external surface and a narrow strip assembly attached to the lower rim portion and heated. and the strip assembly extends below the lower rim portion such that the strip assembly contracts and engages the container when the lid is placed on the container to provide a tamper-evident seal.

To compactly and economically form a tamper-evident seal on a container, the present invention further provides at least one prefabricated lid assembly including a lid member having a lower rim portion and a lid member attached to the lower rim portion. a container body having at least one upright wall defining an opening in the upper rim;
Place the prefabricated lid assembly to close the frontage and place the strip assembly around the container body! and applying heat to the strip assembly to thereby form a tamper-evident seal between the closure member and the container.

These and other advantages and features which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For an understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its application, reference should be made to the text and accompanying drawings, which describe preferred embodiments of the invention.

EMBODIMENTS In particular, in FIGS. 1 to 3, where like reference numerals refer to like structural parts throughout the drawings, a container body 10 has a cylindrical upright wall 12 formed with a circular opening in the top of the container body 10. has been done. This wall 12 terminates in an upper rim bead portion 16 as shown in FIG. In the illustrated example,
The container body 10 is of a type commonly used for storing ice cream and other liquid frozen foods.

A lid member 18 is provided to seal the circular opening at the top of the container body 1o. The lid member 18 is formed with a top 22, a top edge 24, and a downwardly extending cylindrical rim portion 20 having an outer surface 21, as shown in FIG. To seal the opening of the container body 10, the lid member 18 is configured such that the rim portion 20 slides over the rim bead 16 and extends downwardly parallel to the outer surface 14 of the container.
It is placed on the PIA body 1o at the position shown in FIG.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the lid member 18 is provided with a sealing strip 28 forming part of a sealable lid member 26 and extending around the circumference of the rim portion 20. In the embodiment of FIGS.

The sealing strip 18 has a first strip 30 of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape coated on one side with an adhesive layer of synthetic rubber resin or a similar adhesive. The first strip 30 has the trademark 3M Scotchp [L&Bacron (Sc)
The tape commercially available from OTCHPRO and Paklon may be used. As shown in FIG.
has a first portion adhered to the outer surface 21 of the rim portion 20, and a second strip made of a relatively stiff heat-shrinkable film 34 attached to the 111I strip 30. 2
There are parts. Preferably, the 211th strip 34 is made of a relatively stiff polymeric material that is compressible by heating, such as glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) or chlorinated H-'-I, (PVC). In the case of this embodiment, the strip material 34 is 0.19#l+
l+ to 0.328I (0,0075 inch to 0.0
Preferably, the thickness is within the range of 125 inches). A peel-off strip tape 32 is adhered to a third portion of the adhesive side of the pressure-sensitive adhesive n-tape 30 and is made of a relatively high tensile biaxial polypropylene, polyester extensible polypropylene, or equivalent material. It is preferable to make J. A thin strip 3o is also attached to the peel-off thin strip tape 32.
An adhesive surface is provided for contact with.

As shown in FIG. 2, a prefabricated sealable lid assembly 26 including a lid 18 and a sealing strip 28 is moved from the position shown in FIG. The container 5 is lowered to the closed position on the main body 10.

Heat is then applied to the sealing strip, which causes a rigid heat-shrinkable film 34 to form on the container body 1o as shown in FIG.
contraction is pressed against the outer surface of the As a result, a tamper-evident seal is formed on the container body 10 without the use of additional expensive and bulky ablator pockets or the like.

FIG. 3 shows a seal blank 38 that can be used to form the seal strip 28 shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG.
is formed at the end of the

As a result of the edge score 44, the pressure sensitive adhesive tape 30 is peeled along its border with the top edge 42 when the peel strip 32 is pulled. Thus, the entire strip 34 of rigid heat shrinkable film is removed along with the peel strip tape 32 when the consumer removes the tamper evident seal 36.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the strip 34 is formed to be longer than the strip 30 of the pressure-sensitive adhesive tape, so that the adhesive region 46 on the rear side of the pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 30 is exposed. There is. Areas of exposed adhesive 46 are used to join one end of seal blank 38 to the other end during fabrication of the sealable lid assembly shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, the modified seal blank 48 utilized in the embodiment of FIGS. 50 and a second end notch 52 formed on the same end of the pressure sensitive adhesive tape 30 immediately below the peel-off strip tape 32. As a result, when the tamper-evident seal 36 is broken by a consumer, only the peel-off strip tape 32 is removed from the seal strip 28, thereby removing the upper portion of the pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 30 and the rigid shrinkable film 34. remain on the container.

A second embodiment of a sealable lid assembly according to the present invention is described below.
: Shown in Figure 55 and Figure 6. In this embodiment, the sealing strip 56 includes a first strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 58 and a second strip of rigid heat-shrinkable film 6o. 1st
The pressure sensitive adhesive tape of strip 58 is preferably made from the materials described above with respect to first strip 30 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

Accordingly, strip 2111 of rigid heat-shrinkable film 6o is preferably made from the material described for strip 34 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

In operation, a prefabricated sealable lid assembly 54 is placed onto the container body 10 in the manner described above with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2. Heat is then applied to the sealing strip 56 causing the strip 56 to contract thereby forming a tamper-evident seal 62 against the outer surface 14 of the container wall.

In FIG. 7, a seal blank 64 is captured and provided to form the seal strip 56 sized as shown in FIG. 7th
As shown, the end notches 168 are attached to the sealing blank 6.
It is formed on a pressure sensitive adhesive chip 758 at the end of the 4. An end notch 68 is formed slightly above the top edge 66 of the heat shrinkable rigid strip 60. As a result, the pressure sensitive adhesive tape 158 peels along the border with the top edge 66 of the rigid heat shrinkable strip 60 as the tamper evident seal 62 is being removed by the consumer.

Third embodiment 7o of a sealable lid assembly according to the invention
is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the seal strip 72
This differs from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 in that the rim portion 20 of the lid member 18 is formed to have a larger inner diameter than the outer surface of the rim portion 20. As a result, the lid assembly made according to the example of FIG. 8 can be stacked against other similarly made lid assemblies. As shown in FIG. 8, the flared seal strip 72 fits comfortably over the top edge of the lid member 18.

9 and 10, a fourth embodiment 78 of a sealable lid member includes a first strip 82 of pressure sensitive adhesive tape that adheres to the inner surface 23 of the rim portion 20 of the lid member 18. ing. A second film made of a rigid heat-shrinkable film 84
The strip is adhered to a second portion of pressure sensitive adhesive tape 82 extending in the direction F of the rim portion 2o as shown in FIG.

To construct the tamper-evident seal 86, a prefabricated sealable lid member 78 is placed over the container body 10 and heat is applied to the seal strip 80. This causes the second strip of rigid shrinkable film 84 to shrink, forcing pressure sensitive adhesive tape 82 against outer surface 14 of container body 10 as shown at 1'' in FIG.

To form a prefabricated sealable lid assembly of the type described above with respect to FIGS. 1-3, a seal blank 38 is wrapped around the rim portion 200 of the lid member 18 as shown in FIG. 11.

The exposed adhesive portion 46 is then layered onto the opposite end of the seal blank 38 in n layers while the pressure sensitive adhesive tape of the seal blank 38 adheres to the rim portion 20 of the lid member 18.

As shown in FIG. 12, a prefabricated sealable lid assembly 26 then seals the opening formed by the upper rim of the container wall. A container assembly 94 is formed which can be placed on the ff device main body 10 and sealed in advance.

Next, a pre-sealed container! The assembly 94 is passed through a shrink station 88, which in the preferred embodiment includes an endless conveyor belt 9o and a heat tunnel 92, as shown in FIG. Thermal tunnel 92 preferably heats the strip on the container to a temperature of 104° C. to 121° C. (220° F. to 250° F.) in the preferred embodiment, the thickness and material of the strip material being as described above. be. Container assembly 94 is heat tunnel 9
1111 between the lid member and the container body.
A tamper-evident seal 36 is formed thereon. Although the steps shown in FIGS. 11 to 13 have been described with respect to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it should be understood that the steps can be applied to any of the embodiments disclosed herein.

However, while numerous features and advantages of the present invention have been described, together with structural and functional details thereof, it is to be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that modifications may be made within the scope of the invention, particularly in terms of shape, size, and construction of parts. The broad general meaning of oil as expressed in the appended claims may be practiced across the full spectrum.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a cross-sectional fragmentary view of a container and lid assembly according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the lid assembly and container body in a sealed state; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the seal blank material used in the actual IIAVA shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the modified seal blank material used in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2; 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the second embodiment of the present invention that can be shown before sealing is performed, FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 8 is a plan view of a lid assembly constructed in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a plan view of a seal blank adapted to be used in the embodiment shown; FIG. FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of the container body and lid assembly constructed according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of the example of FIG. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second method step according to the invention; FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a third method step according to the invention. 10... Container body, 16... Upper rim bead part,
18... Lid member, 20... Cylindrical ram part, 21
...Outer surface, 14...Outer surface of container ♂, 26...Sealable lid assembly, 28...Seal strip, 30...First strip of pressure sensitive adhesive tape, 34 ... Second strip of heat-shrinkable film, 32 ... Peel-off strip tape, 36 ... Tamper-proof seal, 44.50.52 ... Edge notch.

Claims (15)

[Claims] (1) a sealable lid assembly adapted to be placed over a container and sealing the container; a lid device adapted to fit over the container and having a lower rim with an outer surface; and the lower rim. a strip device attached to the bottom rim portion for shrinking when heat is applied, the strip device extending below the lower rim portion so that the lid device is placed on the container. a sealable lid assembly that retracts to engage the container when opened; 2. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 1, wherein said strip device has a first portion attached to said outer surface of said rim portion. (3) The strip device includes a first strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape having a first portion attached to the outer surface, and a second strip made of a heat-shrinkable material attached to a second portion of the first strip. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 2, comprising a strip. 4. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 3, wherein said second strip is stiffer than said first strip. (5) The strip device further comprises a peel-off strip adhered to a third portion of the pressure-sensitive adhesive tape between the first portion and the second portion. Sealable lid assembly. (6) The first strip has an edge notch formed at an end proximate the peel strip tape, thereby facilitating grasping of the peel strip tape. Sealable lid assembly according to Section 5. 7. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 6, wherein said edge notch is formed above said peel strip tape. 8. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 7, wherein said first strip further includes a second edge notch formed in said lower end of said peel-off strip tape. (9) the first strip is longer than the second strip;
4. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 3, wherein a strip overlaps around said outer surface of said rim portion. 10. The sealable lid assembly of claim 1, wherein said lower rim portion has an interior surface opposite said exterior surface, and wherein said strip device is attached to said interior surface. (11) The strip device includes a first strip made of a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape having a first portion adhered to the inner surface of the lower rim portion, and a second portion of the first strip adhered to the inner surface of the lower rim portion. and a second strip made of a heat-shrinkable material.
Sealable lid assembly according to item 0. (12) The strip device has an inner diameter at the lower portion that is larger than the outer diameter of the rim portion, so that the lid assembly is stackable with respect to similar lid assemblies.
Sealable lid assembly according to section. 13. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 3, wherein said second strip is formed from a heat shrinkable polymer selected from the group including polyethylene terephthalate glycol modification and vinyl chloride. 14. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 11, wherein said second strip is formed from a heat-shrinkable polymer selected from the group including polyethylene terephthalate glycol modification and vinyl chloride. 15. A sealable lid assembly according to claim 5, wherein said peel strip tape is formed from extensible polypropylene.