LU85640A1 - ONE-PIECE MOLDED CLOSURE CAP, SEALED PACKAGE COMPRISING SUCH A CAP AND DEVICE FOR MOLDING THE CAP - Google Patents

Description

D-84/23

/, AgRAND-DUCHÉ DE LUXEMBOURG

.................... OLJ ^ L.1 v * of the Minister for the Economy and the Middle Classes

Title issued Intellectual Property Service

"LUXEMBOURG

Application by Breyet for invention I. Application ..... ANCHOR HOCKING CORPORATION. 109 North Broag Street, Lancaster $ i) OH 4313Ö, USA, represented by Jean Waxweiler, 21-25 ..... Allée Scheffer, Luxembourg, acting as agent) this ... thirteen. novoüLie ntil nine hundred cr. 13 tvrfr ~ vincrfc * ~ guafcre -....... O) at ... A? .. '. 9.9 ...... hours, at the Ministry of the Economy and the Middle Classes, in Luxembourg: 1. the present request for obtaining a patent for an invention concerning:

Insulated closure plug <5 * one piece, sealed packaging) comprising such a plug and device for molding this plug.

2. the delegation of power, dated ......_.................................. .............................. the ................... ............................................

f ïcÎR ^ Siisè 3. description in language ....................... HL ................ .............................. of the invention in two copies; 4 ..............,! T ............. drawing boards, in two copies; 5. the receipt of the taxes paid to the Luxembourg Registration Office, the thirteen norasbre ail resi cer.tg ^ tre ^ vinçrc-cuatre .................... .................................................. ..........................

__ declare (s) assuming responsibility for this declaration, that the inventor (s) is (are): KIlIDOm · lidnk S., € CC6 Overiccü riace, baltimore, Maryland, USA ........ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ................

claims (s) for the above patent application the priority of one (or more) application (s) of (6) ......... patent .............. ............................................... filed (s) ) in (7) Etars-ünis from America ............................._....

November 14, 1553 under Mo. OC / ΕΕΙ, ΞΗ in the name of hi ^ dCXff Franh £ ♦ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-.......................... .. (9). elect (elect) for him (elleLet, if appointed, feed his representative, in Luxembourg ................................ ..

uean wa ^ xftic-cr ·, îx-25 Aliee Scherier, Luxembourg ................................... .................................................. .................................................. .................. ................................ ............-..................................... ....................... (10) requests (s) the grant of a patent for the invention for the subject described and represented in the abovementioned appendices , - with postponement of this issue to .......................................... ....................month. (11)

The agent f) ...........

J Π. Deposit Report <. The aforementioned patent application has been filed with the Ministry of Economy and Middle Classes, Intellectual Property Service in Luxembourg, dated: 13 ^ Hr ± ^ 4 ^ - '(. S y..fl v_ .. ··. ·; x \

Pr. The Minister at 15> 0 ° hours i _ | l Economy and the Middle Classes.

hr. f v> 1 / p-d- “- \ Y. ^,. ”/ 7¾ \ 4¾. · Λν /. J a A 68007 * b 93 429 PATENT OF INVENTION aSN ° 551 599

DEPOSITOR

Said company: ANCHOR HOCKING CORPORATION

TITLE

"Closure cap molded in one piece, sealed package comprising such a plug and device for molding this plug"

CLAIMING PRIORITIES

US 14.11.1983 06/551 599 in the name of 1 * Inventor.

Inventor: NIXDORFF Frank S.

The invention relates to molded plastic closure caps for containers such as food packaging and the like. The invention relates more particularly to a closure cap with which has just been molded a control or indicator strip of spoliation which is formed with the closure and which is placed on the container with the cap during a normal sealing operation.

This strip engages with complementary stops 10 which are carried by the container and which tear off the strip from the closure cap when an attempt is made to partially or completely open the packaging, unauthorized or accidental, during transport. or during the presentation in store.

There are a number of closure plugs of this general type comprising aluminum closures and a number of molded closures made of plastic. Aluminum closures generally require a separate operation, when closing the package, for rolling the spoliation indicator strips on the ring of the container. The prior closure caps, molded from plastic, were designed so as to have spoliation indicator strips applied directly to the closure, when the latter were screwed onto the containers.

These closures posed problems including difficulties in manufacturing closures with satisfactory lines of notches or other lines * 2 of weakening defining the band. Difficulties have also been encountered in the use of separate notching means or in the molds for manufacturing the plugs which required an excessive number of parts or which exhibited excessive wear during the production of these plugs.

The closure plug according to the invention solves these problems by an improved design which simplifies the manufacture or molding of the plug 10 and which uses relatively simple molds. At the same time, a plug is obtained which can be easily installed without rupture or premature separation of the strip. The strip of the stopper according to the invention produces a positive action of indication of spoliation, clearly showing that the packaging has been despoiled.

The subject of the invention is therefore an improved closure molded in plastic material, with witness to spoliation.

A subject of the invention is also such a closure which can be produced more easily and which can be installed easily, without premature separation from the spoliation indicator strip.

The invention also relates to a tamper evident closure which is reliable and which resists deterioration.

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of non-limiting examples and in which: - Figure 1 is a perspective view 30 of a package closed using the closure cap according to invention; - Figure 2 is a perspective view illustrating the closure cap before its installation on an end of preferred container; Figure 3 is an elevation of the package 3 of Figure 1; - Figure 4 is a horizontal section along line 4-4 of Figure 3; FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the closure plug removed from the container; - Figure 6 is a vertical section along line 6-6 of Figure 3; - Figure 7 is a vertical section along line 7-7 of Figure 5; - Figure 8 is a vertical section of a preferred embodiment of a device for molding the closure plug according to the invention; FIG. 9 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale of a part of the molding device of FIG. 8; - Figure 10 is a horizontal section along line 10-10 of Figure 9; and - Figure 11 is a vertical section of another embodiment of the molding device.

The invention relates to a one-piece molded closure cap for glass, plastic or other containers and comprising a tamper or indicator strip. As described more fully below, the spoliation indicator strip is molded together with the remaining portion of the closure plug. The strip is removably connected to the lower part of the skirt of the stopper. It cooperates with elements provided at the mouth of the container so as to be torn and to fall from the skirt of the stopper when the latter is turned to remove it.

This rapid separation of the strip therefore immediately indicates an intentional or accidental loosening of the closure cap. An immediate indication is therefore obtained of the destruction of the closure of the packaging 4 r ’when the closure has been partially or completely removed. This indication offers a guarantee to the end buyer who can reject questionable packaging and choose a completely closed and satisfactory packaging.

5 The preferred embodiment of the closure plug 1 comprises a top 2, a descending skirt 3 and a strip 4 indicative of spoliation # made in one piece with the skirt and starting down from the lower edge of this skirt 3. The inner surface of the skirt 3 of the stopper comprises means intended to engage with a container, such as continuous threads 5 or other types of elements for engagement with a container by rotation. The top of the container 7 includes complementary means intended to engage with the closure, such as continuous threads 6 or other types of engagement means with closure, by rotation.

A ring 8 for engaging with the band is formed on the top of the container 7, below the threads 6.

20 This ring 8, which projects outwards, has a number of spaced stops 9 projecting radially outwards and intended to engage with corresponding stops 10 formed on the inner surface of the indicator strip 4 of spoliation. The stops 9 of the container have oblique surfaces 11 which are inclined towards the outside, as can best be seen in FIG. 4, to allow the passage, by an action similar to that of a snap-fastening, of the stops 10, of corresponding inclination, of the strip 4 indicative of spoliation when the closure cap 1 is screwed onto the container 7. The sides of the stops 9 of the container and the stops 10 of the strip, opposite the oblique edges, protrude roughly radially with respect to the mouth of the container and the band. Consequently, when the cap 1 of the container 7 is unscrewed, the 5 stops 9 and 10 lock each other, preventing the strip 4 from rotating relative to the container 7 and causing the strip 4 to rupture and its separation from the skirt 3 of the closure plug by breaking of the connecting lugs 12 which connect the strip 4 to the skirt 3.

The slit or circular weakening line is produced during the molding of the closure cap in order to separate the band from the skirt of the cap, and several spaced connecting tabs detachably connect the band 4 'to the skirt 3. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7, for example, eight tabs 12 are spaced more or less regularly around the circumference of the skirt 3 of the plug and of the strip 4 and are placed outside the slot 13, on the outer surfaces 15 of the skirt 3 and of the strip 4.

As can best be seen in Figures 6 and 7, the tabs 12 run down from the lower outer part of the skirt 3 and above the strip 4, which leaves a slit extending over 360 ° 20 around the closure plug 1 between the lower edge of the skirt 3 and the upper edge of the strip 4, parts of the slot 13 passing behind each of the tabs 12.

FIG. 2 illustrates the closure cap 1 immediately before it is placed on a filled container 7.

The plug 1 is lowered, by rotating it, onto the container 7 until a closure is achieved between the container and closure lips 14 situated on the underside of the top 2 of the closure cap. The spoliation indicator strip 4 descends above the ring 8 and the stops 9 and 10 which slide over one another. The relative positions of the threads 5 and 6 of the stopper 1 and of the container, of the strip 4 and of the stops 9 and 10 are such that the stops 10 of the strip 4 and the stops 9 of the container 7 6 1 are separated from each other. others in the fully closed position. In the embodiment shown, the presence of four stops 9 and four stops 10 has the effect of separating the strip 4 when the plug 1 is rotated by 90 ° or less and, consequently, an indication of spoliation is obtained before that the plug 1 is turned beyond a small part of its total number of turns necessary for its removal.

To allow relatively easy and high-speed manufacture of the closure plugs, these plugs are produced in a single molding operation. The assembly of the closure plug 1, comprising the top 2 and the skirt 3 as well as the strip 4 indicating the spoliation, is formed in a single molded part. The molding is carried out on a core 16 intended to form the plug 1 with its threads 5.

A new and improved mold is used to simultaneously mold the strip 4 comprising the spaced stops 10 and the circular slot 13. The preferred mold 20 for the plug of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9 where the molding core -from above and the skirt is illustrated at 16, inside a mold cavity 17. The core includes a sleeve 18 for forming the slot and the strip. Vertical grooves 19 are provided 25 in the cavity 17 of the mold to receive plastic material from an orifice 23 via the part 3 forming the skirt of the plug during the molding of the closure so as to form the spaced apart tabs 12 which project outwards from the lower part of the skirt 3 and 30 from the external surface of the strip 4 (FIG. 10). The sleeve 18 has an inner part 20 for shaping the surface of the strip comprising spaced notches 21 intended to form the spaced stops 10 on the internal surface of the strip 4. An outer flared edge 22 of the sleeve 18 is arranged so to move towards and against • 5 7 the parallel flared surface of the cavity 17. The flared edge 22 is applied in a sealed manner against the surface of the flared cavity 17, at all points other than the grooves 19 provided for the legs 12 and it thus stops the plastic material and allows the formation of the circular slot 13.

Prior molds of this general type have slot-forming edges which are brought into sliding contact with mold cavity surfaces oriented angularly or about perpendicularly. This preliminary movement carried out in high speed molding machines tends to wear down the edges of the molds and to blunt them after a relatively short time, so that the mold can no longer form complete and open slits.

The flared edge 22 of the sleeve .18 described above, when it is lowered inside the cavity 17, comes into contact with a corresponding flared surface of the cavity, without slipping and the friction which results therefrom.

The contact is established at the moment when the flared edge 22 reaches its lowest position on the surface of the cavity 17, without movement of the chamfered edge 22 on or along the surface of the cavity 17. This virtually eliminates all edge wear and allows the mold to form the circular slots 13 for indefinite periods.

FIG. 11 illustrates another embodiment of a closure cap 30 according to the invention, having a different position of the tabs connecting the skirt of the cap to the spoliation indicator strip.

In this embodiment, the tabs 31 are located in the circular slot 32 forming the line of weakness between the skirt 33 of the stopper and the strip.

, 34.

The tabs 31 between the skirt of the stopper and the strip 34 indicative of spoliation are produced by 8 - - the plastic which passes through a number of circumferentially spaced grooves 35 formed in the edge of the sleeve 36 of the core. This embodiment advantageously uses the aforementioned widening of the skirt 33 5 of the plug at the level of the slot 32 by allowing the surface 37 of the slot to form on the cavity and on the sleeve 36 of the core, to be oblique and performed in the form of cone sections as described above. Such surfaces can be produced easily, with the sizing and with the tolerances required for the surface 37 of the mold cavity and for the sleeve 36 of the core. When the mold produces the closure plug, these substantially parallel and conical surfaces are moved together to perform a suitable molding due to the precise dimensions resulting from the use of complementary conical sections and their assembly inside the mold, without excessive sliding or contact.

The mold described above therefore not only allows a plug molding action at high speed, by producing perfect closure plugs, but it also allows the implementation of a simple design, without repair or replacement during long working hours. These advantages lead to a decrease in the cost of the closure plugs by minimizing the maintenance of the mold and allowing a high speed molding operation which produces perfectly molded closure plugs.

An improved closure plug with spoliation indicator has therefore been described which is produced so as to resist deterioration and which also has a pleasant shape and appearance which is not very bulky. The spoliation indicator strip only intervenes after a slight movement of the closure cap so as to clearly indicate a spoliation in the case where an attempt has been made to remove, even partially, the closure cap.

9 'In addition, an advantageous method and device have been described for the manufacture of the stopper and in particular for forming the groove or slot in the spoliation indicator strip, allowing the manufacture of closure stoppers at high speed with minimal wear. of the mold. Such a mold brings substantial cost savings to the manufacture of the closure cap.

It goes without saying that numerous modifications can be made to the stopper described and shown without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

10 '' CLAIMS 1. Closure cap molded in a single piece of plastic material intended to hermetically seal a container (7) with a threaded neck, said closure (1) 5 comprising a top (2) and a downward skirt (3) whose inner surface comprises threads (5) intended to enter into engagement with the container, and a strip (4) indicating of spoliation going down from the lower edge of the skirt, the stopper being characterized in that at least the upper part of the band flares outwards, several legs (12) extend between the flared band, indicative of spoliation, and the lower part of the skirt, a slot (13) extends around the periphery of the closure cap , between the lower edge 15 of the skirt and the upper edge of the spoliation indicator strip, and several stops (10) protrude towards the inside of the interior surface of the spoliation indicator strip in order to engage with stops complementary (9) presented by the container. 2. Closure cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the threads intended to engage with the container comprise continuous threads. 3. Closure cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the stops situated on the strip have inclined surfaces at their front edges, in the direction of screwing, so that they can pass easily over the stops of the container. , and opposite edges oriented approximately radially so as to engage with the stops of the container when the cap is unscrewed, which causes a tearing of the strip. 4. Hermetic packaging comprising the assembly of a container (7), the mouth of which comprises threads (6) intended to engage with a closure, and a closure cap (1) molded in plastic material. ,; '11 "·,' * hermetically sealing the container and comprising a top (2) and a downward skirt (3), the internal surface of which comprises threads (5) intended to engage with those of the container, a strip (4) spoliation indicator extending downward and outward from the lower edge of the skirt, and several tabs (12) extending between the spoliation indicator strip and the lower part of the skirt, the package being characterized in that a circular slot (13) extends around the periphery 10 of the closure plug, between the lower edge of the skirt and the upper edge of the spoliation indicator strip, the tabs being positioned so as to pass over the above this slot, the interior surface of the spoliation indicator strip comprising several stops (10) which project inwards and a ring (8), located on the container, below the nets of the latter, comprising stops (9) intended to engage with the stops d e closing when the closing cap is removed. 5. Packaging according to claim 4, characterized in that the threads of the container and of the closure are continuous threads. 6. Packaging according to claim 4, characterized in that the stops of the strip have inclined surfaces on their front edges, in the direction of screwing, so that they can easily pass over the stops of the container, and opposite edges oriented approximately radially so as to engage with the stops of the container during unscrewing so that the strip 30 is torn off. 7. Packaging according to claim 4, characterized in that the stops of the ring of the container ^ have surfaces inclined at their front edges to allow passage of the stops of the strip during the screwing of the closure, and have surfaces 12 opposite radially oriented in order to engage with the stops of the closure when the latter is unscrewed, so that the strip of the closure is torn off. 8. Device for molding a closure plug (1) comprising a top (2) and a downward skirt (3) to which a strip (4) indicating spoliation is connected along a substantially circular weakening line, the device , which has a cavity (17) for shaping the closure and a corresponding molding plunger (16), being characterized in that the cavity has a flared side wall intended to shape flared parts of the closure cap, and a grooved element carried by the plunger, having a flared edge (22) intended to be placed in opposition to the side wall of the flared cavity in order to cooperate with it to form said line of weakening of the closure. 9. Molding device according to claim 20, characterized in that the slot-forming element carried by the plunger has a flared surface parallel to the surface of the side wall of the cavity in order to form an open slot in the closure. 10. Molding device according to CLAIMS-25 tion 8, characterized in that it further comprises a sleeve (18) mounted on the molding plunger, the slot-forming element being disposed on the sleeve.