MX2008008173A - Drinking fitment - Google Patents

Abstract

A low-cost sportscap (2) has a nozzle (6) defining a drinking orifice. The nozzle is assembled from below into an outer shell (4) which is moulded as one piece and includes an overcap (16) and a base (14). A foil annulus (8) is used to seal a coupling part (50) of the nozzle to the outer shell (4) and also preferably to provide a mechanism by means of which the closure can be assembled to a container neck (10). A primary ex-factory seal is created by a valve (42) inside the overcap engaging with the drinking orifice. This can be resealed by the user when the overcap (16) is attached to the base by hinge means (32).

Description

DRINKING ACCESSORY Field of the Invention The present invention relates to drinking accessories or bottle closures for drinking of a type known as sports caps or lids for slurping which are designed to allow the consumer to drink "in motion" from a container to which the lid is attached. . Such closures have a base that fits the neck of the container. The base provides an external shell to hold a spout or nozzle that defines a hole for drinking. The mouthpiece is formed to be received into the consumer's mouth and drinking occurs by a combination of suctioning the mouthpiece and squeezing the bottle. Background of the Invention There are a number of considerations that are significant in the design of such closures. These include a sealing and resealing of the ex-factory container; the cost and weight of the closure and packaging; cost, complexity and effectiveness of the mold necessary to make the closure; nozzle coverage when not in use; evidence of the hermetic plug; and disposal problems and obstruction risks created by small moving parts. The existing designs of such closures can be classified by the number of parts in the molding. The most common three-part designs have a basis which is screwed to the neck of the container and seals to it by means of the internal valve. The nozzle is an exchange jet (usually white) that can be pulled up to remove the seal from the drinking hole. The release is provided by pushing the sniffer backwards. The sniffer therefore acts as a nozzle and a draining valve for drinking. This pull-push design is usually provided provided with a tear-away cap or dust cover that is connected to the base by means of a brittle region and provides a dome-like cover on the nozzle. Once it is removed the light weight cover is discarded. Although this closure can be resealed by the consumer, it leaves the mouthpiece exposed. There are also considerable problems with closures, since consumers tend to open the valve to drink by pulling it with their teeth. This also encourages consumers to chew the mouthpiece resulting in damage. Because the base can be unscrewed from the lid, the containers are reused frequently. The reuse of a damaged closure can result in the risk of the nozzle falling off and creating a drowning hazard. These closures can be adjusted to standard bottle collars. A band of evidence of alteration surrounds the bottom of the base in a conventional manner. Since the container can not be refilled through the nozzle, it must be removed to allow the container to be refilled. The evidence systems of alteration that secure the base to the neck of the bottle, thus preventing consumers from reusing the container. WO 03/051734 (ALTO PLASTIC LIMITED). 2003-06-23, discloses a sports cap or a suction cap of this type in general having a foil sealed by induction of heat provided through the neck of the bottle to provide the ex-factory seal instead of a seal of dependent valve inside the base to seal against the inside of the bottleneck. This reduces the complexity of the base molding but requires a structure to pierce the seal. In this suction cap, the nozzle is pushed down to pierce the seal that opens the drinking valve. This first type of closure is relatively heavy and due to its complex design and construction it is expensive to produce it, since three separate slings and a two-stage assembly stage are required. This design also results in discarded / lost layers. A second type of closure design comes in two parts and has no valve to drink in the nozzle, but provides a hinged lid with a dependent valve formed on its upper surface to fit within an opening in the nozzle to provide the capacity of sealed and resealed. To allow the valve to release the nozzle cap while the cover is closed, a large flexible hinge is provided. The cover is molded as a separate component and an assembly stage is required. The design should also include a mechanism to allow the parts to be joined so that they can not be pulled separately. These characteristics make the molds more expensive and less efficient and increase the cost of the molded parts. Such a design has been adopted for use in HIGHLAND SPRING® 750ml PET sports cap bottles that have been distributed since March 2005. The cap is secured to the base by a fragile region with a small portion that can be peeled off to begin the tearing process. It is desirable that the small portion should remain attached to the base to avoid waste. As before, the base has an internal valve and is screwed into the neck of the bottle, thus avoiding any weight savings in the container or closure. An example of this type of bipartite closure in which the cover is molded in a closed position is shown in US 2005116382 A (NUSBAUM PHILIPPE (FR); CELERIER YANNICK (FR); LE CAM JEREMY (FR)). 2005-06-02. or WO 2004/007313 A (BERICAP). 2004-01-22. To simplify the molding process and allow the use of a single mold, a third type of design with a hinged lid is molded in an open position. See EP 1364886 A (BERICAP). 2003-11-26. An example of this type of design was used in 2005 in a PET container of 750 ml EVIAN® ACTION. The mold is relatively complex and therefore expensive to produce. Since the closure is molded in the open position, a mechanical robotic arm is necessary to close the closures. This adds time to the molding operation cycle and makes it relatively inefficient. The closure is still screwed to the bottle neck and is sealed by a valve. The evidence of stable alteration in lid closure is difficult with this type of design. A release strip is provided on the base of EVIAN® ACTION that closes and inter-blocks with projections on one edge of the lid in a manner that prevents opening of the lid without first being removed by the consumer. However, the strip is not physically connected to the lid as in the previous designs of evidence of alteration. Although it would be difficult to re-couple the parts if the closure was opened without first removing the strip, this could be done carefully. The detachment strip also creates a waste problem. Technical Problem All existing designs leave the technical problem unresolved with respect to allowing weight reduction in the neck of the container. On the other hand a large proportion of the weight of the closure is in the bulky base. It would also be desirable to provide a design that uses a mold that is economical to produce and can be operated at high rates while still offering consumers the Reliable evidence of alteration in the lid combined with resealing. Technical Solution The present invention therefore provides a closure for a package comprising an outer cover defining a base adapted to fit the neck of the package and a cover which is connected to the base by a removable tampering element; a separate nozzle defining a drinking hole mounted inside the outer cover; and a heat induction sealing sheet; characterized in that the sheet is a ring attached to the base of the nozzle; and the cap has a valve seal dependent on an internal surface for coupling with and sealing the drinking orifice. The preamble features of this claim are described in combination by Alto Plastics Limited above. The advantages of the present invention are best achievable by molding the nozzle separately while maintaining the base and lid in one piece. Preferably the sheet provides the means by which the base can be attached to the neck of the container, but if desired the base can have a standard screw-threaded flange for use with a conventional container having a neck end of PCO. Preferably the nozzle has a valve wall adapted to the seat within a container neck. This is Particularly advantageous when the sports cap must fit a container with pressurized contents. Advantageous Effects Alto could not produce an economic sports cap. Using two simple parts that are easily assembled and held together by the sheet sealing step, the invention simultaneously offers solutions to all the design considerations discussed in a previous paragraph. By making the base and lid in one piece, a reliable hermetic seal is secured without requiring an exact mold. The removal of a threaded screw-in base and a valve means that the base of the closure of the invention is much easier to mold and can be relatively light. In addition, weight savings can be achieved by eliminating the threaded neck of the container. The alteration band around the lid is preferably removable only partially to avoid waste. Since the lid is preferably preserved by hinge means so that the drinking hole can be resealed, thus minimizing waste problems. The sports cap of the invention can be molded from Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP) including OPP, or growth of recyclable plastics developed from crops such as PLA (polylactic acid). It is also possible make the PET nozzle. This is not currently possible with the prior art designs where the nozzles are currently molded as part of a base. PET is too fragile to remove a base from a mold without rotating the base of the mold, which is very costly and time consuming. These material suggestions are not intended to limit the use of other non-listed plastics, or other plastic such as nylon, or PVC or others for the nozzle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to understand the invention well, some embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings where: Figure 1 shows an exploded view of the components of the invention; a first type of closure; Figure 2 shows a plan view of the closure of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section on the line A-A in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the closure after it has been opened; Figure 5 is a vertical cross section through a closure mounted in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 6 shows an exploded view of the closure components of Figure 5; Figure 7 shows a vertical cross section through of a closure mounted according to a third embodiment of the invention; and Figure 8 shows a cross section similar to Figure 3 of a fourth embodiment of the closure. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The closure 2 is mounted from an outer cover 4, nozzle 6, and from a crown ring 8. The closure 2 is mounted to an open neck 10 of a container 12. The outer cover 4 is molded as a single element. It is made of a base 14 supporting a straight cylindrical wall 15. A cover 16 is connected to the wall 15 by means of a detachable alteration element 18 placed within a weakened annular junction 19 between an upper part of the wall 15 and a bottom edge of the lid 16. The base 14 has a flange 20 which is provided with a series of spaced internal projections 22 which allow pressure fitting on an outer projection bed 24 on a flange of the container neck 10. The flange 20 depends of an annular base plate 26 which covers an external part of the opening of the neck 10 and has a central circular opening 30 surrounded by the cylindrical wall 15. A formation of the hinge 32 permanently connects the cylindrical wall 15 with the lid 16. The hinge 32 is a strip that extends below the weakened joint 19 and fuses with a side wall of the lid 16. The length of the hinge is designed to allow easy opening and closing of the lid. to top without interference with the nozzle 6. The alteration element 18 is a removable oval section with a free tongue 38. The peel-off element 18 is attached at a lower edge 36 to the cylindrical wall 15 and at an upper edge 34 to the lid 16. These junctions are provided by means of a brittle region. The tab 38 slightly projects the projection of the alteration element to allow the user to pull the tab forward and initiate a tear along the brittle regions. The tang 38 and a freed portion of the alteration element 18 can be conserved with the base by limiting the ratio of the brittle region at the edge 34 or 36. Since the cover 4, comprising the base 14, wall 15 and lid 16, is molded as a part with the alteration element 18, it is not essential to have high precision of molding since all the parts are connected through a plastic membrane so that there is no possibility of leakage. If the parts have to be adjusted together in a leak-free manner, they would need to be molded much more accurately. A dependent cylindrical valve seal 42 projects from an inner surface 44 of the lid 16. The outer shell can be injection molded from plastics such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) including OPP (Oriented Polypropylene - a variant of the working copy of PP which is clear similar to PET but much cheaper), or recyclable plastics developed from of crops such as PLA (polylactic acid). If a sports cap that provides a gas barrier is required, then the outer cover can be made of a barrier material. The nozzle 6 is a separate mold having a coupling part 50 for coupling with the outer cover 4 and a nozzle part defining a drinking hole 52. The nozzle is hollow. The external shape of the nozzle can be formed to make it easy to attach with the mouth as with the prior art nozzles. The drinking hole 52 is formed to correspond to the valve seal 42 and provide a primary ex-factory seal and reseal capability of the closure. The coupling part 50 is an annular projection flange 54 extending from a lower edge of the outer wall of the nozzle 6. The flange 54 sits against the base plate 26 with the nozzle wall fitting comfortably within the wall cylindrical 15. A valve wall (not shown) adapted to the seat within the container neck may depend on the outer edge of the flange 54. This variation is illustrated in Figure 7. The nozzle 6 is preferably made of any of the suggested plastics by the external cover or PET since the molding is a simple shape and can easily be detached from the mold despite its fragility. The nozzle may have a layer of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) embedded therein.

EVOH provides a good gas barrier. However, the nozzle 6 need not be made of a barrier material to produce a barrier sports cap. It is only essential to have the outer cover 4, which is the base 14, wall 15 and cover 16 made of a barrier material. A foil ring 8 completes the closure 2. The foil ring is stamped from a thin sheet of aluminum foil covered on each surface with a plastic coating that is compatible with the plastics of the components to which it must be attached by sealed by heat induction. This is described in the art as a double heat induction seal (IHS) sheet. The sheet ring 8 has a circular edge 58 sized to fit within the base plate 26 and possibly also to extend partially under one side of the flange 20 of the base 14 if it is desired to attach the sheet to a side wall of the container as is described in WO 03/062061 A (SPRECKELSEN MCGEOUGH LTD). 2003-07-31. An opening 60 is stamped by a circular disk of the sheet in a position corresponding to the position of the circular opening 30 of the base plate 26. Assembly To mount the molded outer cover seal 4 and the nozzle described above, the ring sheet 8 is stamped from a sheet of sheet and is lowered into base 14 of the outer inverted cover 4. The nozzle 6 is then inserted or lowered through the opening 30 in the base plate 26 of the base 14 of the outer cover 4 until the valve 42 engages with and holds the drinking hole 52. The foil ring 8 is then clamped between the flange 50 and the base plate 26 with an outer portion of the ring exposed between an outer edge of the flange 50 and a flange wall 20. The closure is then subjected to induction heating to seal the foil 8 to the base plate 26 and join the outer cover and the nozzle, where the flange 50 covers the base plate 26. The flange 50 can be thin and designed to be sacrificed and fused over the edge 60 of the sheet or, if it is thicker , it should end sufficiently short to the flange 20 to allow a container neck to be placed in contact with the sheet 8 to join thereto. This design eliminates the need to bend an anodic wall on the inner edge 60 of the sheet as in the second embodiment. The assembled closure can then be attached to the neck of a bottle by a separate heat induction sealing operation. While the use of the ring of the sheet 8 to seal the nozzle 6 in the base 14 has been described, it will be appreciated that the components could be designed so that the nozzle will snap into the base. Sheet 8 would be necessary only to seal the base to the bottle or other container. The closure 2, while mounted, is completely sealed and can be supplied to a bottling factory and sterilized prior to assembly to a container. It will be appreciated that the presence of the sheet 8 means that the package does not require the formation of the normal threaded neck while the closure is preferably sealed to the package by a second welding operation. However, this closure can be adjusted to an unmodified container with an appropriately designed flange 20. See Figure 8. Where the package is desired for pressurized fluids, it may be necessary to provide the sheet in the flange 20 to join a wall of a PET bottle. For PET bottles still provided for water, the binding force provided by a connection to the collar 24 on the flange of the container may be sufficient. Second Mode A second mode of closure is shown in Figures 5 and 6 (where as reference numbers are used for the types of parts). This design is the same as the first embodiment except for the coupling part 50 at the base of the nozzle 6, the base of the outer cover 4 and the mounting method. In this embodiment the lid 16 is connected to the base 14 by means of a band of the alteration 18. The base 14 has a flange 20 terminating on a bank 22 adapted to press fit in an outward projecting cord 24 on a flange of a container neck 10. The flange 20 depends on an annular base plate 25 covering an external part of the opening of the neck 10. In this embodiment, the plate 26 is interleaved to define an internal slit 28. Although an annular base plate of uniform width is illustrated in Figure 5, it will be appreciated that a circular opening 30 in the base plate that receives the nozzle 6 can be offset to one side so that it is easier for the consumer to reach it. A formation of the hinge 32 permanently connects the base 14 with the lid 16. The hinge 32 is a strip that extends below the alteration band 18 and combines with a side wall of the lid 16. The length of the hinge is designed to allow easy opening and closing of the lid without interfering with the nozzle 6. The compensation of the nozzle away from the hinge 32 also reduces the length of the strip of the required hinge. The alteration band 18 is connected at each edge 34, 36 to a lower edge of the lid 16 and the base plate 26 respectively. This connection is provided by means of a brittle region along at least a portion of the edge 34 and at least a portion of the length of the lower edge 36. A tongue 38 projects from the alteration band to allow the user grasps the band 18 and initiates a tear along the fragile regions. The tang 38 and a released portion of the alteration band 18 can be retained with the base limiting the degree of the fragile region on the edge 36. This type of alteration band is used in the HIGLAND SPRING ® 750ml pet sports cap bottles discussed above. However, in that case the base and lid are molded as separate parts rather than as an integral external cover 4 as taught here. When the cover 4, which comprises the base 14 and cover 16, is molded as a single piece with the alteration element 18, a very low accuracy of the molding is required while all the parts are connected through a plastic membrane so that that there is no possibility of escape. If the parts have been filtered together in a leak-free manner according to the requirements of this prior art, they should be molded much more accurately. A spout 40 is provided in the lid 16 to facilitate reclosure. The nozzle 6 is as described in the above embodiment except that the coupling part 50 is an annular projection flange 54 extending from an external wall of the nozzle 6 just above its bottom edge to leave an anode wall 56 below the tab 54. The seats of the tab 54 in the slit 28 in the base plate 26 with the wall of the nozzle comfortably fitted within the opening 30. A ring of the sheet 8 completes the closure 2 as before. It will be appreciated that the nozzle is compensated with the foil ring will not be of uniform width around its circumference. Mounting the Second Modal To mount the closure of the molded outer cover 4 and the nozzle as described above, the nozzle 6 is inserted from below through the opening 30 in the base plate 26 of the base 14 of the outer cover 4 to the valve 42 which engages and grips the drinking hole 52. The ring of the sheet 8 is stamped from one sheet of the sheet and descends into the slot defined between the anodic wall 56 and the flange 20 thus covering the gap between an edge of the flange 54 and the outer cover that would otherwise be difficult to sterilize. The sheet 8 is then welded to the closure. The tool that places the sheet in the slot also bends the anodic wall 56 over the edge 60 of the sheet opening where the aluminum would be exposed in another way. When the sheet is heated, the plastic of this anodic wall 56 melts the exposed aluminum edge to embed as described in WO 2005/092728 A (SPRECKELSEN MCGEOUGH LTD). 2005-10-06. As with the first embodiment, the closure can be sealed to a container in a separate heat induction sealing operation utilizing the exposed portion of the sheet 8. Third Mode A third embodiment of the closure is shown in Figure 7 (wherein as reference numbers are used for the types of parts). This design is similar to the first modality except that the nozzle 6 is not centered within the base 14 but is compensated and a new structure of the sealing valve is shown in the coupling part 50. An alternative profile of the nozzle is shown and the cover has a second seal of the outer valve 82 concentric with the valve seal 42 for coupling with an external surface of the nozzle 6. This mode is mounted in the same manner as the first mode. The coupling part 50 terminates in a wall of the dependent valve 80 which is designed to push just in the open neck 10 of the container 12. This is particularly advantageous when the closure is being used in a container containing pressurized contents such as carbonated drinks . In this situation, the pressure will act to force the valve wall 80 against the neck that holds the closure in position. To allow the outer cover 4 to be molded in one piece the opening 30 in the base 14 can not have a diameter smaller than the internal diameter of the cover 16. It will be appreciated that if the advantages of this simple one-piece molding are known in advance, then the cover could be molded in the same way as the ENVIAN ® ATION closure described in the paragraph above. Fourth Modality The closure of Figure 8 differs from the first modality only in that it is designed to fit in a manner Conventional in a pre-formed standard PCO collar finished in any of the popular sizes such as 28 mm, 30 mm, 33 mm, 35 mm, 38 mm and 43 mm or 45 mm. The flange 20 is provided with an internal threaded screw 70 to cooperate with the external threads in the standard neck. The lower edge of the flange 20 can be connected with an evident strip of the alteration 72 by bridges 74. This closure method can be used without the need for any modification of the existing bottles. Variations Although a separate hinge 32 has been described, it will be possible to create a hinge by keeping the portion of the alteration band 18 as a permanent connection between the lid and the base.

The alteration element 18 could also be omitted and the lower edge of the lid 16 is attached to the base by a brittle region. The spout 40 would then need to be substantial enough to allow the user to use it to initiate tearing of the lid 16 by leaving just a portion of its edge connected to the base to serve as the hinge means. If the closure is to be used in a bottle with an integral gas barrier, it may be desirable to include a foil seal within the area of the valve 42. This can be done by the techniques described. GB 2412368 A (SPRECKELSEN MCGEOUGH LTD). 2005-09-28.

Claims (11)

1. A closure for a package comprising an outer cover defining a base adapted to conform to a container neck and a cover that is connected to the base by a removable alteration element; a separate nozzle defining a drinking hole mounted inside the outer cover; and a heat induction sealing sheet; characterized in that the sheet is a ring welded to the base and the nozzle; and the layer has a valve seal that depends on an inner surface to be coupled with and seal the drinking orifice. A closure according to claim 1, wherein the sheet provides means by which the base can be attached to a container neck. A closure according to claim 1, wherein the base comprises a threaded flange by means of which it can be connected to a standard threaded bottleneck end. A closure according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle has a valve wall adapted to settle within a container neck. 5. A closure according to any of the preceding claims, which additionally comprises hinge means that connect the lid and the base. A closure according to claim 4, wherein the hinge means are defined by a retained portion of the alteration band, 7. A closure according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the base and the cover are made in one piece. A closure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle has a base flange adapted to be seated in a groove within the base of the outer cover, and wherein the heat induction seal sheet covers a gap between the lower flange and the base. A closure according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the nozzle has a base flange covering an inner edge of the sheet. A closure according to any of the preceding claims, made of selected plastic materials of polypropylene (PP) including OPP, or recyclable plastics developed from crops such as PLA (polylactic acid). 11. A closure according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle is made of PET.