US1693250A - Sealed package and closure cap therefor - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 27, 1928. 1,693,250

L. P. PIAZZOLI, .JR

SEALED PACKAGE AND CLOSURE CAP THEREFOR Filed July 15, 1926 u I r 1/63; I 31 20 ,9 |I\lllmllllllllllllllmiflllllllillllllllllillllllm V millliillllllllllllmllllllllllllllllllllm 22 35 INVENTOR.

Lou/3 PP/bZZo/g, (fr.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 27, 1928.

1,693,250 PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS P. PIAZZOLI, JR., F CONNELL SVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO CAPS'I'AN GLASS COMPANY, OF CON N ELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE.

' SEALED PACKAGE AND CLOSURE CA]? THEREFOR.

Application filed July 15,

The present invention relates to vacuum sealed packages and closure caps therefor, and more particularly to moldable closure caps adapted to form with a suitable container a sealed package in which the vacuum maybe readily broken to facilitate removal of the cap.

The advantages of packing food products in packages sealed under a partial Vacuum are well recognized and a large portion of the products preserved commercially are sealed in this manner. Power operated automatic sealing machines have been devised for commercial use with such packages and various inexpensive vacuum sealing devices have been manufactured to enable housewives and others to exhaust the air from containers prior to sealing. A very convenient package is afforded by a container having a suitable ledge on the inner wall of its mouth to seat a gasket upon which a closure cap. may be mounted. The closure cap may comprise a cover portion with a downwardly deppnding, annular shoulder about which a gas et may be stretched and seated thereon. The periphery of the cover extending laterally over the top of the gasket furnishes a seat for the upper side of the gasket and substantially encloses it. The flange formed about the periphery aids in centering and seating the caps, the depending shoulder of which is adapted to be telescoped into the mouth of the container with a gasket between the shoulder and the inner wall of the container. Closures and containers of this general character form packages which may be entirely glass except for the small sealing gasket. Hence'they are very neat in appearance and display attractively the contents thereof and may be reused indefinitely. They have the additional advantage of sealing themselves after being subjected to a vacuum. The cover acts as a valve permitting exhaustion of air and preventing the entrance of air into the container when atmospheric pressure is restored thereabout. Thus the cap is firmly held in posi tion and sealed by atmospheric pressure without the aid of attachments for securing the parts in position.

While the seal formed by atmospheric pressure acting upon the cap is very effective, it is likewise very difiicult to break. Attempts to pry off the cap are likely to result in breakage and damage to both package and 1926. Serial No 122,517.

contents. The usual method is to break the vacuum in the container by inserting an instrument under the gasket or else breaking the seal in some other manner. It is desirable of course, to do as little damage to the gasket as possible so that it may be used again for sealing purposes. The lateral flange formed about the periphery of the cap to hold the gasket in place prevents the application of an instrument to the gasket to break the seal and necessitates the provision of some means to facilitate breaking the vacuum. The means now commonly used is the formation of three notches 120 degrees apart about the periphery of the cap. These notches are out completely through the flange so that a pin or other instrument may be pressed downwardlyalong the shoulder of the cap to break the seal thereof. In opera tion it is difiicult to force the pin back of the gasket because of its tendency to engage the gasket in which case it is difficult to form a leak sufiicient to break the vacuum because immediately upon removal of the pin the rubber expands to close the opening; whereas if the pin follows the shoulder on the cap along the side of the gasket it may be used as a small lever to press the gasket away from the shoulder and form a leak. Another objection is that in manufacture, such notches are extremely difficult to form because they necessitate a mold having sharp projections extending into the periphery of the cap and upon the slightest wear fins are formed between the edges thereof and the co-operating mold, which make the cap dangerous to handle and render a new mold necessary. The frequent replacement of molds increases materially the cost of manufacture. In addition the apertures form dust traps and give a broken appearance to the periphery of the cap rendering the package unsightly. While only a single notch is necessary for the insertion of an instrument, in manufacture three notches are formed for appearance and to facilitate the application of a vacuum pump in removing the air from the container.

The present invention overcomes these difficulties by providing a closure cap having a continuous outer periphery extending laterally beyond a downwardly depending shoulder. The lower edge of the periphery is recessed at one point to provide a wedge-shaped passageway leading to the edge of the shoulder so that a pin or other instrument inserted in this passageway is guided back of the gasket along the shoulder into the container and may be readily moved as a lever to press the gasket away from the shoulder to form a leak by wear do not materially affect formation of the recess.

An object of the invention is to facilitate the manufacture of moldable closure caps for use in vacuum sealing.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive closure cap adapted effectively to seal a container and furnish a passageway for access to the sealing gasket for the purpose of breaking the vacuum and facilitating removal of the closure cap.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a passageway in a frangible closure cap leading to the sealing gasket by forming a depression in the lower portion of its outer periphery in the form of a wedgeshaped recess whereby wear on the mold is minimized and fins of glass at the edges of the passageway are eliminated.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrated embodiment aboutto be described, or will be obvious from the accompan ing drawings or indicated in the appended c aims, and various advantages secured by the invention other than those herein specifically referred to, will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a container and closure with a vacuum pump applied thereto for the sealing operation;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view showing the closure in sealed. position on the container;

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view showing a pin inserted in the recess to break the vacuum;

gig. 4 is a top plan view of the closure cap; an

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of the recess in the closure cap.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a container 1, in the form of a glass jar having its upper portion reduced in size to form an outer shoulder adjacent the mouth 2 thereof. The inner side wall 4 of the mouth of the receptacle has an annular shelf-like ledge 5 inclined slightly to the side wall of the container and meeting arvertical portion (5 forming an annular shoulder against which a gasket 7 may be seated. A closure cap 9 having a cover portion 10 with a depending shoulder 11 adjacent the periphery thereof adapted to retain the gasket 7 when it is stretched thereabout is adapted to be telescoped into the mouth of the container with the gasket resting against the shoulder 5. The outer periphery 12 of the cover extends laterally over the gasket and holds it firmly in position and at the same time substantially encloses and protects it.

While any method or apparatus for sealing may be utilized to effect the necessary vacuum in the container a convenient, inexpensive pump is shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. This pump may comprise a bell-shaped metallic portion 14 having a downwardly extending peripheral flange 15 adapted to fit about the mouth of the container. An annular piece of flexible material such as rubber may be secured to the side of the flange by a wire 16 and held in position thereby. The lower free portion of the rubber may be bent upwardly upon itself to facilitate centering the bell-shaped member over the mouth of the container and permitted to drop around the container prior to the utilization of the pump. The inner side wall of the bell-shaped member may have suitable lugs or attachments 17 adapted to engage the rim of the container to prevent the bell-shaped member from resting against the cap. The size of the lugs may be such that in addition to supporting, they will facilitate centering the bell-shaped member on the container. Any suitable vacuum pump 18 may be attached to the upper part of the bell-shaped member 14 for producing a vacuum about the mouth of the container. The closure being free to move vertically, acts as a valve to permit egress of air during the exhausting operation, an preventing ingress thereof when the bellshaped member is removed. The unbalanced atmospheric pressure wedges the gasket 7 between the ledge 5 on the container and shoulder 11 on the cap to form a very effective seal.

After the cover has been sealed on the container it is diflicult to remove it without breaking the vacuum, since with a container having a mouth three inches in diameter a pressure of 30 pounds thereon due to the vacuum inside is not exceptional. The present cap is provided with a depression 20 at a point on the lower side of the periphery of the cover having a wide mouth21 of substantial cross-section which leads to the outer eriphery of the annular shoulder 11. The inner wall of the recess is substantially straight and is at a slight angle to the peripheral wall permit the lugs 'bef the width of the passageway so that when a pin or instrument is inserted in the recess it is guided back of the gasket along the shoulder into the container and may be pressed from one side to the other until a leak is formed which will readily break the vacuum.

Since the recess 20 is upon the lower side I of the cap and since it does not extend through the cover portion thereof, the portion of the mold forming the recess operates independently of the mold forming the top of the cover and the meeting of a plurality of mold surfaces at this point is avoided,

' hence no fins or other irregularities are formed. Further, wear on the irregular portion of the mold forming the depression is reduced to a minimum and irregularities in the depression occasioned by wear do not materially affect the finished article. There is no reason for providing more than one recess, since it is substantially concealed and does not mar the appearance of the package. The lateral flange extending about the periphery of the cover may be sufficiently narrow to 17 on the bell-shaped member 14 to engage the rim of the container for sustaining the pressure occasioned by the formation of a vacuum therein.

It will be seen that a very inexpensive closure cap has been provided which permits the vacuum in a container to be readily. broken. The depressiom or recess on the lower side of the periphery of the cover maormed by a projection on a single mold: whereby the formation of fins and other disadvantages are eliminated. The recess itself is such as to minimize the wear on the mold and it is also such that wear on the mold has a minimum effect on its formation.

As various changes may be made in the above embodiment, the description herein is to be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense as the cope of the invention is defined in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A sealed package, comprising a container, a glass closure cap having a laterally extending peripheral flange, and an annular shoulder beneath said flange adapted to seat a gasket, said flange having a continuous periphery with a recess on its under side to form a guideway leading to the inner edge of the gasket at an angle to the shoulder, whereby an instrument will be guided to the inner edge of the gasket between said shoulder and said gasket to break the vacuum in said container.

2. A sealed package, comprising a container, a. closure cap formed from moldable material having a continuous laterally extending peripheral flange, and means for seating a gasket under said flange, the lower peripheral edge of said flange having a de- Y side of pressed portion to facilitate insertion of an instrument to break the vacuum in the container.

3. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap adapted to be seated upon a gasket to seal a. container having a partial vacuum therein, the lower surface of said closure iaving a recess extending partially through the flange from the periphery inward to permit the insertion of an instrument to break the vacuum in the container.

4. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap formed from moldable material having a continuous laterally extending peripheral flange, and a shoulder on the under side of said cap adapted to seat a gasket the under side of said flange having a recess extending from the periphery thereof over said gasket to said shoulder.

5. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap comprising a cover portion having a continuous outer periphery with a recess extending through the lower surface only thereof to form a guideway for an instrument.

6. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap comprising a cover portion having a wedge-shaped recess in the lower side of its outer periphery.

s an article of manufacture, a closure cap having a shoulder on its lower side adapted to seat a gasket, and having a recess extending over said gasket at an angle thereto and leading to said shoulder, said recess having a relatively wide passage at one end thereof to facilitate the entry of an instrument, said passage decreasing in cross-section to guide said instrument between said shoulder and said gasket.

8. As an article of manufacture, a glass closure cap comprising a cover portion having a continuous periphery at the upper edge of the cap, with the periphery at the lower edge recessed to form a guideway, whereby said recess is formed entirely by a single mold.

9. A sealed package comprising a container, a closure cap having a shoulder adapted to be teleseoped into the mouth of the container with a lateral flange extending over the side wall of the container and a sealing gasket between the shoulder of the'cap and the inner side wall of said container, said closure having a continuous periphery at its'upper edge with the periphery at the lower edge recessed to form a guideway leading to the inner side of the gasket to facilitate breaking the vacuum by means of a pointed instrument.

10. A sealed package, "comprising a container element and a closure element, one of said elements having a cylindrical surface and an adjoining shoulder, a gasket on said cylindrical surface seated against said shoulder, and a wedge shaped depression in the said shoulder adjacent said gasket leading to said cylindrical surface at the inner edge of said gasket.

11. A sea-led package colnprislng a closure tion on said cylindrical surface, said shoulder having a continuous periphery With the side of the shoulder adjacent the gasket recessed to form a guideway whereby said re- 10 cess may be formed entirely by a single mold.

12. A sealed package comprising a closure element, a container element, one of said elements having a cylindrical surface adapted to receive a gasket, and an abutment for said gasket to hold it in position on said cylindrical surface, said abutment having a wedge shaped recess leading from the outer periphery of said abutment and tapering towardvsaid cylindrical surface.

LOUIS P. PIAZZOLI. JR.

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