US2748970A

US2748970A - Closure cap

Info

Publication number: US2748970A
Application number: US356134A
Authority: US
Inventors: George F Chaplin
Original assignee: White Cap Co
Current assignee: White Cap Co
Priority date: 1953-05-20
Filing date: 1953-05-20
Publication date: 1956-06-05
Anticipated expiration: 1973-06-05

Description

G. F. CHAPLIN June 5, 1956 CLOSURE CAP Filed May 20, 1953 7/I!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIII /4 United States Patent CLOSURE CAP George F. Chaplin, Elmwood lark, Ill., assignor to White Cap Company, Chicago, 11L, a corporation of Delaware Application May 20, 1953, Serial No. 356,134

3 Claims. (Cl. 215-40) The present invention relates, generally, to closure caps of the pressed-on type for glass and plastic bottles, jars, and the like, and more particularly, to such closure caps having a side seal gasket locked into an outer shell and having an inner shell which serves to support the gasket and absorb and transmit the radial thrust of the gasket without distorting the skirt portion of the outer shell.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of pressed-on type closure caps for hermetically sealing glass and plastic bottles, jars and like containers, which caps have outer shells of any desired shapes or configurations and which have nested and locked therein so as not to be visible from the outside a side-seal gasket and an inner shell which serves to support the gasket in such a manner that no distorting force is applied to the side wall or skirt portion of the outer shell.

An important object of the invention is the provision of closure caps of the foregoing type wherein there is centered and nested within the outer shell of each cap an inner shell having a top panel portionof considerably smaller diameter than the diameter of the top panel of the outer shell with which it is in abutting engagement, from which inner shell top panel depends a waist or upper skirt portion of considerably smaller diameter than the skirt portion of the outer shell so as to be annularly spaced therefrom, and from the bottom of which waist or upper skirt portion there depends a lower frustoconical skirt portion, the bottom edge of which contacts the skirt portion of the outer shell only adjacent an inwardly turned flange integrally formed around the bottom edge of the outer shell and into which is locked the bottom edge of a side seal sleeve gasket with the main portion of the gasket being supported in a frusto-conical shape by engagement with the lower frusto-conical skirt portion of the inner shell.

Certain other objects of the invention Will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of the invention, reference may now be had to the following detailed description thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of a pressed-on type closure cap forming one embodiment of the present invention shown applied to the mouth of a glass jar, the lower portion of which has been broken away;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view on enlarged scale taken through the side wall portion of the closure cap of Fig. I removed from the mouth of the container and showing in broken line the distortion of the skirt portion of the inner shell when the closure cap is pressed onto the mouth of the jar; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on enlarged scale corresponding to Fig. 2 showing the cap in place on the mouth of the jar with the side seal gasket squeezed into sealing relationship with the side of the jar and the skirt portion of the inner shell distorted to the position shown in broken line in Fig. 2.

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Referring to the drawings, the pressed-on closure cap 5 shown therein consists of an outer shell indicated generally at 6, an inner shell indicated generally at 7 and a side seal sleeve gasket indicated generally at 8.

The outer shell 6 has a fiat top panel portion 9 from which depends a plane cylindrical skirt portion 10 on the bottom edge of which is formed a circumferential inwardly turned flange 11 which provides a groove for clamping and locking in place therein against the bottom of the skirt portion of the inner shell 7, the bottom edge of the gasket 8. The reversely directed edge 12 of the flange 11 bites into the gasket material as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The inner shell 7 is centered and nested within the outer shell 10 and has a flat top panel portion 13 in flatwise engagement with the panel portion 9 of the outer shell and from which depends a skirt portion having an upper plain cylindrical section and a lower frusto-conical section 15. The diameter of the top panel portion 13 of the inner shell is substantially smaller than the diameter of the top panel 9 of the outer shell. Likewise, the diameter of the upper cylindrical section 14, including the waist section 16, is substantially smaller than the diameter of the skirt portion 10 of the outer shell, thereby leaving a wide annular space therebetween.

The only contact of the skirt portion of the inner shell with the skirt portion 10 of the outer shell is where the bottom edge of the frusto-conical section 15 engages the skirt portion 10 of the outer shell adjacent the gasket locking flange 11 as indicated at 17 in Fig. 2. The heights or vertical lengths of the upper plain cylindrical section 14 and of the lower frusto-conical section 15 of the skirt of the inner shell are approximately equal with the waist section 16, being located in approximately the middle of the skirt portion of the inner shell 7.

The gasket 8 is formed of a suitable deformable elastic material such as a relatively stiff and dense composition rubber and it is so dimensioned that the upper edge of the gasket projects Within the waist section 16 and the upper section 14 of the inner shell 7, as indicated at 18 in Fig. 2. The gasket 8 is supported in a frusto-conical shape by the frusto-conical section 15.

When the cap 5 is pressed onto the mouth of a glass jar or other container as shown in Fig. l, the gasket 8 is compressed and distorted into side-sealing relationship with the neck or mouth of the glass container as shown in Fig. 3. The type sealing action and the nature of the seal obtained correspond to those obtained with close caps having side-seal gaskets as disclosed and described in Patent 2,339,827 to William P. White January 25, 1944. While the gasket 8 is formed of a deformable material, preferably it is relatively stiff and dense and considerable force is required to press it into and retain it in the deformed sealing condition as shown in Fig. 3. This force results in the application of a radial thrust on the Waist 16 of the inner shell 7, which distends or distorts the waist 16 slightly but noticeably from its normal position as shown in broken line in Fig. 2.

The distortion of the skirt portion of the inner shell which occurs largely at the waist 16 is resisted and absorbed by the top panel portion 13 of the inner shell pressing against the top panel portion 9 of the outer shell and by the bottom edge of the frusto-conical section 15 being forced downwardly into the bottom edge of the gasket 8, thereby increasing the force with which the gasket is locked into the outer shell 10. It will thus be seen that the side sealing action between the gasket 8 and the side wall surface of the mouth of the jar is obtained partly through the compressibility of the gasket itself and partially as the result of the stiff spring action of the side wall or skirt portion of the inner shell 7.

It is important to note that the inner shell 7 transmits force to the two portions of the outer shell 6 which have the greatest capacity to receive and resist it. Thus, the upward thrust of the top panel portion 13 of the inner shell against the top panel portion 9 of the outer shell is over a large bearing area so that the local pressure is minimized. The downward and outward thrust of the bottom edge of the frusto-conical section 15 is easily resisted by the strength of the rim or flange 11. Force is not applied to the skirt portion 10 of the outer shell 6 adjacent the middle thereof where it would cause distortion.

The pressedon caps may be inexpensively produced on a quantity production basis with standard production machinery. Thus, the outer and inner cap shells 6 and 7, respectively, may be stamped from sheet stock, the shells nested and the gaskets 8 locked in place in the flange 11 through use of standard presses and dies.

The caps 5 may not only be used for hermetically sealing the containers during the original filling and packaging operation, as described in above-mentioned Patent 2,339,827, but they are especially adapted to be repeatcdly removed and re-applied after the containers have been opened and while some of the contents are left therein. The original hermetic seal may be efiected and maintained by the use of known vacuum packaging techniques and the caps 5 will then be retained in place on the mouths of the jars or bottles not only through the friction exerted by the gasket against the side surface of the container but also by atmospheric pressure acting on the tops of the caps to the extent that it is not opposed by pressure within the container. A suitable tool such as a knife blade may be used to pry oh? the covers when the packages are first opened and thereafter the covers can be removed by twisting and lifting up on the caps. The knife or other pry-off tool may be rested on the shoulder 21 formed around the container.

Since certain changes and modifications may be made in the particular embodiment of the invention described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and since certain additional embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, all matter described above or shown in the accompanying drawings is intended to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed as new is:

l. A closure cap comprising, in combination, an outer shell having a top panel portion, a depending skirt portion and an inturned flange on the bottom edge of said depending skirt portion, an inner shell centered and nested within the outer shell and having a top panel portion and a depending skirt portion characterized by an upper waist section annularly spaced within and from said skirt portion of said outer shell and a lower frustoconical section which increases in diameter from that of said waist section to that of the interior of said skirt portion of said outer shell, the only contact between said skirt portions of said inner and outer shells being that of the bottom edge of said lower frusto-conical section of the inner shell skirt portion with said outer shell skirt portion adjacent said inwardly turned flange, and an annular sleeve gasket of elastically deformable sealing material nested within said frusto-conical section of said inner shell skirt portion with the lower edge of said gasket secured against the bottom of said frusto-conical section by said inturned flange portion and with the upper edgeof said gasket disposed within said waist section, said top panel portion of said inner shell being held in fiatwise abutment with the top panel portion of said outer shell.

2. A closure cap comprising, in combination, an outer shell having a top panel portion, a plain cylindrical depending skirt portion and an inturned flange on the bottom edge of said outer shell, an inner shell centered and nested within the outer shell and having a top panel portion of substantially smaller diameter than the top panel portion of said outer shell and a depending skirt portion characterized by an upper plain cylindrical section of substantially smaller diameter than the diameter of said skirt portion of said outer shell and a lower frusto-conical section which increases in diameter from that of said upper section to that of the interior of said skirt portion of said outer shell, the only contact between said skirt portions of said inner and outer shells being that of the bottom edge of said lower frusto-conical section of the inner shell skirt portion with said outer shell skirt portion adjacent said inwardly turned flange, and an annular sleeve gasket of elastically deformable sealing material nested within said frusto'conical section of said inner shell skirt portion with the lower edge of said gasket being secured against the bottom of said frusto-conical section by said inturned flange on the bottom of said outer shell skirt portion and with the upper edge of said gasket disposed within said upper section of the skirt portion of said inner shell, said top panel portion of said inner shell being held in fiatwise abutment with the top panel portion of said outer shell.

3. A closure cap comprising, in combination, an outer shell having a flat top panel portion, a plain cylindrical depending skirt portion and an inturned flange on the bottom edge of said outer shell, an inner shell centered and nested within the outer shell and having a fiat top panel portion of substantially smaller diameter than the top panel portion of said outer shell and 21 depending skirt portion characterized by an upper plain cylindrical section of substantially smailer diameter than the diameter of said skirt portion of said outer shell and a lower frustoconical section which increases in diameter from that of said upper section to that of the interior of said skirt portion of said outer shell, the only contact between said skirt portions of said inner and outer shells being that of the bottom edge of said lower frusto-conical section of the inner shell skirt portion with said outer shell 'skirt portion adjacent said inwardly turned flange, and an annular sleeve gasket of elastically deformable sealing material nested within said frusto-conical section of said inner shell skirt portion with the lower edge of said gasket being secured against the bottom of said frusto-conical section by said inturned flange and with the upper edge of said gasket disposed within said upper section of the skirt portion of said inner shell, said top panel portion of said inner shell being held in flatwise abutment with the top panel portion of said outer shell, the waist between said upper and lower sections of said inner shell skirt portion being located approximately midway between the top and bottom of said skirt portion of said inner shell.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,116,938 White May 10, 1938 2,158,683 White May 16, 1939 2,233,105 McCombs Feb. 25, 1941 2,339,827 \Vhite Jan. 25, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 525,102 Great Britain Aug. 21, 1940