US2982433A - Closure cap and package - Google Patents

Description

y 1961 G. F. CHAPLIN 2,982,433

CLOSURE CAP AND PACKAGE Filed July 22, 1954 INVENTOR.

CLOSURE CAP PACKAGE George F. Chaplin, Elmwood Park, 11]., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York,,rN .Y., a, orp ration of: New Yo Filed July 22,1954, Ser. No. 444,980

The present inventionghas to do with closure caps for use in hermetic lly sealing, umble s, j rs, bottle nd the like.

The object of the invention is to, provide an improved closure cap which is so constructed as to withstand comparatively high blowing pressures within the tumbler or other container towhi'ch the cap is applied, which can be applied, removed and reapplied with ease, and which will effectively compensate for irregularities in the size or shape of the sealing surface of the container with which the, cap coacts.

While the foregoing statements ,areindicative in a general way of the nature of the invention, other more p ific o j cts and advantages. will b pp re t those skilled in the art upon afull understanding of the construction of th impro ed ap an th manner in. whi h it coasts with the s alingsnrface of. the ontain r.

A P e r etn'b dim of the inven i n ,is presented h n y way of exemplificat on ntit i l of. c urs be app h t the invention is su cep ible of. incorpora ion in ther s ct ral y mod fied. o ms comi q y in th scopeet the appended claima In he accompa v ngd anina Fig, 1 is a fragmentaryside Niew of a beaded tumbler to which a cap constructed in accordance with the invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is. anenlarged radial sectiontthroush one side of the cap prior to its application; and

Fig. 3 is a similar section through the cap and through he, aded rim of. thetumbler, showing the cap sealed onxthe'tumbler. V 7

As will observed in the. dr wing, a r e i y sea ed. package ..1.Q..-prodnc.ed by the pp n of peci lly cons rnetedcan 11.to,.a beaded tumbler 12. Whilebe decttnnt ersareotconrse in, and of themselves very. ol nthearta -ewandintnr vedtuse for'the-bead 13 on the tumbler, p I in which the cap cooperates with thebead. p t The-'5 cap- 11,.. "which isadapted' to beapplied to the tumbler 12 or other container by being pressed downwardly onto the same, includes a shell 14, preferably of thin sheet metal, which is characterized by a circular top panel portion 15 and a downwardly extending circular skirt portion 16. The cap also includes a circular sleeve gasket 17 of resiliently deformable rubber-like sealing material, which gasket is of vertically elongated, generally rectangular radial section.

The skirt portion 16 of the shell is provided with a short downwardly extending wall section 18 which is but slightly larger in diameter than the crest 19 of the bead 13 on the container and terminates substantially even with the crest 19 of the head when the cap is applied to the container. The skirt portion of the shell is provided, immediately below the wall section 18, with an outwardly offset downwardly facing annular shoulder 20, which shoulder is of slightly less radial extent than the thickness of the gasket 17 when the latter is compressed. From the outer edge of the shoulder 20 the skirt portion of the Un t d St t Patent 0 1, 2,982,433 Patented. May 2, 1961 ice shell is providedv with a downwardly extending wall section 21, preferably of substantially cylindrical form, be tween which and the head 19. on the container the gasket 17 is adapted to be compressed to seal the cap on the container, and from the lower edge of this cylindrical wall section 21 the skirt portion is provided with a down Wardly and outwardly flaring wall section 22. The lower extremity 23 of the flared wall section 22 is of consider.-

ably larger diameter than the bead 13 on the container and is curled inwardly and upwardly into tightly gripped engagement with the lower edge 24 of the gasket 17;

Before being assembled with the shell 14 the. gasket17 gasket spaced inwardly a substantial distancefrom the a cylindrical wall section 21 of the skirt portion, all as shown in Fig. 2. 1

The height of the gasket 17 is such that when the gasket is circumferentially constricted and its lower edge is locked in position in the lowermost wall section 22 of the skirt portion, as-previously described, the upper edge 26 of the gasket, will just clear the downwardly facing annular shoulder 20 when the upper portion 25 of th gasket flexed ou wa d y, a shown n dotted.

in Fig. 2, thus permitting the upper portion 25 of the gasket to pass beneath the shoulder 20 and assume a cylindrical shape in flatwise engagement with the wall sec tion 21. t t

When the gasket 17 initially engages with the bead 13 onthecontainer during the application of the cap tothe on ai er t e bea 13 w ll first fl xtb pp P i of the gasketpoutwardly, aboutthe. rounded junction 27 between the wall sections 21 and 22 of the shell portion, into enagementwith the wallsection 21, withfthe upper edge 26 of the outwardly flexed upper portion 25 of the gasket at the commencement of such, application spaced slightly below the shouldetlll- When the cap is then forcibly pressed down on the container th fi lgagement of the crest 19 of the, head with the upper portion 25 of the gasket. willfirst exertan np dn ll. on the lo ked-in g s which il simultaneously elongate and, compress the upper portion 25 o hesante until heuppe e ge 26 of th ke s li abuts with th shou der 20, ter w ch-t excess niarin i t e. po tion Q theeas s t p c et d. be weentbs crest '19 of the bead, the shoulder 20-and the wall section 21 will be redistributed downwardly to produce an inwardly bulging formation 28 in engagement with the underside of the bead 13 below the crest 19 of the bead. It will be noted that the cylindrical wall section 21 of the skirt portion extends downwardly to a point well below the crest 19 of the bead on the container, and preferably below the underside of the bead, which extension acts to direct the formation 28 inwardly against at least a portion of the underside of the bead.

The formation 28, which both frictionally engages and seals with the bead 13, substantially increases the area of contact of the gasket with the sealing surface of the container. Because of the fact that the formation 28 is formed however in a locked down and preliminarily tensioned section of the gasket it will not tend to wad up or buckle beneath the bead 13 when sufiicient pressure is applied to the rim of the cap to remove the latter but will. further compress and cleanly ride up over the bead 13.

The shoulder 20, by stopping and in effect reversing the upward flow of the material of the gasket 17 at substantially the crest 19 of the bead, prevents any appreciable amount of the material from rising above what might be called the equatorial zone, where it might act downwardly on the bead, and accurately controls the gasket by confining the action of the same to only the crest of the bead and that portion of the bead which is immediately below the crest. The presence of the shoulder 20 in addition assures a uniform compaction of the upper portion 25 of the gasket about the entire circumference of the container.

The skirt portion 14 of the shell of the cap is resiliently deformable to a degree, with the result that the cylindrical wall section 21 of the skirt portion, which confines the gasket 17 about the head 13 on the "container, can expand slightly under radial pressure to accommodate oversize containers or oversize gaskets and can also conform to out-of-round sealing finishes.

Caps of the press-on type are ordinarily applied auto- -rnatically to containers by machines which first place the caps in more or less tilted positions on the tops of the containers, with the result that the leading and trailing sides of the gaskets in the caps are subjected to difierent actions, with the trailing side subjected to an arcuate drawing down action about a pivot point located at the leading side, resulting all too frequently in an excessive vertical elongation or stretch of the trailing side of the gasket. With the present cap the downwardly facing shoulder 20 effectively controls the gasket and prevents any undesired elongation of the trailing side of the same while that side is being pulled down in bringing the cap into a horizontal position. The inwardly jutting small diameter wall section 18 above the shoulder 20 will at the same time prevent any crushing or packing down of the upper edge of the leading side of the gasket, since the wall section 18 presents a gauge-like stop which is so positioned with respect to the upper edge of the gasket as to prevent the head 13 from getting above the upper edge of the leading side of the gasket.

While the lowermost wall section 22 of the skirt portion of the shell is preferably conically shaped, as shown and described, it may instead be differently shaped without affecting the shape of the gasket, as by being abrupt- 1y offset outwardly below the sealing wall section 21, the important thing being that it not interfere with the outward flexing of the gasket about the junction 27 between the wall sections 21 and 22, also that the lower extremity 23 of the wall section 22 be substantially larger in diameter than the bead 13 or other finish on the container, whereby to clear the bead, provide a selfcentering throat for the entrance of the latter and allow suificient space for the creation of the formation 28.

A The improved cap has been shown and described in conjunction with a beaded tumbler, but the novel gasket control efiected by the cap is also applicable to scaling 4 I finishes of other shapes, including plain finishes. In the case of the latter the shoulder 20 will not only act to limit the upward deformation of the tensioned gasket at all points about the circumference of the sealing finish but will uniformly redistribute the material of the gasket downwardly into the previously tensioned lower portion of the same, thereby materiallyi lengthening the sealing area, with added frictional retention. The cap provides an effective hermetic seal and can be repeatedly removed and resealed.

I claim:

In a hermetically sealed package which includes a container having a peripheral bead about its rim, a closure cap for coaction with said bead, which cap includes a shell having a circular top panel-portion, a downwardly extending circular wall portion of but slightly greater diameter than the crest of the head on the container, which wall portion terminates at its lower end substantially opposite the crest of said bead when the cap is in its sealed position on the container, a downwardly fac ing annular shoulder disposed at the lower edge of said wall portion outwardly of the latter, a second circular wall portion of larger diameter than the first, which second wall portion extends downwardly from the outer edge of said shoulder, and a third wall portion of still larger diameter which extends downwardly from the lower end of the second wall portion and terminates at the bottom of the shell in an inwardly curled rim, and a circular sleeve gasket of resiliently deformable sealing material which is nested within the shell and is secured at its lower edge only to the shell by said inwardly curled rim, said gasket before application of the cap to the container being of a radial thickness greater than the space present between .the crest of the bead on the container and said second wall portion and being disposed when the cap is in its sealed position with its upper end confined under radial compression within said space in vertical endwise abutment with said downwardly facing shoulder, with the portion of the gasket immediately below the crest of the bead on the container thickened by reason of the radial compression of its upper confined end into frictional engagement with said head immediately below the crest of the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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