US975317A - Can-closure. - Google Patents

Description

0. BBGHER. CAN CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, 1910.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO BECHER, OF COPIAGUE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN METAL CAP PANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

COM-

CAN-CLOSURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 11, 1910. Serial No. 537,569.

ague, in the county of Suflolk and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Can-Closures, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to tops and sealing caps for cans, bottles, jars and other like receptacles, and particularly to means for securing an interlocking connection between the container and cap, whereby an air or liquid-tight closure may be secured.

The object of the invention is to provide a construction which will afl'ord rea y application of the cap to the can and its ready release for removal, and which will secure the production of an absolutely air or watertight closure, and further to provide a novel construction of cap which Wlllinterlock accurately with the container and cannot become accidentally displaced.

A,further object of the invention is to provided a cap having lugs or indentations of novel construction to engage inclined flanges or shoulders on the container, which lugs are so formed as to secure maximum stren h and to withstand the strain impose upon them and to enable a cap of thin metal to be produced and a firm binding action obtained without liability of distortion of the cap.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cap which may be locked per.- inanently to the receptacle sothat it can not be removed without mutilating the cap and receptacle, whereby the seal cannot be tampered with without giving visual evidence of such fact.

The invention consists in the features of. construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in wh1ch:

Fi re 1 is a perspective view, illustrating t e application of the invention to a meta lic can. through the neck or top of the can and the closure ca Fig. 3 is an elevational view'of the top 0 the can. Fig.4 is a bottom plan view of the cap. Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section on the-line'5-5 of'Fig. 2. Fig, 6 is an enlarged, cross section on the scribed.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section.

the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates the body of a receptacle, shown in the present instance in the form of a metallic can, having a top or neck portion 2 secured thereto, which neck portion is provided with outwardly and downwardly bent substantially triangular flanges 3, provided with inclined lower or cam-shaped locking edges 4, the edges of the respective flanges being inclined in the same direction. The

line 6-6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a section on Patented'Nov. S, 1910.

several flanges terminate in vertical shoulders 4 and are separated by intervening spaces 5, for a purpose hereinafter de- The closure employed comprises a sheet metal cap 6 embodying a flange 7 and a top or crown port-ion 8. The cap is adapted to be used in connection with an ordinary sealing disk 9 and liner 10 of suitable material, to form a close joint between the same and the rim edge of the neck 2, but'the sealing disk may be used with or without the liner, as different circumstances may require.

The upper portion of the flange of the cap is provided with an annular series of vertical corrugations 11, forming a milled surface by which the cap may be tightly gripped for application and release. These corrugations are formed by offsetting portions of the flange solel in an outward direction, so that there will be no inwardly extendin portions, of the corrugations to bind against the cam flanges 3 and interfere with a proper locking action. between said flanges and the cap. Below the corrugated or milled surface the flange of the cap is formed at intervals with instruck lugs or projections 12 corresponding in number to the flanges'3 and adapted to pass downward .so as to provide a lug or projectionof maximum strength to resist possible distortion or stretching of the metal during the binding action. I

In practice, each lug or projection is bearing edge 14 to frictionally engage the.

inclined surface 4 of one of the cam flanges 3 and interlock therewith with a substantially knife-edged effect, to secure a firm binding action. The slit 13 is preferably arranged slightly below the adjacent corrugation or corrugations, so that in the operation of forming the lug 12, the edges of the metal at the base of the corrugation will be projectedinward by the action of the forming die to produce a bracing lip 15 which extends between the walls of the cutaway portion, thus bracing the lug or projection against either transverse or circumferential displacement. This lip, in addition to acting as a bracing element to prevent distortion of the metal, may also exert a binding action on a cam flange to cooperate with the projection in locking the cap securely in posltion upon the neck.

In the operation of closing the mouth of the container, it'will be understood that the cap is arranged to bring the lugs 12 into alinementwith the spaces 5 between the cam flanges 3, after which, the capis forced downward upon the neck until the lugs pass into contact. with the inclined edges 4 of the flanges, whereupon the cap is turned in the proper direction to lock it in position, the

turning action and contact of the lugs with said inclined edges causing the cap to be drawn down to force the sealing disk 10 closely into contact ,with the rim of the neck, thus forming an absolutely secure air and liquid-tight closure. As, in this operation, .lugs 12 bind firmly on the inclined edges 4, any possibility of the cap being casually turned back to break the seal will be avoided. To release the cap, it is simply necessary to turn it in a retrograde direction until the lugs again register with the spaces 5, whereupon the lugs will be free from the cam flanges and'the cap may be withdrawn. Owing to the described mannerof constructing the lugs 12, the lugs are rendered of great strength and rigidity, and, hence, the cap may be turned very tightly into engagement with the cam flanges without liability offdistorting the flange of the cap, even when the cap is made of very thin material, so as to destroy the effectiveness of the seal.

The cap may be provided with any suit: able form of crown portion 8,.an ordinary imperforate crown being employed when the cap is designed to be coupled to the container so that it may be removed to allow the contents of the container to be extracted in the usual way through the neck 2. Under some conditions, however, it is desirable to rovide a means by which the cap may be ocked to the receptacle in such manner that it cannot be removed ,without mutilating it, and thus giving visual evidence of the fact that it has been tampered with. A cap of this type is desirable to prevent the substitution of inferior goods for those of known quality, and in the event of the use of such a cap, it is necessary toprovide some means whereby the contents of the receptacle may be withdrawn through the cap. In constructing a cap to be locked permanently upon the neck, I provide the flange of the cap with circumferentially extending looking tongues 16, equal in number to the metal of the flange and projecting the freedportion of the metal inwardly on curved lines tangentially to the flange, the free ends ofthe tongues extending in a direction reverse to that in which the cap is turned in applying it to the receptacle. The arrangement of the tongues is such that their free ends are adapted to ride upon the outer faces of the cam flanges 3 until the cap is fully applied, and then spring inwardly into engagement with the vertlcal shoulders 4 of said flanges, at which time" they act as de tents to prevent retrograde rotation of the cap to remove the cap by turning it backward, the pressure thrown upon the tongues causing them to bend inwardly to a further degree to pass behind the flanges 3, by which the removal of the cap will be absolutely prevented. Such movement of the cap as well as any attem t to bend the tongues out ward from locklng engagement with the flanges, would result in the mutilation of the cap or flanges or both, thus giving visual evidence of the fact that an attempt has been made to remove the cap from the rece tacle. The crown 8 of the cap is provided with an opening 17' which may register with an opening'in the liner 10, and which is closed by the"- disk 9 against communication with the interior of the jar and by the lid 01" cover 18 against communication with the atmosphere. This lid or cover ispivotally connected at one side of the crown as indicated at 19 so as to be swung outward laterally to expose the opening, and is provided with'an indentation 20 adapted to engage an indentation 21 on the crown to secure it in closed osition. If desired, the lid may be forme with a rib or projection 22, serving as a finger piece by which it maybe manipulated. Whenit is desired to secure access to'the container for the purpose of re moving its contents, the lhkis opened and the exposed portion of the isk 9 cut away, allowing the contents to be removed through the opening 17.

While I have illustrated my invention in connection with a can top, it will, of course, be understood that it may be employed in conjunction with bottles, jars, or other analogous' types of containers.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, is

1. The combination with a receptacle having its neck portion provided with looking projections having inclined faces, of a cap having locking elements upon its flange to engage said faces, and provided with additional locking members for engagement with bein lip ying between the walls of the projecsaid projections to lock said cap against removal.

2. The combination with a receptacle having its neck portion provided with locking members formed with inclined fa ces,' of a cap having its flange formed with locking projections to engage said inclined faces, said locking projections being separated at their upper edges from the flange and comprising substantially V-shaped instruck portions vertically disposed upon the flange with their upper edges horizontally arranged to engage the inclined faces.

3. The combination with a rece tacle having its neck portion rovided with locking members formed with inclined faces, of a cap having its flange formed with locking projections to engage said inclined faces, each of said projectlons being separated at its upper edge from the body of the flange and comprislng an inwardly offset V-shaped portion, the adjacent ortion of the flange above said projection Eeing bent inward to provide a bracing li located between the side walls of said V-s aped portion.

4. The combination with a rece tacle having its neck portion provided wlth locking members formed with inclined faces, of a bottle cap having its flange formed with an annular row of corrugations and provided below the same with looking engage said :inclined faces, sald projections being separated from the adjacent corrugations or corrugation and bent inwardly substantiany in V -form, the metal at the base of said ad acent corrugation or corrugations bent inwardly to provide a bracing tions.

projections to 5. The combination with a receptacle having cam-shaped locking members thereon, of a cap provided with projections to engage said locking members and having tongues adapted to interlock with said locking members to prevent removal of the cap.

6. The combination with a receptacle having locking members provided with inclined lower faces and terminal shoulders, of a cap having projections to engage said inclined edges and tongues to interlock with said shoulders, said tongues being arran ed to prevent removal of the cap from t e receptacle.

,7. The combination with a receptacle having cam locking members thereon, said members being provided with inclined lower faces and terminal shoulders, of a ca having projections to engage said incline edges and also having circumferentially-extending tongues to interlock with said shoulders, sald tongues being arranged between said projections and in advance thereof in the direction of the applying movement of the cap for engagement with said shoulders to prevent removal of the cap from the receptacle. I

8. The combination with a receptacle havin locking members thereon, of a cap provi ed with locking projections to engage said locking members to secure said cap in position, and integral auxiliary locking members upon the cap bent inwardly. therefrom to engage the locking members on the receptacle, to lock the cap against retro.-. grade rotation.

9. The combination with a receptacle having locking members provided with inclined lower faces and terminal shoulders, of a cap having projections to engage said inclined edges and circumferentially arranged tongues having free ends bent inwardly to interlock with said shoulder, said tongues being 0 erative to prevent retrograue movement 0 the cap and its disconnection from the receptacle.

In testimon whereof I aflix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

' OTTO BECHER.

Witnesses:

CHRIS. FRANK MURRY, FRANK M. DALRYMPLE.

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