WO1997047530A1

WO1997047530A1 - Device for closure of containers

Info

Publication number: WO1997047530A1
Application number: PCT/EP1997/002908
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jürgen Dahl; Jürgen Brechler
Original assignee: Herberts Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Priority date: 1996-06-08
Filing date: 1997-06-04
Publication date: 1997-12-18
Also published as: DE59706877D1; EP0907577A1; CA2257573A1; AU714986B2; DE29610125U1; EP0907577B1; ATE215482T1; AU3336997A; BR9709563A

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for closing a container (5) with a pipe-shaped neck (1) which can be fastened or is fastened to said container (5). The top end of said neck is provided with a screw thread (2), and with a cover (3) screwable thereon. The cover (3) has a diameter region which is larger than the diameter of the neck (1) and is provided with a surrounding sealing tab (6). The device prevents the filling material from diffusing out and enables the emptying process to be simple and complete.

Description

Device for closing containers

The invention relates to a device for closing containers or vessels such as cans or canisters, for example for paints, which enables these containers to be sealed tightly.

A wide variety of closures are known for closing containers. The use of screw caps in particular is common. Screw caps are increasingly being used, for example, for lacquer cans that are equipped with a push-in closure.

Childproof closures are also used for vessels in which solid or liquid products, such as cleaning agents or environmentally hazardous liquids, are stored. These can be constructed in different ways. For example, closures are known in which the vessel to be closed carries a thread at the opening, below which there are two recesses. The cover, which can be screwed onto this thread, contains two extensions which engage in the recess when it is closed. It is only possible to open the sealing cover by pressing it sideways in the cover area.

In addition to child safety, there may also be a requirement to allow the vessels to be completely emptied and to prevent them from leaking. Such vessels are equipped, for example, with an outlet nozzle or neck-shaped neck, which can be designed to be flexible in different ways (G 92 06318.7, DE 43 29 036). To ensure the child safety of such closures, the neck and lid can have detachably interlocking teeth. To open the lid, the teeth must first be released, either by pressing certain flexible zones of the neck or certain pressure points. The containers can only be opened after the toothing has been released.

The closures mentioned can have the disadvantage that despite the relatively tight attachment of the closure to the container Diffusion of contents from the container through the closure cannot be completely avoided. This occurs particularly with closures that have relatively thin and flexible walls. Through this, filling material components can diffuse into the environment and, under certain circumstances, can cause a change in the composition of the material in the container as well as a health hazard due to diffusing solvent vapors.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device for closing a container, in particular a liquid, such as a coating agent, e.g. To create lacquer containing container, which prevents undesirable diffusion of contents from the container out into the environment. This device is also intended to ensure easy and complete emptying of the container.

It has been found that this object is achieved by the device for closing a container forming an object of the invention with a neck-shaped neck which is fastened or can be fastened to the container and which is provided with a screw thread at its upper end and with a screw-on cover, which is characterized in that the cover is provided all around with a sealing tab in a diameter range which is larger than the diameter of the neck-shaped neck.

According to a preferred embodiment, the device according to the invention can be designed such that the sealing flap, when the lid is fully screwed on the upper bottom of the container, on an elevation formed on the upper bottom of the container and / or on the part of the neck which is in contact with the top of the container or the elevation formed thereon, rests.

The device according to the invention thus consists of a lower part in the form of a neck-shaped neck for fastening to a container opening and a cover which can be screwed on (screw cover, screw cap), the edge of the cover, for example, being equipped with a sealing tab all round. The sealing tab can in terms of its length, touch the container top or rest on it; it can also be attached without touching the top of the container. The diameter of the screw cap equipped with the circumferential sealing tab protrudes beyond the diameter of the neck located on the container opening.

Advantageously, the e.g. the circumferential sealing flap on the outer area of the lid must be extended in the direction of the container top in such a way that it lies all around the outer edge of the container opening without touching the container top. For this purpose, the top or bottom of the container, which usually runs horizontally or conically, can be raised in the area of the container opening, e.g. a step can be formed, which for example forms the outer edge of the container opening.

The lower part of the circumferential sealing tab can be designed in various ways, e.g. Tapering in the shape, for example grooves or bevels.

The sealing tab surrounding the screw cap according to the invention can also be designed in such a way that it touches the top of the container all the way around or rests on it. In the case of a small contact area, the outer edge of the sealing flap is led down onto the top of the container in such a way that it just touches it. In the case of a larger contact surface of the sealing tab, this can e.g. to the extent that they are brought down to the top of the container so that when the lid is screwed on, seen from the edge of the lid, it rests inwardly or outwardly on the top. For this purpose, the sealing tab can be flexible. Furthermore, the sealing tab can be shaped in its lower part as a double tab, one edge of which, when the lid is screwed on, touches the inside of the container top or rests on the top of the container, while the second edge points outwards.

The circumferential sealing flap can be attached to the outer edge of the lid by extending the lid diameter. The extension can be attached in the same plane with the upper edge of the lid. she can also be beveled or designed with a paragraph to the upper edge of the lid. When the closure according to the invention is pressed onto the container opening, this enables the cover to spring back in its outer region and thus less mechanical stress on the sealing tab when the closure is pressed on. Furthermore, a grip edge can be incorporated in the upper area of the sealing tab at the level of the upper edge of the lid for better handling of the lid.

The sealing tab attached according to the invention can be used both with horizontally running and beveled, e.g. conical down or top, or beveled tops of containers are used.

The requirement for child safety in closures for containers which contain substances which are hazardous to health, such as lacquers, can be ensured by means of the sealing tab used according to the invention. For this purpose, for example, in the lower part of the sealing tab, an internal toothing can be attached, which is attached to the inside of the sealing tab either circumferentially or at certain intervals, for example opposite one another, for example in the form of 2 to 5 teeth. A corresponding circumferential toothing can then be located on the neck of the device according to the invention, for example in the part pointing in the direction of the sealing tab. In this embodiment, when the lid is closed, the circumferential sealing flap with the teeth attached there moves over the circumferential toothing on the neck. If the lid is closed, the teeth of the sealing tab lie in the teeth of the neck. To open the lid, the child safety device must first be detachable. For this purpose, for example, the sealing tab can have devices for unlocking. For example, the sealing tab can be flexible so that it can be pressed in. When the sealing flap is pressed in at the positions of the toothing, the teeth of the sealing flap can then be disengaged from the toothing running around the lower part. The lid can then be opened by screwing. Opening the lid is therefore only possible if the lid is moved at the same time as the childproof lock is disengaged. In the device according to the invention for closing a container, the neck-shaped neck can also be designed in the form of a flexible bellows. In particular, the invention is also suitable for closures whose neck-shaped neck is designed as a push-in bellows. This enables a bellows-like folding into one another and a pulling apart of the neck, for example into the opening of the container. The bellows-like neck can be evenly round. It is also possible to equip the bellows with different wall thicknesses. For example, the outer shape of the bellows can be annular, while the inner shape is elliptical.

The bellows can also be stabilized by one or more central webs in the cross section of the bellows or by a web running around the inner wall of the bellows. Web-like stabilizers of this type are known, for example, from EP-A-0641 724. It is also possible to use a bellows with a web running around its outer wall. The flexible design of the bellows-shaped neck also represents a further possibility for unlocking the child lock described above, for example by lateral pressure on the neck.

The neck of the closure device according to the invention can be fastened to the container opening in various ways. For example, the lower end of the neck can be designed so that it is pressed into the container opening and there e.g. snaps into place. The design of the neck at the level of the container opening is adapted to the edge of the container opening, which is curved outward, for example in the form of a protrusion, in such a way that a firm fit of the lower closure part is ensured.

The neck of the closure can also be designed so that it can be attached by pressing. For this purpose, the lower part of the neck can be designed, for example, in the form of a cuff, so that it extends from above over the edge of the container opening, which, for example, has a raised portion. An embodiment is also possible which only partially encompasses the edge of the container opening. If the edge of the container opening is partially encircled by the neck of the closure device according to the invention, the sealing flap encircling the lid edge according to the invention can additionally have locking knobs on its inside toward the container edge. When the lid is screwed on, they snap into place under the partial enclosure and thus allow the sealing tab to fit snugly against the upper container bottom. This version is preferred for closure devices with bellows-like lower part.

In particular, when there is a bellows-type neck that can be pressed in, the sealing flap of the lid can be designed as a horizontal continuation of the upper edge of the lid so that this continuation rests on a cuff-shaped design of the fastening of the neck at the container opening when the lid is screwed on and the bellows is pressed in.

To increase the sealing effect, additional sealing devices in various variants can be used, in particular for closures with a bellows-like neck.

For example, the bellows-like neck can be shortened so that when the cover is screwed on and the bellows is pressed in, the bellows is axially tensioned (pretension). As a result, the lid together with the circumferential sealing flap is pressed onto the part of the bellows encompassing the container edge. This preload is made possible by shortening the top edge of the bellows. First the cover is only partially screwed on and the bellows pressed in. When the lid is screwed tight, the bellows expands, pulling the lid down onto the container. The bellows preferably has flexible zones. A firm connection between the cover and the overlapping part of the bellows is achieved. The bellows can be shortened, for example, by 1 to 2 mm.

In a further variant, the cover which can be screwed onto the bellows-shaped neck can have a sealing device on its underside outside the threaded area, but within the sealing tabs according to the invention. This can be done by, for example grooves protruding downward from the underside of the cover. The area of the neck that extends over the container opening then contains, for example, in turn recesses for receiving grooves in the lid. When the cover is screwed on and the bellows pressed in, the grooves are pressed into these depressions and thus enable a tight connection between the cover and the neck. The grooves in the cover can be arranged in any order in a regular order, but also irregularly. It is also possible to provide a continuous web instead of the grooves, which engages when the bellows is pressed into a continuous recess in the end of a bellows-like neck encompassing the container edge.

A further variant can consist in attaching the grooves or the continuous web on the underside of the lid outside the lid thread, however, within the sealing flap according to the invention in such a way that the grooves press the bellows in its lower part against the edge of the container when the bellows is pressed in. This also ensures a tight connection between the cover and the lower part.

It is expedient if the sealing tab is flexible or elastic. The elasticity of the circumferential sealing tab can e.g. can only be guaranteed by the shape of the tab.

The lid and neck of the closure device according to the invention can consist, for example, of any plastic materials. Particularly permeation-proof material, such as HDPE, LDPE or LLDPE, is preferred.

The sealing tab can preferably consist of a form-elastic material. This allows a close contact with the upper container bottom. In addition, this prevents damage to the top of the container when the device according to the invention is pressed onto the edge of the container.

The lid material is preferably made of HDPE and the neck is made of LDPE. A material treatment to improve the physical Properties, for example hardness, permeation density, of the lid material such as fluorination, sulfonization or metallization are possible.

In the case of a bellows-like design of the neck of the closure device according to the invention, the bellows can be rigid or elastic. A bellows is preferred which is designed to be able to be folded into one another and pulled apart. It is advantageous if the bellows is made of elastic material, so that part of the deformation energy can be absorbed in the event of undesirable intermittent mechanical loading. According to a particular embodiment, the material is less flexible at the upper and lower ends of the bellows than in the intermediate middle section.

The closure device according to the invention is suitable both for simple press-in closures and for press-in closures for containers which can be emptied completely.

The embodiments according to the invention are easy to handle. The device can be designed so that a short pressure is sufficient to ensure that the neck with the screwed-on lid is snapped onto or into the container rim. The sealing flap attached to the outer edge of the lid comes into effect in the manner described according to the invention.

In the case of the closure device according to the invention with a bellows-like neck, the engagement of grooves or a web, which may be present in the cover, is made possible by applying slight pressure. In the embodiment with the shortened bellows, the bellows is automatically pulled in the direction of the container opening when the bellows is pressed in.

The closure seal according to the invention makes it possible to prevent the danger that filling material components such as water vapor or solvent vapors escape into the environment. This can prevent the composition of the material in the container from changing. Furthermore, a health hazard due to the solvent vapors diffusing into the surroundings of the container is avoided. In particular, known bellows closures can rise when the internal pressure in the container rises (eg when the temperature rises) or when the external pressure falls (eg when there is insufficient pressure compensation in airfreight traffic). In the closure seals according to the invention, the covering effect is maintained at ambient temperatures of up to 40 ^° C., insofar as the pretension in particular compensates for the possible vapor pressure of liquids filled into the containers.

In the accompanying figures, preferred embodiments of the closure device according to the invention are explained using examples.

In Figure 1, a closure according to the invention is shown with a neck 1 which is provided with a screw thread 2 at its upper end. A screw cap 3 is placed on this. The neck 1 is pressed into a curved opening of a container 5. At the outer end of the cover 3 there is a circumferential sealing flap 6, which nestles in the direction of the top of the container 5 closely to the edge of the opening of the container 5, which is designed in the form of an elevation 5a in a step-like manner.

FIG. 2 shows a closure according to the invention with a neck 1 and a screw cap 3, the neck 1 having a cuff-shaped fastening device 4 which is pressed against the opening of the container 5 by means of an elevation 5a. At the outer end of the lid 3 there is a circumferentially bevelled sealing tab 6 which extends to the upper bottom of the container 5 and lies on it outwards.

FIG. 3 shows a device according to the invention in the form of a screw cap push-in closure with a chamfered area on the outer edge of the cover 3, from which the circumferential sealing tab 6 extends to the upper bottom of the container 5.

FIG. 4 shows a device according to the invention in the form of a screw cap push-in closure, in which the circumferential sealing flap 6 rests on a conically shaped upper floor of the container 5. FIG. 5 shows a device according to the invention in the form of a screw cap push-in closure with an encircling sealing flap 6, which is designed twice in its lower part or is provided with a groove, forming an inner sealing edge 7 and an outer sealing edge 8.

FIG. 6 shows a device according to the invention in the form of a screw cap push-in closure which additionally contains a child lock. On the circumferential sealing flap 6 there is a toothing 9 with, for example, 2 to 5 teeth at the level of the sleeve 4 pointing inwards. This toothing is also attached to the opposite side of the circumferential sealing tab 6. The cuff 4 of the neck also has serrations 10 which are circumferentially located on the outer part of the cuff 4. When the cover 3 is screwed on, the sealing flap 6 with the toothing 9 slides over the toothing 10 of the sleeve 4 of the lower part until the closing process is completed. 9 and 10 then interlock.

FIG. 7 shows a device according to the invention in the form of a screw cap push-in closure with a pressed-in bellows-like lower part 11, which is provided with a screw thread 2 at its upper end. The screw cover 3 is located thereon. At the outermost edge of the screw cover 3 there is a shoulder in the direction of the sealing tab 6, which can be used as a grip edge 12. The sealing tab 6 lies on the top of the container 5 facing outwards.

FIG. 8 shows a closure according to the invention with the bellows 11 pressed in, the cover 3 of which has locking knobs 13 on the circumferential sealing flap 6 at the level of the cuff-shaped fastening device 4. The cuff-shaped fastening device 4 only partially surrounds the edge of the container 5, so that the locking knobs 13 of the sealing flap 6 can snap under the cuff-shaped fastening device 4 when the closure device is pressed on.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show a closure with the bellows pressed in, which to increase the sealing effect in FIG. 9 shows a bellows shortened by x 14, which causes a bias. The screw cap 3 is thereby pressed onto the cuff-shaped fastening device 4, which rests on the edge of the container 5. FIG. 10 shows a circumferential web 15 on the underside of the lid 3, which presses the bellows 11 against the edge of the container 5 at the level of the cuff-shaped fastening device 4. In FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the upper edge of the cover (3) is extended horizontally to form a sealing tab (6) which rests on the cuff-shaped fastening device (4) of the bellows.

Claims

Claims:

1. Device for closing a container (5) with a nozzle-shaped neck (1) which is fastened or can be fastened to the container (5) and is provided with a screw thread (2) at its upper end, and with a cover (3) which can be screwed onto it , characterized in that the cover (3) with a diameter range which is larger than the diameter of the neck (1) is provided all round with a sealing flap (6).

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the sealing tab (6) is designed so that when the cover (3) is fully screwed on the upper bottom of the container (5), on one on the upper bottom of the container (5) trained elevation (5a) and / or on the part of the neck which is in contact with the upper bottom of the container (5) or the elevation (5a) formed thereon.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the elevation (5a) is designed so that it forms the edge of the opening to be closed from the upper bottom (5) of the container.

4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the sealing tab (6) is designed such that it rests on the upper bottom of the container (5) and has grooves or bevelled on its lower part lying thereon.

5. Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the sealing tab (6) is flexible.

6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it has a child lock.

7. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that the child safety device in the form of teeth (9) on the inside of the sealing tab (6) is formed, which is detachable in teeth (10) on engage the outer circumference of the neck (1).

8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the neck-shaped neck (1) is flexible or with flexible zones.

9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that the neck (1) is designed in the form of a bellows which can be pressed into the container opening.

10. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it has one or more sealing devices between the screw thread of the cover (3) and its sealing tab (6), which when the cover is placed in the

Fastening device of the neck (1) engages on the upper bottom of the container (5).