WO2009000542A1

WO2009000542A1 - Closing element for vessels

Info

Publication number: WO2009000542A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/005234
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mathias Bihler; Johann Köpf
Original assignee: Otto Bihler Handels-Beteiligungs-Gmbh
Priority date: 2007-06-26
Filing date: 2008-06-26
Publication date: 2008-12-31
Also published as: PL2158135T3; DE202008017365U1; ES2360590T3; DE502008002886D1; ATE501946T1; EP2158135B1; EP2158135A1; DE102007029383A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a closing element (10) for vessels (26), particularly bottles, comprising a lid (12), which can be placed on a vessel opening edge (28) with a lower lid section (42) comprising a seal (30), a clip (14) mounted in the lid (12) and supportable with regard to the vessel (26), wherein the clip (14) and the lid (12) can be moved relative to each other. The invention provides that the closing element comprises a spring element (58) acting in a force-transmitting manner between the lid (12) and the clip (14), the spring element pretensioning the clip (14) toward an upper lid section (40) when the vessel is closed. The invention further relates to a vessel, particularly a bottle, comprising a closing element (10) according to the invention, particularly a clip closure.

Description

Closure element for vessels

description

The present invention relates to a closure element for vessels, in particular bottles, comprising a lid which can be placed on a vessel opening edge with a lower lid portion having a seal, a bracket mounted in the lid and supportable with respect to the vessel, the bracket and the lid are movable relative to each other.

Such closure elements are also known by the term swing-top closure for bottles. In such closure elements, the lid is made of ceramic in most cases. Other materials from which the lid may be produced are plastics or glass-ceramic. For example, reference is made to utility model DE 20 2005 004 117 U1.

The known lids of the temple closures have an annular rubber seal which is mounted on the underside of the lid, that is to say on the side which faces the bottle opening edge in the closed state. In this case, the ring opening of the seal is pulled over a kind of projection or knob on the cover and, because of its elasticity, held fast to this knob in a circumferential recess or annular groove provided thereon. There are also embodiments in which the grommet is adhered to the ceramic cover.

Since bottles with buckles are particularly well suited for reusability, the bottles are filled together with the Bügelver statements in several cycles with a liquid, especially a drink and cleaned again after bottle return to be refilled. In these recycling operations, but also in normal use, there is a risk that the ceramic cover will be damaged. In particular, chipping of ceramic parts often occurs due to the material properties of the ceramic material, so that the lid subsequently has sharp edges and should no longer be put on sale. Closure elements with damaged covers therefore often have to be replaced as a whole.

The downside of plastic lids is that in certain circumstances the plastics will take on bad smells. Thus, their use as a food-safe material is limited, even if they are less prone to damage.

The object of the invention is to further develop a closure element of the stated type in order to counteract the above disadvantages. In particular, a higher resistance of the closure element should be achieved.

According to a first aspect of the invention, it is proposed that, in a generic closure element, a force-transmitting effective between the cover and bracket spring element is provided which biases the bracket with a closed vessel to an upper lid portion.

Such a spring element allows a constant closing pressure over a bottle tolerance of about one millimeter, so that the seal is better compared with a conventional ceramic closure. When opening or closing a bottle with clip closure, the lid is pressed with a greater force on the edge of the bottle, as in the closed state of the bottle, because the bow movement is guided over a bottom dead center. This maximum-acting force can be absorbed to a large extent by the spring element, so that this essentially vertical relative movement between bracket and bottle does not have to be completely absorbed by a seal. Such a spring element thus also leads to a less severe stress and Wear of the seal compared to a conventional ceramic closure. This has the advantage that the seal is not exposed to a permanently high pressure and deformations in a certain area, which counteracts the embrittlement of the rubber material and leads to a longer life of the seal.

The bracket is in particular switchable between a clamping position and a release position, wherein it exerts in the cocking position a lid on the vessel opening edge pressing closing force on the lid, wherein this closing force by the spring element from the bracket, in particular by a lid passing through the upper bracket section the lid is transferred.

In a further development, it is proposed that the lid is made of metal, in particular stainless steel.

Among the metals, there are various varieties used in the food industry. For example, reference is made to tin cans made of tin. Such food-grade metals, and especially stainless steel, are very resistant materials, in which, in the event of damage, pieces generally do not break off, so that no sharp edges are produced which pose a risk of injury. Such a lid made of metal, especially stainless steel can be used for more filling cycles than a ceramic lid.

Preferably, the closure element comprises the seal on its underside of the lower lid portion, wherein the seal, in particular rubber seal, is annular, such that it can be placed on the vessel opening edge. It is particularly advantageous if the inner diameter of the ring seal is greater than or substantially the same size as the inner diameter of the vessel opening to be closed. The sealing material can be made very thin and it is especially thought to spray the sealing material on the lid or spray.

Such configured rubber gasket, comes with the bottled in the bottle beverage barely in contact, so that possibly absorbed in the rubber odors can be difficult to be delivered to the liquid or the drink in the bottle. Conversely, the rubber seal can only badly accept odors of the liquid. This effect is further positively influenced the thinner the seal is formed. A rubber seal of the conventional ceramic lid usually protrudes well beyond the edge of the bottle, both outward and inward. Thus, such a seal can absorb odors on the outside and odors of the drink in the bottle on the inside even in the closed state of the bottle.

Preferably, the lid is designed as a hollow body, which comprises the upper and the lower lid portion and a lid edge portion connecting these two lid portions. In this case, provision is made in particular for the spring element to be supported in the hollow body at the lower lid section and to bias the clamp when the vessel is closed from below in the direction of the upper lid section.

In order to allow attachment of the bracket to the lid and a cleaning of the lid, it is proposed that the lid in the lid edge portion comprises at least two edge openings, in particular slot-like edge openings. In this case, the bracket can extend through two radially opposite edge openings.

Preferably, the bracket is freely movable with the vessel open between the spring element and the respective upper edge of the two edge openings, in particular rotatable relative to the cover.

In order to allow the above-mentioned opening or closing over the dead center of the ironing movement with minimal deformation of the seal is vorvor beaten that the bracket is movable against the force of the spring element to the respective lower edge of the edge openings. The bracket thus has a certain, in particular vertical clearance between the upper and lower edges of the edge openings relative to the cover.

In order to enable an improved cleaning of the interior of the hollow body, the lid may have, in addition to those edge openings through which the bracket passes, further, in particular smaller edge openings. Such cleaning openings allow on the one hand the entry of cleaning fluid and on the other hand, the rapid flow of such cleaning fluid. Furthermore, air can circulate through such cleaning openings, which allows rapid drying of the lid cavity.

The spring element is preferably designed as a plate spring. Such a plate spring counteracts over a spring travel of for example 1 millimeter with an approximately constant force of the closing force of the bracket supported on the vessel. As a material for the plate spring is preferably thought of stainless steel, but also plastic or another metal are conceivable. In particular, a spring element made of plastic is also well suited, since the spring element comes into contact neither with the seal nor with the filled beverage, so that an odor transfer of any odors taken up in the plastic to the beverage is excluded.

When the closure element, the bracket on a conventional bracket geometry, as is known from conventional buckles, in particular, an upper wire portion of the bracket passes through the lid. The closure element is thus designed as a wire-bow closure, with a cover which is modified and improved compared to the known bow closure being used.

The invention further relates to a vessel, in particular bottle with a closure element, in particular clip closure with one or more features described above.

The invention will be described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of example.

Fig. 1 is a perspective, schematic view of a closure element in the closed state.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the closure element according to the line M-II of FIG. 1. FIG.

Fig. 3 is a perspective, schematic representation of the closure element obliquely from below.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a conventional clip closure of the aforementioned utility model in the closed (Fig. 4a) and opened (Fig. 4b) state.

It should be noted that the subsequent use of the terms "top" and "bottom" refer to the closed state of a bottle in which a bottle having the closure element is on its bottom.

The principle of operation of a clip closure will be explained briefly with reference to FIG. The known bow closure 110 comprises a cover 112 and a through the lid 112 extending therethrough bracket 114. The bracket 114 is bent at its two ends 112 away from the lid 112 like a hook. These hook-like ends 116 are in movable engagement, each with a loop 118 of a further bracket element 120, which is suspended with its two ends 122 in recesses 124 in the bottle neck 126. As an alternative to the recesses 124 in the bottle neck 126, it is also conceivable to support the closure on a sleeve, which is around the Bottle neck 126 is arranged and corresponding openings for receiving the ends 122 has.

When closed as shown in FIG. 4a, the bracket 114 is pulled down by the loops 118 so that the cover is pressed against the opening edge 128 of the bottle to achieve sealing of the bottle. In this case, the seal 112 attached to the cover 112 is compressed and the bracket 114 rests on a lower edge of an opening formed in the cover 112. When opening the bracket member 120, which abuts the bottle neck in the closed state, moved away from the bottle. In this case, the loops 118 are pivoted about the axis A defined by the two depressions 124 and moved upwards so that the cover 112 is moved away from the opening edge. Subsequently, the entire closure can be pivoted downwards so that it hangs down along the bottle neck 126, as shown in FIG. 4a.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, an embodiment of the closure according to the invention will now be explained, wherein for functionally identical parts, the same reference numerals reduced by the number 100 are used as for the conventional clip closure of FIG.

Thus, in FIGS. 1 and 2, which represent a closed state of the closure element 10, the cover 12 and the bracket 14 extending through the cover, in particular its upper, here horizontally extending bracket section, can be seen. The lid 12 has an upper lid portion 40, a lower lid portion 42 (FIG. 2), which are interconnected by a lid rim portion 44. These cover sections 40, 42 and 44 form a hollow body with a cavity 46.

On the underside of the lower lid portion 42, an annular seal, preferably a rubber seal 30 is arranged. This seal 30 is between a downwardly projecting portion 48 of the cover received edge portion 44 and a sloped portion 50 of the lower lid portion. In this case, the seal 30 can be interchangeably clamped or, alternatively, it can also be glued to the lower cover section 42.

The inclined portion 50 merges into a central portion 52 having a diameter d which is only slightly smaller than the diameter D of the bottle opening 54. Between the lower lid portion 42, in particular the central portion 52 and the inclined portions 50, and the opening edge 28 remains in the closed state only a very small gap 56 left through which hardly liquid from the bottle interior to the seal 30 can come.

The ring seal 30 has an inner diameter E which is greater than or at most equal to the diameter D of the bottle opening, so that it rests on the bottle opening edge 28, but does not protrude into the bottle opening 54. This prevents the seal from being able to deliver any odors that have been picked up in the closed state to the liquid or the beverage in the bottle.

From the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 it can be seen that in the cavity 46, a spring element is arranged, which is designed in the embodiment as a plate spring 58. The plate spring is in this view, in which the lid 12 rests only on the edge of the vessel 28, relaxed. The movement of the bracket 14 upward is limited by the upper edges 62 of two formed in the lid edge portion 44, in the radial direction of the lid 12 opposite edge openings 64. Between the upper edges 62 and the bracket 14 is also in this state, a small distance 65 formed to allow the free relative movement between bracket 14 and cover 12. The two edge openings 64 are formed like a slot, so that the bracket 14 against the force of the plate spring 58 can be moved down to respective lower edges 63. This downward movement is especially necessary when the bottle should be opened or closed. In these operations, the bracket 14 is passed over a bottom dead center at which the hook-like ends 116 of the bracket explained with reference to FIG. 4 are furthest away from the bottle opening edge 28 or 128. The required relative to overcome this dead center relative movement between bracket 14 and bottle is largely absorbed by the spring travel of the plate spring 58, so that no strong forces acting on the seal 30, which lead to a pinching of the seal. When closed, the bracket 14 exerts a closing force by means of the plate spring 58 on the cover 12, so that it rests tightly on the edge of the container 28 and is pressed against the plate spring 58 against this.

Due to this travel, the cup spring 58 can also enable a secure closure of bottles, in which the position of the recesses 124 (FIG. 4) or a sleeve for supporting the stirrup with respect to the bottle varies within a certain tolerance range. Such a position change can be caused on the one hand by inaccurate production of the wells and on the other hand by differences in length in the bottles, the plate spring 58 can accommodate tolerances in the millimeter range. By the plate spring 58 prevents the rubber seal 30 must absorb the entire required vertical movement of the bracket 14 with respect to the opening edge 28 by deformation, which occurs during closing and in the closed state of the closure due to the prevailing forces. This has the advantage that the seal is not exposed to a permanently high pressure and deformations in a certain area, which counteracts the embrittlement of the rubber material and leads to a longer life of the seal.

In the lid edge portion 44 further edge openings 66 are further formed, which serve for effective cleaning of the cavity 46. On the one hand, cleaning liquid can penetrate through these openings 66, and on the other hand, air can also circulate through it, so that complete drying of the hollow space 46 is possible in a short time. Alternatively to the arrangement of further edge openings 66, it is also conceivable to omit these edge openings 66 and to completely eject the cavity 46 with an elastomer, in particular soft elastomer, for example highly elastic silicone, so that a cleaning of the interior is not required. The elastomer or silicone must have such an elasticity that the filling of the cavity does not or only insignificantly influences the spring action of the disc spring 58. Instead of a complete backfilling with elastomer or silicone material may also be provided on the inside along the lid edge portion 44 extending elastomer or silicone ring which seals the edge openings 64 through which the bracket 14 passes. The bracket 14 passes through the elastomer or silicone ring, wherein the elastomer or silicone ring arranged in this way can deform correspondingly during movement of the bracket, without causing a leak in the area of the edge openings 64, which causes penetration of liquid in the cavity 46 allows. In such an elastomer or silicone ring or a complete backfilling of the cavity with elastomeric material or silicone, however, it should be noted that the relative mobility between bracket and lid is still easily possible. In this aspect, it can also be thought that the elastomer or silicone filling or the elastomer or silicone ring form the spring element of the lid, so that a plate spring made of metal or plastic could possibly be omitted.

The cover 12, the plate spring 58 and the bracket 14 are made of metal, in particular of odorless stainless steel, so that the closure element 10 is particularly well for the closure of containers or bottles for food, such as beverages, oil, vinegar, and the like. suitable is. Of course, such a closure element can also be used for vessels in which no food is included or in which powdery or granular material to be stored.

Claims

claims

1. Closure element (10) for vessels (26), in particular bottles, comprising a lid (12) which can be placed on a vessel opening edge (28) with a lower lid portion (42) having a seal (30) Cover (12) mounted and with respect to the vessel (26) supportable bracket (14), wherein the bracket (14) and the cover (12) are movable relative to each other, characterized in that between a cover (12) and bracket (14 ) comprises force-transmitting effective spring element (58) which biases the bracket (14) with the vessel closed to an upper lid portion (40).

2. Closure element according to claim 1, characterized in that the lid (12) made of metal, in particular stainless steel is made.

3. Closure element according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the seal (30), in particular rubber seal, is annular and is arranged on the underside of the lower cover portion (42), such that it rests against the vessel opening edge (28). can be placed.

4. Closure element according to claim 3, characterized in that the seal (30) is dimensioned such that the inner diameter of the ring seal (30) is greater than or substantially equal to the inner diameter (D) of the vessel opening to be closed (54).

5. Closure element according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the cover (12) is designed as a hollow body, the upper and the lower lid portion (40, 42) and a lid these two portions (40, 42) connecting Deckelrandab- section (44).

6. Closure element according to claim 5, characterized in that the spring element (58) in the hollow body at the lower Deckelab-

5 cut (42) supports and biases the bracket (14) with the vessel closed from below towards the upper lid portion (40).

7. Closure element according to one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that the cover (12) in the lid edge portion (44) weo least two edge openings (64; 66), in particular slit-like

Includes edge openings.

8. Closure element according to claim 7, characterized in that the bracket (14) extends through two radially opposite i5 edge openings (64).

9. Closure element according to claim 8, characterized in that the bracket (14) with the vessel open between the spring element (58) and the respective upper edge (62) of the two edge openings (64)

20 freely movable, in particular relative to the lid (12) is rotatable.

10. Closure element according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the edge openings (64) are formed such that the bracket (14) against the force of the spring element (58) to the respective lower

25 ren edge (63) of the edge openings (64) is movable.

11. Closure element according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the cover (12) in addition to those edge openings (64) through which the bracket (14) passes, further, in particular

30 has special smaller edge openings (66).

12. Closure element according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the spring element is designed as a plate spring.

13. vessel, in particular bottle with a closure element (10), in particular clip closure, according to one of the preceding claims.