Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D41/00—Caps, e.g. crown caps or crown seals, i.e. members having parts arranged for engagement with the external periphery of a neck or wall defining a pouring opening or discharge aperture; Protective cap-like covers for closure members, e.g. decorative covers of metal foil or paper
  • B65D41/32—Caps or cap-like covers with lines of weakness, tearing-strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices, e.g. to facilitate formation of pouring openings
  • B65D41/34—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt
  • B65D41/3442—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt with rigid bead or projections formed on the tamper element and coacting with bead or projections on the container
  • B65D41/3447—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt with rigid bead or projections formed on the tamper element and coacting with bead or projections on the container the tamper element being integrally connected to the closure by means of bridges
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D41/00—Caps, e.g. crown caps or crown seals, i.e. members having parts arranged for engagement with the external periphery of a neck or wall defining a pouring opening or discharge aperture; Protective cap-like covers for closure members, e.g. decorative covers of metal foil or paper
  • B65D41/32—Caps or cap-like covers with lines of weakness, tearing-strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices, e.g. to facilitate formation of pouring openings
  • B65D41/34—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D41/00—Caps, e.g. crown caps or crown seals, i.e. members having parts arranged for engagement with the external periphery of a neck or wall defining a pouring opening or discharge aperture; Protective cap-like covers for closure members, e.g. decorative covers of metal foil or paper
  • B65D41/32—Caps or cap-like covers with lines of weakness, tearing-strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices, e.g. to facilitate formation of pouring openings
  • B65D41/34—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt
  • B65D41/348—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt the tamper element being rolled or pressed to conform to the shape of the container, e.g. metallic closures
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D55/00—Accessories for container closures not otherwise provided for
  • B65D55/02—Locking devices; Means for discouraging or indicating unauthorised opening or removal of closure
  • B65D55/026—Locking devices; Means for discouraging or indicating unauthorised opening or removal of closure initial opening or unauthorised access being indicated by a visual change using indicators other than tearable means, e.g. change of colour, pattern or opacity

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to a tamper-evident closure and particularly to a closure with two or more parts which separate in an opening event and then indicates the closure has been opened at least once.
• a closure In many cases it is desirable for a closure to provide visible evidence that it has been opened at least once.
• Many different systems have been proposed for tamper-evidence. One of the most common systems is to ensure that upon first opening the closure separates into two or more parts which are not re-formed upon closing.
• One of the main considerations when designing a tamper-evident closure is the prevention of overcoming the tamper-evidence by reforming the closure parts. This is particularly important for products which are subject to counterfeiting, such as in the wines and spirits industry. It is known, for example, to provide a closure with a generally plain crown and a tubular skirt with a line of weakening which divides the closure into an upper top cap and a lower tamper-evident break band.
• the cap and the band are physically separated and upon re-application of the top cap the band remains broken away from the cap.
• counterfeiters can re-form such closures by connecting the cap back to the break band using, for example, nail varnish. Such a re-formed cap may be indistinguishable from an untampered closure.
• the present invention seeks to address the problems with known tamper-evident closures.
• a tamper-evident closure for a container comprising a shell having a break line along which it is separable, in which the shell further comprises a distortable portion which is distorted upon first opening, the distortable portion being spaced from and separate to the break line.
• a tamper-evident closure for a container comprising a shell having a break line along which it is separable, the shell comprising a line of weakness along which it is separated upon first opening of the closure, the shell further comprising a deformable region which is distinct from the break line and is inevitably deformed by axial stretching of the shell during first opening, the closure comprising means for limiting the extent of the axial stretching of the deformable region.
• a tamper-evident closure for a container including a body having two or more parts which are separated upon first opening along a line of weakness, the opening event causes one or more parts of the body to be distorted, the distortion occurs in a region of the body discrete from the line of weakness.
• a closure for a container comprising: an outer shell separable into a first shell portion and a second shell portion, the first shell portion and/or the second shell portion comprising a distortable portion; and an inner part in engagement with the first shell portion, wherein in an opening event, the first shell portion is movable relative to the inner part from an unactivated first position to an activated second position in which there is a predetermined axial movement of the first shell part with respect to the inner part, the opening event causing deformation of the distortable portion, the distortion being limited by the predetermined axial movement of the first shell part with respect to the inner part, the first shell portion and the inner part being arranged to become irreversibly locked in the activated second position so that the first shell portion and the inner part cannot be moved back to the unactivated first position.
• the tamper-evidence of the present invention therefore does not rely entirely upon separation of closure shell, but also deformation/distortion of a different part/region so that it is more clear an opening event has occurred and so that returning the closure to its original, unopened state is rendered considerably more difficult.
• the distortion may be produced by various methods including stretching, twisting pulling, squashing and tearing.
• the distortion may affect the integrity of the part and/or its properties including shape, thickness, colour and markings.
• the or each body part may be distorted before, during or after breakage and/or separation of the shell. In other words, the distortion may be completed prior to, as part of, or following physical separation.
• the distortion may be caused by axial separation of two or more parts (which may, for example be shell sections) for example as the parts are pulled away from each other during opening by having one of the parts captive on a container and the other part moveable.
• the distorted part may be adapted to remain on the container in use.
• the distorted part may be adapted to be removable with undistorted part/s remaining on the container.
• the body may include one or more lines of weakness.
• the body may comprise a top cap with a tamper evident band at its free end.
• the body may comprise a shell with a top plate and a depending side wall, with the tamper evident band formed at the free end of the side wall.
• the free end of such a side wall may be secured to a container neck for example by a tuck-in and/or a tuck-under to secure that part of the body to a container neck.
• a tamper-evident band may be the tamper- evident band which is distorted.
• the top cap of such an arrangement may be distorted.
• the distortable region may include a notch line or the like along which distortion occurs in use.
• the notch line may involve a partial or complete cut through the material of the body. In such cases the arrangement of the distortion line must be such that distortion occurs prior to separation of the parts. This could be done, for example, by selecting an appropriate strength for frangible bridges holding the parts together at a line of weakness.
• the body may be formed from any suitable material, for example metal and or plastics material.
• the closure is of the form of a roll-on pilfer-proof type which is typically formed from aluminium.
• Figure 1 is a side view of a closure formed according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in a sealed, unopened position;
• Figures 2A to 2D show the opening sequence of the closure of Figure 1 ;
• Figure 3 is a side view of a closure formed according to an alternative embodiment and shown in an unopened condition
• Figures 3A to 3D show the opening sequence of the closure of Figure 3;
• Figure 4 is a section of the closure of Figure 3.
• Figures 4A to 4D show the opening sequence in sectional form of the closure of Figure 4 i.e. corresponding to Figures 3A to 3D respectively.
• FIG. 1 a tamper-evident closure generally indicated 10 attached to a container (in this embodiment a bottle) neck 15.
• the closure 10 comprises a generally circular top plate 20 having a generally cylindrical side wall 25 depending from its periphery.
• the side wall 25 includes a knurled zone 30 adjacent the top plate 20. Adjacent the knurled zone 30 a screw thread profile 35 is provided and corresponds to screw thread formations formed on the neck 15; the profile 35 is formed by rolling the side wall 25 on to the neck 15.
• a line of weakness 40 is formed by a plurality of frangible bridges 45.
• the line 40 defines a tamper- evident band 50 the free end of which is turned under a bead (not shown) on the neck 15 at a tuck under 52.
• a top cap 55 is defined.
• FIG. 2A to 2D the closure 10 is shown during opening.
• the top cap 55 is turned and the screw thread profile 35 begins to rise up the screw thread formations 36 on the neck (see Figure 3).
• the band 50 is prevented from lifting by the tuck under 52.
• the band 50 has a distortion zone 70 formed within it. More specifically, the frangible bridges 45 are not directly connected to the distortion zone 70 but rather a solid intermediate band 80 connects the bridges 45 to the distortion zone 70.
• the distortion zone 70 comprises a hidden notch line with alternating upper and lower slots 85b, 90b which are defined by respective alternating upper and lower fixed points 85a, 90a, with the upper fixed points 85a connected to the solid band 80 and the lower fixed points 90a connected to the tuck under 52.
• the distortion band 70 Upon opening, the distortion band 70 is pulled and stretched into a zig-zag shape shown in Figure 2B. The bridges 45 then break and the top cap 55 is removed and the distorted band 50 drops down, as shown in Figure 2C. The band 50 remains on the glass finish. Upon re-application of the top cap 55 the zig-zag distorted area 70 remains as visual evidence the closure has been opened at least once, as shown in Figure 2D, with a gap G between the top cap 55 and the drop band 50 and the distorted band itself. Referring now to Figures 3 and 4 there is shown a closure 110 formed according to an alternative embodiment.
• the closure 110 is quite similar to the closure 10, with a top cap 155 and drop band 50 part forming an outer shell (in this embodiment formed from metal).
• the band 50 is longer and includes an insulating bead 154 below the break line 140 and above the distortion zone 170.
• the insulating bead is rolled into the shell so as to be spaced from an undercut 117 formed on the neck finish 115.
• the finish 115 also includes a step 118 below the undercut 117.
• top cap 155 now causes the main bridges 145 to break.
• the top cap 155 can now be screwed off and the band 150 drops down, as shown in Figures 3C and 4C, until the bead 154 rests on the step 118.
• a further gap generating mechanism may be included, for example as described in WO2005/049443.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)
• Cartons (AREA)

Priority Applications (11)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=48537431

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (14)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (4)

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• 2013
  • 2013-04-18 GB GBGB1307027.1A patent/GB201307027D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2014
  • 2014-04-14 ES ES14719673.7T patent/ES2637692T3/es active Active
  • 2014-04-14 MX MX2015014626A patent/MX369037B/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2014-04-14 JP JP2016508120A patent/JP6453306B2/ja active Active
  • 2014-04-14 US US14/784,547 patent/US9708105B2/en active Active
  • 2014-04-14 BR BR112015026373-9A patent/BR112015026373B1/pt active IP Right Grant
  • 2014-04-14 WO PCT/EP2014/057549 patent/WO2014170284A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2014-04-14 CN CN201480025641.0A patent/CN105189301B/zh active Active
  • 2014-04-14 PL PL14719673T patent/PL2986526T3/pl unknown
  • 2014-04-14 RU RU2015143113A patent/RU2651248C2/ru active
  • 2014-04-14 PT PT147196737T patent/PT2986526T/pt unknown
  • 2014-04-14 EP EP14719673.7A patent/EP2986526B1/en active Active
• 2015
  • 2015-10-08 PH PH12015502343A patent/PH12015502343A1/en unknown
  • 2015-10-15 ZA ZA2015/07722A patent/ZA201507722B/en unknown

Patent Citations (4)

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