WO2021211077A1

WO2021211077A1 - Eco-friendly lightweight closure

Info

Publication number: WO2021211077A1
Application number: PCT/TR2021/050188
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ozgur AKIN
Original assignee: Bericap Kapak Sanayi Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2020-04-16
Filing date: 2021-03-03
Publication date: 2021-10-21

Abstract

Invention relates a lightweight and consequently eco-friendly closure (10) obtained without compromising from the ease of opening and pouring properties. More specifically, the present invention relates a closure (10) in which, without changing the amount of rotation angle (for example; 180 º, 360 º) required to open it, namely without the need to change the opening habit of the user, the height is reduced just by decreasing of the pitch (p) (distance taken in axial direction at one turn of a screw thread) value and hence, the lightening is provided without compromising the ease of opening and pouring.

Description

ECO-FRIENDLY LIGHTWEIGHT CLOSURE

Technical Field

Invention relates a lightweight and consequently eco-friendly closure (cap) obtained without compromising from the ease of opening and pouring properties.

More specifically, the present invention relates a closure in which, without changing the amount of rotation angle (for example; 180 °, 360 °) required to open it, namely without the need to change the opening habit of the user, the height is reduced just by decreasing of the pitch (distance taken in axial direction at one turn of a screw thread) value and hence, the lightening is provided without compromising the ease of opening and pouring.

Prior Art

Nowadays, the usage of plastics increases rapidly with the increase in the world population. Decomposition of the plastic items and recycling them to the nature varies from 400 to 1 ,000 years according to the type of plastic. In order to prevent unnecessary production of a substance that is so difficult to recycle to the nature while it is produced very easily, the search for innovative solutions concerning the designs and wall thickness of caps and bottle finishes (neck) continues. The main criteria taken into consideration during these lightening studies are that it is not compromised from the quality and functions (sealing, durability) of cap, and opening habit (rotation angle) of the user is not changed. In the patent document US2017113847A1, there is a solution to reduce the use of metal, glass and plastic without compromising from the quality and user habit in the production of products such as bottle, container etc.. In order to provide this, it has been stated that the ratio between the defined axial spacing and annular width should be less than 1.35, and in the preferred embodiment, this ratio should be less than 1.0. The solution emerged in the US2017113847A1 relates to the press-on twist-off closures concerning the packaging of baby formulas and sport foods and, their preservation by being hermetically sealed. As a require of their properties, these closures which are especially for the foods that can be canned as hot, cause forming of a vacuum that will make the consumer’s rotation motion more difficult after closing and cooling process. They have an axial spacing portion for this vacuum to be formed. Shortly here, since the ratio between the axial spacing and annular width is desired to be protected, the scope of protection of the patent is limited to press-on twist-off closures having axial spacing portion.

As a result, the require for a general solution in which, without the need to change the opening habit of the user, the amount of plastic used is reduced just by decreasing of the pitch value and hence, the lightening is provided without compromising the quality and functions of closure, causes the present innovative solution to emerge out.

Objectives and Short Description of the Invention

Aim of the invention is to present a lightweight and consequently eco-friendly closure obtained without compromising from the ease of opening and pouring properties.

Another aim of this invention is to present a closure in which, without changing the amount of rotation angle required to open it, namely without the need to change the opening habit of the user, the height is reduced just by decreasing of the pitch value and hence, the lightening is provided without compromising the ease of opening and pouring.

Another aim of this invention is to keep grip-height in the optimum range while reducing general height of the closure.

In order to provide lightweight closure without compromising from quality and user habits including ease of opening and pouring;

- the ratio between the thread root diameter of cap and height of cap is in the range of 2.15 to 2.35 while keeping grip-height in the range of 11 to 14 mm,

- the weight of one-piece closure is in the range of 3.10 to 3.35 grams,

- the weight of two-piece closure is in the range of 6.10 to 6.70 grams.

In the one-piece embodiment, the ratio between the thread root diameter of cap and height of cap is in the range of 2.25 to 2.35.

In the two-piece embodiment, the ratio between the thread root diameter of cap and height of cap is in the range of 2.15 to 2.25. Description of the Figures

In figure 1 , a front sectional view of one-piece embodiment of the present innovative closure is given.

In figure 2, a front sectional view of two-piece embodiment of the present innovative closure is given.

Reference Numbers

10. Closure

11. inner Cap

12. Thread

R. Thread root diameter

H. Height

Hg. Grip-height p. Pitch

Detailed Description of the Invention The present invention relates a closure (10) in which, without changing the amount of rotation angle (for example; 180 °, 360 °) required to open it, namely without the need to change the opening habit of the user, the height is reduced just by decreasing of the pitch (p) (distance taken in axial direction at one turn of a screw thread) value and hence, the lightening is provided without compromising the ease of opening and pouring. Since the pitch value of bottle finish reduces as compatible with the innovative closure (10), this indirectly reduces also the amount of material used in the bottle.

Although lots of study has been done for reducing the usage of plastic, there has been no solution aiming to reduce the pitch value without any change in the performance and user experience expected from the closure. The ratio between the thread root diameter (R) and height (H) of the present innovative closure (10) is in the range of 2.15 to 2.35 and, the closure (10) has one-piece and two-piece embodiments. The two-piece closure (10) embodiment which includes an inner cap (11) as an addition unlike one-piece closure (10) embodiment, is applicable especially for products with the child resist feature. Also, the two-piece closure (10) embodiment is relatively heavier since it requires more plastic raw materials than the one-piece closure (10) embodiment. As a result of the tests performed, for preventing said ratio values from creating a negative change in the closure (10) function and user experience, it is determined that the weight of the one-piece closure (10) embodiment should be in the range of 3.10 to 3.35 grams, the weight of the two-piece closure (10) embodiment should be in the range of 6.10 to 6.70 grams.

Here, the term ‘thread root diameter (R) of cap’ is used while the proportional connection is established, instead of it, we can use the term ‘thread crest diameter of bottle-finish’ which serves the same meaning and purpose.

As a result of keeping the ratio between the thread root diameter (R) of cap and the height (H) of cap in the range of 2.15 to 2.35, it is intended to reduce the height (H) and hence the weight of the conventional cap. In order to prevent the decrease in the height (H) value from causing a negative change in the cap function and user experience, it is provided that only the pitch (p) value is reduced by preserving the thread (12) structure as it is. Thanks to the preservation of the thread (12) structure, the angle that the user has to turn the closure (10) for reaching the product content remains constant. Thus, without compromising the ease of opening, it is provided that the user has the same experience as opening of similar product cap before.

In the preferred embodiments of the one-piece closure (10) structure, the ratio between the thread root diameter (R) of cap and the height (H) is in the range of 2.25 to 2.35. Preferably, this ratio is 2.32, and the weight of the one-piece closure (10) having this ratio is 3.23 grams. In Figure 1 , a front sectional view of the invention’s one-piece embodiment having 40 mm of thread root diameter (R) and 17.2 mm of height (H) is given. In this example, the pitch (p) value is 2.5 mm and, this value may differ in other embodiments.

In the preferred embodiments of the two-piece closure (10) structure, the ratio between the thread root diameter (R) of cap and the height (H) is in the range of 2.15 to 2.25. Preferably, this ratio is 2.20, and the weight of the two-piece closure (10) having this ratio is 6.41 grams. In Figure 2, a front sectional view of the invention’s two-piece embodiment having 40 mm of thread root diameter (R) and 18.15 mm of height (H) is given. In this example, the pitch (p) value is 2.5 mm and, this value may differ in other embodiments.

While providing these ratios in the one-piece or two-piece closure (10), grip-height (Hg) is aimed to be kept between optimum limits for allowing ease of gripping and opening. If the grip-height (Hg) is under the optimum limits (under the thickness value of finger), the user trying to open the cap applies force also onto tear-off-band at the same time by its finger. This causes that the user struggles to open the cap. Thus, keeping the grip-height (Hg) between optimum limits while reducing general height (H) of the cap is important for this invention. Generally, the grip-height (Hg) should be equal or more than the thickness of a finger. As a result of our experiments, the optimum limits have been found as between 11 mm and 14 mm.

In the present innovative lightweight closure (10) solution, the bottle necks having same pouring diameter continue to be used since there is no change in the closure (10) diameter while providing lightness. Thus, the ease of pouring is not compromised too. The present innovative solution is particularly a solution concerning the engine oil bottle caps which must be rotated nearly 2 turn (about 690°) to open, it is possible to apply this solution to many other cap structure.

Claims

1. A plastic closure (10) characterized in that in order to provide lightweight closure (10) without compromising from quality and user habits including ease of opening and pouring; - the ratio between the thread root diameter (R) of cap and height (H) of cap is in the range of 2.15 to 2.35 while keeping grip-height (Hg) in the range of 11 to 14 mm,

- the weight of one-piece closure is in the range of 3.10 to 3.35 grams,

- the weight of two-piece closure is in the range of 6.10 to 6.70 grams.

2. A closure (10) according to claim 1 and, characterized in that the ratio between the thread root diameter (R) of cap and height (H) of cap is in the range of 2.25 to 2.35 in the one-piece embodiment.

3. A closure (10) according to claim 1 and, characterized in that the ratio between the thread root diameter (R) of cap and height (H) of cap is in the range of 2.15 to 2.25 in the two-piece embodiment.