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
  • B65D1/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers having bodies formed in one piece, e.g. by casting metallic material, by moulding plastics, by blowing vitreous material, by throwing ceramic material, by moulding pulped fibrous material or by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
  • B65D1/02—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents
  • B65D1/0223—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents characterised by shape
  • B65D1/023—Neck construction
  • B65D1/0246—Closure retaining means, e.g. beads, screw-threads
• • 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
  • B65D41/02—Caps or cap-like covers without lines of weakness, tearing strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices
  • B65D41/04—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers secured by rotation
  • B65D41/0407—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers secured by rotation with integral sealing means
  • B65D41/0428—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers secured by rotation with integral sealing means formed by a collar, flange, rib or the like contacting the top rim or the top edges or the external surface of a container neck

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a closure system for a container comprising a stopper and a ring defining an opening of a container, which are adapted to cooperate by screwing to seal tightly
• the plug comprises a substantially circular upper wall from which extends downwards an annular skirt having a lower annular end and a radially inner face provided with a thread.
• the ring has an annular apex forming the opening of the container, an annular flange projecting radially outwardly to a radial end face and a thread complementary to the thread of the plug arranged between the flange and the top of the ring. .
• Closure systems of this type are widely used, in particular in the form of three-fillet plugs for closing the beverage bottles.
• These plugs are usually provided with sealing means cooperating with the ring.
• sealing means cooperating with the ring.
• it may be an annular lip of the cap coming into contact with the inner upper portion of the ring, commonly called the inner lip, and / or an outer lip sealingly cooperating with the outer periphery of the top of the ring.
• the present invention relates to a closure system of the aforementioned type, characterized in that the skirt of the cap comprises at least one annular barrier member which is projecting relative to the radially inner face and adapted to bear in a substantially radial direction against the entire periphery of the radial end face of the flange.
• At least one barrier is formed between the ring and the stopper at the flange, which preserves the portion of the outer face of the ring located above the flange, external contaminants.
• This upper portion of the ring is to be protected in priority because it is possible that during the pouring of the liquid, it causes contaminants deposited near the top of the ring or that a user puts in contact this portion of the ring with his mouth while drinking from the neck.
• this arrangement can be implemented fairly easily since only the plug must undergo substantial changes compared to existing plugs. Indeed, it is usual on standardized rings and developed by mass production, to provide an annular collar with an inclined upper longitudinal face, which allows to place and retain a tamper-evident band connected to the end. bottom of the cap by frangible bridges.
• this barrier is formed by a projecting member reduces the contact surface between the cap and the collar, and in any case limits this surface to the dimensions of the projecting member.
• the contact pressures exerted by the support are relatively high and the protruding member is capable of deformation 'to better adjust to the flange. While in the case of extended surfaces, the contact pressure is low and a localized surface defect, for example on the inner face of the skirt, can create a passage through the barrier.
• the force of such a support is insensitive to slight variations in the longitudinal position of the protruding member, therefore to a more or less important screwing of the plug, since the end face s' extends essentially in the longitudinal direction of the ring.
• the skirt of the cap is capable of relatively large radial deformations, in any case significantly larger than in the longitudinal direction.
• the protruding member is better able to fulfill its barrier function despite certain variations in the outer diameter of the collar.
• said at least one barrier member formed by an annular bead protruding from the inner face of the skirt of the plug in a radially inner direction;
• the bead has an inside diameter which is smaller than the outer diameter of the collar, and the skirt of the cap is adapted to support a radial deformation outwardly during the cooperation of said bead with an upper longitudinal face of said flange;
• said at least one barrier member is formed by an annular lip extending from the inner face of the cap skirt and arranged to be deformed in contact with the flange of the ring;
• the annular lip extends substantially downwardly and preferably in the extension of the inner face of the skirt; this makes it possible to limit the radial size of the barrier member and to avoid interference with the threading of the ring when the plug is put in place; - A peripheral recess is formed in the skirt of the stopper facing the annular lip and externally with respect thereto; this makes it possible to increase the elastic radial displacement of the lip to ensure a support thereof against the flange despite manufacturing tolerances;
• the collar has an upper longitudinal face connecting the ring to the radial end face, said upper and end faces being connected by a substantially arcuate profile; the threading of the ring is comprised in a determined maximum outside diameter, and said at least one barrier member does not extend inward beyond a minimum diameter which is greater than said determined maximum diameter; said at least one barrier member is arranged near the lower annular end of the cap;
• the cap further comprises sealing means extending from its upper wall and cooperating with the ring near the annular apex thereof;
• a plurality of barrier members are provided.
• FIG. 1 represents a simplified section of a closure system comprising two barrier members made according to the invention.
• a closure system 1 comprising a ring 10 and a plug 20.
• the ring 10 has an annular apex 11 which defines the opening of a container not shown, but which extends from an annular lower end 12 of the ring 10 and can be made in any known manner.
• this container may be formed by thermofusing a PET preform including the ring 10 and formed integrally therewith.
• the ring 10 is in itself of known type, unless otherwise indicated later. It is preferably a standard ring, and in particular a ring with three threads, so that the implementation of the invention requires almost no modification of the ring 10 and a minimum of modifications of the plug 20.
• the ring 10 is formed of a cylindrical annular wall 14 extending along a central axis Z from the annular apex 11 to the lower end 12. It is possible to provide variations in the thickness of this annular wall 14 or recesses in this, in particular near the annular top 11 to save plastic or for sealing reasons.
• the inner periphery of the top 11 of the ring has a recess 14a so that this inner periphery is offset radially outwards with respect to the extension of the wall 14. This arrangement makes it possible to prevent a defect, for example caused by a shock on the top 11, from extending beyond the inside diameter. of the ring and then come to interfere with a sealing lip.
• the ring 10 has a radially outer annular face 15 with respect to the central axis Z of this ring.
• a thread 16 extends over a longitudinal portion of the outer face 15 from a distance from the top. It is a thread with three threads staggered by 120 degrees which facilitates well known manner the screwing of the plug 20.
• the threads (16a, 16b, 16c) have an asymmetric profile, with an inclined upper longitudinal face to allow known manner the mounting of the plug by fitting along the Z axis.
• the ring 10 comprises an annular collar 17 located under the thread 16.
• This collar is in the form of an annular protuberance protruding radially outwardly relative to the outer annular face 15. More specifically, the collar 17 has a face upper longitudinal axis 17a which is inclined downwards, that is to say which extends from the annular wall 14 forming generally an acute angle with a central axis Z.
• the collar 17 also has an annular face of 17b substantially cylindrical end of diameter D17 and coaxial with the central axis Z, and a lower longitudinal face 17c extending substantially at right angles to the annular wall 14.
• a collar of this type is usually provided to cooperate with a cap-related tamper-evident band, the inclined upper longitudinal face 17a allowing the passage of retaining lugs of the tamper-evident band and the lower longitudinal face forming a retaining member of this band.
• the flange 17 is often called tamper flange by this function.
• a second flange 18 is conventionally formed, the lower longitudinal face 18c of which is generally used as a reference for defining the lower end 12 of the ring 10.
• This second collar 18 is generally larger in external diameter and of lower height, used to transport bottles.
• the base of the threads (16a, 16b, 16c) extends from the collar 17, and more precisely that the base of these threads originates in the upper longitudinal face 17a, as this is visible on the left of Figure 1 for the net 16a.
• the threads advantageously extend over a large angular sector, of the order of 180 to 230 degrees, instead of the 120 to 140 degrees usually provided on the three-threaded rings. This has the advantage of increasing the overlap between each of the threads (16a, 16b, 16c) and thus increasing the linear length of the radial space separating the threads 16 of the ring and the complementary threads of the plug, a necessary space to absorb manufacturing tolerances between the ring 10 and the plug 20. It is expected to slow the migration of possible contaminants along the thread 16 to the top 11 of the ring.
• the threading 16 has a reduced effective pitch compared to those usually used, for example an effective pitch of between 5 and 12 millimeters, and preferably of 8 millimeters, to further increase the length threads (16a-16c) and therefore their angular overlap.
• the plug 20 has an upper wall 21, circular and substantially flat and a skirt peripheral ring 22 which extends downwardly from the periphery of the upper face 21.
• the plug 20 thus has a substantially cylindrical outer shape, but it is perfectly possible to adopt more complex, for example to improve the aesthetic appearance of the cap or form gripping members on an outer annular face 23 of the skirt 22.
• the skirt 22 of the plug has a radially inner annular face 24 from which a thread 26 projects radially inwards.
• the thread 26 is complementary to the thread 16 of the ring to cooperate by screwing with it and arranged so that the cap 20 can be screwed until the inner face 25 of the upper wall 21 comes resting against the top 11 of the ring 10.
• An annular lip 28, said inner, extends downwardly from the upper wall 21 of the plug and has a circumferential profile adapted to come into contact with the inside of the annular wall 14 of the ring and thus form a first sealing means as is known.
• the profile of the lip 28 is chosen to come into contact below the recess 14a formed at the top 11.
• the outer lip 27 forms a second sealing means preventing the exit of the liquid contained in the container and the air inlet.
• the plug 20 is normally provided with a tamper-evident strip located in the extension of the skirt 22 and connected to the lower annular end 22b thereof by frangible bridges.
• This tamper-evident ring comprises, in known manner, lugs projecting towards the central axis Z, and adapted to engage the lower longitudinal face 17c of the flange 17.
• the radially inner face 24 of the skirt 22 has an annular bead 30 projecting towards the central axis Z.
• the bead 30 has in the embodiment shown, a constant circumferential profile in a semicircle arranged so that the top of the bead 30, that is to say the point closest to the central axis Z, is located in the center of this semicircle.
• the bead 30 is arranged on the inner face 24 and has a determined inside diameter, measured between the apex of two diametrically opposite points, so that the bead 30 bears against the entire periphery of the flange 17 of FIG. the ring. More particularly in the embodiment shown, the circular line defined by the top of the bead 30 comes against the end face 17b of the flange.
• This support is preferably performed by creating a radial elastic deformation of the skirt 22 of the cap 20 so that the pressure exerted by the bead 30 on the collar 17 is significant and avoid the formation of days between them.
• This also allows the skirt 22 of the cap 20 to absorb certain variations in the outer diameter of the collar 17.
• the bead 30 thus constitutes a first barrier member between the plug 20 and the ring 10, which allows to limit strongly or to eliminate the penetration of external contaminants in the space between the radially outer face 15 of the ring and the radially inner face 24 of the plug.
• the bead 30 is arranged in a plane transverse to the central axis Z and adjacent to the lower annular end 22b of the skirt, so as to protect a maximum height of the upper portion of the ring 10.
• the inner diameter of the bead 30 is less than the outside diameter D17 measured on the end face 17b of the collar, when the cap 20 is not mounted on the ring.
• the force of the support is then exerted in a radial direction, and is thus insensitive to the longitudinal position of the top of the bead 30 against the face radial end 17b of the collar.
• the inside diameter of the bead 30 is, however, chosen so as to generate only an elastic deformation of the skirt, and so as not to create a force of unscrewing or excessive screwing.
• the upper longitudinal face 17a is connected to the end face 17b of the flange 17 by an arcuate profile, and not by a sharp angle. This, in order to facilitate the sliding of the bead 30 against these faces (17a, 17b), facilitated sliding by the profile in a semicircle of the bead, and to prevent deterioration of the bead.
• the skirt 22 of the cap also has an annular lip 34 which is elastically deformable and arranged on the inner face 24 so as to bear with the flange 17.
• this support is performed under elastic deformation of the lip 34 to obtain a continuous support on the entire periphery of the flange 17 and thus constitute a second member forming an effective barrier to external contaminants.
• the base of the lip 34 is situated in the extension of the inner face 24 of the skirt and extends, in the undeformed state, in the extension of the upper part of this face, but is shifted internally with respect to the portion of this inner face facing this lip 34 which is therefore projecting.
• the lip 34 thus has a cylindrical shape coaxial with the central axis Z.
• a peripheral recess 35 is formed in the skirt 22 opposite the lip 34 and to the outside of it.
• the lip made according to this preferred embodiment has the advantage of having a radial size, that is to say a minimum internal diameter D34 in the undeformed state, which substantially corresponds to the diameter of the inner face 24 of the plug. This inner diameter D34 is greater than the maximum outside diameter D16 of the thread 16 of the plug. Thus, it is avoided that the lip 34 is damaged by the threading 16 of the ring during assembly.
• the lip 34 comes into contact with the flange 17 at the inner side face of the lip and against the upper end of the end face 17b of the flange.
• the direction of the force exerted by this support is therefore more or less inclined with respect to a radial direction, according to the diameter and the shape of the upper part of the flange 17. It is nevertheless possible that the contact with the flange 17 is realized at the free end of the lip. In this case, it is possible to provide a particular profile for the free end of the lip 34, for example a bevelled profile to ensure correct positioning.
• the lip 34 it would be conceivable for the lip 34 to assume a substantially different configuration, and for example to be inclined towards the central axis Z, or even substantially perpendicular to this axis, and to undergo a radial deformation towards the inside when the plug reaches the closed position shown in Figure 1. Nevertheless, in such configurations, the lip would have a substantially larger radial size that could affect the positioning or screwing of the cap, or require more significant changes of the cap.
• the embodiment shown is in no way limiting.
• Other shapes and arrangements of the barrier members (30,34) are possible.

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

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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• 2006
  • 2006-04-07 FR FR0603117A patent/FR2899567B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2007
  • 2007-04-05 NZ NZ571612A patent/NZ571612A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-04-05 MX MX2008012718A patent/MX2008012718A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2007-04-05 EP EP07731255.1A patent/EP2004507B1/de not_active Not-in-force
  • 2007-04-05 US US12/296,230 patent/US8281945B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-04-05 WO PCT/FR2007/000579 patent/WO2007118995A2/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2007-04-05 JP JP2009503615A patent/JP5128579B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-04-05 CN CN2007800125857A patent/CN101415614B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-04-05 CA CA2648546A patent/CA2648546C/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related

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