Patent Application
20190161247
The present invention relates generally to a closure and particularly, although not exclusively, to a closure for carbonated soft drinks.
A known such closure 1 is shown in
In recent times efforts have been made to “lightweight” such closures so as to reduce the amount of material required for production. However, lightweighting of closures can bring with it other problems.
Due to the loss of material in lightweight design closures this gives the problem that the closure is crooked when screwed onto the neck finish. Thereby, vertical displacements appears along the seals are not similar. This deformation is also seen in the 3D model of the tomography results discussed below.
Finite element analysis and tomography have been used by the present inventors to analyse closures of the type shown in
Referring also to
The boundary conditions for the tests are shown in
One way of countering this effect is simply to add material all over the closure to increase strength and resist deformation. However, this defeats the object of lightweighting.
The present invention seeks to address the problem of cocking of known (lightweighted) closures.
According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a closure comprising a top plate and a sidewall depending therefrom, the interior of the sidewall having a screw thread formation, the formation comprising a plurality of thread segments, the thread segments collectively define an engagement surface for engagement with an external thread formation on an associated container, a notional helical top surface with a constant pitch extends along the formation, at least some, but not all, of the segments include material offset from the notional helical top surface towards the top plate.
In some embodiments top surface offset is formed by axial displacement of a segment. Alternatively or additionally top surface offset is formed by additional material along at least part of the top surface of a segment. Alternatively or additionally top surface offset is formed by one or more surface features.
The offset feature may provide additional positive effects such as: venting/degassing, free gap in between the thread contact surface of the closure versus the bottle neck; reduction in friction, reduced thread surface area of the closure versus the bottle neck; weight gain, not full offset surface coverage.
The formation may have centre line with a constant helical pitch.
The notional helical top surface may be based on a notional formation having a standard thread pitch.
The standard thread pitch may be defined by two or more thread segments positioned towards the opposite end of the sidewall to the top plate.
The notional helical top surface pitch may be defined by two or more thread segments positioned towards the opposite end of the sidewall to the top plate
In some embodiments only the final three segments (i.e. closest to the top plate) in the formation have offset top surfaces.
In some embodiments the closure has additional material on three segments; all three segments are located towards to top plate.
In some embodiments at least one of the segments has a first axial thickness and at least one of the segments has a second axial thickness which is greater than the first axial thickness and being increased in a direction towards the top plate so as to offset the top contact surface of the formation and compensate vertical displacement of the closure in use.
The or each segment having the second axial thickness may be provided only on one side of the sidewall. In other words the offset has a circumferential restriction.
The or each segment having the second axial thickness may be provided on the side of the sidewall on which the formation terminates at an axial level spaced furthest from the top plate.
The second axial thickness may be formed as an increase in height towards the top plate.
In some embodiments approximately 0.1 mm of material is added to the top contact surface of one or more thread segments.
Closures formed in accordance with aspects and embodiments of the present invention may comprising an inner seal and an outer seal.
Closures may further comprise a pressure formation, such as a pressure block.
A further aspect provides a closure comprising a top plate and a sidewall depending from the periphery thereof, the interior of the sidewall having a screw thread formation, the formation comprising a plurality of separate thread segments, at least one of the segments having a first axial thickness and at least one of the segments having a second axial thickness which is greater than the first axial thickness and being increased in a direction towards the top plate so as to offset the top contact surface of the formation and compensate vertical displacement of the closure in use.
A further aspect provides a carbonated beverage closure comprising a top plate and a sidewall depending from the periphery thereof, the sidewall has an internal screw thread, an inner and outer seal depend from the top plate, the thread comprising a plurality of mutually spaced thread segments arranged in a generally helical pattern, in which the collective top contact surface of the thread segments is non-helical whereby to prevent cocking of the closure when screwed onto a container neck in use.
A further aspect provides a closure comprising a top wall and an annular skirt depending therefrom, the interior of the skirt has a screw thread formation for threaded engagement with an external thread formation on an associated container, the formation comprising a plurality of thread segments, in which the thread segments include two or more different segment profiles, and in which the closure comprises an outer seal for sealing against a container neck, and a pressure formation for pressing the outer seal against the neck.
The thread segments may collectively define an engagement surface for engagement with an external thread formation on an associated container, and a notional helical top surface with a constant pitch may extends along the segments, and some of the segments may include material offset from the notional helical top surface towards the top plate.
The pressure formation may be a pressure block.
The pressure formation may be generally annular.
The pressure formation may be segmented. Alternatively the pressure formation may be continuous.
The pressure formation may be formed on the skirt i.e. projecting radially inwards from the skirt.
In some embodiments the pressure formation is formed at the intersection between the top plate and the skirt.
The skirt may include at least one axially extending vent channel, with the formation interrupted to form the channel.
In some aspects and embodiments the closure is formed in accordance with a principle of a helical offset feature.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a closure comprising a top plate and a sidewall depending from the periphery thereof, the interior of the sidewall having a screw thread formation, the formation comprising a plurality of separate thread segments, at least one of the segments having a first axial thickness and at least one of the segments having a second axial thickness which is greater than the first axial thickness and being increased in a direction towards the top plate so as to offset the top contact surface of the formation and compensate vertical displacement of the closure in use.
In some embodiments there present invention provides a carbonated soft drink light closure, wherein one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight or nine thread segments exhibit a bigger thickness compared to the other thread segments. This can be used to improve and guarantee a better fit of the sealing features at elevated temperatures.
By adding a bit of material to the upper threads this disbalance is compensated.
The or each segment having the second axial thickness may be provided only on one side of the sidewall.
The or each segment having the second axial thickness may be provided on the side of the sidewall, or in that circumferential section of the sidewall, on which the helical screw thread formation path terminates at an axial level spaced furthest from the top plate.
The second axial thickness may be formed as an increase in height towards the top plate.
In some embodiments 0.01 to 0.3 mm, preferably approximately 0.1 mm, of material is added to the top contact surface of one or more thread segments.
The closure may comprise an inner seal and an outer seal and may further comprise a pressure block.
In some embodiments the present invention is based on a principle of deliberately off-setting the top contact surface of the thread versus the standard thread pitch in order to reduce the degree of cocking observed on a closure exposed to elevated temperatures and high pressure.
On some containers there is a portion of the neck finish where only one thread is available for the closure to engage. This increases the contact pressure in this closure thread segment and through material relaxation allows the closure to cock. By off-setting the closure in the initial phase the amount of coking can be reduced to provide a better fit of sealing features at elevated temperature.
Some aspects and embodiments of the present invention relate to a beverage screw cap.
The present invention also provides a lightweight carbonated soft drinks closure comprising a top plate and a sidewall depending from the periphery thereof, the sidewall has an internal screw thread, the thread comprising a plurality of mutually spaced thread segments arranged in a helical pattern, in which the top contact surface of the thread is offset whereby to prevent cocking of the closure when screwed onto a container neck in use.
The present invention also provides a closure as described herein in combination with a container.
Different aspects and embodiments of the invention may be used separately or together.
Further particular and preferred aspects of the present invention are set out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. Features of the dependent claims may be combined with the features of the independent claims as appropriate, and in combinations other than those explicitly set out in the claims.
The present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The example embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to embody and implement the systems and processes herein described. It is important to understand that embodiments can be provided in many alternative forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein.
Accordingly, while embodiments can be modified in various ways and take on various alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and described in detail below as examples. There is no intent to limit to the particular forms disclosed. On the contrary, all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims should be included. Elements of the example embodiments are consistently denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings and detailed description where appropriate.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein are to be interpreted as is customary in the art. It will be further understood that terms in common usage should also be interpreted as is customary in the relevant art and not in an idealised or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In the following description, all orientational terms, such as upper, lower, radially and axially, are used in relation to the drawings and should not be interpreted as limiting on the invention.
In the closure 601
The same effect as with adding material onto a thread segment to provide material extending beyond the notional helical top surface line can also be achieved via some additional bars, ramps, dots etc: see
In
In
In
Alternatively or additionally, the additional material could be in the form of a wave etc. (not shown). Furthermore, individual threads (in some embodiments only the three top threads are of highest relevance) can be shifted upwards towards the top plate; this would result in thread segments with top contact surfaces above the notional helical line, and also a non-helical centreline e.g. some segments (principally at or towards the end of the thread formation (closest to the top plate) would be above a notional centreline define by a majority of the thread segments (particularly those at the start of the thread formation).
Having the new offset feature (bars etc.) can also have the beneficial effects of: 1) providing secondary venting (additionally venting channels); 2) minimize friction since the thread does not have full contact with the neck; 3) further weight saving, since the amount used for the bumps/bars is less than putting additional material onto the whole thread segment.
The pressure block functions to centre the closure onto the neck, thereby vertical movement is further reduced.
In
In
In
Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail herein, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown and that various changes and modifications can be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1613126.0 | Jul 2016 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2017/069337 | 7/31/2017 | WO | 00 |
