Patent Grant
12139393
This application claims the priority of DE 102022106845.5 filed on 2022 Mar. 23; this application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The invention relates to an arrangement with a container and a tamper-evident safeguard.
Such containers are generally used for storing storage media, particularly liquids. The container generally has a container opening via which the storage media can be removed from the container or supplied to it. The container opening can be closed with a closure means and secured against unauthorized access with a tamper-evident safeguard.
In particular, such arrangements with containers can be part of a removal system.
Such a removal system is known from EP 0 977 702 B1. This removal system is used for filling and draining containers, particularly barrels filled with liquid chemicals. The containers have, respectively, an immersion pipe via which liquids stored in the container can be removed and via which liquids can be supplied to the container. The removal system has a removal head that is connected to the immersion pipe of the respective container.
Liquid is then removed from the container via the removal head, or, as the case may be, supplied to it. For this purpose, a pump is connected via the removal head in order to remove or supply fluid.
The fluids stored in the containers are typically special chemicals in liquid form.
On the one hand, a high degree of purity is required of these special chemicals, i.e., contaminants must be kept away from these chemicals. On the other hand, these special chemicals can be hazardous substances, such that for this reason alone, uncontrolled leakage of liquid must be prevented.
These requirements also apply particularly when transporting the containers. The removal head is taken off after filling or draining a container. The container is then closed with a closure. To protect against tampering, a tamper-evident safeguard with a security seal is then arranged on the immersion pipe that has been closed with the closure.
Known tamper-evident safeguards have two half-shells that can be folded against one another, which are fitted onto the immersion pipe and then folded together and connected by a security seal. The container can therefore only be opened by breaking open the security seal, which then allows to determine whether the container has been opened without authorization.
Such a tamper-evident safeguard is disadvantageous in that it projects far beyond the top of the immersion pipe. Therefore, the tamper-evident safeguard can easily be ripped off when handling the containers, particularly when stacking the containers. It is additionally disadvantageous that when opening the tamper-evident safeguard and breaking open the security seal, their individual parts can fall out and, in contact with the liquid, end up in a container or in its environment.
The invention relates to an arrangement with a container (3) having a container opening via which a storage medium (3) can be supplied to or removed from the container (3). The container opening can be sealed with a closure means and secured with a tamper-evident safeguard (9). The tamper-evident safeguard (9) has a safeguard body (10) with a lower part (13), and an upper part (12) that is displaceably mounted on the lower part (13), and a security seal (11). The latter is mounted on the safeguard body (10) fastened to the immersion pipe (4). When the tamper-evident safeguard (9) is released, there is relative movement between the upper part (12) and the lower part (13), by which a segment of the security seal (11) is separated and is guided into a receiving chamber (21) of the lower part (13).
The invention seeks to solve the problem by providing improved protection against tampering for containers of the type mentioned at the outset.
The features of claim 1 are provided to solve this problem. Advantageous embodiments and useful further developments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.
The invention relates to an arrangement with a container with a container opening via which a storage medium can be supplied to the container or can be removed from the container. The container opening can be closed with a closure means and secured with a tamper-evident safeguard. The tamper-evident safeguard has a safeguard body with a lower part, and an upper part that is displaceably mounted on the lower part, and a security seal. The latter is mounted on the safeguard body fastened to the immersion pipe. When the tamper-evident safeguard is released, there is relative movement between the upper part and the lower part, whereby a segment of the security seal is separated and is guided into a receiving chamber of the lower part.
According to a first variant of the invention, an immersion pipe is mounted inside the container, to which tube a removal head of a removal system can be connected. To supply or remove a liquid constituting the storage medium to or from the container, the immersion pipe can be closed and can be secured with a tamper-evident safeguard when the removal head is taken off.
The container according to the invention therefore has an immersion pipe to which a removal head of a removal system can be connected to supply liquid to the container or remove liquid from it.
The container forms a transportable unit. To protect against tampering, the container is closed and secured with a tamper-evident safeguard. According to the invention, the tamper-evident safeguard according to the invention [sic] has a closure body with a lower part that is used for fastening to the immersion pipe, and an upper part that is displaceably mounted relative to the lower part. The upper part and the lower part of the closure body can be connected to a security seal to secure against tampering.
According to the invention, the tamper-evident safeguard is implemented such that to open the tamper-evident safeguard, the upper part necessarily performs a relative motion relative to the lower part such that the security seal is destroyed, i.e., is broken open. Protection against tampering is provided in this manner, since the broken open security seal allows one to immediately detect that the tamper-evident safeguard was opened particularly without authorization, and an attempt was made to access the container without authorization.
According to the invention, a receiving chamber is provided in the lower part of the safeguard body. When the tamper-evident safeguard is removed, a segment of the security seal, due to the relative motion between the upper part and the lower part, is separated and caught in the receiving chamber. This prevents the segment of the security seal from falling off in an uncontrolled manner, particularly preventing undesired contact between the segment and the liquid of a container, whereby the functionality of the tamper-evident safeguard, and therefore, that of the container secured with the tamper-evident safeguard, is enhanced.
Advantageously, the security seal has an upper segment and a lower segment, wherein when the tamper-evident safeguard is fastened to the immersion pipe, the upper segment of the security seal is mounted within a seating of the upper part, and the lower segment of the security seal projects into the region of the receiving chamber.
When the security seal is mounted on the safeguard body and an attempt is made to open this tamper-evident safeguard, then, due to the relative motion between the upper part and the lower part, the lower segment of the security seal is separated and caught in the receiving chamber. The upper segment remains in the seating, such that an uncontrolled escape of the upper segment of the security seal does not occur.
Advantageously, the seating is formed by a depression on the top of the upper part.
The edge of the upper segment of the security seal tightly abuts the edge of the upper part delimiting the depression.
The upper segment of the security seal is therefore adequately positionally secured in the seating, such that the upper segment remains on the upper part when the security seal is destroyed.
Advantageously, during the relative motion of the upper part relative to the lower part, the lower segment is guided against a mechanical separation means and, in the process, is separated from the upper segment.
Expediently, the mechanical separation means is formed by a stop projecting into the receiving chamber.
The stop is formed particularly by a crosspiece in the lower part.
From a design perspective, this ensures at once a very simple and reliable separation of the lower segment of the security seal when a relative movement of the upper part relative to the lower part occurs.
According to an advantageous embodiment, an outlet opening is provided on the jacket surface of the lower part via which outlet opening the separated lower segment of the security seal can be guided out, the receiving chamber, when the upper part is in guided-out positions relative to the lower part, opening out at the outlet opening. In blocked positions, a blocking segment on the bottom of the upper part blocks the outlet opening.
Once the safeguard body has been removed from the immersion pipe, a separated lower segment of the security seal can thus be guided out via the outlet opening by rotating the upper part into a guiding-out position, and disposed of in a controlled manner.
According to a first variant, the immersion pipe can be closed off with a closure. The tamper-evident safeguard can be attached to the immersion pipe that has been sealed with the closure.
The closure and the tamper-evident safeguard then form separate units.
According to another variant, the tamper-evident safeguard forms a closure means for the immersion pipe.
The tamper-evident safeguard therefore fulfills not only the function of safeguarding against tampering, but at the same time also forms the closure for the immersion pipe, such that in this case, there is no need for a separate closure for the immersion pipe.
Advantageously, the lower part of the safeguard body has fixing means for fixing to the immersion pipe.
These fixing means are adapted to fastening means on the immersion pipe that are also used to fasten the removal head.
If the removal head is fastened by axial displacement to constitute a form-locked or force-locked connection between the removal head and immersion pipe, the tamper-evident safeguard is advantageously fixed to the immersion pipe in the same manner.
According to another variant, the removal head is screwed onto the immersion pipe. Then, the tamper-evident safeguard is expediently screwed onto the immersion pipe. Fastening means for this purpose are formed by an outer thread.
The safeguard body can then be screwed by the outer thread on the lower part onto an inner thread of the immersion pipe, which inner thread advantageously also serves for fixing the removal head.
The upper part of the safeguard body is adapted to be rotatably mounted on the lower part.
The upper part and the lower part are arranged coaxially along a shared axis of symmetry running in the axial direction, wherein the upper and the lower part are essentially rotationally symmetrical to this axis of symmetry. This axis of symmetry also forms the axis of rotation about which the upper part can be rotated relative to the lower part. This rotation occurs necessarily when the tamper-evident safeguard is to be screwed off of the immersion pipe, by which the security seal is necessarily destroyed, by which a reliable safeguard against tampering is obtained.
According to an embodiment that is advantageous from a design perspective, the upper part is constituted as circular disk-shaped, the peripheral regions of which lie against the upper edge of the immersion pipe when the tamper-evident safeguard is fastened on the immersion pipe.
It is advantageous that the lower part is a rotationally-symmetrical hollow body, on the top of which the receiving chamber opens out, and that the upper part mounted on the lower part projects in the radial direction with its peripheral region over the jacket surface of the lower part.
Therefore, in the case of a tamper-evident safeguard fitted on the immersion tube, only the flat-profiled upper part projects over the upper edge of the immersion pipe. This is advantageous, therefore, since the tamper-evident safeguard is not disturbed during handling of a container and there is no risk of it being ripped off of the container.
According to a second variant of the invention, the closure means can be fixed inside the container opening of the container. The tamper-evident safeguard is part of the closure means.
Hazardous substances, e.g., special chemicals, which are preferably in liquid form, can be stored in the container.
The container can be designed particularly in the shape of a barrel.
Advantageously, the closure means have a closure body that can be fixed inside the container opening. The closure body has a central seating that penetrates the closure body in the axial direction, and the tamper-evident safeguard can be mounted inside the central seating.
The safeguard body forming the tamper-evident safeguard therefore is a component of the closure means.
In principle, the closure means can be fixed inside the container opening by means of a displacement movement. Accordingly, the safeguard body can then be secured inside the closure body by means of a displacement movement.
Especially advantageously, the closure body can be fixed to the container opening by means of a screw connection.
According to an embodiment that is advantageous from a design perspective, a hollow cylindrical lug projecting from the top of the container is provided and has an outer thread that delimits the container opening. The closure body can be fixed to the lug.
For this purpose, the closure body has a hollow cylindrical side wall. On the inner side thereof, an inner thread is provided that can be screwed onto the outer thread of the container.
Corresponding to the screw connection between the container opening and the closure body, an outer thread is provided on the outer side of the lower part of the safeguard body, and the outer thread can be screwed into an inner thread of the closure body, that delimits the seating.
Advantageously, when a safeguard body is mounted in the borehole of the closure body, the upper part of the safeguard body is exposed on the top of the closure body.
An outer thread is provided on the outer side of the lower part of the safeguard body, and the outer thread can be screwed into an inner thread of the closure body, that delimits the seating.
A completely leakproof, gas-tight connection between the closure body and safeguard body can then be effected thereon in a simple manner, such that a seal is provided on the bottom of the peripheral region of the upper part, and the seal seals the juncture to the closure body.
Advantageously, the seal is formed by a circumferential sealing ring running in the circumferential direction of the safeguard body.
According to an advantageous embodiment, seatings to which an actuation means can be mounted in such a manner that rotation is prevented are provided on the top of the upper part of the safeguard body.
In the event that the container is a barrel, the actuation means is advantageously constituted as a bung wrench.
The actuation means or the bung wrench serves to close or open the container opening by means of the closure means.
To open the container opening, the functioning is then such that when the actuation means is actuated, first the upper part is rotated against the lower part of the safeguard body, by which the lower segment of the security seal is separated. When the actuation means is further actuated, the closure means is screwed out of the container opening.
The closure means of the tamper-evident safeguard is thereby secured against tampering.
The invention is explained in the following with reference to the drawings. They show:
The container 3 has an immersion pipe 4. The immersion pipe 4 is mounted inside a bung head 5 which sits in a container opening of the container 3, and is thus securely connected to the container 3. The longitudinal axis of the immersion pipe 4 runs in the vertical direction.
The removal head 2 is used for removing liquids from the container 3. The removal head 2 can also be used for filling containers 3. For this purpose, the removal head 2 has a connection for liquids 2a at its upper end. A line 6 that leads to a pump 7 is connected to this connection for liquids 2a. The line 6 can be constituted in the form of a hose.
The pump 7 is controlled by a control unit (not shown).
The container 3 forms a transportable unit. The immersion pipe 4 is secured as shown in
A tamper-evident safeguard is applied to the thus sealed immersion pipe 4 (
The security seal 11 has a rotationally symmetrical, essentially mushroom-shaped geometry. The security seal 11 has a circular-disk-shaped upper segment 11a and a lower segment 11b adjacent thereto. The diameter of the upper segment 11a is significantly greater than the diameter of the lower segment 11b.
The safeguard body 10 consists of an upper part 12 forming a cover part and a lower part 13 forming a base part, and both have a rotationally symmetrical contour.
The upper part 12 is essentially in the shape of a circular disk from the bottom of which projects a lug 14 with latching means 14a. The lug 14 can be latched into an arrangement of the lower part 13. The safeguard body 10 is thus assembled. The lug 14 forms a rotary mount, such that the upper part 12 can be rotated about an axis of rotation running in an axial direction of rotation of the safeguard body 10 relative to the lower part 13.
Furthermore, a blocking segment 16 that extends over an angle range of the upper part 12 projects from the bottom of the upper part 12.
There is an outer thread 17 on the outer side of the lower part 13, with which the safeguard body 10 can be screwed into the immersion pipe 4. The recess 18 on the bottom of the lower part 13 is used to receive the closure 8 of the immersion pipe 4.
The upper part 12 of the safeguard body 10 has a borehole 19 into which the lower segment 11b of the security seal 11 can be inserted. The borehole 19 lies inside a depression 20 on the top of the upper part 12, which forms a seating for the upper segment of the security seal 11. The upper segment 11a is mounted in the depression 20 with little play (
Crosspieces 22 provided on the lower part project into this receiving chamber 21.
An outlet opening 23 is provided on the jacket surface of the lower part 13 (
To secure the container 3 for transport 4, the closure 8 is attached to the immersion pipe 4 (
When the tamper-evident safeguard 9 is attached to the immersion pipe 4, the upper part 12 of the safeguard body 10 lies against the upper edge of the head part 4a of the immersion pipe 4, while the lower part 13 of the safeguard body 10 lies completely inside the head part 4a of the immersion pipe 4 (
To open the container 3, the safeguard body 10 must first be screwed off of the head part 4a of the immersion pipe 4. To do so, an operator turns the upper part 12 of the safeguard body 10 in the opening direction. Since the upper part 12 is rotatably mounted on the lower part 13, at first only the upper part 12 is rotated until the lower segment 11b of the security seal 11 abuts one of the crosspieces 22 (
If the upper part 12 is rotated farther, the lower segment 11b is separated on the edge of the crosspiece 22, i.e., the crosspiece 22 forms a mechanical separation means with a tear-off edge.
The closure means 27 has a closure body 28 in the form of a cap. There is an inner thread 29 on the inner side of the cylindrical side wall of the closure body 28, with which the closure body 28 can be screwed onto the lug 25.
The closure body 28 has a central hollow cylindrical seating 30 running in the axial direction, in which the safeguard body 10 forming the tamper-evident safeguard is mounted.
The safeguard body 10 has a structure that essentially corresponds to the safeguard body 10 in
The edge of the upper part 12 projecting beyond the lower part 13 in the axial direction lies against the closure body 28. A sealing ring 33 runs along the lower part of an edge of the upper part 12 in the circumferential direction of the edge, and seals to gas-tightness the juncture between the safeguard body 10 and the closure body 28.
Corresponding to the safeguard body 10 of
The lower segment 11b of the security seal 11 projects through an opening in the upper part 12 into a receiving chamber 21 which is open on the top of the lower part 13 facing the upper part 12. In a manner analogous to the embodiment of
In other respects, too, the structure of the safeguard body 10 of
As is evident from
These notches 34 form seatings for fixing an actuation means in the form of a bung wrench 35 (
When the bung wrench 35 is fixed to the safeguard body 10, the closure means 27 can be fixed in, or released from, the container opening by turning the bung wrench 35.
Once the closure means 27 is fixed to the container opening, it is protected against tampering by the safeguard body 10 forming the tamper-evident safeguard. If the closure means 27 is opened by rotating the bunch wrench fixed to the safeguard body 10, first the upper part 12 rotates relative to the lower part 13 of the safeguard body 10, by which the lower segment 11b of the security seal 11 is separated from the upper segment 11a of the safety seal 11 and is received in the receiving chamber 21, in a manner corresponding to
After screwing off the closure means 27, the safeguard body 10 can be screwed off about the closure body 28 in a manner corresponding to the embodiments of
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102022106845.5 | Mar 2022 | DE | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4711372 | Gach | Dec 1987 | A |
| 5884788 | Wilde | Mar 1999 | A |
| 20080047976 | Scheer | Feb 2008 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 0977702 | Oct 2001 | EP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20230303385 A1 | Sep 2023 | US |
