CLOSURE DEVICE

Abstract

A closure device (1) having a spout part (2) comprising a flange (3), in which a piercing means (5) cuts open a container (B) by way of driving elements (9, 10), is usually always designed with a purely screw-type closure. According to the invention, the closure device now comprises a closure that is primarily a pivot hinge closure (20), but at the same time can also be used as a combined pivot hinge closure and screw-type closure.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a closure device of plastics material for attaching onto a closed container of film material, said closure device consisting of a pouring part with a spout and a flange for fastening on the container and a cap which can be placed onto the pouring part, as well as a cylindrical puncturing means which has an external thread, is open on both sides in the axial direction and extends into an internal thread in the spout of the pouring part, wherein at least one entrainment means is present in the cap, by means of which entrainment means, prior to the first-time opening of the cap, the puncturing means can be moved downward in a helical manner, and that the cylindrical puncturing means on the cylindrical wall thereof, on the end which in the mounted state is directed to the container wall, has formed thereon at least one cutting tooth (12).

A large number of poly-tube bags are represented on the market today, the majority of which, however, are produced from multilayered films, in particular such films which have at least one layer paper, one layer plastics material and one layer aluminum. Said poly-tube bags are relatively compression-proof and are predominantly developed in a cube-shaped manner.

However, poly-tube bags which consist only of plastics material have also been on the market for some time. Such poly-tube bags are usual, in particular, as refill bags for cosmetics. Poly-tube bags which are produced from just plastics material film usually have either absolutely no closure and for removal simply part of the poly-tube bag is cut away and the contents of the poly-tube bag are emptied into a container, or alternatively there are also poly-tube bags of plastics material which have a flange with a pouring spout and attached thereon just a screw-type closure.

As, as already mentioned, said poly-tube bags have to be opened and closed only once or at any rate only a few times, in the majority of cases only screw-type closures are used.

Plastics material closures, consisting of a bottom part with a spout and a cap which is connected on the bottom part by means of a hinge, are able to be obtained on the market in any amount of variants, however their attachment on poly-tube bags is just not possible. Poly-tube bags of plastics material are highly flexible and, correspondingly, during transport and handling they are acted upon by relatively large forces which result in deformation of the poly-tube bags and increase the internal pressure in a corresponding manner. Straight hinge closures are not usually capable of withstanding said forces. Consequently, for reasons of safety, in the majority of cases to date plastics material closures are only used as straight screw-type closures on poly-tube bags.

This problem of the internal pressure which can act on the closure, does not occur during transport or handling if the container of film material is still completely closed and a closure device of the aforementioned type is attached to said closed container. Such closures, which are known, for example, from WO 2004/000667, WO 2004/083055, EP 1533240, EP 1795456 or CH 695019, have a cylindrical puncturing means which is open on both sides in the axial direction and which, by means of at least one entrainment means on the cap, moves downward axially in the opposite direction when the cap is being screwed off and at the same time cuts open the film of the bag inside the region of the spout. As soon as the film of the poly-tube bag has been cut open, the closure device acts as a simple screw-type closure. Said screw-type closures are now opened and closed multiple times during the use of the poly-tube bag. As soon as the actual opening of the poly-tube bag has been accomplished, it would consequently be desirable if the cap could act as a simple pivoting hinge closure from this moment on. However, this is not possible in the case of the closures known up to now.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is now to modify the closure device such that, after activating the puncturing means and consequently opening the poly-tube bag, said closure device is able to act as a pivoting hinge or a pivoting snap-type hinge.

A further object of the present invention is to create a closure device which, after the first-time opening and consequently the opening of the poly-tube bag, is able to be activated both as a pivoting hinge closure and is able to be moved into a secure position so as to be activatable as a screw-type closure for securement if the poly-tube bag has to be transported again once it has been opened for the first time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The single figure shows a diametrical vertical section through a preferred embodiment of the object of the invention which is explained by way of the description below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The closure device as claimed in the invention is designated overall by 1. It is attached on a film of a closed, bag-shaped container B. The attachment is preferably carried out by means of ultrasound welding, but can also be effected by means of bonding. The closure device 1 consists of a pouring part 2, a cylindrical puncturing means 5 and a pivoting hinge closure 20 as the third part.

The pouring part 2 comprises a cylindrical spout 6, on the bottom edge of which is integrally molded a flange 3 which is directed radially outward. The cylindrical part of the pouring part 2 is designated in this case as spout 6 and is connected in one piece to the mentioned flange 3. The spout 6 has an internal thread 8, in which the cylindrical puncturing means 5, which is yet to be described, is guided so as to be movable. In the simplest development, the outer surface of the spout 6 is designed without thread. A circumferential retaining collar 13 is arranged in a manner directed outward purely in the bottom region, just above the flange 3 and extending in an approximately parallel manner to said flange 3. The already mentioned internal thread 8 of the spout 6 has a rectangular, trapezium shape. The inclined edge of the trapezoid is formed so as to incline toward the top end of the spout 6 such that the puncturing means 5 cannot be screwed-in during assembly but rather can be pushed-in in a ratchet-like manner.

The cylindrical puncturing means, which essentially has the form known from the prior art, has an external thread 7, which fits together with the external thread 8 of the spout 6. The puncturing means 5 can consequently be moved downward in a helical manner in the spout 6 of the pouring part 2. The puncturing means 6 with its cylindrical wall 11 has a bottom edge which is developed overall as a cutting edge, and has at least one cutting tooth 12 which is located, prior to the first-time activation of the closure device 1, directly above the film of the container B. An entrainment means 10 is integrally molded on the inner surface of the cylindrical wall 11 of the puncturing means 5. Said entrainment means 10 consists of an elongate element which is directed inward.

A pivoting hinge closure 20 is placed on the spout 6 or onto the pouring part 2. Said pivoting hinge closure 20 is in one piece but has a bottom part 21 and a cap 24 which are connected together via a pivoting connection 22, in a preferred manner, however, connected together by means of a tightening wall strap 23, so as to be pivotally movable.

The cap 24 has a top surface 26, an entrainment means 9 being integrally molded on the bottom surface thereof which is directed inward. Said entrainment means 9 bears against a corresponding entrainment means 10 of the puncturing means 5 practically over its entire length, directed from top to bottom. The pivoting hinge closure 20 can be rotated in relation to the pouring part 2. In this case, there is no change in the axial, relative height, at least of the bottom part 21, in relation to the spout 6. The bottom part 21 has positive locking means 25, which interact with corresponding positive locking means 13 on the spout 6. In the embodiment shown here, the positive locking means on the spout 6 is the already mentioned retaining collar 13. A circumferential holding bead 25 on the bottom edge of the casing wall of the bottom part 21 engages under said retaining collar 13. In the embodiment shown here, said holding bead is formed in cross section as a nose. As a result, the pivoting hinge closure 20 can simply be placed onto the spout 6 in the assembly machine and pressed straight down, the holding bead 25 engaging under the retaining collar 13 in the end position. The pivoting hinge closure 20 can consequently be rotated in relation to the spout 6 without there being any change at the same time overall in the height of the pivoting hinge closure 20 in relation to the spout 6. During said rotational movement, if it is effected in the corresponding direction, the puncturing means 5 is put into a corresponding rotational movement by the two entrainment means 9 and 10 which are in engagement with each other. In this case, the puncturing means 5 is screwed downward and the cutting tooth 12 punctures the film of the container B which is closed per se and then opens the poly-tube bag for the first time. The puncturing means 5 is then screwed so far downward until it is engaged by means of corresponding latching means which are not shown here, the two entrainment means 9 and 10 no longer being engaged with each other in this position. The puncturing means consequently remains in its latched end position when rotated in the reverse direction after the first-time opening.

The actual cap 24 of the pivoting hinge closure 20 and the bottom part 21 of the pivoting hinge closure are, on the one hand, already secured against a relative rotation of said two parts by means of the pivot connection 22 and/or the tightening strap 23. As the torque between the cap 24 and the bottom part 21 can be relatively large if the user just introduces the rotational movement only via the cap 24, it can be sensible to mold downwardly directed lugs 14, which engage in corresponding recesses 27 in the casing wall of the bottom part 21, in an integral manner on the bottom edge of the casing wall of the cap 24. Said lugs 14 can at the same time form a guarantee element which can be torn off after the corresponding rotational movement. Instead of one lug, obviously also several such lugs 14 are conceivable which can engage in corresponding recesses 27. The lugs 14 can also be arranged in a contiguous manner on a guarantee strap.

In an embodiment preferred in this case in particular, the spout 6 can have an external thread 30 on its outer surface, said external thread being present purely in the region of the cap 24. The cap 24, in its turn, has an internal thread 28 which interacts with the external thread 30 on the spout 6.

If, during the first-time activation, the pivoting hinge closure 20, in its turn, is rotated, there is no change to the relative height between the bottom part 21 and the spout 6, whilst at the same time, however, the cap 24 carries out a relatively small upward movement. This changes the relative height between the cap 24 and the bottom part 21 and, at the same time, in this case tightens the tightening strap 23. The tightening strap 23 now changes the straight pivoting hinge closure 20 into a snap-type hinge closure. As in this position, after the first-time opening, the puncturing means 5 is in a low position, the open width of the closure device corresponding to the open width of the spout 6 is enlarged around the wall of the puncturing means 5 present beforehand in this region. As a result, and thanks to the relative displacement of the cap 24 upward, the cap 24 is now also activatable as a straight snap-type hinge cap without the entrainment means 9, which is integrally molded in a fixed manner on the top surface 26 of the cap 24, preventing the pivoting movement at the same time. In contrast to traditional closure devices of this type, the entire closure device can also be designed to be smaller. This is in particular because the cap no longer has to be completely screwed on and off unavoidably each time.

After the first-time opening, the cap 24 is then simply activated in a pivoting movement. However, it is possible, should it be necessary to reseal the container in the broken-open state, and for example to take it along in a rucksack, it is thus possible to screw on the actual pivoting cap 24 again by means of a corresponding rotational movement. The cap 24 now operates again in practice as a simple screw-type cap. If a drink is required from the container, the screwing movement has to be carried out again first of all in order to displace the cap 24 in relation to the bottom part 21, once again the tightening strap 23 being tightened and the cap 24 once again acting as a pivoting cap of a snap-type hinge closure.

Obviously, the solution with a film hinge as pivoting connection 22 is not combinable with a solution where the bottom part 21 and the cap 24 are to be displaced in relation to each other by means of the aforementioned threads 28 and 30.

Claims

1. A closure device (1) of plastics material for attaching onto a closed container (B) of film material, said closure device including a pouring part (2) with a spout (6) and a flange (3) for fastening on the container (B), and a cap (24) which can be placed onto the pouring part (2), as well as a cylindrical puncturing means (5) which has an external thread (7), is open on both sides in an axial direction, and extends into an internal thread (8) in the spout (6) of the pouring part (2), wherein at least one entrainment means (9) is present in the cap (24), by means of which entrainment means, prior to a first-time opening of the cap (24), the puncturing means (5) can be moved downward in a helical manner, and that the cylindrical puncturing means (5) on a cylindrical wall (11) thereof, on an end which in a mounted state is directed to a wall of the container, has formed thereon at least one cutting tooth (12), characterized in that a one-part pivoting hinge closure (20), which includes a bottom part (21) and the cap (24) which is integrally molded thereon via at least one pivot connection (22), is placed onto the spout (6), wherein the bottom part (21) is held so as to be rotatable and axially fixed with the spout (6) such that the pivoting hinge closure (20) overall is rotatable.

2. The closure device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the bottom part (21) and the cap (24) together correspond to a maximum height of the spout (6) and the connection between the cap (24) and the bottom part (21) is effected by means of at least one tightening strap (23) that extends therebetween.

3. The closure device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a height of the bottom part (21) is smaller than a height of the spout (6).

4. The closure device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the spout (6) and the bottom part (21) are provided with positive locking means (13, 25) which are matched to each other and are always in engagement when the bottom part (21) and the cap (24) are rotated.

5. The closure device as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the positive locking means on the bottom part (21) is a circumferential holding bead (25) and on the spout is a circumferential retaining collar (13).

6. The closure device as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the positive locking means (13, 25) on the bottom part (21) is a circumferential groove and on the spout is a circumferential retaining collar (13).

7. The closure device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least one shield-like element, which is in the form of a lug (14) and engages in a recess (27) in the bottom part (21), is integrally molded on the cap (24).

8. The closure device as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that a positive locking means, which is capable of engaging in an undercut in the recess (27), is integrally molded on the lug (14).

9. The closure device as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the lug (14) is developed as a tear-off lug, and thus forms a guarantee element.

10. The closure device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that two threads (28, 30) are arranged between the cap (24) and an outer surface of the spout (6), and the cap (24) is connected to the bottom part (21) of the pivoting hinge closure (20) by means of at least one tightening strap (23).

11. The closure device as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the thread (28, 30) is developed such that after an unscrewing movement in which the threads (28, 30) are no longer in engagement, the at least one tightening strap (23) extends in an at least approximately stretched manner.