Patent Application
20090139954
The invention relates to a container closure having an improved detachable tamper-evident band and particularly a closure having a band featuring a frustoconical annular retaining member suitable for engaging the locking ring of an associated container.
Maintaining and ensuring the proper sealing of container and closure combinations are important considerations for many different kinds of packaged products, such as food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. A compromised seal can result in the introduction of atmospheric and other forms of contamination into the container. Contaminants introduced through a compromised seal can be detrimental to the vitality of the container contents, reduce shelf-life, and may pose significant health risk when the contents are intended for human consumption. A compromised seal, however, can be difficult to detect by consumers and individuals handling packaged goods.
Tamper-indicating or tamper-evident closures have been common-place in consumer markets. Typically, a threaded container includes a locking ring, or like annular projection extending from the container finish, adjacent to and below the container threaded portion. The closure includes a cap and a depending tamper-indicating band that separates from the cap upon initial removal of the closure from the container.
Consumers will readily recognize that such closures are used for sealing containers of all types, including milk containers, juice containers, soft drink containers and the like. Those skilled in the art will recognize that such containers can have various sizes of openings and thus various sizes of closure caps. The container opening sizes may be dependent upon, in part, the liquid stored in the container. For example, some types of liquid foods may be best packaged in a container that has a relatively small dispensing opening that provides for directed pouring, while others liquids, such as milk, juice and the like, that are consumed directly from the container may be best packaged in containers having a relatively large dispensing opening.
A typical closure that is fitted to the container includes a plastic closure cap having a circular top wall portion and a depending annular skirt portion. The skirt portion has an internal thread configured to threadedly engage the container thread. Tamper indication is provided by a separable band that extends and depends from the skirt portion. The band engages the locking ring and separates from the skirt portion as the closure is removed from the container.
Known types of tamper-indicating bands include bridge-like connectors that extend between the skirt portion and the band. The connectors are designed and formed to break as the closure is initially removed from the container. Exemplary of such a closure is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,972 to Zemlo, which patent is commonly assigned herewith, and is incorporated herein by reference.
The connectors that extend between the cap and the separable band are typically formed as either discretely formed frangible elements, or they are formed by the area that remains after the closure is scored to form a weakened region. The discretely formed elements generally can have a constant cross-sectional area and a constant thickness. These elements can also be tapered to force breakage at a desired point. Thus, breakage of the connector can occur anywhere along the length of the connector.
The score-formed connectors do not include discretely formed elements. Rather, the closure is molded with the separable band integral with the cap. The closure is then scored to form the separable band at about the end of the depending skirt. The score can be made as a continuous cut line into a portion of the thickness of the skirt, or as a full or through-wall cut at discrete circumferential locations along the skirt, or a combination of the noted score types.
Although tamper-evident bands having these features are well-suited for tamper-indicating closure applications, and are in widespread use, closures utilizing known bands do have various drawbacks. In particular, closures utilizing bands with bridge-like connections generally have to have a number of connectors located in relatively close proximity to one another around the entire perimeter of the band in order to prevent the band from disengaging or unfolding from the container. As more connectors are utilized however, the connection between the skirt and the band becomes more difficult to break. In fact, often times the connection of such a closure is so strong that it fails to break when the closure is removed from the opening of the container. In these situations, the tamper-evident band does not separate from the cap portion of the closure and instead comes off with the cap. When this situation occurs, nothing is left on the container to indicate whether it has been previously opened or improperly tampered with.
Another problem with known types of tamper-evident bands occur because the connection between the band and the locking ring of the container is weak. When the connection is weak, portions of the band have been shown to bend or deform as the cap is being removed from the container. When this occurs, the band generally does not remain on the locking ring of the container and instead comes off with the remainder of the cap.
Unfortunately, closures utilizing fewer or narrower connectors around the perimeter of the tamper-evident band have had high rates of failure in that such bands bend or separate from the container. In addition, while closures featuring connectors having a particular width or spacing may be more effective when used with a particular sized container, using the same size or quantity of connectors on a closure intended for a larger or smaller container has been shown to be largely ineffective. Existing closures using bridge-like connectors thus typically have to be completely redesigned or reengineered in order to accommodate different sized container openings, and manufacturers of such closures can incur significant expense in order to design and test such closures.
There is thus a need in the art for a closure having a tamper-evident band capable of forming a strong connection around the locking ring of the container such that the portion of the band around the locking ring will not bend or deform as the cap is being removed from the container. It would further be desirable if such a band could be fastened to the skirt portion of the closure by a plurality of bridge-like connectors and be of sufficient strength to remain fastened around the locking ring when the cap is removed. By remaining securely fastened to the locking ring, the band could withstand the force applied when the cap is removed and enable the bridge-like connectors to break as intended so that the cap separates from the band. Such a novel closure would provide a means of securing the tamper-evident band on the container when the closure is removed without having to reduce the number or size of the connectors.
One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a tamper-indicating closure for use with a container having an annular locking ring located around an opening of the container. In this embodiment, the closure features a cap having a top wall portion and an annular skirt portion perpendicularly extending from the top wall. The skirt portion features a bottom rim and is suitable for engaging the container. The closure of this embodiment additionally features a continuous annular tamper-evident band affixed to the bottom rim of the skirt which is detachable from the cap. The band has a frustoconical retaining member hingedly connected to a bottom rim of the band. The retaining member can be comprised of a single continuous annular body or a plurality of discrete segments that are spaced apart from one another around the tamper-evident band. The retaining member further features and external surface having a plurality of outwardly directed ridges extending down the length of the retaining member. When the cap is fastened to a container opening, the retaining member folds up into the band such that the external surface of the retaining member is suitable for engaging the locking ring of the container.
In one embodiment, the ridges around the external surface of the retaining member define a plurality of flutes. The flutes are arranged parallel to the ridges such that each flute is formed between adjacent ridges. In one embodiment, the flutes are circumferentially spaced around the retaining member to form a scalloped formation around the exterior surface of the retaining member. The flutes and ridges located around the retaining member can be arranged in a variety of different formations around the exterior surface and can feature various quantities, sizes and shapes of flutes or ridges.
In one embodiment, the tamper-evident band of the closure can be affixed to the bottom rim of the skirt by a plurality of circumferentially spaced bridge-like connectors that are formed with the closure. The connectors are suitable for breaking when the closure is twisted or otherwise disengaged from the container. The connectors extending between the skirt and the tamper-evident band can be formed as either discretely formed frangible elements or by an area that remains after the closure is scored to form a weakened region. The connectors can have a substantially consistent cross-sectional area and a substantially consistent thickness, or can have any other shape as known in the art.
Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a tamper-evident band for use with an associated container and closure. The band features a continuous annular ring suitable for being detachably connected to a closure and has a substantially consistent radial cross-section along its circumferential length. The band further features a retaining member hingedly connected to the bottom rim of the annular ring. The retaining member can be comprised of a single continuous annular body or a plurality of discrete segments that are spaced apart from one another around the ring. The retaining member further has a frustoconical configuration and an external surface featuring a plurality of outwardly directed ridges extending down the length of the retaining member. When the closure is fastened to a container, the retaining member folds up inside the band such that the external surface of the retaining member is suitable for engaging a locking ring of the container. The tamper-evident band can be affixed to the bottom rim of the skirt by a plurality of circumferentially spaced bridge-like connectors that are integrally formed with the closure. The connectors are suitable for breaking when the closure is twisted or otherwise disengaged from the container.
An additional embodiment of the present invention is directed to a retaining member for a tamper-evident band that is suitable for use with an associated container. The retaining member can feature a continuous annular body or a plurality of discrete segments that are spaced apart from one another around the bottom of an associated tamper-evident band. The retaining member further features a frustoconical configuration that is hingedly connected to a bottom rim of the band. The retaining member additionally features an external surface featuring a plurality of outwardly directed ridges extending down the length of the retaining member. In one embodiment, the ridges can define a plurality of flutes parallel to the ridges and located around the exterior surface of the retaining member. The retaining member is suitable for being folded up inside the band such that the external surface of the annular body can engage a locking ring of the associated container.
It is a benefit of the present invention to provide a container closure having a tamper-evident band that is of sufficient strength to remain on a container after a closure or cap has been removed. It is a further benefit of the present invention to provide a tamper-evident band that is fastened to a container closure by a plurality of bridge-like connectors and be of sufficient strength to remain affixed to the locking ring of a container when the closure is removed. An additional benefit of the present invention is to provide a tamper-evident band that adequately resists the forces applied when the closure is removed from an associated container and thus enables the bridge-like connectors to break as intended so that the tamper-evident band will remain in place around the locking ring of the container.
Further benefits, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings a number of presently preferred embodiments that are discussed in greater detail hereafter. It should be understood that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated. It should be further understood that the title of this section of this application (“Detailed Description”) relates to a requirement of the United States Patent Office, and should not be found to limit the subject matter disclosed herein.
In this disclosure, the use of the disjunctive is intended to include the conjunctive. The use of the definite article or indefinite article is not intended to indicate cardinality. In particular, a reference to “the” object or “a” object is intended to denote also one of a possible plurality of such objects.
Referring now to the figures, and specifically to
As shown in
As illustrated in
The closure 10 illustrated in
As shown in
The number of ridges 29 and/or flutes 30 along the exterior surface 28 of the retaining member 24 can vary without departing from the novel scope of the present invention. Further, the ridges 29 and flutes 30 can be a variety of different sizes and shapes in order to accommodate different sized containers or containers made of different types of materials. In addition, while the ridges 29 and flutes 30 shown in
As shown in
The closure 10 can be removed from the container 32 by twisting the cap 12 in a counter-clockwise direction so that the internal threaded formation 20 of the skirt portion 16 slides out from the external threaded formation 34 of the container 32. When the closure 10 is being removed, torque is applied to the closure 10 such that it begins to move away from the locking ring 36 of the container 32. When this occurs, the retaining member 24 of the tamper-evident band 22 pushes against the interference ring 38 around the container opening. The interference ring 38 prevents the retaining member 24 from moving away from the locking ring 36 and thus acts as a stop for the tamper-evident band 22. As the cap 12 and skirt 16 portions slide off the container 32, the interference ring 38 secures the tamper-evident band 22 around the locking ring 36 and the bridge-like connectors 31 between the band 22 and the skirt 16 begin to break. As the connectors 31 break, the tamper-evident band 22 is separated from the skirt 16. When the cap and skirt are removed from the container 32, the tamper-evident band 22 remains positioned around the locking ring 36.
In an arrangement in which the container 32 and closure 10 use a snap-type securing configuration, a similar interaction between the band 22 and the interference ring 38 occurs. That is, as the closure 10 is urged upward, off of the container 12, the retaining member 24 of the band 22 contacts the interference ring 38, which obstructs upward movement of the band 22, resulting in breaking or fracturing the connectors 31.
From the foregoing it will be observed that numerous modifications and variations can be effectuated without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific embodiments illustrated is intended or should be inferred. The disclosure is intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.
