Patent Application
20190185229
This document describes a closure for a container of pourable liquid wherein the closure includes a manually operable vent which, prior to being put into service by the user, requires no holes in the closure deck. Putting the vent into service involves punching out a well-defined frangible area in the deck surface, thereby providing evidence of tampering if done prior to intended use. The vent can be closed by rotating a circular cover having a detent position locator.
It is well understood that pouring liquids from unvented containers through spouts can result in a “glug” reaction whereby air is ingested into the container to replace the volume previously occupied by the liquid being poured. To eliminate the “glug” reaction, vents have been provided in various ways. One such vent structure involves the use of a removable plug that fits into a pre-formed hole in the closure deck and is removed by the user when ready to pour liquid from the container. Another vent is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,489 to Giarrante wherein a vent cap includes a bearing pin fitted into a pre-formed hole in the deck of the container closure to allow rotation of the cap. Another preformed hole provides the vent function when the cap is rotated to an “open” position. We have found that vent structures that require pre-formed holes in the closure deck tend to compromise the integrity of the container and its contents and often result in the inadvertent loss or leakage of liquid from containers during, for example, shipment. Moreover, they do not provide a tamper-evident function.
We provide a manually operable vent structure for a closure for a container of pourable liquids which vent structure provides an anti-glug feature but does not compromise the integrity of the closure by requiring the formation of holes in the closure deck. In addition, we provide a tamper-evident feature that tells the end user if the container has been opened prior to planned use.
According to our invention, a molded-in vent location in the closure deck has a recessed punch-out area with a partial frangible border. The vent further includes a rotatable vent cap that snaps into a molded retainer/rotation bearing in the deck. A radially offset hole in the cap can be aligned with the punch-out area to open the vent, after the punch-out section is partially removed. The hole in the cap is aligned with the punch-out area initially for the purpose of allowing the punch-out area to be partially separated from the deck without falling into the container or into the liquid stored therein, while at the same time fully opening a hole in the vent deck. The cover or cap can thereafter be rotated to an angular position wherein a detent structure protrudingly formed in the bottom surface of the cap fits into the recessed knock-out vent hole to provide a resilient detent force tending to hold the cap in a fully closed and sealed position.
For ease of operation we provide a raised diametric rib on the cap which is easily grasped and manipulated by the user's fingers.
All of the above is provided in a fully imperforate deck structure which is to say that neither the mounting of the cap, nor the definition of the vent area prior to the punch-out operation involves the formation of a hole in the deck structure. Thus, the integrity of the contents of the container is fully preserved against leakage from the vent prior to opening the vent and partially separating the knock-out area. At the same time, a tamper-evident feature is provided by the frangible punch-out vent location.
All of the features and advantages described above as well other features and advantages hereinafter described will be apparent from the following description which is to be taken with accompanying drawings hereinafter briefly described.
The drawings are to scale.
Referring now to
In accordance with the invention described herein the closure 12 is provided with a peripheral structure P including a skirt 17 which “locks” onto the rim of the container 10 in a known fashion. The closure further includes a generally flat center deck 16 which in this instance is provided with a pull-up pour spout 18 and a vent structure 20 providing an anti-glug function as well as a tamper evident function as hereinafter described in detail.
The spout 18 may be of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,533,796 B2 issued Jan. 3, 2017 to John R. Selina and Randall J. Corbett both of whom have assigned their interests in the patent to Letica Corporation. The full disclosure of the aforesaid Selina/Corbett patent is incorporated hereby reference as if set forth in full. Other spout structures can also be used.
Referring now to
As hereinafter described in greater detail the vent structure can be opened and closed according to the wishes of the end user, must be “activated” or put into service by a punch-out operation hereinafter described and, as a result of the punch-out feature, provides tamper evidence as will be apparent from the following description.
Referring now to particularly
Offset from the center of the recess 24 is a molded in area 28 having a partially circular border area 30 which is deep enough to provide a frangible operation whereby approximately 80% to 90% of the circular area 28 can be punched-out with the use of a screwdriver, punch or other tool. However, the recessed groove 30 only extents about 80% to 90% of the way around the punch-out area 28 as shown by the less deep grooved area 32 which acts as a hinge to prevent the plug area 28 from falling into the container contents after it is activated by the user as described above.
The rotatable vent cover is molded to provide a raised grip 44 to facilitate rotation thereof between a first position in which a circular detent plug 38 on the bottom of cover 34 fits into the area around and over the knock-out plug area 28 to seal the vent hole which is provided by knocking the plug out as shown by the phantom line in
A hole 40 is formed in the cap as best shown in
As shown in
In operation, the closure is injection molded of HDPE material and the spout structure 18 is installed in accordance with the teachings in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 9,533,796. That spout is installed in a flush condition with deck 16 for shipment but can be activated manually by pulling up on a handle structure surrounding the spout and opened to permit the contents of the container to be poured out. Also in the molding of the closure combination the deck structure 16 is completely imperforate in the area of the vent; i.e., there are no holes pre-formed in the deck structure to provide either the vent opening or to provide for the joining of the rotatable cover 34 to the vent area for later operation. Instead, the closure is molded so as to have the retainer 26 and a punch-out vent hole area, both of which are integral with deck 16. The vent cover 34 is snapped into place by inserting the bearing 36 into the retainer undercut 26 and the cap or cover 34 is rotated to the closed position which maybe indicated by molded in indicia in the top of the cap as shown in
When it comes time to use the spout to pour liquid from the container, the cover 34 is rotated to the open position wherein the hole 40 is aligned with the knock-out plug area 28. A punch or screwdriver or other suitable tool is used to partially separate the frangible plug 28 from the surrounding deck area, the hinge 32 operating to prevent the entirety of the plug from falling into the liquid within the container while at the same time fully opening the vent hole. Because the cap has already been placed in the open position, the vent is now fully operable and liquid may be poured from the container 10 with no “glug” reaction.
When the pouring function is finished the cover 34 is rotated back to the closed condition wherein the detent plug 38 fits into the vent hole 42 immediately above the plug area so as to provide a primary detent function along with the secondary detent function provided by the nib 48 and one of the holes 50, 52. In this position the vent is fully closed and sealed but is easily reopened for further and additional pouring operations. Moreover, the grip rib 44 no longer reaches to the external feature 46, telling the user the vent is closed.
It is all be understood that the invention has been described with respect to a specific and illustrative embodiment thereof and that various aspects including dimensions and other configurations are subject to modification without loss of the overall intended functions of providing a tamper evident feature, a vent structure requiring no holes or perforations in the deck lid in the area of the vent and which provides simple operation both to open the vent for pouring and reclosing the vent through rotational manipulation of the vent cover 34 using the grip feature 44. While a 180° rotation between open and closed conditions is preferred, other rotation angles can also be used. Similarly, the detent can be locked, for example, on the periphery of the cover 34, rather than on the bottom.
