Patent Application
20200156829
The present invention relates generally to a polymeric closure for a package. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hinged flip-top polymeric closure with tamper-evident features.
Polymeric closures have been used in many applications over the years in conjunction with containers. One type of polymeric closure that has been used with containers is a tamper-evident polymeric closure. Tamper-evident closures are used to prevent or inhibit tampering by providing a visible indication to a user if the closure has been opened. This visual indication typically divides the closure into two separate components after the tamper-evident feature has been broken.
Tamper-evident features have been used in polymeric closures that are flip-top closures. These flip-top closures typically have an upper tamper-evident feature involving a lid and a lower tamper-evident feature on a bottom of a base. Potential drawbacks of these flip-top closures include the upper tamper-evident feature being separated from the remainder of the closure and/or having a higher likelihood of being tampered with. For example, the upper tamper-evident feature may be a “pull-away” or “break-away” feature that can be separated from the remainder of the closure and thrown away. These upper tamper-evident features are external features that have a greater likelihood of being tampered with.
If the upper tamper-evident feature is separated from the remainder of the closure and into two individual components, a portion of the flip-top closure is likely not recycled with the remainder of the closure and container. This scenario raises potential environment concerns with so many containers having tamper-evident features that can be separated into two or more individual components.
It would be desirable to provide a flip-top closure that has tamper-evident features that address these above-noted environmental concerns, while still performing all of the desirable properties of a closure.
According to one embodiment, a flip-top closure includes a first closure portion and a second closure portion. The first closure portion includes a first polymeric top wall portion, a first polymeric annular skirt portion depending from the first polymeric top wall portion, and a polymeric tamper-evident feature being detachably connected to the first polymeric annular skirt portion by a first frangible connection. The second closure portion includes a second polymeric top wall portion forming an opening to gain access to the contents of a container, a second polymeric annular skirt portion and a polymeric tamper-evident band. The second polymeric annular skirt portion depends from the second polymeric top wall portion. The second polymeric annular skirt portion includes an internal thread formation for mating engagement with an external thread formation of the container. The second polymeric annular skirt portion includes an upwardly-extending locking tab. The polymeric tamper-evident band depends from and is at least partially detachably connected to the second polymeric annular skirt portion by a second frangible connection.
The first closure portion and the second closure portion are attached via a hinge. The hinge assists in moving the closure between an open position and a closed position. The closure is configured to move initially from the closed position to the open position via the hinge, resulting in the polymeric tamper-evident feature being detached from the remainder of the first closure portion and remaining adjacent to the second polymeric annular skirt portion in which the upwardly-extending locking tab assists in preventing or inhibiting the polymeric tamper-evident feature from falling off of the closure after the closure has been opened.
According to another embodiment, a package includes a container and a flip-top closure. The container has a neck portion defining an opening. The container has an external thread formation on the neck portion. The flip-top closure is configured for fitment to the neck portion of the container for closing the opening. The flip-top closure includes a first closure portion and a second closure portion. The first closure portion includes a first polymeric top wall portion, a first polymeric annular skirt portion depending from the first polymeric top wall portion, and a polymeric tamper-evident feature being detachably connected to the first polymeric annular skirt portion by a first frangible connection. The second closure portion includes a second polymeric top wall portion forming an opening to gain access to the contents of the container, a second polymeric annular skirt portion and a polymeric tamper-evident band. The second polymeric annular skirt portion depends from the second polymeric top wall portion. The second polymeric annular skirt portion includes an internal thread formation for mating engagement with an external thread formation of the container. The second polymeric annular skirt portion includes an upwardly-extending locking tab. The polymeric tamper-evident band depends from and is at least partially detachably connected to the second polymeric annular skirt portion by a second frangible connection.
The first closure portion and the second closure portion are attached via a hinge. The hinge assists in moving the closure between an open position and a closed position. During engagement with the container, the closure is configured to move initially from the closed position to the open position via the hinge, resulting in the polymeric tamper-evident feature being detached from the remainder of the first closure portion and remaining adjacent to the second polymeric annular skirt portion in which the upwardly-extending locking tab assists in preventing or inhibiting the polymeric tamper-evident feature from falling off of the closure after the closure has been opened.
According to another embodiment, a flip-top closure includes a first closure portion and a second closure portion. The first closure portion includes a first polymeric top wall portion, a first polymeric annular skirt portion depending from the first polymeric top wall portion, and a polymeric tamper-evident feature being detachably connected to the first polymeric annular skirt portion by a first frangible connection. The polymeric tamper-evident feature forms a plurality of apertures. The second closure portion includes a second polymeric top wall portion forming an opening to gain access to the contents of a container, a second polymeric annular skirt portion and a polymeric tamper-evident band. The second polymeric annular skirt portion depends from the second polymeric top wall portion. The second polymeric annular skirt portion includes an internal thread formation for mating engagement with an external thread formation of the container. The second polymeric annular skirt portion includes an upwardly-extending locking tab and a plurality of retaining tabs to assist in preventing or inhibiting the tamper-evident feature from separating from the closure after the closure has been moved to an open position. The polymeric tamper-evident band depends from and is at least partially detachably connected to the second polymeric annular skirt portion by a second frangible connection. The plurality of apertures is sized to correspond with a respective one of the plurality of retaining tabs.
The first closure portion and the second closure portion are attached via a hinge. The hinge assists in moving the closure between an open position and a closed position. The closure is configured to move initially from the closed position to the open position via the hinge, resulting in the polymeric tamper-evident feature being detached from the remainder of the first closure portion and remaining adjacent to the second polymeric annular skirt portion in which the upwardly-extending locking tab assists in preventing or inhibiting the polymeric tamper-evident feature from falling off of the closure after the closure has been opened.
The above summary is not intended to represent each embodiment or every aspect of the present invention. Additional features and benefits of the present invention are apparent from the detailed description and figures set forth below.
Other advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Referring still to
The first closure portion 12 includes a polymeric top wall portion 22, a polymeric annular skirt portion 24 and a polymeric tamper-evident feature 26. As shown in
As shown in, for example,
In another embodiment, the flip-top closure may include other sealing mechanisms. For example, the closure may include a polymeric lining material that provides a seal to the closure. This would be a two-piece closure. In this embodiment, the closure would be formed from separate components, but would function as the one-piece closure discussed except with a different sealing mechanism. In another embodiment, the closure may include either a polymeric outer seal or a continuous plug seal. It is contemplated that the flip-top closure may include other sealing mechanisms.
As shown in, for example,
The polymeric tamper-evident feature 26 of
Referring to
Referring to
The polymeric annular skirt portion includes an internal thread formation for mating engagement with an external thread formation of a container. Specifically, the polymeric annular skirt portion 44 of
It is contemplated that the first and second closure leads may be discontinuous. It is also contemplated that the internal thread formation of the closure may differ from a helical thread formation. It is also contemplated that other internal thread formations may be used in the closure. For example, the internal thread formation may include a triple-threaded structure having first, second and third closure leads.
The polymeric annular skirt portion of the second closure portion includes at least one retaining tab in one embodiment. The at least one retaining tab assists in preventing or inhibiting the tamper-evident feature from separating from the closure after the closure has been moved to an open position. In one embodiment, the at least one retaining tab may be an interference fit with the tamper-evident feature. An interference fit will assist in retaining the tamper-evident feature from separating from the closure after the closure has been moved to an open position.
For example, the polymeric annular skirt portion 44 of the flip-top closure 10 includes a plurality of retaining tabs 50a, 50b. The plurality of the retaining tabs 50a, 50b assists in preventing or inhibiting the tamper-evident feature 26 from falling off or separating from the closure 10 after the closure 10 has been moved to an open position (see, e.g.,
The polymeric annular skirt portion 44 further includes an upwardly-extending locking tab 52. The upwardly-extending locking tab 52 is shown in
Referring to
The contoured interior surface 52c assists in reducing an abrupt change in direction while applying and positioning the tamper-evident feature 26 during manufacturing. This reduces additional forces on the first frangible connection 30 that may cause the first frangible connection 30 to break prematurely during manufacturing. Thus, this shape of the interior surface 52c assists in reducing the stress on the first frangible connection 30 during the closing of the closure during manufacturing.
It is contemplated that the interior surface of the upwardly-extending locking tab may be of other shapes that would assist in guiding the end of the annular skirt portion during the initial closing process performed in the manufacturing.
In another embodiment, the interior surface of the upwardly-extending locking tab may include at least a portion being a chamfered surface. In this embodiment, it is desirable for the interior surface of the upwardly-extending locking tab to be substantially or entirely a chamfered surface. The chamfered surface is typically at an angle of about 40 to about 80 degrees and, more specifically, from about 50 to about 75 degrees. This is taken from a perspective where a vertical surface would be 90 degrees.
Referring back to
The polymeric tamper-evident band 46 of the closure 10 is located at the bottom thereof (i.e., an end opposite of the polymeric top wall portion 22). The tamper-evident band 46 depends from and is at least partially detachably connected to the annular skirt portion 44 by the second frangible connection 48. As viewed in
The first closure portion 12 and the second closure portion 14 are attached by the hinge 16. The hinge 16 assists in moving the closure 10 between an open position and a closed position. The hinge 16 is shown in
The first and second frangible connections 30, 48 may be formed by molded-in-bridges in one embodiment. The molded-in-bridges are typically formed using a feature in the mold. In another embodiment, the first and second frangible connections may be formed using scoring or scored lines, notches, leaders, nicks or other lines of weaknesses.
One non-limiting example of a flip-top closure and a container forming a package is shown and discussed in conjunction with
The closure of the present invention may be used with a container 108 used to form a package 100 of
The first finish lead 162 begins near the open end of the container 108 and extends in a helical fashion to a second position that is closer to the closed end of the container. Similarly, the second finish lead 164 starts closer to the open end of the container 108 and extends in a helical fashion to a second position that is closer to the closed end of the container. Each of the first and second finish leads 162, 164 is continuous. The first positions of the first and second finish leads 162, 164 are located roughly 180 degrees apart from each other and, thus, begin on opposing sides of the neck portion 102 of the container 108. When opening the container 108, the first closure lead 62 is desirably in contact with the first finish lead 162 and the second closure lead 64 is desirably in contact with the second finish lead 164. It is contemplated that the external thread formation of the container may have discontinuous leads.
It is contemplated that the external thread formation of the container may be different than that disclosed with respect to container 108.
The continuous outer ring 110 assists in positioning the tamper-evident band 46 if the first closure portion 12 is unthreaded from the neck 102 of the container 108 by the breaking of the second frangible connection 48.
The closure of the present invention may include an oxygen-scavenger material. This oxygen-scavenger material may be distributed within the closure or may be a separate layer. The oxygen-scavenger material may be any material that assists in removing oxygen within the container, while having little or no effect on the contents within the container.
Alternatively, or in addition to, the closure may include an oxygen-barrier material. The oxygen-barrier material may be added as a separate layer or may be integrated within the closure itself. The oxygen-barrier materials assist in preventing or inhibiting oxygen from entering the container through the closure. These materials may include, but are not limited to, ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH). It is contemplated that other oxygen-barrier materials may be used in the closure.
Additionally, it is contemplated that other features may be included in the closure described above. For example, U.S. Publication No. 2018/009979, U.S. Publication No. 2017/0349336, U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,126,726, 9,085,385, 8,763,830, 8,485,374, U.S. Publication No. 2009/0045158 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,212 all include features that could be incorporated in the closures of the present invention. All of these references are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties
The top wall portion 22, the annular skirt portion 24, the tamper-evident feature 26, the top wall portion 42 and the annular skirt portion 44 are made of polymeric material. The top wall portion 22, the annular skirt portion 24, the tamper-evident feature 26, the top wall portion 42, and the annular skirt portion 44 are typically made of an olefin (e.g., polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP)), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or blends thereof. One example of a polyethylene that may be used in high density polyethylene (HDPE). It is contemplated that the top wall portions, the annular skirt portions and tamper-evident feature may be made of other polymeric materials. The tamper-evident band 46 is typically made of the same materials as the top wall portion 22, the annular skirt portion 24, the tamper-evident feature 26, the top wall portion 42 and the annular skirt portion 44.
The closures are typically formed by processes such as injection or compression molding, extrusion or the combination thereof.
The container 108 is typically made of polymeric material. One non-limiting example of a material to be used in forming a polymeric container is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP) or blends using the same. It is contemplated that the container may be formed of other polymeric or copolymer materials. It is also contemplated that the container may be formed of glass. The container 108 typically has an encapsulated oxygen-barrier layer or oxygen barrier material incorporated therein.
The manufacturing process of closing the closure 10 is depicting in
In one method to open the container 108 and gain access to the product therein, the first closure portion 12 is initially flipped with respect to the second closure portion 14, which results in breaking and separating of the tamper-evident feature 26. Once the tamper-evident feature 26 is separated from the remainder of the polymeric top wall portion 22, the first closure portion 12 is flipped at least about 120 degrees and preferably at least about 150 or at least about 170 degrees with respect to the second closure portion 14. This is the typical way of gaining access to the product in the container 108.
When using this method, the tamper-evident feature 26 is separated via the first frangible connection 30 from the remainder of the first closure portion 12. The tamper-evident feature 26 will drop after the first frangible connection is broken (in the direction of arrow C in
The locking tab 52 assists in containing the positioning of the polymeric tamper-evident feature 26 after the closure 10 has been opened. As discussed above, the locking tab 52 is located adjacent to the polymeric tamper-evident feature 26 and prevents or inhibits the polymeric tamper-evident feature 26 from falling off of the closure 10. The locking tab 52 is desirably located at a distance D1 (See
In another method to open the container 108 and gain access to the product therein, the closure 10 may be unthreaded by turning the closure 10 with respect to the container 108. After the closure has been unthreaded, the closure 10 can be removed from the container 108. When using this method, the tamper-evident band 46 is at least partially separated from the reminder of the closure 10 via the second frangible connection 48, which indicates that the closure 10 has been unthreaded with respect to the container 108.
The polymeric closure of the present invention is desirable in both low-temperature and high-temperature applications. The polymeric closure may be used in low-temperature applications such as an ambient or a cold fill. These applications include water, sports drinks, aseptic applications such as dairy products, and pressurized products such as carbonated soft drinks. It is contemplated that other low-temperature applications may be used with the polymeric closures formed by the processes of the present invention.
The polymeric closure of the present invention may be exposed to high-temperature applications such as hot-fill, pasteurization, and retort applications. A hot fill application is generally performed at temperatures around 185° F., while a hot-fill with pasteurization is generally performed at temperatures around 205° F. Retort applications are typically done at temperatures greater than 250° F. It is contemplated that the polymeric closure of the present invention can be used in other high-temperature applications.
