BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a fillable sealing cap which forms a capsule in its interior, which can be opened by pressing a push button so that its contents fall from the capsule down into a container equipped with the sealing cap.
Many beverages are already produced nowadays by mixing a concentrate with water. Instead of distributing the finished mixture, it would be much more efficient if the bottle fillers could simply fill water locally, and the concentrate were only added to the water in the bottle and then mixed therewith by means of the initial opening of the bottle by the consumer. All kinds of sensitive active ingredients and light-sensitive vitamins can also be metered by means of such a closure.
A known solution for metering in a separate liquid is a plastic metering closure and associated container neck for a container. It consists of a threaded cap, an interior capsule that can be filled separately and sealed with a film or closed after filling and an associated container neck. The capsule with its closing film is held in a downward direction inside the container neck. When the cap is placed on the container neck, it protrudes into the interior of the container neck, and there is a piercing and cutting device on the lower edge of the container neck, by means of which the closing film at the lower end of the capsule can be opened when the plastic metering closure is opened for the first time so that the substance contained in the capsule falls into the container. When turning counter-clockwise, i.e., in the loosening direction, the threaded cap is initially moved downwards on the container neck so that the film of the capsule is pressed over a piercing and cutting device and thus cut open while the threaded cap comes to a stop on the container neck. If the threaded cap is turned further in the loosening direction, it takes the container neck with it, which in turn sits with a thread on the container nozzle, which thread, however, requires a greater torque to unscrew. If the threaded cap is rotated further, it takes the container neck and the now empty capsule with it and the entire closure is unscrewed from the container nozzle. The elegance of this solution lies in the fact that it requires a single action, namely only one continuous unscrewing of the threaded cap in the loosening direction. Everything then takes place automatically in sequence. The disadvantage of this solution, however, is that it is complex in terms of construction and design, since left-handed and right-handed threads are required, and the assembly of the closure is also not without problems.
A further known solution for metering a separate liquid is a plastic metering closure and an associated container neck for a container as indicated in WO 2012/175′317 A1. This is a fillable closure comprising a push button for release, which functions with a separately filled capsule. The closure consists of a sealing cap which can be screwed onto the threaded connector of a container and into which said separately filled capsule can be inserted from below in the closed state, the capsule having a downwardly directed sealing film. The upper side of the inserted capsule is designed to be deformable and can be pressed axially downwards so that the downwardly directed sealing film of the capsule can be broken or caused to split. According to this document, this is brought about by means of a profile which is integrally moulded on the underside of the sealing cap and projects axially downwards, and which fits into a depression that is disposed in the deformable upper side of the inserted capsule and matches the cross-section of this profile. By pressing down said profile into the depression, the outer lower corners of the profile are indirectly pressed onto the sealing film of the capsule. The sealing film is provided with weakening lines so that these corners impinge on the angle bisectors of the circle segments formed by the weakening lines, and the same can be pivoted downwards from the corners after splitting along the weakening lines and can then be held pivoted downwards. In practice, however, it has been found that although this solution works in principle, it does not work flawlessly in every case, i.e., not in 100% of cases. Therefore, this solution is insufficiently suitable for implementation in practice in which hundreds of thousands of closures have to be delivered and each individual closure has to function perfectly. Carbonated beverages pose a particular challenge. Because the beverages outgas and the pressure in the container or bottle rises, the gas presses from below on the sealing film of a sealed capsule housed in the container closure and sealed at atmospheric pressure. If a stamp then rests inside the capsule in the centre of the sealing film and with little distance therefrom, which is attached to the inside of the capsule top and which is to be pressed down together with the capsule top to open, the following risk exists: The pressure in the container or bottle pushes the sealing film from below in the direction of the capsule and arches it upwards. The sealing film can then hit the stamp and an unintentional tearing of the sealing foil can occur along its weakening lines. This risk needs to be averted. From US 2014/284337 A1 (RAFFERTY SIMON JAMES [GB]) dated Sep. 25, 2014, a sealing cap with a stamp and a sealing washer as a sealing film is known, but without outwardly pivotable spreading legs. And U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,786 A (SCUDDER JAMES A [US] ET AL) dated Sep. 22, 1998 discloses a push button and spreading legs as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. However, the use of the spreading legs shown there does not encourage the combination of spreading legs with a stamp, rather they are intended to replace the stamp.
The object of the present invention, in view of the facts mentioned above and the indicated prior art, is to create a fillable cap with a fillable capsule formed inside, wherein this sealing cap is easier to manufacture and assemble, and wherein it should be ensured that when opening and emptying the capsule contents through a simple push of a button, which can easily be applied with a finger, that the sealing film acting as a sealing washer is completely opened and the entire contents of the capsule falls safely down into a container, which is equipped with this sealing cap. At the same time, the sealing cap with the fillable capsule formed inside should also be suitable in a special design for outgassing drinks, and unintentional opening of the capsule by bursting the sealing washer as a result of the pressure increasing in the container of the bottle due to outgassing should be safely avoided.
This object is achieved by a fillable sealing cap being screwable or attachable to a threaded connector of a container, having a push button for triggering the emptying of a capsule being formed under said push button and being open at the bottom and sealable with a sealing washer, said capsule having a circumferential capsule wall and capsule lid, for receiving a substance which can be emptied into a container equipped with this sealing cap, wherein on the outside of the capsule lid a central push button is formed for pressing down the capsule lid while deforming it, and wherein this sealing cap is characterised by the characterising features of claim 1.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the figures, an exemplary embodiment of the sealing cap is shown and it is described in detail below and its mode of operation is explained.
FIG. 1: shows the sealing cap in a diametrical section, before the push button is pressed down;
FIG. 2: shows a sealing washer in plan view;
FIG. 3: shows the sealing washer according to FIG. 2 shown in a diametrical section;
FIG. 4: shows a further sealing washer, divided into three equal circle segments by weakening lines in the form of thin spots or slits;
FIG. 5: shows a further sealing washer, divided into four equal circle segments by weakening lines in the form of thin spots or slits;
FIG. 6: shows a sealing washer with, on the one hand, star-shaped weakening lines in the form of thin spots or slits and, on the other hand, such weakening lines arranged around the circumference with three interruptions;
FIG. 7: shows a sealing cap at an angle from below, without the sealing washer;
FIG. 8: shows the sealing cap according to FIG. 7 obliquely from below with the sealing washer sealed on;
FIG. 9: shows a sealing cap in a diametrical section, at the time of pretensioning and shortly before the bursting of the weakening lines in the form of thin spots or slits in the sealing washer;
FIG. 10: shows a sealing cap in a diametrical section, at the point in time after the bursting of the weakening lines in the form of thin spots or slits and the swivelling of the sealing washer segments through the spreading legs;
FIG. 11: shows a sealing cap with a stamp which also acts as a support for the attached sealing film so that the sealing cap is suitable for containers or bottles with outgassing beverages;
FIG. 12: shows a sealing washer for a sealing cap according to FIG. 11, which is suitable for containers or bottles with outgassing beverages;
FIG. 13: shows a sealing cap with a further variant of a stamp which also acts as a support for the attached sealing film so that the sealing cap is suitable for containers or bottles with outgassing beverages;
FIG. 14: shows a sealing washer in a diametrical section, seen obliquely from below;
FIG. 15: shows the sealing washer according to FIG. 14 also in a diametrical section, seen obliquely from above.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The first question to be asked is what it takes to ensure that, with such a sealing cap, the opening of the interior capsule can be reached in the simplest and safest way, with minimal effort. For closures with a pusher to open a cavity in the closure, the high level of user-friendliness for consumers is a decisive criterion. On the one hand, force is required to press the pusher or push button down and, on the other hand, additional force is required to open the capsule, and this force is dependent on the way in which the capsule is closed. The capsules are often closed with sealing films, which are tough and require a lot of effort to puncture them and then open them in such a way that the sealing foil is pivoted out of the passage as completely as possible. The total forces necessary should, however, be as small as possible. In order for this to be possible, various forces must be applied in stages in order to break an otherwise necessary force peak.
The solution shown in FIG. 1 offers these advantages. The sealing cap 1 is equipped with an internal thread 16 and forms in its interior a tubular nozzle 17 which protrudes downwards from the cap lid 20 of the sealing cap 1. Instead of the sealing cap 1 being screwed onto a threaded connector, a variant can also be implemented in which the sealing cap 1 is placed on a nozzle in a different way, for example by being forced or welded or glued on. A capsule 18 is then formed within this nozzle 17 and is integrally connected to it on its inner wall. The capsule wall 25 extends slightly inclined upwards towards the centre of the cap 18 and then merges into a capsule lid 6. This is designed to be corrugated as viewed in the radial direction. In the centre, the capsule lid 6 forms a central push button 2. Below the same, a stamp 7 extends downward in the axial direction along the axis of rotation 21 of the sealing cap 1.
The push button 2 taper to a certain extent into an overturned cup 9, the walls of which are slightly inclined towards the outside in the downward direction. Spreading legs 8 are formed by recesses 15 in the walls of this cup 9, which taper towards the bottom into a thinned end region which is elastically flexible and is curved outwards, as indicated by number 26. At the lower end of the capsule 18, a shoulder is formed on which a sealing washer 3 is welded or glued or sealed. This sealing washer 3 needs to be opened efficiently and safely in order to allow the contents of the filled capsule to fall down. As a special feature for this, a stamp 7 extends axially downward from the push button 2, almost down to the sealing washer 3. The spreading legs 8 arranged around it also approximately touch the washer 3.
At the top, the pusher surface 24 of the push button 2 is shaped in a strongly concave manner so that a fingertip can be ideally placed in it, as shown in FIG. 1. As a result of this concave shape of the pusher surface 24, the circumferential edge of the pusher surface 24 tapers into an acute-angled edge 14. This ensures that the person who operates this sealing cap 1 places their finger correctly on the push button 2 and then presses it down in the axial direction. The capsule lid 6 is designed to be corrugated when viewed from the centre in the radial direction, as can be clearly seen in FIG. 1. First of all, in a first region 10, initially of the central push button 2, there is an all-round wave trough 12, followed by a wave crest 13. In this region 10, the wall thickness of the capsule lid 6 is designed to be thin. This region 10 is followed by a region 11 towards the outside, which begins again with a wave trough 4, which is, however, made with a thicker wall thickness and flows into another such wave crest 5, and this finally merges into the circumferential side wall 25 of the capsule 18, which is designed to be yet thicker. The outer region 11 of the capsule lid 6 is therefore thicker and thus designed to be stronger than in the inner region 10, and the capsule wall 25 is dimensioned to be yet thicker. As a result of the wave-shaped configuration of the capsule lid 6, this can be flexed when the push button 2 is pressed downwards.
If therefore the push button 2 is pressed from above, as shown in FIG. 1 with the finger, then the capsule lid 6 is initially deformed in the region 10, by a flexing, while the thick region 11 of the capsule lid 6 hardly changes in its position. The depressed push button 2 causes the stamp 7 to press on the sealing washer 3 extended underneath and initially pretension it. At the same time, the spreading legs 8 have also been pressed onto the sealing washer 3 and, due to their elasticity, their ends 26 shift outwards, i.e., the ends 26 of the spreading legs 8, to a certain extent their feet, slide outwards a little on the sealing washer 3 in a radial direction. If the push button 2 is pressed further down in the axial direction, the outer region 11 of the capsule lid 6 is now also flexed and the stamp 7 pressed further down finally causes the sealing washer 3 to burst. The feet of the spreading legs 8 have meanwhile slid further towards the circumferential area of the sealing washer 3 and in the final phase of pressing the push button 2, these spreading legs 8 with their ends 26 press and shear the burst sealing washer 3 downwards so that their respective formed segments are folded downwards and henceforth held in this pivoted down position by the spreading legs 8.
FIG. 2 shows a possible sealing washer 3, which here has as a special feature a weakening line 39 extending almost completely around the circumference of the sealing washer 3, which is implemented in the form of thin spots or slits, with two diametrically opposing regions 32, 33 where the sealing washer 3 remains intact. The weakening line 39 with its thin spots or slits extends further from the circumferential area by an S-shaped line through the diameter. Along this weakening line 39, the sealing washer 3 is opened by the stamp 7 and the spreading leg ends 26 when there is sufficient pressure. For this sealing washer 3, two spreading legs 8 are provided around the stamp 7 on the sealing cap 1 in a diametrically offset manner. The two mentioned intact regions 32, 33 remain, here above and below in the picture. Around these material bridges, the two exposed flaps of the sealing washer 3 are finally pivoted downwards by 90° by the spreading legs 8, by the spreading leg feet 26 coming to rest on these two material bridges and then pressing the flaps down around them, wherein the regions 32, 33 act as hinges.
FIG. 3 shows this sealing washer 3 in a diametrical section. The weakening line 39 in the form of thin spots or slits is produced by a notch 19, which points downwards here at an obtuse angle. The cross-section of the notch can of course also have other shapes, from acute-angled to semicircular so that at specific points a thinnest wall thickness of the sealing washer 3 is produced, at which it will ultimately burst.
FIG. 4 shows a sealing washer 3 with weakening lines 39 in the form of thin spots or slits which divide the sealing washer 3 into three equally sized circle segments 22. To open such a sealing washer 3, three spreading legs 8 distributed around the circumference are provided on the sealing cap 1. The feet 26 of the spreading legs 8, after the sealing washer 3 has burst along the three radial weakening lines and thus three circle segment tabs hang down, press in the edge area in the middle of the circumference of these three circle segments, i.e., at the indicated pressure points 23, on the same, and the circle segments 22 are then pivoted downwards along one secant each and held in this position.
FIG. 5 shows a sealing washer 3 with weakening lines 39 in the form of thin spots or slits which divide the sealing washer 3 into four equally sized circle segments 22. To open such a sealing washer 3, four spreading legs 8 distributed around the circumference are provided on the sealing cap 1. The feet 26 of the spreading legs 8 after the sealing washer 3 has burst along these four three radial weakening lines 39 and thus four circle segment tabs hang down, press in the edge area in the middle of the circumference of these four circle segments 22, i.e., at the indicated pressure points 23, on the same, and the circle segments 22 are then pivoted downwards along one secant each and held in this position.
FIG. 6 shows a sealing washer 3 with an alternative arrangement of the weakening lines 30, 31 in the form of thin spots or slits. In addition to the star-shaped course with three radials, circumferential lines 30 are also weakened at their outer ends, wherein three regions are left free as later pressure points 23. The spreading legs 8 will then press on these regions or pressure points 23 that have remained free with their feet 26 and pivot the respective 120° circle segments downwards. FIG. 7 to the right shows the arrangement of the three spreading legs 8 with the central stamp 7. The spreading legs 8 are not shown here completely correctly, in fact, they are bent outwards and their end regions are elastically bendable as feet 26. In FIG. 8, this sealing cap is shown together with the sealed-on sealing washer 3.
FIG. 9 shows a diametrical section through a sealing cap in order to provide further information about how the stamp 7 and the spreading legs 8 work. In the snapshot shown, the stamp 7 is already pressing on the sealing washer 3 and expanding it, that is to say placing it under a certain pretension. In FIG. 10, the subsequent state is shown, after the further depressed stamp 7 caused the sealing washer 3 to burst or crack along its weakening lines 39, that is to say along thin spots or slits. There are now three 120° circle segments protruding loosely downwards. When the push button 2 is depressed further, these are pivoted downward by the spreading legs 8, each by a secant at the location of the attached spreading leg ends 26. The spreading legs 8 are then curved outwardly in the radial direction and their feet or ends 26 are in contact with the respective circle segments at the edge region of the sealing washer 3.
Bottles with outgassing beverages therein, if they contain carbonated beverages, present a particular challenge for such sealing caps. In such a bottle, the gas pressure rises after filling until it reaches a level which prevents further outgassing. Under the increased pressure, however, the gas presses from below on the sealing washer 3 so that its inner or upper side is pressed against the stamp 7 in the sealing cap 1. In individual cases, this can lead to the sealing washer 3 breaking under the load acting on it and the contents in the capsule 18 falling prematurely and unintentionally into the bottle. In the following, an embodiment of the sealing cap is presented which is suitable even for bottles with outgassing beverages and which ensures that the sealing washer can withstand this pressure even after complete outgassing and as a result of its strong pressure from below on the stamp above it withstands this pressure and the capsule can still be opened safely by pressing a button.
For this purpose, a special embodiment of the stamp 3 is first important. In FIG. 11, a sealing cap 1 is shown, viewed from below, which has a central stamp 3 in the capsule 18, which here forms a star in cross-section, with three radially outwardly extending wings 27. The stamp 3 thus acts not only in the centre on the sealing washer. Rather, if a sealing washer is pressed onto the stamp from below due to the pressure inside the bottle, the sealing washer is supported over the entire end surface 28 of the stamp 3 that is visible here, that is to say over an area, and because the wings 27 extend radially outwards from the centre, the sealing washer is also supported over these radial wings 27, which is able to reliably avoid bursting along its weakening lines, which are present in the form of thin spots or slits. Between the wings 27, the spreading legs 8 are arranged here, which after the bursting or breaking open of the closing washer take over the function of reliably folding down the washer parts that have been detached from the washer composite.
For an overall reliable and safe function of breaking open the sealing washer 3 and then folding down the sealing washer parts, a specially designed sealing washer proves to be necessary. Such a sealing washer 3 is shown in FIG. 12. It consists of a plastic washer with through slits 29-31. A first slit 29 extends diametrically over almost the entire diameter of the sealing washer 3 and leaves the washer intact in the edge region. Two further through slits 30, 31 extend here arcuately along the circumference in the edge area of the sealing washer 3, one at a distance from the other so that between them, i.e., between the opposing ends of the two arches, the sealing washer remains intact and material bridges are formed there, which each act as a hinge 32, 33, as will become clear. The diametrically extending slit 29 is arranged in such a way that its two ends open in the middle of the two arcuate slits 30, 31. Two semicircle segments 34, 35 are thus formed. Such a sealing washer 3 is provided on its one, lower side with a barrier layer 36 so that a barrier against water vapour or oxygen or against various aromas is formed. Such a barrier layer consists, for example, of an aluminium layer approx. 0.2 mm thick, glued on by means of a contact foil, an adhesive or PE, which is also provided on the outside with a thin protective layer made of plastic, wherein this protective layer can be vapour-deposited or sprayed on. Ultimately, this coating is a coated aluminium foil that is intended to act as a barrier foil. The finished sealing washer is finally sealed into a beaded edge on the sealing cap by means of an induction welding process (torsional welding).
From a functional point of view, this sealing cap acts as follows: First, the sealing washer 3 is biased when it is pressed against the stamp 3 of the sealing cap 1 as a result of the internal pressure acting in a bottle. It still seals the capsule securely, even if the internal pressure in the bottle increases to a maximum as a result of outgassing of the carbonated beverage, which prevents further outgassing. For the targeted opening of the capsule 18 integrated in the sealing cap 1, it is pressed down from above by pressing the push button 2 formed thereby. In this way, the stamp 7 is pressed down inside the capsule 18 and finally this causes the sealing washer or its oxygen-tight coating or protective film to burst along the diametrical slit 29. Immediately the coating also tears along the arcuate slits 30, 31 and when the push button 2 and stamp 7 are pressed down further, the latter presses the two semicircle segments 34, 35 of the sealing washer 3 downwards so that they pivot downwards around the material bridges acting as hinges 32, 33. The contents of the capsule thus fall down into the bottle.
FIG. 13 shows a further possible design of the stamp 7. This also has radially protruding wings 27, namely five wings 27 with an equal angle of 72° (5×72°=360°) between each of them. Two of these wings 27, which include an angle of 144° on one side and subsequently an angle of 216° on the other (144°+216°=360°), are provided with a recess 37 over almost their entire height from below so that a spreading leg 8 is formed in its outer region. This embodiment also works because a two-dimensional end of the stamp is formed for the two-dimensional support of a pressed-on sealing washer, and the stamp is nevertheless able to break open the coating of a sealing washer by pressing it down as described and is able to pivot the sealing washer segments away, wherein the two spreading legs 8 at the end ensure that the circle segments of the sealing washer are pivoted down completely by pivoting outwards.
FIG. 14 shows one half of the sealing washer along a diametrical section. The view is of the underside of the sealing washer 3, which faces the bottle contents, that is to say of the coating 36, which acts as an oxygen-tight barrier. On the upper side, the plastic washer with its circumferential slits 30, 31, which open into the diametral here, can be seen. FIG. 15 shows the sealing washer 3 viewed obliquely from above. The edges of the sealing washer 3, regardless of whether the outer circular edge or the edges of the slits 29-31, taper over their height in a wedge-shaped manner and in the middle into an edge 38.
So, which features are found to be particularly important in order to achieve the aim of the invention and to ensure the good function of such a sealing cap?
- 1. A concave finger support with sharp edges 14 is required, which intuitively provokes a finger support lying in the central axis 21 of the closure.
- 2. The push button 2 must be designed as shown and described so that it ensures a straight, vertical or axial downwards pushing.
- 3. The push button 2 is held in the centre of concentric adjoining waves and can therefore be depressed in two phases so that the forces for bursting the sealing washer 3 and the subsequent folding down do not generate a single high force peak along the circumference of the detached segments.
- 4. The wall thickness of the first corrugated area 10 from the centre of the capsule lid 6 is designed to be thinner than that of the corrugated area 11 adjoining it to the outside so that initially only the first capsule lid region is flexed for the first phase of pressing down.
- 5. The wall thickness of the adjoining second region 11 is thicker and therefore offers more resistance when the push button 2 is depressed.
- 6. The spreading legs 8 acting on the closing washer 3 can be moved laterally, i.e., radially outward, so that the ends 26 of the spreading legs 8, which are rounded at the bottom, slide radially outward when they hit the closing washer 3 and finally apply the downward pressure force as close as possible to the peripheral edge area of the sealing washer 3.
- 7. The weakening notches or weakening lines 39 in the form of thin spots or slits ensure that the sealing washer 3 bursts and opens at the desired places as a result of the pressure of the stamp 7 and the spreading legs 8, namely along the targeted weakening lines 39.
- 8. For an oxygen-tight capsule, the sealing washer 3 is designed with slits and the sealing washer 3 is completely provided with a coating 36 which covers the slits. In order to pivot away the sealing washer parts, the coating 36 must first burst.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
1 Sealing cap
2 Push button
3 Sealing washer
4 Wave trough of outer region 11
5 Wave crest of outer region 11
6 Capsule lid
7 Stamp
8 Spreading legs
9 Cup-shaped connection to push button 2
10 Inner region of the corrugated capsule lid
11 Outer region of the corrugated capsule lid
12 Inner wave trough in the inner region 10
13 Wave crest being adjacent to 12 in the inner region 10
14 Sharp edge of the pusher surface
15 Recesses in the cup
16 Internal thread of sealing cap
17 Inner pipe socket directed downwards
18 Capsule
19 Notch on the sealing washer
20 Sealing cap lid
21 Axis of rotation of the sealing cap
22 circle segment
23 Pressure points
24 Pusher surface
25 Capsule wall
26 End of spreading legs 8
27 Radial wings on stamp 7
28 Two-dimensional end face of the stamp
29 Diametrical slit in the sealing washer
30 Arcuate slits in the sealing washer
31 Radial slits in the sealing washer
32 First material bridge acting as hinge
33 Second material bridge acting as hinge
34 First semicircle segment
35 Second semicircle segment
36 Coating—oxygen-tight barrier
37 Recess in radial wing
38 Protruding edge 38 on the slit wall
39 Weakening line
Patent Application
20220033152
