Patent Grant
9010555
This is a U.S. National Phase of PCT/FR2009/051921, filed Oct. 8, 2009, which claims the benefit of priority to FR 0856842, filed Oct. 9, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a stopper for a container neck, and to a method of fabricating such a stopper.
The invention relates generally to stoppers in which each stopper has a skirt that surrounds the neck of a container and that has a bottom portion, “bottom” when the neck is extending vertically with its rim pointing upwards, that is designed to remain permanently around the neck after the stopper has been opened for the first time and that is, in particular, in the form of a tamper-proofing band. The remainder of the skirt, i.e. the top portion thereof, is designed to be removable from the neck, while initially being connected to the non-removable bottom portion of the skirt by breakable bridges that are distributed around the periphery of the skirt and that are suitable for being broken when the stopper is opened for the first time. The line of weakness formed by said bridges serves as an indicator to inform users whether or not the stopper has been opened for a first time. In the context of the present invention, the removable tether between the top skirt portion and the neck of the container may be of any type, so that the invention is applicable both for snap-shut stoppers, i.e. stoppers that are suitable for snapping onto bottle necks, and also for screw stoppers.
The invention relates more particularly to stoppers in which the line of weakness is subdivided, i.e. it is made up of a succession of through notches, cut through the wall of the skirt and around the periphery thereof, in such a manner as to define respective ones of the above-mentioned breakable bridges between successive pairs of notches. Obtaining the line of weakness by cutting rather than by molding is preferred because it is less expensive and more practical since it does not require the use of complex molds, e.g. provided with slides. Unfortunately, a line of weakness obtained by cutting is conventionally designed to extend over the entire periphery of the skirt and in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the skirt, thereby limiting the possibilities for converting the stoppers, unlike with stoppers in which the line of weakness is obtained by molding, it being possible for such molded lines to include, in particular, a non-breakable portion of material that connects the removable skirt portion to the non-removable skirt portion permanently, even after the stopper has been opened, as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,204.
An object of the present invention is to improve fabrication of stoppers having lines of weakness that are cut and to do so in simple and inexpensive manner, so as to have a stopper in which the removable skirt portion remains connected to the non-removable skirt portion after the stopper has been opened for the first time.
To this end, the invention provides a stopper for a container neck, as defined in claim 1.
The basic idea of the invention is to seek to improve existing methods and means making it possible to cut a conventional line of weakness in a stopper firstly so as form said line of weakness over only a portion of the skirt, so as to allow a non-breakable tether portion to remain between the removable skirt portion and the non-removable skirt portion, and secondly so as to cut a second line of weakness that extends over less than one half of the periphery of the skirt and that, when the axis of the skirt is vertical with the non-removable portion of the skirt pointing downwards, is situated vertically above and on either side of the above-mentioned non-breakable tether portion. The notches of said first and second lines of weakness differ from lines of weakness that are molded because, before the stopper is opened for the first time, they have touching edges that, in particular, thereby prevent dust and dirt from accessing the inside of the skirt via said lines of weakness. The second line of weakness is simple and quick to cut insofar as said line of weakness extends in the removable skirt portion that, conventionally, has an axial dimension that is larger than the non-removable skirt portion, which portion is generally merely a narrow tamper-proofing band, the presence of the means for permanently retaining said band around the neck limiting the possibilities of forming the line by cutting. When the stopper of the invention is opened for the first time, the bridges of the first line of weakness break, while the tether portion remains, without it being possible, however, for said tether portion to be driven upwards by the removable skirt portion because the non-removable skirt portion is retained around the container neck. The upward movement of the removable skirt portion, under the action of the user, causes the strip interposed between the first and second lines of weakness to be deformed, and more particularly causes the end portions of said strip that are arranged on either side of the tether portion to be deformed, by the edges of the one or more notches of the second line of weakness coming apart. This deformation of the strip is facilitated by the first line of weakness in that the above-mentioned end portions of the strip are, over their entire lengths, devoid of any bridge along said first line of weakness, except possibly vertically in register with the ends of the second line of weakness.
Thus, the stopper of the invention procures performance as high as the performance obtained with stoppers having molded lines of weakness in that the removable skirt portion remains tethered to the non-removable skirt portion after the stopper has been opened for the first time, via the above-mentioned tether portion, with the significant advantages that the molds for fabricating stoppers of the invention are less complex and less fragile, while also including more molding cavities, than molds for fabricating stoppers having molded bridges. In addition, it is quick and easy to go between fabricating existing stoppers, each of which has a single cut line of weakness, and fabricating stoppers of the invention by adding or by removing the arrangements necessary for cutting the second line of weakness, thereby offering a large degree of flexibility for producing various different stoppers.
Advantageous characteristics of the method of the invention, taken in isolation or in any technically feasible combination, are specified in dependent claims 2 to 9.
The invention also provides a method of fabricating a stopper for a container neck, as defined in claim 10.
This method makes it possible to fabricate a stopper as defined above, with the above-mentioned production advantages.
The invention can be better understood on reading the following description given merely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The stopper 1 and the neck 2 have respective shapes that are generally tubular, and that have central longitudinal axes that substantially coincide with each other, as indicated by the reference X-X, when the stopper is screwed onto the neck. For reasons of convenience, the description below considers that the terms “top” and “upwards” correspond to a direction that is generally parallel to the axis X-X and that goes from the body of the container towards its neck 2, i.e. to a direction going towards the tops of
The neck 2 has a body 4 that is generally cylindrical with the cylindrical shape having a circular base and being of axis X-X. At its top end, the body 4 defines a rim 3 at which the liquid contained in the container is poured out. As shown in the right portion of
The stopper 1, as considered screwed onto the neck 2, is open at its bottom end and is closed at its top end by an end-wall 10, at the outside periphery of which a tubular skirt 12 extends axially downwards, which skirt is centered on the axis X-X and has a circular base. In this example, the stopper is advantageously provided with a lip 14 that extends axially downwards from the end-wall 10 in such a manner as to be centered on the axis X-X, inside the outer skirt 12. When the stopper is screwed onto the neck 2, the end-wall 10 extends above and across said neck, while the skirt 12 surrounds the body 4 externally and the lip 14 is pressed in leaktight manner against the inside face of said body.
The skirt 12 is provided with an inside thread 16 that extends radially towards the inside of the main wall of the skirt in a manner complementary to the thread 5 on the neck 2. Co-operation between the threads 5 and 16 makes it possible to screw and to unscrew the skirt 12 around the neck. Advantageously, in order to make it easier for the user to drive the skirt 12 about the axis X-X, the outside face of said skirt is provided with elongate splines 18 that extend parallel to the axis X-X. Said splines 18 make it easier for the user to take a firm hold of the stopper 1.
When the stopper 1 is opened for the first time, the skirt 12 is adapted to separate into two distinct portions, namely a top portion 121, formed integrally with the end-wall 10, and a bottom portion 122, initially connected to the top portion 121 at a peripheral line of weakness 20 situated axially in the main portion of the skirt. As shown in
As can be seen clearly in
As can be seen clearly in
The skirt portion 28 extends, about the axis X-X, through an angle α28 that, in the embodiment shown in
As can be seen clearly in
The skirt 12 is further provided with a second peripheral line of weakness 34 that is distinct from the line of weakness 20. As can be seen clearly in
In the embodiment shown in
The line of weakness 34 extends about the axis X-X, through an angle β34 that, in the embodiment shown in
In addition, provision is made for the angular positioning of the line of weakness 34 about the axis X-X to be such that its two peripheral ends 34A and 34B are situated, around the periphery of the skirt 12, on either side of the skirt portion 28, without going beyond the respective breakable bridges that are closest to the ends 28A and 28B of said portion 28 along the line of weakness 20, namely the bridges 261 and 266. In other words, as can be seen clearly in
In this way, as referenced in
In addition, in order to guarantee uniform behavior by the strip 36, in particular by its end portions 362 and 363, around the periphery of the skirt 12, the skirt portion 28 and the line of weakness 34 are centered on each other in that the bisector of the angle α28 occupies the same angular position, about the axis X-X, as the bisector of the angle β34.
When the user opens the stopper 1 for the first time by causing the skirt portion 121 to turn about the axis X-X so as to unscrew it from the neck 2, the skirt portion 122 is retained, in the direction of the axis X-X, about the neck by the projection 6, while the skirt portion 121 is moved upwards away from the skirt portion 122. For this purpose, the lines of weakness 20 and 34 are stressed jointly. More precisely, the skirt portion 28 holds the central portion 361 of the strip 36 stationary relative to the skirt portion 122, whereas the end portions 362 and 363 of said strip deform along their length, by means of the edges of the notch 38 and the edges of the notches 241 and 247 coming freely apart from each other, without being hindered by the presence of bridges that would induce a certain amount of resistance. The portions 362 and 363 of the strip 36 are thus deployed over their entire lengths relative to the remainder of the skirt portion 121 and relative to the skirt portion 122. At substantially the same time, the various bridges 261 to 266 break simultaneously. The stopper 1 is then in the configuration shown in
By continuing to unscrew the skirt portion 121, the strip portions 362 and 363 deform to a greater extent, by going progressively from a configuration in which they extend substantially horizontally to a configuration in which they extend in a manner inclined relative to the horizontal, until the threads 5 and 16 are fully disengaged. The user can then tilt the skirt portion 121 backwards, by using the skirt portion 28 as a hinge tilting about an axis Z-Z that is substantially circumferential relative to the axis X-X and that passes through the bridges 301 and 302, as shown in
In order to fabricate the stopper 1, the skirt 12 is initially closed by the end-wall 10 and is also provided with the lip 14, with the thread 16, with the splines 18, and with the ledges 22. This skirt is obtained, in particular, by molding a plastics material.
Then, using a first cutting blade (not shown in the figures), both the line of weakness 20 and the portion 28 are formed, in that said first blade passes through the wall of the skirt 12 so as to cut the notches 241 to 247, and the notch 32. Using a second cutting blade, the line of weakness 34 is formed by causing the blade to pass through the wall of the skirt portion 121 in such a manner as to cut the notch 38. Naturally, the cutting action using the first blade and the cutting action using the second blade are indexed both along the axis X-X and angularly about said axis in such a manner as to obtain the appropriate relative positioning between firstly the line of weakness 20 and the skirt portion 28, and secondly the line of weakness 34.
In practice, the cutting actions using the above-mentioned first and second blades are performed either one after the other, or, preferably, simultaneously, by driving the skirt 12 and said cutting blades relative to one another in rotation about the axis X-X.
As can be seen clearly in
When the stopper 100 is opened for the first time, the bridge 140 breaks so as to enable the edges of the line of weakness 134 to come apart from each other. In practice, the breaking strength of said bridge 140 is low insofar as the bisector Δ134 of the angle β134 passes through said bridge 140; thus, the bridge 140 is situated angularly, about the axis X-X, in the zone of the line of weakness 134 in which the strongest axial stresses are applied while the stopper 100 is being opened.
The stopper 200 differs from the stopper 1 by its second line of weakness 234 that comprises three peripheral notches 2381, 2382 and 2383 that succeed one another around the periphery of the skirt portion 121, with a breakable bridge 2401 being interposed between the notches 2381 and 2382 and with another breakable bridge 2402 being interposed between the notches 2382 and 2383. In a manner analogous to the bridge 140, the bridges 2401 and 2402 keep the notches 2381 to 2383 closed while the stopper is being unmolded, and while it is being assembled to the neck 2.
In addition, as can be seen clearly by comparing
The stopper 200 also differs from the stopper 1 by the angular dimensioning of its first line of weakness 220 and of its tether portion 228, as can be seen clearly by comparing
However, the angle α226 associated with the bridges 2261 and 2267 of the line 220 has a value greater than the angle α26, in such a manner that said angle α226 has a value and angular positioning about the axis X-X that are identical to the value and to the angular positioning of the angle β234.
In addition, the angle α228 associated with the skirt portion 228 has a value greater than the angle α28: in the embodiment shown in
In this way, the skirt portion 228 and the line of weakness 234 are dimensioned such that the bridge 2301 and the bridge 2401 are aligned in the direction of the axis X-X, and the bridge 2302 and the bridge 2402 are also aligned in said same direction. In this way, when the stopper 200 is opened for the first time, the bridges 2401 and 2402 break as soon as the skirt portion 121 starts being driven upwards due to it being unscrewed because said bridges are angularly positioned, about the axis X-X, in vertical register with the most rigid zones of the skirt portion 228, namely the bridges 2301 and 2302.
Various arrangements and variants may be made to the stoppers 1, 100, and 200 as described above and to the method of fabricating them as described above. By way of example:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08 56842 | Oct 2008 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR2009/051921 | 10/8/2009 | WO | 00 | 3/31/2011 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2010/040961 | 4/15/2010 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5215204 | Beck | Jun 1993 | A |
| 5405032 | Anderson | Apr 1995 | A |
| 5725115 | Bosl et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
| 5809860 | Haaser | Sep 1998 | A |
| 6474491 | Benoit-Gonin et al. | Nov 2002 | B1 |
| 20070089587 | Lial | Apr 2007 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 9314485 | Dec 1993 | DE |
| 1151932 | Nov 2001 | EP |
| 1529736 | May 2005 | EP |
| 2785264 | May 2000 | FR |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20110174760 A1 | Jul 2011 | US |
