Claims
- 1. A closure assembly for a container having a retainer bead, comprising:a cap portion having internal threads for cooperatively engaging the threads of a container's neck finish to apply, retain and remove the cap portion; a retainer ring depending from the lower edge of the skirt portion of the cap and connected thereto by frangible connections; and a tamper evident band having means for mechanically engaging over said retaining ring and rotatable thereto having a portion completely overlying said frangible connections and including a series of flexible means for engaging under the retainer bead on the container's neck finish when the closure is fully seated.
- 2. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein frangible connections are protected from inadvertent and intentional damage and stresses by a band portion which overlies the frangible connection.
- 3. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1 including means for rotatably supporting the tamper evident band comprising a radially inwardly directed circumferentially extending rib which seats in a circumferentially extending pocket in the outer peripheral surface of the retainer ring.
- 4. A closure assembly as claim 3 wherein the inter-engaging rib on the tamper evident band and the pocket on the retainer ring are provided with tapered surfaces to position and secure the tamper evident band snugly but rotatable relative to the cap portion.
- 5. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said inter-engaging rib and pocket are provided with cam means whereby rotation of the cap portion relative to the container in one direction to remove said cap portion, produces axial displacement of said retainer ring and tamper evident band relative to one another to thereby fracture the bridge connections.
- 6. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inter-engagement between the retaining ring and tamper evident band are made more secure as cap application forces cause the skirt portion of the cap to deform outwardly when the internal threads for cooperatively engaging the threads of a container's neck finish interact.
- 7. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said frangible connections comprises a series of circumferentially spaced frangible bridges.
- 8. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the flexible means engaging under the retainer bead comprise a plurality of inwardly biased spring fingers circumferentially spaced projecting from the outer terminal edge of the tamper evident band.
- 9. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1, including a series of tapered ramps on the bottle neck finish below the retainer bead confronting spring fingers on the tamper evident band oriented in a manner to permit rotation of the tamper evident band in a direction to seat the cap portion on the container and which engage a shoulder of the ramps when the cap portion is rotated in a direction to remove it thereby preventing rotation of the tamper evident band relative to the container and causing breaking of the fracturable bridges.
- 10. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tamper evident band includes an elongated skirt of a shape to generally conform to the shape of the container below the bottle neck finish.
- 11. A closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tamper evident band includes an elongated skirt that is provided with an elongated axially extending key and the container has a pair of spaced projections to receive the key to align the tamper evident band in a predetermined relationship to the container.
- 12. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1, including an inter-engaging rib on the tamper evident band and a pocket on the retainer ring and wherein said retainer ring and tamper evident band are provided with cam means whereby rotation of the cap portion relative to the container in one direction to remove the cap portion, produces axial displacement of the retainer ring and tamper evident band relative to one another to thereby fracture the frangible connector uniformly about the circumference of the connecting area.
- 13. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1, including a sleeve extending from the skirt portion provided with an elongated axially extending key and wherein the container has a pair of spaced projections to receive the key to align the sleeve in a predetermined relationship to the container.
- 14. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tamper evident band includes an elongated skirt of a shape to conform to the shape of the container below the bottle finish having a key on the inner surface thereof which engages one of a pair of buttons on the neck of the bottle to position the closure assembly in a predetermined relationship to the bottle to indicia on the bottle when the closure assembly is fully seated.
- 15. A closure assembly for a container having external threads and a retainer bead said closure assembly comprising an outer cap, means for mounting and retaining said outer cap to an inner cap member having a skirt portion and internal threads for cooperatively engaging the threads of the container to apply, retain and remove the inner cap member;a retainer ring depending from a lower edge of the skirt portion of the inner cap member and connected thereto by a series of circumferentially spaced frangible bridge connections; a tamper evident band portion having a means for mechanically engaging over said retainer ring and rotatable thereto and including a series of flexible elements for engaging under the retainer bead on the container when the closure assembly is fully seated; and an outwardly projecting flange positioned to be engaged by said outer cap to fracture said bridge connections as the outer cap is depressed to engage a series of inter-engaging lugs and ribs, whereby the inner cap and outer cap rotate together for removal from the container.
- 16. A closure assembly for a container having external threads and a retainer bead said closure assembly comprising an outer cap, means for mounting said outer cap to an inner cap having internal threads for cooperatively engaging the container threads to apply and remove the inner and outer caps; a retainer ring depending from the lower edge of the skirt portion of the inner cap and connected thereto by a series of circumferentially spaced bridge connections; and a tamper evident band having means for mechanically engaging and mounting to said retaining ring and rotatable thereto and including a series of flexible elements for engaging under the retainer bead on the container when the closure assembly is fully seated, and wherein the tamper evident band has a radially outwardly projecting flange positioned to be engaged by the outer cap to fracture the bridge connections as the outer cap is depressed to engage a series of inter-engaging lugs and ribs on the inner cap and the outer cap, whereby the inner cap and outer cap rotate together for removal from the container.
- 17. A tamper evident closure for containers having a finish with threads and a radially outwardly directed circumferentially extending bead below the threads said closure comprising:a cap portion having internal threads for cooperatively engaging the threads on a container to apply and remove the cap portion; a retainer ring depending from the lower edge of the skirt portion of the cap and connected thereto by a series of circumferentially spaced bridge connections; and a tamper evident band having means for rotatably mounting on the retaining ring and including a series of spring fingers for engaging under the retainer bead on the container when the closure is fully seated, said tamper evident band having a radially outwardly projecting flange positioned to be engaged by an outer cap to fracture the bridge connections.
- 18. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 17, a series of tapered ramps on the bottle finish below the retainer bead and wherein said spring fingers are oriented in a manner to permit rotation of the tamper evident band in a direction to seat the inner cap on the container, said spring fingers engaging and which engage a shoulder of the ramps when the inner cap portion is rotated in a direction to remove it thereby preventing rotation of the tamper evident band relative to the container and causing breaking of the fracturable bridges.
- 19. A closure assembly comprising an outer cap, an inner cap, a spring means for normally biasing the outer cap to a raised position relative to the inner cap and including a series of inter-engaging lugs and ribs on the inner and outer caps, whereby when the outer cap is pressed axially downwardly to overcome the bias of said spring means, the lugs and ribs inter-engage whereby the caps rotate together to remove the closure assembly from a container, and a tamper evident band connected to the inner cap having a radially outwardly projecting flange positioned to be engaged by the outer cap to fracture bridge connections connecting a breakaway ring to said inner cap.
- 20. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 19 including a series of circumferentially spaced frangible bridges connecting said tamper evident band to said inner cap.
- 21. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 19 including flexible means for engaging under the retainer bead comprising a plurality of inwardly biased spring fingers circumferentially spaced and projecting from the inner terminal edge of the tamper evident band.
- 22. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 19 including a series of tapered ramps on the bottle neck finish below the retainer bead and confronting the spring fingers of the tamper evident band portion oriented in a manner to permit rotation of the tamper evident band in a direction to seat the cap portion on a container and which engage a shoulder of the ramps when the cap portion is rotated in a direction to remove it thereby preventing rotation of the tamper evident band relative to the container and causing breaking of the fracturable bridges.
- 23. A tamper evident closure for a container having a finish with threads and a radially outwardly, circumferentially extending bead below the threads said closure comprising:a cap having a skirt portion and internal threads for cooperatively engaging the threads on the container to apply and remove the cap portion; a retainer ring depending from the lower edge of the skirt portion of the cap and connected thereto by a series of circumferentially spaced bridge connections; a tamper evident band having means for rotatably mounting the tamper evident band onto the retaining ring and means engaging under for the retainer bead on the container when the closure is fully seated; and said tamper evident band having a radially outwardly projecting flange positioned to be engaged by the cap to fracture the bridge connections.
- 24. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 23 wherein said means for rotatably mounting the tamper evident band comprises a radially inwardly directed circumferentially extending rib which seats in a circumferentially extending pocket in the outer peripheral surface of the retainer ring.
- 25. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 24, wherein the inter-engaging rib and pocket on the retainer ring and tamper evident band respectively, are provided with tapered surfaces to position and secure the tamper evident band portion snugly but rotatable relative to the cap.
- 26. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 24 wherein the inter-engaging rib and pocket on the retaining ring and tamper evident band, respectively, are provided with cam means whereby rotation of the cap relative to the container in one direction to remove the cap, produces axial displacement of said retaining ring and tamper evident band relative to one another to thereby fracture the bridge connections.
- 27. A closure assembly as claimed in claim 23 wherein the inter-engagement between the retaining ring and tamper evident band is made more secure as cap application forces cause the skirt portion of the cap to deform outwardly when the internal threads cooperatively engage the threads of the container's neck finish.
Parent Case Info
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/124,835 filed Mar. 17, 1999.
US Referenced Citations (39)
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/124835 |
Mar 1999 |
US |