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(11) | EP 0 698 559 A3 |
(12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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(54) | Tamper-evident closure and tamper-evident closure and container combination |
(57) A tamper-evident closure (2) includes a threaded closure and tamper-indicating features.
The features have upwardly and inwardly folded tabs (121) which lock against the lower
surface of an annular shoulder (202) on a container neck (203) to retain the tamper-indicating
features on the neck as the closure is removed. The tamper-indicating features include
a pilfer ring (125) to which the tabs are integrally connected. The tabs are resilient
and are flexed by the container finish at the joints where they are joined to the
pilfer ring. The closure of the present invention may be installed simply by screwing
it onto a container neck in a one-step process. The flexible tabs assist in guiding
the closure and centering it when installed onto the container neck and do not require
the holding of the closure or the container finish to close tolerances in order to
be consistently effective. A thin web (123) of material is provided between the tabs
which prevents the outward bending of the tabs which may occur during shipping or
handling. The invention also provides the tamper-evident closure and container combination. |