|
(11) | EP 1 526 086 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| (54) | tamper-evident closure for bottles |
| (57) The invention provides the constitution of the cap-tube (1) with an external structure
capable of optionally receiving a breakable over-cap (4), a non-breakable over-cap
with a separable sealing band and an engaging metal over-cap (33), the cap-tube having
for this purpose, on its external periphery, in succession from the upper portion
to its intermediate step, a longitudinal groove capable of engaging with crimping
of the metal over-cap, a peripheral rib (8) capable of engaging with partial sectors
of the over-cap and with crimping of the metal over-cap, and a second peripheral rib
couplable to a mating rib of the over-cap of a removable type, numerous exterior projections
intended to mate with internal reliefs of the sealing band being located in the region
of the cap-tube between the two external ribs. |
[0001] The present invention is intended to disclose safety stoppers for bottles which afford substantial advantages over currently known stoppers, in particular functional advantages and advantages in terms of stopper production.
[0002] A main object of the present invention is to provide a new concept of modularity in safety stoppers for bottles, by the use of which, owing to the specific design characteristics provided by the present invention, it is possible to produce a wide range of safety stoppers based on the same essential basic components by merely introducing a few specific variations therein.
[0003] Starting with the same external component, commonly known as a tubular cap or "cap-tube", the present invention basically provides numerous variations of the safety stopper which are intended to satisfy different requirements by incorporating, in the same external tubular cap, various over-caps which provide safety stoppers with a tamper evident safety sealing strip of the type which has a seal which may be detached when opening the stopper and of the tear type and similarly stoppers with an external finish comprising an aluminium covering. These variations of stoppers can also incorporate two types of internal or "ring-type" sealing component with or without a crystal ball, and this increases the range of safety stoppers.
[0004] In accordance with the present improvements, therefore, the modularity of the present invention enables various types of safety stopper intended to fulfill different market requirements to be achieved through minor constructional variations, such as:
Safety stopper with tear seal. These safety stoppers necessitate the complete breakage of the over-cap to allow unscrewing of the cap and subsequent emptying of the bottle. This version is the safest, as it is the most difficult to cheat. It is a safety stopper especially intended for industries in which there is traditionally a high incidence of cheating.
Safety stopper with a tear seal at the stopper orifice. This is a safety stopper with a removable sealing strip which also has high safety characteristics allowing any tampering to be monitored. This type of safety stopper is suitable for products in which the incidence of cheating is not as high as in the aforementioned case. Although the removable seal has a high safety level, incidences of tampering can occur, in extreme cases, more easily than in the aforementioned case.
Safety stopper with metal covering. This is a safety stopper in which the over-cap is made of metal, for example of aluminium, and constitutes a crimped metal component with fine walls which is superimposed on the detachable cap of the stopper and gives the assembly formed by the safety stopper and the actual bottle an aesthetic appearance. It is a stopper which is particularly appropriate in cases where the aforementioned aesthetic characteristics are to be particularly promoted.
[0005] Each of the aforementioned three main variations may be combined with an internal seal with or without a ball, and this increases the range of possibilities for producing safety stoppers according to the present invention.
[0006] In particular, the improvements according to the present invention are intended to afford production advantages and functional advantages.
[0007] The production advantages include the smaller number of different moulds required to produce an entire range of safety stoppers and this is due to the characteristic of modularity of the present invention.
[0008] The necessary stocks of parts are at the same time reduced because the specific versions of parts are reduced and those which are common to the different designs provided are increased. This similarly represents a significant advantage with regard to production planning.
[0009] Similarly, assembly of different caps in the same bottle packaging and closure lines is considerably facilitated.
[0010] The present improvements similarly afford numerous significant functional advantages including:
difficulty in extracting the body of the safety stopper owing to the large strong area of the cap-tube, which affords greater safety.
[0011] The greater strength of the corresponding region of the tubular cap or cap-tube allows the production of cutting teeth on the body of the stopper, which do not have to correspond to the teeth of the tubular cap, as in embodiments of safety stoppers belonging to the state of the art, so errors in tip-to-tip assembly between teeth are avoided.
[0012] Faster pouring of the liquid in the bottle provided with a safety stopper according to the present improvements is also permitted by the greater open area of the intermediate body or "hoop".
[0013] In the versions with a removable band, the sealing strip may be detached, whatever the opening direction of the cap.
[0014] A further embodiment of the invention increases the versatility thereof by allowing the production of disposable stoppers for bottles which combine an external metal cover with an intermediate part moulded from synthetic material intended to engage with external ribs of the upper portion of the cap-tube and provided with external ribs for the press fit of the metal cover and which optionally has a sealing strip at the bottom which may be broken at the moment of opening, thus constituting a means for checking for possible tampering, in other words what is known in this industry as a "tamper evident" device. The metal cover may be longer if there is no "tamper evident" sealing strip, and covers the depth corresponding to said component.
[0015] The accompanying exemplary, non-limiting drawings of embodiments of the present invention will assist the understanding thereof.
[0016] Fig. 1 to 10 show a version of the type known as a tearable over-cap with the following detail.
[0020] Fig. 3 and 4 are views equivalent to Fig. 1 and 2 through planes at 90° to the planes in those figures.
[0021] Fig. 5 and 6 correspond to Fig. 1 and 2 in a second embodiment of the over-cap, without lateral windows.
[0022] Fig. 7, 7A and 8 are views similar to those in Fig. 1, 1A and 2, corresponding to the over-cap of Fig. 5 and 6.
[0023] Fig. 9 and 10 are a partial section with the safety stopper fitted and the same partial section with the cap detached once the over-cap from Fig. 1 to 8 has been withdrawn.
[0024] Fig. 11 and 12 show an elevation and a perspective view of the body of the safety stopper respectively, illustrating the anti-twist device between cap-tube and body.
[0025] Fig. 13 to 18 correspond to the version of safety stopper with a sealing strip which may be detached when it is opened, according to the following detail.
[0034] Fig. 19 is a front elevation and a partial section of a safety stopper according to the present improvements with a metal over-cap.
[0036] Fig. 21 is a view similar to Fig. 20 showing an illustration of the metal over-cap detached from the cap.
[0037] Fig. 22 is a section through the components of an alternative version of the invention in which the intermediate part has a safety sealing strip, the components being illustrated in the assembly position with the over-cap on the cap-tube.
[0038] Fig. 23 is a complete section of a stopper according to the present improvements in which the over-cap has already been fitted and incorporated on the cap-tube.
[0039] Fig. 24 is a view similar to Fig. 22 corresponding to the relative position of the components of the stopper in Fig. 22 and 23 in the open position.
[0040] Fig. 25 is a section similar to Fig. 23 in the version of an intermediate part without a lower safety sealing strip and external cover of greater length.
[0041] Fig. 26 and 27 are respective views in the fitted position and open position of the stopper shown in Fig. 25.
[0042] Fig. 28, 29 and 30 are sections through the indicated sectional planes of one of the assemblies of intermediate part and metal cover in the case where there is no lower sealing ring.
[0043] As shown in the figures, the improvements according to the present invention allow the production of a tubular cap assembly formed by the external tubular component 1 intended to be fitted on a portion of the bottle neck and by the upper cap 2 which is joined to the remainder of the cap-tube in the conventional manner by a weakened line 3 and is topped by the over-cap 4 of which the lower rim 5 faces a straight step 6 of the cap-tube 1. In the version illustrated, the over-cap 4 will be removable and is broken to allow opening of the cap 2. This represents the greater safety level since, to open the safety stopper, it is necessary to break the over-cap and this reveals any tampering which has occurred.
[0044] The over-cap 4 is held on the cap 2 by the disposition of several successive segments of internal peripheral ribs 7 on the internal face of the over-cap 4 which engage below the external rib 8 on the lower portion of the cap 2.
[0045] The safety stopper incorporating the present improvements comprises the so-called hoop 9 with a substantially cylindrical single collar 10 intended to be fitted in the interior of the bottle neck and having fine walls and a large-diameter orifice which combines with the internal sealing component 11 having a general structure in the form of a truncated cone which is open downwards to provide a large-diameter closure region 12 which fits directly on the start of the single cylindrical neck 10, thus providing a greater passage cross-section. Said hoop 9 also comprises a flange 9" which receives the flange 20 of the stopper body 18 which also abuts against the internal step 1' of the tubular component 1 of the cap-tube assembly 1, 2.
[0046] The over-cap 4 has a variable number of orifices, such as 13 and 14, which reduce the weight of the part, allow direct observation of the external or peripheral portion 15 of the cap 2 and allow improvements to moulding.
[0047] In the version shown in Fig. 5 to 8, the over-cap, indicated by reference numeral 16, is externally smooth with a variable number and disposition of weakened lines, such as 17, 17', 17", which allow said over-cap to be removed prior to opening of the safety stopper. The over-cap 16 has internal components which are common to those in the earlier figures.
[0048] Fig. 10 shows the portion of the cap 2 of the so-called cap-tube which has been removed from the body 18 and the tubular portion 1 to illustrate the seal or valve 11, hoop 9 and counter cap or body 18, which is shown in greater detail in Fig. 11 and 12.
[0049] The non-twist immobilisation of said body 18 relative to the tubular portion 1 of the cap-tube is achieved in the manner illustrated in Fig. 12, which shows that the step 19 of the lower flange 20 of the body 18, preferably the internal limiting line 21 of said step, comprises numerous projections such as those indicated by the reference numerals 22, 22', 22", which occupy one or more circular sectors of small extension, preferably in a mutual diametrically opposed disposition. These projections 22, 22', 22" have pointed regions and/or cutting edges so that, when the over-cap is press-fitted, the internal step of the live edge 23 thereof is partially inserted into said pointed and/or sharp-edged projections, and automatic non-twist retention thereof is effected without drawbacks such as those which occur in some state of the art embodiments comprising mating teeth, in which fitting problems can arise owing to frontal engagement of the teeth, in addition to major production problems and costs.
[0050] As mentioned hereinbefore, the over-cap 4 has a lower fringe 24 which is joined by a tear line 24' and will be held on the cap-tube when two peripheral ribs 25 thereof engage in a groove 26 in the corresponding position of said cap-tube.
[0051] The illustrated embodiment therefore provides a safety stopper having a greater passage cross-section to allow a greater discharge of liquid while at the same time providing a cap-tube which may be fixed directly to the lower flange of the stopper body by being pushed directly into the step projections thereof and which also has means for retention both of the over-cap via the mating disposition of ribs and of the lower fringe of said over-cap abutting against the cap-tube and also held via a disposition of mating rib and groove. Production of the retaining ribs in the form of partial sectors on the over-cap facilitates demoulding of the part and greatly simplifies production thereof.
[0052] Fig. 13 to 17 show production of the safety stopper with a sealing strip which is detached on opening, and it can be seen that the cap-tube made up of the tubular component 1 and the cap 2 is common to the above-described embodiments but, in this case, receives an over-cap 37 which is held by ribs 37" mating with the rib 8 of the cap 2. In this case, the stopper has an automatically removable sealing band 28 which is joined by a tear line 27 to the over-cap 37 and which, internally, has numerous longitudinal internal ribs indicated by reference numerals 29, 29', 29", which preferably have an inclined flank structure, for example a form similar to the known dovetail, and are capable of stopping the twist of the over-cap with numerous ribs disposed at the periphery of the cap-tube step, as indicated by reference numerals 30, 30', 30" of the peripheral cap-tube step, so that, when the over-cap is twisted in any direction, the forces on said band 28 automatically cause the breakage thereof, as shown schematically in Fig. 17, in which said band 28 has been broken into two or more portions 28' and 28". Continuation of unscrewing of the over-cap will allow opening of the bottle, and detachment of the seal 28 will reveal tampering with said safety stopper.
[0053] In this embodiment, the projections 30, 30', 30" are preferably distributed in two mutually symmetrical semicircular regions, but with the ribs having variable inclinations to allow demoulding of the part in two halves. Said ribs preferably have flanks which are substantially parallel to the diametral plane of symmetry.
[0054] Fig. 18 shows an embodiment of the safety stopper with a ball seal which is indicated by reference numeral 31. In this case, said ball is disposed on an extension 32 of the hoop, the other components being similar to those already described.
[0055] Fig. 19 to 21 show the disposition of a metal over-cap 33 which completely surrounds the portion of the cap 2 of the cap-tube assembly formed by the lateral tubular component and cap 2 which, as is characteristic of the present improvements, is common to all the embodiments. Said over-cap 33 is fitted by its lower rim 34 on a peripheral step 6 of the cap-tube and has a rib 35, produced by crimping, which is held on the projecting rib 8 of the cap 2. A row of external reliefs 36, 36', 36" engage with the external rib of the cap 2, indicated by reference numeral 37' in Fig. 1 to 4, and rotationally connect the two components so that, when detached, they are separated as a single component.
[0056] As can be seen in the version in Fig. 22 to 30, the present improvements allow the production of a moulded intermediate part 101, produced from synthetic material and intended to engage by means of the internal ribs 102 with the external ribs 103 of the upper part 104 of the cap-tube, having a lower breakable sealing ring 105 joined by a tear line 106. A metal cover 107 is fitted on the upper face of the over-cap 101 and laterally engages and is connected to a rib 108 on the lateral surface of the actual over-cap which also has an internal peripheral rib 109 intended to engage below the projecting rim 110 to which the ribs 103 are joined.
[0057] The sealing ring 105 has internal ribs 111 which engage with the peripheral ribs 112 of the intermediate collar 113 of the flap 114 of the cap-tube.
[0058] The coupled position is shown in Fig. 23 and the open position in Fig. 24, which illustrates the separation of the intermediate body in the form of an over-cap 101 with its metal cover in such a way that the sealing strip 105 has been broken into two portions so that, when the container is closed again by screwing the over-cap, the sealing strip cannot be replaced and is an obvious sign that the bottle has been tampered with.
[0059] Fig. 25, 26 and 27 show the version of an intermediate part without a safety sealing strip. In this case, the intermediate part 115 ends at its lower rim where the cover 116 is partially fitted by means of gentle transverse crimping 117, the cover 116 ending with a lower flap 118, of which the lower rim 119 faces the step 120 of the flap 121 of the over-cap.
[0060] The two described versions provide an embodiment of the stopper with which the entire external surface of the metal cover and of the over-cap are externally flush, as shown in the figures illustrating the stopper fitted in the bottle neck, in other words Fig. 23 and 25.
[0061] Fig. 28, 29 and 30 show in greater detail one of the embodiments provided in the present invention, specifically the embodiment corresponding to an intermediate part without a safety sealing strip. Said figures show the cover 116 with the above-described crimping 117 and the upper crimping with similar characteristics 122. The linear crimping 123, 123', 123" which engage with a mating profile of the intermediate part 115 can similarly be seen.
[0062] It will emerge from the foregoing description that the present improvements allow the production of a whole range of safety stoppers of modular form with a single cap-tube to allow adaptation of tearable versions, of automatically detached sealing strip and of metal over-caps, with a minimum of moulds for the production thereof and with great functional effectiveness.
[0063] Although the present invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments, these are non-limiting and, furthermore, a person skilled in the art, after giving access to the disclosure of the present description, claims and drawings, can introduce numerous variations to the subject of the present invention which are included in the scope thereof, providing that they are contained within the scope of the following claims.
1. Safety stoppers for bottles, of the type comprising a hoop-shaped part adaptable to
the upper rim of the bottle neck and to a region of the internal portion of the orifice
thereof, a displaceable seal or valve, a so-called hoop mating with said sealing component
and receiving the body of the stopper to which is screw-fitted the cap portion of
a cap-tube component fitted by its lower cylindrical skirt on the exterior of the
bottle neck and intended to receive an external covering over-cap, characterised by the constitution of the cap-tube with an external structure capable of optionally
receiving a breakable over-cap, a non-breakable over-cap with a separable sealing
band and an engaging metal over-cap, the cap-tube having for this purpose, on its
external periphery, in succession from the upper portion to its intermediate step,
a longitudinal groove capable of engaging with crimping of the metal over-cap, a peripheral
rib capable of engaging with partial sectors of the over-cap and with crimping of
the metal over-cap, and a second peripheral rib couplable to a mating rib of the over-cap
of a removable type, numerous exterior projections intended to mate with internal
reliefs of the separable sealing band being located in the region of the cap-tube
between the two external ribs, while the cap-tube has a smooth internal step intended
to be press-fitted in a non-twist disposition in projections produced on the step
of the lower flange of the body for the radial immobilisation thereof.
2. Safety stoppers for bottles according to claim 1, characterised in that the projections of the lower step of the flange of the body are disposed so as to
occupy small angular sectors, preferably in a diametrically opposed disposition, and
have a profile which is pointed and/or with cutting edges to allow insertion by compression
of the smooth internal step of the cap-tube, resulting in a non-twist effect.
3. Safety stoppers for bottles according to claim 1, characterised in that the internal sealing body has the form of a truncated cone which is open downwards
so as to define a large-diameter seat which adjoins a single internal collar of the
hoop part of the safety stopper, giving rise to a maximum cross-section for passage
of the discharged substance.
4. Safety stoppers for bottles according to claim 1, characterised in that the projections of the cap-tube intended to engage with internal reliefs of the breakable
sealing strip are produced in two opposing semicircular sectors with profiles that
are substantially parallel to a diametrical plane of symmetry to allow the demoulding
thereof through two halves by lateral displacement.
5. Safety stoppers for bottles according to claim 1, characterised in that the metal over-cap has crimping of a shape which mates with the external rib of the
cap to allow rotational connection thereof.
6. Safety stoppers for bottles according to claim 1, characterised by the disposition of an intermediate part between the over-cap and the cap-tube, moulded
from synthetic resin, which is intended to receive the over-cap in the form of an
exterior metal cover connected by engagement of external axial reliefs of said cover
in reliefs of mating shape of the intermediate part, said metal cover having an external
diameter corresponding to the external diameter of the cap-tube and being flush therewith.
7. Safety stoppers for bottles according to claim 6, characterised in that the intermediate moulded part is extended at the bottom, with interposition of a
transverse tear line, by a breakable sealing flap in the orifice of the stopper.
8. Safety stoppers for bottles according to claim 6, characterised in that the external metal cover has a flap as an extension of its lower rim provided with
peripheral crimping which is connected below the lower rim of the moulded intermediate
part and of which the lower rim faces the external step of the cap-tube.