EP0793602B1

EP0793602B1 - Pull-tab for a liquid container

Info

Publication number: EP0793602B1
Application number: EP95942498A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Masamichi Kaneko; Hidetoshi Konno; Junichi Satoyoshi
Original assignee: Tetra Laval Holdings and Finance SA
Current assignee: Tetra Laval Holdings and Finance SA
Priority date: 1994-11-29
Filing date: 1995-11-29
Publication date: 2000-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 2015-11-29
Also published as: DE69515326D1; JPH08151042A; EP0793602A4; KR100361874B1; TW304929B; JP3561307B2; WO1996016870A1; AU4370496A; EP0793602A1; DE69515326T2

Description

Background and Summary

This invention relates to a liquid container and to a pull-tab for such a container to be attached to a pour opening thereof. The invention also relates to a method for making such a pull-tab and to a method for attaching such a pull-tab to a container.

Conventionally, a liquid container formed mainly of paper or a plastic is provided with a pour opening which is sealed with a lid member, such as a film-like sheet or a pull-tab made of a resin, attached thereto. The container is opened by removing the whole lid member.

Once the lid member is removed, however, the pour opening is always in the opened state so that the liquid in the container, for example, juice, is apt to be spilled. In addition, the removed lid member makes another piece of refuse which is separate from the liquid container and separately discarding the removed lid member increases problems of waste disposal.

To solve these problems, it is possible to construct the lid member such that only a part thereof is torn off. In this case, however, when the consumer releases the partly torn lid member, the lid member undesirably covers the pour opening again by its own restoring force (so-called "toughness").

Further, with the construction in which only a part of the lid member is torn off, there arises another problem in that the lid member torn off and pulled up may interfere with the consumer's nose when the consumer's drinks the contained liquid with the consumer's mouth being in direct contact with the pour opening.

US-A-4,582,216 discloses an easy-open, reclosable container with pouring lip and drain surface. This known container has a top lid, a container body portion, an upstanding peripheral rim, a pre-cut dispensing aperture, and a pouring lip/drain surface that is integrally formed with the top lid between the aperture and the upstanding rim. The container also has a closure element that is hingedly attached to the top lid. The closure element has a grasping tab that is frangibly attached to the closure element by a series of frangible lines. Initially, the grasping tab lies flat on the surface of the top lid and does not project outward from the container. When the tab is lifted up from the surface of the top lid, the tab separates, i.e. breaks free from the closure element along the frangible links, thereby providing the means for a consumer to grasp the closure element to open the container.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid container with a pull-tab and a corresponding pull-tab adapted to be attached to such a liquid container which is simple in structure and easily producable, wherein the pull-tab retains the fully opened state without covering the pour opening even when the pull-tab of the opening remains on the container and which does not act as an obstacle to drinking.

This object is solved by a container with a pull-tab as disclosed in claim 1 or by a pull-tab adapted to be attached to a liquid container as disclosed in claim 8. A method for making such a pull-tab is disclosed in claim 12. A method for attaching such a pull-tab to a container is disclosed in claim 13.

According to the invention said pull-tab for covering and sealing a pour opening of such a liquid container includes a sheet having a ring-like cut therein. The cut has two ends separated by an uncut connecting portion and defines an outer tab portion and an inner body portion outside and inside the cut, respectively. The body portion has a folded end portion remote from the connecting portion and folded towards the back side of the sheet along a fold line extending obliquely relative to a line extending between a centre of the end portion and a centre of the connecting portion. A lower side of the folded end portion is bonded to a surface of the container such that the pour opening is covered and sealed with a sealing portion of the body portion located between the folded portion and the connecting portion.

According to the method for making such a pull-tab adapted to be attached to said container a ring-like cut is formed in a sheet. The cut has two ends separated by an uncut connecting portion and defines an outer tab portion and an inner body portion outside and inside the cut, respectively. An end portion of the body portion remote form the connecting portion is folded towards a back side of the sheet along a folded line extended obliquely relative to a line extending between a centre of the end portion and a centre of the connecting portion.

When the pull-tab is opened, the folded portion of the body portion is maintained in an extended state so that the pull-tab does not move in such a direction as to close the pour opening (or the force acting on the pull-tab to move same in such a direction is small). Therefore, a sufficiently opened state can be easily maintained.

Further, since the end portion of the body portion opposite to the connecting portion is folded toward the back side thereof along a line extending obliquely relative to a line connecting the end portion and the connecting portion, the opened and retained pull-tab is oriented off to the side. Therefore, when the consumer drinks the contained liquid with the consumer's mouth being in direct touch with the pour opening, the pull-tab that has been pulled up and retained does not interfere with the consumer's nose.

Brief Description of the Drawings

One embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used to designate similar elements and in which:

FIGS. 1A-1C are perspective, top, and side cross-sectional views of a pull-tab for a liquid container according to an embodiment of the present invention, the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1C being taken along the line 1C-1C of FIG. 1B;

FIGS. 2A-2C are perspective views showing operation of the pull-tab for liquid container according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view showing a pull-tab according to an embodiment of the present invention in an opened and retained state; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pull-tab according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing steps according to a method of preparing the pull-tab according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

FIGS. 1A-1C show a pull-tab for a liquid container according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in these Figures, a pull-tab 10 is attached to an upper lid 81 of a liquid container 80 formed mainly of paper or a plastic material for covering and sealing a pour opening 83 provided in the upper lid.

The pull-tab 10 is formed of a resin sheet having an approximately elliptic external shape and a peripheral portion cut into a ring-like shape along a cut line 17 with a connecting portion 15 remaining uncut so that a tab portion 20 and a body portion 30 are defined outside and inside the cut line, respectively.

The body portion 30 has an end portion remote from the connecting portion 15 and folded toward the back side thereof along a folding line 33 extending obliquely at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to a line extending in a longitudinal direction of the pull-tab 10 and between the end portion and the connecting portion 15. The folded portion serves to function as a fixing part 32 (shown by the dotted line).

In other words, the folding line 33 is formed as a line extending obliquely at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the direction the direction of the line A in FIG. 1B along which the pour opening 83 is inclined when the consumer drinks the contained liquid with the consumer's mouth being in touch therewith.

An arcuate, protruded retaining piece 35 is provided at the center of the folding line 33.

The pull-tab 10 is prepared and is attached to the liquid container 80 as follows. As shown in FIG. 4, the external shape of the pull-tab 10 is punched from a sheet and the

cut lines

17 and 19 are formed. Then, the fixing part 31 is folded toward the back side of the body portion 30 (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4) with the folding line 33 connecting both ends of the cut line 19 (FIGS. 1A-1B).

The resulting pull-tab 10 is placed, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, on the upper lid 81 of the liquid container 80. The lower side of the fixing part 31 of the pull-tab 10 is secured by bonding or welding to the upper lid 81 such that the pour opening 83 is covered with that portion of the body portion 30 located between the folded fixing part 31 and the connecting portion 15. The surface to be secured is shown by the dotted slant lines in FIG. 1B.

As shown in FIG. 1C, a thin resin film 87 is applied, for the sealing of the pour opening 83, to the inside surface of the liquid container 80 and that part of the lower side of the pull-tab positioned in the pour opening 83. Thus, the operation for attaching the pull-tab 10 is completed.

Next, FIGS. 2A through 2C show the operation for opening the pull-tab 10. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2A, the tab portion 20 of the pull-tab 10 is pulled up about the connecting portion 15.

When the tab 20 is further pulled up, as shown in FIG. 2B, the body portion 30 is pulled up from the upper lid 81 about a portion near the folding line 33 of the fixing part 31. At this time, the film 87 (FIG. 1C) applied to the lower side of the body portion 30 is torn off in conformity with the shape of the pour opening 83, thereby to open the pour opening 83.

From this state, the tab 20 is further pulled up and drawn toward the flange 85 on the periphery of the upper lid 81 and, then, is brought into engagement with the flange 85 as shown in FIG. 2C. In this case, the tip end of the retaining piece 35 is rotated above the upper lid 81 and positioned on the fixing part 31 side for abutting engagement with the upper lid 81.

In the present invention, when the pull-tab 10 is opened as shown in FIG. 2C, the folded part of the body portion 30 keeps the expanded state so that the pull-tab 10 does not move in such a direction as to close the pour opening 83 (or the force acting on the pull-tab to move same in such a direction is small). Therefore, a sufficiently opened state can be easily maintained and the pour opening 83 is not again covered with the pull-tab.

Further, since the present embodiment uses the retaining piece 35 provided adjacent the folding line 33 and since the retaining piece 35 is, as described above, positioned on the fixing part 31 side for abutting engagement with the upper lid 81 when the pull tab 10 is pulled up, the sufficiently opened state of the pull-tab 10 can be maintained even more reliably.

The body portion 30 is pulled up about a portion near the folding line 33. In this case, since the folding line extends obliquely at an angle of about 45 degrees relative to the longitudinal direction of the pull-tab 10, the body portion 30 pulled up is retained in a state where it faces in a lateral direction about 90 degrees different from the longitudinal direction of the pull-tab 10 in the initial state as shown in FIG. 2C and FIG. 3.

Therefore, when the consumer drinks the contained liquid with the consumer's mouth being in direct touch with the pour opening 83, the pull-tab that has been pulled up and retained does not interfere with the consumer's nose.

As described in detail in the foregoing, the pull-tab for a liquid container according to the present invention has the following excellent effects.

(1) A sufficiently opened state can be maintained even when the pull-tab, after the opening, is kept attached to the liquid container. Thus, tho pour opening 83 is not again covered with the pull-tab.

(2) The pull-tab does not make a refuse separate from the liquid container.

(3) Since, in drinking, the pull-tab in the opened state is oriented off to the side from the pour opening 83, there is no fear of the pull-tab interfering with the consumer's nose.

(4) It is easy to prepare the pull-tab, since the pull-tab can be produced by merely cutting from a sheet.

If desired or necessary, the structure in which the pour opening 83 is sealed with the pull-tab 10 is not limited only to the above-described structure and various other sealing structures may be adopted. Also, the inclination angle of the folding line 33 may be any other angle than about 45 degrees.

While this invention has been illustrated and described in accordance with a preferred embodiment, it is recognized that variations and changes may be made therein without departing from the invention as set forth in the claims.

Claims

A container (80) with a pull-tab (10) for covering and sealing a pour opening (83) of said container (80), said pull-tab comprising:

a sheet having a ring-like cut (17) therein, the cut having two ends separated by an uncut connecting portion (15) and defining an outer tab portion (20) and an inner body portion (30) outside and inside the cut (17), respectively, the body portion (30) having a folded end portion (31) remote from the connecting portion (15) and folded towards a back side of the sheet along a fold line (33) extending oblique relative to a line (A) extending between a centre of the end portion and a centre of the connecting portion (15),

wherein a lower side of the folded end portion (31) is bonded to a surface of the container such that the pour opening (83) is covered and sealed with a sealing portion of the body portion (30) located between the folded portion (31) and the connecting portion (15).
The container accordion to claim 1, characterised in that the cut (17) is substantially U-shaped.
The container according to claim 2, characterised in that legs of the U-shaped cut (17) extend in a direction of the line extending between the centre of the end portion (31) and the centre of the connecting portion (15).
The container according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the fold line (33) extends at a 45° angle to the line extending between the centre of the end portion and the centre of the connecting portion.
The container according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the pour opening (83) is formed in a top lid (81) of the container.
The container according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that a resin film is applied to an inside surface of the container, the sealing portion being sealed to the resin film.
The container according to at least one of the previous claims, characterised in that the pour opening (83) is longer in a longitudinal direction than in a transverse direction, the fold line extending at a 45° angle to the longitudinal direction.
A pull-tab (10) for covering and sealing a pour opening (83) of a liquid container (80), comprising:
a sheet having a ring-like cut (17) therein, the cut having two ends separated by an uncut connecting portion (15) and defining an outer tab portion (20) and an inner body portion (30) outside and inside the cut (17), respectively, the body portion (30) having a folded end portion (31) remote from the connecting portion (15) and folded towards the back side of the sheet along a fold line (33) extending obliquely relative to a line (A) extending between the centre of a end portion and a centre of the connecting portion, wherein a lower side of the folded end portion (31) is adapted to be bonded to a surface of the container such that the pour opening (83) is covered and sealed with a sealing portion of the body portion (30) located between the folded portion (31) and the connecting portion (15).
The pull-tab according to claim 8, characterised in that the cut (17) is substantially U-shaped.
The pull-tab according to claim 9, characterised in that legs of the U-shaped cut (17) extend in the direction of the line extending between the centre of the end portion (31) and the centre of the connecting portion (15).
The pull-tab according to at least one of the claims 8 to 10, characterised in that the fold line (33) extends at a 45° angle to the line extending between the centre of the end portion and the centre of the connecting portion.
A method for making a pull-tab (10) adapted to be attached to a container (80) for closing a pour opening (83) formed therein comprising the steps of:

forming a ring-like cut (17) in a sheet, the cut having two ends separated by an uncut connecting portion (15) and defining an outer tab portion (20) and an inner body portion (30) outside and inside the cut (17), respectively; and

folding an end portion of the body portion (30) remote from the connecting portion (15) toward a back side of the sheet along a fold line (33) extending oblique relative to a line extending between a centre of the end portion and a centre of the connection portion (15).
The method for attaching a pull-tab according to claims 8 to 11 to a container characterised by the step of attaching the end portion (31) of the sheet to the container (80) and attaching a sealing portion of the body portion (30) between the folded portion and the connecting portion (15) over the pour opening (83) and to a resin film applied to an inside surface of the liquid container (80) so that the resin film covers said pour opening (82) of the container.
The method for attaching a pull-tab according to claims 8 to 11 to a container characterised by the step of attaching the end portion (31) of the sheet to the container (80) and attaching a sealing portion of the body portion (30) between the folder portion and a connecting portion (15) over the pour opening (83).