EP1254848A2 - Fermetures de récipient - Google Patents

Fermetures de récipient Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1254848A2
EP1254848A2 EP02253076A EP02253076A EP1254848A2 EP 1254848 A2 EP1254848 A2 EP 1254848A2 EP 02253076 A EP02253076 A EP 02253076A EP 02253076 A EP02253076 A EP 02253076A EP 1254848 A2 EP1254848 A2 EP 1254848A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
cap
plug
neck
closure assembly
container
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP02253076A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1254848A3 (fr
Inventor
John Anthony Breach
Philip Anthony Peters
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Cope Allman Plastic Packaging Ltd
Original Assignee
Cope Allman Plastic Packaging Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Cope Allman Plastic Packaging Ltd filed Critical Cope Allman Plastic Packaging Ltd
Publication of EP1254848A2 publication Critical patent/EP1254848A2/fr
Publication of EP1254848A3 publication Critical patent/EP1254848A3/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D41/00—Caps, e.g. crown caps or crown seals, i.e. members having parts arranged for engagement with the external periphery of a neck or wall defining a pouring opening or discharge aperture; Protective cap-like covers for closure members, e.g. decorative covers of metal foil or paper
    • B65D41/32—Caps or cap-like covers with lines of weakness, tearing-strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices, e.g. to facilitate formation of pouring openings
    • B65D41/58—Caps or cap-like covers combined with stoppers

Definitions

  • This invention relates to container closures and to methods of sealing the container neck on filling of the containers.
  • the closure comprises a cap that can be gripped and turned to open the container for access to the contents.
  • Such caps are generally provided with some form of sealing disc which is effective in use to prevent moisture reaching the contents. If the sealing disc is to be relied upon initially to provide an aseptic seal then the capping machinery needs to be arranged in an aseptic zone, making it difficult to adjust and maintain without breaching the sterile zone.
  • a closure assembly adapted to co-operate with the neck of a container
  • the closure assembly comprising a cap and a plug
  • the plug being adapted to be inserted into the neck of a container to effect an aseptic seal with the container neck
  • the cap comprising a skirt provided on the internal surface thereof with formations that are adapted to co-operate with complementary formations provided on the external wall of the container neck, the cap and the neck formations being so arranged that the cap can be turned from a fully applied condition to a release position for removal of the cap from the neck
  • the plug being adapted to be inserted into the neck to effect an aseptic seal of the neck prior to application of the cap
  • the cap and the plug being secured together in the assembled condition of the cap and plug on the container neck, the arrangement being such that on subsequent removal of the fully applied cap from the neck, the plug is withdrawn from the neck by being held captive to the cap.
  • the invention can assist the user in gaining access to the product.
  • the cap and plug may be adapted to be mechanically secured together in the assembled condition of the cap and plug on the container neck.
  • the formations on the cap and neck may be screw threads, bayonet connections, or any of the other formations which permit removal of a cap on turning of the cap relative to the container neck. Some such arrangements may involve the application of a diametral squeezing force to part of the cap skirt to enable turning of the cap.
  • the cap can be applied by either pushing over the neck formations, or in appropriate cases by screwing down. Similarly, the plug could be twisted on insertion if this proved beneficial.
  • the cap and the plug are adapted to be snap-engageable together.
  • Such a snap engagement is preferably afforded by providing the plug with a peripheral radially-directed flange that is engageable in an internal recess defined in the cap, preferably adjacent to the connection between the sidewall and the top wall of the cap.
  • the plug and the cap can be mechanically joined in several ways - purely mechanically with a snap fitting or, for example, by using a foil layer as a medium for induction heating of materials that will not bond to the bottle.
  • the plug is preferably substantially of inverted top-hat shape. Such a plug will, with advantage, reduce the headspace in the container. This will reduce the damaging effect of headspace oxygen on sensitive products, at the same time as causing air to leave the container during sealing of the plug, rather than risking the ingress of potentially contaminated surrounding air.
  • the outer profile of the plug need not necessarily be frusto-conical - one arrangement might have a plug whose 'active' section was more barrel shaped (ie convex), so that sealing takes place some way into the container neck - combined with a container neck whose inner diameter is constricted at a position spaced from the free end of the neck. This could eliminate the requirement to clean the outside of the neck.
  • the cap and plug may be made of different materials which allows them to be optimised for their respective functions.
  • the plug may include oxygen absorbing resins, be of a high barrier blend of materials, or formed as a multilayer or coated structure to provide a high barrier function, or may be of a 'low taint' formulation.
  • the cap material may be chosen to provide tight sealing on threads, senior-friendly opening forces, etc, without compromising seal integrity.
  • the material from which the plug is formed may be permeable to particular gases.
  • An additional layer can be added across the top of the plug to improve the gas barrier characteristics of the assembly. This could be applied to the plug before or after it is fitted to the bottle, and because of its location does not have to be cleaned.
  • the additional layer may comprise a foil or a membrane.
  • the additional layer may comprise a cap insert, to ease handling.
  • the plug may be configured with a suitably dimensioned land to facilitate application/sealing of the additional layer.
  • the plug preferably comprises a storage region which provides a storage space.
  • the storage region is preferably provided by a recess which when the plug is in a fully applied condition extends into the volume defined by the container.
  • the additional layer acts to close the storage region.
  • the storage region of the plug can be used to contain materials that modify the atmosphere or the product. Such materials do not need to be sterilised since they will not come into contact with the product, nor will they get wet. They will however be enclosed in the storage region by an additional layer, if fitted. For example, putting a small amount of an oxygen scavenger in the storage region, under foil, would improve juice/alcohol quality or shelf-life of a product.
  • the additional layer is impermeable so as to act as a gas barrier then advantageously only oxygen from the product will be taken by the scavenger and not from atmosphere so that the scavenger does not become prematurely saturated.
  • the storage region may hold materials which emit odours which leach through the plug and into the product by osmosis so as to ensure good flavour characteristics over the shelf life of the product.
  • the storage region of the plug could be used to include prize tokens, leaflets, promotional gadgets, light activated singing 'chips' (as found in Birthday cards etc).
  • cap and container neck are provided with tamper-evident features.
  • tamper-evident features are well-known in the art and need not be further described.
  • a second aspect of the invention we provide a method of filling a container utilising a closure assembly in accordance with the first aspect of the invention, the method comprising inserting the contents through the open neck of the container, and in an aseptic zone bringing the plug to the neck of the container and urging the plug either partially or completely into the neck, so as to achieve in either case an aseptic seal of the plug to the bottle neck, and then bringing the container to a capping station at which the cap is applied.
  • the subsequent application of the cap is preferably arranged to urge the plug to the fully applied condition.
  • this shows a vertical cross-section of a bottle neck 1 of substantially cylindrical form provided towards the upper end thereof with external screw threads 2 and beneath those with an annular retaining rib 3.
  • a plug 4 of inverted top-hat shape has a rounded corner 5 between the plug side wall and base 6 in order to minimise the risk of dirt, germs or bacteria being trapped in crevices.
  • the plug has a flat annular rim 7 which is of greater radial width than that of the free end 8 of the neck so as to project radially outwards of the neck free end 8 when the plug has been fully inserted into the neck, that is when the lower surface of the rim 7 abuts the neck free end 8, as in Figure 2.
  • a foil portion 18 is affixed to the upper surface of the rim 7.
  • the foil portion 18 closes recess 21 which is defined by internal surfaces of the plug 4. As hereinbefore discussed the recess 21 provides a storage region for various objects and/or substances.
  • Insertion of the plug 4 into the neck 1 can be carried out in an aseptic zone of a bottle filling machine, as soon as the contents have been fed into the bottle. Suitable mechanisms can be provided in the aseptic zone for bringing a plug into register with the neck, and then urging the plug downwards relative to the neck, by a sufficient amount to effect an aseptic seal between the plug 4 and the neck 1.
  • the side walls 9 of the plug 4 are provided with a taper to effect a seal on insertion of the plug into the neck.
  • the seal is effected between the tapered side wall 9 of the plug and the plain cylindrical internal surface 10 of the neck.
  • FIG 2 the plug 4 is shown fully inserted into the neck 1, the full insertion of the plug having been carried out in the aseptic zone.
  • the plug is only partially inserted into the neck in the aseptic zone, but by a sufficient amount to achieve an aseptic seal between the plug wall 9 and the neck surface 10.
  • Figures 2, 3 and 4 show a cap 11 being applied to the bottle, preferably by urging the cap downwards onto the bottle with a sufficient force to cause the internal screw threads 12 on the cap skirt 13 to snap over the threads 2 on the neck.
  • the lower margin of the cap skirt comprises an integral tamper evident retaining ring 14, of well-known form, which snaps over the retaining rib 3 on the neck as the cap reaches the fully applied condition shown in Figure 4.
  • Ring 14 is connected to the remainder of the cap by a frangible connection 16 of known arrangement.
  • the cap is provided internally with an annular rib 15, of rounded cross-sectional profile, spaced from the cap end wall so as to define an annular corner recess 17 in the corner defined by the connection between the cap base and skirt.
  • rib 15 and that of the radially outer margin of the plug rim 7 are chosen such that as the cap closely approaches the fully applied condition of Figure 4, the rim 7 snaps past the rib 15 into the recess 17. Moreover, those radial dimensions are such that on subsequent unscrewing of the cap by the customer, sufficient force is exerted by cap rib 15 on the plug flange 7 to remove the plug from the neck.
  • the closure combination of plug and cap is removable as an entity from the bottle, simply by unscrewing of the cap.
  • a second embodiment of the invention is which a plug 4' and a foil closure 18' are adapted to be held captive to a cap 11'.
  • the plug 4' and cap 11' are similar to those shown in Figures 1 to 5, however the radial width of annular rim 7' is smaller than that of plug 4 and the cap 11' is not provided with a rib 15.
  • a heat sensitive adhesive is applied to both sides of the foil 18'.
  • the foil 18' is then applied onto the upper surface of the rim 7'.
  • the plug 4' is then inserted into the neck 1' in an aseptic zone and the cap 11' is urged onto said neck. In so doing adhesive on the upper surface of the foil 18' contacts with underside 21' of roof 20' of the cap 11'.
  • a heat induction process can be used to bond the foil with the cap.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Closures For Containers (AREA)
EP02253076A 2001-05-05 2002-05-01 Fermetures de récipient Withdrawn EP1254848A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0111136A GB0111136D0 (en) 2001-05-05 2001-05-05 Container closures
GB0111136 2001-05-05

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1254848A2 true EP1254848A2 (fr) 2002-11-06
EP1254848A3 EP1254848A3 (fr) 2004-03-31

Family

ID=9914161

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP02253076A Withdrawn EP1254848A3 (fr) 2001-05-05 2002-05-01 Fermetures de récipient

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1254848A3 (fr)
GB (1) GB0111136D0 (fr)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008065019A2 (fr) * 2006-11-27 2008-06-05 Moeller Lutz Élément de fermeture pour récipient, en particulier bouteille à boissons diverses en verre, et procédé de fermeture correspondant
WO2012120075A1 (fr) 2011-03-09 2012-09-13 Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. Dispositif de bouchage d'un col de recipient
CN103371912A (zh) * 2012-04-24 2013-10-30 上海樱琦干燥剂有限公司 一种带固体二氧化硅片状干燥剂的药瓶
WO2013159634A1 (fr) * 2012-04-24 2013-10-31 上海樱琦干燥剂有限公司 Bouteille de médicament ayant un agent antihygroscopique en paillettes de silice solide

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3035730A (en) * 1957-06-26 1962-05-22 Grace W R & Co Bottle cap
US4421235A (en) * 1979-02-08 1983-12-20 Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. Inc. Oxygen absorbent-containing bag and container sealing member having the same
US5186775A (en) * 1988-10-05 1993-02-16 Cullen John S Method of fabrication of a container for bulk material
WO1997001486A1 (fr) * 1995-06-27 1997-01-16 Pepsico, Inc. Fermeture de bouteille dotee d'un support rapporte de prime

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3035730A (en) * 1957-06-26 1962-05-22 Grace W R & Co Bottle cap
US4421235A (en) * 1979-02-08 1983-12-20 Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. Inc. Oxygen absorbent-containing bag and container sealing member having the same
US5186775A (en) * 1988-10-05 1993-02-16 Cullen John S Method of fabrication of a container for bulk material
WO1997001486A1 (fr) * 1995-06-27 1997-01-16 Pepsico, Inc. Fermeture de bouteille dotee d'un support rapporte de prime

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008065019A2 (fr) * 2006-11-27 2008-06-05 Moeller Lutz Élément de fermeture pour récipient, en particulier bouteille à boissons diverses en verre, et procédé de fermeture correspondant
WO2008065019A3 (fr) * 2006-11-27 2008-07-17 Lutz Moeller Élément de fermeture pour récipient, en particulier bouteille à boissons diverses en verre, et procédé de fermeture correspondant
WO2012120075A1 (fr) 2011-03-09 2012-09-13 Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. Dispositif de bouchage d'un col de recipient
CN103429502A (zh) * 2011-03-09 2013-12-04 利乐拉瓦尔集团及财务有限公司 用于覆盖容器颈部的装置
US9278784B2 (en) 2011-03-09 2016-03-08 Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. Device for capping a container neck
CN103429502B (zh) * 2011-03-09 2016-04-06 利乐拉瓦尔集团及财务有限公司 用于覆盖容器颈部的装置
CN103371912A (zh) * 2012-04-24 2013-10-30 上海樱琦干燥剂有限公司 一种带固体二氧化硅片状干燥剂的药瓶
WO2013159634A1 (fr) * 2012-04-24 2013-10-31 上海樱琦干燥剂有限公司 Bouteille de médicament ayant un agent antihygroscopique en paillettes de silice solide
US9745114B2 (en) 2012-04-24 2017-08-29 Shanghai Yingqu Desiccant Co., Ltd. Medicine bottle with solid silica flaky drying agent

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB0111136D0 (en) 2001-06-27
EP1254848A3 (fr) 2004-03-31

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