GB1576532A

GB1576532A - Sealing system for a liquid container

Info

Publication number: GB1576532A
Application number: GB3544777A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: FrieslandCampina Germany GmbH
Current assignee: FrieslandCampina Germany GmbH
Priority date: 1977-01-12
Filing date: 1977-08-24
Publication date: 1980-10-08
Also published as: DE2741301A1; NL7700243A; BE858674A; JPS5389586A; GR64081B

Description

(54) SEALING SYSTEM FOR A LIQUID CONTAINER (71) We, COOPERATIEVE CONDENS FABRIEK "FRIESLAND", of 1, Pieter Stuyvesantweg, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, a Dutch Body Corporate, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement The present invention relates to a sealing system which can be hermetically sealingly arranged on a liquid container or bottle and which comprises a hollow nipple with a discharge aperture and a radially outwardly extending base wall with a connecting portion, and a releasable cup-shaped sealing and protective cap which is releasably attachable to the container to enclose the nipple, the arrangement being such that on the one hand an air communication with the atmosphere and on the other hand a liquid communication with the nipple cavity can be effected if the cap is removed.

Such a sealing system is generally known.

It appears that such sealing systems which are used to seal sterile bottles with a nipple have a complicated construction and consequently they are very expensive when used to seal throw-away bottles which are destined to be used only once.

It is the object of the invention to abolish the above-mentioned disadvantage and to considerably simplify a sealing system of the above described type. Therefore the present invention is characterized in that the connecting portion of the base wall of the nipple is in the shape of a radially inwardly directed annular bead or inner flange which is clamped inbetween a hollow stopper provided with apertures, and sealingly arranged in the container neck, and the container mouth edge or an annular accessory attached to the container mouth such that when the cap is fixedly secured onto the container the liquid communication, provided in the hollow stopper, is sealed.

The invention will be further elucidated on the basis of the drawing.

Fig. 1 shows a vertical section of an embodiment of a container having a sealing system according to the invention, in which the container is sealed.

Fig. 2 shows a similar section of the container with the sealing system of fig. 1, in which the protective cap is removed.

Fig. 3 shows a vertical section of another embodiment of the sealing system according to the invention, in which the protective cap is also removed.

Fig. 4 shows a vertical cross section of still another embodiment of the sealing system according to the invention in which the container is sealed.

Fig. 5 shows the portion, indicated by a circle, of the sealing system of fig. 4 in a larger scale.

Fig. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of the sealing system according to the invention.

The sealing system 17 which is applied to a bottle or container 8, consists of a protective cap which is releasably secured, for instance by means of screw thread 22, onto the neck 18 of a bottle or a container provided with a nipple. A hollow stopper 5 projects into the neck of the container, the end of said stopper projecting from the container neck being provided with a widened head 9 having a peripheral collar 10 which projects in a spaced manner across the inner end edge of the container neck and which merges into the top side 12 of the head 9 via an oblique plane 11. At its securing end the nipple has a base wall 2 which can be releasably clamped around the peripheral collar 10 of the head.The head is provided with horizontal or obliquely upwardly directed apertures (4, fig. 1; 13, fig. 3; 23, fig. 4), which debouch into the oblique plane 11 of the head 9 and which are adapted to connect the interior of the container with the nipple cavity. The apertures 4, 13, 23 are sealed when the protective cap 7 is in its fixed position on the container neck 18 (fig. 1).

In this position the sealing takes place with the aid of a portion of the base wall and an inwardly directed annular bead or flange 3, said bead forming the securing portion of the base wall 2 of the nipple I and is clamped inbetween the peripheral collar 10 of the head 9 and the container mouth edge 6. When the protective cap is removed said sealing of the apertures 4, 13, 23 respectively is discontinued and the base wall 2 takes the position as indicated in fig. 2.

The annular bead or inner flange 3 of the base wall may also have an extension in the shape of a cylindrical portion 14 as shown in fig. 3 which is clamped inbetween the body of the stopper 5 and the container neck.

As is indicated in fig. 4 and 5 the lower side of the protective cap can be provided with a collar 19 which falls over the centring ring 20 of the bottle and effects a sealing. By this it is prevented that this space 21 and thereby the outer surface of the base wall 2 of the nipple can be polluted or infected via the possibly not hermetically sealing screw thread 22. The protective cap is preferably made of a somewhat elastic material for instance a synthetic material, and the inner diameter of the collar 19 is somewhat smaller than the outer diameter of the centring ring 20. When screwingon the protective cap the collar 19 will be stretched somewhat and will incline outwardly as is indicated by dotted lines in fig. 5.

The collar 19 is now tight against the ring 20 and forms a hermetic sealing. Moreover by suitable material selection it can be achieved that when sterilizing by heating the filled and closed container the material of the cap weakens just sufficiently to have the collar 19 under the ring 20 shrink somewhat under the influence of its elasticity, as is indicated with drawn lines in fig. 5. By this a good protection against the undesired release of the protective cap is obtained.

In all described embodiments the body of the stopper is provided at its outer periphery with mutually parallel clamping collars 15, 16, 24 respectively which guarantee a sealing, releasable, fastening in the container neck.

In: practice it appeared that in the above described sealing system the size and shape accuracy of the glass bottle or container and particularly the inner side of the container neck is not sufficient to guarantee always a sufficient clamping of the stopper in the bottle neck. In a number of cases it appears that after screwing-off the sealing cap after sterilization the stopper with the nipple comes loose easily from the bottle neck. As a consequence of the size variations in the centring ring of the bottle and in the collar of the sealing cover the degree of clamping between the centring ring and said collar is variable.

In order to guarantee a sufficient sealing in all cases the nominal internal measure of the collar of the sealing cover has to be chosen small such that in a number of cases (in case of coincidence of a bottle at the top limit of its size tolerances and a cover at the lowest limit of its size tolerances) the clamping is so strong that it is difficult to unscrew the sealing cap. When screwing-on the sealing cap some friction is developed on the contact face of said cap with the nipple. In some cases this leads to damaging or wrinkling of the nipple, by which the sealing of the apertures in the hollow stopper is endangered and leakage of milk to the interior of the nipple may occur.

The modification consists in that between the' stopper and the container mouth edge an accessory is clamped which is sealingly screwed onto the bottle neck.

By applying said feature the problems with respect to the size tolerances are abolished.

Fig. 6 shows a cross section of said embodiment.

The problems with respect to the size tolerances are abolished by introducing an annular accessory 31 of synthetic material which is screwed onto the bottle neck 18 and is sealed hereon with the aid of an elastic ring 42. Now the stopper 5 no longer needs to be clamped in the bottle neck, but is pressed into the accessory. By adapting the shape of the stopper as indicated in the drawing an edge, arranged at the outer periphery of the stopper snaps under the snapping edge 34 of a thickening 33 of the accessory 31 and is retained there independently from small size deviations. Moreover the continuation in size of the synthetic ring 31 can be more accurate than that of the glass bottle neck.

The torsion of the nipple 32 which is developed in the sealing system described above when screwing on the sealing cap 7 is prevented in the present device by that the screw cover is replaced by a snapping sealing edge 35 which, with the aid of an annular thickening 36 which is arranged at the inner lower side of the sealing cap 7 snaps into an annular recess 39 of the accessory 31 in the snapping position of the sealing cap. The sealing cap is arranged by pressing it vertically downward. The snapping sealing edge 35 is somewhat elastically stretched slides over the beveled edge 38 of the accessory and falls into the recess 39. Here no torsion of the nipple can be developed. The sealing of the channels in the stopper caused by the sealing cap which presses the nipple against the stopper, takes place in the same manner as is described above. Before use the sealing cap 7 can be removed by a breaking action. Between the thickening 33 and the container mouth edge 41 an elastic sealing ring 42 is arranged.

An additional advantage of said device is that it can be screwed onto the bottle as a precomposed unit, this being contrary to the device described above and in which the stopper and the nipple, the sealing cap respectively, have to be arranged separately.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS 1. A sealing system which can be hermetically sealingly arranged on a liquid container or bottle and which comprises a hollow nipple with a discharge aperture and a

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. protective cap is removed said sealing of the apertures 4, 13, 23 respectively is discontinued and the base wall 2 takes the position as indicated in fig. 2. The annular bead or inner flange 3 of the base wall may also have an extension in the shape of a cylindrical portion 14 as shown in fig. 3 which is clamped inbetween the body of the stopper 5 and the container neck. As is indicated in fig. 4 and 5 the lower side of the protective cap can be provided with a collar 19 which falls over the centring ring 20 of the bottle and effects a sealing. By this it is prevented that this space 21 and thereby the outer surface of the base wall 2 of the nipple can be polluted or infected via the possibly not hermetically sealing screw thread 22. The protective cap is preferably made of a somewhat elastic material for instance a synthetic material, and the inner diameter of the collar 19 is somewhat smaller than the outer diameter of the centring ring 20. When screwingon the protective cap the collar 19 will be stretched somewhat and will incline outwardly as is indicated by dotted lines in fig. 5. The collar 19 is now tight against the ring 20 and forms a hermetic sealing. Moreover by suitable material selection it can be achieved that when sterilizing by heating the filled and closed container the material of the cap weakens just sufficiently to have the collar 19 under the ring 20 shrink somewhat under the influence of its elasticity, as is indicated with drawn lines in fig. 5. By this a good protection against the undesired release of the protective cap is obtained. In all described embodiments the body of the stopper is provided at its outer periphery with mutually parallel clamping collars 15, 16, 24 respectively which guarantee a sealing, releasable, fastening in the container neck. In: practice it appeared that in the above described sealing system the size and shape accuracy of the glass bottle or container and particularly the inner side of the container neck is not sufficient to guarantee always a sufficient clamping of the stopper in the bottle neck. In a number of cases it appears that after screwing-off the sealing cap after sterilization the stopper with the nipple comes loose easily from the bottle neck. As a consequence of the size variations in the centring ring of the bottle and in the collar of the sealing cover the degree of clamping between the centring ring and said collar is variable. In order to guarantee a sufficient sealing in all cases the nominal internal measure of the collar of the sealing cover has to be chosen small such that in a number of cases (in case of coincidence of a bottle at the top limit of its size tolerances and a cover at the lowest limit of its size tolerances) the clamping is so strong that it is difficult to unscrew the sealing cap. When screwing-on the sealing cap some friction is developed on the contact face of said cap with the nipple. In some cases this leads to damaging or wrinkling of the nipple, by which the sealing of the apertures in the hollow stopper is endangered and leakage of milk to the interior of the nipple may occur. The modification consists in that between the' stopper and the container mouth edge an accessory is clamped which is sealingly screwed onto the bottle neck. By applying said feature the problems with respect to the size tolerances are abolished. Fig. 6 shows a cross section of said embodiment. The problems with respect to the size tolerances are abolished by introducing an annular accessory 31 of synthetic material which is screwed onto the bottle neck 18 and is sealed hereon with the aid of an elastic ring 42. Now the stopper 5 no longer needs to be clamped in the bottle neck, but is pressed into the accessory. By adapting the shape of the stopper as indicated in the drawing an edge, arranged at the outer periphery of the stopper snaps under the snapping edge 34 of a thickening 33 of the accessory 31 and is retained there independently from small size deviations. Moreover the continuation in size of the synthetic ring 31 can be more accurate than that of the glass bottle neck. The torsion of the nipple 32 which is developed in the sealing system described above when screwing on the sealing cap 7 is prevented in the present device by that the screw cover is replaced by a snapping sealing edge 35 which, with the aid of an annular thickening 36 which is arranged at the inner lower side of the sealing cap 7 snaps into an annular recess 39 of the accessory 31 in the snapping position of the sealing cap. The sealing cap is arranged by pressing it vertically downward. The snapping sealing edge 35 is somewhat elastically stretched slides over the beveled edge 38 of the accessory and falls into the recess 39. Here no torsion of the nipple can be developed. The sealing of the channels in the stopper caused by the sealing cap which presses the nipple against the stopper, takes place in the same manner as is described above.Before use the sealing cap 7 can be removed by a breaking action. Between the thickening 33 and the container mouth edge 41 an elastic sealing ring 42 is arranged. An additional advantage of said device is that it can be screwed onto the bottle as a precomposed unit, this being contrary to the device described above and in which the stopper and the nipple, the sealing cap respectively, have to be arranged separately. WHAT WE CLAIM IS

1. A sealing system which can be hermetically sealingly arranged on a liquid container or bottle and which comprises a hollow nipple with a discharge aperture and a

radially outwardly extending base wall with a connecting portion, and a releasable cup shaped sealing and protective cap which is releasably attachable to the container to enclose the nipple, the arrangement being such that on the one hand an air communication with the atmosphere and on the other hand a liquid communication with the nipple cavity can be effected if the cap is removed, characterized in that the connecting portion of the base wall of the nipple is in the shape of a radially inwardly directed annular bead or inner flange which is clamped inbetween a hollow stopper provided with apertures, and sealingly arranged in the container neck, and the container mouth edge such that when the cap is fixedly secured onto the container the liquid communication, provided in the hollow stopper, is sealed.

2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the hollow stopper is provided with a widened head having a peripheral collar which projects in a spaced manner across the inner end edge of the container neck and which merges into the top side of the head via an oblique plane.

3. A device according to claim 2, characterized in that in the head horizontal, or obliquely directed sealable apertures are arranged, serving as liquid communication, which debouch into the oblique plane of the head and which are adapted to connect the interior of the container with the nipple cavity.

4. A device according to claim 3, characterized in that the apertures on the oblique plane of the head are sealed when the protective cap is in its fixed position on the container neck.

5. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the annular bead or inner flange of the base wall of the nipple is elongated by a cylindrical portion which is clamped inbetween the body of the stopper and the container neck.

6. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that at its outer periphery the body of the stopper is provided with mutually parallel clamping collars.

7. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the protective cap is provided at its lower edge with a collar which falls over the centring ring of the container and forms a hermetic sealing thereon.

8. A device according to claim 7, characterized in that the portion of the collar projecting over the centring ring shrinks when being heated to an inner center line which is less than the outer center line of the centring ring.

9. A modification of the device claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 in which said bead or flange of the connection portion of the nipple, instead of being clamped between the hollow stopper and the container mouth edge, is clamped between the hollow stopper and an annular accessory attached to the container mouth such that when the cap is fixedly secured onto the container the liquid communication, provided in the hollow stopper, is sealed.

10. A device according to Claim 9 characterised in that between the stopper and the container mouth edge an accessory is provided which is screwed sealingly onto the bottle neck.

11. A device according to Claim 10 characterised in that at its top side the accessory is provided with an inwardly directed annular thickening which has a snap edge at its lower side for engagement with the stopper and at its outer periphery being provided with a recess in which the protective cap with a thickening resiliently snaps in its mounted position.

12. A device according to claim 11, characterized in that the outer edge of the annular thickening is beveled.

13. A device according to claim 11, characterized in that between the thickening and the container mouth edge an elastic sealing ring is provided.

14. A device according to claims 10 or 11, characterized in that the accessory is made of synthetic material.

15. A device substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, any of the embodiments illustrated in the drawings.