GB2349636A

GB2349636A - Resealable can

Info

Publication number: GB2349636A
Application number: GB9820159A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wilhelm Kullberg
Original assignee: ADV LIQUID PACKAGING CORP
Current assignee: ADV LIQUID PACKAGING CORP
Priority date: 1998-09-17
Filing date: 1998-09-17
Publication date: 2000-11-08
Also published as: AU6392099A; WO2000015512A1; GB9820159D0; JP2003512255A

Abstract

A resealable can, eg for beverages, comprises a can end having an outer flange 14, a plane or frustoconical panel 15 attached to the flange 14, a frustoconical neck 16 which is attached to panel 15 and has a pouring opening defined by a folded hem 18, and a frustoconical cap 22 adapted to fit over the neck 16, the cap having at least two flanges 20 which when the cap is twisted for closing engage with at least two cooperating flanges 17 provided on the neck 16. A tamper indicating means may comprise a flange at the lower edge of the cap skirt which engages with, and is deformed by, a projection on the can when the cap is twisted for opening. The pouring opening may be closed by a seal 21 comprising plastic and aluminium foil layers.

Description

1 2349636 RESEALABLE BEVERAGE CAN

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of liquid packaging containers, and more particularly, is directed to a resealable beverage can end with a pour spout and a cap. In one embodiment of the invention, the can has an upstanding neck portion.

Cans of the type which are presently used for beverages are illustrated in prior art Figures 1-3. Cans of this type became popular in the late 1950's with the introduction of the "Soft Top" end illustrated in prior art Figure 1. The state of the art advanced in the 1 960's with the development of the first integrated opening ends with a formed rivet and tab as illustrated in prior art Figure 2. Progression followed with various different designs and configurations, including changes in diameter sizes in combination with ring pull and ecology opening features as illustrated in prior art Figure 3.

Over the years, the beverage can end has changed from a 211 diameter at. 0150" gauge and a net metal weight of 13.0#/M, to 206 diameter at.0096" gauge and 6.7 "/M to 204 diameter at.0090" gauge and 5. 9#/M to the present-day 202 diameter at.0085" gauge and 5.3#/M. Changes in can construction are expected to continue as material and manufacturing technology advances to higher levels while consumer demand is developing at the same time.

As illustrated in prior art Figures 3 and 3A, the present- day beverage can generally is made of a cylindrical panel body 10 of aluminum or steel drawn and shaped as known in the prior art to form an open ended can at the top/lid 7 and a closed off bottom 11. The open end of the can includes a necked-in portion 9 which reduces the diameter of the opening. The opening is closed by end/lid 7. The smaller diameter produces a lighter end/lid material weight which at the same time provides higher buckling resistance values from inside package pressure for the circular end/lid 7. The smaller diameter facilitates drinking from the can, especially by small children.

Figures 2 and 2A illustrate another construction of a prior art beverage can with a generally cylindrical panel body 5 forming a wall, a closed off bottom 6, a necked-in portion 4 and a lid 3 for closing off the open end of the can. In this construction the necked-in portion 4 is not as great as the can necked-in portion 9 illustrated in prior art Figures 3.

A number of techniques are well known in the prior art for providing a convenience opening for drinking and pouring of the contents from the can. One such technique is the well known can opener which pierces a generally triangular- shaped opening in the lid. The disadvantage of this technique is that it requires the use of a can opener which may not always be available.

Another technique is illustrated in prior art Figures 1 and 1A, and includes a ring tab 1 which when pulled, allows the lid 2 to be removed from its liquid tight engagement with the can. One disadvantage of this technique is that the lid at the moment

2 when coming loose f rom the can body tends to vibrate and the liquid under the lid splashes out. Another disadvantage of this technique is that the edge around the lid covering the entire ends periphery is often left sharp which constitutes a safety hazard. In addition, there is no convenient or proper place to discard or put the lid while the beverage is being consumed. Accordingly, the lid is most often indiscriminately discarded and becomes litter.

The most popular present day technique for opening a beverage can is to use a lever operated push in gate. Such a technique is illustrated in prior art Figure 3A and 4. This technique also has certain disadvantages. The can is opened by lifting up a lever 13 which pushes the gate 12 down into the can with the gate hinging inside the can during drinking. The hygienic aspect of this technique is not healthy as the can's end becomes contaminated in some distribution chains and outlets.

According to market research, consumers worry that can ends may have become contaminated. Particularly hazardous for the consumers is pesticide reaching the can's end after numbers of small outlets in southern regions have sprayed their storage locations and warehouses with pesticides for preventing the infestation of insects.

Over the last twenty years, several developments have been initiated with the objective to improve the current can end concept. Many patents have been issued with different designs and configurations. Most of the configurations relate to a can 3 end with a push in gate with a part of the inside score blended to form a hinge for the push in gate which hinges inside the can during drinking. The gate is manually pushed down by the user. Prior art Figures 5, SA, 6 and 7 illustrate one example of such an arrangement.

One major US beverage manufacturer launched one of their products in a version of such a packaging concept many years ago. Several consumers suffered from injury when using the push in gate arrangement and the company decided to withdraw the push in gate packaging concept from the market.

Pushing the gate down is hard for individuals with weak fingers, for small children and for women with long fingernails. It is also uncultivated and highly unsanitary to push the gate into the can with a finger.

Another more serious concern is accidents which may occur when pushing the gate into the can and the gate comes loose during pushing, with the result being that the gate may pass out through the pouring opening during drinking. This can have very severe consequences for the user, especially if the user is a small child.

In the design of cans which have a gate which is pushed in by a lever, the hinge is made of heavy weight metal and the gates are always pushed into the same angle with the lever. On the other hand, push in gates for finger operation requires light material. The consumers usually will push the gate into the can with a finger to different angles. No mechanism is provided to 4 control the amount of push-in angle. Thus, the gate is in some situations falling loose into the can. Some prior art designs attempt to overcome this problem with the use of a triple folded bridging arrangement for the gate. Advocates of this approach suggest that the gate cannot come out because of its slightly larger diameter than the gate opening. This suggestion confuses the consumer because the consumer does not appreciate this fact. It is also highly unlikely that the gate will not pass out through the opening as the scoring line producing the disk/gate periphery and the gate/opening may be slightly damaged. Pushing in the gate and breaking the score of an already damaged scoring line, will result in an uneven score between the gate and the opening and produce a tolerance between the gate diameter and the opening diameter. If 'the gate meets the opening in the right position, the gate will pass out through the pouring area during drinking and could be inadvertently ingested by the user.

Damage to the scoring line in a gate end made of light weight material may occur in the distribution chain or from a dull scoring tool. Several million cans may be produced and reach the market place before such a problem surfaces.

A further problem with the push in gate concept is the fact that some gates will be pushed in from stacking during rough transportation of the cans around the country, thus resulting in leaking packages.

Accordingly, industrializing the triple folded bridging push in gate version presents several serious obstacles which may not be feasible or practical to overcome. Folding three circular horizontal panels with the same outer and inner diameter on top of each other within very small tolerances, balancing the score imprinting tools on top of the third circular panel and applying a sealant evenly around the complete score periphery are examples of some of the extremes which have to be incorporated in mass production.

Several different resealable threaded can ends with threaded caps are known in the prior art. A resealable can end, comprising a complete combination of properties such as; low material consumption, high speed manufacturing capasity, condensed stacking, high pressure barrier, easy opening, controlled pouring, are not known in the state of the art. A resealable hygienic can end, maintaining the pressure of carbonized beverages after opening, is according to several markets studies preferred by the consumers.

SUM OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obviate the above-noted shortcomings and disadvantages of can ends known in the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved can end which can be manufactured using conventional manufacturing techniques.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a can end which can be easily and inexpensively manufactured.

A still further object of the present invention is to 6 provide a can body with a lighter weight material.

The above mentioned disadvantages of prior art can ends are avoided by the end according to the present invention which enables comfortable opening by twisting off the cap and drinking from a neck protected and free from contamination with guided pouring of the contents. The design of the present invention avoids spillage of the contents of the package and makes it possible to reseal the package pressure tight with the cap for further protected use.

Manufacturing of the invention is based on traditional technology well known to the can manufacturing industry.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features of the present invention are set out with particularity in the appended claims, but the invention will be understood more fully and clearly from the following detailed description of the invention as set forth in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1, 2, and 3 illustrate beverage cans which are known in the prior art;

Figures 1A, 2A and 3A are top views of the cans illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

Figure 4 illustrates a can with a sectional view of a lever operated push in gate opening technique as known in the prior art;

Figure 5 illustrates a can with a transverse sectional view of the can body and the end including the cap according to the 7 present invention; Figure SA is a top view of the can illustrated in Figure 5; Figures 6 and 7 illustrate a manual push in gate technique of opening a can as known in the prior art;

Figure 8 illustrates a sectional view of a can end with the cap in a closed position.

Figure 9 illustrates a sectional view showing how the can end's closing flanges interface with the caps closing flanges in a closed position.

Figure 10 illustrates a sectional view of the can end with the cap in an open position.

Figure 11 illustrates a sectional view of how the can end closing flanges is released from the cap's closing flanges when opened.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

In accordance with the present invention, the can's cylindrical panel wall is made of aluminum or steel and the necked in cylinder panel wall top circumference is closed with an end as illustrated in Figure 8. The can end is made of aluminum or steel with a traditional outer profile flange 14. A well known profile flanging method is used to close the can's cylinder body and end together.

The circular profile flange 14 extends into conical and concentric panel 15, and furthermore into a conical neck part 16, 8 with an upper circumference panel containing four male sealing flanges 17. Flange 14 terminates with a circular pour opening having a folded hem 18. A cap 22 is adapted to the conical neck part 16 for sealing the can and has a corresponding conical panel 19 for conical neck part 16. Cap 22 is further illustrated in Figure 9.

Cap 22 also has four female sealing flanges 20 having corresponding interlocking profiles with the conical neck's four male sealing flanges 17. This construction provides a pressure tight seal when the cap is turned into place to close the can end.

A seal 21 is oriented between the folded hem 18 and the inside cap panel. A tamper proof safety seal containing a cap flange 23 is provided in the lower cap periphery. Flange 23 has a weakening line 25 which when turned collides with an end indentation 24 and pushing the flange 23 upwardly so that the consumer can recognize if the can already have been opened.

Figures 10 and 11 further illustrate the construction of the can end an cap in accordance with the present invention. Figure 10 shows a sectional view of the can end with the cap in an open position while Figure 11 illustrates a sectional view of how the can end closing flanges is released from the cap's closing flanges when opened.

The conical shape of neck part 15 produces higher buckle resistance values, due to inside pressure, for the conical end. The horizontal circular part of flange 14 extends into the 9 conical concentric end panel 15 at 1150. Buckle resistance values should, therefore, be higher for the conical ends. This allows for reduced material area weight compared to the current ends whose horizontal circular flange part extends to 90' into a plane circular end panel.

The conical shape also helps to reduce the angle at which the can must be held in order for the consumers to drink from the can. In Applicant's design, the angle is reduced by about 35 percent. Such a reduction in angle allows the upper can body to fit more comfortably under the nose for drinking. The upper portion of prior art cans tend to collide with the nose.

The consuming public has had good experience with consumers drinking beverages from bottles with replacable caps, as the consumers replaces the caps after having used the bottles. The caps will stay on the can ends until reaching the recycling plant.

It should be obvious from the above-discussed apparatus embodiment that numerous other variations and modifications of the apparatus of this invention are possible, and such will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of this invention is not to be limited to the embodiment disclosed, but is to include any such embodiments as may be encompassed within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Claims

I Claim: 1. A can end, said can end comprising:

an outer profile flange extending around said can end; conical panel attached to said flange; conical neck attached to said conical panel, said conical neck having an outside upper panel periphery formed of at least two sealing flanges, said conical neck upper panel periphery terminating in a generally circular pour opening panel, the edge of said pour opening panel containing a folded hem; and a twistable conical cap adapted to fit over said conical neck, said conical cap panel upper inside periphery containing at least two sealing flanges interlocking with said conical neck sealing flanges when twisted for closing.
2. A can end according to claim 1, wherein the panel prof ile between the circular folded hem and the circular upper conical neck panel periphery can have any configuration.
3. A can end according to claim 1, wherein said conical neck panel having at least two male sealing flanges.
4. An can end according to claim 1, wherein said cap having at least to female sealing flanges.
5. A can end according to claim 1, wherein the can ends- and caps sealing flanges total contact surface is at least 25% of the total sealing flange circumference when the package is closed.
6. A can end according to claim 1, wherein the cap has an hinged outstanding portion which is pushed in a different position when turned against an outstanding portion of the can 11 end panel.
7. A can end according to claim 1, wherein a cap has a hinged outstanding portion in which a material fraction occur and can be recognized, when turned against an outstanding portion of the can end panel.
8. A can end according to claim 1, wherein a seal is oriented between the cap panel and the can ends circular folded hem.
9. A can end according to claim 1, wherein at least 4 can ends containing caps can be telescope stacked on each other within 1 inch of space.
10. A can end according to claim 1, wherein the can ends is made of any sheet material suitable for drawing and ironing.
11. A can end according to claim 1, wherein the caps is made of any material suitable for injection molding.
12. A can end according to claim 1, wherein the caps is made of any sheet material suitable for drawing and ironing.
13. A can end according to claim 1, wherein the pour opening have a diameter lager than 5\16 inch.
14. A beverage can, said beverage can comprising: a side forming generally tubular structure; a bottom closed off one end of said tubular structure; A top end closing of other end of said tubular structure; wherein said top includes:

an outer profile flange extending around said can end; conical panel attached to said flange; conical neck attached to said conical panel, said conical 12 neck having an upper panel periphery formed of at least two sealing flanges, said conical neck upper panel periphery terminating in a generally circular pour opening panel, the edge of said pour opening panel containing a folded hem; and a conical cap adapted to fit over said conical neck, said conical cap having an upper inside periphery containing at least two sealing flanges interlocking with said conical necks sealing flanges when turned for closing.
15. A can end according to claim 14, wherein the panel profile between the circular folded hem and the upper conical neck panel periphery can have any configuration.
16. A can end according to claim 14, wherein the can ends- and caps sealing flanges total contact surface is at least 25% of the total sealing flange circumference when the package is closed.
17. A can end according to claim 14, wherein the cap has an hinged outstanding portion which is pushed in a different position when turned against an outstanding portion of the can end.
18. A can end according to claim 14, wherein the cap has a hinged outstanding portion in which a material fraction occur and can be recognized, when turned against an outstanding portion of the can end.
19. A can end according to claim 14, wherein a seal is oriented between the cap panel and the can ends circular folded hem.
20. A can end according to claim 14, wherein at least 4 can ends containing caps can be telescope stacked on each other within 1 13 inch of space.
21. A can end according to claim 14, wherein the can ends is made of any sheet material suitable for drawing and ironing.
22. A can end according to claim 14, wherein the cap is made of any material suitable for injection molding.
23. A can end according to claim 14, wherein the cap is made of any sheet material suitable for drawing and ironing.
24. A can end according to claim 14, wherein the pour opening have a diameter lager than 5\16 inch.
25. A beverage can, said beverage can comprising: a side forming generally tubular structure; a bottom closed off one end of said tubular structure; A top end closing of other end of said tubular structure; wherein said top includes:

an outer profile flange extending around said can end; a plane panel attached to said flange; a conical neck portion attached to said generally plane panel, said conical neck having an outside upper panel periphery formed of at least two sealing flanges, said conical neck upper panel periphery terminating into a generally circular pour opening, said pour opening panel edge containing a folded hem; and a conical cap adapted to fit over said conical neck, said conical cap having an upper inside periphery containing at least two sealing flanges interlocking with said conical necks sealing flanges when turned for closing.
26. A can end according to claims 1,14 and 25, wherein the cap 14 seal is made of plastic material.
27. A can end according to claim 1, 14 and 25, wherein the cap seal has a plastic and aluminum foil material lawyer.
28. A can end according to claims 1,14 and 25, wherein the can ends circular folded hem is replaced by an epOXY sealant.
2 9. A can end according to claims 1, 14 and 2 5, wherein the neck sealing flanges have female profiles.
30. A can end according to claims 1,14 and 25, wherein the cap inside sealing flanges have male profiles.

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