DE1814680A1 - Clasp - Google Patents

Description

PATENT ADVERTISER 1 8 1 U 6 8

DIPL-ING.

HELMUT GÖRTZ

6 Frankfurt am Main 70

Schneckenhof sir. 27 - Tel. 61 70 79 1 3. D β Z e Hit) e Γ 1 9 6 8

GzSc / Ra. Roehr Metals ■ & Plastics Company, Waterbury, Connecticut, US ₀ A.

Clasp

The present invention relates to improvements in closures which may have previously been tampered with. let know.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a closure which has a tamper-evident ring-shaped Has skirt, which is connected to the annular side wall of the closure by several circumferentially arranged bridges made of a material which has radially open gaps between the side wall and the tamper evident Rock leaves, except where the two are connected by bridges, the container being made in one piece with the itself radially outwardly extending projections or tongues is formed which extend through the gaps and an initial Prevent removal of the clasp without breaking any of the bridges. By turning the lock and the container relative to each other to open the container, the tongues cut the bridges and cause the one Tamper-indicating skirt is separated from the rest of the fastener. The remaining part of the closure can then be of pulled from the container. Broken bridges or the absence of the skirt indicates that the lock has been removed, or that manipulation has been carried out, for example, with deceptive intent.

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According to an embodiment of the present invention are the container and the closure are unscrewed and can be fitted together by the closure only axially is pushed onto the container without turning both, whereby the two are due to the tongues located in the crevices be held together. The tongues are sufficiently flexible that the zipper skirt can move over them, with causing the tongues to flex inward; however, the shutter approaches or reaches its final closed position Position on the container, the tongues essentially bend back to their initial position to intervene in the column. In another embodiment According to the present invention, the closure and a container neck are screwed together, and the container has outwardly extending ones Projections or tongues below the thread. The bridges on the cap are flexible, so that they stretch outward within resilient limits to allow the protrusions to go under the bridges, when the closure is screwed onto the container. Since the projections are rotatable and in axial alignment with the As crevices move past the bridges, the bridges flex back to their normal positions and the protrusions can extend through the column.

In the formation of a package, in which the container and the closure, each made of plastic, are not screwed, it was customary to fuse the two by heat join together adjacent to the telescoping surfaces. In the embodiment of the present In accordance with the invention, a tamper-evident closure and a container of the specified type are provided at which it is not necessary to fuse by means of heat

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or with another special device and arrangement to work to "attach the closure to the container."

Further features, advantages and possible applications result from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Show it:

Pig. 1 shows a section through the closure along the longitudinal axis the same, the closure being shown attached to a container,

Pig. Figure 2 is a partial section, on an enlarged scale, along line 2-2 of Pig. 1,

Pig, 3 a partial section along the line 3-3 of the Pig. 2, Pig. Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Pig. 1,

Pig. 5 shows a partial section along the vertical axis of a modified embodiment of the closure according to the present invention,

Pig. 6 "is a sectional view on a reduced scale the line 6-6 the Pig. 5>

Pig. 7 enlarged part of the pig. 6, and

Pig. Figure 8 is an enlarged front view of part of the latch according to the Pig. 5 to 7.

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COPY

In detail, reference is now made to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawing taken, in which with 1 a closure "is designated, which has an end wall 2 and a cylindrical side wall hanging thereon 3 owns. The outer surface of the side wall 3 is provided with outwardly extending, circumferentially spaced, Finger gripping ribs 5 are provided which extend over the length of the side wall 3 and facilitate the handling of the closure 1 facilitate. At its lower part, the side wall 3 tapers down to a narrow lower edge or one Periphery 6, and on the lower periphery 6 there is a cylindrical, tamper-evident skirt 7, which may extend coaxially to the side wall 3. The side wall 3 and the skirt 7 are arranged by several on the circumference Breakable bridges 9 made of sealing material connected to each other, which the space between the lower periphery 6 and bridge the upper edge or the periphery 10 of the skirt 7 and radially open, arcuate gaps 11 between the side wall 3 and the skirt 7 except in places where the two are connected by the bridges 9. Every bridge 9 may have a radial thickness which corresponds to that of the side wall 3 at its lower periphery 6, but which is less than the thickness of the skirt 7 at its upper periphery 10. Furthermore, each bridge 9 can taper, so that its thinnest section is on the periphery 6. In the presently illustrated embodiment of the invention eight equally spaced bridges are provided, each of which is arranged adjacent to one of the ribs 5, however, it will be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise number of bridges 9 illustrated herein are.

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The closure 1 is cast in one piece. This can be done using any device known in the art, or preferably by means of the apparatus described in Canadian Patents No. 754,451 and Hr. 792 580 described general art be accomplished. The plastic used is preferably a polyolefin such as polyethylene or polypropylene, however, other plastics such as high impact polystyrene can also be used.

One embodiment of the container 13> in which the closure cap 1 can be used, has an annular end portion 14 which forms an opening 15 in the container. The end wall 2 is arranged over the opening and can sit on the end part 14. The end portion 14 preferably has a outer cylindrical wall 17 »which slides into the side wall 3 of the closure, and the side wall can be axially circular locking ribs 18 arranged at a distance which come into engagement with the wall 17. The container 13 can be removed from the container opening 15 inwardly extending shoulder 19, and also a tubular member 21 at the radially inner edge thereof smaller diameter than the end part 14. A container 13 of the aforementioned type with an enlarged end part 14 could be suitable in cases where the product to be placed in the container is a syringe, but it is understood that containers of other shapes can also be used for the closure 1. Made in one piece with the end part 14 Tongues 23 formed on or near the shoulder 19 are arranged at a distance on the circumference and protrude radially from the end part 14 and through the gaps 11 so that they lie radially outward behind the bridges 9. As best from Fig. 2 can be seen, the tongue 23 in cross-section at right angles

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be, where the longer dimension is in the circumferential or horizontal direction and the shorter dimension is in the axial or vertical direction. Four equally spaced tongues 23 are illustrated, but a greater or lesser number of these may be used. These tongues 23 prevent the closure 1 and the container end part H _{5 from} separating without breaking the bridges 9. Thus, breaking all bridges will cause the skirt 7 to separate from the main body of the fastener 1 and indicate tampering with the fastener. A manipulation can also be indicated by breaking one or more bridges 9.

If it is desired to remove the closure 1 from the container 13, thus the two are twisted towards each other, causing the edges of the tongues 23 to cut off the bridges 9 and sever the skirt 7 from the main body of the closure, and the latter can then be removed from the container end 14 be pulled away. The closure can later be reused without the skirt 7 as an ordinary cap. As the tongues 23 are relatively long in the circumferential direction, put them against the bridges 9 are relatively strong and rigid members so that the latter can be broken easily.

If four equally spaced tongues 23 and eight equally spaced bridges 9 are provided, then all bridges 9 broken after a quarter turn of the lock. First a group of four bridges is broken and then the remaining four. However, a different sequence of separation can also be selected by not including in equally spaced bridges and non-equally spaced tongues or a combination thereof is used which depends on the sequence of the desired breaking of the bridges. The closure 1 can be placed on the container 13

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be attached by engaging the side wall 3 axially telescopically over the end portion H without the need for both to turn. Since the conical surface 25 of the skirt 7 on the Tongues 23 rests, the skirt 7 can give a little, but the Tongues 23 will flex inward (downward in Fig. 1) within their resilient limits to allow the skirt 7 is thereby led past. The closure approaches its finally closed in the axial direction Position, the tongues 23 will then spring back into their original positions and loosely through the gaps 11 protrude outside »Since each tongue 23 is relatively thin in its axial dimensions, it can easily be bent through the skirt 7. It follows, however, that due to the relatively large circumferential dimension each tongue 23, it is quite rigid when it presses a bridge 9. So that the tongues 23 for should have the aforementioned purpose of the desired resilience within the elastic limits, the container 13 consist of relatively elastic material. Polyolefin type plastics such as polypropylene or polyethylene are suitable for pouring the container 13. In order to favor their flexibility, the tongues 23 can be made thinner in places where they are connected to the end part H. It is desirable to have the closure and container immediately in front align the assembly, so that the tongues 23 offset on the circumference when the two are axially pushed into one another be arranged to the bridges 9; otherwise the tongues 23 would remain with their ends behind the bridges 9 and prevented from snapping into the gaps 11. However, if no predetermined orientation is provided, the closure have unevenly spaced bridges 9 and / or the container could have unevenly spaced tongues 23 which are designed so that, regardless of

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Alignment of the closure and the container, only one tongue lie behind a bridge ". Such a state would not prevent the bridges from breaking on the initial removal of the lock, although further rotation of the clasp is required, as if all tongues are turned in columns 11.

Will a separation of all bridges 9 and a subsequent one "Complete separation of the skirt is not desired, it is possible to cast the closure in such a way that one of the bridges is arranged in this way is that it is not severed by a tongue. Such a bridge could be formed from the number of all other bridges protrudes radially outward so that it does not come into engagement with any tongue and be cut off. With such an arrangement it would not be necessary to put the skirt out of use as a separate piece, but it would still indicate tampering by breaking the other bridges.

5 to 8 show a further embodiment of the present invention, in which the same reference numerals are denoted by an appended "a", and which correspond to the filing containers and 4 of the closure according to FIGS. 1 to 4 best seen from! "ig · 5 , the closure la has a cylindrical side wall 3a £ uf? which, an inner screw thread 25 and a collapsible dipht-

having. A bottle 13a or a similar Beis.t with a ring-shaped base Qde «p stinm i®l§ 14a which has a p, a, s, send outer ^ sohrauften- B§ to the closure la gpw: f.n4emj. ß,: ig auf-Dig upper periphery is ί Qa des, a Jf ^ nipulationanr- Rockes Iß. is at the u; nter.en! «eriphe ^ g ß% , the Vgr-3a major, oh at the XJmf ang angeorän, gt.§

fastened from closure material made of plastic. As from fig. As can be seen, the bridges 9a can be cast so that they are bent radially inward.

An annular, radially outwardly extending bead 28 is formed in one piece with the container 13a below the thread 26 and can be the transition ring of the container. The bead 28 has diametrically opposite tongues or projections 30, 30 ₅ which extend radially behind the normal diameter of the bead 28. These protrusions are relatively rigid circumferentially and generally hook-shaped by turning clockwise, as in Pig. 6, if the container T3a is a blown plastic bottle, the tips of the projections can lie along the dividing line of the blow molded parts.

The diameter over the tips of the projections 30,30 is of course greater than the outer diameter of the Skirt 7a so that when the closure 1a is screwed onto the container neck 14a to close the opening 15a, the projections 30.30 extend through the columns 11a. At the Screwing the clasp on the neck Ha in a clockwise direction, the lower or free end of the skirt 7a touches the Protrusions 30.30. When the closure is further screwed together with the neck, the skirt 7a deforms resiliently in an oval shape around the tips of the projections 30.30 to release, and then to essentially return to its originally cast shape. While the protrusions 30.30 slide over the bridges 9, the latter also give way in that they curve radially outwards, but turn substantially returned to their normal, cast positions after the projections 30 »30 were moved past them and

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then get into the columns 11a. With the correct selection of the Plastic for the closure 1a elastic yielding of the skirt Ta and the bridges 9a is made possible without even one of them breaks. Polyolefin plastics, such as e.g. polypropylene and polyethylene are suitable for this purpose.

When initially unscrewing the closure from the container terhals come the hook-like projections 30,30 with the bridges 9a on their inclined sides 31 in engagement, the Bridges 9a are generally cut off at surface 6a. This removes the skirt 7a from the remaining fastener separated and indicates tampering or prior removal of the closure from the container. Of the The closure can then be used with the container as an ordinary screw cap.

According to one embodiment of the arrangement according to fig. 5 to 8, the closure 1a can be 28 mm, and in this case the diameter between the tips of the projections can be 30.30 be approximately 1.52 inches (3.85 cm). The normal outside diameter of that located away from the protrusions Bead 28 can be about 1.050 inches and the minimum diameter of skirt 7a about 1.140 inches (2.90 cm). At a normal thread with six threads and a closure with eight bridges is that with an axial movement of the closure relative to the container neck of 0.83 (2.11) for the separation of the skirt 7a required maximum rotation 180 °. Normally the axial width of each gap 11a should be 0.083 inches (0.211 cm) plus twice the thickness of the protrusions 30.30 or be about 0.183 inches (0.465 cm). However, at the moment when the last two unbroken bridges with the

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Projections in contact during the removal process come, give in the poop Ta down * so that the cracks 11a of about 0.125 inches (0.318 em) should usually suffice.

The container 13a can be produced in a two-stage semolina process with the neck portion having the thread 26 and the projections 30 * 30 with a tubular body portion attached thereto be injection molded. While the cast piece is still is hot, then the tubular body part becomes one second mold passed and blown. With such a procedure are exact dimensional tolerances for the neck of the Bottle, especially with regard to the projections 30.30 »received.

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Claims (4)

- 12 claims 1. Container with an opening and a manipulation indicating closure for the opening, which is rotatable relative to the container and an inner annular Wall and a skirt adjacent to one end of the wall and spaced with this by means of the circumference Material bridges is connected, characterized in that the container has at least one tongue (23 or »50) has, which through the space (11 or 11a) between the skirt (7 or 7a) and the wall (3 or 3a) protrudes to the container with a relative rotation of the closure to cause successive breaking of the bridges (9 or 9a) by the tongue (23 or 30). 2 »Container according to claim 1, characterized in that either the tongues (23 or 30) or one of the bridges (9 or 9a) is sufficiently resilient to allow them to pass one another when the closure and the Containers are joined together. 3. A container according to claim 1, characterized in that the tongue (23) is resilient to enable the Skirt (9) can pass over it when the closure and the container are assembled. 4. Container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the tongues (30) are hook-shaped. 90983 0/0239 Container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the closure and the container are screwed together
(25, 26) and that the tongues (30) are spaced from adjacent bridges so that the closure and container can initially be rotated relative to one another to loosen the threaded engagement and to engage the tongue and the bridge bring to. 9098 30/0239 -AH - Blank page