US1802739A - Friction closure cap - Google Patents

Description

April 28., 1931- E. scoFlELD FRICTION CLOSURE CAP Filed Dec. 21. 1927 /lllIl/IIIIII 1431// H mw Patented Apr. 28, 1931 UNITED STATES Param aerienY EDGAR SCOFIELD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSGNOR TG ANCI-10B CAP &, CLOSURE COR- PORATION, OF LONG SLAED G'l',

NE." YGRK, A COBEORATION 0F NEV YORK FRCTION GDOSURE CF1? Application filed December 21, 1927.

The present invention relates to closures and more particularly to a closure cap of the friction type.

In the manufacture of glass containers, particularly the less expensive grades of ware, the sizes vary considerably from the predetermined standard and are, to a certain extent, elliptical or out-of-ground. Naturally, the ware is graded and containers which vary more than a predetermined amount are rejected. The rapidity with which such grading is done necessitates the inclusion of certa-in ware that should be rejected because of being beyond the permitted range of tolerance. Closurel caps also vary in size but to a less extent than the containers.

Certain types of products such as jellies and the like do not have to be hermetically sealed. Closure caps which will hold to the container and which can be readily removed, may be used for these products. Several forms of slip covers, that is, metal-to-glass friction seals, have been devised and the skirts of these caps have been preformed in various ways to improve the holding power of the caps.

Considerable difficulty has been encountered with these caps due to the fact that a cap sufficiently large to fit a container of maximum size will not iit tightly on a container of minimum size. AOn the other hand, a cap suiiiciently small to fit tightly on a minimum sized container will not accommodate a maximum. Even greater difficulty is encountered with those containers which, due to careless grading, fail to be rejected and vary beyond the given tolerance. The skirts of caps are sometimes crushed and containers are frequently broken and the contents spoiled.

Caps are usually applied by an automatic machine operative successively upon each of a moving line of filled containers, the .caps being laid upon containers manually before reaching the machine. The breakage of containers under these conditions causes considerable delay. Further, the covers, if not carefully place on the mouth of the containers, will cant from one side to the other.

Serial No. 241,5l3.

his increases the strains upon the caps and vessels. Various attempts have been made to devise a cap which will overcome thesediiiiculties but these have been successful only to a very limited extent.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the objections noted above by providing a friction cap which will take a wide range of size variations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a friction cap which will fit tightly on a minimum size container and at the same time will seal on a maximum size container, such caps being readily removable.

Another object of the invention is to minimize the tendency of thevclosures to cant upon application to containers prior to the sealing operation. Y

Another obj ect of the invention is to eliminate or minimize the breakage of containers in the application of friction caps.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent upon an understanding of the illustrated embodiment about to be described and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice. y

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a closure cap in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed view of the projectionsas they appear from the exterior of the cap;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the projections as they appear from the interior of the cap;

Fig. i and Fig. 5 are sectional views on the lines 4--4 and 5 5 respectively of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a closure cap about to be applied to a container; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a sealed container.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a closure cap having a cover portion l and a depending skirt 2 formed of sheet metal and turned up at the bottom into a rolled edge 3. The skirt of the cap is corrugated as shown at e to form projections extending transversely of the skirt. The corrugations preferably are irregular in contour, the respective end portions of the inwardly extending portions being pressed inwardly substantially more than the middle portions thereof, These inwardly depressed parts and 6 are adapted to form-a friction contact with the side wall of the vessel 7 in the sealing operation.

The center parts of the corrugations are much more shallow than the ends thereof and hence do not contact with the receptacle. The upper ends of the corrugations form a row of indentations slightly above the center of the cap and the lower' ends of the corrugations form a second row of indentations adjacent the rolled edge 3 at the bottom of the cap. These two rows are separated by the outwardly extending part formed by the shallow portions of the corrugations intermediate these two rows of indentations. A suitable liner 9 may' be seated in the upper part of the cap to render the seal between the cover portion of the cap and the edge of the container' substantially liquid-tight.

In the sealing operation the caps are placed manually upon the tops of the containers while they are n'ioving on a suitable conveyor'. The lower ends of the corrugations engage the mouth of the receptacle and retain each cap in horizontal position. The caps are too tight to be telescoped about the side wall of the container manually and are therefore pressed on by an automatic machine. The peculiar construction of the corrugation facilitates the sealing operation due to the fact that when the container engages the bottoms of the lower row of indentations further pressure upon the cap tends to press these indentations outwardly and upwardly. rlChese stresses are transnitted to the upper row of indentations thereby facilitating the expansion of the lower circumference of the cap.

As the cap is pressed further on the container the dominant pressure becomes outward on the lower row of projections and this is communicated as an outward pressure on the upper row of projections thereby facilitating further movement of the cap downward and at the saine time giving a better frictional engagement between the lower row of indentations and the container' side wall.

`When outward pressure is applied to both rows of indentations the ccrrugations around the entire cap facilitate the expansion in a circumferential direction and in addition the outwardly extending zone l0 forming the middle of the corrugations permits ready expansion in a transverse direc tion. In other words, the corrugations are not rigid but may be actually bent transversely of their length. This increases materially the amount of expansion permissible with such a cap by giving both a circumferential expansion and a transverse bending.

The lower sides of the indentations at the bottom of the skirt present an inclined or flared surface which cooperates with the outer edge of the container side wall to hold the cap in a substantially horizontal position and to minimize the tendency of the caps to cant. The indentations being` on an internal circumference considerably smaller than the internal circumference of the skirt of the cap, the cap may be readily removed by slightly tapping the lower edge of the cap about the periphery thereof or by rolling the shirt of the cap on a suitable table. In this way, the metal of the shirt maybe expanded so that the cap may be readily removed manually without'the use of openers.

lVith a cap formed as noted above, a much wider range of sizes may be accommodated and greater variations from a circular contour may be sealed. Experiments show that caps will fit tightly on containers varying in size considerably more than the permitted variation. On a minimum size container, the cap will fit sufficiently tight so that it cannot be .turned manually; on the maximum size it will not break the glass and the skirt of the cap will readily sustain the pressures required for the sealing operation. Further in either instance the cap may be removed by tapping as noted above. I

It will be seen that the present invention provides a' cap which is inexpensive to manufacture and which will accommodate a much greater variation in sizeof glass containers than caps manufactured heretofore. The shape of the indentations andtheir position with respect to cach other is such that the skirt of the cap may expand in a circumferential direction and also bend in a transversedirection whereby a maximum expansion 1s possible. Further the caps are not lilrely to be accidentally removed since the pressure tending to restore the skirtsy to normal shape is amply sufficient to hold them firmly on the containers. Further the sealed packages are neat in appearance and fully capable of withstanding'the rough usage to which they may be subjected. L

As various changes may be made in the above embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limited sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. As an article of manufacture, a friction tumbler cap comprising a cover portion and a depending skirt, said skirt being provided with a series of inwardly extending corrugations about the circumference thereof, spaced a substantial distance below the cover portion to permit the expansion of the skirt in both circumferential and transverse directions, the centers of said corrugations extending outwardly from a line joining the ends thereof.

2. As an article of manufacture, a friction tumbler cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, and a series of inwardly extending corrugations, the end portions of the inwardly extending portions of said corrugations extending inwardly further than the middle thereof, thereby forming a plurality of friction sealing Zones, one above another.

3. As an article of manufacture, a friction tumbler cap comprisingr a cover portion, a depending skirt, and a series of inwardly extending elongated projections extending transversely of the skirt of the cap adapted to engage a container, thel end portions of said projections extending inwardly further than the middle thereof to form a pair of friction sealing Zones for gripping the cylindrical side wall of the tumbler.

1l. As an article of manufacture, a friction tumbler cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, a series of inwardly extending projections extending tranversely of the skirt of the cap and adapted to engage a container at the ends thereof, the intermediate part being out o-f engagement with the container to form a plurality of friction gripping zones, and a rolled. edge at the bottom of said skirt.

5. As an article of manufacture, a friction tumbler cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, projections extending transversely of the skirt of the cap and forming circumferential sealing Zones for frictionally gripping the cylindrical side wall of a container, the portion intermediate said zones being corrugated to permit expansion of the skirt in both circumferential and transverse directions.

6. As an article of manufacture, a friction tumbler cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, a plurality of circumferential rows of inwardly extending projections adapted to frictionally engage the smooth side wall of the tumbler, the projections of one row being connected to the projections of the other row to form an intermediate ridge of corrugations.

l. As an article of manufacture, a closure .o c mprising a cover portion, a depending a series of inwardly extendinor projecat` the bottom of said skirt, a second :eries of inwardly extending projections slightly above the center of the skirt, and

outwardly extending projections intermediate said upper and lower series of projections, whereby the skirt of the cap may expand in both circumferential and transverse directions. j

8. As an article of manufacture, a closure cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, a series of inwardly extending projections at the bottom of said skirt, a second series of inwardly extending projections above said first series, outwardly extending projections intermediate said upper and lower projections, and a rolled edge at the bottom of said skirt. v

9. A sealed package comprising a container having a substantially cylindrical side wall sealing surface, a friction closure cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, a series of inwardly extending projections at the bottom of said skirt, a second series of inwardly extending projections slightly above the center of the skirt, and outwardly extending projections intermediate said upper and lower series of projections, whereby the skirt of the cap may expand in both circumferential and transverse directions when forced over the side wall of the container to frictionally engage it.

l0. A sealed package comprising a container having a substantially cylindrical side wall sealing surface,'a closure cap sealed on the container having a cover portion, a depending skirt, a series of inwardly extending projections at the bottom of said skirt, a second series of inwardly extending projections above said firstA series, outwardly extending projections intermediate said upper and lower portions, and a rolled edge at the bottom of said skirt.

ll. A sealed package comprising a container having a substantially cylindrical side wall sealing surface, a closure cap frictionally engaging said sealing surface and having a cover portion and a depending skirt, said skirt being provided with a series of inwardl extending corrugations about the circumference thereof to permit the expansion of the skirt both circumferentially and transversely upon application of the cap to the container, the centers of said corrugations being out of engagement with the side wail of the container to provide a pair of sealing Zones.

12. A sealed package comprising a container having a substantially cylindrical sealing surface, aclosure cap having a cover portion, a depending skirt, and a plurality of circumferential rows of inwardly extending project-ions substantially below said cover portion to frictionally engage the side wall of the container, the projections in one row being connected to the projections of the other row to form an intermediate ridge of corrugations out of engagement with the side wall of the container.

EDGAR SCOFIELD.

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