AU721558B2

AU721558B2 - Screw-type cap with safety and guarantee band

Info

Publication number: AU721558B2
Application number: AU43746/97A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Romeo Corvaglia
Original assignee: Corvaglia Product Dev
Current assignee: CORVAGLIA PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Priority date: 1996-10-09
Filing date: 1997-10-07
Publication date: 2000-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 2017-10-07
Also published as: CN1091731C; PL191811B1; PL332600A1; ES2149612T3; BR9711889A; SK44499A3; HK1021169A1; CA2267787C; KR20000048996A; EP0931001B1; IL129371A0; GR3034456T3; SK283598B6; CZ9901190A3; EP0931001A1; DE19781083D2; CA2267787A1; CN1231641A; DE59701954D1; PT931001E

Abstract

A safety band (3) of a sealing unit (1) has two retaining noses (12a, 12b; 13a, 13b) arranged in diagonally facing pairs. The retaining noses (12a, 12b; 13a, 13b) standing out on the clear opening of the safety band (3) are axially displaced. When the bottle (17) is closed, the pair of retaining noses (12a, 12b) is first split and then glides on the retaining rib (15). After that the retaining noses (13a, 13b) that are displaced 90 DEG are split and also glide beneath the retaining rib (15). When the bottle is opened the retaining noses (13a, 13b) are first retained on the retaining rib (15) and the connecting webs (9) to the screw-type cap (2) are broken. Afterwards, the remaining webs (9) are also broken once the axially offset retaining noses (12a, 12b) are obstructed by the retaining rib (15).

Description

I g The invention relates to a screw closure with a security and guarantee strip, for bottles.

Security and guarantee strips today are formed on most screw closures in order to indicate the first opening of the bottle and to prevent that by unauthorised persons, the contents of the bottle may be contaminated. The security strips consist of a cylinder-jacket shaped section which is connected to the lower edge of the jacket of the screw closure via connecting webs. The strips on their circumference may comprise weakened regions which tear on opening for the first time. The strip sections remain connected to the screw closure. They may however be manufactured as one-piece and remain after the opening for the first time below a retaining rib located axialy below the thread on the bottle neck. With the conventional security and guarantee strips either on the lower edge of these or on their inner surface distributed over the circumference and protruding into the clear cross section there are arranged a multitude of retaining cams distributed over the circumference (US-A-4,846,361). On screwing on the lid at the bottler these retaining cams slide over the retaining rib and latch under this. When opening the screw closure, the security strip is held back by the retaining cams, which have a retaining surface at the top, and the connecting webs between the screw closure and the security strip will break.

When screwing on or placing on the screw closure at the bottler, due to the simultaneous resistance of four retaining cams which occurs when the cams pass over the retaining cams, problems may arise due to the large expansion and, if introduced obliquely, the safety strip may be compressed and jammed between the neck of the bottle and the jacket of the screw closure.

But also on opening the screw lid the known security strips often tear only on one side or are partly pulled out beyond the retaining rib. On reclosing, the security strip jams between the bottle neck and the jacket of the screw closure, so that a sealed reclosure is not possible when previously the security strip has not been removed by hand or pushed back.

FR-A-2 682 357, mentioned in the international search report has two adjacent groups of retaining cams having different heights, which will promote the oblique positioning of the security strip, exactly what should be avoided.

The object of the present invention was to provide a security strip which at the bottler on high output bottling machines may be deposited onto the bottle without trouble and which on opening the bottle by the consumer separates perfectly from the screw closure and remains back below the retaining rib on the bottle neck, or with returnable bottles tears and remains connected to the screw closure.

This object is achieved by a security and guarantee strip according to the features of patent claim 1.

The retaining cams arranged axially displaced on placing on the lid effect considerably lower spreading forces onto the security strip and prevent the premature destruction of this.

Two retaining cams arranged in pairs and axially displaced to one another, on screwing on the screw lid, likewise slide after one another over the retaining rib, by which means the security strip on account of the oval deformation is hardly stretched and a slight axial pressing force is necessary in order to permit the jumping over of the retaining rib. On opening the bottle firstly the two upper-lying holding cams are held back by the retaining rib and here only tensile forces occur on the connecting webs which are preferably formed laterally to the retaining cams, and tear through these. As soon as the first connecting webs are tom the next retaining cams get to the retaining rib and tear through the neighboring connecting webs. An oblique position of the security strip is avoided by way of this and if formed as one piece it always stays back below the retaining rib on the bottle neck. A security strip with a predetermined breaking location and a connection to the screw closure remains connected to the latter.

The invention is hereinafter described by way of an embodiment example. There are shown: Figure 1 an axial cross-section through a screw closure with a security and guarantee strip as well as below, the neck of a PET bottle, Figure 2 a cross section along line Il-II between the lower edge of the jacket of the screw closure and the upper edge of the security strip, Figure 3 a cross section along line II-II through the security strip in Figure 1 during the screwing on of the lid, Figure 4 a perspective representation of the closure unit according to Figures 1-3, Figure 5 a cross section along line III-II between the lower edge of the jacket of the screw closure and the upper edge of the security strip in Figure 6, Figure 6 a perspective representation of a further formation of the invention with a connected security strip.

In the Figures 1 and 2 with the reference numeral 1 there is schematically shown a closure unit consisting of a screw closure 2 and a security strip 3. The closure unit I consists of thermosplastic plastic and is manufactured by injection moulding. The screw closure 2 comprises a base 4 on which a sealing rib 5 running concentrically to the symmetry axis A may be mounted. To the base 4 there connects a jacket 6 which on its inner side preferably in sections carries apportioned thread windings 7. The formation of the screw closure 2 is generally known and here is not described in more detail. The seceurity and gurantee strip 3 is connected to the lower edge 8 of the jacket 6 of the screw closure 2 by very thin webs 9 of few tenths of a millimeter thick. The length of the connecting webs 9 or the distance between the upper edge 10 of the security strip is very small and lies in the size order of a few tenths of a millimetre.

On the inner jacket surface 11 of the security strip in the example shown there are formed two pairs of retaining cams 12a, 12b; 13a, 13b. The retaining cams 12a and 12b as well as the retaining cams 13a and 13b lie diagonally opposite, are displaced by approx 90° and are axially, i.e. with respect to the axial extension of the security strip 3, displaced by an amount a. The retaining cams 12a and 12b as a result lie closer to the lower edge 14 of the security strip 3 than the retaining cams 13a and 13b by the amount a. The distance a is preferably smaller than the height b of a circumferential retaining rib 15 on the neck 16 of a bottle 17 e.g. manufactured from PET. On the neck 16 of the bottle 17 there are visible thread sections 18 prodruding outwardly from the bottle neck 16, these being envisaged for coming into engagement with the corresponding thread sections 7 on the inner side of the jacket 6 of the screw closure 2.

The connecting webs 9 lie, observed in the circumferential direction, between the retaining ribs 12a, 12b; 13a, 13b. Alternatively to the webs 9 also film-like connections may hold together the screw closure 2 and the security strip 3.

The functioning manner of the security strip 3 of the first embodiment example is subsequently explained by way of Figure 3. On closing the bottle 17 with the closure unit 1, the latter is placed from above axially onto the bottle neck 16, and seen from above, is rotated clockwise. With this firstly the thread sections 7 on the screw closure 2 come into engagement with the thread sections 18 on the bottle neck 16. After a rotation by approx. 360° the oblique lower edge 19 of the retaining cams 12a and 12b will contact the oblique upper edge of the retaining rib 15 on the bottle neck 16. On further rotation and by way of this axial advance of the closure unit 1 the two retaining cams 12a and 12b are pressed radially outwards and simultaneously the two retaining cams 13a and 13b displaced by approx. 900 are pulled inwards. The security strip 3 with this assumes an oval shaping and stretches only extremely slightly and at the most within the elasticity limit. As soon as the two apexes SI on the retaining cams 12a and 12b as well as the apex S2 on the retaining rib 15 have slid over one another, the two retaining cams 12a and 12b are again pulled radially inwards since at this moment the two retaining cams 13a and 13b arranged axially displaced now also come into contact with the retaining rib 15 and analogously to the two other ribs are forced radially outwards. With this the cross section of the security strip 3 becomes oval again. Already after a short time also the:two retaining cams 13a and 13b slide over the retaining rib and thereafter are located, as also the two retaining cams 12a and 12b, in the cylindrical region 20 of the bottle neck. On closing the bottle 16 the thin connecting webs 9 are only slightly mechanically loaded, since by way of the axial pressure the security strip 3 with its upper edge 10 bears on the lower edge 8. of the jacket and the connecting webs 9 at the same time are only squeezed.

On opening the screw closure firstly the two retaining cams' 13a and 13b lying diagonally opposite one another come into contact with the retaing rib 15 on the bottle neck 16. Since however neither on the retaining cams 13a and 13b nor on the retaining rib 15 do inclined surfaces meet one another and permit a pushing apart of the two parts as with screwing on or on closing, but the retaining rib 15 does not let past the retaining cams 13a and 13b, the latter are held back and the connecting webs 9 lying laterally of the retaining cams 13a and 13b are torn in two. On further rotation for example by a quarter or half turn, then also the retaining cams 12a and 12b come to bear on the R 4e laining rib 15. On account of the already torn webs 9 the security strip 3 is again deformed ovally and with this pulls the retaining cams 12a, 12b now in engagement under the retaining rib 15. With this the remaining connecting webs 9 are torn. The security strip 3 remains now in the region 20 below the retaining rib 15. Without the now torn off security strip 3 the screw closure 2 for the reclosure of the bottle 17 may be screwed onto its neck 16.

With the formation of the invention according to the Figures 5 and 6 the security strip 3 in the region is unreleasably connected to the jacket 6 of the screw closure 2. The remaining circumferential region of the security strip is tearably fastened by the thin connecting webs 9 on the lower edge 10. A predetermined breaking location 22 in the form of an incision, a weakening line or a film-like reduction in size of the wall thickness permits the tearing of the security strip 3 on opening the screw closure 2. A first retaining cam 12a lies neighboring the predetermined breaking location 22 below the connecting region X. Preferably directly opposite the connection region X there is formed an individual or a pair of retaining cams 12b lying closely to one another. Displaced by 90' to this there lies two further retaining cams 13a, 13b. The retaining cams 13a or 13a and 13b lie axially further distanced from the lower edge 14 of the security strip 3 and thus come to bear with the retaining rib 15 earlier than the retaining cams 12a, 12b. The webs 9 laterally of the retaining cams 13a and 13b as well as the predetermined breaking location 22 are therefore torn before the remainder.

-v 3

Claims

1. A screw closure with a security and guarantee strip for bottles, with which the annularly formed security strip is connected to the jacket of the screw closure by webs and on its inner surface carries retaining cams protruding into the inside cross-section, characterised in that a first pair of retaining cams lying diagonally opposite one another and at least one further retaining cam displaced by approx. 90° and axially displaced by the amount are arranged on the security strip.

2. A screw closure with a security and guarantee strip according to claim 1, characterised in that on the security strip there are arranged at least two pairs of retaining cams (12a, 12b; 13a, 13b), which lie diagonally opposite and axially displaced to one another.

3. A screw closure with a security and guarantee strip according to one of the claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the axial displacement of the retaining cams (12a, 12b; 13a, 13b) is smaller than the height of a retaining rib (15) on the neck (16) of the bottle (17).

4. A screw closure with a security and guarantee strip according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the webs observed in the circumferential direction, lie between the retaining cams (12a, 12b; 13a, 13b). A screw closure with a security and guarantee strip according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterised in that in each case two webs lie between the retaining cams (12a, 12b; 13a, 13b).

6. A screw closure with a security and guarantee strip according to one of the claims 1 to characterised in that the security strip comprises a strong, non-tearing connection region with the jacket of the screw closure and a predetermined breakage location (22).

7. A screw closure with a security and guarantee strip according to claim 6, characterised in that one retaining cam (12b) is arranged diagonally opposite the connection region