EILERTSON, Stephen, A. (2395 Mckinley Drive, Perrysburg, OH, 43551, US)
WILLINGHAM, Wendell, D. (24380 Sun-Air Blvd, Perrysburg, OH, 43551, US)
BLOOM, Kenneth, S. (7575 Yates Road, Bloomfield, OH, 44817, US)
EILERTSON, Stephen, A. (2395 Mckinley Drive, Perrysburg, OH, 43551, US)
WILLINGHAM, Wendell, D. (24380 Sun-Air Blvd, Perrysburg, OH, 43551, US)
| Claims
1.
A plastic closure that includes:
a plastic closure shell (30 or 66) having a base wall (32 or 70) with a central opening (42 or 72) and a skirt (34 or 68) for securing the closure to a container neck finish, and
a plastic disk (38 or 74) including angularly spaced fingers (40) extending into said
central opening of said base wall and external beads (44) on said fingers for engaging an inner
periphery of said opening to retain said disk within said shell,
characterized in that said beads have flat undersurfaces (48) and said inner periphery of said central
opening has a ledge with a conical surface (46) engaged by said undersurfaces of said beads.
2.
The closure set forth in claim 1 wherein said flat undersurfaces (48) of said beads lie
in a common plane.
3.
The closure set forth in claim 1 wherein said disk has a surface opposed to said base
wall and channels (52) in said surface extending from between said fingers to a periphery of said
disk.
4.
The closure set forth in claim 3 wherein said disk includes a flexible resilient liner
on an undersurface of said disk.
5.
The closure set forth in claim 1 wherein said disk has a flat upper surface within said fingers.
6.
A retort package that includes a container (26) having a neck finish (24) and a closure
(22 or 62) as set forth in any preceding claim received on said neck finish.
7.
The package set forth in claim 6 wherein said inner periphery of said central opening
overlies an end of said neck finish. |
CLOSURE AND PACKAGE FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE APPLICATIONS
The present disclosure is directed to a plastic closure for beverage, food, juice,
pharmaceutical and like applications, and more particularly to a closure and a package that are
particularly well suited for high-temperature (e.g., pasteurization, hot fill, asceptic fill and retort)
applications.
Background and Summary of the Disclosure
U.S. Patents 6,874,647 and 7,147,1 18 disclose a closure, a package and a method of
assembling and filling a package that are particularly well adapted for high-temperature applications.
Such high-temperature applications include, for example, applications in which the container is filled
with product while the product is hot, such as so-called hot fill and asceptic fill applications. High-
temperature applications also include applications in which the filled package is subjected to
pasteurization or retort after filling. During retort applications, for example, the filled package can
be subjected to a temperature of 265°F for 15 minutes. High-temperature applications also can occur
when a package is filled with a carbonated beverage and subjected to storage under high-temperature
conditions, in which the internal pressure within the container can increase dramatically. In all of
such high-temperature situations, the container closure is subjected to elevated internal pressure,
which tends to distort or dome the closure and interrupt the seal between the closure and the
container neck finish.
The noted patents disclose a plastic closure that includes a plastic closure shell having
a base wall with a central opening and a skirt with at least one internal thread segment or at least one
internal bead for securing the closure to a container neck finish. A plastic disk is retained within the
shell. The disk includes a plurality of axially extending spacer elements around the disk to engage
the undersurface of the shell base wall and space the disk from the base wall of the shell, and
angularly spaced fingers extending from the disk through a central opening in the shell base wall to
retain the disk within the shell. A resilient liner may be disposed on an underside of the disk for
sealing engagement with the container neck finish.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented
separately from or in combination with each other.
A plastic closure in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure includes a
plastic closure shell having a base wall with a central opening and a skirt for securing the closure to
a container neck finish. A plastic disk includes angularly spaced fingers extending into the central
opening of the shell base wall and external beads on the fingers for engaging an inner periphery of
the central opening to retain the disk within the shell. The beads have flat undersurfaces and the
inner periphery of the central opening has a ledge with a conical surface engaged by the beads. Any
doming that occurs in the disk and/or the closure shell base wall increases the surface contact
between the finger beads and the opposing surface of the ledge so that removal of the shell from a
container neck finish will simultaneously lift and remove the disk from the neck finish without
having the beads snap through the central opening in the shell so that the shell is removed while the
disk is retained on the neck finish.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The disclosure, together with additional objects, features, advantages and aspects
thereof, will best be understood from the following description, the appended claims and the
accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a package in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 in FIG.
l ; FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale of the portion of FIG. 2 within the area 3;
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the sealing disk in the closure of FIGS. 1-3;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 in FIG.
4; FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a package in accordance with a second
exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 7-7 in FIG.
6; and
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the sealing disk in the closure of FIGS. 6-7.
Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments
FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a package 20 in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment
of the present disclosure as including a plastic closure 22 secured to the neck finish 24 of a container
26. Neck finish 24 has one or more external thread segments or external beads 28. (The term
"thread segments" is employed in its usual broad sense to include both continuous and discontinuous
thread segments, and to include both single and multiple threads.) Container 26 can be of glass or
plastic construction.
Closure 22 includes a plastic shell 30 having a base wall 32 and an annular skirt 34.
Skirt 34 has one or more internal thread segments or internal beads 36 by means of which closure
22 is secured to container neck finish 24. A plastic disk 38 has a disk body 39 from which angularly
spaced fingers 40 extend through a central opening 42 in shell base wall 32. Each finger 40 has an
external bead 44 received by snap fit over an internal ledge 46 around the inner periphery of central
opening 42 and by means of which disk 38 is retained on shell 30. The undersurfaces 48 of beads
44 are flat and preferably lie in a common plane. This common plane preferably is perpendicular
to the central axis of disk 38. Beads 44 preferably also have conical surfaces 49 facing radially outwardly and axially away from disk body 39. The upper surface of ledge 46 is conical, facing
away from the central axis of closure shell 30. In the event of doming of disk 38 and/or shell base
wall 32 under pressure within the package, surfaces 46,48 are brought into enhanced surface
engagement. In this way, removal of shell 38 from container neck finish 24, such as by unthreading
of the closure shell with respect to the neck finish, engages and lifts disk 38 from sealing engagement
with the container neck finish. Flat undersurface 48 and conical ledge surface 46 help prevent
fingers 40 from snapping through central opening 42 during such closure removal, which might
otherwise occur if beads 44 were rounded. Finger conical surface 49 cooperates with a conical
undersurface 51 around opening 42 to cam fingers 40 inwardly as disk 38 is assembled to shell 30.
Disk 38 preferably has a flexible resilient sealing liner 50 on the undersurface of the
disk body for sealing engagement with the end of container neck finish 24. Sealing liner 50
preferably is molded in situ on the undersurface of disk body 39, although liner 50 could be provided
as a separate element and adhered to the undersurface of the disk body. Disk 38 preferably has
channels 52 that extend from a position between fingers 40 to the outer periphery of disk 38, as best
seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. Channels 52 preferably are molded into the upper surface of disk body 39.
The central portion 56 of disk 38 within fingers 40 preferably is flat to allow for provision of user
indicia either by being molded onto the disk or by being provided on a separate label that is secured
to the disk. Ledge 46 closely overlies the end of neck finish 24 in the package of FIGS. 1-3. This
arrangement provides enhanced sealing engagement with the end of neck finish 24.
FIGS.6-8 illustrate a package 60 in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment
of the present disclosure. Elements in package 60 that are similar to those in package 20 of FIGS.
1-5 are indicated by correspondingly identical reference numerals. Package 60 includes a plastic
closure 62 secured to the neck finish of a container 64. Closure 62 includes a plastic shell 66 having
a skirt 68 and a base wall 70 with a central opening 72. A disk 74 has angularly spaced fingers 40
that are received by snap fit over a ledge 46 within opening 72. Channels 52 in disk 74 preferably
are formed by recesses that widen from between fingers 40 to the peripheral edge of the disk.
Channels 52 in both embodiments of the present disclosure provide for flow of flushing fluid, as
disclosed in the above-noted U.S. patents.
The present disclosure thus provides a plastic closure, and a closure and container package, that are particularly well suited for high-temperature applications. The disclosure has been
presented in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, and additional modifications and variations
have been discussed. Other modifications and variations readily will suggest themselves to persons of ordinary skill in the art in view of the foregoing description. The disclosure is intended to
embrace all such modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the
appended claims.