TAMPER-EVIDENT CLOSURE

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] Benefit is claimed of US patent application 60/744,947, entitled "TAMPER-EVIDENT CLOSURE VALVE", and filed April 17, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein as if set forth at length.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates to closures. More particularly, the invention relates to tamper-evident screw and snap cap closures for bottles and the like.

[0003] A well-developed art exists regarding tamper-evident screw cap closures. A typical screw cap closure is molded of a plastic material (e.g., polypropylene, low density polypropylene (LDPE) , or high density polyethylene (HDPE) ) . The closure body typically comprises an internally threaded sidewall portion. A bottom of the sidewall forms a tamper-evident ring. There may be an interrupted or otherwise weakened connection between the ring and adjacent portion of the sidewall. At the upper end of the sidewall main portion, a web may close the closure.

Alternatively, any of a number of forms of open valve seat may be formed to which a separate valve element (e.g., a poppet) is movably mounted to open and close the closure. [0004] The closure may be installed to a threaded neck of the bottle by screwing/threading. The screwing may flex/stretch the ring over the bottle external threads. Upon unscrewing of the closure, however, the tensile strength of the connection may be insufficient to draw the ring back over the bottle threads, thereby rupturing the connection and leaving the ring on the bottle. Even upon reinstallation of the remaining portion of the closure, the severed connection provides clear evidence that the closure has previously been opened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] One aspect of the invention involves a closure that opens by a user actuated rotation of a closure element relative to a closure body about a longitudinal axis. The element (e.g., a cap (a sealing cap or alternatively just an overcap) or valve element) has a tamper evidencing tab extending upward from a lower wall of the element. The tab is initially captured in a recess in an upwardly projecting wall of the body. The tab may be severed to permit an opening rotation of the element. [0006] The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] FIG. 1 is a view of a bottle closure in an initial closed condition . [0008] FIG. 2 is a top view of the closure of FIG. 1. [0009] FIG. 3 is a first central vertical sectional view of the closure of FIG. 1, taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 through the tamper evidencing tab and showing a bottle body in broken line. [0010] FIG. 4 is a second central vertical/longitudinal sectional view of the closure of FIG. 1, taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

[0011] FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the closure of FIG. 1. [0012] FIG. 6 is a partially opened view of the closure of FIG. 1 with the tab removed. [0013] FIG. 7 is a central vertical/longitudinal sectional view of the opened closure of FIG. 6.

[0014] FIG. 8 is a view of a second bottle closure in an initial closed condition.

[0015] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] FIG. 1 shows a container (bottle) 20 as an assembly of a bottle body 22 and a closure assembly 24. The bottle body 22 (FIG. 3) includes a sidewall 28 extending upward from a bottom or base 30. The exemplary sidewall 28 extends to a shoulder 32. A neck 34 extends above the shoulder to a rim 36 defining a mouth opening. The neck 34 includes an externally threaded portion 38 below the rim 36. [0017] The bottle interior may contain a liquid beverage. The exemplary body 22 and closure 24 have a common central vertical/longitudinal axis 500 (FIG. 1) . The exemplary closure 24 is the assembly of a first (main) piece 40 and a second piece 42. As is discussed further below, the exemplary first piece 40 forms a closure body and the exemplary second piece 42 forms a cap and/or a valve element which may be articulated relative to the closure body 40 to open the bottle. An exemplary articulation is a relative rotation about the axis 500. As a valve element, the element 42 may, in an open condition, allow communication/dispensing through or bypassing itself without being removed. As a cap, the element 42 may be removed to allow desired communication/dispensing. An alternative cap embodiment is an overcap which covers a separate valve element (e.g., to protect against dust and debris. As is discussed below, a tamper evident feature may be applied to the element 42 serving one or more of the valve element/cap/overcap roles.

[0018] An exemplary bottle body 22 is of any conventional or yet-developed type and may be unitarily molded from a plastic (e.g., HDPE). The exemplary closure body 40 may similarly be unitarily molded (e.g., of HDPE or MDPE). The element 42 may similarly be molded (e.g., of polypropylene). A separate overcap (not shown - e.g., functioning as a dust cover), if any, may also be similarly molded, advantageously of transparent

material. The exemplary closure body 40 includes a sidewall 44 extending upward from a lower rim 48 to a shoulder 50. An outer wall/boss 52 projects upwardly near the periphery of the shoulder. The exemplary shoulder continues inward to an inner boss 53 (FIG. 3) projecting above a rim 54 of the outer wall 52. A channel 55 may be formed between the inner boss 53 and the outer wall 52. As is discussed below, the exemplary outer wall 52 and inner boss 53 form features for mounting and receiving the element 42. [0019] A lower portion 56 of the sidewall 44 forms a tamper evident ring having radially inward projections/protrusions 58 captured below an annular rib 60 of the bottle below the externally threaded portion 38. Scoring 62 may frangibly separate the ring 56 from a remainder of the sidewall which bears an internal thread 64 for engaging the bottle external thread. Once the closure body 40 is screwed onto the bottle, unscrewing would be resisted by engagement of the projections 58 and the rib 60, severing connections 66 and causing the ring to separate from the remainder of the body 40 to evidence tampering.

[0020] Alternatively to the illustrated ring 56, the means for evidencing tampering by attempted removal of the body 40 may involve a tear-off/pull-off feature (e.g., a finger-gripable tab to tear off the ring) . Such a tear-off ring may be particularly relevant to a snap-on (rather than screw-on) closure body. Once the ring is torn off, retention of the remainder of the closure may be compromised.

[0021] The exemplary inner boss 53 extends upward to a rim 70 which surrounds an outlet 71 (outlet port) from the closure body 40. In the closed condition, a cup-like plug portion 72 of the element 42 seals the body outlet 71 (FIG. 5) such as by being concentrically received within a portion immediately below the

rim 70. The plug 72 depends from an upper wall/web 73 which extends outward to join an outer wall 74 at a shoulder 75. The upper wall/web 73 may include vents 76. An intermediate wall 77 depends from the upper wall 73 and may have an interior/ID surface bearing feature 78 (e.g., a rib) for engaging a complementary corresponding feature 79 (e.g., a channel) in a proximal region of the outer surface of the boss 53. A rotation of the element 42 from the closed condition may have the effect of raising the element 42 to disengage the features 78 and 79 and disengage the plug 72 from the opening/port 71. The exemplary lower rim 80 of the intermediate wall 77 has a longitudinal profile defining a pair of opposite convex extremes and concave troughs. These are complementary to contouring of the upper surface 82 of the shoulder 50 to provide a camming action to drive the longitudinal disengagement noted above. For example, the rib 78 may be snapped out of engagement with the channel 79 through the partially open/removed condition of FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows residual interference between the rib 78 and the shoulder of the boss 53 which may cause the element 42 to snap vertically to a fully disengaged/open condition. If used as a pure cap, the rotation may cause freeing of the element 42 from its position above the body 40 to allow direct dispensing from the outlet 71. If used as a pure valve element, the rotation may expose apertures in the element 42 through which dispensing may further occur. FIG. 7 further shows a mold gate having a central portion 86 and radiating branches 87 within a mouth area of the boss 53. In addition to the mold gate function, these features may provide additional strength at the opening/port 71 and may mate with a corresponding feature 88 of the plug 52 (e.g., a recess in a base of the plug) to further maintain a seal when the element 42 is in the closed condition.

[0022] Additional tamper evidencing means are provided for evidencing opening and/or attempted opening of the closure (e.g., opening of a valve element or removal of a cap) rather than removal and/or attempted removal of the closure body from the bottle. Exemplary means comprise a severable tab 90 (FIG. 1) of the element 42. As noted above, to unblock/unseal the port 71, the element 42 is rotated (clockwise or counterclockwise in an example) about the axis 500. The tab 90, however, resists this rotation and opening. The exemplary tab 90 has a lower portion 92 accommodated within a recess 94 of the body outer wall 52. At an inboard surface of the lower portion 92, the exemplary tab 90 is connected by a frangible connection 96 to a lower portion of the outer surface of the intermediate wall 77. The exemplary tab 90 extends upward to an upper/distal end 98. An upper portion 100 of the exemplary tab 90 is aligned with a recess 102 in the outer wall 74. In the exemplary embodiment, at either side of the recess 102, the outer wall 74 merges with the intermediate wall 77. In the example, an attempted rotation will cause a side of the tab 90 to bear against a side of the tab-receiving recess 94. To allow the opening, the frangible connection 96 of the tab 90 to the main portion of the element 42 must be severed. One tab removal method involves directly engaging the tab. For example, the user's finger may be accommodated between the recess 102 and the tab 90 (e.g., so that the finger may overlap the distal end 98 engaging a portion of the tab inboard/ID (inner diameter) surface of the tab 90. The user may then pull the distal end 98 radially outward and downward to deform the connection 96 about a transverse axis 502 and rupture the connection 96. During this rotation, for example, a lower end of the tab 90 may bear against a base of the recess 94. An alternative involves rotating the main portion of the element 42 so that engagement between a side of the tab

90 and a side of the recess 94 severs the connection 96. However, the direct engagement method may allow for greater leverage and may allow a more robust connection 96 resistant to accidental or incidental severing. [0023] In the exemplary embodiment, the recess 100 includes integrally molded indicia 140 (FIG. 5) to indicate that the closure has been opened. Exemplary indicia include a word such as "opened" or an appropriate pictogram or other graphic. Similarly, to highlight the tamper evident feature, the outboard/outer diameter (OD) surface of the tab 90 may bear indicia 142. This indicia may, for example, include a word such as "sealed" or an appropriate graphic. Exemplary manufacturing involves molding of the body 40 and element 42 as separate pieces followed by assembly by relative translation along the axis 500 to achieve snap-in engagement to the closed condition. In an alternative embodiment 24' of FIG. 8, the body 40 and element 42 are co-molded as a single piece connected by a strap/leash 160. When the element 42 is an overcap or a cap (with or without separate overcap) this prevents loss of the element 42 to facilitate reclosing of the closure and/or avoid litter and assist in recycling.

[0024] As noted above, an exemplary variation involves forming the element 42 as an overcap. For example, it may be otherwise similar but lack the plug portion. A separate pull-push valve element (e.g., lacking a tamper indicator) may be concealed beneath such overcap. The removal of the overcap and its tamper evident feature may provide sufficient indication of tampering. [0025] One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, when implemented as a reengineering of an existing closure and/or for use with an

existing bottle body, details of the existing closure or bottle body may influence or dictate details of the particular implementation. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.