Package making – Closing packages and filled receptacles – Separate closure applying
Patent
1988-11-18
1990-03-06
Culver, Horace M.
Package making
Closing packages and filled receptacles
Separate closure applying
533315, B67B 320, B67B 322, B65B 728
Patent
active
049054473
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a closure applying apparatus suitable for use in capping machines for placing on a container having a threaded neck portion and an annular collar below said neck portion a one-piece tamper-evident screw-type capsule made of rigid plastic material, said capsule including a horizontal end wall and a longitudinal side wall which comprises an upper internally threaded skirt portion, a lower skirt portion which is provided with an inwardly projecting bead for snap engaging beneath said annular collar as a result of screwing of the capsule on the container and a plurality of thin frangible bridge portions connecting said upper and lower skirt portions.
Said capsules are useful in various applications, including soda bottles and containers which are maintained under significant pressure.
Unscrewing of said capsules after the capping operation provides visible evidence that the container between opened due to fracture of the bridges and separation of the lower skirt portion from the capsule.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,031,822 describes a closure applying apparatus for use in capping machines for placing screw-type caps on containers, which comprises a rotary, vertically reciprocable capping chuck having a plurality of jaws for gripping the cap, each jaw being pivotally movable between an open and a closed position and including an inwardly extending projection which, in the jawclosed position, rests on the top of the cap and an arcuate portion which engages the cylindrical side wall of the cap.
Said apparatus could not be used for applying a tamper-evident capsule of the above mentioned type to a container, because such a use would imply a very high risk of fracture of the bridges during the capping operation.
As a matter of fact, when during the capping operation, the lower surface of the bead on the lower skirt portion of the capsule comes into contact with the collar of the container, the thin bridges collapse and the upper and lower skirt portions of the capsule come into contact with each other. The lower skirt portion is therefore subjected to a compressive stress before the bead snaps beneath the container collar. During said snap movement the sudden release of said compression stress in the lower skirt portion would cause an elongation of the bridges beyond their original length and a fracture of said bridges due to tensile stress would thereby occur.
The invention as claimed is intended to remove this drawback.
The advantages offered by the invention are that the inner flanges of the jaws of the capping chuck form an abutment surface of the lower skirt portion, which absorbs the forces produced during movement of the inwardly projecting bead over the collar of the container, thus preventing fracture of the bridges during the capping operation.
One way of carrying out the invention is described in detail below with reference to the annexed drawings which illustrate in detail only one specific embodiment, in which:
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a closure applying apparatus according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the capping chuck of the apparatus illustrated in fig. 1, the chuck being shown in its open position before it closes on a tamper-evident capsule resting on the mouth of a container, and
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, the chuck being shown in its closed position at the end of the capping operation.
In the drawings, a closure applying apparatus which is suitable for use in capping machines for placing screw-type capsules onto containers is generally indicated 1.
The upper part of the apparatus is of conventional type whereby only the lower part, which includes a rotary, vertically reciprocable capping chuck 2, will be described in detail.
Chuck 2 comprises a bell-shaped driving member 3 and a plurality of jaws 4 having recesses 4a at the upper ends of their inner surfaces, in which the flange 5 of a tubular element 6 slidable centrally within the bell 3 is engaged with play.
To the upper end of the tubular element 6 is screwed a
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patent: 2819577 (1958-01-01), Dimond
patent: 3031822 (1962-05-01), Dimond
patent: 4178733 (1979-12-01), Dankert
patent: 4249362 (1981-02-01), Brownbill
patent: 4674263 (1987-06-01), Kelly
patent: 4696144 (1987-09-01), Bankuty et al.
Alplast S.p.A.
Culver Horace M.
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