Bottles and jars – Closures – Frangible member or portion
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-24
2001-05-29
Cronin, Stephen K. (Department: 3727)
Bottles and jars
Closures
Frangible member or portion
C215S317000, C220S780000, C220S782000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237790
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to caps for bottles and similar types of containers and, more particularly, to caps for plastic water and juice containers and an improved design of the skirt portion of the cap.
BACKGROUND ART
Ovalization of a plastic bottle cap, particularly caps for five-gallon water bottles and the like, is a problem typically caused by packing of too many caps for a particular package design. The caps press down on caps below and cause a slight ovalization of the skirt. Equipment used to mount the cap onto the neck of a water bottle after the bottle is filled with water has difficulty doing so when the skirt of the cap becomes ovalized and, thus, does not match the round shape of the bottle neck.
Some currently used bottle caps are designed with constant thickness skirt dimensions, which provides added rigidity to the skirt and relies primarily on hoop stress to prevent ovalization, but also adds to the weight of the skirt. A large quantity of such caps packed together creates enough added weight to overcome the rigidity of thicker skirts and cause ovalization.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,865 of Adams et al. discloses a spill-reduction cap for fluid containers, which cap has a downwardly depending skirt with an interior bead at the bottom edge of the skirt for engaging a bottle neck to prevent dirt from entering under the skirt. One disadvantage of an interior bead is that it results in an undesirable undercut increasing the difficulty of ejecting the cap during a mold ejection process. While the internal bead does add mass to the skirt and may have a de-ovalization effect, the cap of the present invention achieves several advantages over the cap of Adams et al. that are discussed herein.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Briefly described, the improved bottle cap of the present invention includes a top panel for covering the neck opening of a bottle and a skirt depending downwardly from the top panel. The skirt includes an exterior bead adjacent the lower peripheral edge of the skirt, with the exterior bead projecting radially outwardly from the skirt. Preferably, the skirt is substantially cylindrical in shape in its lower region and the interior surface of the skirt opposite the exterior bead also has an inward projection.
An advantage of an external bead is that it provides more surface area for a stripper ring mechanism during ejection of the cap from injection mold components. Reference is made to my co-pending application Ser. No. 09/172,721, entitled “Apparatus and Method of Forming Cap,” for a more detailed explanation of this advantage of the present invention.
According to an aspect of the invention, the inward projection is angled and has a downwardly, inward taper. According to another aspect of the invention, the skirt has a reduced thickness side wall dimension. The overall weight reduction of the cap, in combination with the exterior bead design at the bottom of the skirt, provides a cap with sufficient resistance to ovalization when a multiplicity of caps are packed into a box for shipment.
These and other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the claims, which are all incorporated herein as part of the disclosure of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2789607 (1957-04-01), Tupper
patent: 3262600 (1966-07-01), Gach
patent: 3334769 (1967-08-01), Gach
patent: 3515307 (1970-06-01), Gach
patent: 3531013 (1970-09-01), Hammes
patent: 3532249 (1970-10-01), Gach
patent: 3739976 (1973-06-01), MacDaniel
patent: 4166548 (1979-09-01), Crisci
patent: 4380304 (1983-04-01), Anderson
patent: 5540349 (1996-07-01), Philips
patent: 5662231 (1997-09-01), Adams et al.
patent: 5687865 (1997-11-01), Adams et al.
patent: 5911334 (1999-06-01), Helms
Cronin Stephen K.
Flehr Hohbach Test Albritton & Herbert LLP
Portola Packaging, Inc.
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