Bottles and jars – Closures – Frangible member or portion
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-03
2003-04-22
Pascua, Jes F. (Department: 3727)
Bottles and jars
Closures
Frangible member or portion
C215S254000, C220S259100, C220S259200, C222S541500, C222S541600, C222S556000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06550626
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to resealable dispensing closure systems that incorporate tamper-evident features. More particularly, the invention relates to closure lids that incorporate tamper-evident features, to resealable dispensing closure systems that combine such lids with a closure body and to methods for assembling such closure systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS POSED BY THE PRIOR ART
Various types of resealable dispensing closure systems are generally known in the prior art. They typically include a closure body provided with a dispensing orifice of suitable dimension and a closure lid for resealing the dispensing orifice. Frequently, the closure lid cooperates with the closure body through a hinge and the closure body, hinge and lid may molded as a unitary, integrated structure.
It is also known to incorporate tamper-evident features into resealable dispensing closure systems in order to detect post-installation tampering with the closure system. Prior art tamper-evident features typically include a drop ring that is integrally molded with and frangibly connected to the bottom of the closure body. The frangible connection is often provided by a membrane that extends around the closure body and which is provided with intermittent slits or an area of reduced thickness. Typically, such prior art drop rings are adapted to engage a drop ring bead which is molded into the container finish on a container with which the closure system is used. The drop ring bead is usually configured with an inclined surface to deform the drop ring in a radially outward direction to permit the drop ring to pass downward over the drop ring bead when the closure body is first installed on the container. The drop ring bead is also usually configured with a shoulder which abuts a corresponding surface on the drop ring to prohibit upward movement of the drop ring when the closure body unscrewed or otherwise moved relative to the container. Thus, after the initial installation of the closure, when the closure is initially opened or tampered with, the frangible connection is broken and the drop ring is wholly or partially severed from the closure body.
Known resealable dispensing closure systems that incorporate the above-described tamper-evident features are characterized by a number of disadvantages. One disadvantage is that known tamper-evident drop rings of the prior art, while suitable for evidencing movement of the closure body relative to the container, do not typically provide evidence of tampering of a resealable lid which may be provided on the closure body. For this reason, closure systems which incorporate a resealable lid are typically provided with additional tamper-evident features, for example, heat-shrinkable thermoplastic bands or perforated connections between the lid and closure body, to evidence tampering with the lid relative to the closure body. This results in increased cost and manufacturing time.
Another disadvantage of known resealable closure systems which incorporate tamper-evident features is that manufacturing, especially molding, of the tamper-evident features is often complex. For example, in the case of the above-described closure systems, the drop ring is molded as an integral portion of the closure body, but with a frangible connection which often involves rather complex mold configurations or complex molding techniques. In other tamper-evident closure systems, tamper-evident features are typically provided as parts which are separate from the primary closure structure and must therefore be assembled onto the primary closure structure after the closure structure is molded. Such manufacturing complexity increases the amount of manufacturing time and the associated expense of known closure systems.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide an improved closure lid with tamper-evident features and which, when used in a closure system with a closure body, provides evidence of tampering with the closure body relative to the container as well as evidence of tampering with the lid relative to the closure body. It would also be advantageous to provide such an improved closure lid and closure system which are easy and inexpensive to manufacture compared to the prior art.
It would also be advantageous if such an improved closure lid and associated closure system could accommodate bottles, containers, or packages which have a variety of shapes and that are constructed from a variety of materials. Further, it would be desirable if such an improved system could accommodate efficient, high-quality, large volume manufacturing techniques with a reduced product reject rate to produce a system with consistent operating characteristics.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an improved closure lid and dispensing closure system with tamper-evident features which addresses the aforementioned disadvantages in the prior art. The invention also provides an improved method of assembling a closure system. In particular, the present invention provides a tamper-evident closure lid and resealable dispensing closure system in which a single tamper-evident member or band is utilized to provide evidence of tampering with the closure body relative to the container as well as evidence of tampering with the resealable lid relative to the closure body. Moreover, the invention provides a closure lid and tamper-evident, resealable dispensing closure system that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble compared to prior art closure lids and closure systems.
The invention provides a closure lid with tamper-evident features, the lid being adapted to be used in one preferred form of a dispensing closure system that includes a closure body having a closure body skirt including at least one thread and extending to a closure body skirt bottom. The lid includes a lid skirt extending to a skirt bottom and may cooperate with the closure body through a hinge or may be separate from the closure body. A tamper-evident member in the form of a flexible, frangible tether member extends from the lid skirt and has a distal end and a proximal end. The proximal end is attached to the lid near or at the lid skirt and the distal end is attached to a drop ring. Preferably, the lid, frangible tether member and drop ring are provided as a unitary, integrally molded structure. As molded, the lid skirt bottom, frangible tether member and drop ring each have a surface portion which are all preferably substantially coplanar. The frangible tether member is of sufficient length to permit the drop ring to be positioned on the closure body skirt bottom when the closure system is configured into an assembled position. The drop ring preferably cooperates with the closure body skirt bottom through a fastening feature, which may be a snap-fit feature, to retain the drop ring on the closure body skirt bottom.
According to the inventive method, the molded lid, frangible tether member and drop ring are assembled on the closure body by first installing the lid in a closed position on the closure body. The drop ring is then pivoted downward relative to the lid, thereby causing the frangible tether member to become disposed adjacent the closure body skirt. The drop ring is snap-fit into place on the bottom of the closure body skirt to form a tamper-evident closure assembly. As the closure assembly is installed on a container having a threaded finish, the closure body is screwed onto the container and, as the closure body moves downward, with the drop ring is initially deformed by a drop ring lip provided on the container finish. Once the closure body moves to a fully installed position, the drop ring returns to its undeformed state and is retained by an abutting surface on the drop ring lip.
If the closure body is unscrewed from the container, the frangible tether member is severed s
Pascua Jes F.
Seaquist Closures Foreign, Inc.
Wood Phillips Katz Clark & Mortimer
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