Closure membrane and closure employing same

Details Closure membrane and closure employing same Closure membrane and closure employing same

1999-06-09

2001-04-10

Derakshani, Philippe (Department: 3754)

Dispensing

Outlet element operated by pressure of contents

Spring form, resilient or compressible flow controller or...

C222S212000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06213355

ABSTRACT:

The invention relates to a closure membrane with a closure head and a retaining border, the closure head being connected to the retaining border via a connecting wall adjoining the outer border, with the entire arrangement being of essentially cup-shaped design, and, furthermore, the closure head preferably being of a thickness which increases outwards from the centre.
Such closure membranes have already been disclosed in a large number of configurations. You are referred, for example, to EP-A-545 678, also to EP-B-046,464, EP-A-442 379 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,175,052 and, additionally, to German Patent Application 19613130.8, which is not a prior publication. The disclosure of the last-mentioned patent application is included in full in the disclosure of the present application, also for the purpose of incorporating features of said patent application in claims of the present application.
Such a closure membrane is not yet regarded as optimum in all respects as far as its closure behaviour is concerned. This is also put down to the fact that, in particular depending on the specific installation conditions, forces acting on the connecting wall have an undesirable effect on the closure head.
Taking said prior art as a basis, the invention is concerned with the technical problem of specifying an improved closure membrane.
This technical problem is solved first and foremost with the subject matter of claim
1
, this being based on the fact that the connecting wall is attached to the closure head via a connecting web, which projects radially inwards from the connecting wall and is of a lesser thickness than the border region of the closure head. According to the invention, the region where the closure head is connected to the connecting wall tapers, in cross-section, with respect to the (border-side) thickness of the closure head. Nevertheless, the resulting radially inwardly projecting connecting web is closed all the way round, this further maintaining the closed state of the closure membrane. It has advantageously been shown that, as a result, the movement of the closure head is largely isolated from the movements and the forces to which the connecting wall is subjected or which act on the connecting wall.
The connecting web acts as a hinge, with little or no flexural rigidity. Preferably the thickness range is 0.2 mm to 0.35 mm, especially 0.25 mm. The connecting wall is preferably at least 50% thicker than the connecting web. A preferred thickness range is 0.3 mm to 0.6 mm, especially 0.4 mm. This construction has the advantage that hinging occurs preferentially at the connecting web. It further allows easy moulding of the closure membrane. In a further configuration, it is also provided that the connecting web adjoins the closure head approximately centrally, as seen in the vertical direction. The connecting web may advantageously adjoin the closure head eccentrically, as seen in the vertical direction. It is also possible for the connecting wall to extend beyond the connecting web such that a peripheral groove is formed with the border edge of the closure head. This may also be advantageous as regards supporting the border edge on a top closure part or a hinge mechanism of the closure head. It is also advantageous if the connecting wall and the connecting web are connected to the closure head so as to produce, in cross-section, two mutually opposite, peripheral grooves, between the connecting wall and the closure head, which are separated by the connecting web. In a further detail, it may also be provided, in relation to a closure into which such a closure membrane is inserted, that, in the non-actuated installed state, the closure membrane has a bottom retaining border and a top, essentially concave closure head, the closure head and the retaining border, furthermore, being connected to one another by said connecting wall. It is also preferred for the installed state of the closure membrane to be achieved by turning the closure membrane inside out after it has been produced by injection moulding. This produces favourable force effects. In particular, on the one hand, the concave closure head is advantageously prestressed into its closed state by radially acting forces of the inside-out connecting wall. On the other hand, however, rapid opening, in particular for ventilating purposes, during sucking back, should also be noted. Furthermore, starting from a border-side attachment to the closure head, the connecting wall may preferably continue into a constriction beneath a projection area of the closure head, this observation once again being based on the installed state. As is explained in more detail below, this is achieved, in particular, in that, in the production state (injection-moulded state), the connecting wall extends essentially cylindrically, starting from the closure head. Depending on the desired properties of the closure membrane, however, there may also be a variation here in terms of a conical configuration. Continuation into a constriction beneath the projection area of the closure head produces something of a goblet-like configuration of the closure membrane as a whole in this region. Furthermore, there are also applications in which, even in the installed state, the connecting wall adjoins the bottom of the closure head in an essentially cylindrically extending manner, in particular when the abovementioned operation of turning the closure membrane inside out after production is not carried out. Specifically, it is advantageous, in particular with respect to the above-described inside-out, installed state, if, as has already been mentioned, the border side of the closure head is of a greater thickness than the boundary wall. The abovedescribed connecting web, in particular, also has an advantageous effect here. The closure head may taper inwards continuously, starting from its border region. The boundary wall is attached to a top region of the border edge, as seen in cross-section, of the closure head of the closure membrane this observation once again being based on the installed state—and the boundary wall grips over a bottom, free border region of the boundary edge of the closure head. As a result of the abovedescribed, advantageously set compressive forces directed towards a centre point of the closure head, this being achieved by a certain enforced widening of the elastic material of the closure membrane, in particular of the connecting wall, a radially inwardly directed force is thus exerted on the border edge of the closure head, essentially over the entire circumference. These forces are also absorbed extremely favourably as a result of the closure head extending in a dome-shaped manner. At the same time, as a result of the abovedescribed attachment via a connecting web, a little-desired moment is transmitted to the closure head only to a slight extent, if at all. As a result of the prevailing radial forces and the resulting prestressing in the closure membrane and, in particular, in the closure head of the closure membrane, further advantageous properties are achieved during actuation of the closure membrane. The resulting prestressing in the dome-shaped structure of the closure membrane, on the one hand, ensures a high sealing force and, on the other hand, when the dome-shaped structure is disrupted (dispensing operation or sucking back), breaking out also takes place straight away in response to relatively low force exertion. In a conventional dispensing operation, the radial opening slits preferably provided in the closure head open, above a certain pressure, reliably and almost abruptly. As a dispensing operation is completed, and the squeezable bottle on which the closure, for example, is fitted returns into its original position, first of all the closure head is drawn into the initial, concave state, in a conventional manner, and then it opens out downwards with sucking back of air, which, despite the abovedescribed stressing prevailing in the closure head, does not require a great amount of force or negative pressure, but rather only a relative

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