Bottles and jars – Closures – Frangible member or portion
Patent
1996-03-27
1998-07-14
Cronin, Stephen
Bottles and jars
Closures
Frangible member or portion
B65D 4134
Patent
active
057790752
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a screw cap made of a plastics material and including a tamper-proofing ring having an inner portion projecting back inside the ring; packaging comprising the combination of such a cap, and of a container; a method of manufacturing such a cap; and a method of manufacturing such packaging.
2. Description of the Related Art
Screw caps made of plastics materials are known. Such a cap comprises:
a closing portion having a transverse end wall and a skirt adjoining the wall, and provided with an inside thread;
optional sealing means mounted in or integral with the closing portion; and
a tamper-proofing ring made in one piece with the closing portion, and having an outer portion forming a closed loop, disposed in alignment with the skirt, and connected thereto via link means spaced apart circumferentially between the free edge of the outer portion and the free edge of the skirt, the other edge of the outer portion directly adjoining a thin edge of an inner portion that can be pivoted about its thin edge relative to the outer portion, the inner portion being designed to project back inside the ring towards the transverse end wall such that it interferes with a projection on a container on which the cap is to be screwed.
In the state of the art disclosed in Documents U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,052, U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,436, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,657, the link means linking the outer portion, and therefore the tamper-proofing ring, to the skirt are constituted by breakable bridges that are broken on unscrewing the cap.
On unscrewing the cap, the breakable bridges are broken and the ring is separated from the closing portion while remaining threaded over the neck of the container from which it is difficult to remove the ring since the inner portion of the ring abuts against the projection on the container.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a screw cap of the above-mentioned type in which the tamper-proofing ring can be removed from the neck of the container.
To this end, in a first aspect, the invention provides a screw cap made of a plastics material, and of the above-described type, in which a breakable zone of the outer portion of said tamper-proofing ring enabling it to be opened on unscrewing the cap leads firstly to an empty space between the outer portion and the skirt, which empty space is delimited downstream, with respect to the unscrewing direction of the cap, by at least one non-breakable fastening which does not break on unscrewing the cap, and which is part of said link means, and secondly to a breakable zone, to a cut, or to a gap in the inner portion so that, on unscrewing the cap, the tamper-proofing ring remains associated with the closing portion via the non-breakable fastening(s).
The cap has other characteristics, some of which are optional: a breakable zone comprises a thin region in the corresponding portion, i.e. the outer portion or the inner portion. Such a thin region is constituted by a recess in the outer portion or in the inner portion, such as a groove in the outside face of the portion and/or a groove in its inside face. A breakable zone of the outer portion extends in a generally inclined direction relative to the axis of the cap in the opposite direction to the thread. A breakable zone or a cut in the inner portion extends in a generally inclined direction relative to the axis of the cap in the same direction as or in the opposite direction to the thread. The general direction of the inclination of the breakable zone or of the cut forms an angle lying in the range 30.degree. to 80.degree. with the axis of the cap, and preferably an angle equal to or in the vicinity of 45.degree.. A breakable zone or a cut in the inner portion or in the outer portion extends substantially along a rectilinear direction. A breakable zone in the outer portion leads to the empty space between the outer portion and the skirt substantially orthogonally to the axis of the cap so that it substantially
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Racine Jean-Patrice
Salmon Pierre
Cronin Stephen
Novembal
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