Screwable closure cap with security against over-tightening

Details Screwable closure cap with security against over-tightening Screwable closure cap with security against over-tightening

1996-05-15

1999-02-16

Castellano, Stephen J.

Bottles and jars

Closures

Receptacle interior communicable with exterior with closure...

215329, 215331, 215341, 215344, 215345, 215354, 215902, B65D 4104, B65D 5116

Patent

active

058711112

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention concerns a plastic screw-cap according to the preamble of the independent patent claims. These types of screw-caps are manufacture by the injection molding process in very great quantities, and are used as closures for containers of the most varying types. Plastic screw-caps have become established mainly in the area of refreshment beverages containing carbon dioxide. The closed container can be subjected to extreme pressure in these cases, since the liquid it contains has been treated with carbon dioxide and will release gas.
Closure-caps are already known which are constructed in such a way that, on opening the closure, the container will be vented prior to the closure-cap thread being disengaged from the container. The risk of the closure suddenly being ejected from the container due to the high pressure will thus be lessened.
A problem with known screw-caps is their behaviour in the case of mishandling. If, in order to open it, the closure is accidently rotated in the wrong direction, over-tightening of the thread will result, and with continued over-tightening the closure thread can jump. This behaviour would be inconsequential with non-pressurised containers. After jumping, the closure-cap would re-engage on the container one thread-winding further up. If the container is under pressure, however, which will be the case with beverages containing carbon dioxide, for example, it is possible that the thread will no longer re-engage sufficiently rapidly after jumping, and that the cap will fly at high speed away from the container. In the past, such behaviour during mishandling of the closure has led to accidents.
WO-90/10581 shows a closure-cap possessing a braking element. This element is arranged at the end of inside thread oriented towards the cap-base in such a way that it lies at least partly in the region of the outside thread helix. On completion of the screwing-on procedure, the braking element will therefore run up on the container mouth thread-start, and will remain engaged with this thread-start when the closure-cap is its fully screwed-on position. The brake element fulfils the function of braking the screwing-on motion when the required end-position has been reached. In the case of closure-caps lacking a braking element, this function is assumed by the seals.
It is a purpose of the invention to form the screw-caps of the type mentioned in the introduction in such a way that the risk of sudden ejection of the closure-cap as a result of over-tightening the thread is greatly reduced. According to the invention, this purpose is fulfilled with a screw-cap which possesses the features described in claim 1 or in claim 3.
A ramp element is located on the end of the inside thread oriented towards the cap-base. With that, the ramp element must not lie in the area of the thread-turns, but can be located outside of the thread area, in line with the threadend. The ramp element lies outside that area of the thread which is used when the screw-cap is in the screwed on position. It is arranged in such a way that it can be brought into engagement with the container mouth thread-start as a result of over-tightening of the closure-cap. The term "brought into engagement" means that the ramp element runs up onto the container mouth thread-start. The ramp element is thus located at least partly in line with the anticipated continuation of the helix for the outside thread, so that in the case of over-tightening of the closure-cap, it will come into the region of the thread-start, and will run up on said thread-start.
The risk of the cap being suddenly ejected by over-tightening is clearly lessened by this ramp element. The cap-wall in the region of this ramp element will be forced outwards due to the ramp element running up on the thread-start. This will result in thread jumping being facilitated on this side since, due to the cap-wall being pressed outwards, it will no longer be fully engaged. Exactly the opposite will occur on the side of the closure-cap opposite to the ramp segment: since the cap-

REFERENCES:
patent: 3463340 (1969-08-01), Lindstrom
patent: 4193509 (1980-03-01), Dunn, Jr. et al.
patent: 4276989 (1981-07-01), Hicks
patent: 4289248 (1981-09-01), Lynn
patent: 4640430 (1987-02-01), Haines
patent: 4697715 (1987-10-01), Beruvides
patent: 5133471 (1992-07-01), Pujol Almirall
patent: 5292020 (1994-03-01), Narin

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Screwable closure cap with security against over-tightening does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Screwable closure cap with security against over-tightening, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Screwable closure cap with security against over-tightening will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2055977