Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
37~
The invention re.lates. to an improved composite pry-off
... closure cap and more particularly to a pry~off cap which combines
. the advantages of a metal cover capable of providing a vacuum seal
' w~th. an e.asily formed, attractiye, and e~fect~ve plastic ring for
~ re.~oyably attaching the cap to a container., There are a numb.er ,'
' of prior closure caps whi~ch. are retained on containers by spaced
,,~ lugs or ~eads and ~hich have a composite constructi.on~ The.se prior .,
"" caps have.various drawbacks including relatively complex container
,, e.ngaging ring portions~ an qyerall unattractive. appearance? h.igh. cost
,., 10 or th.ey may haye lack.e:d th.e capacity for being attractively decorated ,
, with legen.da and qther lab.eIing matte.r,
,~....... Accordi,ng to the. pre.sent invention there is provided an
. ~ .
':~ i,mproved composite closure. cap for aealing a container having a
~,' radi,ally outwardly pro~ecting cap enga8~ng bead at lts rim comprislng
the. comb,ination of a molde.d pla~tIc ring having an annular cover
, .. . .
~ porti.on and a, down,wardly dependent ski,rt 'both of said portions being ,`'
. . .
:',, relati,ve.l'y re.ctangular in corss-sectian ? said coyer portion and said
"'': aki,rt porti~Qn.be,ing coupled together by a corner portion ? inwardly ~,
projecting.contai.ne,r e.ngagi,ng me.ans on the said skirt portion for !
~ 20 en.gagin.g .the.'conta~iner bea,d h.ayi,ng a generally hori,zontal container
S.:,.i.~" bead'en:ga:g~ng porti~on at lt8 top a.nd a gui:de port~on th~reb:elow ,^
ormIng.an.:a~,cute a,ngle:w:i~th:.'the yertlcal? s:aid cQye.r portion? said '''
~i,',~ corner' p~e ,i~Qn;~.~said s,k~rt portion and sa.~d cQntaine.r engagi~ng means, ,.,. ';
coope.~at~ng.. tQ.. ,fo~ an ~n~a~dly facing channel`, sa~d rectangular ~'
k~ t po,~t~qn,.~o,~ing a~ gid pry~of~ means spaced frqm th.e.
cQnta~ner ~q'll, a ci~rcular ~etal cap.coyer pos,iti.~ne.d ~ithi.n said
~ pla~9ti~c ~ng(-~a'v~ng a oute.. ~ de~p~ending s~k.irt receive.d wlthin aaid ~ '
,'',~, ch.~a,nnel' h.a,'y~ngt.~ts lq~e:r' edge. poaiti~ne,d' ahove said B~e.~d enga,ging ~'
~ p~t~Qn,~o~.'a~,a,id~container` e.nga~ging me.a'n6 and ha:ying an outer annular
s-' 3Q t~p pQrt~on ~n e.n'gage~e.n't ~ith.the~'unde,rside of the cover portion ~,!,~ .
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. .
of s,aid plastic ring? and a sealing gasket positioned in said cover .~
-., ;. .: .,
;, haying an annular container e.ngaging portion positioned adjacent ~ .,
:: to th.e out.er edge of said cap cover. `.' :
~ ~ A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen ''
"'1' ~.. . ~.
':, for purposes of illus~tration and description and is shown in the . :
accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein~
' FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a package sealed by a
'':; cloaure in accordance with the present invention. ,, '.
''~.; FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 .-,'::'
": 10 on FIG, 1~ , ,:::
;,~ FIG, 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the sealed package "~
,~: , , .'": taken along line 3-3 on FIG, 2~ ,,''.,;',
',',, FIG, 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional vlew o~ another
, ....................................................................... .
Ii,, embodiment oE the closure cap~ ., ,
'~'''' .~''
. FIG., 5 is a bottom plan view of the closure cap of FIG. 4~ ';i.. .'
: .;, .
. F16S, 6, 7, and 8 are. Eragme~n,tary yerti~cal s,e.ctional yiew.s .~
.. : :
, D illustrating alternati.ve. embodi.me.nts of th.e. gaak.e:t' an,d plastic
. . . .
ring structure~
Th.e preferred em~Qdiment will now ~e.'de.sc~ih.e.d~ with,p~ti,cul,a~ ..; ;
reference to FIGSt~l th~rough 3~ 3h~e~se f~gure,s; illus.trate ij~ clos,u~e' ,,~
c~ap 1 for sealing a glass or plastic or similar cQnta,ine.r 2 h.aying .,,`
a radially outwardly p~ojecting ~.e:ad 3 at th:e:'containe.r ~im~ The:' r~`
closure cap 1 in accordance wi:th.the pr:esent i,nyen:ti~on is appli.e.d
~' to and is placed ~n'sealLng e.ngagemen't with. th.e. contalnex 2 by b~e.ing ,~;
pressed down~ardly onto th.e 'cont~ine.r 2~ Th.e~reaftert th.e closure. ',
~.~ cap 1 is removed ~y be~ng prie.d oEf by the user usIng ~ p~y-o$f
,`,,., hook. `''.
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` ~ The pre~erred embodiment of the closure cap l com- -
prises a circular plate metal^cover 4 contained in an outer
plastic rin~ 5. The cover 4 preferably includes a depressed
central stacking panel 6 and an outer, downwardly ~acing, gas~
; ket receiving channel 7. The channel 7 is de~ined by the slop- :
.~ ing wall 8 o~ the stacking panel 6 and a depending outer skirt
or wall portion 9 on the cover 4. A preferred ~orm of a seal- .
:: lng gasket lO is a ~lowed-in plastisol sealing gasket positioned ~.
in the channel 7 between the channel walls 8 and 9. The gas- ;~
ket lO is po~itioned to form a hermetic seal with the upper
:~ rounded rim portion ll o~ the container 2 in the manner ill-
. ~ i .
ustrated in FIG. 2. The metal cover 4 includes an inner lac~
~ quer or other protective coating 12 which is inert with respect :.
to the products to be packaged in the container~ . :
I me plastic ring 5 i9 preferably molded as a unltary
; piece with its several elements belng shaped in the manner and
'. for the purposes described below, The ring 5 is pre~erably
.~, molded of a plastic which provides dimensional s~abilit~ to~
~, , i.,.
. gether with a smooth surface appearance and a high resistance
l 20 to impact or other possib1y damaging treatment. Suitable
plastics for this purpose include polystyrene, polyethylene,
or similar impact res1stant resins.
A preferred shaping for the plastic ring 5 is illus~
< ~ trated in FIGS. l and 2. The ring 5 includes a depending skirt
;i portion 18 generally:parallel to the container axis which is
connected by a corner portion 13 to an annular radially in~
wardly extending partial cover portion l4. The upper portion
~ of the skirt 18 together with the corner 13 and the co~er por~
;~ t~on 14 cooperate together with a container engaging bead 15 ;
.~ 30 to form an inwardly directed channel 17 for receiving and ~or ~;; i.:
engaglng the outer portion o~ the cover 4 including the skirt
.~ or wall portion 9. The channel 17 has a width corresponding
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r- 1()37~2 :~`
-~ -- generally to the height of the skirt portion 9 on the cap
cover 4 so ~hat the cover 4 mây be firmly mounted and retained
~ ., .:. . . .
; in the plastic ring 5
The skir~ 18 and the cover portion 14 of the plastic
ring 5 are seen to be relatively thick to provide a form re~
. ..
taining ring. The cover portion 14 preferably extends inwardly ;~
to the outer end of the stacking panel wall 8 and slightly in-
:..
- wardly of the container rim 11. ~`
: Thu9, when the cover 4 is snapped into position with ;
its outer skirt 9 engaged by the above described channel 17,
a composite closure results which may be handled as a unit dur- ~;
; lng the closure cap shipping, feeding, and seallng operations ~
.,~ ., .
; typical for cap usage. FIG. 2, in particular, illustrates a
preferred cross-sectional shape for the bead 15 which is pro-
ll vided on a preferred embodiment of the closure cap. In cr~ss-
J section, the bead 15 has a lower guide portion 19 forming an
'~ : . .
acute angle with the vertical or the container axis for fac-
~ ilitating the downward press-on application of the closure
''t,. caps 1 to the containers 2. The lower portion 19 o~ the bead
15 communicates with a container bead 3 engaging surface 20
which has only a slight angle with the horizontal or the plane -~of the container rim to assure a firm engagement with the in~
~,;, - ~
wardly slanted surface 21 ~of the container bead 3~
FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate another form of a container -
engaging ring 22 which is similar to the ring 5 except that
the container engaging means on the ring 22 are lugs 23. As
illustrated in FIG. 5, these lugs 23 occupy relatively long
arcs on the circum~erence of the plastic ring 22, ~or example,
a ma~or portion of a 90 degree arc. The spaced lugs 23 co-
~` 30 operate to form a cap cover 24 retaining channel 25 to lock
the cover 2~ in place in the ring 22.
FIG. 6 illustrates an alternate embodiment in the
.,
. ~ . ',
379L22
~- form of a closure cap 26 having an upwardly extending stacking
and protective flange 27 formed as an integral portion of the
ring 28 along with lugs 29 and cover portion 30
-- FIG. 7 illustratés an alternate embodiment where the
closure cap 31 has a metal cover 32 with a flat t,op surface so
; that the cover 32 may receive a safety seal or other form o~ ;
r",' paper-board liner 33. The liner 33 illustrated in FIG. 7 com-
; prises a relatively thick inner liner 34 having an air impervious` 8ealing membrane 35 lightly fastened to its lower surface. `
This ~orm of the closure cap is used to form a safety seal pack-
age where the membrane 35 is adhered to and remains attached to
the container rim when the closure cap is ~irst removed from `
'l the sealed package.
FIG. 8 illustrates a still further embodiment show-
,' ing a paper-board liner 36 in the metal cover 37 where the plastlc
rlng 38 ha~ container engaging lugs 39 and has an upwardly ex-
`, tending stacking flange 40 of the general type described in con-
nection with FIG. 6.
,` It will be seen that an improved composite pry-off
closure cap has been described. The cap combines the advantages
~¦ f a metal cover capable of providing a reliable vacuum seal
with the advantages of an easily formed plastic ring as incor-
porated in the;container engaging portion of the cap. The com--
blne~d composite closure is tamperproof and inexpensive to manu~
facture and is also attractive. The metal cover affords a means
~¦ ~ decorating the cap to provide trademarks or other indicia
i ~ , ... .
by way of lithography or other sheet metal decorative methods.
i The cap also is of a form which may be adapted ~or use with ~` ;
both flowed-in cap liners or alternatively with pulp board liners
~ 30 including safety seal liners.
"i As various changes may be made in the ~orm, construct-
~ ion and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from
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. . .
~ ~7
~ 1037~;~Z ' ~
-` the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing
`amy of its advantages, it is ~o be understood that all matter ; ~::
herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limit-
ing sense.
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