Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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:~ THIS INVENTION relates to closures which
~ may be used for releasably closing off any type
i of outlet as required.
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of particular interest is a closure for a
container and of still more particular interest are
closures for bottles and flexible tubes such as tooth-
~ paste, shampoo and cosmetic containing tubes or
.~ bottles. However, the invention is is no way
. confined in application to such closures and in-
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cludes within its scope, closures such as those
used for bleeding air out of liquid containing
systems; dispensing containers for pharmaceutical
products in either liquid or unit dosage form;
and adjustible water jets on garden sprinklers
or garden hoses.
Ma,!y closure assemblies have been made
wherein apertures in two relatively rotatable members,
conveniently termed a cap and an outlet member, can
be moved between aligned and non-aligned positions
to provide an outlet through the closure assembly
when required. Some of these proposals provide
for co-operating cam surfaces and lugs or other
formations on the cap and outlet member. However,
~5 for the most part, manufacture of such assemblies
has proved to be difficult and also the subsequent
assembly of the two parts together.
It is the object of this invention to provide
a closure assembly of the type having co-operating
cam surfaces and lugs or other formations which can
be easily manufactured and assembled.
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In accordance with one aspect of this invention there is
provided a closure assembly comprising a hollow tubular outlet
member and a cap fitting over the outlet member and rotatable
relative thereto the outlet member and cap having compli-
mentary, substantially conical end portions substantially
in engagement with each other, an aperture in each conical
end portion which can be selectively aligned or non-aligned
by relative rotation of the cap and outlet member and wherein
the cap has a tubular portion adjoining with the conica.l end
portion and located over the hollow tubular outlet member
so as to be co-axial therewith, one of such tubular portions
having at least one formation directed towards the other.;
tubular portion and co-operating with a cam surface on said
other tubular portion whereill said cam surface is shaped such
15 that the conical or truncated conical end portions are urged
`: axially into tighter engagement with each other during at
least a part of the allowed rotation of the cap in a
direction away from that in which the apertures are aligned,
the closure assembly being characterized in that the tubular
portion having the cam surface therein is provided with one
axially extending channel shaped to receive each formation
carried by the other tubular portion such that each channel
receives said formation when the cap is moved axially onto
the outlet and wherein the cam surface communicates with
each channel through a zone associated with the inner region
of the cha~ el SUC]l that after introduction o~ each form-
ation to al.ign with the cam surface, rotation o~ the cap
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relative to the outlet forces the formations into co-operation
with the cam surface by way of said zone which is formed to
act as a catch to inhibit movement of a formation past said
zone.
Further features of the invention provide for the cam
surface to be defined by one side wall of a channel shaped
formation extending circumferentially about said other ;
tubular portion, for there to be either one formation and
channel or two symmetrically disposed formations and co-
:~` 10 operating channels, for the conlcal end of the outlet to be
truncated so as to provide at least a space between its
ultimate end surface and the inner end surface of the cap,
for the tubular outlet to be of constant diameter along its
length and to carry at a positlon removed from the conical
end the formations defined above, and for the tubular portion
of the cap to be of a truncated conical shape wherein the cone
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angle is substantially smaller than the cone angle
or the end portion.
In order that the invention may be more fully
understood two embodiments thereof will now be described
withreference to the accompanying drawings in which :-
.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a cap
assembly taken along I - I in Fig. 2;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the closure
assembly taken along line II - II in
Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is ~a development of the inside surface of
the lower portion of the cap showing the
channels and cam surface arrangement;
Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing
~ 15 an alternative way of connecting a out-
; let member to a container mouth;
Fig. 5 is an elevation of a cap alone;
Fig. 6 is a view simiIar to Fig. 2 but illus-
trating the invention where only one
formation and channel are providPd;
Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view illustra-
ting a sealing insert; and,
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Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view
- of a channel having an alternative
catch therein.
In the embodiment of the invention illustratea
in Figs. 1 to 3 and 5 the closure assembly is adapted
to be screwed onto an existing externally screw threaded
outlet to a container such as a toothpaste iube or other
container for liquid materials or pastes. However,
it will be understood that the outlet could equally well
be manufactured as an integral portion of such a
container.
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In this embodiment the outlet member has a
tubular portion 1 of constant diameter and having at
its outermost end a truncated conical portion 2 having
in this case a cone angle of approximately 70. The
tubular portion 1 has an internal screw-thread 3
adapted to be secured onto a toothpaste or like tube
having a complementarily screw-threaded spigot (not
shown). Thus, in this particular instance the in-
ternal diameter of the tubuIar portion of the outletis about 10,7mm. This diameter enables an aperture 4
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to be formed in the conical end portion wherein the
aperture has a diameter of about 6,25mm.
A co-operating cap 5 has a tubular portion 6
fitting over the tubular portion 1 of the outlet and a
complementary conical end portion 7 co-operating with
the conical end portion 2 of the outlet. However, the
conical portion 7 of the cap is arranged to provide a
small space 8 between the end face of the outlet and the
inner adjacent face of the cap thereby allowing for the
axial movement of the cap into tighter engagement with
- the conical surfac'e of the outlet when the cap is rotated
into a position in which the outlet assembly is locked
in a closed position.
The tubular portion 6 of the cap is also of
truncated conical shape but in this case the cone angle
is only about 11 in the preferred form. Thus, the
outer surface of the tubular portibn of the outlet
diverges from the inner surface of the tubular portion
of the cap in a direction away from the conical portions
thereof.
The tubular portion of the outlet is provided
with an out~ardly extending flange 9 at its end remote
from the conical portion and the flange 9 carries a
pair of oppositely directed, outwardly extending,
lugs 10, which co-operate with a groove 11 in the
inner surface of the cap. The side wall 12 of the
groove nearer the conical portion of the cap is simply
an annular wall formed in one plane. However, the side
wall 13 of the groove most remote from the conical portion
is formed to define cam surfaces.
This side wall has a portion 14 defining the
co-operating wall for the lugs 10 corresponding to
various degrees of coincidence of an aperture 15 in the
cap (which is of the same diameter as the aperture 4
in the outlet) and the aperture 4 in the outlet member.
Adjoining this section 14 of the side wall of the groo~e
is a raised nib 20 which communicates with a raised
section 16 of the cam surface. The latter section 16
of the cam surface is adapted to co-operate with the lugs
when the apertures in the cap and outlet are in non-
coincidence wlth each other and thus corresponds to
a closed and locked condition of the cap wherein the
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cap is urged more tightly onto the outlet.
At the end of the section 16 of the wall 13
defining the cam surface is a raised stop member 17
which ensures that the width of the groove in this
S region is somewhat less than the thickness of the
lugs 10. This narrowed zone of the groove com-
municates directly with a channel 18 formed in tl.e
inner surface of the cap to extend to its end remote
from the conical portion in a generally axial direction.
~- 10 It will be understood that the above described cam
surface and channel arrangement is duplicated so that -
the various sections thereof have diametrically opposed
counterparts on the opposite side of the cap. Also,
at the end of each section 14 of the wall of the groove
remote from the associated nib 20 is an end stop member
19 past which the lugs cannot, in use, proceed.
The stop member formation in the wall of the
groove defining the cam surfaces is preferably pointed
as shown in Fig. 3 so that a lug introduced up the
channel 18 can be forced past the stop formation 17
and into the groove proper. The stop formation
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thus acts in the manner of a catch. It will thus
be appreciated that the dimensions of the channel 18
are chosen such that they comfortably receive the lugs
10 on the outlet member and thus assembly of the
S closure assembly is greatly facilitated since the cap
can be introduced axially onto the outlet member with
the lugs located in the channels and then the cap can
simply be rotated to locate the lugs in the grooves
having the cam surfaces associated therewith. Also,
by correctly proportioning the depth of the groove and,
- of course, the corresponding dimensions of the lugs,
the cap portion can be injection moulded in a simple
male and female type of injection die assembly and,
whilst the material is still fairly plastic the cap
can be forced off the male die. Thus, a collapsible
die assembly may be avoided with its attendant high
cost.
In use, the closure will, for the purposes
of transport, storage and vending, be in a condition
in which the lugs 10 co-operate with the raised portions
16 of the cam surface to hold the cap tightly onto the
outlet. In this condition accidental rotation of
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the cap is substantially prevented as the lugs
have to snap past the nibs 20 in order to align the
apertures 4 and 15. Accidental rotation of the cap in
the opposite direction is even more difficult to achieve
as the lugs must pass the stops 17.
When desired, the cap can be rotated such that
the lugs ride over ~he nibs 20 to a position in which
they co-operate with the section 14 of the sidewall
13 defining the cam surface. This section is
sufficiently long to enable the cap to be rotated
between a fully closed and a fully open position in
which the apertures are aligned. With the lugs co-
operating with this section of the cam surface the
axial force urging the two conical end portions to-
gether has been released and the cap can easily berotated, usually by means of a thumb only, between
the open and closed positions without axial movement
of the cap relative to the outlet. For travelling
purposes the cap can again be rotated such that the
lugs pass the nibs 20 and co-operate with the raised
portions 16 of the cam surface in which position the
cap is urged axially onto the outlet member.
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Fig. 4 illustrates an alternative outlet
member 21 which, instead of the screw threads therein,
has one or more circumferentially extending grooves
22 in its inner surface towards the end remote from the
conical end portion thereof. These grooves are
arranged to co-operate with complementary ridges 23
on the outer surface of a spigot end 2~ to a container
25.
It will be understood that certain restrictiong exist
as to the maximum permissible angular rotation of the
cap, once installed, relative to the outlet. As
a consequence, the size of aperture relative to the
overall size of the cap and outlet is also limited.
In cases where this limitat'ol~ is restrictive fcr t~e
desired purpose the embodiment of the invention
illustrated in Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings ban
be used.
In the case of the embodiment of Fig. 6, only
one lug 26 is provided on the flange 27 carried by the
outlet member 28. The circumferential length of the
lug can be greater than that of the two lug arrangement
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described above and yet provide for substantially great-
er relative rotation of the cap and outlet. In this
case only one channel 29 is provided, one stop 30
adjacent the raised portion 31 of the cam surface,
S and one nib 32 between the latter and the remainder
of the cam surface with which the single lug co-
operates for normal rotation between open and closed
conditions.
It will be clear that whilst the closure
assemblies described above are all intended to be
moulded from plastics material, metal closures of this
type could be desirable for many applications and,
in particular, for the purpose of bleeding liquids
or gases from liquid systems such as bleeding air
from vehicle hydraulic brake systems.
For the abovementioned application, to
metal closure assemblies, it has been found convenient
to provide an insert 34 (see Fig. 7) wherein the insert
has a tubular part 35 extending out of the aperture 36
in the cap itself and has a flange 37 located inside the
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cap and between the inner surface of the cap and
the outer surface of the co-operating conical portion
38 of the outlet member. This inser~ is preferably
made of a deformable or elastomeric material such as
a suitable plastics material, for example, poly-
propylene, polytetrafluorethylene or polyurethane,
and is somewhat compressible to provide a good seal
upon urging of the conical portions together axially
into the locked position. It will be understood that
the flange region 37 of the insert actually defines
the seal.
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Also in the case of a metal cap it will not
be possible to provide the restricted zone at the
position where ;he cam surface comm~nic-es with the
15 channel where such is provided. In such a case,
as illustrated in Fig. 8, a leaf spring 39 could be
provided at the inner end of the channel 40 so that its
free end obstructs the entrance to the groove 41 de-
fining the cam surface 42. In order to introduce a lug
located on a suitable outlet member (not shown) the
lug could simply be forced a~ainst the leaf spring
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to deflect it sufficiently away from the entrance
to the groove 41 so that the lug can pass into
this groove. Once in the groove the spring de-
flects back to its relaxed condition in which it
obstructs the entrance to the groove 41 and thereby
prevents removal of a lug simply by rotating the cap
relative thereto. It will be understood that other
catch arrangements could equally well be provided
and these could embody helical springs or any other
resilient member performing the general function
just described.
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It will be understood that many variations may
be made to the above described embodiments of the in-
vention without departing from the scope hereof.
In particular, the lugs or equivalent formations may
be provided on the cap and the cam surface and
channels on the outlet member. Also, it will be
noted that the outlet member could easily be formed
integral with certain types of contaLners.
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