Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
TA~PBR-EVIDENT C~O~RE
Backqround of the Invention
This inv~ntion relate~ gen~rally to tamper-evident
dispensing closures and, more particularly, to a tamper~
evident closure that i~ simple to manu~acture and that
does not require any ~pec~alized equipment to b~ fitted
to a contai~er.
The importance o~ pro~riding tamper ~vident features on
bottles and other containers i well ~nown. Consumers
have increasingly come to expect bottles and conkainers
of all types that contain sub~tances for ingestion to be
equipped with a tamper evident feature. Although the use
o~ such closures is widespread, the expense involved in
producing such tamper evident containers has had a
limiting effect: on their use. If such closures could be
15 manufactured more inexpensively tha~ at presen~, they
would be more widely u~ed.
one approach to providing a tamper evident closure is to
use a shrink wrap about ~he container and closure~ This
approach ~oes not require the closure itself to have a
20 tamper evident feature. In order to access the con~ent~
of the container, the ~hrink wrap must be punctured or
I torn, which leaves a visible indi¢ation that the
I contain~r has ~een acce~ed and pexhaps tampered with.
A related approach is to apply a band o~ tamper-evident
~; 25 tape about the circumference ~f the junction between the
closure and the container. Un~or~unately, each o~ these
approaches require~ khat the ~hrink wrap or tape be
provided by an additional piece o~ machinery through a
secondary manufacturing operation after th~ container has
been filled. The capital machinery necessary to perform
these steps is often expensi~e, which has impeded the
acceptance of this approach.
In another approach, the closures themselves ar~ made to
be inherently tamper e~ident. Once manu~actured, such
closures need not require the additional assemhly steps
that the application of tape or shrink wrap require.For
example, ~.S. Patent No. 4,860,907 to Sondal describes a
tamper-evident disp~nsing snap-on dispensing closure.
The closure uses a living hinge to pivot the cap on the
ba~e. It also has tearable bridges on the cap which must
be torn to lift the cap from the base, thus rendering the
closure tamper-evident. It further has a tear-o~f part
which must be removed o~ of some length of the
circumference in order to li~t the cap. U.S. Patent No.
4,487,324 to Ostrowsky describes a tamper-evident
dispensing closure that uses a living hinge to pivot the
cap on the base. A tamper-~vident ~trip must be
partially removed to allow the cap of the closure to be
lifted. Un~ortunately, such caps are often di~icult to
manufacture, and therefore expensive to produce, This is
¦ 25 an impoxtant consideration, for the competitive pressures
;~ present in the ~ield of pac~aging often confer a market
advantage on those who use the leaæt expensive packaging
¦ scheme. Furthermore, approaches that use tear-away
pieces often generate sharp edge edges and additional
1 30 litter, with the attendant possibility that the portion
that is torn of~ may fall into the container. These
attributes are not acceptable to many consumers.
1 There remains a need ~or an inexpensive means o~
`1 providing a tamper evident ~eal on containeri, whlch
require6 neither intricate molding nor additional
machinery beyond that routinely used to attach
conventional closures to containers. There is a further
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need for such a closure that does not generate additional
litter.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention satis~ies these needs by pxoviding
a tamper-evident cap that is easy to manu~acture and
simple to incorporate into existing product packaging
lines. The closure includes both a base and a lid; the
lid can be mounted on several different ba~e caps,
dependin~ on the manufacturer's preference. For example,
a manufacturer may choo~e ~o use bas~ caps that include
tamper-Pvident features of their own to protect tha
integrity of the base cap to container connection. In
each case the entire closure is then threaded or
otherwise attached (as by a simple press-fit) to the
container neck.
The lid portion of the closure includes connecting
6truc~ure ~o facilitate its connection to a base cap or,
alternatively, dir~ctly to a bottle or other container.
The lid iE provided with a tongue portion that is hinged
to the remainder of the lid along a living hinge, which
is used for this purpose b~cau~e o~ the ease with which
it can ~e manufactured. The tongue is attached to the
remainder of the lid along a pair of ~ractllrable tear
lines, along which the lid i~ of reduced thickness. In
¦ order to acces the contents o~ the bottle through the
I lid, the tongue portion must be rai~ed, which causes the
tear lines to rupture and thus provides visual indication
to subsequent users that the content~ of the bottle have
previously been acc~ssed. The tongue of the lid may
furthar be providsd with sealing structure, such as a
~ealing plu~, which makes with a corresponding hole in
the underlying base ~ap. Thi~ feature allows one to re-
~eal the container after ik has been opened, but does not
nega~e th~ tamper ~ndication provided by the lid~
The invention doe~ not rely on parts which must be torn
off to render it tamper-evid~n~, but rather relies on
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parts that tear along thPir length to alert the user to
the previouR opening o~ the closure. Thi~ further
simplifies the manufacturP of the device and (with
respect to tear away closures) reduce the amount o~
litter associated with the package~ Concomitantly, it
further rPduces the likelihood tha~ por~ions of the
closure itself will fall into the containerO Moreover,
the tamper evident closure o~ the invention can be
directly fitted onto containers with conventional capping
m~chinery, th~reby providing a tamper evident closure
without the need for additi~nal ~quipment such as would
be required by a sy~tem relying on the use of shrink wrap
or tape.
Brief Descri~tion of the Drawinqs
The above and other features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from the ~ollowing
di~cussion
of a specific~ illustrative embodiment presented in
conjunction wi~h the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1~ is a front elevational view of the base lid and
base c~p, partially in section, in which the closure is
in its closed and sealed position;
FIG. lB is a top plan view of the closure shown in FIG.
lA;
FIG. 2A iB a sectional view of the lid portlon of the
clo~ure taken along line A-A in FIG. lA;
FIG. 2B is a sectional view of the lid portion of the
closure taken along line B-B in FIG. lA; and
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the closure with the
position o~ the hinged tongue in the open position shown
I in phantom.
~ Detailed Descri~tion
I
Referring now specifically to the drawings, wherein like
numerals indicate like parts throughout, the tamper
evident closure is generally designat~d 1 in FIG. 3, and
comprlses
a base cap 10 and a lid 50, the latter being mounted onto
the former by several equivalent friction fit locking
elements. The structure o~ the base cap and lld shall
now be discussed in turn.
The base cap 10 has a generally flat top 12 and a
dependant annular skirt 14. In this embodiment, the
dependant annular skirt 14 has internal threads 16 which
mate with complamentary external threads (not shown~ on
the neck of a corresponding bottle or other container.
The base cap 10 has a dispensing ori~ice 1~ formed on
flat top 12 through which the contents of the container
are normally dispensed. Although the dispensing orifice
is ~hown to be circular in the figures, other shapes
could be used as well. The base cap 10 has three
generally cylindrical friction fit locking cavities 20
formed projecting above the flat ~op 12. The base cap 10
has a tamper-evident band 22 extending from the bottom of
the dependant annular skirt 14. The tamper-evidsnt band
comprises a plurality (e.gO, 16 - depending on the size
of the container neck) of equally spaced re~ilient tabs
1 24. These tabs are internally folded to slide over th~
¦ container's external threads and annular shoulder as the
cap is applied on the container. The tabs lock against
the lower surface of the container's annular ~houlder to
, retain the tamper-in~icating band on the container as the
il base cap is removed. The ~eparation of the tamper-
indicating band and the baæe cap is the result of the
forces generated through the breakable connectors. The
breakable connector~ are either formed in the molding
process or are formed in a post molding cutting
operation. (This tamper-evident band is further
illustrated and discus~ed in applicant's U.S. Patent No.
4,506,795, the contents of which are herein incorporated
by reference.)
The lid 50 has a generally flat top 52 and a depending
incomplete annular ~kirt 54. The lid ~0 has three
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friction fit locking plugs 56 d~pending from the flat top
52 (see FIG. lB~. The plugs 56 engage the three friction
~it locking cavitie~ 20 on flat top 12 oX the base cap so
as to lockingly attach the lid 50 onto the base cap 10.
The lid 50 has a hinged tongue portion 58, which i.
hinged to lid 50 by living hinge ~6. Tongue 58 is
yenerally rectangular in shape except at the tongue skirt
62, where it ~orm8 the remainder of the annular skirt 54
(see FIGS. lA and 2A)o Depending from the tongue 58 is
an annular orifice-sealing plug 600 Sealing plug ~0
mates with dispensing orifice lB 60 as to close the
orifice 18, thus preventing further di~pensingO Thi~
feature allows one to re-seal the container after the
container has been accessed, but does not compromise the
visual indication provided by the tamper evident tear
lines that the container has been accessed (as is further
discussed below).
Depending ~xom tongue ~kirt 62 is pull tab 64. Pull tab
64 is used ~or pulling the tongue 58 upward ~rom a
condition wh~re plug 60 is sealingly closing orifice 18,
to a condition where plug 60 is not sealingly closing
orifice 18 ~see FIG~ 3), thus allowing the dispensing of
the contents of the container~ Tamper-evident tear lines
68 connect both sides o~ tongue 58 to ~lat top 52.
¦ ~5 Tamper-evident tear lines 6~ also connect both side~ of
¦ tongue skirt 62 to annular skirt 54 (see FIGS. lB and
1 2B). These tear lines 68 are weakened portions of lid 50
that allow the tongue 58 to be separated from the lid 50
everywhere but at the living hinge 66. The tear lines
are sufficiently thin that th~y can be torn by those who
need to access the container, while still being thick and
strong enough so as not to be inadvertently torn. Tear
lines 68, if torn, thus alert subsequsnt users that the
tongue has been lifted fro~ the lid at least once and the
integrity of the container violat~d through the lid.
The closure is ~1mpl~ and inexpensive to manufacture,
being mass-producible using ~imple conventional mold~
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reguiring no ~pecial tooling. The base cap will
typically be manufactured o~ polypropylene (mainly to
accommodatei threads); the lid is preferably made of a
high density polyethylene.
The base cap and lid collectiYely provide a dual tamper
evident device, in which the bas~ portion provides a
tamper evident closure between the bottle and the base
cap, and the lid provides a tamper evident closure
between the lid and the base capO ~lthough illustrated
as separate components, the two may be provided as an
integral as~embly for even easier attachment to the
bottle. Alternatively, the lid portion can be fitted to
other formis of ba~e cap, the only requirement being that
the base cap have a means for securely locking the base
cap to the lid to ~uch an extent that the separation of
the lid from the base cap results in the rupture of the
tamper evident linei~ on the lid.
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