Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02894095 2015-06-12
TITLE:
CLOSURE WITH HINGED LID
Background and Summary
The closures shown and described are for use with containers for beverages,
such as milk, other
dairy products and juice. Containers that are blow-molded by bottlers of dairy
and juice drinks
closures have typically been used with simple threaded or push-on closures
with flat integral lids. The
closures require some form of tamper indicating feature, a popular version of
which is the use of a foil
liner placed on the interior of the closure. The foil liner is subsequently
sealed against and connected
to the neck of the container at an induction sealing station after the
container is filled and after the
closure is installed on the container.
Closures for bottled water (e.g., 28 mm diameter) have in recent years been
supplied with a
wide variety of flip top designs in which an easily openable and closeable lid
is carried by a threaded
closure base, and such flip-top features are popular. Flip top features,
however, have not typically been
included on larger diameter closures (e.g., 38 mm) of the kind used on blow-
molded gallon, half-gallon
and quart sized containers, perhaps because of cost concerns and/or the
difficulty of designing a flip-
top feature that will not cause problems when run through existing feeding
equipment that is in place in
bottling facilities. Some relatively large closures have been designed with
integral hinges, known as a
"butterfly" hinge, an example of which is shown in US 5,588,546. Such hinges
are a form of living
hinge, and tend to break easily.
The closures described herein have a two-piece design that includes a flip top
feature, and yet
they are compatible with existing feeding equipment used in numerous dairies
and other beverage
bottling operations. The closures described herein also have the advantage to
a closure supplier of
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allowing a single or standard color base component to be used with lids of
different colors. This allows
a closure supplier to quickly and efficiently respond to orders for closures,
because instead of having to
mold closures to fill an order for a particular colored closure, the supplier
can simply assembly lids of a
particular color lid to a standard base.
In one embodiment, the invention provides a closure which comprises: a base
having a skirt and
at least one internal thread formed on an inside surface of the skirt, the
base having an opening; a lid
having a depending plug shaped to fit at least partially into the opening of
the base; and a hinge joining
the base and the lid. The hinge comprises a post carried by the lid. The post
is integrally connected to
the lid by a tab. The hinge also comprises at least two post supports
extending upwardly from the base.
Each of the two post supports are structurally different from one another and
not mirror images of one
another. One post support is a bridge having a first end and a second end,
each of the ends of the
bridge are integrally joined to the base. The bridge defines a first tunnel
section adapted to receive a
first portion of the post. A second post support is a hook with a proximal end
integrally joined to the
base and having a free distal end. The hook forms a second tunnel section
adapted to receive a second
portion of the post. The first and second portions of the post are separated
by a middle portion of the
post. The middle portion is joined by the tab to the lid, and during insertion
of the post into the second
tunnel section the tab slides under the free distal end of the hook.
In another embodiment, the invention provides a two-piece closure which
comprises: a base
having a skirt and a thread formed on an inside surface of the skirt, the base
having an opening; a lid
having a depending plug shaped to fit into the opening of the base; and a
hinge joining the base and the
lid. The hinge comprises: a post carried by the lid, the post being integrally
connected to the lid by a
tab; a post support extending upwardly from the base, the post support being
integrally joined to the
base and defining a tunnel section adapted to receive a portion of the post;
the hinge being disposed
substantially within a space defined by a plane corresponding to the upper
surface of the lid; and a
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cylinder generally corresponding to an outermost portion of the skirt. The
post support is comprised of
two upwardly extending formations, each of the two formations being
structurally different from one
another and not being mirror images of one another. One formation is a hook
having a fixed end and a
free end, the free end being disposed close to the base. The second formation
is a bridge having two
fixed ends, each of the hook and bridge defining a tunnel section for
receiving portions of the post,
whereby during insertion of the post into the second formation the tab slides
under the free distal end of
the hook.
In yet another embodiment, the invention provides a closure which comprises: a
base having a
skirt and a single internal thread formed on an inside surface of the skirt,
the base having an opening; a
lid having a depending plug shaped to fit at least partially into the opening
of the base; and a hinge
joining the base and the lid. The hinge comprises: a post carried by the lid,
the post being integrally
connected to the lid by a tab; and at least two post supports extending
upwardly from the base. Each of
the two post supports are structurally different from one another and not
mirror images of one another.
One post support is a bridge having a first end and a second end, each of the
ends of the bridge are
integrally joined to the base. The bridge defines a first tunnel section
adapted to receive a first portion
of the post. A second post support is a hook with a proximal end integrally
joined to the base and
having a free distal end. The free end is disposed close to the base. The hook
forms a second tunnel
section adapted to receive a second portion of the post. The first and second
portions of the post are
separated by a middle portion of the post, the middle portion is joined by the
tab to the lid. During
insertion of the post into the second tunnel section the tab slides under the
free distal end of the hook.
The hinge is disposed substantially within a space defined by a plane
corresponding to the upper
surface of the lid, and a cylinder generally corresponding to an outermost
portion of the skirt.
Brief Descriptions of the Drawings =
Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a lid of the closure of the present
invention;
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Figure 2 is cross-sectional of the base of the closure of the present
invention;
Figure 3 is a schematic plan view showing the manner in which the lid of the
closure is
assembled to the base of the closure;
Figure 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional the lid of figure one showing a
portion of the change
used to connect the lid of Figure 1 to the base of Figure 2;
Figure 5 is an enlarged partially cross-sectional view a portion of the base
showing of the
structures by which the lid is joined to the base;
Figure 6 is a partial perspective view of the structures of the base that are
used to connect the lid
to the base.
Figures 7 and 8 show an alternative cap on a bottle with and without a foil
liner in place,
respectively.
Detailed Description
Figures 1 depicts the upper one of a two-component closure, i.e., the lid 14
having a cover 47
and a lid skirt 49. Extending rearwardly from the cover 47 is a post 48 joined
to the lid by tab 50. A
downwardly depending plug 15 extends from the underside of the cover 47. On
the portion of the lid
skirt 49, at a location which is diametrically opposite the location of the
post 48, a small latch bead 60
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extends inwardly from the lower end of the lid skirt 49.
Figure 2 shows the base 12, which together with the lid 14 of Figure 1, forms
a closure 10 as
described herein. The base 12 includes a skirt 16 having a single internal
thread 24 integrally informed
on the inside surface of the skirt 16. A single thread 24 is preferable,
because it ensures that the
closure, when installed on a container having handle, aligns correctly, such
that the lid 14 opens in a
direction directly toward the handle. See the discussion of Figures 7 and 8
below. This allows the
contents of the container to be dispensed without interfering with the lid 14.
A flange 18 extends
inwardly from the upper end of the skirt 16, and the flange 18 surrounds an
opening 28 formed in the
central portion of the base 12. An upwardly extending sealing lip 26 is formed
on the inside upper edge
of the flange 18. The lip 26 is intended to engage and sealingly abut the plug
15 formed on the
underside of the cover 47 of the lid 14.
Figure 3 is a schematic plan view showing the manner by which a lid 14 it is
assembled into
engagement with a base 12. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the base includes
support structures for the
post 48 in the form of a hook 30 and a bridge 32. When the lid 14 and base 12
are arranged as shown
in Figure 3 and moved relative to each other in the direction of arrow 64, the
rounded (and slightly
tapered) leading end 52 of the post 48 is inserted into the tunnel section 44
formed by the hook 30.
Upon further movement of the post 48 in the direction of the arrow 64 into the
first tunnel section 44
the beveled leading edge 31 (Figure 6) on the outwardly facing edge of the
free distal cnd 38 of the
hook 30 prevents interference between the tab 50 and the hook 30, and pushing
the post 48 of the lid 14
into the tunnel sections 44 and 46 lifts the hook 30 upward. The hook 30 is
flexible enough to bend
upwardly (even with the additional support afforded by the buttress 34). This
flexibility allow the tab
50 to slide under the free distal end 38 of the hook 30. During the sliding
assembly depicted in Figure
3, as the tab 50 reaches and abuts the second end 42 of the bridge 32, and the
leading end 52 of the post
48 is inside the second tunnel section 46 under the bridge 32. When the post
48 is fully inserted in to
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the tunnel sections 44 and 46 (i.e., the leading end of the post within the
hook 32 and the trailing end of
the post 54 within the bridge 32 and the center section 56 of the post is
disposed between the hook 32
and bridge 30), the free distal end 38 of the hook 30 returns to a position
whereby its distal free end is
again close to the flange 18. In this position, non-beveled inside lower edge
of the free end 38 restricts
movement of the tab 50 in a direction that would result in disassembly of the
lid 14 and base 12. The
free end 38 the hook blocks the post from movement out of the tunnel sections
44 and 46. That is, the
free end 38 of the hook 30 will abut the tab 50 when the lid is moved in
sliding outward direction, i.e.,
the reverse of the direction shown by the arrow 64. When assembled, the tab 50
is disposed between
the hook 30 and the bridge 32, and the lid 14 can rotatc about the post 48 to
open and close the closure
10.
When the lid 14 is in its closed position, the plug 15 abuts and seals against
the lip 26 of the
base 12, and the opening 28 in the base 12 is closed by the cover 47. The
closure 10 of the present
invention is preferably initially (as provided to a bottler) equipped with a
foil liner (not shown) that has
a heat sealable layer on its underside. The foil liner (when attached by
induction heating to a container
neck) provides the closure 10 with a tamper evident seal. When a consumer
purchases a container
having a lid of the present invention, the foil liner prevents access to the
contents of the container.
When the consumer wants to dispense the contents, the threaded base 12 is
unscrewed, the foil liner is
removed, the closure 10 is put back onto the container, the lid 14 is opened
by disengaging the bead 60
from the bead 62 and rotating the lid 14 about the post 28, and the desired
amount of contents is
dispensed. After dispensing, the consumer pushes the lid 14 back into
engagement with the base 12, by
pressing down on the lid, forcing the bead 60 to snap past the bead 62. This
snapping engagement is
coincident with the plug 15 engages and seals against the lip 26 on the flange
18. The seal between the
plug 15 and the lip 26 help preserve the contents of the container, and limits
spillage of the contents
from the container.
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The bead 60 on the lower interior end of the portion of the lid skirt 49, and
bead 62 on an upper
portion of the base 12 are both disposed opposite the respective hinge
structures on the lid 14 and base
14. The beads are preferably semi-circular in cross-section and preferably
have diameter of about
0.032 inches. The beads 60 and 62 are preferably designed to have a center-to-
center distance (i.e. the
bead 60 passing over and lying below the bead 62 to create such distance),
when the lid 14 an base 12
engaged in an uninstalled condition (i.e., not on a container) of about 0.079
inches. It has been found
that this extra distance is needed to accommodate the "doming" or upward
displacement of the flange
18, and spreading of the skirt 16 of the base 12, as the cap is tightened onto
a container. When the
closure shown herein is tightened onto a container, and the doming and related
stretching and
displacement of closure components occurs, a bead arrangement as describe
above will allow effective
and repeatable latching of the lid 14 to base 14, by the snapping engagement
of bead 60 with bead 62.
As depicted in Figure 4, a series of splines 58 extend axially along the post
48, and the splines
58 are space equally about the periphery of the post 48. The eight splines 58
have a relatively small
light (about 0.003 inches). The inside surfaces of the hook 30 and bridge 32
are shaped to grip and
engage the splines 58 on the exterior of the post 48. The purpose of the
splines 58 is to provide the
hinge formed by the post 48, hook 30 and bridge 32 accommodate lids 14 of
different color. It has
been found that different colorants used in plastics, such as low density
polyethylene, results in parts
having somewhat different shrinkage rates. It is preferable for the post 48 to
fit tightly within the
tunnel sections 44 and 46 to create friction between the leading end 52 of the
post 48 the and the bridge
32 and between the trailing end of the post 54 and the hook 30, so that the
lid 14 will be held in an open
position as contents of a container used with the closure 10 are dispensed.
Figure 5 shows the hook 30 which, along with the post 48 and the bridge 32
(Figure 6), forms
the hinge about which the lid 14 pivots with respect to the base 12. The hook
30 has a free distal end
38 and a fixed proximal end 36 integrally formed with the flange 18 of the
base 12. A buttress 34 is
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disposed adjacent to the fixed proximal end 36 to provide the hook 30 with
added support to hold the
trailing end 52 of the post 48 in place. A slot 35 is formed in the lid 14 to
allow the lid pivot past the
buttress 34 allowing the lid 14 to close against the base 12 without
interference from the buttress 34.
Figure 4 also shows that the tab 50 has an upper surface that is tangent to
the post 48. The
distance between the top surface of the tab 50 (and thus the upper surface of
the post 48) and the upper
surface of the cover 47 of the lid 14 is approximately equal to the thickness
of the material that forms
the hook 30 and the thickness of the material that forms the bridge 32. This
means that the hook 30 and
bridge 32 will not extend a significant distance above the upper surface of
the cover 47. In addition,
when the lid 14 is connected to the base 13, the hinge components (i.e., the
post 48. hook 30 and bridge
32) to not project laterally beyond the perimeter of the skirt 16 and do not
project above the top of the
lid 14 by any appreciable or significant distance. Thus, the hinge of the
closure 10 is disposed
generally within a space the upper boundary of which is defined by a plane
corresponding to the upper
surface of the lid 14 and the lateral boundary of which is defined by a
cylinder corresponding to the
skirt 16. Flexing of the hook 30 and deformation of the bridge 32 may cause
those structures to
protrude slightly above the plane defined by the upper surface of the lid 14,
but as long as that
protrusion is relatively small (less than the thickness of the post support,
which in the embodiment
described herein is a two-part post support in the form of a hook 30 and
bridge 32), the hinge structures
will still fall generally within the boundaries describe above and will not
interfere with the performance
of the closure during the feeding operation.
The basc 12 has knurls 22 formed on the skirt 16, such that the top of the
knurls 22 form a
shoulder. The knurls preferably have varying height (Fig. 6) and the lid 14
has a downwardly
depending lid skirt 49 that is shaped to fit around an upper knurl-free
portion 17 of the skirt 16. The lid
skirt 49 has a outside diameter that is approximately equal to the outside
diameter of the knurled
section (i.e., the O.D. corresponding tr the largest of the knurls), so that
the lid skirt 49 is
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approximately equal in diameter to the diameter of the knurls, and the lower
cnd of the lid skirt 49 lies
just above the shoulder 20, when the lid 14 is in a closed position on the
base 12. With this
configuration, the cap has overall shape that approximates the shape of a
standard unitary cap.
These parameters mean that the closure 10 of the present invention will have
very similar
proportions to standard unitary closures and it will perform well in standard
feed systems, such as
vibratory feeding bowls and ramp systems of the type that are currently used
to feed standard, unitary
closures. This means that the closures of the present invention can be used
interchangeably with
standard caps without any need to replace or otherwise change or modify the
closure feeding
equipment used in a bottling facility.
An additional purpose and benefit of the closures describe herein is to allow
different colored
lids 14 to be used with a single (or standar) colored base 12. This allows cap
manufacturer to supply a
bottler (of milk, for example) with closures that have a single standard base
12, and the cap
manufacturer can on very short notice supply caps having a particular color
lid 14 (e.g., light blue for
skim milk, red for whole milk or yellow for 1%, brown for chocolate etc.)
without having actually
prepare an injection mold and manufacture a particular cap in response to an
order. The manufacturer
can simple have a supply of base components on hand and a supply of different
colored lids on hand
and can quickly assembly the color combinations that a bottler requires. By
forming splines 58 on the
exterior of the post 48, a lid 14 can be made to have a sufficient frictional
hold between the lid 14 and
the base 12, regardless of color and the associated variability in shrinkage
properties resulting from the
use of different colorants. This system has the additional advantage that a
single lid mold can be used
to form lids of all of the colors (blue, red, yellow, brown etc.) that a
customer may desire, because the
forgiveness afforded the splines will allow lids with different shrinkage
properties to perform as
needed. The friction between the splines 58 and the inside surfaces of the
tunnel sections 44 and 46
(formed by the hook 30 and bridge 32, respectively) will hold the lid in an
open position and resist the
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tendency for the lid 14 to be pulled to a closed position onto the base 12 by
gravity.
Figure 7 shows a closure 10a installed on a container 66 with a foil liner in
place, and Figure 8
shows the same closure 10a installed on the same container 66 without a foil
liner. These two figures
are intended to show that in order for lid 14 of the closure 10a to align
properly with the handle 70 of
the container 66 after the foil liner has been removed, the formation of the
single threads on the
container and the formation of the single thread on the base of the closure
must be coordinated. The
thickness of a foil liner 68 is typically about 0.007 inches. This means that,
as shown in Figure 7, the
liner 86 will prevent the cap from being threaded down far enough to have the
lid 14 align so that the
axis of the hinge will align as it should (as shown in Figure 8) for proper
use and dispensing. It is
preferable to have the axis of the hinge (shown by line 72 in Figures 7 and 8)
be approximately
perpendicular to the axis of the handle (shown by line 74), when the contents
of the container are being
dispensed. The presence of the liner 68 causes the angle between the axis 74
of the handle and the axis
of the hinge 72 to be larger (i.e., angle A of about 115 to 120 degrees in
Figure 7). However, when the
liner 68 is removed, the axis 74 of the handle and the axis of the hinge 72
assume a preferable
alignment of about 90 degrees (i.e., angle B in Figure 8). To achieve the
desired alignment, as shown
in Figure 8, formation of the single thread of the container and the formation
of single thread of the
closure need to be coordinated, i.e., each needs to be formed with the other
in mind, and that formation
must take into consideration the effect of the foil liner being removed, so
that the alignment of the axis
74 of the handle 70 is about 90 degrees with respect to the axis 72 of the
hinge for the enduser when
dispensing is desired.
It should be noted that while the closure discussed herein is useful on
closures used to deliver
beverages, the flip-top closure of the present invention can be used in a wide
variety of applications,
including medicines (both solid, i.e., pills, and liquids, and a wide variety
of other liquids and solids,
such as syrups and spices, for example.
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The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments have been presented for
purposes of
illustration. They are only examples and are not intended to a basis for
limiting the scope of the
inventions claimed below. It will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in
the field of closure design
that many modifications, variations and substitutions are possible in light of
the above teachings. The
embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of
the inventions claimed
below and to demonstrate practical application thereof, and to thereby enable
others of ordinary skill in
the art to utilize the claimed inventions.
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