CONTAINER CLOSURE

Abstract

A container closure for a pour opening of a container has a first holding strip with a first and a The first end is connected to a free edge of the screw cap and a second end is connected to a security ring. A second holding strip has a third end connected to the free edge of the screw cap and a fourth end connected to the security ring. The first, second, third and fourth ends are arranged one after the other in the-acircumferential direction on the free edge and on the security ring. A first tongue has a first end and a second tongue has a second tongue end and adjoining the first tongue and is arranged between the second and the third ends. The second tongue is part of the security ring and, in an open position, the first tongue end comes into contact with the second tongue end.

Claims

1. A container closure for closing a pour opening of a container, comprising: a screw cap comprised of a cylindrical casing, a cover disk attached to a first end of the cylindrical casing having an inner thread formed on an inside surface of the first cylindrical casing configured to engage with an outer thread of a container neck of a container, the second end of the cylindrical casing defining a free edge of the screw cap, the screw cap configured to be folded from a closed position, in which the screw cap closes the pour opening, to an open position, in which the screw cap fully opens the pour opening, and vice versa; a security ring configured to be held on a holding ring of a container neck; a plurality of break-off webs configured to releasably connect the security ring to the free edge of the screw cap; a first holding strip having a first and a second end, wherein the first end is fixedly connected to the free edge of the screw cap, and the second end is fixedly connected to the security ring; a second holding strip having a third and a fourth end, wherein the third end is fixedly connected to the free edge of the screw cap, and the fourth end is fixedly connected to the security ring, the first, second, third and fourth ends are arranged one after the other in a circumferential direction on the free edge and on the security ring; and a first tongue having a first tongue end formed between the first and second holding strips on the free edge and in continuation of the cylindrical casing; a second tongue having a second tongue end and positioned adjacent to the first tongue, the first tongue and second tongue arranged between the second and the third end, wherein the second tongue is part of the security ring and in the open position, the first tongue end comes into contact with the second tongue end.

2. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein the second tongue end is formed as an extension of an edge of the security ring facing the screw cap.

3. The container closure according to claim 2, wherein the extension comprises a radially outward protruding step.

4. The container closure according to claim 2, wherein the extension has a height between 1 and 4 mm.

5. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein the first tongue is adjacent to the second end or the third end, and the second tongue is adjacent to the second or third end depending on a position of the first tongue.

6. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein, in the closed position, the first tongue is received in a first recess on the security ring.

7. The container closure according to claim 6, further comprising a reinforcement section below the first recess on the security ring.

8. The container closure according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a length of the first tongue is between 70 and 90% of the height of the security ring.

9. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein a length of the first and second holding strips is dimensioned in such a way that the first and the second tongues are brought into alignment when the screw cap is transferred into the open position.

10. The container closure according to further comprising second and third recesses on the edge of the security ring and facing the first and second holding strips for receiving the first and second holding strips.

11. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein the second and fourth ends enclose an opening angle of at least 60 degrees and at most 90 degrees with respect to a center point of the screw cap as an apex.

12. The container closure according to claim 1, further comprising an inward projecting inner cone on the cover disk is configured to interact in a sealing manner with the inner wall of the container neck in the closed position.

13. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein the first and second holding strips have a width between 3 mm and 7 mm.

14. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein the closure cap is configured to interact with a standardized container neck having the outer thread and the holding ring.

15. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein the closure cap is made of a plastic material.

16. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein the screw cap, the security ring, the first and second holding strips, the plurality of break-off webs, and the first and second tongues are formed as one piece.

17. The container closure of claim 1, wherein the security ring has slots distributed over its circumference, with an upper edge and a lower edge, wherein the upper edge is formed by a circular-arc-shaped section of the security ring, and the lower edge is formed by a wall section inclined inward in a radial direction, and the lower edge of each slot forms a protrusion to form a form-fitting engagement with the holding ring.

18. The container closure according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion is in each case formed on the security ring below the second and third recesses.

19. A container, comprising: a container body; a container neck adjoining the container body; an outer thread formed on the container neck; a container closure configured for closing a pour opening provided within the container neck, the container closure comprising: a screw cap comprised of a cylindrical casing, a cover disk and an inner thread which is formed on an inside of the cylindrical casing and is configured to engage with an outer thread of a threaded container neck of the container, the screw cap defining a free edge opposite the cylindrical casing, the screw cap configured to be folded from a closed position, in which it closes the pour opening, to an open position, in which it fully opens the pour opening, and vice versa; a security ring configured to be held on a protrusion on the container neck, a plurality of break-off webs releasably connecting the security ring to the free edge; a first holding strip with a first and a second end, the first end fixedly connected to the free edge of the screw cap and the second end fixedly connected to the security ring; a second holding strip with a third and a fourth end, the third end fixedly connected to the free edge of the screw cap, and the fourth end fixedly connected to the security ring; a first tongue with a first tongue end between the first and second holding strips on the free edge in continuation of the cylindrical casing; a second tongue having a second tongue end adjacent to the first tongue, the first tongue and the second tongue positioned between the second and the third end, wherein the second tongue is part of the security ring and in the open position, the first tongue end comes into contact with the second tongue end.

20. The container according to claim 19, further comprising a support ring at a transition from the container neck to the container body, and in the open position, the screw cap is in contact with the second tongue and the support ring.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Further advantages and features become apparent from the following description of three exemplary embodiments of the invention with reference to the schematic representations. Shown, in a representation not true to scale, are:

[0030] FIG. 1: a side view of a container closure which is in a closed position;

[0031] FIG. 2: an axonometric bottom view of the container closure of FIG. 1;

[0032] FIG. 3: an axonometric view of the container closure of FIG. 1 placed on the neck of a container;

[0033] FIG. 4: a side view of the container closure, in which the closure cap is unscrewed from the container neck;

[0034] FIG. 5: an axonometric view of the container closure of FIG. 4;

[0035] FIG. 6: a side view of the container closure with the screw cap in an open position;

[0036] FIG. 7: an axonometric view of the container closure with the screw cap in the open position;

[0037] FIG. 8: an axonometric view of the container closure placed on the container neck with the screw cap in the open position;

[0038] FIG. 9: a detail view of the security ring; and

[0039] FIG. 10: a sectional view of the security ring of FIG. 9 with visualized inclination angles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0040] FIGS. 1 to 8 show a container closure which is denoted as a whole by reference sign 11. The closure cap 11 is captively held on a container 13, in particular on a bottle 13. The container 13 is indicated in FIGS. 3 to 6 and 8. The closure cap 11 comprises a screw cap 15, a security ring 17, and a first and a second holding strip 19a, 19b.

[0041] The screw cap 15 comprises a cover disk 21 and a first cylindrical casing 23 with a free edge 25. An inner thread 27 is molded on the inside of the casing 23. The container 13 comprises a container body 28 and a container neck 29 adjoining the container body 28. The container neck 29 is designed as a second cylindrical casing. An outer thread 31 is molded on the container neck 29 and interacts with the inner thread 27. As a result, the screw cap 15 can be screwed onto and unscrewed from the container neck 29. The closure cap 11 closes the pour opening 33 which is provided within the container neck 29. The closure cap 11 is designed to interact with a standardized container neck 29 with an outer thread 31 and a holding ring 35.

[0042] The security ring 17 is held in a form fit on the container neck 13. For this purpose, a holding ring 35 is molded on the outside of the container neck 29, under which holding ring protrusions 37 formed on the inside of the security ring 17 can engage (FIGS. 9 and 10). The security ring 17 is rotatable relative to the container neck 29.

[0043] The first arm 19a has a first end 39 and a second end 41. The first end 39 is fixedly connected to the free edge 25. The second end 41 is fixedly connected to the security ring 17. As a result, the container closure 11 is captively held on the container 13.

[0044] The second arm 19b has a third end 51 and a fourth end 53. The third end 51 is fixedly connected to the free edge 25. The fourth end 53 is fixedly connected to the security ring 17. As a result, the closure cap 11 is additionally captively held on the container 13.

[0045] The security ring 17 is held on the free edge 25 with a plurality of break-off webs 63, which break when the screw cap 15 is unscrewed from the container neck 29. The break-off webs 63 may be arranged at regular intervals on the security ring 17 as shown.

[0046] The first and second arms 19a, 19b have a width between 4 mm and 5 mm or have a width which corresponds to at least 15% of the height of the security ring, so that they are sufficiently stable.

[0047] According to FIGS. 1 to 3, the screw cap 15 is in a closed position in which it is pressed or screwed onto the container neck 29. When unscrewing from the container neck 29, the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b are pulled upward in the axial direction. The holding strips are also elastically extendable so that the screw cap 15 can be unscrewed from the container neck 29 and folded away.

[0048] A second and a third recess 65, 67 are provided on the security ring 17. The first and the second holding strips 19a, 19b are received in the first and the second recesses 65, 67, respectively. This makes it possible to produce the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b directly from the security ring 17, for example by cutting out of the security ring 17.

[0049] The first, second, third and fourth ends 39, 41, 51, 53 are arranged one after the other in the circumferential direction on the free edge 25 and on the security ring 17. A first tongue 43 with a first tongue end 45 and a second tongue 47 with a second tongue end 49 are arranged between the second end 41 of the first holding strip 19a and the third end 51 of the second holding strip 19b. The first tongue 43 is formed on the free edge 25 in continuation of the casing 23. The second tongue 47 is part of the security ring 17. The first and second tongues 43, 47 may be directly adjacent to one another. Furthermore, the first and second tongues 43, 47 may be directly adjacent to the second end 41 and the third end 51, respectively. The second tongue end is designed as an extension, in particular as a radially outward protruding step 55. The step has a height of 2 to 3 mm. A first recess 57 in which the first tongue 43 is received in the closed position is provided on the security ring 17. As a result, the first tongue 43 can be made as long as possible. This in turn has the advantage that in the open position, the screw cap 15 is far away from the container neck 29 and does not hinder the user when drinking from the container. The first tongue 43 has a length of 75 to 85% of the height of the security ring 17.

[0050] Since the first recess 57 forms a weakened portion for the security ring 17, the latter is reinforced below the first recess 57. The reinforcement section 59 is realized in that the wall thickness of the security ring 17 is enlarged below the first recess 57. The wall thickness of the reinforcement section 59 is between 2 and 3 mm. As a result of the provision of the reinforcement section, the security ring 17 is sufficiently stable to be able to be pressed onto the container neck 29.

[0051] When the screw cap 15 is transferred from its unscrewed position into its open position, the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b act as a hinge about which the screw cap 15 can be unfolded into the open position. The length of the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b is dimensioned in such a way that the first tongue end 45 in the open position is pulled to the step 55 and is pulled into the step corner. In the open position, the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b are tensioned or elastically extended. In the open position, the casing 23 can also have contact with the support ring 72 of the container 13, which is formed at the transition between the container neck 29 and the container body 28.

[0052] The arrangement of the ends of the holding strips 19a, 19b, that is to say that the first end 39 is followed by the second end 41, the third end 51 and the fourth end 53 in the circumferential direction, and a certain length of the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b have the advantage that the first tongue 43 and the second tongue 47 or the tongue ends 45, 49 thereof are brought into alignment when the screw cap 15 is unscrewed from the container neck 29. The tongues 43, 47 can therefore be automatically transferred, by rotation of the screw cap 15, from an arrangement in which they are arranged next to one another into an arrangement in which the tongue ends 45, 49 overlap.

[0053] Since the closure cap 11 is rotationally symmetrical, it has a center point 73. The center point 73 lies in the imaginary plane between the free edge 25 and the security ring 17. The second end 41 and the fourth end 53 enclose an opening angle 75 of at least 60 degrees and at most 90 degrees, or at least 70 and at most 80 degrees, with respect to the center point 73 as the apex.

[0054] If the closure cap 11 is pressed onto the container neck 29, the pour opening 33 is closed by the closure cap 11, and the closure cap 11 is in the closed position. When the screw cap 15 is unscrewed from the container neck 29, the break-off webs 63 break. The security ring 17 rotates along with the screw cap 15. During unscrewing, the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b can stand up, and the first and second tongues 43, 47 are displaced relative to one another.

[0055] As already described further above, the screw cap 15 is folded into the open position after unscrewing from the container neck 29 by latching the first tongue end 45 to the step 55. As a result of the choice of the opening angle 75, the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b have a length which allows the screw cap 15 to be unscrewed from the container neck 29 and the tongues 43, 47 to be rotated relative to one another. The length of the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b must be adapted precisely. If the length of the holding strips is too long, the first tongue end 45 is not held sufficiently fixedly on the step 55. If the length of the holding strips is too short, the screw cap 15 snaps back out of the open position and impedes the pouring out of filling material from the pour opening 33.

[0056] In the open position, the screw cap 15 is captively held on the container 13 and is fixed to the container neck 29 in such a way that it does not protrude into the pour opening 33 when liquid is poured out of the container 13. The first and second holding strips 19a, 19b enable the screw cap 15 to be transferred into the open position in a positively guided folding movement after it has been unscrewed from the container neck 29. As a result of the positive guidance and the step 55, there is only one open position and not a plurality thereof. The length and cross-section of the first and the second holding strip 19a, 19b are dimensioned in such a way that the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b are elastically tensioned in the open position of the screw cap 15. As a result, the screw cap 15 in the open position is pulled onto the container neck 29 and the step 55 and is held thereon in a wobble-free manner. The elastic pretensioning of the first and second holding strips 19a, 19b also makes it possible for the screw cap to be transferred multiple times from the open position into the closed position and vice versa. As a result, the container neck 29 can be opened and closed multiple times, and after opening, the screw cap 15 is held in the open position in a stable and wobble-free manner each time.

[0057] The protrusions 37 can be designed in accordance with the following description of FIGS. 9 and 10. This embodiment of the protrusions 37 is the content of the Swiss patent applications with application numbers 01467/19 and 01695/19, the priorities of which were claimed, and the disclosure contents of which are hereby incorporated into the present patent application. Slots 97 are provided in the security ring in a manner distributed over the circumference of the security ring 17. The slots 97 each have an upper edge 99 and a lower edge 101. The upper edge 99 is formed by a circular-arc-shaped section of the security ring 17. The lower edge 101 corresponds to the free edge of a wall section 103 inclined inward in the radial direction. Due to the inward inclination of the wall section 103, the lower edge 101 has a smaller radius than the security ring 17 and as a result can lie against an abutment (holding ring 35) of the container neck 29 when the screw cap 15 is unscrewed from the container neck 29. The abutment is realized by the holding ring 35, which is formed below the outer thread 31 on the container neck 29. When the screw cap 15 is unscrewed, the lower edge 99 engages form-fittingly in the holding ring 35, as a result of which the security ring 17 is reliably held on the holding ring 35 even under high axial forces.

[0058] Each wall section 101 has a first subsection 105 and two second subsections 107. The first subsection 105 represents an inward folded casing section and designed to be flat. The second subsections 107 adjoin the inward facing sides of the first subsection 105 and connect it to the security ring 17. The second subsections 107 can be curved or flat and face one another obliquely inward. The lower edge 101 of the slot 97 corresponds to the free edges of the first subsection 105 and of the second subsections 107 and lies in a plane 109, which is shown in FIG. 10. The plane 109 is oriented perpendicularly to the axis of rotation 110 of the container neck 29. These described design features of the wall section 103 have the advantage that the wall section 103, with the entire lower edge 101, can rest against the holding ring 35 and, in the manner of a barb, does not yield in the event of an axial tensile force upward. As a result, the security ring 17 is held non-releasably on the holding ring 35 and can be removed from the holding ring 35 only by being destroyed. A movement of the first subsection 105 inward in the radial direction is prevented by provision of the second subsections 107. However, a movement of the first subsection 105 outward in the radial direction is possible. This movement is flexible, and after being pressed radially outward, the wall section 103 returns to its inward inclined home position. This has the further advantage that the security ring 17 can be easily demolded and can be pressed together with the screw cap 15 onto the container neck 29 with little force. As a result of the flexibility of the wall section 103, the demolding from an injection mold and the pressing onto the container neck 29 can take place without the risk of damaging the wall section 103.

[0059] The inclined wall sections 103 have a lesser wall thickness than the remaining security ring 17. FIG. 10 shows that the region of the lower edge 101 has the smallest wall thickness. The above-described flexibility of the wall section 103 radially outward is thereby further improved. The wall thickness of the wall section 103 increases linearly downward starting from the lower edge 101.

[0060] FIGS. 9 and 10 show the security ring 17 without the screw cap 15. FIGS. 9 and 10 clearly show that an annular bead 111 on which the upper edges 99 rest is formed above the slots 97 on the security ring 17.

[0061] FIG. 10 shows a first and second inclination angle 113, 115. The first inclination angle 113 indicates the inclination of the first subsection 105 with respect to the plane of the lower edge 101. The first inclination angle 113 has a magnitude between 60 and 80 degrees, or between 65 and 75 degrees. The greater the first inclination angle 113, the better the stability of the wall sections 103 with respect to vertical force effects or axial tensile forces caused by the unscrewing of the screw cap 15. However, the first inclination angle 113 must not be too large since the holding ring 35 cannot otherwise be sufficiently engaged.

[0062] The second inclination angle 115 indicates the inclination of the slot 97 with respect to the plane of the lower edge 111. The connecting line 117, which represents the inclination of the slot 97, is a connection of the upper edge 99 to the lower edge 101 in a plane spanned by the axis of rotation 110 and the connecting line 117. The second inclination angle 115 is enclosed by the connecting line 117 and the plane 109. The second inclination angle 115 has a magnitude between 30 and 50 degrees, or between 35 and 45 degrees. The greater the second inclination angle 115, the easier it is to demold the security ring 17.

[0063] An inward projecting inner cone 87 (FIG. 4), e.g., in the form of a sealing cylinder or a sealing ring, or may be molded on the bottom 21 of the screw cap 15. The inner cone 87 is designed to interact in a sealed manner with the inner wall 89 of the container neck 29 in the closed position. The closure cap 11 can therefore act as a so-called cone sealer and reliably seals the container neck 29.

[0064] The closure cap 11 is made of a plastic. Preferred plastics include inter alia PP and HDPE.