Method for molding a bi-material cap

Abstract

The disclosure includes a cap having a first portion made of a plastic material and forming a bottom for covering a container neck and a protective side wall for surrounding the container neck, and a second portion made of a flexible material that is compatible with the plastic material of the first portion and separate from the plastic material of the first portion, the second portion being annular and consisting of a flexible seal, which projects from the bottom toward the interior of the side wall and which is welded to the first portion. Thus, the manufacture of the stopper by molding includes injecting a flexible material to produce the flexible annular seal and then the movable portions of the mold are placed such that the flexible material is in a groove that is set back from the planar surface of the mold.

Claims

1. A method for molding a bi-material cap including a plastic portion made of plastic material and a flexible portion made of flexible material, the method comprising: (a) placing two parts of a mold, movable relative to one another, so as to form an annular cavity with an injection orifice, a first of the two parts of the mold having an annular protuberance, the annular protuberance defining an upper wall of the annular cavity, a second of the two parts of the mold having an annular groove defining a lower wall of the annular cavity, the annular protuberance of the first of the two parts penetrating the annular groove of the second of the two parts so as to close the annular cavity and leave an upper part of the annular groove outside the annular cavity; (b) injecting a flexible material into the annular cavity so as to fill the annular cavity and form the flexible portion of the cap; (c) separating the two parts of the mold from each other so as to form a primary cavity, the upper part of the annular groove emerging in the primary cavity; and (d) injecting a plastic material in the primary cavity so as to fill the primary cavity and the upper part of the annular groove to form the plastic portion of the cap, and so as to be welded to the flexible material.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plastic material injected in the upper part of the annular groove forms an annular protuberance at a bottom of the plastic portion of the cap.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the annular protuberance at the bottom of the plastic portion is welded to the flexible material.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the primary cavity is such that the bottom of the plastic portion of the cap comprises two annular grooves separated from one another by the annular protuberance.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the injection of the plastic material in the mold is done through an injection orifice aligned with an axis of symmetry of revolution of the annular cavity.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the flexible material is an elastomer material.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plastic material is a thermoplastic.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary cavity includes a first volume to form a bottom of the plastic portion of the cap, extended by a second, generally cylindrical volume to form a side wall of the plastic portion of the cap.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the side wall includes an inner thread.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the plastic portion forms a primary annular sealing skirt protruding from the bottom of the plastic portion of the cap and positioned radially inside the side wall.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the flexible portion is positioned radially between the side wall and the primary sealing skirt.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein a distance between the primary sealing skirt and the flexible portion, measured radially in a plane perpendicular to an axis of revolution of the side wall, tangent to a weld face between the plastic portion and the flexible portion, is greater than 0.5 mm.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the primary sealing skirt includes an annular bead located in a free end portion of the sealing skirt and turned radially outward.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the primary sealing skirt has a generally flared shape from the bottom toward a free end of the sealing skirt.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein a geometric cylinder, which outwardly envelops the primary sealing skirt and has the smallest diameter possible, and which has an intersection with the flexible portion.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the flexible portion has a half-circle or half-ellipse profile or a square, rectangular or trapezoidal profile.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein the side wall of the cap is equipped with a tamperproof ring, connected to a body of the side wall by a frangible annular zone.

18. A method for molding a bi-material cap including a plastic portion made of plastic material and comprising at least a bottom and a side wall and a flexible portion made of flexible material, the method comprising: (a) placing two parts of a mold, movable relative to one another, to form an annular cavity with an injection orifice, a first of the two parts having an annular protuberance, the annular protuberance defining an upper wall of the annular cavity, a second of the two parts of the mold having an annular groove defining a lower wall of the annular cavity, the annular protuberance of the first of the two parts penetrating the annular groove of the second of the two parts so as to close the annular cavity and leave an upper part of the annular groove outside the annular cavity; (b) injecting a flexible material into the annular cavity so as to fill the annular cavity and form the flexible portion of the cap; (c) separating the two parts of the mold from each other so as to form a primary cavity having a first volume intended to form the bottom of the plastic portion of the cap, extended by a second, generally cylindrical volume intended to form the side wall of the plastic portion of the cap, the upper part of the annular groove emerging in the plastic portion of the primary cavity; and (d) injecting a plastic material in the primary cavity so as to fill the primary cavity and the upper part of the annular groove to form the plastic portion of the cap, the bottom of the plastic portion of the cap including an annular protuberance formed in the upper part of the annular groove of the other part of the mold, the bottom of the plastic portion of the cap comprising two annular grooves separated from one another by the annular protuberance, the annular protuberance of the bottom of the plastic portion being welded to the flexible material of the flexible portion.

19. The method of claim 10 wherein at least one of: the flexible portion is configured to interfere with an upper edge of a cylinder that envelops the primary sealing skirt; and the primary sealing skirt includes an annular bead located in a free end portion of the sealing skirt and turned radially outward.

20. The method of claim 10 wherein at least one of: the flexible portion is configured to interfere with an upper edge of a cylinder that envelops the primary sealing skirt; and the primary sealing skirt the primary sealing skirt has a generally flared shape from the bottom toward a free end of the sealing skirt.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge from reading the following description, in reference to the appended figures, which illustrate:

(2) FIG. 1, a cross-sectional view of a cap according to one embodiment of the invention, mounted on a container neck;

(3) FIG. 2, a detail of the cap of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3, a diagrammatic view of the positioning of the parts of a mold for manufacturing the cap of FIGS. 1 and 2, in a first injection phase;

(5) FIG. 4, a diagrammatic view of the positioning of the parts of the mold for manufacturing the cap of FIGS. 1 and 2, in a second injection phase; and

(6) FIG. 5, a cross-sectional view of a detail of one alternative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a cap 10 made up of two parts, one made from plastic intended to form an outer enclosure 12 of the cap and the other made from a flexible material, forming an annular seal 14 welded to the inside of the first part. More specifically, the enclosure 12 of the cap, in a single piece, includes a discoid bottom 16, an outer side wall 18 bearing an inner thread 20, a tamperproof ring 22 extending the free end 24 of the side wall 18 connected to the latter by material bridges 26, and a tapered sealing skirt 28 positioned inside the outer side wall 18, protruding from the bottom 16 and flaring as it moves away from the bottom 16. The sealing skirt 28 is provided with a bulge 30 at its end. An annular volume 32 is delimited between the outer side wall 18, the sealing skirt 28 and the bottom 16. The flexible seal 14 is positioned in this inner volume 32.

(8) In FIG. 1, the cap is screwed on the neck 36 of the container, said neck traditionally including a lower collar 38 serving for handling of the container, a fastening collar 40 on which the tamperproof ring 22 is fastened, and an outer thread 42 cooperating with the inner thread 20 of the cap for screwing and unscrewing of the latter. As shown in FIG. 1, the inner volume 32 delimited by the side wall 18, the sealing skirt 28 and the bottom 16 of the cap constitutes a housing for the free end of the neck 36. The sealing skirt 28 bears radially with interference on a cylindrical inner wall 44 of the neck. The contact pressure between the skirt 28 and the neck 36 is completely controlled owing to the geometry of the bulge 30 of the skirt, the axial section of which is an arc of circle in the vicinity of the point of contact. The seal 14 bears on the upper rim 46 of the neck. The radial thickness of the seal 14 may be relatively significant, in the same order of magnitude as its largest axial thickness, and preferably greater than half of the thickness of the wall of the neck 36. The free face of the seal, turned toward the inside of the annular volume 32, may have an arc of circle section. The dimensional interference with the neck in the closed position ensures a large contact surface and high contact pressure by crushing of the seal 14. Inasmuch as the purpose of the sealing skirt is to interfere with the inner cylindrical wall of the neck whereas the flexible seal is intended to rest on the upper edge of the neck, it is advantageous, before screwing on the neck, for the geometric cylinder with the smallest diameter that outwardly envelops the primary sealing skirt to have an intersection with the flexible seal.

(9) As shown in FIG. 2, the inner face of the bottom, in the annular volume 32, has two annular grooves 48, 50 separated by an annular protuberance 52 protruding axially inside the volume 32. These two annular grooves, one radially inner 48, located between the protuberance 52 and the skirt 28, the other radially outer 50, situated between the protuberance 52 and the side wall 18, each have a substantially planar face. The projecting face 55 of the protuberance is also substantially planar and located away from the groove bottoms, as illustrated by dimension X in FIG. 2. This projecting face 55 constitutes a weld interface for the flexible seal, which is consequently completely situated at a minimal axial distance X from the bottom of the grooves 48, 50.

(10) The outer face 56 of the bottom has an annular groove 58 situated at the protuberance 52 and the flexible annular seal 14. This groove is radially bordered on either side by planar facets 60, 62. The profile of the groove 58 and the planar facets 60, 62 corresponds negatively to the profile of the protuberance 52 and the grooves 48, 50 of the inner face of the bottom situated in the annular volume 32.

(11) The advantages of the protuberance will better appear in the following description of the manufacturing method for manufacturing the cap, illustrated diagrammatically in FIGS. 3 and 4. The injection mold is made up of at least two parts movable relative to one another. One of the parts is a stationary block 100 that forms the majority of the outer surface of the cap, and in particular the portion of the outer surface of the bottom of the cap situated across from the annular volume 32. The stationary block 100 in particular includes surfaces for producing the groove and the flats, and in particular a protuberance 102 fitting the shapes of the groove 58 and two planar facets 104, 106 on either side of the protuberance 102, to produce the facets 60, 62 of the outer face of the bottom 16 of the cap.

(12) The other part is a core 108 that in particular forms the outer surface of the assembly of the cap 10, and more specifically the inner surface of the finished cap, i.e., the assembly formed by the enclosure 12 and the flexible seal 14. The core 108 therefore includes an annular groove 110 corresponding to the cavity of the flexible seal 14 and the protuberance 52 and two flat facets 112, 114 on either side of the groove 110, to produce the bottoms of the grooves 48, 50. It also includes a substantially tapered face 115 defining the outer wall of the primary seal 28. It should be noted that the shortest distance Y between the walls 110 and 115 must be sufficient to avoid making the core 108 fragile. In practice, the smallest distance Y is greater than the distance X.

(13) In a first molding phase illustrated in FIG. 3, the core 108 is positioned in contact with the stationary block 100. The protuberance 102 partially penetrates the annular groove 110 to close it hermetically, while preserving an annular cavity 116 in the shape of the flexible seal. A flexible material is injected into the annular cavity so as to fill the annular cavity and form the seal. The injection hole 118 is located in the protuberance of the block.

(14) At the end of this first phase, the two portions 100, 108 of the mold are moved away from each other so as to form a primary cavity whereof the imprint corresponds to the shape of the finished cap, the groove already being filled by the flexible seal, as illustrated in FIG. 4. More specifically, the cavity has a portion with a generally discoid shape intended to form the bottom of the cap, extended by a generally cylindrical portion intended for the side wall of the cap, the generally discoid portion having an inner wall defining the inner face of the bottom of the cap, the annular cavity containing the flexible material emerging in the discoid part of the primary cavity.

(15) The plastic material will then be injected through a central injection hole. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the flexible material forming the joint is situated in a protected region of the mold, relative to the deviation of the flow of injected plastic material. This is due to the fact that the groove of the core of the mold that contains the flexible material of the seal has not been completely filled by the latter in the first injection phase. The arrows in FIG. 4 show the path of the plastic material during its injection. The groove protects the flexible material of the seal from the flow of plastic material, which prevents part of the flexible material from being carried away toward other parts of the mold. It is therefore possible to inject plastic material on the flexible material making up the seal while ensuring melting at the interface without deteriorating the geometric integrity of the seal.

(16) The separation between the two parts of the mold corresponds to the thickness of the plastic material forming the bottom 16 of the cap. Characteristically, the thickness of plastic material is constant in the annular region of the bottom, which limits the annular cavity 32, between the sealing skirt 28 and the outer side wall 18. In the final phase, the bi-material cap is ejected by removing the core. It will be understood the groove 58, which has no specific function, results from the manufacturing method, since it is the imprint of the protuberance 102. Its depth is equal to the height X of the protuberance 52.

(17) According to the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the annular seal 14 is configured so as to have a substantially planar annular contact surface with the upper rim of the neck of the container. This planar surface guarantees additional stability of the seal on the rim of the neck during screwing. In this example embodiment, the seal 14 has, in cross-section, a substantially square surface, the interface welded to the enclosure 12 being planar, parallel and with a dimension substantially identical to the planar annular contact surface intended to come into contact with the rim of the neck of the container.

(18) Other seal section shapes, rectangular or more generally polygonal, can be considered, for example a trapezoidal shape. In this hypothesis, the trapezoid may be oriented with a small base serving as contact surface with the container neck and its large base serving as interface with the enclosure 12 of the cap, or conversely undercut with a small base on the interface side and large base serving as contact surface with the container, to form a dovetail seal. In the latter hypothesis, the angle of the trapezoid is preferably smaller than 10, and preferably smaller than 5.

(19) Naturally, many other alternatives are possible. The weld interface with the flexible seal may be oblique, such that the thickness of the seal, measured between the weld interface and the free face, is not constant. The section of the seal is then a convex quadrilateral. Such an arrangement may allow better adaptation to necks with asymmetrical sections. More generally, the weld interface may be non-planar. The profile of the protuberance may assume various non-polygonal shapes. The profile of the grooves may differ from that of the example embodiment. The plastic part may be a spout, covered by a cover connected to the spout for example by a hinge or strap. The cover may be connected on the spout or form a single piece therewith.