Extended thread tamper band evidence

Abstract

A tamper evidence closure assembly is provided for engaging with a finish of a container for sealing contents within an interior of a container. The assembly includes a finish and a tamper evidence closure configured to threadably engage with the finish. The finish comprises a cylindrical portion of the container that begins at an opening to the interior of the container and extends to and includes a support ledge. Threads are configured to engage with the finish. The tamper evidence closure includes a tamper evidence band that is attached to closure by way of a multiplicity of thin connections. The tamper evidence band includes a cam configured to engage with the finish during removal of the tamper evidence closure. The cam causes the thin connections to break such that the tamper evidence band remains disposed on the finish after removal of the tamper evidence closure.

Claims

1. A tamper evidence closure assembly for sealing contents within an interior of a container, the assembly comprising: a finish including a cylindrical body having an edge defining an opening to the interior of the container, and one or more threads configured to rotatably engage the closure with the container, wherein the thread of the one or more threads furthest from the opening extends into a circumferentially parallel relationship with the edge; and a tamper evidence closure configured to threadably engage with the finish, the tamper evidence closure including a tamper evidence band in the form of a cam configured to engage with the finish during removal of the tamper evidence closure, wherein the cam includes a surface configured to engage with the thread of the one or more threads furthest from the opening to retain the tamper evidence band positioned below the thread during loosening of the closure.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the tamper evidence closure includes a plurality of connections coupled to the tamper evidence band and configured to break during loosening of the tamper evidence closure.

3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the cam comprises an angled surface configured to facilitate passing the tamper evidence band over the one or more threads during assembly of the tamper evidence closure onto the container.

4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the thread of the one or more threads furthest from the opening has a diameter greater than any other thread of the one or more threads.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The drawings refer to embodiments of the present disclosure in which:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of an exemplary container suitable for storing a beverage;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates an upper perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a finish including extended threads;

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates side view of the finish illustrated in FIG. 2; and

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a closure that is configured to be threadably engaged with the finish shown in FIGS. 2-3.

(6) While the present disclosure is subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. The invention should be understood to not be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide q thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention disclosed herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, specific numeric references such as first bottle, may be made. However, the specific numeric reference should not be interpreted as a literal sequential order but rather interpreted that the first bottle is different than a second bottle. Thus, the specific details set forth are merely exemplary. The specific details may be varied from and still be contemplated to be within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The term coupled is defined as meaning connected either directly to the component or indirectly to the component through another component. Further, as used herein, the terms about, approximately, or substantially for any numerical values or ranges indicate a suitable dimensional tolerance that allows the part or collection of components to function for its intended purpose as described herein.

(8) In some instances, conventional tamper evidence bands fail to detach from the closure upon being loosened, thereby making it difficult for an end-user to directly observe whether or not the closure has been previously separated from the container. Consequently, the end-user has little visual indication of whether the container has been reused. Embodiments disclosed herein provide a tamper evidence closure that reliably provides a visible indication about whether or not a manufacturer-installed closure has been previously removed from a plastic container.

(9) FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of an exemplary container 100 typically used for storing liquid contents, such as water and juice. The container 100 comprises a base 104 that extends up to a grip portion 108. In some embodiments, the base 104 may be of the petaloid variety, although other configurations of the base may be incorporated into the container 100, without limitation. The grip portion 108 comprises a plurality of grip portion ribs 112 (i.e., sidewall ribs). As illustrated in FIG. 1, the plurality of grip portion ribs 112 generally vary in depth, and swirl or angulate around the grip portion 108. A label portion 116 can be connected to the grip portion 108 and comprises one or more label panel ribs (not shown). The label panel portion 116 transitions into a shoulder 124, which connects to a bell 128. The bell 128 connects to a neck 136, which connects to a finish 140. As shown in FIG. 1, the bell 128 comprises a diameter that generally decreases as the bell 128 extends upward from the shoulder 124 to the neck 136 and the finish 140. The finish 140 can be adapted to receive a closure 164, such as by way of non-limiting example, a container cap or bottle cap, so as to seal contents within the container 100. The finish 140 generally defines an opening 160 that leads to an interior of the container 100 for containing a beverage, or other contents, such as any of a variety of carbonated soft drinks.

(10) FIG. 2 illustrates an upper perspective view of an exemplary finish 140 that may be configured to rotatably engage with the closure 164 so as to seal contents within the interior of the container 100. The finish 140 comprises a cylindrical body that begins at an opening 160 to an interior of the container 100 and extends to and includes a support ledge 156. The finish 140 can be further characterized by the presence of one or more threads 172 configured to provide a means to fasten the closure 164 to the container 100. As such, the threads 172 are configured to rotatably engage with similar threads disposed within the closure 164 to provide a way to seal contents within the container 100. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, each of the threads 172 generally extends along a section of the circumference of the finish 140 and approaches the support ledge 156. Thus, when the threads of the closure 164 are engaged with the threads 172, and the closure 164 can be rotated in a clockwise direction, the closure advances toward the support ledge 156.

(11) In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2-3, the threads 172 comprise a single thread 172 that begins at a thread start 180 and spirals around the circumference of the finish 140 before terminating at a thread end 184. The thread start 180 can be configured to guide a thread 176 of the closure 164 into a space, or valley 188, between adjacent threads 172 so as to threadably engage the closure 164 with the finish 140. Further, the threads 172 generally are disposed adjacently to one another and are spaced uniformly around the circumference of the finish 140, with the exception of a bottom-most thread 192. As best shown in FIG. 3, the bottom-most thread 192 extends into a parallel relationship with the support ledge 156, thereby forming a gap 196 therebetween. The gap 196 includes a roughly uniform width around the circumference of the finish 140 and may be configured to retain a tamper evidence band of the closure 164, as discussed herein.

(12) FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a closure 164 that may be threadably engaged with the finish 140 shown in FIGS. 2-3. As shown in FIG. 4, the closure 164 includes interior threads 176 that are configured to engage with the threads 172 of the finish 140, as described above. As such, the threads 176 extends into the thread valleys 188 extending around the finish 140. During tightening of the closure 164 onto the finish 140, a plug seal 168 of the closure 164 can be configured to extend into the opening 160 and enter into a pressed relationship with the finish 140 whereby contents are sealed in the interior of the container 100.

(13) As further shown in FIG. 4, the closure 164 includes a tamper evidence band 166 that includes a cam 200 and can be disposed around the perimeter of the closure 164 and may be attached to the closure 164 by a multiplicity of thin connections 204. The cam 200 generally comprises an angled lower surface 208 configured to facilitate passing the tamper evidence band 166 over the threads 172 during assembly of the closure 164 onto the container 100. A relatively flat upper surface 212 of the cam can be configured to engage with the bottom-most thread 192 of the finish 140 and thus retain the tamper evidence band 166 positioned within the gap 196 below the bottom-most thread 192 during loosening of the closure 164. For example, when an end-user loosens the closure 164, the cam 200 presses against the bottom-most thread 192, breaking the thin connections 204 between tamper evidence band 166 and the closure 164. The tamper evidence band 166 remains positioned below the bottom-most thread 192 after the closure 164 can be removed from the container 100. Thus, the tamper evidence band 166 cooperates with the bottom-most thread 192 to indicate to the end-user that the closure 164 has not been previously loosened after being installed by the manufacturer.

(14) In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2-3, the bottom-most thread 192 comprises a diameter of the finish 140 that may be greater than the diameter of the other threads 172. It is contemplated, however, that in some embodiments the bottom-most thread 192 and the other threads 172 comprise substantially the same diameter of the finish 140, without limitation. In such embodiments, friction between the closure 164 and the threads 172, 192 contributes to detaching the tamper evidence band 166 from the closure 164 when the end-user twists the closure. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the cam 200 comprises a continuous shape that extends around the circumference of the tamper evidence band 166. As such, friction between the cam 200 and the bottom-most thread 192 retains the cam within the gap 196 once the closure 164 is loosened from the finish 140.

(15) In some embodiments, the tamper evidence band 166 may be bonded to the support ledge 156, such that the tamper evidence band 166 remains fixated to the support ledge 156 during loosening of the tamper evidence closure 164 on the finish. As such, when an end-user loosens the tamper evidence closure 164 on the finish 140, the multiplicity of thin connections 204 break, leaving the tamper evidence band 166 attached to the finish 140 when the closure 164 can be removed. It is contemplated that the tamper evidence band 166 may be bonded to the support ledge 156 by way of any of various suitable adhesives, such as any of hot melt adhesives, a Cyanoacrylates, UV-cured adhesives, and 2-part epoxies. Further, in some embodiments, the tamper evidence band 166 may be bonded to the support ledge 156 by way of ultrasonic welding.

(16) While the invention has been described in terms of particular variations and illustrative figures, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the variations or figures described. In addition, when methods and steps described above indicate certain events occurring in certain order, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the ordering of certain steps may be modified and that such modifications are in accordance with the variations of the invention. Additionally, certain of the steps may be performed concurrently in a parallel process when possible, as well as performed sequentially as described above. To the extent there are variations of the invention, which are within the spirit of the disclosure or equivalent to the inventions found in the claims, it is the intent that this patent will cover those variations as well. Therefore, the present disclosure is to be understood as not limited by the specific embodiments described herein, but only by scope of the appended claims.