Tamper evident container

A plastic container is produced as an integral unit comprising a container body, and a cap portion connected to the container body, said cap portion having an opening in a top position thereof, said container being adapted to be filled through the opening in said cap, and a separately produced lid means adapted to cover and seal the opening in the cap. After removal of the tear strip the cap serves as a closure for the container.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention pertains to tamper evident containers and more 
particularly to a plastic container having a cap portion produced 
integrally therewith. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
A wide variety of tamper evident containers are known. The Applicant has 
filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 805,612 directed to a tamper 
evident container integrally molded and having a tear strip. Common means 
for producing tamper evident containers include provision of frangible 
ribs connecting a removable cap to a semipermanent collar on the bottle 
neck, enshrouding the container cap with a plastic sheath, provision of 
one of a variety of tear strip means, and others. However, an integrally 
molded tamper evident container having the convenience of top filling has 
not been provided in the prior art. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,663 (Krautkramer) discloses a container closure having 
a tear strip molded as an integral part thereof. However, the Krautkramer 
closure is not integral with a container body. 
U.S Pat. No. 1,690,441 (Breckenridge) discloses a can having an integral 
body, tear strip, and cap. The Breckenridge patent does not teach top 
filling and contains a lid having limited capacity for sealing the 
contents of the container. 
PCT application WO 79/00722 (Harild) discloses an integrally molded 
container having a tear strip wherein the container is filled with product 
through a bottom opening, and wherein a limited closure means is disclosed 
for closing the container after removal of the tear strip. 
As can be seen from the above, prior art containers having an integral tear 
strip have not suggested top loading and are extremely limited in their 
closure capabilities. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a tamper evident 
container of ultimate simplicity in manufacture, having top filling 
capacity and having an improved closure means. 
The invention provides a plastic container produced as an integral unit 
comprising a container body, a container neck and a cap portion connected 
to the container body, said cap portion having an opening in a top 
position thereof, said container being adapted to be filled through the 
opening in said cap, and a separately produced lid means adapted to cover 
and seal the opening in the cap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 illustrates a container 10 having a body 12 and a cap 14 having side 
wall 16, the cap having a separately-produced lid member 30. Container 10 
is composed of an integral plastic piece which is preferably manufactured 
by either injection molding, injection blow molding or extrusion blow 
molding. Weakened line 24 is disposed between body 12 and cap wall 16. 
Weakened line 24 facilitates tearing cap 14 from the container body. 
FIG. 2 is a section view of a first embodiment of the invention. An upper 
portion of a container and the cap 14 are shown. This view illustrates the 
cap and body relationship after manufacture and after affixation of lid 
member 30 to the container. Lid member 30 has a flat disc-shaped portion 
28 adapted to seal the opening in container 10. An annular member 34 
extends perpendicularly downward therefrom. Flange 36 of disc 28 extends 
radially outward of the perimeter of the annular member 34. A sealing 
compound may be applied to secure the seal between lid member 30 and cap 
14. 
FIG. 3 is a view of the container of FIG. 2 in a closed position. Annular 
member 34 has an outer diameter which is substantially equal to the inner 
diameter of container body 12 so that a friction fit is provided between 
annular member 34 and container body 12 to seal container 10. Flange 36 
rests upon an upper edge 42 of the container neck in a closed position and 
side wall 16 of cap 14 is disposed outwardly of the neck wall. 
To arrive at the "closed" position of FIG. 3, the cap 14 is torn away along 
weakened line 24 and cap 14 is mounted on container body 12 as shown. 
In using the container of the present invention, container 10 is first 
molded as an integral piece as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The container is 
then filled with product through an aperture in the cap. Lid member 30 is 
then inserted into cap 14, sealing the container. The container with 
product is now ready for consumer use. On first use, cap 14 is torn away 
from body 12 along weakened line 24. Cap 14 is then removably mounted on 
body 12 by a friction fit as shown in FIG. 3 for convenient consumer use. 
The cap may be removed from the container body by pulling or rotating to 
release the friction fit. 
Although a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present 
invention has been described, it is to be understood that the scope of the 
present invention is not to be limited thereby, but is to be determined by 
the claims which follow.