Pouring spout having a frangible seal

The invention relates to an opening arrangement of the type which consists of a pouring spout (3) formed from a thermoplastic material sheet (1) and surrounded by an outer closure portion (2). The outer closure portion (2) is sealed partly to the upper wall (4) of the pouring spout (3) and partly to a portion of the material sheet (1) surrounding the pouring spout (3). The outer closure portion (2) is provided with a failure impression (7) placed circularly around the outer closure portion (2) when this is sealed to the material sheet (1).

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention relates to an opening arrangement of the type which 
consists of a pouring spout which is formed from a thermoplastic material 
sheet and is surrounded by an outer closure portion, the outer closure or 
sealing portion being sealed to the upper wall of the pouring spout. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
It is previously known in the art to thermoform a pouring spout on a liquid 
package from, for example, Swedish Patent Application No. SE 9100921-7. 
According to this method, a pouring spout is formed from a sheet of 
thermoplastic material, the spout being enclosed by an outer closure 
portion, a so-called screw cap. 
The thermoplastic material sheet may comprise the entire upper side of a 
package which otherwise consists of a packaging laminate with a core of 
paper or paperboard to which different layers are laminated, the outermost 
layer being thermoplastic. The cross section of the package may be 
circular or rectangular. The thermoplastic material sheet may also consist 
of a minor portion, covering a cut-out piece from a conventional laminate 
package so that it is welded in place against the inside of the laminate 
package of thermoplastic material. One such package may, for example, be a 
so-called gable-top package. 
In one of the above-described package types--which is finished inasmuch as 
it consists of side walls and a top wall, a pouring spout is formed in the 
top wall. A forming tool is passed through the as yet incomplete bottom of 
the package, and an outer closure portion (a so-called screw cap) is 
lowered from the upper side of the package, the closure portion serving as 
a mould for forming the pouring spout. When the pouring spout has been 
formed in this way, the upper portion of the pouring spout is sealed in 
place against the inside of the upper closure portion. This sealing or 
closure is intended to be broken when the package is opened. However, this 
method gives no external indication that the package has been tampered 
with or illicitly opened so that its contents might have been manipulated. 
Since this applies to packages for sensitive foods, it is often desirable 
to provide the package with an opening arrangement of the type which 
immediately indicates whether or not the package has been improperly 
opened before reaching the consumer. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY 
One object of the present invention is to provide an opening arrangement of 
the above-outlined type with a simple, visual indication that the package 
has not previously been opened and which does not impede opening of the 
packaging container. 
This and other objects have been attained according to the present 
invention in that an opening arrangement of the type described by way of 
introduction has been given the characterizing feature that the closure 
portion is also sealed to a portion of the material sheet surrounding the 
pouring spout, and that the outer sealing portion is provided with a 
failure impression.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
An opening arrangement of the type which the present invention represents 
may be made on different package types. One such package type consists of 
side walls of a laminate with a core of paper or paperboard to which is 
laminated an outer layer of thermoplastic, and the package is further 
provided with an upper wall 1 wholly consisting of thermoplastic. Other 
package types are conventional gable-top packages or parallelepipedic 
packages in whose upper wall a panel is cut out which is covered from the 
underside by a thermoplastic layer. 
Irrespective of package type, the opening arrangement is made in an 
identical manner. The as yet unfinished package, which is still open at 
the bottom, is mounted on a mandrel, and a forming tool is introduced via 
the package bottom. Simultaneously, an outer closure portion 2 is advanced 
towards the upper side of the package. The outer closure portion 2 is 
employed as a mold for thermoforming of a pouring spout 3 which is formed 
from the thermoplastic material layer, which either constitutes the upper 
side 1 of the package, or a part of the upper side 1. 
Once the pouring spout 3 has been formed from the thermoplastic material 
sheet with the outer closure portion 2 as mold, the forming tool is 
removed from the packaging container and the upper wall 4 of the pouring 
spout 3 is permanently sealed by ultrasonic means against the inside of 
the outer sealing or closure portion 2. FIG. 1 shows an outer closure 
portion 2 in which is formed a pouring spout 3 from a thermoplastic 
material sheet. On one surface 5, the upper wall 4 of the pouring spout 3 
is sealed to the inside of the outer closure portion 2 and, in the same 
production phase, the lower outer diameter of the outer closure portion 2 
is sealed against that portion of the thermoplastic material sheet 1 which 
surrounds the pouring spout 3. There will thus here be obtained two seals 
5 and 6 in the same production phase, of which the one seal, 6, is 
circular and retains the outer closure portion 2 against the upper side of 
the package. 
As is shown in FIG. 1, the outer closure portion 2 is provided, a short 
distance from its lower defining surface, with a failure impression 7 
inasmuch as the outer closure portion 2 is of lesser material thickness 
around its circumference. This failure impression may be designed in 
different ways such that the attenuated wall abuts against the pouring 
spout 3 or, alternatively, is oriented outwardly towards the outer side of 
the closure portion 2, or, as shown in the Figure, is attenuated equally 
from both sides. 
The thus far finished packaging container is now removed from the mandrel, 
filled with its intended contents and sealed in its bottom. 
When the packaging container carrying an opening arrangement according to 
the present invention reaches the consumer, the consumer is able to 
rapidly ascertain that the package has not been illicitly opened in that 
the failure impression 7 which surrounds the outer sealing portion 8 is 
unbroken. When the consumer opens the packaging container, the surface 5 
of the thermoplastic material in the upper portion 4 of the pouring spout 
3 is broken where it was sealed against the inside of the outer closure 
portion 2. At the same time, the circular failure impression 7 is twisted 
off so that the lowermost portion 8 of the closure portion 2 remains on 
the upper side 1 of the packaging container when the closure portion 2 is 
removed from the pouring spout 3. 
An opening arrangement according to the present invention is reclosable in 
that the outer closure portion can once again be screwed back in place on 
the pouring spout until it reaches the circular failure line. 
As will have been apparent from the foregoing description, the present 
invention realises an opening arrangement which, in a simple and 
economical manner, makes it possible rapidly to ascertain that the package 
has not been improperly opened or tampered with before reaching the 
consumer's hand, at the same time as the opening arrangement is easy to 
reclose. 
While this invention has been illustrated and described in accordance with 
a preferred embodiment, it is recognized that variations and changes may 
be made therein without departing from the invention as set forth in the 
claims.