Tamper indicating screw cap with satellite ring

A tamper indicating closure for a container having a threaded neck includes a cup-shaped cap with internal threads and a substantially smooth exterior wall, the tamper indicating device taking the form of a satellite band which surrounds the cap and extends over a substantial portion of the height of the cap. The band is attached to the cap by a frangible connection. The satellite band covers so much of the side wall of the cap that it prevents gripping of the cap. When the cap has been sealed on a container and an attempt is made to open it, finger pressure applied to the band to reach removal torque will fracture the frangible connection between the band and cap. Also attempts to pull the band off the cap will break the frangible connection. Once the band has been removed from the cap the closure may be opened and closed in the conventional manner. The cap and band may be molded in one piece with the intermediate frangible flange or it may be molded as a separate satellite band assembly with an annular flange which will slip over the cap and snap into place by engagement with lugs formed on the cap. The satellite band may be snapped onto the cap body before or after capping. If the cap is pre-assembled, then on-drive lugs can be provided on the top of the cap to provide means for the initial closing.

This invention relates to closures for containers and more particularly to 
a conventional screw type closure having means to indicate tampering. 
There are a large variety of closures for containers which attempt to 
either give evidence that the container has been tampered or opened or 
that the container remains in a sealed or unopened condition once it has 
been filled. The purpose of such closures is to insure that the consumers 
can be confident that a closure has remained in a closed condition once it 
has been filled and that it has not been tampered with prior to purchase. 
It is a general object of this invention to provide a tamper indicating 
closure which does not require a special container and can therefore be 
used on a wide variety of containers of standard configuration. 
It is another object of this invention to provide a tamper indicating 
satellite band which surrounds a conventional screw cap which band 
prevents the user from exerting an opening force directly on the main body 
of the cap. 
It is still another object of this invention to provide a conventional 
screw type cap with a surrounding tamper indicating satellite band which 
will fracture away from the main cap body upon the use of finger pressure 
on the band in an attempt to open the cap closure. 
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a standard screw type 
cap closure with a tamper indicating satellite band which can be formed as 
a unitary structure or as a two piece structure in which the band can be 
applied to the cap before or after sealing the cap to a container. 
The objects of the invention are accomplished by a tamper indicating 
closure which is adapted for use with a container having a standard 
threaded neck, requiring no additional modification to the container to 
provide the tamper indication. The cap is a generally cup-shaped cap 
having an annular side wall with a substantially smooth exterior wall and 
a threaded interior wall for engaging the complementary threads on the 
neck of the container. A tamper indicating satellite band is placed around 
the cap in spaced relationship to the cap and extending over substantial 
portion of the height of the cap so that the cap may not be directly 
grasped for untightening. The tamper indicating band is attached to the 
cap by a frangible connection so that upon application of finger pressure 
to the band in an opening direction, the band will be broken away from the 
cap body. This fracture of the band away from the cap body clearly 
indicates that tampering or an initial opening has taken place. Once this 
fracture has served its purpose, the entire band and frangible connection 
can be completely removed from the main body of the cap so that the cap 
may be used in its conventional manner for opening and closing its 
associated container. Typically the band is supported by a flange which 
connects the band to the exterior wall of the cap. This flange may be 
continuous or discontinuous and composed of a plurality of equally spaced 
flange members. Likewise the frangible connection may be continuous in the 
form of a reduced cross-section of the flange member or the flange might 
be reduced to the point where it comprises a plurality of equally spaced 
frangible bridge members connecting the band to the exterior cap wall. 
When the closure is made with two pieces, an inwardly directed flange 
member has a frangible connection where the flange joins the band. The cap 
has formed on its exterior wall cooperating pairs of upper and lower lugs 
over which the flange of the band may be snapped into place, thus 
retaining the tamper indicating satellite band assembly in a nonrotational 
relationship to the cap. With the two piece structure, the tamper 
indicating band assembly may be snapped onto the cap before or after the 
cap has been sealed to its closure. Where it is desired to assemble the 
satellite band assembly to the cap prior to sealing the cap to the 
container, "on-only" drive lugs may be provided on the top surface of the 
cap to permit the cap to be tightened to the container without damage to 
the satellite band. With a one piece structure means are also provided to 
apply the cap to the container without breakage of the satellite band.

A tamper indicating closure embodying the invention is designated generally 
at 10 and is adapted for use with a container (not shown) having a 
standard threaded neck. Closure 10 can be molded in one piece as shown in 
FIG. 7 or in two pieces as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, closure 10 is shown in its two piece form 
including a cup-shaped cap 12 having a flat top 13 and an annular side 
wall 14 with a substantially smooth exterior wall 16 and a threaded 
interior wall 18. The second piece of the two piece closure is a tamper 
indicating satellite band assembly 20 which consists of a thin annular 
band 22 having an integrally formed radially inwardly directed flange 24. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, flange 24 has a reduced cross-section forming a 
frangible connection 26 where it joins band 22. Flange 24 may be a 
continuous annular flange or it may be divided into a plurality of equally 
spaced flange members. Likewise, frangible connection 26 may be continuous 
or it may be a series of equally spaced frangible connection points. A 
series of upper lugs 28 and lower lugs 30 are formed on exterior cap wall 
16 in a plurality of equally spaced associated pairs. Lugs 28 and 30 are 
separated vertically by a distance to accommodate the thickness of flange 
24 and they are separated circumferentially so as to be adjacent but not 
directly in line to further accommodate flange 24. Upper lugs have a ramp 
surface diverging outwardly as they extend down, and lower lugs have a 
ramp surface diverging outwardly as they extend upward, see FIG. 5. As 
shown in FIG. 1 by arrows 32, band assembly 22 is slipped over top 14 of 
cap 12, and flange 24 slides down the ramp surface on upper lugs 28 to 
snap into position between pairs of upper lugs 28 and lower lugs 30. 
When cap 12 is tightened or sealed on a container with the tamper 
indicating satellite band in position, there is insufficient exposed 
exterior wall 16 to grasp when seeking to remove closure 10 from the 
container. The user must, therefore, grasp band 22 in order to remove 
closure 10 from its assembled container. When sufficient finger pressure 
is exerted on band 22 to overcome the closure torque, the frangible 
connection 26 will break as clearly shown in FIG. 4 where arrows 34 
indicate the application of finger pressure to establish an opening torque 
on cap 12. The fracture of connection 26 breaks band 22 away from flange 
24. This clearly indicates that tampering of closure 10 has taken place, 
that is, opening force has been applied. The severed band 22 and flange 24 
can be easily removed so that the closure will function in a normal 
fashion during repeated opening and closing. 
Satellite band 20 can be snapped onto cap 12 after the cap has been firmly 
closed on a container; in which case closure 10 is in condition for its 
intended purpose, that is, to indicate tampering or first opening of the 
closure by breaking of band 22 away from its associated flange 24. In some 
packaging procedures it may be desirable to assemble band assembly 20 to 
cap 12 prior to the application of the closure 10 to the container. In 
this case, special tooling in the form of a chuck may be necessary to 
grasp the small exposed top area 35 of exterior side wall 16 so as not to 
fracture the frangible connection 26 of band assembly 20--see FIG. 2. 
Another expedient is shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 where on-only drive lugs 36 
are formed integrally with cap top 13. Four equally spaced drive lugs 36 
are shown with ramps that allow only tightening, clockwise, torque to be 
applied to the cap with a suitable wrench. 
Referring to FIG. 7, closure 10 is shown in its one piece form in which 
band 22, flange 24 and frangible connection 26 are all molded integrally 
with cap 12. Here the frangible connection, in the form of a reduced 
cross-section of flange 24, is shown at the point where flange 24 connects 
to the main body of exterior side wall 16. This closure 10 functions in 
the same manner as two piece closure 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that any 
finger pressure applied to band 22 which is sufficient to create an 
opening torque will first fracture the frangible connection 26 breaking 
band 22 and flange 24 away from cap 12. FIG. 7 also shows that the 
frangible connection may be discontinuous around the periphery of the cap 
as shown by an individual frangible connection of reduced cross-section at 
40. FIG. 7 also shows that cap 12 may be supplied with a conventional plug 
seal shown in phantom at 42. 
FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of a one piece structure where the tamper 
indicating satellite band 22 has been formed integrally with cap 12. Here 
a plurality of angled struts 44 have been substituted for flange 24 and 
frangible connection 26. Struts 44 join band 22 to exterior wall 16 of cap 
12 at an angle such that when a tightening or closing, clockwise, torque 
is applied to the band 22, the cap 12 will be tightened onto is container 
without fracture of strut members 44. Once cap 12 has been tightened onto 
a container and an opening, counterclockwise, torque is applied to band 
22, the struts 44 will fracture and separate from wall 18 indicating 
tampering or initial opening of the closure. Likewise, as in other 
embodiments, any lifting force applied to band 22 will also fracture the 
struts 44 away from side wall 18. 
It can be seen from the foregoing examples of the preferred embodiments of 
the invention that the tamper indicating band can be applied to any 
conventional screw cap which is tightened onto a container with sealing 
torque such that upon the application of an opening torque to the band 22 
the frangible connection 26 will be broken prior to any opening. In some 
instances closing torque and hence opening torque is increased by the use 
of such devices as lock threading and the like. Also, a plug seal such as 
that illustrated at 42 in FIG. 7 provides such an increased torque value. 
When the closure 10 is made in two pieces, the tamper indicating satellite 
band assembly 20 can be made of a weaker or more brittle material to lower 
its fracture point, while the cap may be made of material to provide a 
slippery exterior surface 14. Also with a two piece structure the tamper 
indicating band 20 can be made from a contrasting color.