Abstract:
A bottle closure includes the unitarily-molded combination of: an internally-threaded sidewall; a tamper indicator ring; and a hinge connecting the ring to the sidewall. The hinge permits the ring to be shifted from an initial position to an installation position. The installation position is essentially coaxially aligned with the sidewall.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This is a divisional application of Ser. No. 11/627,544, filed Jan. 26, 2007, and entitled “Closure with Unitarily-Molded Tamper-Evident Feature”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety as if set forth at length, and benefit is claimed of Ser. No. 60/762,378, filed Jan. 26, 2006, and entitled “Tamper-Evident Closure”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety as if set forth at length. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to closures. More particularly, the invention relates to tamper-evident screw cap closures for bottles and the like. 
     A well-developed art exists regarding tamper-evident screw cap closures. A typical closure is molded of a plastic material (e.g., polypropylene, low density polypropylene (LDPE), or high density polyethylene (HDPE)). The closure body typically comprises an internally threaded sidewall portion. A bottom of the sidewall forms a tamper-evident ring. There may be an interrupted or otherwise weakened connection between the ring and adjacent portion of the sidewall. At the upper end of the sidewall main portion, a web may close the closure. Alternatively, any of a number of forms of open valve seat may be formed to which a separate valve element (e.g., a poppet) is movably mounted to open and close the closure. 
     The closure may be installed to a threaded neck of the bottle by screwing/threading. The screwing may flex/stretch the ring over the bottle external threads. Upon unscrewing of the closure, however, the tensile strength of the connection may be insufficient to draw the ring back over the bottle threads, thereby rupturing the connection and leaving the ring on the bottle. Even upon reinstallation of the remaining portion of the closure, the severed connection provides clear evidence that the closure has previously been opened. 
     The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a bottle. 
         FIG. 2  is a view of a closure of the bottle of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the closure of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a view of a main body of the closure of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a vertical sectional view of the closure of  FIG. 2  in an initial closed condition. 
         FIG. 6  is a vertical sectional view of the closure of  FIG. 2  in an open condition. 
         FIG. 7  is a view of the closure main body of  FIG. 4  in an intermediate stage. 
         FIG. 8  is a view of the closure main body in a final stage. 
         FIG. 9  is a view of the closure in a closed condition showing a tamper evident tab removed. 
         FIG. 10  is a view of the closure of  FIG. 9  in an open condition. 
     
    
    
     Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a container (bottle)  20  as an assembly of a bottle body  22  and a closure assembly  24 . The bottle body  22  includes a sidewall  28  extending upward from a bottom or base  30 . The exemplary sidewall  28  extends to a shoulder  32 . A neck  34  extends above the shoulder to a rim  36  defining a mouth opening. The neck  34  includes an externally threaded portion  38  below the rim  36 . The bottle interior may contain a liquid beverage. The exemplary body  22  and closure  24  have a common central vertical/longitudinal axis  500 . The exemplary closure  24  is the assembly (main) of a first piece  40  and a second piece  42 . As is discussed further below, the exemplary first piece  40  forms a closure body and the exemplary second piece  42  forms a valve element which may be articulated relative to the closure body to open and close the bottle. An exemplary articulation is a relative rotation about the axis  500 . An exemplary bottle body  22  is of any conventional yet-developed type and may be unitarily molded from a plastic (e.g., HDPE). The exemplary closure body  40  may similarly be unitarily molded (e.g., of HDPE or MDPE). The valve element  42  may similarly be molded (e.g., of polypropylene). 
     The closure body  40  may be molded with a live hinge  50  joining a tamper-evident ring  52  to a main portion  54  of the closure body. The hinge  50  defines a hinge axis  502  transverse to and spaced-apart from the central axis  500 . First engagement features  56  and  58  on the ring and main body may facilitate screwing the closure body onto the bottle body. 
     The exemplary closure body  40  is a unitary molding. The exemplary main body  54  includes a sidewall  60  having an internal thread  62 . The sidewall  60  extends from a lower rim  66  to a shoulder  68 . A neck  70  extends upward from the shoulder to a top plate or web  72 . The neck includes a pair of radially opposed ports  74  below the web plate  72 . Near a base  80  of the neck  70 , the neck  70  includes a radially-projecting circumferential retaining rib/barb  82  ( FIG. 3 ) for retaining the valve element  42 . 
     The exemplary valve element  42  ( FIG. 5 ) includes an outer skirt or sidewall  100  extending upward from a lower rim  102  to a shoulder  104 . The shoulder  104  merges with an intermediate portion of an inner sidewall  110  extending upward from a lower rim  112 . The inner sidewall  110  includes an inner/interior surface  114 . The interior surface  114  includes a circumferential channel  116  positioned to mate with the rib/barb  82  when the valve element  42  is installed to the body  40 . 
     The exemplary valve element  42  includes a top web/plate  120  at the upper end of the inner sidewall  110 . The exemplary web  120  includes a central aperture/port  122 . The web  120  has an underside  124 . A diametric channel  126  extends along the underside  124  from the port  122 . The valve element may be installed to the main body  40  by a translation along the axis  500  to snap the channel  116  into engagement with the rib  82 . When installed, the underside  124  may contact the top surface of the web  72 . Installation may be in the closed orientation of  FIG. 5  wherein the channel  126  is transverse to the ports  74  so that the bottle is sealed by cooperation of the webs. An opening procedure, described in further detail below, rotates the channel  126  into alignment/communication with the ports  74 . Alternative valves may open by shifts including a translation or a different rotation. 
     The body  40  and valve element  42  of the closure  24  may be preassembled to each other and installed to a filled bottle body  22 . Alternatively, the closure body  40  may be installed to the bottle body and the bottle may then be filled through the ports  74 . Thereafter, the valve element  42  may be installed. 
       FIG. 4  shows the closure body  40  in an approximate as-molded condition. To install the closure body  40  to the bottle main body  22 , the ring  52  is rotated about the axis  502  of the hinge  50 .  FIG. 7  shows an exemplary intermediate stage of that rotation.  FIG. 8  shows a final condition. An exemplary rotation is approximately 180° (e.g.,)170°-190°. The final stage of the rotation brings the features  56  and  58  into engagement with each other. Exemplary features  56  are sawtooth projections having first edges  140  and second edges  142 . Exemplary features  58  are complementary sawtooth recesses in the interior surface of the sidewall  60  extending upward from the lower rim  66 . Exemplary recesses  58  include first edges  144  and second edges  146 . The exemplary rotation also brings a locator/retention pin  150  extending from the upper rim of the ring into engagement with a complementary socket  152  extending upward from the lower rim  66 . Engagement of the pin  150  with the socket  152  may serve to hold the ring in the  FIG. 8  orientation prior to mounting on the bottle main body (e.g., or transport to the bottling line and handling during automated assembly on the line). 
     As is discussed further below, the exemplary edges  140  and  144  are sufficiently close to vertical or over vertical so as to permit a driving engagement. Specifically, with the projections  56  accommodating the recesses  58 , the closure main body may be screwed onto the bottle main body. The engagement causes inward barb projections  156  having upper trailing edges  158  ( FIG. 5 ) to pass over a complementary rib  160  on the bottle neck so that the trailing edges  158  snap into abutting engagement with an underside  162  of the rib. Thereafter, an unscrewing motion will produce one or more of several effects. The engagement between the projections  156  and rib  160  will tend to hold the ring in place as the closure main body  54  is lifted upward by the unscrewing. The relatively shallower angle of the edges  142  and  146  will hinder the transmission of torque between the closure main body  54  and ring  52  and will tend to jack the closure main body  54  off the ring  52 . The result will be to sever the live hinge  50  and provide evidence of removal of the closure main body from the bottle. 
     Such a hinged tamper-evident ring may have one or more of several advantages relative to conventional tamper-evident rings. By at least partially decoupling the frangible/severable connection (e.g., the hinge  50 ) from the rotation-transmitting connection (e.g., principally the projections  56  and recesses  58 ), the ring may be much more easily severed. This may increase the reliability of severing the ring when the closure is removed. This is particularly relevant as both bottles and closures become more compliant (e.g., use of softer materials and/or thinning to reduce resource consumption). Also, sensitivity to manufacturing variations may be reduced (e.g., age and wear of molding dies may have a reduced influence on severability of the ring). 
     The closure assembly may also have a feature for evidencing an attempted opening of the closure assembly (e.g., of the valve element  42  while the closure body  40  remains installed). The exemplary valve element  42  is opened by a rotation relative to the closure body  40  about the axis  500 . Exemplary rotations are approximately 90° in either direction. Such a rotation brings the channel  126  into alignment and communication with the ports  74  ( FIG. 6 ). Thus, evidencing the rotation will evidence the opening. 
     To evidence the valve element rotation and opening, the exemplary closure includes a breakaway tab  180  ( FIG. 3 ) on one of the closure body  40  and valve element  42  which is received by a complementary feature  182  in the other. An exemplary tab  180  is a flat horizontal radially-projecting tab on the valve element  42 . An exemplary complementary feature  182  is a recess in a rim  184  at the outer diameter (OD) of the shoulder  68 . The exemplary tab  180  includes frangible connections  186  to the remainder of the valve element. The exemplary tab  180  has an upper surface  188  having instruction indicia indicating that the tab must be torn or pulled off by rupturing the connections  186 . In the exemplary embodiment, removal of the tab  180  reveals indicia  190  on the shoulder  68  providing instructions to open the valve by rotation in either direction (e.g., a bidirectional circumferential arrow and the word “open”). With the tab  180  in place, engagement with the mating feature  182  prevents or otherwise resists the opening rotation. The indicia  190  may also include express indicia identifying that the product has been opened. 
     One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, when implemented as a reengineering of an existing closure and/or for use with an existing bottle body, details of the existing closure or bottle body may influence or dictate details of the particular implementation. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.