Abstract:
A stopping device for a container, comprising a circular stopper for closing the neck of the container, and a cap comprising a synthetic material that covers the neck and the stopper positioned in the neck, the cap comprising a cover and a ring for surrounding the stopper and the neck, the ring having a minimum inner diameter larger than the maximum diameter of the stopper, the ring and the cover being produced as a single component and connected by breakable bridges distributed over a circumference of the ring with an inner diameter that is larger than or equal to the maximum diameter of the stopper, and first locking tabs formed on the inside of the ring facing windows that are radially open towards the outside, and second locking tabs facing a closed part, each second tab formed between two first tabs, facing a strip of material separating windows.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §371 to International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2012/060584 entitled STOPPING DEVICE AND CONTAINER COMPRISING SUCH A DEVICE, and filed by inventor Antoine Aneas on Jun. 5, 2012. International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2012/060584 claims priority to French Patent Application No. 11 54900, filed by inventor Antoine Aneas on Jun. 6, 2011. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a stopping device for a container, said device comprising a circular stopper provided to close the neck of the container, as well as a cap. The invention also relates to a container, for example a medicine bottle, equipped with such a stopping device. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In the field of medicine containers, it is known to use a glass bottle to store an active ingredient in freeze-dried, powdered or liquid solution form. Such a bottle must be closed sealably so as to keep its contents under satisfactory storage conditions, until its use-by date. To hermetically seal such a bottle, it is known to use a stopping device that comprises a cylindrical stopper made from elastomer provided to close the neck of the bottle. The purpose of the stopper is to ensure the most complete sealing possible against gases, liquids and bacteria. It is known to combine such a stopper with a metal capsule with a membrane. The container is opened by tearing the metal capsule by pulling on the membrane. This may be problematic inasmuch as the metal capsule, which is most often made from aluminum, may break, which requires that it be removed by hand, resulting in a risk of cutting and, most often, the use of the small disassembly tool. 
     It is known from WO-A 94/04424 to use a plastic capsule that is intended to be immobilized around the stopper to isolate it from the outside. The multi-part structure of this known device makes it expensive. Furthermore, the capsule limits access to the stopper, which cannot be removed, unless the capsule is destroyed, which is not the normal operation of the device. 
     It is also known from FR-A-2 281 286 to provide a capsule made from plastic with breakable bridges connecting the lower and upper parts of the capsule. The inner diameter of the capsule is equal to that of a rubber stopper intended to be inserted into a neck of the container, which risks causing jamming of the stopper. Furthermore, the lower part of the capsule must be radially expanded to be immobilized on the neck, which is relatively imprecise and unreliable. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention more particularly aims to resolve these drawbacks by proposing a new stopping device that is particularly simple and intuitive to use and that allows, inter alia, complete removal of the stopper for easy access to the contents of a container. 
     To that end, the invention relates to a stopping device for a container, said stopping device comprising a circular stopper provided to close the neck of the container as well as a cap made from a synthetic material able to cover both the neck and the stopper placed in that neck, said cap comprising a ring and being capable of surrounding the stopper and the neck in the mounted configuration and being provided with means for locking on the neck, as well as with a cover. The ring and the cover are made as a single component and connected by breakable bridges. The stopping device is characterized in that the ring has a minimum inner diameter strictly larger than the maximum diameter of the stopper, in that the circumference of the ring on which the breakable bridges are distributed has an inner diameter strictly larger than the maximum diameter of the stopper, and in that the means for locking the ring on the neck comprise first locking tabs formed on the inside of the ring across from windows that are radially open to the outside of the ring, as well as second locking tabs formed on the inside of the ring across from a closed part of the ring, whereas each second locking tab is formed, on the circumference of the ring, between two first locking tabs, facing a strip of material separating windows which are facing the first locking tabs. 
     Owing to the invention, when the cap is placed on the neck of a container, said cap protects, in particular using its cover, the stopper against outside attacks, in particular against any risk of untimely removal. When the contents of the container need to be accessed, one need only break the bridges to access the stopper, which can be removed easily, since the cap does not hinder access to its periphery, once the cover is separated from the ring. This breaking of the bridges being irreversible, it is easily detectable and indicates any interference with the contents of the container. Furthermore, the structure of the locking means ensures reliable and lasting immobilization of the cap on the neck of a container, while being compatible with the connection of the cover with the ring using the breakable bridges. 
     According to advantageous but optional aspects of the invention, such a stopping device may incorporate one or more of the following features, considered in any technically allowable combination:
         The ratio of the value of the minimum inner diameter of the ring to the value of the maximum diameter of the stopper is comprised between 1.01 and 1.05, preferably between 1.02 and 1.04, while the inner diameter of the circumference of the bridges is equal to the minimum inner diameter of the ring.   The value of the inner diameter of the circumference of the bridges is greater than or equal to the value of the minimum inner diameter of the ring.   Each bridge has a favored break zone that is closer to the attachment zone of the bridge on the ring than the attachment zone of the bridge on the cover.   Each bridge is in the form of a trapezoid with its smallest base at one edge of a skirt of the ring.   Each bridge is configured to be broken by a shearing force resulting from the rotation, around a central axis of the device, of the cover relative to the ring or by a pulling force during tilting of the cover relative to the ring.   Once the ring is placed on the neck of the container, said ring cannot be disassembled, unless it is at least partially destroyed.   The locking means are formed in two separate angular sectors of the ring.   The separate angular sectors are aligned, each in a direction parallel to the central axis of the device, with a window formed in an end wall of the cover, along an inner radial surface of an outer skirt of the cover.   The ring is provided with an identification mark. In that case, the identification mark is preferably affixed on an outer radial surface of the ring, between the two separate angular sectors in which the locking means are formed. The identification mark is situated away from the open windows.   When the ring and the stopper are placed on the neck of the container in a configuration where the stopper closes the neck and where the ring surrounds the neck and the stopper, the surface of the stopper opposite the neck extends beyond a surface of the neck opposite the bottom of the container, over a distance greater than the distance by which the ring extends beyond the aforementioned surface of the neck. In other words, the stopper protrudes more than the ring above the neck, which facilitates access to that stopper when one wishes to move it, whereas the ring remains placed around the neck.       

     The invention also relates to a container, in particular a medicine bottle, that is equipped with a stopping device as described above. 
     In such a container, it is possible to provide that the minimum inner diameter of the ring has a value strictly greater than the value of the maximum diameter of the neck of the container. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be better understood and other advantages thereof will appear more clearly upon reading the following description of one embodiment of a stopping device and a container according to its principle, provided solely as an example and done in reference to the appended drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a medicine bottle according to the invention equipped with a stopping device according to the invention, 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged axial cross-section of the device of  FIG. 1 , 
         FIG. 3  is a still more enlarged axial cross-section, but in another cutting plane, of the stopping device used with the container of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , in an exploded configuration, 
         FIGS. 4 to 9  show several successive steps in the use of the bottle of  FIGS. 1 to 3 , 
         FIG. 10  is an enlarged view of the bottle in the configuration of  FIG. 7 , the cover being shown in the upright configuration, 
         FIG. 11  is an enlarged view of detail XI of  FIG. 10 , 
         FIGS. 12 and 13  are perspective views, from two different angles, of the cap of the stopping device according to the invention before separation of its ring and cover, and 
         FIG. 14  is a cross-section along line XIV-XIV in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The bottle  1  shown in the figures is made from glass and comprises a bottleneck  11  defined by a neck  12  having an outer collar  13 . X 1  denotes the axis of symmetry of the bottle  1 , which is also a central axis of the neck  12  and the collar  13 . The bottom of the bottle  1  opposite the neck  11  is denoted  14 . Reference  132  and  134  denote the surfaces of the collar  13  oriented across from the bottom  14  and toward said bottom, respectively. In other words, the surfaces  132  and  134  respectively make up the lower and upper surfaces of the collar  13  when the bottle  1  rests by its bottom  14  on a horizontal planar surface. 
     When the bottle  1  is to be filled, a pipette  200  is inserted therein, through its bottleneck  11 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . When a predetermined quantity of product has been inserted into the bottle  1 , the pipette  200  is removed and a stopping device  20  is placed on the neck  12 . The device  20  comprises an elastomer stopper  21  with a shape suitable for being partially inserted into the bottleneck  11 , while resting on the face  132  of the collar  13 . The stopper  21  is a single component and comprises a disc-shaped plate  211  intended to rest on the surface  132  as well as a hollow rod  212  intended to penetrate the bottleneck  11 . Once placed on the neck  12 , the stopper  21  isolates the contents of the bottle  1  from the outside. X 21  denotes a central axis of symmetry of the stopper  21 , and D21 denotes the diameter of the plate  211 , which is the maximum diameter of the stopper  21 . In the configuration where the stopper  21  is assembled on the bottle  1 , the axes X 1  and X 21  are superimposed. 
     The device  20  also comprises a cap  24  intended to cover and isolate the stopper  21  and the neck  12  in the closed configuration of the stopping device. 
     The cap  24  comprises a ring  25  and a cover  26  that are molded together and form a single component as cap  24 . In other words, continuous material exists between the elements  25  and  26 , within the cap  24 . 
     The ring  25  is provided with two sets of three locking teeth below the surface  134  of the collar  13 . 
     Reference  251  denotes an outer peripheral skirt of the ring  25 . This skirt is pierced with two sets of two windows  252  that cross radially through it between the inner radial surface  251 A and the outer radial surface  251 B of the skirt  251 . Facing each window  252 , a deformable tab  253  is formed on the inside of the ring  25 , i.e., on the side of the surface  251 A. Each tab  253  defines a locking surface  253 A intended to bear against the surface  134  when the cap  24  is placed around the neck  12  of the bottle  1 . 
     Reference  254  denotes a strip of material belonging to the skirt  25  and positioned between two adjacent windows  252 . On the inside, i.e., on the side of the surface  251 A, each strip  254  is provided with a locking tab  255  whereof the upper surface  255 A constitutes a locking surface against the surface  134  of the collar  13  in that configuration with the cap  24  mounted around the neck  12 . 
     The difference between the tabs  253  and the tabs  255  is that the tabs  253  can pivot more easily, i.e., under the effect of a lower intensity force, than the tab  255  relative to the skirt  251 . In fact, since they are located at the windows  252 , the tabs  253  are connected to the skirt  251  only at their lower edge  253 B, which is across from the surface  253  and is turned toward the lower edge  251 C of the skirt  251 , which is across from the cover  26 . On another side, each tab  255  is secured to the adjacent strip  254  over the majority of its height, such that it has a lower risk of deforming under the effect of the force exerted on its upper structure  255 A. 
     X 24  denotes the central axis of the cap  24 , said axis being superimposed with the axes X 1  and X 21  in the configuration where the device  20  is mounted on the bottle  1 . 
     As emerges more particularly from  FIG. 12 , the teeth  253  and  255  are formed on two angular sectors with an apical angle α of approximately 90° relative to the axis X 24 . These two angular sectors, in which the tabs  253  and  255  are formed, are opposite and separated by angular sectors with an apical angle β where the skirt  251  is solid, its outer radial surface  251 B being a cylinder segment with a straight generatrix and an arc of circle section. 
     The tabs  253  and  255  constitute means for locking the cap  24  on the neck  12  of the bottle  1 . The geometry of the skirt  251  and its tabs  253  and  255  is compatible with placement of the cap  24  on the neck  12 , after placing the stopper  21 , through a thrust force aligned on the axes X 1 , X 21  and X 24 , which are then combined and oriented toward the bottom  14  of the bottle  1 . During this placement, the tabs  253  and  255  gradually deform, lastly, as they pass by the collar  13 . 
     The cover  26  comprises an outer skirt  261  whereof the outer radial surface  261 B is serrated, which facilitates the transmission of a rotational torque between a users fingers and said cover. Reference  261 C denotes the serrations formed on the surface  261 B. X 26  denotes the central axis of the cover  26 , which is combined with the axis X 24  when the parts  25  and  26  of the cap are secured. The cover  26  is provided with an end wall  262  perpendicular to the axis X 26  and which is connected to the skirt  261  on two bridges  261 D that each extend over an angular sector with an apical angle γ strictly smaller than 180° relative to the axis X 26 , preferably approximately 90°. Two curved windows  263  are thus formed along the inner radial surface  261 A of the skirt  261 , between said skirt and the wall  2 , outside the angular sectors with apical angle γ. 
     The windows  263  are each aligned, in a direction parallel to the axes X 24  and X 26 , with a set of locking tabs  253 - 254 . In other words, the windows  263  are across from angular sectors with an apical angle α. This makes it possible to mold the surfaces  253 A and  255 A using one or more pins passing through the windows  263 . 
     Apart from its junction zones with the skirt  261 , the wall  262  is circular and centered on the axis X 26 . On the side of the ring  25 , the wall  262  extends by an annular skirt  264  concentric to the skirt  261  and that is intended to press the plate  211  of the stopper  21  against the surface  132  of the collar  13  when the device  20  is in place on the neck  12  of the bottle  1 . 
     The elements  25  and  26  of the cap  24  are made by breakable bridges  27  that create a material continuity between said elements  25  and  26  and that are in the shape of a trapezoid, with their smallest base  271  at the upper edge  251 D of the skirt  251 , i.e., the edge of said skirt turned toward the cover  26 . 
     Reference d251 denotes the inner diameter of the skirt  251 . This diameter makes up the minimum inner diameter of the ring  25 . As shown in particular in  FIG. 3 , this diameter is strictly greater than the maximum diameter D 21  of the stopper  21 . Thus, the skirt  251  does not interfere with the stopper  21  during placement of the cap  24  on the bottle  1 . 
     There are eight bridges  27  regularly distributed on the edge  251 D, such that they are located on a circumference of the ring  25  whereof the inner diameter d27 is greater than or equal to the diameter d251. In the example shown in the figures, the diameters d27 and d251 are equal. 
     In practice, the ratio d251/D21 may be comprised between 1.01 and 1.05, preferably between 1.02 and 1.04. 
     Furthermore, the value of the diameter d251 is chosen to be strictly greater than the outer diameter D13 of the collar  13 , which is the maximum diameter of the neck  12 . This allows the ring  25  to be mounted on the neck  12  without radial expansion of the skirt  251 . In practice, the ratio d251/D13 is chosen between 1.005 and 1.01, preferably equal to 1.0075. 
     The dimensions of the bridges  27 , in particular their section at their respective small bases  271 , are chosen such that it is possible to break said bridges at those small bases using a torque driving the cover  26  around the axis X 1 , that torque in turn causing the cover  26  to rotate as shown by arrow R in  FIG. 6 . 
     The bridges may also be broken by a pulling force when the user tilts the cover  26  relative to the ring  25 , around an orthoradial axis relative to the axis X 24 . 
     At the level of each bridge  27  and radially on the outside thereof, the cover  26  is provided with a rib  266  that extends toward the ring  25  from the skirt  261 . These ribs  266  make it possible to transmit an axial thrust force to the ring  25  oriented toward the bottom  14  and applied on the cover  26 , during mounting of the cap  24  on the bottle  1 . In fact, in those cases, the bridges  27  deform elastically, to the point that the ribs  266  bear on the edge  251 D. 
     When the bridges  27  are broken, it is possible to separate the cover  26  from the ring  25 , as shown by the arrows F 7  and F 10  in  FIGS. 7 and 10 . Since the diameter d27 is strictly greater than the diameter D21, the part of the bridges  27  that may remain on the ring  25  does not hinder access to the stopper  21 , or the removal of said stopper. In light of the location of the small bases  271 , which constitute favored breaks zones for the bridges  27 , in contact with the edge  251 D, the bridges remain, for the most part, on the cover  26 , such that the upper edge  251 D of the skirt  251  is free and the outline of the small bases  271  on that edge does not hinder subsequent handling of the stopper  21 . 
     The handling of the cover  26  does not move the ring  24  relative to the bottle  1 , since it is kept firmly in position on the neck  12  using the locking tabs  253  and  255 . In fact, the bearing force of the plate  211  on the surface  132  exerted by the skirt  264  results in tensioning the stopper device  20  on either side of the collar  13 , along the axis X 1 . In other words, the plate  211  of the stopper  21  and the surfaces  253 A and  255 A of the locking tabs  25  exert a compression force on the collar  13 , which is more rigid than the stopping device  20 , which results in tensioning the component parts of that device. This causes firm bearing of the surfaces  253 A and  255 A of the tabs  253  and  255  against the surface  134 , which limits the risks of rotation of the ring  25  under the effect of the torque exerted by a user on the cover  26  during removal thereof. 
     As more particularly shown in  FIGS. 2 and 10 , when the cover  21  is placed on the neck  12 , its upper surface  213 , i.e., the surface of the plate  211  opposite the rod  212 , passes beyond the surface  132  over a height H 1  measured parallel to the axis X 1 . Furthermore, the edge  251 D also extends above the surface  132  over a height H 2  whereof the value is smaller than the height H 1 . This results in a height shift ΔH along the axis X 1  between the surfaces  213  and  251 D, said height shift facilitating access to the stopper  211  by one side of the ring  25  when said stopper needs to be removed, from the configuration of  FIGS. 7 and 10 . 
     Once said stopper has been removed in the direction of the arrow F 8  in  FIG. 8 , the device is in the configuration of  FIG. 9 , where the ring  25  does not hinder access to the content of the bottle  1 , while remaining placed on the neck  12 . 
     According to one aspect of the invention shown only in  FIGS. 12 and 13 , an identification mark M is affixed on the surface  251 B. Such a mark may be obtained by etching, or by printing, for example using the DATA MATRIX format. The positioning of the mark M on the ring  25  causes that mark to remain accessible, for reading by a suitable device, including after removal of the cover  26 , i.e., throughout the entire usage period of the bottle  1 . 
     This must be compared to the fact that the ring  25  is provided to remain in place on the bottle  1  indefinitely after it has been assembled. In other words, the ring  24  cannot be disassembled from the bottle  1 , unless it is partially destroyed, in particular by cutting its tabs  253  and  255 , its strips  254  or its skirt  251 . 
     In practice, the mark M is formed on a portion of the surface  251 B situated in an angular sector with apical angle β, i.e., away from the windows  252 . 
     Alternatively, the mark may be replaced by a particular pigmentation of the cap  24 , each color corresponding to a product type present in a bottle. The identification of the contents of the bottle is made easier, since the ring thus colored remains on the bottle, including after the cover  26  has been removed. 
     The material used to mold the cap  24  may be a polyoxyethylene or a polypropylene, and is chosen to cause a clean break at the small bases  271  of the bridges  27 . 
     According to one alternative of the invention that is not shown, the favored breaks zones of the bridges  27  may be formed not in contact with the edge  251 D, but at a small axial distance therefrom. In practice, the axial distance between these favored breaks zones and the edge  251 D is smaller than the axial distance between said favored breaks zones and the fastening zones of the bridges  27  on the skirt  261 . This relationship is also verified in the case shown in the figures since, in that case, the axial distance between the small bases  271  and the edge  251 D is zero, therefore smaller than the axial height of the bridges.