Abstract:
A closure for flexible containers or pouches that contain food products that provides at least two visual indicators showing that the cap has been partially or totally unscrewed from the spout. The first indicator is a tab in a window section of the cap that has its mounting filaments or bridges broken when the cap is unscrewed. These filaments or bridges connect the tab to the top portion of the cap. The second indicator is a vertical break or rupture line in the tab that indicates that the tab has been bent to rupturing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based on and claims priority of provisional patent application 61/779,368 filed Mar. 13, 2013. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to closures for use in flexible containers or pouches that generally contain food products. 
     Various closures have been used for sealing flexible pouches containing liquids, pastes, gels and similar products. Some closures are designed for single use, meaning that once the closure is opened or removed, the contents are to be fully consumed and the closure is not designed to be placed back on the opening or spout. In the other instance, the closure is designed to re-seal the opening and to preserve the contents remaining in the pouch. 
     In either instance, the closure presents a potential safety issue. In some prior art devices, when the top or cap is removed, the closure leaves a band around the opening or spout. Children can attempt to remove it with their teeth, or the band can sometimes be easily pulled off. The band may be swallowed or worse, presents a choking hazard. Applicant&#39;s invention provides a removable top or cap that, when removed from the spout, leaves no band around the spout. 
     Another problem with past closures is that if they are designed to re-seal the container, there is often no visual indication the cap was partially or completely removed and then placed back onto the spout. This again presents a safety hazard as one would want to know if the contents are fresh or have been exposed to the atmosphere or, even worse, if the contents of the pouch have been tampered with. 
     Applicant&#39;s invention provides a means by which there is visual indication that the cap has been removed and then placed back onto the spout. There are two visual indicators indicating that the top has been partially or completely removed and replaced. The first indicator is a tab in a window section of the cap that has its mounting filaments or bridges broken when the cap is unscrewed. These filaments or bridges connect the tab to the top portion of the cap. The second indicator is a vertical break or rupture line in the tab that indicates that the tab has been bent to rupturing, indicating that the top of the cap has been unscrewed. 
     OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
     It is an object of applicant&#39;s invention to provide a safe and secure closure for flexible containers. A related object is to provide a closure that gives a visual indication if the top has been partially or totally removed from the closure. A related object is to provide at least two visual indicating means for indicating that the cap has been unscrewed from the closure with at least one of the indicating means not requiring that the cap be completely removed from the closure. It is yet another object to provide a cap that when removed from the closure does not leave a ring around the closure that can be removed by a child which will otherwise present a safety hazard. 
     An advantage of Applicant&#39; safety closure is that it provides two visual indicators or partial or total removal of the cap from the closure. It also reduces the risk of a child choking on a ring left on the closure that can be dislodged or removed by a child. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front elevation view of a first embodiment of the closure with the cap secured to the spout. 
         FIG. 2  is a front elevation view of the spout with the cap removed. 
         FIG. 3  is a side elevation view of the spout with the cap removed. 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the spout. 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the spout. 
         FIG. 6  is a front elevation view of a second embodiment of the cap having been removed from the spout. 
         FIG. 7  is a front elevation view of the cap of  FIG. 6  excepted rotated approximately 30° counter clockwise. 
         FIG. 8  is a side elevation view of the cap illustrated in  FIG. 6  showing the side view of the two tamper evident windows. 
         FIG. 9  is a top plan view of the second embodiment of the cap. 
         FIG. 10  is a bottom view of the second embodiment of the cap. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Turning first to  FIG. 1 , there is illustrated one embodiment of the invention. A tamper evident closure  10  is illustrated that is designed to be used on flexible containers such as pouches and the like that contain liquid, gel or paste type food products. The closure  10  is comprised of a cap  12  and a spout  14 . The cap  12  and spout  14  are generally manufactured from a high density polyethylene thermoplastic material that can be injection molded. Other similar materials can be used that meet the specifications and purpose of the closure  10 . Particularly if the container is to contain a food product, the materials from which the closure  10  is manufactured must be approved for food consumption. The cap  12  has a bell or top  16  that is the portion grasped by the person that intends to open the closure  10  to access the contents of the pouch. Below the top  16  is the mid section  18  and below that is the lower section  19  that fits over the spout  14 . 
     The spout  14  as seen in  FIG. 1  has a spout bottom  20  with an opposite pair of extending wings  22 . There are horizontally parallel ribs  24  on the spout bottom that extend out along the wings  22 . When the spout bottom  20  is inserted into the top of the flexible pouch (not illustrated) the spout bottom is sealed to the interior walls of the pouch and the ribs assist in maintaining a safe, secure and waterproof fit. 
     The details of the spout  14  are more clearly illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3  where the cap  12  is removed from the spout  14 . There is a centrally disposed tube  26  that extends from a spout top  28  through a collar  30  and then through the spout bottom  20 . The tube  26  has a hollow fluid passageway  31  passing through it, through the collar  30  and through the spout bottom  20  so that the fluid or contents in the pouch can pass through the fluid passageway  31  from the pouch to the spout top  28 . There are external threads  32  around the spout top  28  and central tube  26  so that the cap  12  can be screwed onto the central tube  26 . To accomplish this, the cap  12  has complementary internal receiving threads  33  (as seen in  FIG. 10 ). 
     In  FIG. 2  there can also be seen a pair of fingers  34  that extend out from the central tube  26 . The fingers  34  are molded to the central tube  26  and to the top of the collar  30  by means of finger reinforcing ribs  36 . The reinforcing ribs  36  provide additional structural support for the fingers  34 . As more clearly seen in  FIG. 5  the fingers  34  protrude out from the central tube  26  to create a catch, hook or u-shaped cup  38  between the finger  34  and the central tube  26 . The distal end of the finger  34  opposite the proximal end of the finger attached to the central tube  26  is in a plane that would be substantially tangential to the central tube  26  of the finger was touching the central tube  26 . The purpose of the catch, hook or cup  38  will be described below. 
       FIGS. 6-10  illustrate an alternate embodiment of the cap  12  which has a modified top section or bell  16 . This embodiment is identical to the first embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1  except that there a pair of flats  40  located on either side of the top section  16 . The flats  40  serve two functions. The first is they assist the user in grasping the top section  16  to twist it off from the closure  10 . The second is that they provide a positioning mechanism utilized during assembly of the closure allowing automated equipment to position the cap  12  precisely each time for assembly to the spout  14 . This allows the threads  32  and  33  to be correctly oriented relative to each other for the cap  12  to be screwed onto the spout  14 . 
     As seen in  FIG. 9 , the top  16  has internal top supports  41  that assist in giving structural strength to the top  16 . Covering the top end of the top  16  is a covering  43 . The covering  43  covers and seals in a fluid tight seal the top of the fluid passageway  31  when the top  16  is screwed onto the spout  14 . 
     As seen in  FIG. 6 , below the top  16  is the mid section  18  which has reinforcing ribs  42  placed between the mid section  18  and the underside of the top  16 . This provides structural support for the top  16  so that it is securely attached to the mid section and lower section  19 . 
     The lower section  19  provides the visual indication of tampering with the closure  10  or if the cap  12  has been removed or unscrewed from the spout  14 . As most clearly seen in  FIGS. 6 and 7  there is an opening or window  44  formed in the lower section  19 . A tab  46  is secured to one side of the window  44  by means of a living hinge  48 . The window  44  has a top wall  45  and a bottom wall  47 . The tab  46  has a tab top  49  and a tab bottom  51 . Three thin filaments or bridges  50  keep the tab  46  in place substantially in the same vertical plane as the plane of the wall of the lower section  19 . The bridges  50  connect the top wall  45  of the lower section  19  to the tab top  49  and the bottom wall  47  to the tab bottom  51 . There is a leading edge  52  of the tab  46  opposite the hinge end of the tab  46 . The leading edge  52  is separated by a gap  54  from the other side of the window  44  opposite the hinge  48 . There is a top gap  55  between the top wall  45  and the tab top  49  which is traversed by the bridge  50  and a bottom gap  57  between the bottom wall  47  and the tab bottom  51  which is similarly traversed by another bridge  50 . 
     To use the closure  10 , the user grasps the top  16  and rotates it counter clockwise, in the normal motion one uses to unscrew a cap from any bottle. If the cap  12  has the pair of flats  40 , it is easier for the user to grasp and turn the cap  12 . As the cap  12  is rotated, the leading edge  52  of the tab  46  slides into the hook  38  ( FIG. 5 ) formed by the finger  34 . It is important to note that the position of the tab  46  with respect to the hook  38  is such that the leading edge  52  engages the hook  38  in approximately the first third (i.e. 120°) of the turn of the top  16 . As the cap rotates, the tab  46  is pushed into the hook  38  causing the filaments  50  to rupture and the tab  46  to buckle generally around its mid point. Preferably this occurs before the covering  43  separates from the top of the fluid passageway  31 . In this manner the fluid tight seal between the covering  43  and the tube  26  is intact even though there is evidence of physical tampering with the closure  10 . Once the tab  46  buckles and the filaments  50  rupture, the cap  12  can be freely twisted off from the spout  14 . However, when the tab buckled, it creates a white line in the plastic at the point where it buckled. This is a physical characteristic of plastics and gives a visual indication that the cap has been twisted a sufficient amount to cause the tab  46  to buckle. Depending on the position of the tab  46  and the hook  38 , the tab  46  may buckle before the bridges  50  rupture, which still gives the user a visual indication that the cap  12  has been rotated. The second visual indication that the cap  12  has rotated, is that the filaments or bridges  50  will break which gives the second visual indication that the cap  12  has been unscrewed from the spout  14 . Lastly, and a third visual indication is that the gap  54  in the window  44  will be larger due to the tab  46  being folded over upon itself and buckled at its center. 
     The cap  12  can still be screwed back onto the spout  14  even though the tab  46  has buckled and the filaments  50  ruptured. Thus the cap  12  is re-sealable onto the spout  14 ; however, there is visible evidence that the cap  12  has been removed from the spout  14  so that the person using the food or liquid in the pouch is aware that the closure  10  has been opened. 
     Thus there has been provided a tamper evident closure for flexible containers that fully satisfies the objects set forth above. While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.