Patent Publication Number: US-2005115917-A1

Title: Sealing device, receptacle fitted with one such device and method for the production

Description:
The invention relates to a sealing device and to a receptacle fitted with such a device. The invention also relates to a method for producing such a device and to a method for sealing a receptacle with the aid of such a device.  
      In the domain of packaging of food products, it is known to fit a bottle made of extruded or blown plastics material with a peel-off inner capsule welded by induction heating on the edge of the neck of the bottle. Such an inner capsule must be peeled off by hand and thrown away when the contents of such a bottle are used for the first time. This peel-off operation is relatively delicate and may be imperfectly carried out, particularly by a child or an elderly person whose fingers have lost their agility. In addition, this operation requires that the user go to a garbage can to throw the capsule away, unless he/she leaves the latter lying on a table.  
      It is known from CH-A-556 274 to fit a stopper with an inner rib intended to retain in position a disc provided with an aluminium foil. In order to install the disc in the stopper, it is necessary to deform it temporarily. As a result, a deformation of the disc in the opposite direction can lead to its involuntary extraction from the stopper, in particular when a bottle is opened the first time. In addition, when the disc is being positioned in the stopper, there exists a risk of damaging its peripheral edge, this affecting the obtained seal negatively. Such a device can therefore not be considered as reliable.  
      The same applies to the devices known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,082, U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,163 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,124.  
      It is a more particular object of the invention to overcome these drawbacks by proposing a novel sealing device which comprises an inner sealing capsule welded on a neck before a receptacle is used the first time, in which it is not necessary to peel off the inner capsule by hand in order to have access to the contents of the receptacle, and whose functioning is reliable.  
      In this spirit, the invention relates to a sealing device for sealing a receptacle provided with a threaded neck, this device comprising a stopper adapted to close this neck, an inner capsule adapted to be glued to or sealed on the edge of this neck, a sealing disc on which the inner capsule is fixed, this disc projecting radially outside the neck, and a ring provided with an inner thread adapted to cooperate with the outer thread of the neck, this ring being fitted with at least one projection which extends in the direction of the disc and which is adapted to exert a pushing effort on the disc in a direction in which the disc is spaced in relation to the neck. This device is characterized in that the afore-mentioned projection extends, from an edge of the ring, essentially in an axial direction.  
      Thanks to the invention, an appropriate manipulation of the ring makes it possible to exert, thanks to the projection, a localized thrust sufficient to move the disc away from the neck, this making it possible to disconnect the inner capsule, which remains fast with the disc, with respect to the neck. In this way, the tedious operation of peeling off the inner capsule by hand, as is necessary in the state of the art, can be dispensed with. If desired, the disconnection of the inner capsule with respect to the neck can be indicated by a sound signal, for example of “click” type. The particular orientation of the projection in an axial direction allows it to act efficiently on the disc.  
      The invention also relates to a receptacle, such as a bottle made of plastics material, fitted with a sealing device as described previously. Such a receptacle is easier to manipulate than known equipment, particularly when used for the first time.  
      The invention also relates to a method for producing a device as described previously and, more specifically, to a method in which are carried out steps consisting in: 
          a) manufacturing a ring provided with an inner thread adapted to cooperate with the outer thread of the neck;     b) manufacturing a sealing disc; 
 
 characterized in that it comprises steps consisting in: 
    c) providing the ring, on its outer radial surface, with elements in relief;     d) providing the ring with at least one projection extending, from one edge of this ring, essentially in an axial direction;     e) manufacturing a cap adapted to cover the neck and the ring screwed on this neck;     f) providing this cap, on its inner radial surface, with elements in relief;     g) introducing the sealing disc in the cap;     h) introducing the ring in the cap, bringing the elements in relief, respectively provided on the outer radial surface of the ring and on the inner radial surface of the cap, into engagement, by directing the projections towards said disc and by blocking said disc in the cap thanks to said ring.        

      Advantageously, steps c) and d) are carried out at the same time as step a) which is a step of moulding the ring.  
      Similarly, step f) is advantageously carried out at the same time as step e) which is a step of moulding the cap.  
      According to an advantageous aspect of the invention, during steps a) to f), the ring, the cap, the disc and the projection are dimensioned and positioned so that the projection is adapted to withdraw the disc from the neck, while the device is being unscrewed with respect to the neck.  
      Finally, the invention relates to a method for sealing a receptacle by means of a device manufactured in accordance with the afore-mentioned method, in which the disc is fixed on the neck, for example by heat-sealing an inner capsule borne by the disc, after the device has been positioned on the neck. 
    
    
      The invention will be more readily understood and other advantages thereof will appear more clearly in the light of the following description of two forms of embodiment of a receptacle and of a sealing device according to the invention, given solely by way of example and made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a view in perspective, with parts torn away, of the neck of a bottle fitted with a sealing device according to the invention.  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded view in perspective of the sealing device of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is an axial half-section of the neck of a bottle fitted with the sealing device of  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  
       FIG. 4  is an axial section of a sealing device in accordance with a second form of embodiment of the invention mounted on the neck of a bottle, and  
       FIG. 5  is a view similar to  FIG. 1  for the device of  FIG. 4 , the neck of the bottle also being exploded. IV-IV indicates the plane of section of  FIG. 4 . 
    
    
      The bottle B shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3  comprises a neck  101  provided with an outer thread  111  and a part  112  of which the outer surface  114  is intended to receive in abutment an inner capsule  122  made of an aluminium-based complex and belonging to a sealing device  102 . This inner capsule is glued, over substantially the whole of its surface, on a disc  121  of which the peripheral edge  321  projects radially outside the outer radial surface  115  of the neck  101 , the diameter D 121  of the disc  121  being greater than the diameter D 115  of the surface  115 .  
      A ring  124  is provided to be screwed on the neck  101  and is provided, to that end, with an inner thread  341  adapted to cooperate with the thread  111 . This ring is provided with three projections  344 ,  344 ′ and  344 ″ which extend, from its edge  345  closest to the disc  121 , substantially in directions parallel to the central axis X-X′ of the neck  101 . The projection  344  is defined by a surface  344   a  substantially parallel to axis X-X′ and an inclined surface  344   b  forming ramp, as is seen from the following explanations. The other projections have substantially the same shape. The projections are regularly distributed over the edge  345 .  
      A cap  125  made in one piece of plastics material is provided to be mounted on the neck  101 , surrounding the ring  124 . The bottom  351  of this cap is parallel to the disc  121  and extends in a skirt  352  which surrounds the ring  124 . In practice, the disc  121  is disposed in the vicinity of the inner surface  353  of the bottom  351 , two circular ribs  351   a  and  351   b  making it possible to exert on the disc  321  a localized effort F 2  for applying the inner capsule  122  against the edge  113  of the neck  101 .  
      Furthermore, the skirt  352  is provided with a series of teeth  354  made on its inner radial surface  355 , these teeth being configured and positioned so that they can be in engagement with teeth  346  made on the outer radial surface  347  of the ring  124 . In this way, the elements  124  and  125  are fast in rotation about axis X-X′.  
      The skirt  125  is also provided with a return  356 , provided to engage in an annular groove  348  made in the surface  347 , so that the elements  124  and  125  are also fast in translation parallel to axis X-X′.  
      A tamper-proof ring is constituted by a part  349  of the ring  324  connected to its principal part by a cleavable zone  349   a , part  349  being blocked on the neck  101  by a circular flange  116 .  
      The inner capsule  122  is glued on the edge  112  until the bottle B is first used.  
      When an effort of unscrewing is exerted on the cap  125 , the latter entrains the ring  124  due to the cooperation of the teeth  346  and  354 . This has the effect of displacing the projections  344 ,  344 ′ and  344 ″ in the direction of the edge  321  of the disc  121 , then of exerting on this edge a effort of thrust F 3  sufficient to separate the inner capsule  122  from the surface  114 , since the connection between the elements  121  and  122  is permanent. The inclined nature of the surface  344   b  and of the equivalent surfaces confers to the effort F 3  a progressive nature as a function of the rotation of the ring  124 .  
      The effort of thrust or of detachment F 3  is concentrated in the vicinity of the edge  321  of the disc  121 , which improves its efficiency.  
      The disc  121  conserves a planar configuration, whatever the force of tightening of the ring  124  on the neck  101 .  
      In particular, the disc  121  fitted with the inner capsule  122  may be positioned against the bottom  351  of the cap  125  without being deformed, as it may be positioned before the ring  124  is itself introduced in the cap  125 .  
      When the disc is subjected to the localized effort F 3  exerted by the projections  344 ,  344 ′ and  344 ″, it is possible that it bends during a transitory phase of detachment of the inner capsule  122  with respect to the neck  101 . To that end, the space provided for receiving the edge  321  between the ring  124  and the cap  125  must be sufficiently wide and the fact of making the assembly  124 - 125  in two parts makes it possible to form such a space without difficulty during the respective moulding operations of these parts, which would not be necessarily the case if such an assembly were moulded in one sole operation. In addition, the parts  124  and  125  may (be) made in different colours, this allowing a user to immediately recognize the type of sealing device which he/she must manipulate.  
      When the bottle B is to be resealed, it suffices to rescrew the ring  124 , this having the effect of applying the disc  121  against the part  112  of the neck  101  by a fresh transmission of the effort F 2  between the ribs  351   a  and  351   b  and the disc  121 .  
      In other words, the device  2  is as easy to use as a conventional stopper not having an inner capsule, while it ensures a totally sealed closure of the receptacle that it fits as long as it has not been withdrawn therefrom at least once.  
      Manufacture of the sealing device  102  takes place by moulding, on the one hand, the ring  124  and, on the other hand, the cap  125  in their configurations shown in  FIG. 2 . During these moulding operations, the projections  344 ,  344 ′ and  344 ″ and the teeth  346  of the ring  124 , as well as the teeth  354  of the cap  125 , are formed.  
      Furthermore, the sealing disc  121  is manufactured by moulding and the inner capsule  122  is glued on this disc.  
      The sealing disc is then introduced in the cap so that the disc  121  comes in the immediate vicinity of the inner surface  353  of the bottom  351 , in abutment on the ribs  351   a  and  351   b . The disc is placed in a position such that the inner capsule  122  is located on the face of the disc  121  opposite the bottom  351 .  
      The ring  124  is then positioned in the cap  125 , bringing the teeth  346  and  354  into engagement and directing the projections  344 ,  344 ′ and  344 ″ towards the disc, this inducing a blockage of the disc and of the inner capsule between the bottom  351  and the projections  344 ,  344 ′ and  344 ″.  
      It will be noted that this form of embodiment of the device  102  does not induce deformation of the disc  121  in order to position it, unlike the methods of manufacturing the devices known, for example, from CH-A-556 274.  
      In the second form of embodiment of the invention shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the elements similar to those of the first embodiment bear identical references.  
      The bottle B of this embodiment comprises a neck  101  provided with an outer thread  111  on which a ring  124  provided with a thread  341  comes into engagement.  
      This ring is provided with a plurality of projections, of which only one is visible in  FIGS. 4 and 5  with reference  344  and which extend substantially from an edge  345  of the ring  124  in a direction parallel to a central axis X-X′ of the neck, of the ring and of an associated cap  125 .  
      The ring  124  has a geometry somewhat different from that of the first embodiment, but its functioning is similar.  
      In particular, the ring is provided with teeth  346  adapted to cooperate with internal teeth  354  of the skirt  352  of the cap  125 , so as to be driven in rotation about axis X-X′ by this cap, which induces a displacement of the ring  124  opposite the bottom of the bottle B, this having the effect of bringing the projections  344  and equivalent into abutment against the peripheral edge  321  of the disc  121  and of allowing its disconnection with respect to an inclined part  112  of the neck  101 .  
      As previously, the disc  121  may be positioned against the bottom  351  of the cap  125  before the ring  124  is introduced in this cap.  
      The ring  124  is provided with an outer radial flange  348  adapted to be received in an inner shoulder  358  of the skirt  352 , this ensuring an efficient positioning of these elements  124  and  125  with respect to each other. It will be noted that, when the bottle B is closed, the projection  344  is spaced apart from the disc  121  by a non-zero distance d, this avoiding local deformation of the edge  321  by the projections  344  and equivalent.  
      The assembling of the device  102  of this form of embodiment is effected with a method similar to that explained with reference to the first embodiment.  
      Whatever the form of embodiment envisaged, the mode of assembly of the disc  121  in the cap  125  avoids the risks of damage of the disc, such damage negatively affecting the tightness of the seal obtained. This is important insofar as an aseptic seal is often sought.  
      The invention is not limited to the embodiments described, which may be modified. In particular, the technical characteristics of the two embodiments shown may be combined together.