Patent Publication Number: US-2023159236-A1

Title: Food or beverage package and container closure

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This patent application discloses innovations to packages and container closures and, more particularly, to food or beverage packages and container closures. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A typical food or beverage package includes a container that usually includes a base, a body extending axially away from the base, a shoulder extending axially away from the body, and a neck extending axially away from the shoulder and terminating in neck finish. The neck finish includes a sealing lip and typically includes circumferentially extending external threads proximate the lip to cooperate with corresponding features of an internally threaded closure applied to the container to seal the package. Although such packages are ubiquitous in commerce, closure options are very limited for certain so-called “wide mouth” containers that are capable of holding internal pressure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a package in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, and including a container, and a closure in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a cross-sectional view of the closure of  FIG.  1    shown in an applied and stretched state; and 
         FIG.  3    is a cross-sectional view of the closure of  FIG.  1    shown in an unapplied and contracted state. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, the present disclosure illustrates and describes a novel package including a container, and a novel closure having a base wall and a pleated skirt extending away from the base wall. The pleated skirt may provide a spring-like feature to impose a desired bias force from the base wall onto a lip of a neck finish of the container. In some cases, the pleated closure skirt may serve as a lockdown feature to urge the base wall against the container lip for good sealing between the closure and the container to allow the package to hold higher internal pressures exhibited in certain types of packages. In other cases, the pleated section may serve as a pressure relief feature to allow the base wall to separate from the container lip to allow the package to vent in the presence of excessive internal pressures in the package. 
     With specific reference to the drawing figures,  FIG.  1    is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of an illustrative embodiment of a package  10  including a container  12  and an illustrative embodiment of a closure  14  applied to the container  12 . The package  10  includes a central longitudinal axis A along which the container  12  generally longitudinally extends, also along which the closure  14  may be applied to and removed from the container  12 , and about which the closure  14  may be rotated when being applied to and removed from the container  12 . In one embodiment, the package  10  may include a beverage package, and may be used to contain pressurized liquid, for example, carbonated beverages, like beer, soda, etc., or an unpressurized or still liquid, like wine, water, coffee, etc. Accordingly, the package  10  may be a closed bottle. In other embodiments, the package  10  may include any other suitable type of closed container for any suitable purpose. As used herein, directional words such as top, bottom, upper, upward, downward, lower, radial, circumferential, lateral, longitudinal, transverse, vertical, horizontal, and the like are employed by way of description and not necessarily limitation. 
     The container  12  may be of one-piece integrally formed construction, preferably of glass, plastic, or metal construction. The container  12  may be fabricated in press-and-blow or blow-and-blow glass container manufacturing operations, in plastic injection and/or blow molding operations, in a metal drawing operation, or in any other suitable manner. The container  12  includes a base (not shown) on which the container  12  may be supported, a body (not shown) extending in a direction axially away from the base, a shoulder (not shown) extending in a direction radially and axially from the body, and a neck  16  extending in a direction axially from the shoulder and terminating in a neck finish  17 . As used herein, the term “axial” includes oriented along the longitudinal axis A of the closure  14 , container  12 , or package  10  and may include, but is not limited to, a direction that is strictly parallel to the axis A. 
     The neck finish  17  includes a radially inner surface  18 , a radially outer surface  20 , and an axial outward end surface or a sealing lip  22  extending between the radially inner and outer surfaces  18 ,  20 . The container  12  may be provided in any suitable sizes, and may include a wide mouth bottle. In a wide-mouth bottle embodiment, an overall inner diameter (or “mouth”) of the radially inner surface  18  may be between 30 mm and 100 mm including all ranges, sub-ranges, endpoints, and values in that range, or more narrowly between 40 mm and 70 mm. The radially outer surface  20  includes a straight cylindrical upper portion  24  and a threaded cylindrical lower portion  26  including one or more external threads  28 . As used herein, the term “thread” includes one or more whole, partial, and/or interrupted helical threads, thread segments, bayonet lugs, or any other suitable rotatable closure retention features. The straight cylindrical upper portion  24  has an outer surface that may be smooth, with no threads, no grooves, no ribs, and the like, so as to provide good “lip feel” to a consumer who consumes food or beverage with their mouth directly from the container  12 . 
     The closure  14  may be provided to close the container  12  and thereby retain contents of the container  12  in the container  12 . The closure  14  may include a cap or any other suitable type of closure, and may be composed of polymeric, metallic, or any other material suitable for use with the various aspects of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, the closure  14  is composed of a metal, for example, aluminum. Or the closure  14  may be composed of another metal having a higher yield strength than aluminum to impose a desired lockdown force on the lip  22  of the container  12 . In any case, the closure  14  includes a base wall  30  and an annular outer skirt  32  extending away from the base wall  30 . 
     The base wall  30  includes an axially inner surface  34  that may seal to the lip  22  of the container neck finish  17 . In other embodiments, the closure  14  may also include a separate or integrated seal (not separately shown) disposed between the base wall  30  and the neck finish  17 . Such a seal may be carried on, partially in, or otherwise by the base wall  30  of the closure  14 . In still other embodiments, and although not illustrated, the closure  14  may include multiple closure components, for example, an outer shell and an inner shell that, for instance, may be configured in a child-resistant mode of operation. In any case, as used herein, the terminology “base wall” includes the illustrated bare base wall  30 , or a base wall with a seal carried on or partially in its axially inner surface  34 . 
     With reference to  FIG.  2   , in general, the skirt  32  of the closure  14  is internally threaded, and is also pleated, as described in further detail below. More specifically, in the illustrated embodiment, the skirt  32  may include a first or proximate portion  36  extending directly away from the base wall  30 , and a second or intermediate portion  38  extending away from the proximate portion  36  and including a pleated section  40  with multiple pleats  41  (aka bellows, accordionlike folds, or convolutions). The skirt  32  also includes a third or distal portion  42  extending away from the intermediate portion  38  and having a threaded section  43  with one or more internal threads  44  for cooperating with the one or more external threads  28  of the container neck finish  17  ( FIG.  1   ), and terminating in an open end  46 . Again, the thread(s)  44  include one or more whole, partial, and/or interrupted helical threads, thread segments, bayonet lugs, or any other suitable rotatable container retention features. In the illustrated embodiment, the external threads  28  ( FIG.  1   ) and internal threads  44  are helical, but may be of any style and configuration suitable for use with the inventive aspects of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term “proximate” is used in accordance with its ordinary meaning; e.g., something that is closer to one end than it is to an opposite end. Likewise, as used herein, the term “distal” is used in accordance with its ordinary meaning; e.g., something that is further from one end than it is to an opposite end. 
     With reference to  FIG.  3   , the closure  14  is shown in an as-manufactured relaxed state wherein the pleated section  40  has an original outer diameter, an original inner diameter, and/or an original length. The particular geometry of the illustrated pleated section  40  is merely an example of many potential pleated configurations. In the illustrated embodiment, and proceeding in a direction from the base wall  30  toward the open end  46  of the skirt  32 , the pleated section  40  includes a first outward bend  48 , a first outwardly extending segment  50 , a first inward bend  52 , a first inwardly extending segment  54 , a second outward bend  56 , a second outwardly extending segment  58 , a second inward bend  60 , a second inwardly extending segment  62 , and another outward bend  64 . Additionally, the pleated section  40  includes first and second outer apexes  66 ,  68  and an outer nadir  67  axially therebetween, and first and second inner nadirs  70 ,  72  and an inner apex  71  axially therebetween. Accordingly, the pleats are relatively coarse such that surfaces of the pleats are not necessarily folded in direct contact with one another, but could be in other embodiments where pleats are of finer configuration. 
     In use, and with reference again to  FIG.  1   , the closure  14  is positioned over the neck finish  17  of the container  12 , axially lowered down onto the neck finish  17 , and rotated so as to threadingly engage the internal thread(s)  44  of the closure  14  with the external thread(s)  28  of the container  12 . As the closure  14  is threaded to the container  12 , eventually the base wall  30  of the closure  14  contacts the lip  22  of the container neck finish  17 . With conventional closures, the contact of a base wall with a lip of a container neck finish generally limits further rotation and axial travel of the closure with respect to the neck finish, and the axial spacing between an axially lower end of a container thread and the lip of the neck finish is merely that which is necessary to ensure sealing contact between the lip and the base wall of the closure. In contrast, with the presently disclosed closure and container, an axially lower end of the container thread  28  may be spaced a distance away from the lip  22  of the neck finish  17  that is further than a conventional distance to ensure not only initial sealing contact between the lip  22  and the base wall  30  of the closure  14  but also to ensure that continued rotation of the closure  14  results in unfolding and elongation of the pleated section  40  of the closure  14 . 
     From the above, and with continued reference to  FIG.  1   , those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the pleated section  40  of the closure  14  provides a spring-like feature that biases the base wall  30  of the closure  14  down on the lip  22  of the neck finish  17  of the container  12 . In one embodiment, and in contrast to unpleated conventional closure skirts, the pleated closure skirt  32  may enable an increase in tension within the closure  14  and an increase in axial force exerted by the closure  14  on the container  12  to thereby create a stronger seal between the closure  14  and the container  12 . This configuration results in increased pressure retention characteristics of the package  10 , such that the closure  14  is capable of holding higher internal pressures in wide mouth container packages. In this case, those of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that various design parameters of the pleated section  40  and/or the choice of material for the skirt  32  may be selected to achieve the aforementioned functionality. For example, the radial wall thickness, the number of pleats, the angles of the pleats, and other suitable design parameters of the pleated section  40  may be chosen to achieve a desired lockdown force of the closure  14  on the container  12 . Conversely, in another embodiment, and also in contrast to unpleated conventional closure skirts, the pleated section  40  may serve as a pressure relief feature wherein the closure skirt  32  is intentionally yieldable to allow the skirt  32  to elongate when excessive pressure in the package  10  pushes on the closure base wall  30  such that the seal between the closure base wall  30  and the container lip  22  “breaks” thereby allowing internal pressure in the package  10  to vent. 
     The disclosure has been presented in conjunction with several illustrative embodiments, and additional modifications and variations have been discussed. Other modifications and variations readily will suggest themselves to persons of ordinary skill in the art in view of the foregoing discussion. For example, the subject matter of each of the embodiments is hereby incorporated by reference into each of the other embodiments, for expedience. The disclosure is intended to embrace all such modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.