Patent Abstract:
The inventions disclosed herein include a clear cap and tamper-indicating seal combination for containers. The preferred cap is at least partially non-opaque to allow a customer to perceive the tamper-indicating seal through the cap at the point of purchase. In a first embodiment, the tamper-indicating seal serves as a label, wherein the customer can perceive, through the cap, information such as printing which is indicative of the contents of the container. In a second embodiment, the tamper-indicating seal serves as a tamper evident seal, wherein the customer can perceive, through the cap, at the point of purchase, whether the seal has been breached. In a third embodiment, the tamper-indicating seal serves as both a label and a seal, wherein the tamper-indicating seal creates a liquid resistant seal between the cap and the opening of the container. In a forth embodiment, the tamper-indicating seal serves as both a label and a tamper evident seal.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONS  
       [0001]     The inventions described herein relate to closure devices, and in particular, relate to a cap and liner (such as a tamper indicating seal or membrane) combination for bottles. The preferred cap of the present inventions is at least partially transparent or translucent to allow a customer to perceive a printed or colored liner or membrane through the cap at the point of purchase.  
         [0002]     To identify the contents of a bottle, it is well known in the art to use opaque, colored caps, to apply adhesive backed labels to the top surface of a cap, and/or to print directly on the top of the cap. In the field of bottling and selling milk, bottlers use different colored caps to differentiate one kind of milk from another; i.e., red caps may be used to designate whole milk, light blue for skim milk, and yellow for 1%, etc. Colored caps are also used to designate different kinds of juices or different flavors of beverages.  
         [0003]     To provide a liquid-tight seal on a bottle, it is well known in the art to use a seal, or liner, in combination with the cap. Cap suppliers often sell their colored caps with the liners placed on the inside of the cap. Because the liner is pre-installed on the inside of the cap, the liner is pressed against the bottle neck into intimate contact with the lip of the bottle opening when the cap is applied to the bottle. Two types of liners are generally in use today with blow molded bottles. The first type of liner is made of a soft pliable sealing material, such as a foam. The second type of liner, a foil liner, has a heat sensitive surface which can be heated into sealing engagement with the lip of a container neck by induction heating to form a membrane sealing the container closed.  
         [0004]     In the bottling industry, it is well known to include tamper-evident features. With blow-molded bottles, bottlers often incorporate two levels of tamper evident features. A first level is incorporated into the design of the cap and a second level is incorporated underneath the cap. For a first level of tamper evidence, caps on bottles sold to consumers include an integrally formed (i.e., injection molded) feature such as a ratchet ring for threaded caps and a pull-tab for push-on caps. For a second level of tamper evidence, liners are often used. In particular, bottlers often use a liner that can be heat sealed around the opening of the bottle. The heat sealed liners are tamper evident in that, once the liner is removed from the lip of the bottle opening, the liner cannot be easily reattached to the bottle opening. Therefore, upon opening the bottle at home, the consumer can ascertain whether the product has been tampered with by visually verifying that the liner is present and sealed to the bottle opening.  
         [0005]     While the combination of bottle caps and liners of the types currently in use provides for an acceptable means of product identification and sealing, these combinations do have their limitations. First, it is more costly to manufacture caps in an array of colors. This is because it takes time to change an injection molding machine over from one color to another, and because keeping inventory of various colors of caps means that more investment is required for that inventory and for the equipment and personnel to manage that inventory.  
         [0006]     Second, the opaque caps of the prior art prevent consumers from ascertaining at the point of purchase whether the second level of tamper evidence—i.e. the heat seal label—has been tampered with. As discussed above, the prior art caps incorporate a first level tamper-evident feature into the cap that prevents the consumer from verifying the condition of the seal until after the purchase is made when the consumer removes the cap. Generally, consumers do not remove the cap until they have arrived at home, sometimes days after they have made the purchase. In the event that the consumer finds a broken seal, it will be very inconvenient for the consumer to return the product to the store.  
         [0007]     Therefore, there is a need for a cap and liner combination which will provide a cost effective method of identifying the contents of a bottle. There is also a need for a cap and liner combination which will allow a consumer to ascertain, at the point of purchase, whether someone has tampered with the tamper-evident seal.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONS  
       [0008]     The present inventions relate to a clear cap and liner combination for bottles which solves the problems of the prior art. The preferred cap of the present inventions is at least partially transparent or translucent to allow a customer to perceive the liner through the cap at the point of purchase. In one embodiment, the liner serves as a label, wherein the customer can perceive, through the cap, information such as printing. The printing can be indicative of the product, such as the name of the manufacturer, the name of the bottle contents, ingredients, and/or nutritional data. Because the liner can be easily customized to identify the product contained in a bottle, only one version of a cap need be manufactured for use with many different products. In a second embodiment, the liner serves as a tamper evident seal, wherein the customer can perceive, through the cap, whether the seal has been breached. As such, the consumer will know, at the point of purchase, whether or not the product has been tampered with. In a third embodiment, the liner serves as both a label and a seal, wherein the liner creates a liquid resistant seal between the cap and the opening of the bottle. In a forth embodiment, the liner serves as both a label and a tamper evident seal.  
         [0009]     Although not limited as such, the preferred application for the present inventions is as a closure device for blow-molded bottles. There are two types of caps which are generally in use today with blow-molded bottles: push-on caps and screw-on caps. These kinds of caps are often injection molded with polyethylene (both high and low density) or polypropylene, a common material used in injection molding. [polishing mold surfaces is important and/or reducing the thickness of the top wall, but need 0.025″ thickness] 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     These and other features, aspects, objects, and advantages of the inventions described and claimed herein will be become better understood upon consideration of the following detailed description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of the bottle cap and liner of the present invention with a corresponding blow-molded bottle;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the present invention which is applied to a corresponding blow-molded bottle;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a screw-on cap with a liner placed between the underside of the cap and the lip of a bottle neck;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a top view of a standard heat seal liner;  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an improved heat seal liner; and,  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of a push-on cap with a liner placed between the underside of the cap and the lip of a bottle neck.  
         [0017]     It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale and that the embodiments are sometimes illustrated by graphic symbols, phantom lines, diagrammatic representations and fragmentary views. In certain instances, details which are not necessary for an understanding of the inventions described and claimed herein or which render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, that the inventions described herein are not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.  
         [0018]     Like reference numerals will be used to refer to like or similar parts from Figure to Figure in the following description of the drawings. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]      FIG. 1  generally depicts one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. An exploded perspective view of a container  14 , bottle cap  2   a , liner  4 , and bottle neck  6   a  combination is shown. As demonstrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the cap  2   a  is non-opaque such that printing on the liner  4  can be perceived through the cap  2   a.    
         [0020]     The bottle cap  2   a  shown in  FIG. 1  is a screw-on type cap  2   a . Screw-on caps  2   a  typically comprise a circular cover  20   a , a skirt  22   a  depending from the peripheral edge of the circular cover  20   a , and a ratchet ring  24  which is frangibly attached below the skirt  22   a . On the inside surface  34   a  of the skirt  22   a  are threads  26 —preferably four—which are adapted to mate with corresponding threads  66  on the neck  6   a  of the bottle. The ratchet ring  24  has internal teeth  28  for engagement with the bottle neck  6   a , which has external teeth  74 . Every other one of the internal teeth  28  are attached to a plurality of semi-circular outwardly directed tabs  30  which are equally spaced around the periphery of the skirt  22   a , forming the frangible connection between the ratchet ring  24  and the bottle cap  2   a . For further details regarding the screw-on cap  2   a , see U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,701 which is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0021]     Although the cap  2   a  depicted in FIG. I is entirely non-opaque, the claims cover caps  2   a  in which only a portion of the cap  2   a  is non-opaque; i.e. the cap  2   a  would have a window. Accordingly, at least a portion of the cap  2   a  of the present invention is non-opaque such that the liner  4  can be perceived through the cap  2   a , preferably through the circular cover  20   a  of the cap  2   a . The non-opaque cap  2   a  may be translucent or transparent. However, it is preferable that at least the entire circular cover  20   a  is transparent to prevent distortion of any printing which is present on the liner  4 . Distortion can minimized by careful resin selection/processing and mold polishing. The mold in the area that forms the top of the cap is preferably polished to SPI A-1, so that any surface diffraction of light passing through top or lid of the cap is minimized, making the top of the cap as transparent as possible. However, for certain applications, distortion may be a desired characteristic. For such an application, the cap  4  may be translucent so that the label  4  is at least still perceivable.  
         [0022]     The cap  2   a  is preferably colorless, but some applications may require a colored cap. Nevertheless, the colored caps are non-opaque and are simply characterized by a hue. Both colorless and colored, non-opaque caps are covered by the claims herein.  
         [0023]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the liner  4  is displaced between the bottle cap  2   a  and bottle neck  6   a . Two general types of liners  4  are preferred for the present invention: foam or foil. Foam liners  4  generally form a seal when compressed between the cap  2   a  and the lip  68  of the bottle neck  6   a . Foil liners  4  are generally used when the bottler desires to form a heat seal on the lip  68  of the bottle neck  6   a . A material that is suitable for the foam liner  4  is a foamed sheet material made of styrene and having a thickness for some applications of about 0.040″ inches. However, a person of ordinary skill in the art would know that many other materials can be used as an acceptable substitute to form the foam liner  4 . Foil liners  4  are generally constructed of multiple layers. At a minimum, the foil liner must have a metal (preferably aluminum) layer with a plastic layer laminated on the underside of the metal layer to facilitate induction heat sealing to the lip  68  of the bottle neck  6   a . Some liners have a paper (or foam) backing adhered (via an adhesive) to the metal layer.  
         [0024]     If an induction sealed liner (or other tamper indicating interior seal) is used, it may be possible to do any of the following:  1 ) completely eliminate a ratchet ring in the context of a screw cap  2 ) completely eliminate the pull tab in the context of a push-on cap, or  3 ) otherwise use simple non-tamper-indicating closure, and rely entirely on the inner tamper indicating seal, particularly when its condition (or presence) is readily visible through a transparent or translucent cap in accordance with the present invention. Among other things, the elimination of a ratchet ring or pull tab will reduce the amount of plastic used to make the cap, and will allow the shipment of more closures in a box, when the closure are shipped.  
         [0025]     It is also contemplated that other liners  4  can be used that do not form a seal at the lip  68  of the bottle neck  6   a . Such a liner  4  may be used to provide an indication of the contents of the bottle  62   a  and not for sealing purposes. Such a non-sealing liner  4  could be comprised of a laminated paper or a simple foam disc.  
         [0026]     The preferred liner  4  of the present invention provides an indication of the contents of the bottle through printing or coloring. An example of such a liner  4  is shown in  FIG. 2 , which is a top view of a bottle cap  2   a  and liner  4  of the present invention placed on top of a bottle neck. The printing on the label  4 , “2%,” can be perceived through the cap  2   a , being that the cap  2   a  is transparent. In some cases, depending on the thickness, softness and surface properties of the foam to which printing ink is applied, it may be useful to apply a covering layer, such as a lacquer or varnish or thin protective adhesive sheet to protect the printing from chipping or smearing.  
         [0027]     The diameter of the liner  4  is generally sized to correspond to the diameter of the inside surface  34   a  of the bottle cap  2   a  such that the liner  4  fits snugly inside of the bottle cap  2   a . It is preferable that the liner  4  is held firmly against the underside of the circular cover  20   a  to optimize printing clarity as seen through the circular cover  20   a . At a minimum, however, the bottle cap  2   a  must hold the liner  4  near the underside of the circular cover  20   a  such that the liner  4  does not fall out of the bottle cap during the bottling operations. This can be achieved through several means. First, the liner  4  can be held inside of the bottle cap  2   a  by friction. Alternatively, holding means could be formed one the inside surface  34   a  of the bottle cap  2   a  to engage with the periphery of the liner  4 , such as an inwardly directed projection. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the internal threads  26  of the preferred embodiment double as holding means, wherein the ends  32  of the threads  26  retain the liner  4  in place.  
         [0028]     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , the bottle neck  6   a , which is used with the present invention, is generally positioned at the top of the body  62   a  of a blow-molded bottle and is formed of a generally cylindrical exterior surface  64   a . At the top edge of the exterior surface  64   a  is a lip  68  which defines an opening  70 . The lip  68  is generally inwardly directed to form a sealing surface for sealing with the liner  4  and bottle cap  2   a . The exterior surface  64   a  preferably includes four threads  66  which engage threads  26  on the inside surface of the cap skirt  6 .  
         [0029]     Further, the bottle neck  6   a  preferably includes two ratchet portions  72  having a plurality of ratchet teeth  74 . The two ratchet portions  72  are located diametrically opposite each other on the exterior surface  64   a  below the threads  66 . The container  14  also includes a circumferential “bumper roll” or transfer ring  76  located below the ratchet portions  72  to facilitate gripping the bottle during the filling operation and grabbing the bottle during the loading of the bottle into a shipping container.  
         [0030]     The liner  4   a  in  FIG. 3  is shown affixed to the lip  68  of the bottle neck  6   a  by heat sealing. Heat sealing can be performed by conduction or induction; however, induction is the preferred method for heat sealing the liner  4  to the blow-molded bottle. As better shown in  FIG. 4 , the liner  4   a  is a standard liner having a semicircular tab  40  extending from the periphery of the liner  4   a . The tab  40  provides a gripping point to aid in the removal of the liner  4   a  by the consumer. Even though a standard foil liner is depicted in  FIG. 3 , the invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the liner  4   b  may have a paper, foam or other backing. The liner  4   b  of  FIG. 5  also has a semicircular grip or tab  42 , although the tab is much larger than the grip or pull tab  40 . The diameter of the grip or tab  42  is preferably equal to the diameter of the liner  4   b . Furthermore, the tab  42  extends from a diameter of the liner  4   b  instead of the periphery. To remove the liner  4   b , the consumer would grip the tab  42 , which is originally flush with the liner  4   b , and pull the tab upward until the tab  42  lies in a plane roughly perpendicular to the liner  4   b . Next, the consumer would apply upward force to the tab  42  to remove the liner  4   b  from the lip  68  of the bottle neck  6   a . The liner  4   b  is preferable to the liner  4   a , because the tab  40  of the liner  4   a  could interfere with application of the bottle cap  4   a  to the bottle neck  6   a ; the tab  40  is generally folded downward and is displaced between the threads  26  of the bottle cap  4   a  and the threads  66  of the bottle neck  6   a . The liner  4   b  is commercially available from Unipac (of Canada) under the trademark Lift ‘n’ Peel™.  
         [0031]     Although described herein with particular reference to screw on caps, the present inventions can also be used with push on caps  2   b , as shown in  FIG. 6 , and/or push-on—screw-off caps. Push-on caps  2   b  typically comprise a circular cover  20   b , a skirt  22   b  depending from the circular cover  20   b , and a pull-tab  23  which is frangibly connected to the bottom of the skirt  22   b . The circular cover  20   b  typically has a greater diameter than the cross-section of the skirt  22   b  whereby the cover  20   b  extends beyond the periphery of the skirt  22   b  to provide a gripping surface for removing the cap  2   b  from the bottle  62   b . The pull-tab  23  is integrally molded with the cap  2   b . The pull-tab  23  is used to separate the lower part of skirt  22   b  from the upper part of the skirt  22   b  by tearing the skirt along a scored tear line  21 . A lower bead  25  on the inside surface of the lower part of the skirt  22   b  engages with the corresponding lower rib  27  on the bottle neck  6   b . The lower bead  25  is located such that the cap  2   b  cannot be removed by the customer without first tearing the lower part of the skirt it away from the cap  2   b  along the tear line  21 . An upper bead  29  on the inside surface of the skirt  22   b  engages with a corresponding rib upper rib  31  on the exterior of the bottle neck  6   b  for retaining the cap  2   b  on the bottle  62   b  after the lower part of the skirt has been removed, such that the cap  2   b  can be reapplied to and retained by the upper rib  31 .  
         [0032]     The application has particularly beneficial application in the field of blow-molded containers, such as those typically used for milk and juice to which a foil liner is typically and preferably applied. However, closures made in accordance with the invention will also have beneficial application on other containers, such as fiberboard containers with fitments that include an internal tamper-indicating pull ring (or grip) and frangible membrane, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,096. Using a transparent overcap as part of such a fitment will allow a consumer to easily see whether the membrane is intact without having to remove the overcap. As used herein, the term “tamper-indicating seal” is intended to include both a foil liner, as discussed above, and a removeable membrane with a grip to help remove the membrane as discussed in the &#39;096 patent referred to above.  
         [0033]     Although the inventions described and claimed herein (collectively sometimes referred to herein as the “invention”—singular) have been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventions described and claimed herein can be practiced by other than the preferred embodiments, which have been presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained herein.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1