Patent ID: 7780024

Claim:
A closure for sealing a container, comprising: a container having a container neck, said container neck having an opening defined by a container rim; a closure axially removable from said container neck; a generally disc shaped peelable seal rotatingly axially retained within said closure; said seal having a central body portion and an overhang portion extending beyond a margin defined by said central body portion, said central body portion including a first layer and a second layer, said first layer forming said overhang portion extending beyond said container rim surrounding said opening of said container, wherein said first layer including a stiffening structure of such thickness and rigidity that said seal can be loosened by applying a vertical force to said overhang portion of said first layer; said overhang portion extends from about 0.005 inches to about 0.25 inches beyond said container rim of said container neck; said second layer of said seal being a sealant for bonding or sealing said first layer of said seal to said container rim and being a relatively low density and tensile strength; and said overhang portion of said generally disc shaped peelable seal being sufficiently rigid and nonflexible from said stiffening structure so that a seal retainer circumscribing an inner annular side wall of said closure applying said vertical force upwardly on said overhang portion of said first layer upon removal of said closure from said container neck thereby completely removing said bonded seal from said container rim and rotatingly axially retaining said seal within said closure when removing said closure from said container.