Closure With Improved Tamper-Evident Band

Abstract

A tamper-indicating closure for use with a container having an annular locking ring located around a vertical axis of the container opening. The closure features a cap having a top wall portion and an annular skirt portion perpendicularly extending from the top wall. A continuous annular tamper-evident band is affixed to the skirt portion of the cap and is detachable from the cap. The band has a frustoconical retaining member hingedly connected to a bottom rim of the band. The retaining member has a plurality of ridges extending from the bottom rim of the band to a distal end of the retaining member. The ridges define a plurality of flutes formed therebetween. The retaining member is suitable for being folded up adjacent the band such that the external surface of the retaining member is suitable for engaging the locking ring of the container.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to a container closure having an improved detachable tamper-evident band and particularly a closure having a band featuring a frustoconical annular retaining member suitable for engaging the locking ring of an associated container.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Maintaining and ensuring the proper sealing of container and closure combinations are important considerations for many different kinds of packaged products, such as food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. A compromised seal can result in the introduction of atmospheric and other forms of contamination into the container. Contaminants introduced through a compromised seal can be detrimental to the vitality of the container contents, reduce shelf-life, and may pose significant health risk when the contents are intended for human consumption. A compromised seal, however, can be difficult to detect by consumers and individuals handling packaged goods.[0003]Tamper-indicating or ta...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018]It is a benefit of the present invention to provide a container closure having a tamper-evident band that is of sufficient strength to remain on a container after a closure or cap has been removed. It is a further benefit of the present invention to provide a tamper-evident band that is fastened to a container closure by a plurality of bridge-like connectors and be of sufficient strength to remain affixed to the locking ring of a container when the closure is removed. An additional benefit of the present invention is to provide a tamper-evident band that adequately resists the forces applied when the closure is removed from an associated container and thus enables the bridge-like connectors to break as intended so that the tamper-evident band will remain in place around the locking ring of the container.

Problems solved by technology

A compromised seal can result in the introduction of atmospheric and other forms of contamination into the container.

Contaminants introduced through a compromised seal can be detrimental to the vitality of the container contents, reduce shelf-life, and may pose significant health risk when the contents are intended for human consumption.

A compromised seal, however, can be difficult to detect by consumers and individuals handling packaged goods.

Thus, breakage of the connector can occur anywhere along the length of the connector.

Although tamper-evident bands having these features are well-suited for tamper-indicating closure applications, and are in widespread use, closures utilizing known bands do have various drawbacks.

As more connectors are utilized however, the connection between the skirt and the band becomes more difficult to break.

When this situation occurs, nothing is left on the container to indicate whether it has been previously opened or improperly tampered with.

Another problem with known types of tamper-evident bands occur because the connection between the band and the locking ring of the container is weak.

Unfortunately, closures utilizing fewer or narrower connectors around the perimeter of the tamper-evident band have had high rates of failure in that such bands bend or separate from the container.

In addition, while closures featuring connectors having a particular width or spacing may be more effective when used with a particular sized container, using the same size or quantity of connectors on a closure intended for a larger or smaller container has been shown to be largely ineffective.

Existing closures using bridge-like connectors thus typically have to be completely redesigned or reengineered in order to accommodate different sized container openings, and manufacturers of such closures can incur significant expense in order to design and test such closures.

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