Closure with built-in storing compartment

a technology of built-in storage compartments and closures, which is applied in the direction of caps, packaged goods types, liquid handling, etc., can solve the problems of 3 to 5 multiplied by the overall cost of the package, all of the above described closures fail to provide an economic and easy-to-use solution, and are clearly not acceptabl

Inactive Publication Date: 2011-03-03
NESTEC SA
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0022]A closure according to the present invention can advantageously comprise an internal skirt that is a cylinder having at least one vertical wall extending all along its height so as to divide said co

Problems solved by technology

All of the above described closures fail in providing an economic and easy to use solution.
The problem in the solutions of the prior art described above is that the overall cost of the package is multiplied by 3 to 5, because of the cost of the closure.
This is clearly not acceptable as these higher costs have then to be forwarded to the end consumer, who pays a higher price than normal for the product.
Such consumers as children, teenagers, elderly or disabled people, may have difficulties in performing correctly all the operations required for opening the closures described above, for instance, screwing then unscrewing the closure, or opening a portion of the closure, then press onto an element to rupture a membrane, or such other mechanical manipulations of the closure as squeezing, pressing, pulling, twisting or similar.
Shortly said, all closure solutions requiring a determined sequence of handling operations to release the closure contents into the main

Method used

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  • Closure with built-in storing compartment
  • Closure with built-in storing compartment
  • Closure with built-in storing compartment

Examples

Experimental program
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first embodiment

[0047]In this first embodiment, the closure 1 is transported to a closing machine of the factory, where it is then screwed onto the neck of a bottle that has previously been filled with a liquid, for instance a liquid yogurt. The bottle is made out of a material which is barrier to oxygen. The closure compartment 6 is then filled with a second product 7 in powder form—eg. a mix of probiotics, vitamins, and minerals—through the top opening of the internal skirt 5, under aseptic conditions, after which filling, an aluminium membrane 11 is sealed onto the top 4 of the closure 1. In that way, the skirt 5 closed with the aluminium membrane 11 defines a closed compartment 6 that is filled with the second product 7.

[0048]By “aluminium membrane”, it is meant a membrane made of aluminium that further comprises a sealing layer such as eg. polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), so that the membrane can be sealed to the closure by heat sealing or ultrasonic sealing techniques for instance. Al...

third embodiment

[0057]In a fourth possible embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 4, the closure 1 is very similar to the closure described for the third embodiment above. However in this particular case, the bottom wall 16 of the closure internal skirt is moulded integrally with the rest of the closure.

[0058]In all of the preceding embodiments of the invention described herein above, the skirt 5 preferably downwardly extends in height from the top wall 4 of the closure 1, below the level of the lower edge 17 of the closure side walls 3. This can be seen clearly, for instance on FIGS. 1 to 4. Finally, the closure 1 is preferably secured onto the neck 2 of the bottle by screwing, and to this effect, the closure side walls 3 comprise screw threads 18 disposed along the internal surface of the side walls 3 of the closure. The screw threads are means to cooperate with corresponding screw threads 19 of the container neck 2.

[0059]The present invention is further directed to a process for filling...

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Abstract

The present invention is a closure (1) suitable for closing a container containing a first product, said closure being an assembly of less than four independent pieces, and having external side walls (3), a top wall (4), and an internal skirt (5) extending downwardly inside the side walls (3) from the top wall (4), characterized in that: (i) the internal skirt (5) comprises an opening disposed in the top wall (4) of the closure, said opening being closed by a membrane, so as to define at least one compartment to store a second product separately from said first product, and (ii) the membrane (11) closing the top wall opening is made of an oxygen-barrier material, so that said compartment (6) is free of oxygen contamination from ambient air when said closure (1) is screwed onto the neck (2) of said container.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention concerns a closure with built-in storing compartment. More particularly, it is directed to a closure with a storing compartment having oxygen-barrier properties.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]For a long time, closures for containers have been developed, which allow to pack a first ingredient or mix of ingredient into the main container, while another ingredient or mix of ingredients is contained in a smaller receptacle located into the closure. Such packaging systems allow to store for an extended period of time, in the same packaging, ingredients that would otherwise react or degrade when put in contact before the storage period. In this case, the consumer opens the closure receptacle and mixes the product contained into said receptacle into the product contained into the main container, immediately prior to consumption.[0003]Such packaging closing systems have been described in various prior art documents, some of which are herea...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): B65D43/00B65B1/04
CPCB65D51/28
Inventor BOURGUIGNON, MICHEL A.L.
Owner NESTEC SA
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