Method for manufacturing a spice container lid, spice container lid and spice container

Abstract

Method for producing a pot-shaped spice container lid (1), with internal thread sections (2) on the side walls (17), characterized in that the container is produced by injection molding from PET or rPET and its injection molding tool (3) has at least one inclined segment (24) guided on a frustoconical core (4) with mutual sliding guides, which, after an injection process, is moved radially inwards from the internal thread sections (2) by axially retracting or pushing the core (4) and thereby completely demolds the internal thread sections (2), wherein the spice container lid (1) has at least one closure flap (9;10) which, in the open state, is injection-molded onto the spice container lid (1) via a film hinge (11), which has several parallel deformation areas (18 - 23) arranged next to each other for partial deformations provided therein, which together result in the total deformation required for closing a closure flap (9; 10) and the closure flap (9; 10) is closed and folded over either directly in the mold by an actuation or separately in a further work step in a closure unit after the injection process and the closure flap (9; 10) is injection-molded with a rim (13) extending laterally around a cover surface (12) of the spice container lid (1) and has radial receiving openings (14) there for projections (15) extending radially from the spice container lid (1) as a releasable latch and when the closure flap (9;10) a grip or fingernail recess (16) is provided in the outer surface of the spice container lid (1) below the rim (13).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for producing a spice container lid, a spice container lid and a spice container according to the preambles of claims 1, 4 and 10.

[0002] A container closure with two flaps is known, DE 39 17 057 C2, which is injection-molded in one piece from plastic and has a cover surface with two flaps arranged on it via film hinges, which close openings in the cover surface for sprinkling spices, for example. Such container closures are generally made of PP or HD-PE or comparable raw materials which, when cooled, have a high degree of elasticity so that they can be easily demolded from the injection mold, for example by being boxed out of it.

[0003] Due to increasing demands on sustainability and material purity, it is advantageous if such a spice container lid, like a spice container, could be made from food-compliant PET or rPET, i.e. completely or partially from recycled PET, which is very important for the recyclability of the product and at the same time promotes the circular economy.

[0004] However, the disadvantage of such a spice container lid made of PET or rPET is that this material has a material hardness that prohibits forced demolding from an injection mold, as such workpieces would otherwise break or tear.

[0005] A known plastic lid with a hinged closure is known for this purpose (US 3,675,812 A). However, it is made of PE or PP with a simple film hinge, which would tear during demolding or over time if PET were used as the material. A known plastic closure system and method for its production (DE 10 2006 028 106 A1) also has a cap hinged to a base via a simple film hinge. This cap is not specifically designed for the use of PET and is therefore prone to breakage. The thin-walled hinge of a known two-flap closure (DE 37 34 156 A1) is constructed in exactly the same way, and it takes no account of the injection-molded material used. The same applies to a known closure for a container, US 2008 / 0 257 918 A1, by means of flaps hinged to a cap via simple film hinges, as well as to a known container and a lid made of one piece, US 2018 / 0362 224 A1.

[0006] The object of the invention is therefore, on the one hand, to provide a method for producing such a spice container lid made of PET or rPET, which does not require elastic forced deformation during molding by an injection mold, as well as to provide a corresponding spice container lid made of PET or rPET and also a spice container closed therewith.

[0007] The solutions to these problems arise in conjunction with the subject-matter having the features of the preambles together from the characterising features of claims 1, 4 and 10.

[0008] In the inventive method, the spice container lid is manufactured from PET or rPET. The multi-part injection molding tool has at least one inclined segment guided on a truncated cone-shaped core with mutual sliding guides. After an injection molding process, the segment is moved radially inward from the internal threaded sections by axially retracting or pushing the core. This segment is thereby demolded from the internal threaded sections, allowing the spice container lid to be freely removed from the injection molding tool. This also enables the use of PET or rPET that is food-safe in the cold-cured state, without the fear of it being destroyed during demolding from the injection molding tool.

[0009] In the inventive method, at least one or often two oppositely arranged closure flaps are arranged on the spice container lid, which in the open state are injection-molded together with the spice container lid and are arranged thereon via film hinges, which have a plurality of deformation areas arranged parallel to one another for partial deformations provided there, which together result in the overall deformation required for closing a closure flap, wherein the closure flaps are closed after the injection process either directly in the tool by actuation or separately in a further work step in a closure unit and are folded onto the cover surface of the spice container lid.

[0010] In the invention, a closure flap is equipped with an edge extending laterally around a cover surface of the spice container lid, which edge has radial receiving openings for projections extending radially from the spice container lid for mutual locking. A grip or fingernail recess is arranged below the edge in the radial outer surface of the spice container lid when the closure flap is closed, in order to operate the closure flap without hindrance. The lateral arrangement of the locking components requires the lowest possible elastic deformation in the hinge area and thus ensures lower mechanical stress.

[0011] Further advantageous embodiments of the invention result from and in combination with the following subclaims.

[0012] According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, a circumferential groove is formed in the end face of the truncated cone-shaped core, by means of which a circular or polygonal sealed surface is created for an induction seal and / or a pressure seal in the spice container lid for the possible arrangement of a seal on a spice container. This gives the user the option of sealing a spice container filled with spices either by means of a wrapper or the lid of a spice container with a seal, thus guaranteeing the authenticity of the product for the end consumer.

[0013] Some areas of the interior of the spice container lid are specially adapted to improve the flow of the PET, as this usually has very poor filling and flow behavior, which is very disadvantageous for the production of thin-walled technical components, so that the injection mold can now be filled optimally.

[0014] According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the closure flap is injection-molded onto the spice container lid at an angle of up to 160° to the cover surface, whereby in the case of two closure flaps, the arrangement at a 90° angle is recommended.

[0015] To solve these problems, the entire spice container lid, which consists of an injection-molded, pot-shaped component with internally threaded sections and at least one closure flap attached to it via a film hinge, is now made of PET or rPET. This makes it possible to ensure optimal recyclability for a container sealed with this lid, which can also be made of PET or rPET, as well as PP, HDPE, or glass, as this ensures 100% purity.The disadvantage of the low elasticity of this starting material was inventively solved for the production of the film hinges in that several deformation areas arranged parallel to one another are formed over the effective length of a film hinge for partial deformations provided there, which together result in the total deformation required for closing a closure flap, so that the film hinges made of PET or rPET do not completely break or tear off when actuated, despite their very low elasticity.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the film hinges are divided into two deformation areas for partial deformations, wherein two closure flaps with mutually parallel film hinges are arranged at a 90° angle on the spice container lid in the open state, so that each deformation area is involved in a partial deformation by at least 45° and a closure flap can thus be folded down to a cover surface without destroying the film hinge.

[0017] In a second advantageous embodiment of the subject matter of the invention, the film hinges are each divided into three deformation areas, so that the two closure flaps only have to be partially deformed by at least 30° in each of the three deformation areas in order to achieve the 90° of the absolute closure angle, which further improves the durability of the film hinges.

[0018] According to a third embodiment, the film hinges are thus equipped with a continuous deformation range which allows even smaller partial deformations of less than 25° in order to permanently withstand a total deformation of 90° for a closing movement of a closure flap without being destroyed.

[0019] The film hinges themselves have a thickness of less than 1 mm in the deformation areas, whereby during operation even a partial tearing of the deformation area up to half of the thickness there is planned and tolerable, which does not affect the function and appearance of the spice container lid according to the invention.

[0020] A spice container whose spice container, spice container lid and also its casing are made of PET or rPET is considered particularly advantageous, so that the entire spice container can be disposed of or recycled in a completely sorted manner after it has been emptied.

[0021] An embodiment of the invention is described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. They show: List of reference symbols: 1 spice container lid 2 internal thread section 3 injection molding tool 4 core 5 T-slot 6 T-profile 8 Sealing area 9 Closing flap 10 Closing flap 11 Film hinge 12 deck area 13 Edge 14 Receiving opening 15 lead 16 recessed grip 17 Side wall 18 Deformation area 19 Deformation area 20 Deformation range 21 Deformation area 22 Deformation area 23 Deformation area 24 segments 25 spray nozzle Fig. 1 a spatial partial view of an injection molding tool with a partially cut workpiece, Fig. 2 a sectioned side view of the injection mold according to Fig. 1 with molded position of the injection mold, Fig. 3 a sectioned side view of the injection mold according to Fig. 1 in a spraying position, Fig. 4 an enlarged sectional view of the finished spice container lid, Fig. 5 a side view of the spice container lid according to the Fig. 4, Fig. 6 a very enlarged section through a film hinge, Fig. 7 a also greatly enlarged section through a second variant of a film hinge, and Fig. 8 also shows a greatly enlarged section through a third variant of the film hinge.

[0022] To carry out the method for producing a pot-shaped spice container lid 1 with internal thread sections 2 on the side walls 17 made of PET or of fully or partially recycled rPET, the injection molding tool 3 is equipped, for example, with two inclined segments 24 with T-profiles 6 guided on a truncated cone-shaped core 4 on T-slots 5 as mutual sliding guides, which, after an injection process, are moved radially inward from the internal thread sections 2 by axial retraction of the core 4, thereby demolding the internal thread sections 2. Such a position of the core 4 is shown in the Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, whereas in Fig. 3 the core 4 and the inclined segments 24 are shown in a spraying position with a finished sprayed spice container lid 1.

[0023] A circumferential groove is formed in the truncated cone-shaped core 4, by means of which a circular closed sealing surface 8 can be created in the spice container lid 1 for the possible arrangement of a seal on a spice container 1.

[0024] The spice container lid 1 has two closure flaps 9; 10, which are injection-molded together with the spice container lid 1 in the open state, being integrally formed therewith via film hinges 11. After the injection process, they are closed or folded onto the cover surface 12 of the spice container lid 1, either directly in the tool by actuation or separately in a further work step in a closure unit. The closure flaps 9; 10 are produced here at an angle of 90° to the cover surface 12 of the spice container lid 1, but they can also be injection-molded in a version not shown in the drawing, for example with only one closure flap 9; 10 at an angle of up to 160° to the cover surface 12.

[0025] The closure flaps 9; 10 are equipped with edges 13 extending laterally around the cover surface 12 of the spice container lid 1 and are provided there with radial receiving openings 14 for projections 15 extending radially from the spice container lid 1, which serve as a mutual locking mechanism. Below the closed closure flaps 9; 10, grip or fingernail recesses 16 are formed in the outer surface of the spice container lid 1 below the edge 13, so that folded closure flaps 9; 10 can be easily opened again.

[0026] Since the entire spice container lid 1 is made of PET or rPET, which has only low permanent elasticity, the film hinges 11 are equipped along their length with several deformation areas 18 - 23 arranged parallel to one another for partial deformations provided there, which together result in the total deformation required for closing a closure flap 9; 10. A film hinge 11 can, for example, as shown in Fig. 6, have two deformation areas 18; 19 for partial deformations, so that both closure flaps 9; 10 must each be partially deformed by 45° from an injection angle of 90° to the cover surface 12 of the spice container lid 1 in order to achieve the required total deformation of 90°.

[0027] In Fig. In contrast, Figure 7 shows a film hinge 11 with three deformation areas 20; 21; 22, each of which can accommodate 30° of partial deformation, so that here too, a problem-free closing of the closure flaps 9; 10 by 90° can be ensured. Fig. 8, on the other hand, shows a continuously bendable deformation region 23, so that the individual sub-regions have to endure a much smaller partial deformation in order to produce the required right closure angle.

[0028] In order to be able to deform the barely elastic PET or rPET in a quasi-elastic manner, the film hinge must have a very small thickness of less than 1 mm, whereby during operation a partial tearing of the deformation area 18 - 23 can occur during partial deformation up to half of the thickness there, which is tolerable without failure of the components.

Claims

[1] Method for producing a pot-shaped spice container lid (1), with internally threaded sections (2) on the side walls (17), characterized bythat it is produced from PET or rPET using an injection molding process and whose injection molding tool (3) has at least one inclined segment (24) guided on a frusto-conical core (4) with mutual sliding guides, which after an injection process is moved radially inwards from the internal thread sections (2) by axially retracting or pushing the core (4) and in the process completely demolds the internal thread sections (2), wherein the spice container lid (1) has at least one closure flap (9; 10) which, in the open state, is injection-molded onto the spice container lid (1) via a film hinge (11), which has a plurality of deformation regions (18 - 23) arranged parallel to one another for partial deformations provided there, which together result in the total deformation required for closing a closure flap (9; 10) and the closure flap (9;10) after the injection molding process, it is closed and folded over either directly in the tool by actuation or separately in a further work step in a closure unit, and the closure flap (9; 10) is injection molded with an edge (13) extending laterally around a cover surface (12) of the spice container lid (1) and has radial receiving openings (14) there for projections (15) extending radially from the spice container lid (1) as a releasable latch, and when the closure flap (9; 10) is closed, a grip or fingernail recess (16) is introduced into the outer surface of the spice container lid (1) below the edge (13); [2] Method according to claim 1, characterized bythat a circumferential groove is formed on the front side in the frustoconical core (4), by means of which a circular or polygonal closed sealing surface (8) for an induction seal and / or pressure seal is produced in the threaded container lid (1) for the possible arrangement of a seal on a spice container. [3] Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the closure flap (9; 10) is injection-molded at an angle of up to 160° to the cover surface (12) of the spice container lid (1). [4] Spice container lid (1), manufactured according to a method of the preceding claims, from an injection-molded pot-shaped component with internal thread sections (2) and at least one closure flap (9; 10) hinged thereto via a film hinge (11), characterized bythat the entire spice container lid (1) is made of PET or rPET and the film hinge (11) has a plurality of deformation areas (18 - 23) arranged parallel to one another for partial deformations provided there, which together result in the total deformation required for closing a closure flap (9; 10). [5] Spice container lid (1) according to claim 4, characterized by that the film hinge (11) has two deformation areas (18; 19) for partial deformations, two closure flaps (9; 10) are injection-molded at an angle of 90° to the spice container lid (1), and each area is arranged to be deformable by at least 45° of partial deformation on the spice container lid (1). [6] Spice container lid (1) according to claim 4, characterized bythat the film hinge (11) has three deformation areas (20; 21; 22) for partial deformations, two closure flaps (9; 10) are arranged at a 90° angle on the spice container lid (1) and each area is arranged to be deformable by at least 30° of partial deformation on the spice container lid (1). [7] Spice container lid (1) according to claim 4, characterized by that the film hinge (11) has a continuous deformation area (23) for partial deformations, two closing flaps (9; 10) are arranged at a 90° angle on the spice container lid (1) and each partial area is arranged to be foldable by at least 25° of partial deformation on the spice container lid (1). [8] Spice container lid (1) according to claims 4 to 7, characterized bythat the closure flap (9; 10) is injection-molded with an edge (13) extending laterally around a cover surface (12) of the spice container lid (1) and has radial receiving openings (14) there for projections (15) extending radially from the spice container lid (1) as a releasable locking device and that when the closure flap (9; 10) is closed, a grip or fingernail recess (16) is arranged below the edge (13) in the radial outer surface of the spice container lid (1). [9] Spice container lid (1) according to claims 4 to 8, characterized by that the film hinge (11) has a thickness of less than 1 mm in the deformation areas. [10] Spice container comprising a spice container, a spice container lid (1) according to one of the preceding claims 4-9 and a wrapping, characterized by that the spice container, the spice container lid (1) and the wrapping together consist of pure PET or fully or partially recycled rPET.

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