DEVICE FOR THE DELIBERATE SEPARATION OF A SEAL ENSURING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN A LID AND A CONTAINER.

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for the deliberate separation of a seal ensuring a connection between a lid and a container or between components of a container, as well as to a system consisting of a lid, a container, a seal, and a separating device. The separating device allows the opening of a closure secured by a seal without additional manual intervention and makes the separation of the seal more uniform.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for the deliberate separation of a seal ensuring the connection between a lid and a container or between the components of a container, as well as a system consisting of a lid, a container, a seal, and a separation device. STATE OF THE ART Shipping containers are generally provided with seals during shipment to alert the recipient if the container has been opened without authorization. These seals may be placed, for example, at a connection point between a lid and the container, or between container components. Depending on the seal's design, it is broken either by separating the connection or through an additional manual step such as cutting or tearing. In an industrial setting, additional work steps, particularly manual ones, are disadvantageous because they result in wasted time and costs. Breaking the seal by lifting the lid is generally associated with uneven breakage, as several seals are usually affixed to a single lid. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION The objective of the invention is to reduce the work steps for opening connections between a lid and a container or between components that form the container that are secured by seals and to make the breaking of the seals more controllable. THE INVENTION The object of the invention is achieved by a device having the features of claim 1 and by a system having the features of claim 10. A lid and / or a container, preferably a lid, includes at least one separating mechanism for the deliberate separation of the seal. At least one Lcnznn / rznz / E / YiAi Part of the seal can be separated by the separating device in a single movement of a locking mechanism relative to the lid and / or container. The inventive arrangement of the separating device, in conjunction with the final movement of a locking mechanism, ensures that the seal is separated when the locking mechanism is actuated. This eliminates the need for additional manual separation, for example, with scissors. The separating device further ensures that the seal separation process is reproducible even with multiple locking mechanisms on a lid or in several consecutive separation events. Other preferred embodiments of the invention are described in dependent claims 2 to 9. Preferred embodiments of the system are described in claims 11 to 12. According to claim 2, it is preferred that at least portions of the seal can be passed at least partially past the separating device by a movement of the closing mechanism. A seal or a portion of a seal can be cut and / or sheared in this manner. This arrangement of the separating device reduces the force required to break the seal. The separating device according to claim 3 ideally consists of a plate permanently attached to the lid or container. The plate may be inventively fixed to one or more surfaces, in particular, to a combination of reinforcing ribs and the lid / container surface. A seal can be easily broken on an attached plate, and the plates are simple and convenient to manufacture and to attach to the lid or container. Depending on the type, shape, and / or material of the seal, the plate may also be made of the same material as the lid or container and / or be manufactured as a single piece with it. Such a configuration is particularly advantageous for non-metallic seals. According to claim 4, the plate preferably has at least one edge for separating, preferably for shearing, the seal. Shearing or cutting of the seal can be facilitated by means of a corresponding configuration of at least one edge of the plate, for example, in the form of a knife, an angle of less than 45° between the plate surfaces, and / or a particular sharpening of the edge between the plate surfaces. Lcnznn / eznz / E / YiAi According to claim 5, it is preferred that the plate be oriented with respect to the locking mechanism such that only one edge of the plate is suitable for shearing the seal. This simplifies the production of a suitable plate, in particular the edge of the plate that is used, and reduces the cost per piece. According to claim 6, it is particularly preferred that the lid or container have more than one plate associated with a single locking mechanism. This ensures that even if one plate wears down, the seal will still break reliably. The plates can also be arranged so that if one plate is deformed, the other plates counteract this deformation. The portion of the seal guided by the perforation in the pin hangs over the edge of the first plate as the pin moves until the seal breaks. The pin then bends toward the plate or its edge. By positioning the second and third plates within the pin's movement area, however, the pin is guided and retained, and its bending is at least limited. This increases the pin's retention during the seal's movement and breaking. According to claim 7, it is preferred that the locking mechanism have a pin and the pin have a perforation, preferably a hole. The seal herein preferably consists at least partly of a wire or is in the form of a rod. Rod-shaped, in the sense of the invention, means that at least the breakable portion is rod-shaped. A portion of the wire or rod-shaped seal is ideally guided in the secured state of the seal by the perforation in the pin and an associated perforation in the lid or container, preferably a perforation in a reinforcing rib of the lid or container. The perforation in the lid or container is a distance d from the perforation in the pin, where d is the distance between the two surfaces of the perforations in the pin and the lid oriented to each other.Such an inventive arrangement can be easily secured by a seal, and the seal is safely broken when the locking mechanism is actuated in association with the separation device, d being preferably minimal in the closed state of the locking mechanism. The plate, according to claim 8, preferably has a height H > d. Lcnznn / eznz / E / YiAi H is the height of the plate measured from the surface of the cover where the hole for the seal is located. This pushes one surface of the pin against the separating device. If a seal is positioned in the pin hole, the pin will almost certainly pass close to the separating device and may thus break, shear, and / or separate. The probability of the separating device being bypassed is thus reduced. H must be selected so that no permanent plastic deformation of the pin and / or plate occurs during the movement of the locking mechanism, with or without a seal separating. The pin, plate, and seal combination is ideally fitted together to minimize, or preferably eliminate, abrasive wear between the plate and pin during the movement of the locking mechanism. Ideally, according to claim 9, at least one pin guide is provided to reduce and / or prevent rebound and to guide the pin during movement. Guiding the pin during movement improves the reproducibility of the seal separation event on the plate. The objective of the invention is further achieved by a system having the characteristics of claim 10. A system consists of a device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 and at least one seal. The at least one seal, according to claim 11, is preferably formed as a wire or as a rod-shaped element. According to claim 12, it is preferred that the at least single seal be guided along a separating installation and form a bridge over a lid and a container or two adjacent parts of a container. The description is accompanied by the following three figures: Fig. 1: A lid with a non-sealable locking mechanism Fig. 2: The lid with the locking mechanism and a wire seal Fig. 3: A plan view of the lid with the locking mechanism. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The invention is described below in detail, including its form and an example of its embodiment, with reference to the figures mentioned. In all the figures, identical technical elements are indicated with the same reference symbols. Lcnznn / rznz / E / YiAi Figure 1 shows a section of a lid 1 or a container component with a locking mechanism 11. The locking mechanism 11 is suitable, for example, for connecting a lid 1 to a container or two container components. This connection can only be separated by a movement of the locking mechanism 11. The lid 1 and the container component, respectively, have a plurality of reinforcing ribs 14 which strengthen the lid 1 and the container, respectively, and form a receptacle for the locking mechanism 11. A pin 111 is fixed to the locking mechanism 11 with a round bore 112. When the locking mechanism 11 is opened, the pin 111 also moves relative to the separating device. The pin 11 itself is guided in its movement by a perforation 142 in a reinforcing rib. A wire seal 13 can be passed through the perforation 112 in the pin 111 and a corresponding perforation 141 in a reinforcing rib 14. By means of an additional depression 143 in the reinforcing rib 14, the wire seal 13 is secured during a separation event. The separating device consists of three plates 12 that follow each other. The plates 12 are arranged here on the reinforcing rib 14 of the lid 1 and the container, respectively, and are made in one piece with the reinforcing rib 14. The first plate 12 is arranged rotated with respect to the reinforcing rib 14 such that, preferably, an edge 121 of the first plate 12 is used to separate the seal 13. The other two plates 12 are fixed perpendicular to the reinforcing rib 14. By elastic deformation, respectively, of the second and third plates 12, in particular by twisting with respect to the direction of movement of the pin 111 when the pin 111 is moved along the plates 12, the edge 121 facing the pin 111 becomes usable as a separating edge. Figure 2 shows the section of Figure 1 with a wire-shaped seal 12 in the closed state, secured by the locking mechanism 11. When the locking mechanism 11 is opened, the pin 111 moves, as does the part of the seal 13 that passes through the opening 112 of the pin 111. The movement of the pin 111 causes the edge 121 of the first plate 12 to slide along the surface of the pin 111 and separate the plate-shaped seal 13. Lcnznn / eznz / E / YiAi Figure 3 shows a plan view of a region of a lid 1 for a container 2 with a separating device consisting of three plates 12 and a pin 111. The plates 12 are fixed to a reinforcing rib 14 of the lid 1, the edge 121 to separate the seal 13 from the first plate 12 having a distance H from the reinforcing rib 14. The distance H is greater than the distance d between the two facing perforation surfaces 112, 141 on the reinforcing rib 14 and the pin 111. TABLE 1: DESIGNATIONS IN FIGURES Number Description lid locking mechanism 111 pin 112 perforation for the seal plate 121 edge seal reinforcing rib 141 seal perforation 142 dowel guide hole 143 depression container direction of movement of the closing mechanism d distance of the holes H height of the plate

Claims

1. A device for the deliberate separation of a seal (13) that secures a connection between a lid (1) and a container (2) or between components of a container, the lid (1), the container (2) and / or a component of a container, comprising at least one movable locking mechanism (11) for the separable connection of the lid (1) to the container (2) or of the container components to each other, and the seal (13) being fixed such that in a movement of the locking mechanism (11) with respect to the lid (1) or the container (2) itself, the seal (13) is separated, characterized in that - in the lid (1) and / or in the container (2), preferably in the lid (1), at least one separating installation is arranged for the deliberate separation of the seal (13), and - by means of the separating installation, at least a portion of the seal (13) can be separated in a movement of the locking mechanism (11) relative to the lid (1) and / or to the container (2).

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that by means of a movement of the closing mechanism (11) at least parts of the seal (13) can be passed at least partially past the separating installation.

3. The device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the separating installation consists of a plate (12) stationarily connected to the lid (1) or the container (2).

4. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that the plate (12) has at least one edge (121) for separating, preferably shearing, the seal (13).

5. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the plate (12) is oriented relative to the locking mechanism (11) in such a way that only one edge (121) of the plate (12) is suitable for shearing the seal (13).

6. The device according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that more than one plate (121) is arranged on the lid (1) or the container Lcnznn / rznz / E / YiAi (2) associated with the single closing mechanism (11).

7. The device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that - the locking mechanism (11) comprises a pin (111); and - the pin (111) has a perforation (112), preferably a hole; and - the seal (13) consists at least partly of a wire or has a rod shape; - a part of the wire or rod-shaped seal (13) passes in the secured state of the seal (13) through the perforation (112) in the pin (111) and a relevant perforation in the lid (1) or in the container (2), preferably a perforation (141) in a reinforcing rib (14) of the lid (1); and - the perforation (141) in the lid (1) or in the container (2) is at a distance d from the perforation (112) in the pin (111).

8. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that the plate (12) has a height H > d.

9. The device according to one of claims 6 or 7, characterized in that there is at least one guide for the pin (111) to reduce and / or prevent rebound of and to guide the pin (111) during movement.

10. A system of a device according to one of claims 1 to 9 and at least one seal (13).

11. The system according to claim 10, characterized in that the at least one seal (13) is a wire or rod-shaped element.

12. The system according to one of claims 10 or 11, characterized in that - the at least single seal (13) is guided along a separating installation, and - forms a bridge over a lid (1) and a container (2) or over two adjacent parts of a container (2).

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