US 11,858,709 B2
Closure assembly comprising a cap with an integrated tamper-evident ring member
Jeroen Pieter Fiere, 's-Gravendeel (NL); Johannes Wilhelmus Van Tuil, HD Tilburg (NL); Willem Jan Adriaan Oosterling, SL Loon Op Zand (NL); and Frederik Adriaan Van Spronsen, PT Geldrop (NL)
Assigned to Scholle IPN IP BV, Tilburg (NL)
Appl. No. 17/273,716
Filed by Scholle IPN IP BV, SX Tilburg (NL)
PCT Filed Aug. 23, 2019, PCT No. PCT/NL2019/050543
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 4, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/050712, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 12, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 2021578 (NL), filed on Sep. 7, 2018; and application No. 2023526 (NL), filed on Jul. 18, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0354896 A1, Nov. 18, 2021
Int. Cl. B65D 75/58 (2006.01)
CPC B65D 75/5883 (2013.01) [B65D 2401/30 (2020.05)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A closure assembly comprising an article (10,10′,10″;410) and comprising a cap (40,40′,40″,40′″;440) provided with an integrated tamper-evident ring member (50,50′,50″,450), wherein:
the article (10) is made of a plastic material and forms a tubular neck (14) around a product passage (15) in said article, said neck having a main axis (16) and forming a mouth (17) at a top end of said product passage (15),
wherein the article (10) further comprises a circumferential flange structure (20) which comprises an annular flange portion that is integrally formed to the neck and extends around the neck (14), which flange portion has a top face (21a), a bottom face (21b), and a periphery, wherein the flange structure further comprises a peripheral protective rim portion (25) that is integral to and extends upwards from the flange portion at the periphery thereof, so that the top face of the flange portion (21) and the protective rim portion (25) define an annular recess (30) around the neck (14),
the cap (40) provided with the integrated tamper-evident ring member (50) is made of a plastic material and is adapted to be secured or is secured on said neck (14) of the article by means of an axial securing motion along the main axis (16),
wherein the cap (40) comprises a top wall structure (41) and a downward depending skirt (42), said skirt having an interior side (42a), an exterior side (42b), and a lower edge (42c) remote from the top wall structure, wherein the cap is adapted to seal the product passage (15) in a closed position of the cap on said neck, and wherein the cap is adapted to be manually removed from the neck (14) of the article by a user to open the product passage,
wherein the tamper-evident ring member (50) is integrally formed to the lower edge of the skirt (42) of the cap (40) and is connected to said lower edge via one or more breakable bridges (70),
wherein the tamper-evident ring member (50) comprises an annular ring member flange portion (51) that has a top face (51a), a bottom face (51b), an inner face (52a), and an outer face (52b), wherein multiple hook members (53) are integrally formed to the bottom of the ring member flange portion (51), the hook members being distributed in a circumferential direction of the ring member flange portion (51), wherein each hook member (53) comprises a leg (54) having an upper end integral with the ring member flange portion (51) and protruding downward from the ring member flange portion, wherein each hook member comprises a hook portion (55) at the lower free end of the leg,
wherein the annular flange portion (21) on the neck (14) of the article is provided with multiple hook member passages (18) that each extend between the top face (21a) and the bottom face (21b) through said annular flange portion (21), each hook member passage (18) being adapted to receive a hook member (53) when the cap (40) with the integrated tamper-evident ring member (50) is axially mounted on the neck (14) by means of said axial securing motion along the main axis (16), wherein the hook portion (55) of each hook member (53) engages underneath the bottom face (21b) of the annular flange portion (21) on the neck of the article,
wherein the periphery of the annular flange portion (51) of the ring member (50) is shaped to fit within the protective rim portion (25) as the annular flange portion (51) is at least partially inserted in said annular recess (30) upon said axially mounting of the cap (40) with the integrated tamper-evident ring member (50) on the neck,
wherein the peripheral protective rim portion (25) is adapted to obstruct lateral access from outside to the interface between the top face (21a) of the flange portion (21) of the article (10) and the bottom face (51b) of the flange portion (51) of the ring member (50),
and wherein the closure assembly is embodied such that upon first time opening of the closure assembly by removal of the cap (40) by a user the one or more breakable bridges (70) break and the ring member (50) is retained in the recess (30) of the article by means of the hook members (53).