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WO2025007208A1 - Fabrication de fermeture - Google Patents

Fabrication de fermeture Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2025007208A1
WO2025007208A1 PCT/CA2024/050890 CA2024050890W WO2025007208A1 WO 2025007208 A1 WO2025007208 A1 WO 2025007208A1 CA 2024050890 W CA2024050890 W CA 2024050890W WO 2025007208 A1 WO2025007208 A1 WO 2025007208A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
container
tabs
folding
container closure
closure
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
PCT/CA2024/050890
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Denis LARRIVÉE
Rémi TÉTREAULT
Christiane EL-TEKLY
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
MMC Packaging Equipment Ltd
Original Assignee
MMC Packaging Equipment Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by MMC Packaging Equipment Ltd filed Critical MMC Packaging Equipment Ltd
Publication of WO2025007208A1 publication Critical patent/WO2025007208A1/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D41/00—Caps, e.g. crown caps or crown seals, i.e. members having parts arranged for engagement with the external periphery of a neck or wall defining a pouring opening or discharge aperture; Protective cap-like covers for closure members, e.g. decorative covers of metal foil or paper
    • B65D41/32—Caps or cap-like covers with lines of weakness, tearing-strips, tags, or like opening or removal devices, e.g. to facilitate formation of pouring openings
    • B65D41/34—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt
    • B65D41/3423—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt with flexible tabs, or elements rotated from a non-engaging to an engaging position, formed on the tamper element or in the closure skirt
    • B65D41/3428—Threaded or like caps or cap-like covers provided with tamper elements formed in, or attached to, the closure skirt with flexible tabs, or elements rotated from a non-engaging to an engaging position, formed on the tamper element or in the closure skirt the tamper element being integrally connected to the closure by means of bridges
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C53/00—Shaping by bending, folding, twisting, straightening or flattening; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C53/02—Bending or folding
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C57/00—Shaping of tube ends, e.g. flanging, belling or closing; Apparatus therefor, e.g. collapsible mandrels
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C67/00—Shaping techniques not covered by groups B29C39/00 - B29C65/00, B29C70/00 or B29C73/00
    • B29C67/0044—Shaping techniques not covered by groups B29C39/00 - B29C65/00, B29C70/00 or B29C73/00 for shaping edges or extremities
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
    • B65D55/00—Accessories for container closures not otherwise provided for
    • B65D55/16—Devices preventing loss of removable closure members

Definitions

  • injection molding is a common manufacturing technique. These processes offer high manufacturing precision of even complex structural designs, while also enabling a high-volume production.
  • the injection molding process starts with the design of a mold, which is typically made from steel or aluminium.
  • the molds used for injection molding typically consist of two main parts (i.e., the cavity part defining the exterior surface shape and the core part defining the interior surface shape), allowing to create a hollow space in the desired cap shape.
  • the cavity and core parts of a mold are tightly clamped together by the injection molding machine to prevent their separation during the injection process.
  • the molten material such as, for example, thermoplastic provided by a homogeneous molten mass, which has reached a specific temperature and viscosity, is injected into a mold cavity under high pressure, to ensure that it takes the shape of a mold. After that, the molten material cools down and solidifies within the mold.
  • a technique such as compression molding, may also be considered when manufacturing a bottle closure.
  • the compression molding process is typically used for manufacturing large moderately curved structures. During this process, for example, a thermoplastic material is placed in between the two parts of a pre-heated mold (i.e. , a cavity mold), which may then press or squeeze that material allowing it to take the shape of that cavity. After, the mold is cooled, allowing the material within it to solidify, and the final structure is ejected from the mold.
  • a pre-heated mold i.e. , a cavity mold
  • compression molding of a thermoplastic material may have a longer cycle time, which should be considered when it comes to manufacturing a high volume of small and intricate parts, such as bottle closures.
  • an ejected bottle closure may be passed for further examination to detect any structural imperfections, such as, for example, some excess material at the open boundary (i.e., the rim) of a bottle closure.
  • a bottle closure may undergo additional trimming or polishing process to remove any excess material and achieve a specific shape.
  • the body of a tamper-evident bottle cap typically has a cylindrical or dome shape. It may comprise: the top portion (or a top surface), which user may interact with to open a container; the bottom portion that typically includes a tamper-evident band and a liner for sealing that cap with the bottle neck; for screw- on type caps, feature threads on the inner surface of the bottle closure offering a secure and tight fit of that cap; a skirt that comprises grip -enhancing ridges and constitutes a part of the bottom portion of the bottle cap, offering a secure attachment of that bottle cap to the corresponding bottle neck.
  • a bottle cap may be scored to allow further detachment of the top portion of a bottle closure from the bottom portion, and to obtain a tether, which may constitute a part of the tamper-evident band and allows the top portion of a bottle closure to remain attached to the bottom portion when that bottle is open.
  • Scoring of the cap is typically done after molding in a slitting machine, and it is widely used in the production of container caps.
  • a process is known as die cutting, as it relies on the specializer cutting tools, i.e., a die, allowing accurately and efficiently achieve a desired cut.
  • Some caps may also be manufactured with pre- designed scoring features during the molding process, which, in this case, requires mold to incorporate a scoring pattern.
  • a laser cutting process where a laser beam is used to create the desired score lines with high precision, may also be used to score container caps.
  • a tamper-evident band of a cap comprises inwardly facing projections or tabs allowing to fasten the bottom portion of a cap to a closure retaining protrusion in the lower part of a bottle neck (for instance, refer to the protrusion 4 and inwardly facing tabs 8 of a tamper-evident bottle cap with a tether 5 disclosed in the prior art reference US5725115A in Figures 1 and 2, and shown here in Figures 1A and IB, respectively).
  • a tamper-evident band is a ring around a lower part of the neck of a container that breaks or separates from the top portion of a cap when that container is opened, e.g., when a cap is unscrewed or detached from a container for the first time.
  • the bottom portion of a cap is scored (i.e., perforated) enabling it to break off from the upper portion of the neck of a container, in order to facilitate the opening of a container.
  • scoring is also known to provide a tether that offers a connection between a cap and a container, which prevents a cap from being separated or lost when a container is open.
  • the attachment points of a tether are usually located on the cap’s inner side wall or cap’s skirt.
  • the core part of the mold may comprise a mechanism allowing to reduce, for example, its diameter, in order for that core part to be ejected (e.g., unscrewed or removed) from the molded cap without breaking the inwardly facing tabs. Therefore, manufacturing a bottle cap with its tabs extending outwardly laterally or upwardly (i.e., vertically) from its bottom portion may be a better solution when it comes to the molding process. However, this creates another challenge of then folding such outwardly laterally or upwardly extending tabs inward and downward, in such a way that they provide ridges for securely attaching a bottle cap to the bottle neck.
  • a tamper-evident container cap or closure is molded or formed in a way that its bottom portion does not include inwardly facing projections (for simplicity, further referred as tabs in the description)
  • tabs inwardly facing projections
  • Figure 1A is a perspective view of a tamper-evident cap known in the prior art (from US5725115).
  • Figure IB is a sectional view of the cap of Figure 1A.
  • Figures 2A is a perspective view of a tamper-evident bottle cap with its tabs extending laterally outward from the bottom portion of the bottle cap according to an embodiment.
  • Figure 2B is a sectional view of the cap of Figure 2A.
  • FIG 3 illustrates steps of a folding process of a bottle cap according to an embodiment in which there is shown an oblique view of the bottle cap with its tabs extending upwardly (see Step 1), a side view of the bottle cap being cut with a continuous motion slitter (see Step 2), a schematic oblique view of the bottle cap with its tabs being folded inward so, as the result, they extend medially (i.e., radially inward) from the bottom portion of the bottle cap toward the central axis of the bottle cap, i.e., imaginary center line, around which the bottle cap is symmetrically balanced (see Step 3), an oblique schematic view of the bottle cap with its tabs being folded downward (see Step 4).
  • Figure 4A is a schematic perspective view of a production machine comprising three turrets for folding laterally outwardly extending tabs to achieve a resulting cap shape shown in Figure 3 (see Step 4).
  • Figure 4B is a schematic perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the production machine comprising two turrets for folding laterally outwardly extending tabs to achieve a resulting cap shape shown in Figure 3 (see Step 4).
  • Figure 5A illustrates the first turret of the production machine shown in Figure 4.
  • Figures 5B and 5C illustrate a cross-sectional view of the first turret and the tool used to fold the tabs of the bottle cap upward with the tool withdrawn in Figure 5B and inserted in Figure 5C.
  • Figure 5D schematically illustrates the final cap shape achieved by the first turret, i.e., the cap with its tabs folded upward, as shown in Step 1 of Figure 3.
  • Figure 6A schematically illustrates the second turret of the production machine shown in Figure 4, which is used to gradually fold inward the upwardly extending tabs of the bottle cap, so they then extend medially toward the central axis of the bottle cap by rolling the cap against the knurled or folding segments in carousel fashion, with the bottle cap going through the folding process.
  • Figures 6B and 6C schematically illustrate a magnified views 60 and 62 of Figure 6A, wherein a bottle cap is at the beginning and at the end of the folding process, respectively.
  • Figure 6D schematically illustrates a magnified view of the second turret comprising a blade, which may be installed on the opposite side of the ribbing of the knurled and folding segment to provide a slitting station for the neighboring turret.
  • Figure 7A schematically illustrates the third turret of the production machine shown in Figure 4, which is used to fold medially extending tabs of the bottle cap downward.
  • Figure 7B schematically illustrates a magnified view 72 of Figure 7 A, where the bottle caps as shown if Step 3 of Figure 3 are passed to third turret 43 for further folding to achieve the bottle cap shape as shown in Step 4 of Figure 3.
  • Figure 7C schematically illustrates a magnified view 74 of Figure 7A, wherein the tabs of the bottle cap, which extend medially, are folded downward.
  • Figure 7D illustrates an alternative embodiment of the first turret and the second turret, wherein the first turret allows to fold the tabs upward (as shown in Step 2 of Figure 3), and the second turret allows to then fold the tabs progressively medially and then progressively downward (as shown in Step 4 of Figure 3).
  • Figure 7E schematically illustrates a magnified view 76 of the first turret illustrated in Figure 7D.
  • Figure 7F schematically illustrates a magnified view 78 of the second turret illustrated in Figure 7D.
  • Figure 8A illustrates an arbor press, i.e., a traditional folding tool, which in this case is used to fold the tabs of the bottle cap upward.
  • Figure 8B schematically illustrates a magnified cross-sectional view of the tool shown in Figure 8A used to push a bottle cap through the opening in the work area.
  • Figures 9A to 9D illustrate folding of the upwardly extending tabs of the bottle cap inward, so they are extending medially toward the central axis of the bottle cap, by rolling the cap against the knurled or folding segments in linear fashion, with the cap being at the beginning of the folding process in Figure 9 A and at the end of the folding process in Figure 9D.
  • Figure 10A is a side sectional view of a cap and folding apparatus prior to folding.
  • Figure 10B is a side section view of a cap and folding apparatus with the stripper pin engaged and the floor partly retracted.
  • Figure 10C is a side section view of a cap and folding apparatus with the tabs of the bottle cap being folded upwardly.
  • Figure 10D is a magnified view 100 of the side section view of a cap and folding apparatus shown in Figure 10C with the tabs of the bottle cap being folded upwardly.
  • Figure 10E is a side section view of a cap and folding apparatus with the folding tool raised and the folding sleeve lowered to provide a room for the slitting station.
  • Figure 10F is a side section view of a cap and folding apparatus with the cap ejected from the folding tool.
  • Figure 10G is a side section view of a cap and folding apparatus with the tabs of the bottle cap being folded downwardly.
  • Figure 11A is a perspective view of a bottle cap according to an embodiment.
  • Figure 11B illustrates a side view of the bottle cap attached to the bottle neck (depicted by thin segments), and the open bottle with the top portion of the bottle cap but still being attached to the bottom portion using a tether.
  • Figure 12A is a schematic side sectional view illustrating an embodiment for performing a first inward fold of the upwardly extending tabs of the bottle cap using a mandrel head with a concave cone-shaped opening.
  • Figure 12B is a schematic side sectional view illustrating an embodiment for performing a second inward fold of the upwardly extending tabs of the bottle cap using a mandrel head with a cone-shaped opening.
  • Figure 12C is a schematic side sectional view illustrating an embodiment for performing a third inward fold of the upwardly extending tabs of the bottle cap using a flat mandrel head.
  • Figure 12D is a schematic side sectional view illustrating an embodiment for performing a fourth fold of the tabs of the bottle cap using a convex cone-shaped mandrel head.
  • Figure 12E is a schematic side sectional view illustrating an embodiment for performing a fifth fold of the tabs of the bottle cap using a convex cone-shaped mandrel head.
  • Figure 12F is a schematic side sectional view illustrating an embodiment for performing a sixth fold of the tabs of the bottle cap using a smaller diameter flat mandrel head.
  • FIGS 1A and IB illustrate tamper-evident bottle cap 10, which is known in the prior art (see Figures 1 and 2 of US5725115A, respectively).
  • Tabs 18, which inwardly extend from the bottom portion of bottle cap 10, allow for secure attachment of bottle cap 10 to closure retaining protrusion 14 in bottle neck 17.
  • tether 15 allows top portion 12 of the bottle cap to remain attached to bottom portion 13 of the bottle cap.
  • a bottle cap comprises tabs that extend laterally outwardly (as shown in Figure 2A) or upwardly (as shown in Step 2 of Figure 3)
  • tamper-evident bottle cap 20 described herein may comprise top portion 21, which may include flat top surface 27. A user may interact with top portion 21 to open or close a bottle. Cap body 20 may further comprise bottom portion 22, which may allow for attaching that bottle cap to the bottle neck. The bottle cap may be scored along the path 29a, to allow separating top portion 21 from bottom portion 22. Additionally, bottle cap 20 may be scored along path 29b, to obtain tether 28 (see Figure 11B).
  • Screw-on type caps may comprise feature threads 24 (see Figure 2B) on the inner surface of a cap (also shown by dashed segments in Figure 2B) offering a secure and tight fit of that cap onto the closure retaining protrusion 117 of the bottle neck (see Figure 11B).
  • Tabs 25, which may extend laterally outwardly from bottom portion 22 of cap 20, may offers structural support and grip-enhancing ridges for further attachment of the cap to the closure retaining protrusion in lower part of the bottle neck (for instance, see protrusion 117 in Figure 11B).
  • Tabs 25 may form flange 26, which may have an undulating shape.
  • Bottom portion 22 may comprise interior sidewall 23a and exterior sidewall 23b, both of which may comprise a ribbing.
  • Figure 2B illustrates a cross-sectional view of bottle cap 20.
  • Figure 3 shows the steps of folding laterally outwardly extending tabs 25, which enables a tamper-evident bottle cap to safely attach and lock onto the bottle neck.
  • the shapes of a bottle cap, achieved at each step of the folding process are illustrated.
  • bottle cap 20 which may be heated to a specific temperature to become pliable, and the tabs that extend laterally outwardly may be bent upward.
  • bottle cap 20 may be put through the slitting process that involves scoring a bottle cap along the path 29a and/or 29b (for example, to obtain a tether 28, as shown in Figure 11B, which may allow for top portion 21 of cap 20 to remain inseparable from bottom portion 22 of the cap when that cap no longer covers the bottle opening) with blades 30, allowing for further separation of top portion 21 of the cap from its bottom portion 22 (see Figure 2A).
  • scoring process different scoring patterns may be used to achieve different types of perforation.
  • bottle cap tabs 25 may be folded inward, so that they may extend medially (i.e., radially inward), or equivalently, in the direction perpendicular to the central axis of bottle cap 20 (i.e., the imaginary center line, around which the bottle cap is symmetrically balanced). As mentioned above, heat may be applied to ensure that the plastic material is folded in accordance with the mechanical forces applied so that the new shape holds.
  • bottle cap tabs 25 may be folded downward.
  • the forth step may be achieved by simply placing bottle cap 20 shown in Step 3 of Figure 3 on top of bottle opening 116 (see Figure 11B) and applying force to that bottle cap in such a way that tabs 25 may fold downward while sliding onto the bottle neck allowing to securely attach that bottle cap to closure retaining protrusion 117 on the bottle neck (for instance, see Figures 11A and 11B).
  • tabs 25 may be pinched against interior sidewall 23a of bottle cap 20, using either a tool which may have smaller diameter than the diameter of an aperture of cap 20 but nonetheless may force tabs 25 to engage interior sidewall 23a, or heat ironing them to interior sidewall 23a, which may allow bottle cap tabs 25 to stay in place and after safely lock onto the closure retaining protrusion of the bottle neck. Since the purpose of the tabs is to remain engaged against closure retaining protrusion 117 of the bottle neck (see Figures 11A and 1 IB) the operation of pinching the tabs of the bottle cap to make the tabs assume a permanent position may be optional since the biasing of the tabs would be against the neck.
  • the above-mentioned manufacturing method may be implemented but not limited to using production machines and their various embodiments further provided in the description. It is appreciated that folding of the bottle cap tabs may be performed, for example, using turret (or carousel tab) folding machine or linear tab folding machine. It may also be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that any other folding techniques, mechanisms or an apparatus may be used to fold tabs 25 in such a manner, which may allow to prevent breaking tabs 25 while folding them and ensure further secure attachment of a bottle cap onto a bottle neck. Furthermore, it may be appreciated that each folding stage described herein may be achieved using one machine or multiple machines.
  • one machine may comprise a plurality of mechanisms allowing to achieve each folding stage of bottle cap tabs 25, i.e., starting from tabs 25 extending laterally outwardly (see Figure 2A) or upwardly (see Step 1 of Figure 3) and finishing with tabs 25 extending medially (see Step 3 of Figure 3) or downwardly (see Step 4 in Figure 3).
  • Figure 4A illustrates production machine 40, which may comprise a plurality of turrets 44, each of which may be equipped with a plurality of working heads (or mandrels) 45.
  • Figure 4 illustrates a production machine which may comprise three turrets 41, 42, 43, where bottle cap 20 is passed from one turret to another one in a specific order (in this example, bottle cap 20 may be passed to turret 41, then turret 42, and then turret 43) to achieve its resulting shape shown in Step 4 of Figure 3.
  • FIG 4B schematically illustrates an alternative embodiment of production machine 40, which may comprise two turrets, i.e., turret 42 and turret 43, allowing to fold tabs 25.
  • Turret 42 may be used to fold laterally outwardly extending tabs 25 upward (as shown, for example, in Step 1 of Figure 3) and then fold upwardly extending tabs 25 inward (as shown in Step 3 of Figure 3).
  • Turret 43 may then be used to fold inwardly facing tabs 25 downward (as shown in Step 4 of Figure 3).
  • the folding mechanism provided by turret 42 may have the same principle as further illustrated in Figures 9A to 9D.
  • Figure 5A illustrates first turret 41 (see Figure 4A).
  • bottle cap 20 may be fed into pocket 50 of a plurality of pockets that further may guide that cap to a cavity 51 of a plurality of cavities of turret 41.
  • mandrel 52 of a plurality of mandrels may push bottle cap 20 through an opening of cavity 51, which may force laterally outwardly extending tabs 25 of bottle cap 20 to bend upward.
  • a bottle cap may be heated to a specific temperature, so that the material it has been made from (e.g., thermoplastic, such as polyethylene) becomes pliable and tabs 25 do not break when force is applied to bottle cap by mandrel 52.
  • thermoplastic such as polyethylene
  • Figure 5B illustrates a cross-sectional view of cavity 51 and mandrel 52.
  • the cap may be stabilized against telescopic floor 54 using stripper pin 56.
  • Telescopic floor 54 may follow the movement of mandrel 52, to provide stability to bottle cap 20.
  • telescopic floor 54 may lower, and bottle cap 20 may fall into cavity 51.
  • the vertical downward movement of the mandrel 52 may continue until the mandrel contacts the interior part of the cap’s top surface 27 (see Figure 5C), which may force tabs 25 to bend upward, as illustrated in Figure 5D.
  • mandrel 52 and stripper pin 56 may retract, allowing further transferring of the cap to the second turret 42 (see Figure 4).
  • laterally outwardly extending tabs 25 of bottle cap 20 shown in Figure 2A may be folded upward using a mandrel (which may have a smaller diameter then the aperture of bottle cap 20) that may be placed inside the bottle cap and may engage interior sidewall 23a of bottle cap 20 providing traction to that mandrel. Then, mandrel 52 may be rotated and may force the bottle cap to rotate while being pressed along the elongated surface that may have a twisted or spiral shape allowing tabs 25 to progressively fold upward and preventing them from breaking.
  • a mandrel which may have a smaller diameter then the aperture of bottle cap 20
  • mandrel 52 may be rotated and may force the bottle cap to rotate while being pressed along the elongated surface that may have a twisted or spiral shape allowing tabs 25 to progressively fold upward and preventing them from breaking.
  • bottle cap 20 may be placed onto telescopic floor 54 of a plurality of telescopic floors which pass through a cavity of the plurality of cavities of turret 42.
  • Telescopic floor 54 may be lifted allowing the interior part of the cap’s top surface 27 to contact mandrel 52, which may have a smaller diameter then the aperture of bottle cap 20.
  • Mandrel 52 may contact interior sidewall 23a of bottle cap 20, and then bottle cap 20 may be rolled in a carousel manner along first elongated surface 63 (see Figure 6B schematically illustrating a magnified view 60 of Figure 6A), which may have an arcuate shape and may further referred to as knurled segment, whereas the second elongated surface 64, which may also have an arcuate shape and may further referred to as folding segment, may progressively fold tabs 25 inward over edge 65 of the head of mandrel 52, with the bending angle starting at 0 degrees, i.e., when the tabs 25 extend upwardly, and gradually reaching 90 degrees, i.e., when the tabs 25 extend medially from the bottom portion of the bottle cap, i.e., towards the central axis of the bottle cap (see Figure 6C schematically illustrating a magnified view 62 of Figure 6A).
  • edge 65 of the mandrel head 52 may play an important role in creating the crease in the right place of the tabs root.
  • Knurled segment 63 may comprise ribbing 63a, which may engage with the ribbing of exterior sidewall 23b and improve traction between exterior sidewall 23b of the bottle cap and that knurled segment, to prevent bottle cap 20 from slipping while gradually folding the tabs inward.
  • Folding segment 64 may be located on top of knurled segment 63, and it may slightly and increasingly protrude over that knurled segment. It may be appreciated that any other arrangement of knurled segment 63 and folding segment 64 may be possible, as long as such an arrangement allows to fold tabs 25 in a desired manner.
  • FIG 6C illustrated the result of the Step 3 (see Figure 3), where tabs 25 of the bottle cap have been folded in such a way that they now may extend medially from bottom portion 22 of bottle cap 20.
  • at least one blade 30 shown in Step 2 of Figure 3 may be installed at the end of any of the knurled or folding segments, or in between both segments, for scoring the cap and allowing for further separation of top portion 21 from bottom portion 22 of bottle cap 20, and/or in order to cut tether 28 (see Figure 11B).
  • bottle cap 20 may then be transferred to third turret 43 (see Figure 4).
  • Figure 6D schematically illustrates a magnified view of turret 42.
  • the latter may further include blade 30, which may be installed at the opposite side of ribbing 63a of knurled segment 63 and folding segment 64, which may provide a slitting station for the neighboring turret.
  • a processing apparatus for causing the folding of the tabs 25 may comprise a mechanism for rotating the cap 20 against and while moving relative to a tab engaging surface (e.g., an elongated spiraling or twisted surface 63) to cause the first and second folding steps.
  • a processing apparatus can use a pocket or cavity wheel or can be linear.
  • the rotation mechanism can be a mandrel that moves, or the cap can be rotated in place while the elongated surface can move with respect to the tabs.
  • the tab engaging surface may also be a short flat surface that pivots while the cap turns to cause the tabs to undergo the first and second folds.
  • bottle cap 20 may be placed inside cavity 51, and then tabs 25 of cap 20 may be folded downward using a traditional press tool 70 or any other suitable tool, so that the final shape of the bottle cap, which is illustrated in Step 4 of Figure 3, may be achieved (see Figure 7C, which schematically depicts a magnified view 72 of Figure 7 A).
  • Figure 7B schematically illustrates a magnified view 74 of Figure 7 A, where the bottle caps as shown if Step 3 of Figure 3 may be passed to third turret 43 for further folding to achieve the bottle cap shape as shown in Step 4 of Figure 3.
  • additional turrets may be integrated into production machine 40 (see Figure 4) or a separate machine may be used to insert a sealing liner into the cap.
  • bottle cap 20 may be manufactured or pre-folded in such a way that its tabs 25 extend upwardly, only two turrets, namely turret 42 (i.e., a main turret) and turret 43 (i.e., a folding turret) may be used to achieve the bottle cap shape as provided in Step 4 of Figure 3.
  • turret 42 i.e., a main turret
  • turret 43 i.e., a folding turret
  • tabs 25, which may extend laterally outwardly may be folded to extend upwardly using the main turret (see Figure 7E schematically depicting a magnified view 76 of the first turret shown in Figure 7D), and then be passed to the folding turret to be progressively folded medially and then directly folded downward (see Figure 7F schematically depicting a magnified view 78 of the second turret shown in Figure 7D depicting tabs folded medially).
  • the first step may be represented by a manual arbor press 80 shown in Figure 8A which may be used to fold or bend cap tabs 25 upward (see Step 1 of Figure 3).
  • bottle cap 20 may be placed into work area 81 of the arbor press, which may comprise cavity 84, and then bottle cap 20 may be forced by mandrel 83 of the arbor press mechanism through an opening of cavity 84 (see Figure 8B schematically showing a magnified view 82 of Figure 8A).
  • the cap with its tabs folded upward may then be transferred to a programmable or CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling machine, which may be used to progressively fold the tabs inward, so that they may extend medially from the bottom portion of the bottle cap.
  • CNC Computer Numerical Control
  • the milling’s spindle may drive mandrel 52, which may have a smaller diameter than the aperture of bottle cap 20, in linear manner, while the cap travels along knurled segment 92, which may have a linear shape and may also comprise ribbing 63a to engage exterior sidewall 23b of bottle cap 20, while providing better traction between the bottle cap and knurled segment and helping mandrel 52 to drive the cap as it rotates against folding segment 93, which may progressively push the tabs inward allowing them to fold, with the bending angle starting at 0 degrees, i.e., when tabs 25 extend laterally outwardly, and gradually reaching 180 degrees, i.e., when tabs 25 extend medially from the bottom portion of bottle cap 20.
  • folding segment 93 may be located on top of knurled segment 92, and folding segment 93 may slightly and increasingly protrude over knurled segment 92 in such a way that allows gradually folding the tabs of a cap upward and then inward. It may be appreciated that the bending angle may not necessarily reach 180 degrees, as long as the next step of the folding process may allow to bend tabs 25 downward, ensuring future secure attachment of the bottle cap onto the bottle neck. It may also be appreciated that any other arrangement of knurled segment 92 and folding segment 93 may be possible, as long as such an arrangement allows to fold tabs 25 in a desired manner.
  • edge 65 (also see Figure 9D) of the head of mandrel 52 may play an important role in creating the crease in the right place of the root of tabs 25.
  • at least one blade 30 shown in Step 2 of Figure 3 may be installed at the end of any of the knurled or folding segments, or in between both segments, for scoring the cap to allow further separation of the top portion of the cap from the bottom portion of the cap, or/and in order to cut a tether.
  • Figures 9B, 9C and 9D schematically illustrate the folding of tabs 25 of bottle cap 20 in order to achieve a bottle cap shape as shown in Step 3 of Figure 3, wherein Figure 9B illustrates bottle cap 20 at the beginning of the folding process, Figure 9C illustrates bottle cap 20 at Step 2 (see Figure 3) of the folding process, and Figure 9D illustrates bottle cap 20 at the end of the folding process.
  • the tabs of the cap may be folded inward using a traditional folding tool, such as arbor press 80 shown in Figure 8A.
  • Mandrel 52 associated with the main turret 41 and illustrated in Figure 10A may comprise stripper pin 56, folding tool 104, and internal tool 105.
  • the head of mandrel 52 may have a smaller diameter than the aperture of bottle cap 20.
  • Telescopic floor 54 and folding sleeve 102 may be located in each cavity of main turret 41.
  • stripper pin 56 may be lowered to stabilize bottle cap 20, and then folding sleeve 102 may be raised to contact tabs 25 of bottle cap 20, i.e., to locate bottle cap 20 (see Figure 10C).
  • stripper pin 56 as well as folding sleeve 102 and telescopic floor 54, may be raised to fold the tabs of the cap over folding tool 104.
  • folding tool 104 may be raised and folding sleeve 102 may be lowered to provide a room for the slitting station 106, which may comprise the under-blade segment 107, which may further incorporate knurls contacting exterior sidewall 23b of bottle cap 20, and over-blade segment 108.
  • bottle cap 20 may be pinched between internal tool 105 and blades 107 and 108. Then, bottle cap 20 may be rotated by the gear attached to mandrel 52 along the knurls of blade 107. Tabs 25 may be folded inward by over-blade tool 108 over shoulder 109 of internal tool 105, so that they extend medially from the bottom portion of bottle cap 20 (see Step 3 of Figure 3). Additionally, bottle cap 20 may be scored along path 29a, to allow further separation the top portion of a cap from its bottom portion, and also along path 29b, in order to obtain tether 28 (for instance, see Figures 2A and 11B). Then, bottle cap 20 may be ejected from the internal tool 105 as illustrated in Figure 10F.
  • bottle cap 20 may be transferred to the folding turret shown in Figure 10G.
  • Folding turret 42 may comprise spring-loaded sleeve 111 and plunger 112.
  • Bottle cap 20 may be located and constrained by spring-loaded sleeve 111, and tabs 25 of bottle cap may be inverted by plunger 112 in a downward motion to achieve the shape of the cap shown in Step 4 of Figure 3.
  • spring-loaded sleeve 111 may further maintain the cap against the dial surface 113 of folding turret 42 to prevent any structural damage of bottle cap 20.
  • the slant height of a cone i.e., the distance from the apex to any point on the circumference of a cone
  • the slant height of a cone may decrease starting from a large value, i.e., when the cone apex angle is acute (see Figure 12A), to a smaller value, i.e., when the cone apex angle is obtuse (see, for instance, Figure 12B).
  • Such mandrel heads with decreasing cone apex angle may then be used to progressively fold tabs 25, so they may extend medially.
  • mandrel with a cylindrically shaped head 123a may be used to complete the folding of tabs 25 medially to achieve the cap’s shape shown in Step 3 of Figure 3.
  • the slant height of a cone may increase starting from a small value, i.e., when the cone apex angle is obtuse (see Figure 12D), to a larger value, i.e., when the cone apex angle is acute (see, for instance, Figure 12E).
  • Such mandrel heads may be used to progressively fold tabs 25 downward while, for example, pushing bottle cap 20 through an opening of a cavity of a turret (e.g., cavity 51 shown in Figure 5C).
  • a mandrel with a cylindrically shaped head 123b which has a smaller diameter than the aperture of the bottle cap (as long as mandrel head 123b contacts tabs 25), may be used to complete the folding of tabs 25 downward to achieve the resulting cap’s shape shown in Step 4 of Figure 3.
  • a mandrel head 122 having a cone-shaped cavity with an obtuse cone apex angle may be used to slightly fold cap tabs 25 inward (as shown in Figure 12A), and then a mandrel head 123b, which may have a cylindrical shape with a smaller diameter that the aperture of the bottle cap (see Figure 12F) may be used to fold tabs 25 downward (as shown in Step 4 of Figure 3).
  • cone-shaped mandrel heads with increasing cone apex angle (such as those shown in Figures 12D and 12F) may be employed to progressively fold tabs 25 downward.
  • bottle cap 20 with its tabs being slightly folded inward may be forced onto the opening of a bottle neck and safely lock onto a bottle neck protrusion 117 (see Figures 11A and 11B). This may be done as part of the capping process of a filled container.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Closures For Containers (AREA)

Abstract

La fabrication d'un bouchon ou d'une fermeture de récipient inviolable, comme par exemple un bouchon de bouteille, peut impliquer le moulage ou la formation d'un bouchon de récipient de telle sorte qu'il permet sa fixation sûre et son détachement sûr d'un récipient. Cependant, le procédé de moulage de fermetures de récipient avec des saillies ou des languettes s'étendant vers l'extérieur, qui peuvent ensuite être pliées vers l'intérieur pour obtenir un verrou sécurisé, présente des défis de fabrication significatifs. Une fermeture de récipient décrite ici est fabriquée pour comprendre des languettes, qui s'étendent latéralement vers l'extérieur à partir d'un rebord de cette fermeture de récipient. Cette approche permet de plier davantage les languettes vers le haut, médialement et vers le bas, pour faciliter la fixation sécurisée d'un bouchon de bouteille à un récipient.
PCT/CA2024/050890 2023-07-04 2024-07-03 Fabrication de fermeture Pending WO2025007208A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US202363511873P 2023-07-04 2023-07-04
US63/511,873 2023-07-04

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2025007208A1 true WO2025007208A1 (fr) 2025-01-09

Family

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/CA2024/050890 Pending WO2025007208A1 (fr) 2023-07-04 2024-07-03 Fabrication de fermeture

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2025007208A1 (fr)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4478343A (en) * 1982-09-23 1984-10-23 Ethyl Molded Products Company Tamper-indicating closure
US5219507A (en) * 1989-07-27 1993-06-15 Owens-Illinois Closure Inc. Method of making a tamper indicating package
US5725115A (en) 1995-02-21 1998-03-10 Crown Cork Ag Closure cap with tether
US20050189312A1 (en) * 1998-08-07 2005-09-01 Bixler Frederick L. Tamper indicating closure with foldable tab
US20060284341A1 (en) * 2005-06-17 2006-12-21 Owens-Illinois Closure Inc. Apparatus and method for inverting a stop flange on a tamper-indicating closure

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4478343A (en) * 1982-09-23 1984-10-23 Ethyl Molded Products Company Tamper-indicating closure
US5219507A (en) * 1989-07-27 1993-06-15 Owens-Illinois Closure Inc. Method of making a tamper indicating package
US5725115A (en) 1995-02-21 1998-03-10 Crown Cork Ag Closure cap with tether
US20050189312A1 (en) * 1998-08-07 2005-09-01 Bixler Frederick L. Tamper indicating closure with foldable tab
US20060284341A1 (en) * 2005-06-17 2006-12-21 Owens-Illinois Closure Inc. Apparatus and method for inverting a stop flange on a tamper-indicating closure

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