Search

EP-4281386-B1 - SMALL WALL THICKNESS INJECTED CONTAINER AND SCREW CLOSURE

EP4281386B1EP 4281386 B1EP4281386 B1EP 4281386B1EP-4281386-B1

Inventors

  • ALBISETTI, NICOLAS
  • MAELSTAF, LUC

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220117

Claims (11)

  1. A container (1) comprising : - a jar (10) made of at least one injected thermoplastic material and comprising a body (11) having an inner wall (15) defining an opening and an outer skirt (16) concentric with the inner wall and connected thereto, the outer skirt (16) having a radially outer surface with at least one helical thread (31), the inner wall (15) having a thickness less than 1 mm, preferably less than 0,7mm, - a closure lid (20) having at least one helical thread (33) for screwing on the outer skirt of the jar, the closure lid (20) having an outer skirt (27) provided with said at least one helical thread (33), said outer skirt (27) being connected via a transverse wall (26) to a first annular portion (24) defining a first groove (25) opening downwards, the first groove (25) having a substantially inverted U profile in section, the closure lid (20) comprising reinforcing ribs (36) extending in said groove, the lid (20) comprising a transverse wall (26) to which the outer skirt (27) of the lid connects, said transverse wall (26) coming into axial abutment with a transverse wall (17) connecting the inner wall (15) and the outer skirt (16) of the jar to prevent further rotation of the lid (20) when the latter is screwed on the jar (10).
  2. The container of claim 1, comprising a plurality of reinforcing ribs (18) connecting the inner wall (15) to the outer skirt (16), the ribs (18) preferably extending axially on a distance less than a height of the outer skirt (16).
  3. The container of any one of claims 2 and 3, the number of ribs (18) ranging from 6 to 30.
  4. The container of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the wall (17) connecting the inner wall (15) to the outer skirt (16) is annular.
  5. The container of claim 4, wherein the plurality of reinforcing ribs (18) connecting the inner wall (15) to the outer skirt (16) extend under said annular transverse wall (17).
  6. The container of claim 4 or 5, the inner wall (15) extending above the transverse wall (17) and defining a sealing lip (30).
  7. The container of any one of claims 1 to 6, the body (11) having a conical wall (13) to which the inner wall (15) connects via a shoulder (14).
  8. The container of any one of claims 1 to 7, the opening having a diameter of a least 5 cm.
  9. The container of claim 6, the sealing lip (30) bearing on a radially inner surface of said groove (25) when the container is closed.
  10. The container of any one of claims 1 to 9, the closure lid (20) comprising a second annular portion (22) defining a second groove (23) opening upwards.
  11. The container of any one of claims 1 to 10, the closure lid being made of an injected thermoplastic material.

Description

The present invention relates to a thermoplastic container. Prior art Some cosmetics are packaged in containers consisting of a jar provided with a screw closure lid. The jar may be made of thermoplastic materials. There is a need to diminish the weight of material for environmental purposes. It is known in the food industry to make light weight containers by thermoforming a sheet of plastic material. However, most of these containers have a closure lid that is fastened to the corresponding jar by snap fastening, not screwing. These containers are not satisfactory for holding cosmetics as the consumers are used to open and close the container by unscrewing or screwing the closure lid. EP 1268289, EP 2392521, EP 1122184, US 5542532 or US 3817420 relate to containers with a snap-in lid. US 7523839 discloses a ventable spin lock food container made by thermoforming a thermoplastic material. The container includes a bowl provided with a flange extending downwardly to define an outer skirt on which threads are formed. These threads cooperate with corresponding ones formed on the lid to create a vent for avoiding building of internal pressure during microwave heating. The material of the container is sufficiently resiliently deformable to facilitate cooperation between the lid and bowl threads. Such a container may be appropriate for packaging a food product but may not meet the standards of the cosmetic industry relating to handing resistance, tightness and sensoriality. US8608009 discloses a container made by thermoforming a sheet of plastics material. The jar is made with some projections allowing to lock the closure after some rotation. The closure lid is made with small bosses that can engage under the projections during the locking. Such a container suffers the drawbacks due to the use of a thermoformed material. US6170691 discloses a container assembly including a container member having an open end and a lid. CH679770 discloses a container comprising a body made of thermoplastic material having an inner wall defining an opening and an outer skirt concentric with the inner wall and connected thereto, the outer skirt having a radially outer surface with at least one helical thread, and a closure lid having at least one helical thread for screwing on the outer skirt of the jar, the closure lid having an outer skirt provided with said at least one helical thread, said outer skirt being connected via a transverse wall to a first annular portion defining a first groove opening downwards, the first groove having a substantially inverted U profile in section, the lid comprising a transverse wall to which the outer skirt of the lid connects, said transverse wall coming into axial abutment with a transverse wall connecting the inner wall and the outer skirt of the jar when the lid is screwed on the jar. Summary of the invention There thus remains a need for an improved container suitable for holding cosmetics and that can be manufactured with a thin wall thickness and a reduced weight of plastics material. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention aim at satisfying this need and relate to a container comprising: a jar made of at least one injected thermoplastic material and comprising a body having an inner wall defining an opening and an outer skirt concentric with the inner wall and connected thereto, the outer skirt having a radially outer surface with at least one helical thread,a closure lid having at least one helical thread for screwing on the outer skirt of the jar, as disclosed in appended claim 1. Thanks to the double skirt the invention enables to make the jar with a body of reduced wall thickness while providing enough rigidity and mechanical strength to withstand the screwing of the closure lid and achieve the desired sealing. The container may also withstand internal overpressure to some extent. The use of injected plastics materials allows to mold the jar with a relatively high precision, thus avoiding the need for designing the cooperating threads with a high resiliency to compensate for poor manufacture tolerances, contrary to thermoformed containers with screw lids. Accordingly, quality and sensoriality standards of the cosmetic industry are easier to meet. As the jar is made by an injection process, it comprises at least one trace of injection point, for example in the middle of its bottom. Preferably, both the jar and the lid each have a plurality of helical threads, which allows a quick fastening of the closure lid by screwing. The jar is preferably made monolithically in one piece of a same injected material in a single molding operation, and the lid also. Preferably, the container comprises a plurality of reinforcing ribs in the groove formed by the inner wall and outer skirt. These ribs preferably connect the inner wall to the outer skirt. This improves the rigidity of the double skirt and help reduce the wall thickness of the jar. The ribs may extend axially on a distance that is less