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US-12617591-B2 - Aseptic container closure having a hinge and a mouthpiece

US12617591B2US 12617591 B2US12617591 B2US 12617591B2US-12617591-B2

Abstract

The invention relates to a container closure including a base portion, a pouring region having a peripheral wall that extends about a reference axis of the container closure, and a cap portion which is connected to the base portion by means of a hinge. The cap portion has a base, a peripheral outer wall which extends axially from the base to a peripheral lower edge of the cap portion, and an anchoring wall which extends outside the outer wall and at a radial distance from said outer wall, and which is connected to the lower edge of the cap portion by means of a bridge of the cap portion that extends radially outwards from the lower edge of the cap portion.

Inventors

  • Philippe Nusbaum

Assignees

  • BERICAP HOLDING GMBH

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20220307
Priority Date
20210310

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A container closure comprising: a base part, a pouring area having a peripheral wall extending about a reference axis of the container closure and extending axially from the base part to a peripheral top edge of the pouring area surrounding a drinking opening, a cap part connected to the base part by a hinge and rotatable back and forth between a closed position and an open position about a pivot axis extending perpendicular to the reference axis, wherein the cap part has a base and a peripheral outer wall surrounding an inner surface of the base and extending axially from the base to a circumferential lower edge of the cap part, wherein the peripheral outer wall and the base of the cap part together surround and cover the pouring area in the closed position, wherein the cap part has an anchor wall which extends outside the peripheral outer wall at a radial distance from the peripheral outer wall and is rigidly connected to the lower edge of the cap part by a bridge of the cap part extending radially outwardly from the lower edge of the cap part, wherein, in the closed position, the anchor wall projects from the bridge in a direction opposite the base part and the hinge is connected to the anchor wall and extends from the anchor wall toward the base part, and wherein a channel is formed by the anchor wall, the bridge and a surface of the peripheral outer wall opposite the bridge, wherein the channel extends in a circumferential direction between two channel ends and is open in a direction opposite the base part between the channel ends, as well as in the circumferential direction at the two channel ends.
  2. 2 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the bridge has a flat contact surface which, in the closed position, faces a flat surface of the base part.
  3. 3 . The container closure claim 1 , wherein the cap part, in the open position, is located on a side opposite the pouring area of an orthoradial reference plane of the container closure which contains the pivot axis and extends parallel to the reference axis.
  4. 4 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the hinge is a bistable snap hinge.
  5. 5 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the hinge is connected to a ridge free standing in a recess of the anchor wall.
  6. 6 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the hinge is connected to a ridge free standing in a recess of the base part.
  7. 7 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the peripheral outer wall of the cap part has a circumferential sealing surface which, in the closed position, abuts a circumferential sealing surface of a connection area between the pouring area and the base part.
  8. 8 . The container closure according to claim 7 , wherein, in the closed position, a circumferential line of contact between the circumferential sealing surface of the cap part and the circumferential sealing surface of the connection area has a distance from a cross-sectional plane containing the pivot axis and extending perpendicular to the reference axis that is less than one-third of the distance of the top edge of the pouring area from the cross-sectional plane.
  9. 9 . The container closure according to claim 8 , wherein the circumferential line of contact has a diameter greater than the distance of the top edge of the pouring area from the cross-sectional plane.
  10. 10 . The container closure according to claim 8 , wherein the circumferential contact line has a distance to an orthoradial reference plane containing the pivot axis and extending parallel to the reference axis, which distance is greater than the distance of the circumferential contact line to the cross-sectional plane.
  11. 11 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the cap part has an inner circumferential centering bead which, in the closed position, surrounds and contacts the top edge of the pouring area.
  12. 12 . The container closure according to claim 11 , wherein in the closed position the centering bead has a circumferential contact surface with the top edge of the pouring area.
  13. 13 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the cap part has an inner sealing skirt which extends axially from the inner surface of the base of the cap part and, in the closed position, comes into contact with an inner annular fold of the peripheral wall of the pouring area and seals the drinking opening.
  14. 14 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the cap part is integrally designed with the hinge and the base part.
  15. 15 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the pouring area is integrally designed with the base part.
  16. 16 . The container closure according to claim 1 , wherein the pouring area is separate from the base part.
  17. 17 . The container closure according to claim 16 , wherein the base part has a base piece and an anchor ring that engages an annular notch of the base piece, wherein the anchor ring is integrally designed with the hinge and the cap part.
  18. 18 . The container closure according to claim 2 , wherein the flat contact surface of the bridge, in the closed position, comes into contact with the flat surface of the base part.
  19. 19 . The container closure according to claim 5 , wherein the ridge is flexible.
  20. 20 . The container closure according to claim 6 , wherein the ridge is flexible.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application is a National Stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2022/055746, filed Mar. 7, 2022, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to: (i) German Patent Application No. 102021132116.6, filed Dec. 7, 2021; (ii) German Patent Application No. 102021113872.8, filed May 28, 2021; and (iii) German Patent Application No. 102021105870.8, filed Mar. 10, 2021; the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. FIELD OF APPLICATION OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a container closure having a base part, a pouring area and a cap part which is connected to the base part by a hinge and can be rotated back and forth between a closed position and an open position about a pivot axis extending perpendicular to the reference axis. PRIOR ART From the document DE69605288T2 a container closure of the type mentioned at the beginning is known, in which the drinking part has a circumferential wall which extends around a reference axis of the container closure and extends axially from the base part to a circumferential upper edge of the pouring area which surrounds the drinking opening. The cap part has a base and an outer wall that extends axially from the base to a circumferential bottom edge of the cap part. In the closed position, the drinking part is surrounded and covered by the cap part. In the open position, the cap part lies on a side opposite the drinking part of a first reference plane of the container closure that contains the axis of the hinge and extends parallel to the reference axis. The hinge is designed as a bistable snap hinge and is arranged in a notch in the outer wall of the cap part, which is a leaky location of the closure. To provide aseptic protection of the pouring area, the cap part has an inner skirt extending from the base to an annular sealing collar, wherein in the closed position the inner skirt encloses the drinking part and the sealing collar abuts an annular sealing surface of the base part, while the circumferential lower edge of the cap part faces a shoulder of the base part. However, this configuration creates a non-aseptic annular cavity between the outer wall and the inner skirt, which can be contaminated by the leaky snap hinge and is difficult to rinse off. In addition, the high inner skirt of the cap part takes up volume, which limits the design space for the drinking part. In particular, the distance from the base part to the upper edge of the pouring area and the diameter of this upper edge must be kept small so that the drinking part does not constitute an obstacle during the transition of the cap part between the closed position and the open position. Further, this closure requires a significant amount of plastic material. With a shorter inner skirt, such as disclosed in GB2430667, the upper edge of the pouring area can be made higher and wider, but the sealing of the pouring area against contamination by the gap between the hinge and the outer wall of the cap part is no longer guaranteed. From EP2250102B1 a container closure is known which is compatible with an aseptic seal of a drinking part. The closure has a base part, a cap part, and an external hinge arrangement arranged to project radially outwardly from the cap part and the base part of the closure when the closure is in the closed position and connected to each of these parts by a radially extending bridge. This ensures that the interface between the hinge and the cap part does not have any leakage. However, this hinge configuration requires a lot of space in the radial direction. Further, it is sensitive to shock and difficult to install in a filling line. From EP0590325, a container closure having a base part and a cap part is known, wherein the cap part is connected to the base part by a snap hinge having two side hinge tabs and a center hinge. The hinge tabs abut at their ends against ridges free-standing in a step-shaped recess in the outer wall of the cap part or base part, wherein these ridges can be bent out to prevent overstretching of the hinge tabs. However, the center hinge is attached directly to the outer wall of the cap part, and forms a leaky location, making the closure unsuitable for aseptic use. Furthermore, the pivot axis of the hinge is close to the outer wall, and the leg movement of the cap part that can be achieved with it is unsuitable for a container closure with an axially extending drinking part. PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is to provide a container closure of the prior art which remedies at least one of the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art. In a container closure having a base part, a pouring area having a peripheral wall extending about a reference axis of the container closure and extending axially from the base part to a peripheral top edge of the pouring area surrounding a drinking opening, a cap part con