Tamper Evident Cap

This invention relates to container and cover combinations, and more particularly, the invention relates to caps for bottles which indicate if there has been any tampering of the bottle by attempted removal of the cap.

Many devices have been constructed to indicate the attempted tampering of containers. Generally, an outer cap member is disposed over an inner fitment. The outer cap member provides a seal which when ruptured indicates tampering. The inner fitment provides a cover to the container which in most cases is removable and resealable. The outer cap may be ruptured by various means. In most instances, the cover is ruptured during the unscrewing process.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,124,874 to Conner et al, issued July 26, 1938, discloses a container closure including an inner fitment and an outer indicator member. The fitment is covered or at least partly covered by the indicator member or outer closure.

The U.S. Pat. No. 2,162,752 to Schauer, issued June 20, 1939, discloses a tamper proof closure wherein the closure snaps over a rim of the inner fitment.

The U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,790 to Gibson, issued Feb. 28, 1984, discloses a tamper proof closure wherein the outer indicator cap is snapped onto the inner fitment prior to assembly.

None of the aforementioned patents disclose a one way screw on outer indicator cap which is not removable by reverse screwing and has a central weakened portion so that tightening of the cap over a second series of threads splits the cap.

The present invention provides a container and cover combination including a container having a neck portion defining an opening into the container and removeable cover means fastened onto the neck portion for covering the opening. The cover means includes tamper evident means for indicating an attempted opening of the cover means. The tamper evident means includes a substantially cup-shaped cap member having a base portion and an annular flange portion thereabout and a fractureable portion and one way threading means for locking the cap member against unthreading from the neck portion when the cap member is rotated in one direction relative to the neck portion and for forcing the cap member further onto the neck portion to fracture the fractureable portion when the cap member is rotated in the opposite direction relative to the neck portion thereby evidencing an attempted opening of the container.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partially broken away and in cross section of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along lines 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention wherein the cap member is fractured by attempted opening of the closure;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the present invention with the cap member removed; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional elevational view of a second embodiment of the fitment member of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view partially in cross section of the cap member being disposed above the cover member of the present invention prior to assembly;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view partially in cross section of the cap member partially disposed over the neck portion of the container; and

FIG. 8 is an elevational view partially in cross section of the cover member of the present invention locked on the neck portion of the container.

A container and cover combination constructed in accordance with the present invention is generally shown at 10 in the Figures. Primed numbers are used to show like structure between the two embodiments.

The assembly generally includes a container generally indicated at 12, a seal 14, a cover member or fitment 16, and a cap member generally indicated at 18. The container 12 includes a neck portion 20 defining an opening 22 into the container 12. The container 12 is shown as a glass bottle, may be made in other forms and from other materials.

The removable cover 16 is fastened onto a lip 24 extending radially outwardly from the neck portion 20 for covering the opening 22.

The assembly 10 includes tamper evident means for indicating an attempted opening of the cover assembly. The tamper evident means includes the substantially cup-shaped cap member 18 having a base portion 26 and annular skirt or flange portion 28 thereabout. The cap member 18 further includes a fractureable portion 30 and one way threading means for locking the cap member 18 against unthreading from the neck portion 20 when the cap member 18 is rotated in one direction relative to the neck portion 20 and for forcing the cap member 18 further onto the neck portion 20 to fracture the fractureable portion 30 when the cap member 18 is rotated in the opposite direction relative to the neck portion 20 thereby evidencing the attempted opening. In other words, when the cap member 18 is screwed in the counterclockwise direction, the cap member 18 cannot be removed. When the cap member 18 is screwed in a clockwise direction relative to the neck portion 20, the cap member 18 is fractured thereby evidencing tampering.

The one way threading means includes a threaded flange portion 31 of the cap member 18. The neck portion 20 includes spaced first and second one way threads 32, 34, respectively separated by a smooth unthreaded portion 36. The threads 32, 34 include an open upper thread portion for threadedly receiving the inner thread 31 of the cap member 18. There is no origin on threads 32, 34 for rethreading in the reverse direction for removal of the cap 18 since the threads close on the above adjacent thread leaving no space therebetween. Hence, the threads 32, 34 are one way threads allowing threading in one direction and preventing unthreading in the other direction. The threaded flange portion 31 of the cap member 18 has a predetermined height .alpha. The cap member 18 includes an unthreaded portion 38 between the base portion 26 and the threaded flange portion 31. The smooth portion 36 of the neck portion has a height .beta. which is slightly less than the height .alpha. so that the threaded flange portion 31 engages the second thread 34 as the threaded flange portion 31 is screwed beyond the first thread 32 and over the smooth portion 36. At the point of application of the cap member 18, the threaded flange 31 disengages the first thread 32 as it begins to engage the second one way thread 34.

The cover member 16 is disposed within the cap member 18 and mounted on the peripheral lip 24. As the cap member 18 is screwed further onto the second one way thread 34, the cap member 18 is forced over the cover member 16. The continued force between the cap member 18 and cover member 16 fractures the fractureable portion 30 of the cap member 18, as discussed below.

The cover member 16 includes a top portion 40 and an annular wall 42 extending therefrom. A radially outwardly extending wall 44 extends from the wall 42. A second annular wall 46 extends downwardly from the wall 44. A shoulder 48 extends radially inwardly from the annular wall 46. The shoulder 48 is a peripheral portion of the cover member 16 which engages the lip portion 24 of the neck portion 20. The cover member 16 is made from a flexible material such that the shoulder 48 can be snapped onto and snapped off of the lip portion 24 for removal and re-application of the cover member 16 onto the neck portion 20 to cover the opening 22. The seal 14 is applied over the opening 22 during the initial closing of the assembly during production and is removed upon the initial opening of the assembly prior to use.

The cap member 18 includes fastening means for fastening the top portion 40 of the cover member 16 against the base portion 26 of the cap member 18. The fastening means includes an annular fastening flange 50 extending radially outwardly from the top portion 40. The cap member 18 includes a plurality of flexible fingers 52 extending from the base portion 26 thereof for securely engaging in fastening the flange 50 once the fastening flange 50 is snapped into the grip of the fingers 52. The fastening means can take other forms. For example, an annular flange can extend downwardly from the base portion 26 having a radially inwardly extending shoulder for engaging the fastening flange 50, as opposed to a plurality of fingers.

The cover member 16 and the unthreaded portion 38 of the cap member 18 have predetermined heights so that the shoulder 48 of the annular wall 46 of the cover member 16 engages against the lip portion 24 of the neck portion 20 when the threaded flange portion 31 is threaded over the first thread 32 and so that the shoulder 48 engages over the lip portion 24 when the threaded flange portion 31 is threaded beyond the first thread 32 and engages the second thread 34. As described below, this coordination of heights of various portions of the cover member 16 and cap member 18 provide engagement of the cover member 16 fixedly over the opening 22 as thread 34.

The fractureable portion 30 includes a weakened line 30 extending across the base portion 26 of the cap member 18 and down the opposing unthreaded and threaded flange portions 38, 31 respectively of the downwardly extending annular wall 28 of the cap member 18.

The second thread 34 comprises an enlarged finishing ring 54. The threaded flange 31 includes a peripheral rib portion 56 for snapping over the finishing ring 54 without fracturing the fractureable portion 30 to lock the cap member 18 on the second thread 34 and to fracture the cap member 18 upon further rotation of the cap member 18 relative to the neck portion 20.

A second embodiment of the cover member is generally shown at 10' in FIG. 5. The top portion 40' includes an annular wall 58 extending downwardly therefrom. The top portion 40' is integrally connected to the annular wall 42' by a flexible connecting portion 60. The annular wall 58 is secured within the annular wall 42' by a detant 62. As shown in hatched lines, the top portion 40' is removeable. This is the preferred structure for containing liquids whereas the first embodiment is generally used for the containment of solids.

In use, the assembled cover and container assembly is shown in FIG. 2. Counterclockwise rotation of the cover member over the second one way thread 34 does not disengage the peripheral thread 56 from the second thread 34 or the finishing ring 54. This is because there is no origin for the threads to become entrained upon. Further, the threaded flange 31 cannot re-engage the first one way thread 32 because it has no origin for reentrainment. The shoulder 52 allows rotation over the cover member 16 while maintaining the cap member 18 in engagement with the cover member 16. Clockwise rotation of the cap member 18 relative to the neck portion 20 forces the threaded flange portion 31 further into engagement with the finishing ring 54 and onto and over the finishing ring 54. The enlarged finishing ring 54 fractures the fractureable portion 30 along the threaded flange thereby evidencing tampering. Responsible removal of the cap member 18 merely requires rotation of the cap member 18 and the eventual complete splitting of the cap member 18 as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, the thread 32 first engages the cap and then prevents its removal, and the enlarged finishing ring fractures the cap. The lip 56 perfects a seal below the finishing ring. FIG. 4 shows the cap member 18 removed from the assembly 10. Access to the contents of the container 12 is obtained by the snapping off of the cover member 16 or disengagement of the top portion 40' of the cover member 16' as shown in FIG. 5.

The present invention further provides a method of assembling the container and closure combination shown in FIGS. 6-8, generally including the steps of screwing the tamper evident cap member 18 having the fractureable portion 30 onto the neck portion 20 of the container 12 and locking the cap member 18 on the second one way thread 34 against unthreading from the neck portion 20 when the cap member 18 is turned in one direction relative to the neck portion 20 while allowing the cap member 18 to be threaded further onto the one way thread 34 to force the cap member 18 further onto the neck portion 20 to fracture the fractureable portion 30 when the cap member 18 is rotated in the opposite direction relative to the neck portion 20. More specifically and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the threaded flange portion 31 of the cap member 18 is screwed over the first one way thread 32 on the neck portion 20 and then engages the second one way thread 34 when the threaded flange portion 31 is threaded beyond the first thread 32. As shown in FIG. 8, the peripheral end 56 of the threaded flange 31 is threaded over and locked over the second one way thread 34 and against the enlarged finishing ring 54. As shown in FIG. 8, in this position the thread 31 is threaded beyond the one way thread 32. Since the thread 32 has no origin at its bottom for thread 31 to reengage, the cap member 18 is allowed to rotate counterclockwise in one direction while rotation in the clockwise opposite direction forces the threaded flange 31 over the finishing ring 54 which fractures the fractureable portion 30.

During the assembly and as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the removeable cover 16 is secured within the cap member 18 and then the cover member 16 is fastened to the neck portion 20 as the cap member 18 is screwed beyond the first thread 32 and onto the second thread 34. More specifically, the method includes the step of snapping the annular flange 50 of the cover member 16 into the plurality of fingers 52 within the cap member prior to screwing the cap member 18 onto the neck portion 20 as shown sequentially from FIG. 7 to FIG. 8. Specifically, the annular shoulder 48 of the cover member 16 is force fit over the outwardly radially extending lip 24 on the neck portion 20 as the peripheral portion 56 of the threaded flange 31 is screwed onto the second thread 34 on the neck portion 20.

The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims wherein reference numerals are merely for convenience and are not to be in any way limiting, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.