EP0773172A1 - Hinged closure for a container - Google Patents

Abstract

The hinged lid (3), e.g. for a glass container containing a product in paste, granule or powder form, especially a cosmetic or soluble coffee, is attached by a hinge (4) to a ring (2) which fits onto the container. On the opposite side to the hinge the ring is equipped with a locking tongue (9) with a lug (10) which clips into a recess (8) in the lid when closed. In addition, the ring has a skirt (11) with an inner seal of foam or a foam/cardboard compound. The foam can be, e.g. of polyethylene with a polypropylene coating. The lid, ring and locking tongue assembly are made from polypropylene or, for example, from polyolefin or polystyrene. It can be moulded in one piece, e.g. by injection moulding.

Description

The invention relates to a hinged closure for a container, this closure comprising a ring adapted to engage on the edge of the opening of said container, as well as a cover connected by a hinge to the ring and resting on it. ci in the closed position.

Patent FR 2529865 already relates to a hinged closure for an oblong section container with a ring sealed on the edge of the opening of the container and a cover connected by a hinge to said ring. This closure comprises a locking system with a protuberance on said ring adapted to engage in an opening in the cover: the drawback of this solution is that when the cover is closed, it is very difficult to open it, because we do not know a priori how to extract the protuberance.

The object of the present invention is to find a hinged closure system, which gives an easy opening for the user, while guaranteeing a good seal, both primary and secondary. By primary sealing is meant sealing before the first opening and secondary sealing, that after the first opening.

The invention relates to a hinged closure, according to the preamble of claim 1, wherein the ring comprises, on the side opposite the hinge, a locking tab with a lug, hinged on said ring and intended to be housed in a corresponding recess in the cover, said latch snap-fastening when closing in a cell located at the top of the recess in the cover.

By container is meant, in the present description, a container of substantially rectangular or square section, so that the cover and the ring are substantially rectangular or square. If the container is of rectangular section, the two hinges are in the length of said rectangles. One could also have a container of substantially elliptical section, in which case the cover and the ring are also rectangular and the hinges are parallel to the major axis of the ellipse.

The container can be used for the packaging of any pasty, granular, powdered product, in particular soluble coffee. It is understood that it can also be used for the packaging of cosmetic products. The container is preferably made of glass or equivalent product and the hinged closure of polypropylene, polyolefin or polystyrene, preferably of polypropylene. The hinged closure according to the invention can be in one or in two parts (cover and ring) and it is molded or injected.

The fact of having according to the invention a locking tab with latch snap-fastening on a cell of the cover makes it possible to have visual closure security, because we can clearly see the closure of said tongue and the closure security is also auditory, because the snap-in allows the emission of a sound also guaranteeing good closing.

On the edge of the container opening, before the first opening, a membrane is provided, either sealed, glued or welded, with the possibility of easy peeling, if necessary. When the container has been opened for the first time, a secondary seal must be guaranteed, so as to minimize the risks of organoleptic deterioration of the product contained in said container.

To do this, it is necessary to provide in the cover, an inner skirt on which a seal rests. The joint is made of foam or foam / cardboard composite. The foam is polyethylene coated or not with polyethylene or polypropylene. The foam must have a certain compressibility and a density between 150 and 250 kg / m3. This joint has a thickness of between 1 and 4 mm.

To further improve the closing guarantee, it is possible to provide in the recess of the cover, next to the locking socket, a boss, parallel to said socket and of the same length as the latter. Relative to the width of the recess in the cover and therefore to the width of the locking tab, the lug is substantially one third of this width. The cell and the boss therefore have substantially the same dimensions.

• Fig. 1 représente une vue en perspective de la fermeture à charnière selon l'invention,
• Fig. 2 est une représentation schématique de la fermeture à charnière disposée sur un récipient en position ouverte,
• Fig. 3 est une coupe médiane partielle de la fermeture à charnière selon l'invention , en position fermée,
• Fig. 4 est un agrandissement de la partie A de la coupe selon la figure 3,
• Fig. 5 est un agrandissement de la partie B de la coupe selon la figure 3,
• Fig. 6 est un agrandissement de la partie C de la coupe selon la figure 3 dans une seconde forme de réalisation et
• Fig. 7 est une coupe médiane partielle de la fermeture selon l'invention avec la bague et le couvercle en une seule pièce.

The following description is made with reference to the drawings, on which

• Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the hinged closure according to the invention,
• Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of the hinged closure disposed on a container in the open position,
• Fig. 3 is a partial median section of the hinged closure according to the invention, in the closed position,
• Fig. 4 is an enlargement of part A of the section according to FIG. 3,
• Fig. 5 is an enlargement of part B of the section according to FIG. 3,
• Fig. 6 is an enlargement of part C of the section according to FIG. 3 in a second embodiment and
• Fig. 7 is a partial median section of the closure according to the invention with the ring and the cover in one piece.

The hinged closure (1) comprises a ring (2) adapted to engage on the edge of the opening of a container and a cover (3) connected by a hinge (4) to said ring. The cover (3) comprises a bottom (5), a skirt (6) and a recess (7) with a cell (8) disposed near the bottom (5) of said cover. The ring (2) comprises an outer skirt (11) and an upper edge in two parts: the outer part (12) on which will rest when the cover is closed (3) the lower edge (13) of said cover (3) and a raised edge (14) which further comprises stops (15) four in number in the present embodiment. These stops make it possible, during the installation of the hinged closure, to guarantee that the said closure is permanently maintained on the edge of the container opening. According to the invention, there is provided on the ring, on the side opposite the hinge (4), a locking tongue (9), of width substantially equal to the width of the recess (7) of the cover, this tongue comprising a lug. (10) provided to be housed in the cell (8) of the cover. The tongue is mounted according to a hinge (20) on said ring (2). A seal (18) is finally provided in the cover (3): this seal is held in place by means of stops (19) (Fig. 3).

The operation of the closure will be better understood in relation to FIG. 2, showing said closure on the container (16). First, force the ring (2) onto the upper edge (17) of the opening of the container. If we start from the open position, such as shown in FIG. 2, the cover (3) must be pivoted according to the hinge (4) in a closing direction until the lower part of the skirt (6) presses on the external part (12) of the edge of the ring (2). The raised part (14) guarantees that the closure is properly maintained on the neck of the container. Then just push the locking tab (9) towards the closed cover, so that the lug (10) snaps onto the socket (8).

Figures 3 to 5 are partial sections of Figure 2 and largely show the elements of the first two figures: these figures show an embodiment with a ring and a cover in two parts. We therefore limit ourselves to explanations not yet given with respect to said first figures. It appears clearly in Figure 3, an inner skirt (21), on which rests the seal (18), said seal being held in place by the stops (19). Figures 4 and 5 show the container (16) with the upper edge (17) and on the neck a flange (22) ensuring the maintenance of the ring (2) to prevent it from coming out upwards and a flange (23) making it possible to prevent said ring from sliding downwards.

Referring to Figure 3, we can clearly see the lug (10) snapped into the socket (8). On the other hand, it is also visible that for the seal (18), it needs a certain elasticity to allow its compression between the inner skirt (21) of the cover and the upper edge (17) of the container (16), guaranteeing thus a good seal.

With reference to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the lower part (12) of the ring (2) will serve as a stop against the rim (23) of the container to prevent said ring from sliding downwards and that the raised part (14) from said ring will abut against the rim (22) of the container to prevent any possible exit of said ring from the neck of said container.

With reference to FIG. 5, it is clear that there is a ring (2) and a cover (3) in two parts: in fact, the cover (3) pivots around the hinge (4) and has an extension (24 ) which snaps onto the ring (2).

Figure 6 is an enlargement of the locking tab with its lug (10) and the socket (8) in which it is housed, according to an embodiment different from the previous figures. To further improve the closing guarantee, there is an additional boss (25) in the cover (3), next to the cell (8). The lug (10) is thus located in the socket (8) and to open, additional force is required to pass the boss (25).

Figure 7 shows the container (16) capped with a hinged closure (30) in one piece. The ring (31) carries a cover (32) rotatably mounted according to a hinge (33), the cover having an inner skirt (34). In this figure, the seal is not shown. The ring (31) comprises a locking tongue (35) pivoting according to the hinge (36), said tongue comprising a lug (37) which snaps onto the socket (38) disposed in the recess (39) of the cover (32).

In the closure according to the invention, there is the cover and the locking tab, both of which have hinges. It is understood that the plastic material used must be able to be strong enough to support at least 300 openings without breaking. Polypropylene is in any case satisfactory. But he is Of course, other materials could do the trick as well.

Claims (5)

Hinged closure for container, this closure comprising a ring adapted to engage on the edge of the opening of said container, as well as a cover connected by a hinge to the ring and pressing on the latter in the closed position, characterized in that the ring comprises, on the side opposite the hinge, a locking tab with a lug, mounted on a hinge on said ring and intended to be housed in a corresponding recess in the cover, said latch snapping when closing in a cell located at the top of the cover recess. Closure according to claim 1, characterized in that it is made of polypropylene. Closure according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the cover has an inner skirt on which rests a seal to ensure the tightness of said closure. Closure according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the recess of the cover comprises, next to the locking socket, a boss improving the closure security. Closure according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the cover seal is made of foam or of a foam / cardboard composite.

Images