Tamper-evident closure

A tamper-evident closure for sealing an open-topped container having a finish with an external screw thread and an annular breaker ledge disposed beneath the level of said thread, said ledge including an upper cam surface facing said thread and a lower abutment surface remote from said thread, said closure being of one-piece molded construction and comprising:

• a cap including an annular top wall for extending across the opening of said finish, and an annular skirt dependent from said top wall and being joined thereto about the periphery of said top wall so that said top wall and said skirt are substantially coaxial, said skirt being provided with an internal thread configured to cooperate with the thread of said finish to enable said cap to be installed on and removed from said container by relative rotation between the cap and the container;
• and
• a tamper-indicating assembly comprising a band positioned below and spaced from said skirt,
• a plurality of spaced frangible bridges, detachably connecting the upper end of said band to the lower end of said skirt,
• a plurality of spaced-apart ring segments, each including an annular end and a flexible hinge portion opposite the end which connects the ring segment to the bottom of said band so that said ring segment extends upwardly and inwardly therefrom, with adjacent ring segments separated by a slot extending through substantially the entire cross-section of said ring, from the end of the ring to the bottom of said band so as to define independently foldable ring segments between the slots, and
• a plurality of resilient tabs connected to the end of each ring segment so as to extend upwardly and inwardly therefrom for engaging said ledge abutment surface upon attempted removal of said closure after installation on said finish, said tabs being resiliently outwardly deflected by said ledge cam surface during installation of said closure on said finish whereby upon removal of an installed closure, the free ends of said tabs bear on said ledge causing said bridges to break resulting in an indication of tampering.