Container with integrally molded closure/tamper indicator
AssigneeSchmalbach-Lubeca AG
InventorChris J. Grant
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An integrally molded plastic container including a container body and a closure. The closure includes an orifice cap and sealing cap. The orifice cap is flexibly hinged to the neck portion adjacent to the container opening for pivoting movement from an open position to a closed position where the orifice cap closes the opening. The sealing cap is also flexibly hinged to the neck portion adjacent to the opening for pivoting movement relative to the orifice cap between a closed position where the sealing cap is in sealing relation with an orifice in the orifice cap and an open position where the sealing cap is out of sealing relation with the orifice.
Claims22
An integrally molded plastic container for containing a flowable substance to be dispensed, said container comprising:
- a container body blow molded to form a container neck portion and a shoulder portion interconnecting said container neck portion and said container body, said container neck portion defining an opening to the interior of the container and having a cross-sectional area that is substantially smaller than the cross-sectional area of said container body, and closure means including an orifice cap having an orifice, said orifice cap being flexibly hinged to said container neck portion adjacent to said container opening for pivoting movement from an open position to a closed position where said orifice cap closes said container opening, a sealing cap flexibly hinged to said container neck portion adjacent to said container opening for pivoting movement relative to said orifice cap between a closed position where said sealing cap is located in sealing relation with said orifice and an open position where said sealing cap is out of sealing relation with said orifice permitting the substance to flow out of the container through said orifice, said sealing cap having a fixed edge portion hinged to said container neck portion at a first side of said container neck portion and a free edge portion opposite to said fixed edge portion, said orifice cap having a fixed edge portion hinged to said container neck portion at a second side of said container neck portion which is opposite to said first side, said fixed edge portion of said orifice cap being located within the confines of said sealing cap and spaced inwardly of said free edge portion of said sealing cap when said sealing cap is in said closed position.
An integrally molded plastic container for containing a substance to be dispensed, said container comprising:
- a body portion having an opening to the interior of the container, closure means for closing said container opening, said closure means including an orifice cap having an orifice, and a sealing cap having a top and a sidewall, a first hinge connecting said orifice cap to said container body portion adjacent to said container opening at a first location along the periphery of said container opening for pivoting movement between an open position and a closed position in which said orifice cap closes said container opening so that said substance can be dispensed only through said orifice, a second hinge connecting said sealing cap to said container body portion adjacent to said container opening at a second location along the periphery of said container opening for pivoting movement between an open position and a closed position in which said top of said sealing cap overlies said orifice cap with a portion of said sidewall of said sealing cap positioned adjacent to and spaced outwardly from said first location along the periphery of said container opening, whereby said first hinge is located within the confines of said sealing cap and spaced inwardly from said portion of said sidewall of said sealing cap when said sealing cap is in said closed position, said sealing cap including means for sealing said orifice only when said sealing cap is in said closed position.
A parison for use in blow molding to produce an integrally molded plastic container having a blow molded container body with a restricted neck portion defining an opening to the interior of the container body, and a closure portion for closing said opening, said parison comprising:
- a first portion adapted to be expanded by a blow molding process to form the container body and the restricted neck portion therefor, and a second portion defining said closure portion, including an orifice cap that is integrally molded with said neck portion at a first location along the periphery of said opening and a sealing cap that is molded integrally with said neck portion at a second location along the periphery of said opening that is spaced at least 90.degree. from said first location.
The method of producing an integrally molded container having a container body and including a neck portion that defines an opening to the interior of the container body, and a closure portion for sealing said opening, said method comprising the steps of:
- injection molding a parison in a first mold assembly to form a container body portion, said neck portion and said closure portion, with said closure portion including an orifice cap that is molded integrally with said neck portion at a first location along the periphery of said opening and a sealing cap that is molded integrally with said neck portion at a second location along the periphery of said opening that is spaced at least 90.degree. from said first location, and expanding the container body of said parison in a second mold assembly using a blow molding apparatus in a blow molding operation to produce the completed container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.