DE20201426U1 - Originality seal for foodstuff containers has locking component formed on lid and fits under edge flange on container, and lid has encompassing skirt which fits over edge flange and in which is constructed aforesaid locking component - Google Patents

Abstract

The originality seal for containers which have a lid (10) formed by a plastic molded part has a locking component (18) formed on the lid and fits under an edge flange on the container. The container is manufactured from a plastic film. The lid has an encompassing skirt (12) which fits over the edge flange and in which is constructed the aforesaid locking component. The design break point for the locking component has a branch extending horizontally through the skirt and on each end a branch extending to the edge of the skirt at right angles to it and so defines the locking component in the form of a rectangular cut-out of the skirt.

Description

TERMEER STEINMEISTER & PARTNER GBR

PATENT ATTORNEYS - EUROPEAN PATENT ATTORNEYS

Dr. Nicolaus ter Meer, Dipl.-Chem. Helmut Steinmeister, Dipl.-Ing.

Peter Urner, Dipl.-Phys. Manfred Wiebusch

Gebhard Merkle, Dipl.-Ing. (FH)

Mauerkircherstrasse 45 Artur-Ladebeck-Strasse 51

D-81679 MUNICH D-33617 BIELEFELD

TWPPOl / 02

Wi/li

30.1.2002

twp lage gmbh

PO Box 2060

32779 Lage

TAMPER LOCK

twplagegmbh ·» ··· ·· ••'TWPPei/OS·· January 30, 2002

TAMPER LOCK

The invention relates to a tamper-evident closure for containers having a lid formed by a plastic molded part, with a locking part which can be broken off at a predetermined breaking point and which locks the lid to the container.

Such a tamper-evident closure is particularly desirable for food packaging, for example for ice cream, and is intended to make it possible to see whether the package has already been opened. The basic principle is that the lid cannot be removed from the container without breaking off the locking part. Since breaking off the locking part is irreversible, the missing locking part makes it possible to see whether the container has already been opened once.

In known food packaging with tamper-evident closures, the lid and the container are usually manufactured by injection molding. The container is made of a stiffer plastic material, on which a sufficiently stable latch and the corresponding predetermined breaking point can be formed during injection molding.

The object of the invention is to create a tamper-evident closure which enables simple initial closure, simple and easily transparent handling by the end user and more cost-effective production of the container and lid.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the locking part is formed on the lid and engages under an edge flange of the container.

This solution has the advantage that no complex constructions are required on the container itself for the tamper-evident closure, so that the container can be manufactured inexpensively using thermoforming or, if necessary, by injection molding. All that is required for the locking part to engage is an edge flange, which is usually present on food containers anyway.

Since the material required for the lid is generally much smaller than for the container, the lid can also be manufactured cost-effectively using the injection molding process. A locking part can be formed on the lid, which is so form-

twplagegmbh ·« ··· ·· '"TWPPOl &Lgr;02** January 30, 2002

stable that it cannot be detached from the container without the predetermined breaking point breaking or tearing. In this way, a very reliable tamper-evident closure is created. A particular advantage is that the initial closure of the container can be carried out very easily by putting the lid on the container, with the locking part automatically snapping into place on the edge flange of the container.

If the end consumer wants to open the packaging, he can easily grasp the bar part located on the edge of the lid and break it off.
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Advantageous embodiments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

The lid preferably has an apron running around the edge of the mirror area, on which the locking part that engages under the edge flange of the container and the predetermined breaking point are formed. In addition, locking projections can be formed at other points on this apron, which engage under the edge flange of the container with less locking resistance and thus enable the container to be resealed. When the lid is removed from the mold, these locking projections represent undercuts, which are, however, so small that the locking projections can give way due to the inherent elasticity of the material and thus do not hinder the removal of the lid, so that no special sliders need to be provided on the mold for forming the locking projections. Sliders are therefore only required for the more stable locking parts.

In food packaging, the mirror area of the lid often has a groove running around the edge, which stiffens the lid and thus ensures that the container is securely closed. In conjunction with the tamper-evident closure according to the invention, this groove is preferably interrupted at the location of the locking parts, so that sufficient space is created there for the sliders of the tool.

The tamper-evident closure can be used on both round and square containers. For rectangular containers, two locking parts are preferably arranged on the narrow sides of the lid.

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In the following, an embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawing.

Show it:
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Figure 1 shows a lid of a container with a tamper-evident closure in plan view;

Figure 2 is a front view of the lid of the container according to Figure 1;
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Figure 3 is a section along the line III-III in Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a section along the line IV-IV in Figure 1.

In Figures 1 and 2, only a lid 10 of a rectangular container is shown. This lid 10 is slightly rounded at the corners in accordance with the shape of the container and has a circumferential apron 12 which extends over the edge of the container and in the upper area runs at right angles to the mirror 14 of the lid, while a lower part 16 of the apron is angled outwards. A tamper-evident closure is formed by two locking parts 18, each arranged centrally in the narrow sides of the apron 12 and separated from the rest of the apron by a predetermined breaking point 20. As can be seen in Figure 2, the predetermined breaking point 20 has a horizontal branch and two branches which bend off from it at right angles and extend to the lower edge of the apron 12.

The mirror 14 of the lid has a circumferential, inwardly recessed groove 22 near the edge, which, however, is interrupted in the area of the locking parts 18.

Figure 3 shows a section through the edge area of the lid 10 and the associated container 24 at the location of one of the locking parts 18. The locking part 18 has on the inside, immediately adjacent to the horizontal branch of the predetermined breaking point 20, an inwardly projecting nose 26, which engages in a form-fitting manner under an outwardly projecting edge flange 28 of the container 24. If the container 24 is to be closed with the lid 10 after filling, the lid 10 only needs to be pressed on from above. The

twplagegmbh &diams;< ··· ·· ··TWPPOl /"02** January 30, 2002

Lugs 26 of the two locking parts 18 then automatically engage under the edge flange 28 of the container, so that the lid 10 is positively locked to the container.

If an end user who wants to open the container reaches under the flared apron 12 with his fingers, he cannot pull the lid off because it is held in place by the two locking parts located on the narrow sides. The arrangement of the locking parts on the narrow sides is advantageous because they are less prone to deformation than the long sides.

The container can only be opened if the user puts his finger under the locking parts 18 and pulls them off to the side so that the predetermined breaking points 20 break. After the locking parts have been removed, the lid can be lifted off. However, the torn predetermined breaking points 20 and the missing locking parts 18 make it clear at a glance, even from a distance, that the container has already been opened once.

Figure 4 shows a sectional view similar to Figure 3, but at a point outside the locking parts 18. Instead of the nose 26, the apron 12 here has only slightly rounded locking projections 30, which, like the noses 26, grip under the edge flange 28, but do not form a positive locking, but merely a latching mechanism, the resistance of which can be overcome when the lid is opened. In order to achieve sufficient rigidity, the locking projections 30 are interrupted in the circumferential direction at several points, as can be seen in Figure 2.

The channel 22 is shown in section in Figure 4. The profile of the channel 22 forms a slight undercut and a step which prevents the lids 10 from being pressed too tightly into one another when several lids are stacked directly on top of one another.

The lid 10 is a plastic molded part that is manufactured using an injection molding process. The undercuts on the channel 22 and in the area of the locking projections 30 are so small that they do not hinder the removal of the lid from the mold, so that no sliders on the tool are required for these undercuts. The deeper and sharper undercut above the nose 26 of the locking part is formed with the help of a slider that is inserted into the area during removal from the mold.

twplagegmbh ·« ··· »· ··TWPPOl /TO·' January 30, 2002

is retracted below the level 14, in which the groove 22 is interrupted.

Unlike the lid 10, the container 24 can be made from a film by thermoforming or sheet-forming. Since the film is stretched in the area of the container walls during these forming processes, the wall of the container 24 is thinner than the film in the area of the edge flange 28. Thus, even in thin-walled containers, the edge flange 28 has such a high stability that the tamper-evident seal remains effective.
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Claims (8)

1. Tamper-evident closure for containers ( 24 ) which have a lid ( 10 ) formed by a plastic molded part, with a locking part ( 18 ) which can be broken off at a predetermined breaking point ( 20 ) and which locks the lid ( 10 ) to the container ( 24 ), characterized in that the locking part ( 18 ) is formed on the lid and engages under an edge flange ( 28 ) of the container. 2. Tamper-evident closure according to claim 1, characterized in that the container ( 24 ) is made of a plastic film. 3. Tamper-evident closure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the lid ( 10 ) has a circumferential apron ( 12 ) which extends over the edge flange ( 28 ) of the container ( 24 ) and in which the locking part ( 18 ) is formed. 4. Tamper-evident closure according to claim 3, characterized in that the predetermined breaking point ( 30 ) has a branch running horizontally through the apron ( 12 ) and at each end thereof a branch running at right angles thereto to the edge of the apron ( 12 ) and thus delimits the locking part ( 18 ) in the form of a rectangular cutout of the apron ( 12 ). 5. Tamper-evident closure according to claim 4, characterized in that the locking part ( 18 ) and the apron ( 12 ) are each inclined outwards in the lower region ( 16 ). 6. Tamper-evident closure according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the apron ( 12 ) has locking projections ( 30 ) which engage in a locking manner under the edge flange ( 28 ) of the container ( 24 ). 7. Tamper-evident closure according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the lid ( 10 ) has in its surface a circumferential groove ( 22 ) near the edge, which is interrupted at the location of the locking part ( 18 ). 8. Tamper-evident closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lid ( 10 ) has a rectangular outline and that a control part ( 18 ) is arranged in the middle of each of the two narrow sides of the lid.