WO2011116767A1

WO2011116767A1 - Retaining seal and a multi-compartment container assembly containing such seal

Info

Publication number: WO2011116767A1
Application number: PCT/DK2011/000021
Authority: WO
Inventors: Henrik Hess-Petersen; Ebbe Horak
Original assignee: Bottle Of Life Limited
Priority date: 2010-03-24
Filing date: 2011-03-22
Publication date: 2011-09-29

Abstract

A retaining seal (1) is disclosed, made from a bendable sheet material being impervious to liquids, the seal having a rim portion (2) and a central protrusion (3) which is equipped with a plurality of weakening lines (4) extending from a distal part (5) of the protrusion and towards the rim portion. One or more openings (6) will be formed in the seal along the weakening lines when the distal part of the central protrusion is compressed, i.e. is forced towards the plane in which the rim portion extends. Furthermore is a multi-compartment container assembly (7) disclosed comprising at least two compartments (8, 9) each holding a substance, and the disclosed retaining seal for separating the compartments and means (15, 16, 21) for activating the assembly by compressing the central protrusion and forming one or more openings allowing the substances to be admixed.

Description

RETAINING SEAL AND A MULTI-COMPARTMENT CONTAINER ASSEMBLY CONTAINING

SUCH SEAL

The present invention relates to a retaining seal to be used for sealing off an opening and a multi-compartment container assembly containing such seal and means for activating the assembly by creating an opening of the seal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Different types of retaining seals for temporarily creating a barrier between two compartments are known in the art. A common use of such seals are for containers comprising two or more substances in neighbouring chambers where the container may be activated, which comprises the braking of the seal and admixing of the substances, so as to provide a ready-for-use composition. One particular use is for storage of infant formula powder and water, which may be very useful in e.g. catastrophic events where relief aid is in high demand and pure water etc. is difficult to provide.

WO 2008/153965 discloses a bottle for feeding of an infant, where two chambers comprising a first and a second substance are separated by means of a flat sheet that is disposed in the seal between the two chambers. In use, the sheet is pulled to the side and allows the substances to mix into a composition while the seal is formed to prevent a spillage to the side where the sheet was removed. In US 2008/0314775 a container is disclosed for separately storing at least two substances for subsequent mixing, such as infant formula powder and water. The two storage chambers are maintained separately by means of an intervening seal comprising a flat seal bottom. Activation occurs, i.e. braking of the seal bottom and admixing of the two substances, when the two chambers are moved towards each other, e.g. by means of engaging threads on the two containers, and a cutting edge on one of the chambers cuts through the seal bottom which is fixed to the other container and break it open.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a retaining seal which may be opened in a simple manner and is inexpensive is production of the seal itself and the means for activating the seal.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a multi-compartment container assembly containing such seal and means for activating the assembly by creating an opening of the seal.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description and the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates to a retaining seal made from a bendable sheet material being impervious to liquids, the seal having a rim portion and a central protrusion which is equipped with a plurality of weakening lines extending from a distal part of the protrusion and towards the rim portion, so that one or more openings will be formed in the seal along the weakening lines when the distal part of the central protrusion is compressed, i.e. is forced towards the plane in which the rim portion extends. Such seal may be manufactured in a simple process from a sheet material of e.g. a thermoplastics material or by injection moulding, and the seal may be activated by simple means that can provide a force in one point instead of the more complex cutting edge shown in the prior art. Furthermore, the present solution eliminates the risk of debris from the cutting of the seal to end up in the mixed composition. It is particularly advantageous that the wherein the plurality of weakening lines do not extend to the tip of the distal part and meet there but are separate weakening line, whereby the tip of the distal part will remain unbroken when the openings are formed. Hereby the retaining seal may be opened by applying a compression force at one point, the distal part.

It has turned out to be advantageous that the weakening lines extend substantially linearly from the distal part because it promotes that all or most of the weakening lines will rupture and create openings when the protrusion is compressed. Other types or shapes of weakening line forms, such as helical, are also possible within the present invention.

The height of the protrusion is preferably in the range of 1 to 6 centimetres, most preferred in the range of 2 to 4 centimetres.

The seal is preferably made from a plastics material, such as a thermoplastic polyester because the forming the retaining seal may be made simple and inexpensive from a sheet material by e.g. deep drawing or die forming. It is preferred that the plastics material is a biodegradable polymer, such as polylactic acid (PLA) or polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), so that the seal after use may be reused for e.g. soil improvement.

The seal may be provided on at least one side with a water-resistant film for improving the sustainability of the seal to contact with water on said at least one side.

The weakening lines are preferably formed so that they are slanted in relation to the plane of the rim portion along at least a part of their extent, whereby it is ensured that the strips of the sheet material that are formed between the weakening lines will deflect outwards from a central axis of the seal when the seal is activated. The present invention furthermore relates to a multi-compartment container assembly comprising at least two compartments each holding a substance, and a retaining seal according to the present invention for separating the compartments and means for activating the assembly by compressing the central protrusion and forming one or more openings allowing the substances to be admixed.

In a preferred embodiment, a first of the two compartments of the assembly is provided with a thread and the second compartments has at least a part made from a plastics material softer than the material from which at least the part of the first compartment provided with the thread is made from, and formed to cooperated with said thread, so that when the two compartment are united the thread will deform the softer material of the second compartment to form between them a fluid tight sealing to the exterior. The second compartment is in a preferred embodiment provided with a thread to cooperate with the thread of the first compartment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the enclosed drawings of which

Fig. 1 is a side view of a retaining seal according to the invention in a sealing, pre- activated state,

Fig. 2 is a view from above of the seal of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a side view of the retaining seal of Fig. 1 and 2 in the activated state, where openings are formed in the seal,

Fig. 4 is a view from above of the seal of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a multi-compartment container assembly having seals according to Fig. 1 and 2 in the pre-activated state, Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the container of Fig. 5 with the seals in the activated state, and

Fig. 7 is an activation part as seen from above. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings as an illustration of how the present invention may be utilised. The retaining seal 1 is intended to be used for sealing off an opening, where the rim portion 2 of the seal is connected to an edge part of the opening, e.g. by gluing or by being clamped or wedged to the edge part so that a fluid or liquid tight closure is made between the edge part of the opening and the rim portion 2 of the seal 1. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 showing the retaining seal 1 in a pre-activated state, i.e. where the seal is forming a closure for an opening, the retaining seal 1 has a 3 centimetres high central protrusion 3 i.e. extending 3 centimetres away from, i.e. in a direction perpendicularly to that plane in which the rim portion 2 extends. The protrusion 3 is formed as a rotation-symmetric hollow body about an axis that is orthogonal to the plane of the rim portion 2 and ends in a distal part 5. A plurality of weakening lines 4 are formed in the protrusion 3 extending radial from the distal part 5 and towards the rim portion 2 and end where the protrusion 3 joins the rim portion 2, and the distal part 5 is not crossed by weakening lines whereby the tip of the distal part in the activated state remains unbroken when the openings are formed. In alternative embodiments, the weakening lines 4 may extend differently, such as in a helical path on the surface of the protrusion and/or into the rim portion 2 of the seal. The retaining seal 1 may be activated by compressing the distal part 5 of the protrusion 3 towards the plane of the rim portion 2 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that the deformation of the sheet material from which the seal 1 is made will build up stresses that eventually will result in a rupture of the material along the weakening lines and the formation of a plurality of openings 6 in the retaining seal 1, thus allowing fluid material to pass the opening which previously was sealed off by the retaining seal 1 in its pre-activated state. The final level of the compression where the sufficient opening area is formed is about half of the height of the protrusion 3 in the pre-activated state of Figs. 1 and 2. Due to ordinary inaccuracy of the manufacture of the retaining seal 1 , one or more of the weakening lines may be less weakened that the remaining ones and the compression of the protrusion 3 will cause the weakest lines 4 to open before the remaining lines and the result may be that only some of the weakening lines 4 have become openings 6 when the compression has reached its final level. This situation in accounted for and the openings 6 that have been formed will be wider and generally compensate in function for the weakening lines 4 that did not become openings 6.

The retaining seal 1 is preferably produced in a thermoplastics material, in particular in a biodegradable plastics, preferably a thermoplastics polyester such as polylactic acid (PLA), which is made from fermentation of starch, a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) produced by means of a microbial process on sugar-based medium or a poly- hydroxybutyrate-co-polyhydroxyhexanoate (PHBH) resin, which is a naturally produced biodegradable polyester derived from carbon sources such as sucrose, fatty acids or molasses via a fermentation process. However, the seal 1 may alternatively be produced in other suitable materials with the physical properties that allow the described function of the seal 1, i.e. that the openings 6 will actually be formed along the weakening lines 4 and that the material of the seal 1 will not break during the compression. In order to improve the sustainability of the seal 1 when it in the pre-activated state is in contact with water on one side of the seal 1, that side or both sides of the seal 1 may advantageously be provided with a thin film of a water-resistant material. This is particularly relevant for a seal made from a biodegradable plastics material. The manufacture process comprises the step of providing the thermoplastics material in form of a sheet material of a thickness of e.g. 0.2 mm and heating the sheet material to a temperature where it obtains sufficient plastics properties, i.e. above the glass transition temperature (Tg), which for PLA typically is 58 ° C. The sheet material is then subjected to mechanical deformation, e.g. by vacuum forming or deep drawing but preferably die forming with the use of a punch and a die block is applied as this ensures the best manufacture accuracy of the forming of the weakening lines 4 in the protrusion 3.

In Figs. 5 and 6 a multi-compartment container assembly 7 is shown were the above- disclosed retainer seal 1 is applied to separate the two compartments 8, 9 of the assembly 7 as well as to separate the upper compartment 9 and the outlet arrangement 10, in this example comprising a bottle feeding nipple 11. The assembly 7 is designed for holding two ingredients separate in the two compartments 8, 9, such as sterile water and infant formula powder until the ingredients are to be admixed immediately prior to use. Referring to Fig. 6 showing a longitudinal section of the assembly 7 in a pre-activated state, the assembly comprises a lower compartment 8 having a tubular outlet duct 12 provided with an inner annular ridge 13 for providing support for the first retainer seal la. A first annular locking member 14 is fastened to the annular ridge 13 as well as to the first retainer seal la e.g. by gluing or heat bonding to form a fluid tight closure of the outlet 12 of the lower compartment 8. Alternatively, the first retainer seal la may be heat bonded or alternatively glued directly to the annular ridge 13 and the first annular locking member 14 may then be omitted. The outlet duct 12 is furthermore provided with an external thread 15 formed to cooperate with the internal thread 16 of inlet duct 17 of the upper compartment 9. The inlet duct 17 as well the outlet duct 18 of the upper compartment 9 are equipped with an inner annular ridge 19, 20 to form support for activation parts 21, 22 which are fastened to the respective annular ridges 19, 20 by e.g. gluing or heat bonding.

The outlet duct 18 of the upper compartment 9 is likewise provided with an inner thread 23 arranged to cooperate with the external thread 24 of a duct 25 of the upper cap 26 of the assembly 7. The duct 25 is also equipped with an inner annular ridge 27 which forms the seat of the second retainer seal lb as well as the bottle feeding nipple 11 made from a flexible material, such as silicone rubber or natural rubber. The bottle feeding nipple 11 is fastened to the annular ridge 27 as well as to the second retainer seal lb to form a fluid tight closure of the duct 25 of the upper cap 26. Finally, an end cap 28 is provided at the top of the upper cap to seal off the bottle feeding nipple 1 1 when the assembly 7 is in its storage state. Two tear-away strips 29, 30 are provided at the gaps formed between the lower compartment 8 and the upper compartment 9, respectively and between the upper compartment 9 and the upper cap 26. The strips 29, 30 are bonded to the outer walls of the compartments 8, 9 and the upper cap 26 by a weak gluing that retains the strips in place during a storage state of the assembly 7 and protects the cooperating parts 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 23, 24, 25 from contamination and which allow for the strips 29, 30 to be removed by hand prior to activation of the assembly 7. The strips 29, 30 have the function of a tamper evident means, i.e. showing the user that the assembly 7 has not yet been activated as the strips 29, 30 cannot remain in place during activation of the assembly 7. In an alternative embodiment, the two strips 29, 30 are manufactured as an integral part of the upper compartment 9 and a weakening line is provided between the upper compartment 9 and the strips 29, 30 so that they may be torn away from the upper compartment 9 by application of limited pulling force and without damaging the upper compartment 9. The upper compartment 9 is made from a plastics material softer than the lower compartment 8 and the upper cap 26, and the internal threads 16, 23 of the inlet duct 17 and the outlet duct 18 of the upper compartment 9, respectively, are formed so that the external threads 15, 24 of the outlet duct 12 of the lower compartment 8 and of the duct 25 of the upper cap 26, respectively, will deform the material of the internal threads 16, 23 to form a fluid tight seal between the cooperating ducts 12 and 17, as well as between the ducts 18 and 25. In an alternative embodiment, the internal threads 16, 23 are not initially formed in the ducts 17, 18 but are created by the external threads 15, 24 when the assembly 7 is assembled and further when the assembly 7 is activated, see below.

The activation parts 21, 22 are shown in Fig. 7 and comprises an annular rim 31 for cooperating with the inner annular ridges 19, 20, and crossing members 32 supporting a centre part 33 that is suited for engagement with the distal part 5 of a retaining seal la, lb and for activating the seal la, lb when a force on the annular rim 31 biases the activation part 21, 22 towards the seal la, lb.

The assembly is assembled by placing the lower compartment 8 in an upright position and fill the compartment at least partly with infant formula power through the outlet duct 12. The first retaining seal la is placed on top of the annular ridge 13 in the outlet duct 12 of the lower compartment 8 and the first annular locking member 14 is glued to the first retaining seal la as well as to the annular ridge 13. The diameter of the outlet duct 12 is larger than the outer diameter of the rim portion 2 of the retaining seal la leaving an annular groove between the duct 12 and the rim portion 2 when the seal la is in place. The first annular locking member 14 has an annular projection that fits into the groove and forms together with the seal la and the annular ridge 13 a fluid tight closing of the lower compartment 8. The upper compartment 9 is prior to the assembly process provided with an activation part 21 that is inserted into the inlet duct 17 of the upper compartment 9 and is glued to the annular ridge 19 therein. Then, the upper compartment 9 is situated on top of the lower compartment 8 and is rotated so that the cooperating threads 15, 16 are engaging until the centre part 33 of the activation part 21 is very close to the distal part 5 of the retaining seal la, i.e. about 2 millimetres apart. The threads 15, 16 and the ducts 12, 17 now form a sealing connection that protects the interior of the ducts 12, 17 from contamination from the environment and is fluid tight, which will be of importance once the assembly 7 is activated. Sterile water is now poured into the upper compartment 9 and an activation part 22 is placed onto the inner annular ridge 20 of the outlet duct 18 of the upper compartment 9. The upper cap 26 is screwed onto the upper compartment 9 so that the cooperating threads 23, 24 and the ducts 18, 25 form a sealing connection that is fluid and contamination tight. The second retainer seal lb is placed on the annular ridge 27 with the protrusion 3 pointing downwards. The annular ridge 27 is formed with a step so that the seal lb having an outer diameter of its rim portion 2 smaller than the inner diameter of the duct 25 fits tightly into the annular ridge 27. The bottle feeding nipple 11 is placed on top of the annular ridge 27 and the retainer seal lb and is glued to both to form a fluid tight closure of the duct 25 of the upper cap 26 and to keep the retaining seal lb in place during activation of the assembly 7. The nipple 1 1 is bent down to one side and an end cap 28 is provided at the top of the upper cap to seal off the bottle feeding nipple 11 when the assembly 7 is in its storage state.

The final step it to provide the two tear-away strips 29, 30 at the gaps formed between the lower compartment 8 and the upper compartment 9, respectively and between the upper compartment 9 and the upper cap 26 and bond the strips 29, 30 to the outer walls of the compartments 8, 9 and the upper cap 26 by a weak gluing or by heat melting of the material of the two strips 29, 30 and/or the material of the compartments 8, 9 and the upper cap 26 to which the strips 29, 30 bond.

The assembly 7 is activated by removing the two strips 29, 30 and turning the lower compartment 8 relatively to the upper compartment 9 so that the threads 15, 16 will force the two compartments 8, 9 closer to each other and bring the centre part 33 of the activation part 21 into engagement with the distal part 5 of the protrusion 3 of the retaining seal 1 a and compress the protrusion 3 so that openings 6 are formed in the protrusion 3 along the weakening lines 4. The two compartments 8, 9 are now in mutual fluid connection and the assembly 7 is shaken to mix the powdered formula with the water until the mixture is ready for being fed to an infant. The upper cap 26 is then rotated relatively to the upper compartment 9 whereby the centre part 33 of the activation part 22 engages the distal part 5 of the protrusion 3 of the retaining seal lb and activates it by creating openings 6. The end cap 28 of the upper cap 26 is then opened which causes the feeding nipple 11 to stand up from the top of the assembly 7, which is now ready for use.

The assembly 7 may be used with outer types of powder to prepare a nutritious drink, such as soup for children or adults, in which case the outlet arrangement 10 will be suitable for drinking from instead of the bottle feeding nipple 1 1.

It is preferred that the whole assembly 7 is made from biodegradable plastics materials so that the assembly 7 after use may be utilised as a soil improving agent.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1, la, lb: retaining seal

2 rim portion of retaining seal

3 central protrusion of retaining seal

4 weakening lines

5 distal part of retaining seal

6 openings in retaining seal

7 multi-compartment container assembly

8 lower compartment

9 upper compartment

10: outlet arrangement of assembly

11 : bottle feeding nipple 12 : tubular outlet duct of lower compartment

13: inner annular ridge of outlet duct of lower compartment

14: first annular locking member

15 : external thread of outlet duct of lower compartment 16: internal thread of inlet duct of the upper compartment

17: inlet duct of the upper compartment

18: outlet duct of the upper compartment

19: inner annular ridge of inlet duct of the upper compartment

20: inner annular ridge of outlet duct of the upper compartment 21, 22: activation parts

23 : inner thread of outlet duct of the upper compartment

24: external thread of duct of the upper cap

25: duct of the upper cap

26: upper cap

27: inner annular ridge of duct of upper cap

28: end cap of the upper cap

29, 30: tear-away strips

31 : annular rim of activation part

32: crossing members of activation part

33: centre part of activation part

Claims

1. A retaining seal (1) made from a bendable sheet material being impervious to liquids, the seal (1) having a rim portion (2) and a central protrusion (3) which is equipped with a plurality of weakening lines (4) extending from a distal part (5) of the protrusion and towards the rim portion (2), so that one or more openings (6) will be formed in the seal (1) along the weakening lines (4) when the distal part (5) of the central protrusion (3) is compressed.

2. A seal according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of weakening lines (4) do not extend to a tip of the distal part (5), whereby the tip of the distal part (5) will remain unbroken when the openings (6) are formed.

3. A seal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the weakening lines (4) extend substantially linearly from the distal part (5).

4. A seal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the seal is formed substantially symmetrical about an axis extending through the distal part.

5. A seal according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the height of the protrusion is in the range of 1 to 6 centimetres, preferably in the range of 2 to 4 centimetres.

6. A seal according to any of the preceding claims which is made from a plastics material.

7. A seal according to claim 6, wherein the material is thermoplastic polyester.

8. A seal according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the plastics material is a biodegradable polymer, such as polylactic acid (PLA) or polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA).

9. A seal according to claim 8, wherein the seal is provided on at least one side with a water-resistant film improving the sustainability of the seal to contact with water on said at least one side.

10. A seal according to any of the preceding claims, where the weakening lines are slanted in relation to the plane of the rim portion along at least a part of their extent.

1 1. A multi-compartment container assembly (7) comprising at least two compartments (8, 9) each holding a substance, a retaining seal (1) according to any of claims 1-10 separating the compartments (8, 9) and means (15, 16, 21) for activating the assembly (7) by compressing the central protrusion (3) and forming one or more openings (6) allowing the substances to be admixed.

12. An assembly according to claim 11, wherein a first of the two compartments (8) is provided with a thread (15) and the second compartments (9) has at least a part

(17) made from a plastics material softer than the material from which at least the part (12) of the first compartment (8) provided with the thread (15) is made from, and formed to cooperated with said thread (15), so that when the two compartment are united the thread (15) will deform the softer material of the second compartment (9) to form between them a fluid tight sealing to the exterior.

13. An assembly according to claim 12, wherein the second compartment (9) is provided with a thread (16) to cooperate with the thread (15) of the first compartment (8).