WO2014199190A1

WO2014199190A1 - System for preventing the tampering and re-packaging of containers made from glass, plastic or other materials

Info

Publication number: WO2014199190A1
Application number: PCT/IB2013/001293
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniel Eduardo ACEVEDO MADRID; María Beatriz CADAVID TORO
Original assignee: Acevedo Madrid Daniel Eduardo; Cadavid Toro María Beatriz
Priority date: 2013-06-10
Filing date: 2013-06-10
Publication date: 2014-12-18
Also published as: MX2015016247A; US20160122098A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for preventing the tampering and re-packaging of containers made from glass, plastic or other materials, taking the form of a device having a double wall of glass and a series of mechanisms ensuring that the double wall is stained at the moment the bottle is opened. The main advantage of the device is that since the ink is released inside a double wall of glass, the person can see in real time if the bottle is from the company, without opening the bottle and prior to consuming the product contained therein. An additional advantage is that the ink is totally isolated from the product by means of one of the glass walls, such that the composition of the product is not altered by the components of the security ink.

Description

SYSTEM TO AVOID ADULTERATION AND RE-PACKING OF GLASS, PLASTIC OR OTHER MATERIAL CONTAINERS

Object of the invention

The present invention consists of a device and a system for preventing adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers with the ability to damage the bottle so that it cannot be reused or adulterated by unscrupulous hands. The safety mechanism irrigates an indelible ink inside the bottle when it is opened. The bottle has a double capillary wall, so that the ink watered inside this double layer serves to alert that the bottle has already been opened and used, so that to remove the stain the only solution is to break the bottle.

Field of the Invention

The present invention has its application within the field of devices designed to contain liquids and promptly within the industry dedicated to the manufacture of food containers, medicines, and in general products contained in plastic or glass containers.

Background of the invention

A growing problem in many countries is adulteration and the re-packaging of packaged substances such as medicines, cooking oils, alcoholic beverages and others. This activity not only presents economic problems for producing companies, but also presents imminent risks to human health since this activity is carried out without any type of hygiene control, which can lead to multiple health problems, loss of capacities and even death. People engaged in this illegal activity, have to use the containers already discarded by customers since making a container totally identical to the original of the company is very expensive, which is not profitable even more when it is known that as their product It is illegal they have to sell it at a very low price.

In the state of the art there are products to alert when a container has been opened. Thus, for example, the Colombian patent application No. 03/106532, refers to a closure with evidence of violation comprising a housing containing a blister pack a substrate, wherein the blister pack contains a first reagent that is visible before of a first opening and the substrate contains a second reagent, and wherein the first opening of the closure breaks the blister pack thus exposing the first reagent to the second reagent and effecting a reaction that causes a visual change indicating that the closure has been open

On the other hand, United States patent application No. US2007262042 teaches an apparatus and method to prevent adulteration or replacement of beverages arranged in bottles with neck. The apparatus comprises the use of a check valve on the neck of the bottle, protected from tampering or adulteration by using a breakable tank containing a harmless dye to discolor the beverage in case of improper handling. The application also contemplates the method to prevent adulteration or replacement of beverages, including the manufacturing steps of the apparatus, the filling of the bottle with the beverage, and the insertion of the apparatus to prevent adulteration or replacement in the neck of the bottle. Additionally, the advertising associated with the teaching of use of the device is contemplated.

As can be seen, in the state of the art there is no difficult manufacturing device to alert the user about a possible manipulation or content of a plastic or glass container, in which the ink is in an inaccessible place thus preventing it from being washed with acids or caustic soda and where the ink does not mix with the contents of the container. Description of the invention

The present invention was designed in order to solve the problems associated with the handling and adulteration of plastic or glass containers arranged to contain liquids. On the one hand, the safety mechanism stains the glass of the bottle leaving it unusable, so that the adulterators would have to replace all the mechanisms, which is expensive since very few companies have the technology to manufacture bottles. The above implies that once the bottle has been used, the ink will remain inside the glass in an inaccessible place, thus avoiding being washed with acids or caustic soda, so that the only way to clean the stain is by breaking the bottle

On the other hand, the double wall mechanism used prevents contamination or mixing of the liquid contained with the security ink. It has been found that even when the inks are harmless, they can be decanted into the container, which from the hygienic and aesthetic point of view is not suitable.

The invention has a device that drives the ink into a double-walled glass chamber once the lid is opened. This device may comprise one, two or more capillaries arranged around the double wall chamber. A device with a circular capillary and curved capillaries was also developed, all embodiments of the present invention.

The device of the present invention comprises a mechanism developed to engage the nozzle of glass, plastic or other material containers. In this case, the lid of the container is modified by inserting an ink vial, a system to depress the vial, one or more capillaries, and security and seal pieces.

The thread of the lid is formed on a tubular piece, this piece seals the device from its outer part, forming a first security seal. A second tube is attached to the nozzle of the bottle which forms the internal security seal of the device. The two seals are arranged concentrically leaving a space between them, which is located the ink bottle. A ring that moves synchronously when the container is opened or closed is attached to the lid of the container. This ring has a paddle-shaped extension which is used to depress the vial when the lid is moved. If the container has not been used, the vial is filled with ink. Once the lid of the device is moved, the palette also moves causing the vial to eject the ink on a capillary formed in the nozzle of the container, in this way, a visible ink mark remains on the nozzle indicating that the lid is already It has been open.

The ink remains in the capillary and cannot be removed as long as it is formed in a double wall inside the nozzle. In this way the contents of the container cannot be adulterated since to clean the ink it is necessary to break the bottle or break the seals.

An advantage of the device of the present invention is that the contents of the container at no time make contact with the ink, whether the container is open or unopened. When the container has not been opened, the inner seal insulates the ink vial from the nozzle, preventing contamination of the contents by accidental ruptures of the vial.

Once the container is opened, the contents of the vial are emptied into the capillary. The ink remains in the capillary and does not make contact with the contents of the container as it remains insulated from the inside by a glass or plastic wall that conforms to the inside of the nozzle.

Brief description of the drawings

The relevant aspects and advantages of the present invention will be better understood in relation to the following figures, in which:

FIG. 1 Shows an isometric view of the device to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers, which comprises a capillary element. FIG. 2 Shows the extruded scheme of the device to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers, with a capillary element.

FIG. 3 Shows an isometric view of the device to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers, which comprises two capillary elements.

FIG. 4 Shows the extruded scheme of the device to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers, with two capillary elements.

FIG. 5 Shows an isometric view of the device to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers, which comprises a circular capillary element.

FIG. 6 Shows the extruded scheme of the device to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers, with a circular capillary element.

FIG. 7A and 7b. Side and top views of the nozzle with a curved capillary to the left. 7b Side and top views of the nozzle with a curved capillary to the right.

FIG. 8 Drawing of the manufacturing mold for the single capillary nozzle.

FIG. 9 Drawing of the manufacturing mold for the two-capillary nozzle.

FIG. 10 Drawing of the manufacturing mold for the circular capillary nozzle.

Detailed Description of Preferred Modalities

The device to prevent adulteration and the re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers of the present invention, is formed by a system of seals that are attached to the nozzle of the container allowing users to have greater certainty about the content Of the bottle. The shape and geometry of the system and its parts can be seen in the drawings that accompany the following description.

Figure 1 shows the arrangement of the system with a single capillary. The device comprises a lid of the container (1), which has a piece attached to it. half ring shape (2), coupled to another half ring shaped piece (5). Both pieces move on the outer seal (4). The half ring piece (5) has a protrusion in the form of a vane (6), this vane moves together with the cap between the outer seal (4) and an inner seal (7). Similarly, in the space formed between both seals, an ink vial (8) is arranged, which is held on a support and pressure piece (9).

The internal seal (7) is coupled to the nozzle of the container (10). A double wall or capillary cavity (11) is formed on the nozzle wall, where the ink is received once the container has been opened. In this case, the capillary has a straight cylindrical shape.

Figure 2 shows in detail the parts that make up the device of the present invention. First of all there is the cover (1) which is preferably made of plastic and comprises an internal thread which is coupled with the thread (3) arranged on the outer seal (4) of the device.

A piece (2) in the form of a half ring is fixed on the lower edge of the cover (1). This piece rotates with the cover on the support formed in the outer seal (4) and in turn rotates the other half of the ring (5) in the same direction and at the same speed of rotation of the cover (3).

The outer seal (4) is a tubular part comprising two parts; a thread (3) for adjusting the cover (1), and a tubular body of larger diameter which is fixed to the outside of the nozzle, preventing the internal mechanisms of the safety device from being tampered with or manipulated. The outer seal (4) has a rail with a groove (12) that allows the passage of the vane (6). The two halves of ring (2) and (5) move rotationally on this rail.

The ring in half (5) is coupled to the part (2) so that when opening the cover (1) a movement of this piece is generated on the outer seal (4), to this ring comprises a vane (6) that passes through the outer seal (4), this vane also rotates with the radial movement of the lid (1) squeezing the vial (8) against the support (9). Inside the external seal (4), an internal security seal (7) is located. This part is composed of a tubular plastic seal that goes from the thread of the cap (3) to the nozzle (11). Its main function is to protect the vial from the ink and separate it from the inside where the company's product is located so that the chemical ink that is inside the vial, in case of a manufacturing error and the reagent leaves its Packaging does not alter the chemical composition of the product. This seal can be formed from several tubes of different diameters this when the diameters of the thread (3) and the nozzle (1) are different.

The bulb (8) has the main function of storing the ink, this element is located between the external (4) and internal (7) seals. The latter insulates the vial completely from the inside of the bottle where the product is, while the outer seal (4) isolates it from the outside. The vial has a valve at its bottom that connects the inside of the vial with the capillary (10). When the vial is pressed between the vane (6) and the support (9), the valve is opened and the ink is poured into the capillary (10).

The vial rests on a support (9) which contains the vial so that the vane (6) can squeeze it, for this, the support that generally has an annular shape, has a perpendicular protuberance that retains the vial so that the vane generates enough pressure to burst the valve so that the ink descends through the capillary (10).

The capillary (10) is formed as a blow on the nozzle (11) that is made to the thickness of the glass functioning as a double wall. The volume of the tube is similar to the same volume as that of the vial so that the ink contained in the vial drops completely to the end of the tube.

In another embodiment of the invention, two diametrically opposed capillaries are located, so that two ink marks are achieved once the bottle is opened. Figure 3 shows the diagram of the second modality, which basically includes the same elements mentioned above, but difference in that on the nozzle (11) two capillaries (10) are formed instead of just one. These are preferably located diametrically opposite, that is, at 180 °, however other locations can be used whenever the structure allows.

The presence of two capillaries requires two ampoules each adjacent to each capillary. This makes it necessary for the pressure mechanism of the vial to be replicated for the second capillary. For this, in figure 4 it is shown that on the ring (2) of the cover (1), a second vane (6) is arranged, this vane passes through the external seal (4) through a second groove (12) . Likewise, on the annular support (9) there is a second perpendicular protuberance, which retains the second vial (8). As you can see, this entire mechanism is arranged diametrically opposite to the original single capillary mechanism.

In this mode the half ring (5) remains unchanged, as does the internal seal (7). Other modalities with multiple capillaries can be structured, for example if 4 marking points are required, 4 capillaries (10) located 90 ° from each other can preferably be formed on the nozzle glass (11). In this case, 4 vanes (6) two located on the ring (2) of the cover (1), and the other two on the half ring (5) would be needed. Likewise, 4 slots (12) in the internal seal (4) and 4 protuberances on the annular support piece (9) would be required. Following this methodology, the number of capillaries (10) required on the nozzle (11) can be located.

In another embodiment, the capillary is formed over the entire periphery of the nozzle (11) of the bottle. In figure 5 it is shown that the capillary (10) now has a circular shape shaped as a complete groove on the glass of the nozzle. In this case, the entire nozzle is impregnated with ink once the lid of the container is opened.

The mechanism for inkjet is similar to the mechanism used for the modality described for a single capillary. As can be seen in Figure 6, both the cover (1) the external seal (4), the internal seal (7), the half ring (5) and the annular support (9) remain unchanged. The difference of this modality is that once pressure is exerted on the valve of the ampoule (8), its contents are poured evenly over the entire periphery of the nozzle (11), which results in a more noticeable indication for the user.

Other modalities may use nozzles (11) with capillaries of different shapes. For example, a nozzle (11) with a capillary (10) curved to the left is shown in Figure 7a. Likewise, in figure 7b the nozzle (1) is shown but in this case the capillary (10) was made curved to the right. In this case, the drive mechanism is equal to the mechanism of the modality set forth in Figures 1 and 2. Likewise, nozzles with multiple curved capillaries can be formed to the left, to the right or combinations thereof. In the case of multiple capillaries, the structure is similar to that set forth above in relation to Figures 3 and 4.

The nozzle is manufactured by the emptying process using a mold preferably with rotational geometry. Figure 8 shows the views of the mold

(13) used to manufacture the single capillary nozzle. In this case the mold comprises a pin (14) which is molded perpendicular to the surface of the mold so that when pouring the plastic or glass material, the pin establishes the capillary space.

Figure 9 shows the planes of a mold (13) which comprises two pins

(14) so that the nozzle formed in this case comprises two capillaries. The location of the pins can vary and as will be seen, the desired number of pins can be incorporated in order to obtain the desired number of capillaries.

Figure 10 shows the mold scheme (13) for the circular capillary nozzle. In this case, instead of molding pins on the mold, a circular ring (15) perpendicular to the surface of the mold (13) is used. Similarly, when forming the nozzle, the ring (15) establishes a space in the nozzle on which the ink will be poured once the bottle is opened. It is considered not necessary to make this description more extensive for a person skilled in the art to understand the scope and advantages of the invention. The materials, shape, size and arrangement of the elements will be susceptible to variation as long as this does not involve alteration in the essential form of the invention. All the technical and scientific terms used here have the same meaning as those of ordinary skill in the art understand them. All publications, patent and patent applications and other references mentioned, are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Claims

1. A system to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers which is made up of a lid, a nozzle, a system of seals that fit the nozzle and at least one capillary, a system characterized by the lid of the container (1) is coupled to an outer seal (4) by means of a thread (3) disposed in the upper part of the seal; inside the seal (4) on the thread (3) a second internal security seal (7) is attached, this seal is formed by a tubular shaped plastic seal that goes from the thread of the cover (3) to the nozzle (11); The lid of the container has a piece in the form of a half ring (2) attached which is coupled with another piece of half ring (5), this piece has a protrusion in the form of a trowel

(6) which is disposed between the outer seal (4) and an inner seal (7); The outer seal (4) has a surface where the annular pieces (2) and (5) are located, on this surface there is a rail with a groove (12) that allows the passage of the vane (6), the seal has with a tubular body of larger diameter which is fixed to the outside of the nozzle of the bottle; adjacent to the palette (6) an ink vial (8) is arranged, located on an annular support piece (9) and retained by the perpendicular protrusion of the annular support (9) and the vane (6), the ampule has its lower part a valve that connects the vial with the capillary (10), which is shaped as a double-walled tubular cavity in the nozzle (11).

2. A system to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers according to claim 1 wherein the internal seal

(7) is formed from several tubes of different diameters which coincide with the diameters of the thread (3) and the nozzle (1), and where the volume of the capillary (10) is similar to the volume of the vial.

3. A system for preventing adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers according to claim 1 in which the nozzle (11) comprises two diametrically opposed capillaries, which are located on the periphery of the nozzle preferably 180 ° from each other, two ampoules each adjacent to each capillary and arranged on an annular support (9) comprising two perpendicular protuberances each one arranged to retain a bulb, and wherein the nozzle (11) can also comprise multiple capillaries arranged on its periphery; the system comprises a number of ampoules and vanes equal to the number of capillaries, where the vanes are distributed in equal number over the rings (2) and (5); Likewise, the annular support has a number of protuberances equal to the number of capillaries.

4. A system for preventing adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers according to claim 1, in which a second pallet (6) is arranged on the ring (2) of the lid (1) and where this vane passes through the external seal (4) through a second slot (12).

5. A system for preventing adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle (11) comprises a circular capillary formed as a complete groove formed over the entire periphery of nozzle glass.

6. A system for preventing adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle (11) comprises a capillary (10) that curves to the left, and in where also the nozzle (11) can comprise a capillary (10) that bends to the right.

7. A system for preventing adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle (11) comprises multiple curved capillaries to the left, to the right or combinations of the same.

8. A method for manufacturing the nozzles (11) of a system to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers, which consists of the steps of:

- make a circular mold for the rotational geometry nozzle,

- locate a perpendicular spike on the surface of the mold,

- pour plastic material or liquid glass on the mold,

- remove the mold, where two or more spikes perpendicular to the surface of the mold are located on the mold, and a circular ring (15) perpendicular to the surface of the mold is located.

9. A method of assembling a lid for a system to prevent adulteration and re-packaging of glass, plastic or other material containers which consists of:

- fit the cover (1) with the half-ring piece (5),

- insert the ring vane (6) (5) into the groove (12) of the external seal (4),

- attach an external seal (4) with a second internal security seal (7),

- place an ink vial (8) on an annular support piece (9) in the space formed between the external (4) and internal (7) security seals,

- hold the vial with the ring paddle (6) (5),

- fit the container nozzle (11) into the outer seal (4),

- connect the valve of the vial (8) with the capillary (10) of the nozzle (11),

- seal the system.