Portola Packaging Limited

Cup Snap Co.

Rawson L Chenault

Daniel Randolph Luch

Brian M Adams

Richard E Repp

Steven H Bietzer

Laszlo G Sandor

A fitment for use as a pour spout for a paper carton or flexible bag for liquids and powders has a flange which may be welded around a hole in the carton. A spout projecting outward from the flange is provided with a removable membrane integral with an inward projection positioned on the interior of the spout approximately midway of its height. Preferably the membrane is concave. A horizontally disposed pull ring is attached to the membrane by a connector so that pulling the ring removes the membrane by fracturing the tear line at the juncture of the outer edge of the membrane and the projection. A cap snaps over the spout and may be removed by unscrewing the complementary threads on cap and spout. A tamper-evidencing band frangibly connected to the lower edge of the cap skirt engages the exterior of the spout so that the cap cannot be removed without breaking the fragible connection.

Fitment having removable membrane

A tamper-evident, snap-on, screw-off closure which is used with a specially shaped container neck is provided with a foil liner. Once the closure is applied to the neck, the foil liner is sealed to the neck of the container. The foil liner includes a tab for removal of the seal disc from the neck. The closure is characterized by the absence of a second liner between the top of the cap and the foil liner. The closure, neck and the foil liner are formed to inhibit adherence of the tab to the cap interior and the neck exterior.

Foil lined snap-on, screw-off closure and container neck

A tamper-evident thermoplastic fitment having a spout and a closure for said spout are welded to a polymer-coated paperboard container or to a flexible plastic container. The fitment and closure are initially molded simultaneously but with a substantial space between the two pans interconnected by an elongated runner which conducts molten plastic from the closure to the fitment. Upon retraction of the core of the mold, the closure is pulled into the spout until shoulders on the parts engage, whereupon the closure is stripped from the mold core. The runner comprises a tear tab which slides through an apertured space on the closure. When the parts engage tangs on the tear tab engage the space, making the assembly tamper-evident. The fitment has a flange which may be welded or otherwise secured to the container. The tab may be pulled by the consumer to open the container. The closure may be unscrewed from the spout or otherwise disengaged.

Unitary tamper-evident fitment and closure assembly

A thin-walled, cup shaped container molded of polypropylene, or other suitable material, is formed with a tamper-evident band initially positioned outside the lip at the top of the container wall. The lower edge of the band is connected to the container by spaced frangible bridges. A lid closes off the top of the container and has an outer and inner skirt respectively fitting outside and inside the container lip. The upper end of the band is formed into an annular inward projection overlying the periphery of the lid. Forming the retainer projection is accomplished by bringing a heated tool in contact with the band to heat the same until near its melting temperature. The tool has slanted walls converging at a radius and shaped to bend the projection approximately horizontally inward. The lid cannot be removed without tearing off the band.

Method of making an inwardly directed projection on a plastic container

A container having a body and a tamper-evident band and a lid for closing the container. The band has a proximal portion frangibly attached to the container body and a distal portion. The distal portion of the band is deformable to an inward extending orientation with the distal portion shaped and positioned to extend inwardly across the peripheral outer portion of a lid. The deformed distal portion of the band optionally has a curvature of 90.degree. to 360.degree. or more. The lid optionally has an annular groove for concealing the terminus of the band. The lid may also have an outward extending peripheral flange, an upward extending annular rib and a stacking ring for arranging several lids in a nested stack.

Container with curled tamper-evident band to retain closure

A thin-walled, wide mouth molded plastic container is provided with a tamper evident band initially molded as a straight-walled cylinder spaced outwardly of the lip of the container and connected thereto by a frangible horizontal bridge. The upper edge of the cylindrical band extends above the level of the container lip. Subsequent to molding and preferably before capping, the band is curled inward by application of a curling tool. The container lid is axially applied, the outer edge of the lid displacing the curled band outward. The resilience of the band and bridge permits outward deflection and immediate restoration of the curl to its initial position. The curl prevents removal of the lid without fracture of the bridge and removal of the tamper-evident band.

A tamper-evident thermoplastic fitment having a spout and a closure for said spout are welded to a polymer-coated paperboard container or to a flexible plastic container. The fitment and closure are initially molded simultaneously but with a substantial space between the two parts interconnected by an elongated runner which conducts molten plastic from the closure to the fitment. Upon retraction of the core of the mold, the closure is pulled into the spout until shoulders on the parts engage, whereupon the closure is stripped from the mold core. The runner comprises a tear tab which slides through an apertured space on the closure. When the parts engage tangs on the tear tab engage the space, making the assembly tamper-evident. The fitment has a flange which may be welded or otherwise secured to the container. The tab may be pulled by the consumer to open the container. The closure may be unscrewed from the spout or otherwise disengaged.

Container with tamper-evident band having inward bent retainer

A fitment for a container, such as a carton, has an attachment flange adapted to be sealed to the carton around a pour hole therein. The fitment has a cylindrical spout formed with vertically spaced seal bead and locking bead. The closure has a top disk with a depending skirt dimensioned to slidably fit within the spout. The exterior of the skirt has an external locking bead at its lower end positioned to lock under the fitment locking bead to hold the closure in place and a seal surface to be engaged by the fitment seal bead. Initially the fitment and spout are molded as a unit, the locking bead of the closure and the top edge of the fitment spout being joined by a circular frangible link. The combination is tamper-evident since access to the interior of the carton cannot be obtained without breaking the link. As an alternative, the cap may be separated from the spout and slid inside the spout. Separate cooperable means on the cap disk and fitment flange make this alternative tamper-evident.

Tamper-evident, initially unitary, fitment and closure

A container (e.g., an 8 oz. milk container) formed of paperboard, or the like, is formed with an aperture. A plastic disk is attached to the paperboard over the aperture by thermoplastic welding or other means. The disk has a frangible area which is opened to dispense contents. Typically the frangible area is penetrated by the end of a drinking straw. For aseptic packaging, the paperboard may be lined with a barrier, such as foil. Alternatively foil may be attached to the disk and welded to the paperboard surrounding the aperture or welded to a foil or polyethylene liner for the paperboard.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Rawson L Chenault