CN1248952A - Beverage can lid and mehtod of making - Google Patents

Abstract

A container cover (1) made of thermoplastic material is used to cover the open upper end of a container (40). The container lid (1) comprises a lid body (10) having an opening (11) through which contents are dispensed. It also includes a pull cover (20) with a cover part (21), and the opening (11) is closed again by the cover part (21). The tab portion (22) is integrally formed with the cover portion (21). The opening (11) is covered by a gas barrier film (23), which is sealed to the lower surface of the cover (10). The cover part (21) is sealed to the gas barrier membrane (23). A gap is provided between the opening (11) and the outer periphery of the cover part (21). A method of making a container lid includes inserting a gas barrier film into a mold cavity. A thermoplastic resin material is injected into the cavity to form a cover, and when the molded product is taken out, it is in a hot state. After the molded product is taken out from the mould, thermocompression molding is performed along the periphery of the molded product to form a flange (12) for mounting the container lid on the container.

Description

Beverage container lid and manufacturing method thereof

field of invention

Generally, the present invention relates to container closures on containers for containing beverages or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to the construction of container closures and methods of making container closures.

Background of the invention

Known beverage containers have an upper opening which is covered and sealed by a container lid. In this type of beverage container, after the inside of the container is sterilized in order to provide the container with sterility, the beverage is then filled into the container.

Conventional container closures for containers of this type may be one of several different types of container closures. One type of container closure is the so-called peel-seal type container closure, referred to herein as a membrane-type container closure, which is made of a sheet material comprising stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET ) film, this sheet is laminated on the surface of aluminum foil, etc., and the easily peelable material layer is arranged on one side of the laminate, and this side of the laminate is in contact with the container. The container cover is installed and covered on the opened upper end of the container, and the container cover and the container are hot-melt bonded and fixed by heating.

Another type of container lid includes a sheet of material that covers the open upper end of the container. Openings are provided in the sheet to serve as beverage holes. The container lid has a pull tab consisting of a small piece of material made of PET/aluminum foil with an easy peel layer adapted to cover the opening in the container lid.

Another type of formed container lid is made by drawing formed aluminum foil.

There is also a container lid, prepared by a so-called insert injection molding method, in which an aluminum foil is covered with polyethylene (PE) or the like, this sheet is inserted into the mold in advance, and there is in the aluminum foil the opening means required to open the container lid, It is formed by injection molding.

But all there is certain shortcoming or defective in the structure of above-mentioned various container caps. For example, in the above-mentioned diaphragm type container cap, the sealing strength between the container cap and the container should be high enough to withstand various handling modes during conveyance of products. On the other hand, where it is necessary to remove the container lid from the container, the strength of the opening should be small enough to allow easy opening of the container. However, it is quite difficult to strike a balance between these two needs.

And because after taking out the container cover from the container, the opening that forms is quite large, under certain circumstances, beverage spills out easily, for example, while walking, drinks the beverage in the container, easily makes beverage discharge from the container.

In the case of the aforementioned container lids having a pull tab, the above problems are generally not commonly associated with diaphragm type container lids. However, since the pull tab is made of a membrane-type sheet, the container cap cannot provide a high-quality appearance or appearance, but gives users the impression that the container cap has a rather "poor appearance".

The disadvantage of container lids made by drawing aluminum foil is that they are quite expensive.

The above-mentioned last type of container cap, although using the point of view of providing gas barrier properties, has the problem that the process of coating polyethylene on the aluminum foil is rather complicated, and the container cap is easily peeled off.

In addition to the above, after the container is opened, most of the above conventional container caps are detached from the container and separated from the container, so that there is a problem of how to dispose of them. Even if the container cap does not come off the container when the container is opened, according to the prior art a container which has been opened can no longer be sealed by the container cap.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages or drawbacks. The container cap of the present invention is designed to withstand various handling methods during transportation, to be easy to open, and to have good gas barrier properties, to have a high quality appearance or shape, and to be able to reseal the container once the container has been opened for use , and, it is easy to aseptically fill the drink.

The container cap of the present invention is made of thermoplastic resin material and is shaped to cover the open end of the container. The container cover includes a cover body, an opening is arranged on the cover body so as to discharge the content in the container, and a pull cover is arranged on the opening. The pull-out cover has a cover portion to seal the opening of the cover body, and a tab portion connected to the cover portion with a gap between the periphery of the opening and the cover portion. The cover part has an upper outer periphery provided with protrusions to contact and fit with the periphery of the opening, and the lower surface of the cover body is covered by a gas barrier film.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the container cover covers the open upper end of the container, and the container cover includes a cover body and a pull cover. The cover is provided with a through opening through which the content in the container can be discharged. A gas barrier film is sealed to the lower surface of the lid and extends across the opening of the lid. The pull cover includes a cover part and a pull tab part, which are connected to each other. The cover portion is sealed to the gas barrier film such that by moving the cover portion relative to the cover, the gas barrier film is torn adjacent the periphery of the opening, thereby exposing the opening of the cover.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of making a container closure. The method of the present invention comprises inserting a gas barrier film into a mold cavity in an injection molding apparatus, injecting a thermoplastic resin material into the cavity to form substantially the same shape as a container lid, and opening the mold while maintaining the molded article in a hot state , and the molded article is taken out from the mold, and then, the periphery of the molded article is thermocompressed.

Brief description of the drawings

Describe the embodiment of the present invention in detail below with reference to accompanying drawing, the additional detailed structure and feature of the present invention will be clearer, in accompanying drawing, identical element is represented by identical symbol, wherein:

1 is an exploded perspective view showing a container cap of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the container cap is fixed to the open upper end of a beverage container;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the container lid shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the container cap fixed to the container shown along section line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a side view of the molded article obtained after implementing the first stage of the processing method of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the molded article produced by successively carrying out the first stage of the processing method of the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

Referring now first to FIG. 1 , according to the invention, a container 40 has an upper opening 41 which is adapted to be covered by a container lid 1 . The container cap 1 includes a combination of a cap body 10 and a pull cap 20 . In the illustrated embodiment, the cover body 10 has a circular shape, and a flange 12 is provided on the cover body 10 , and the flange 12 constitutes an outer peripheral portion of the cover body 10 . The flange 12 is adapted to fit onto the upper end portion 42 of the container 40 such that the lid 10 extends across the open upper end 41 of the container 40 . The lid 10 also includes an opening 11 serving as a beverage hole or discharge opening for removing the contents from the interior of the container 40 .

The pull cover 20 includes a cover portion 21 adapted to seal the opening 11 in the cover body 10 , and a pull tab portion 22 connected to the cover portion 21 . The tab portion 22 and the cover portion 21 form a unitary or unitary element.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the opening 11 in the cover body 10 is fan-shaped or heart-shaped. However, it is understood that the opening 11 may also have other contour shapes. Of course, the cover part 21 of the pull cover 20 has a shape corresponding to the opening 11 in the cover body 10 .

Referring now to FIG. 3 , to secure the pull cap 20 in place, in the container cap 1 there is a gap 25 between the peripheral portion 14 of the cap body 10 surrounding the opening 11 and the outer periphery of the cap portion 21 . And preferably, the pull tab portion 22 of the pull cover 20 is spaced apart from the upper surface of the cover body 10, as shown in FIG. 4 .

The peripheral portion 14 of the opening 11 in the lid 10 can have a desired cross-sectional shape, but preferably its cross-sectional shape has a shape that expands or gradually expands toward the container 40, as shown in Figure 3, so that The edge of 11 is a triangular or beveled peripheral edge on which a closed upper edge is provided.

As best seen in FIG. 3 , the cover portion 21 includes an upstanding neck 27 and a raised portion 29 positioned above the neck 27 . The neck 27 has an outer peripheral surface from which the protrusions or protrusions 24 extend radially outwardly. The structure of the protruding part 24 is in contact with the peripheral portion 14 of the opening 11, and the installation and fit method will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the lower surface of the cover body 10 is covered by a gas-barrier film 23 , and the film 23 has the property of isolating gas, especially oxygen. The gas barrier film 23 extends across the opening 11 in the lid body 10 so that the gas barrier film 23 seals the interior of the container from the outside until the container lid is opened. Furthermore, the end face of the neck portion 27 of the cover portion 21 is sealed to the gas barrier film 23 . By moving the cover part 21 of the pull cover 20 relative to the cover body 10, the connection between the cover part 21 and the gas barrier film 23 is broken, thereby opening the opening 11 in the cover body 10 so that the gas barrier film is moved along the opening 11. The perimeter is torn or broken.

The advantage of the container cap 1 of the present invention is that it allows the container to be opened and resealed. In this regard, once the container is opened by removing the portion of the gas barrier film 23 covering the opening 11, the neck 27 of the lid portion 21 of the pull-off lid 20 is inserted into the opening 11 in the lid body 10 such that the extension of the lid portion 21 The out portion 24 is in contact with the peripheral portion 14 of the opening 11 . The opening 11 is surrounded by a peripheral portion 14 of the cover body 10 which is thus sandwiched or disposed between the protrusion 24 and the upper convex portion 29 of the cover portion 21 . It is thus possible to seal the opening 11 in the middle of or after drinking a beverage.

The container cap 1 is preferably made of thermoplastic resin. Possible thermoplastic resins include: polyolefins, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyamide (PA), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC ), ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer resin (EVA), acrylonitrile butadiene copolymer resin (ABS), methacrylic resin (PMA), polycarbonate (PC), ionomer, cycloolefin-olefin Copolymer resins and other particularly suitable materials.

Polyolefins that may be used include polyethylene (PE), e.g. low density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, polypropylene, e.g. propylene homopolymer, ethylene-propylene random copolymer , Ethylene-propylene block copolymer, polybutene-1, polyhexene-1 and polymethylpentene-1. These polyolefins may be used alone or in combination of two or three.

Among the above polyolefins, polyethylene, polypropylene and mixtures thereof are particularly preferred.

The gas barrier film 23 constitutes a part of the container lid 1 and is made of a material having gas barrier properties, in particular oxygen barrier properties. Possible materials for the gas barrier film 23 are ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), polyvinylidene chloride, and other materials. Ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers are preferably used. As the gas barrier film 23, the film may be made of one of the above-mentioned materials. In addition, two or more layers of materials can also be laminated with other materials, for example, the above-mentioned thermoplastic resin materials can be used to form laminates.

A particular advantage is that for gas barrier films 23 having a laminated construction, the layer of material in the laminate which is in contact with the lower surface of the lid 10, i.e., towards the inside of the container, secures the lid to the container. The surface layer is the same material layer as the thermoplastic resin material that makes the container cap 1, so this material layer is easy to fuse with the lower surface in the structure of the container cap 1 of the present invention. The laminated film described is: polypropylene/ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer/polypropylene (PP/EVOH/PP). Optionally, an adhesive layer is provided between the resins.

The gas barrier film 23 has at least a minimum thickness to meet the requirements of preventing gas from penetrating the film during filling of the container with beverage and until opening of the container. Thus, the appropriate thickness of the film may depend on the type of beverage and/or the method of handling the container.

According to the present invention, the container cap 1 having the above structure is mounted on the container 40, and the flange 12 of the cap body 10 is mounted and sealed to the upper portion 42 of the container 40 after the beverage is filled into the container 40. Subsequently, container 40 is typically sterilized.

To drink or discharge a beverage from the container 40, it is necessary to lift the lid portion 21 of the pull lid 20 upwards, since the gas barrier film remains unaffected and remains covering the opening 11. That is, as described above, in a preferred embodiment, the gas barrier film 23 or a stack of gas barrier films 23 is positioned on the side of the container cover 1, wherein the material of the film layer is the same as that of the container cover 1 . Since the adhesive strength between the cover part 21 and the gas barrier film 23 is very good, when the cover part 21 is pulled up, the cover part 21 will be separated from the gas barrier film 23 with only a small change in the cover part 21. In addition, it is alternatively possible to tear the gas barrier film 23 along the periphery of the opening 11 of the cover body 10 when the cover portion 21 is pulled upward by enhancing the adhesive strength between the cover portion 21 and the gas barrier film 23, The opening 11 is thus opened or unblocked.

In addition, by pushing down the lid portion 21 of the pull lid 20 on the lid body 10, the opening 11 can also be opened or opened. This tears the gas barrier film 23 along the periphery of the opening 11 , or locally generates tensile stress in the gas barrier film 23 along the peripheral portion 14 surrounding the opening 11 . Then, the tab portion 22 is pulled upward, and the cover portion 21 to which the torn gas barrier film 23 portion is fixed is removed.

As mentioned above, the opening 11 can be resealed by inserting the lid portion 21 of the pull lid 20 into the opening 11 after the container has been opened so that the outwardly extending protrusion 24 engages the peripheral portion 14 in contact. In the cover body 10, the peripheral portion 14 surrounding the opening 11 is located between the projection 24 of the cover portion 21 and the projection 29 above.

According to the present invention, the method of manufacturing the above-mentioned container cap 1 preferably includes the following steps: first, preparing the gas barrier film 23 and inserting it into a mold cavity in an injection molding apparatus. Secondly, hot-melt is used as the molding material of the thermoplastic resin of the container lid 1, and thirdly, the hot-melt thermoplastic resin material is injected into the mold cavity in the injection molding equipment to form a molded product integrated with the film hot-melt bonded, It is a partial molding or preform, as shown in FIG. 4 .

The mold is cooled while keeping the part or preform hot, the mold is opened and the part or preform is removed therefrom. In this case, it is important to keep the heat inside the molding while removing the partial molding or pre-form from the mold, because, after the molding has solidified, it is difficult to get the part of the container closure that makes up the pull-top 20 The tab portion 22 is released from the mold.

After taking out the partial molding or preform as shown in FIG. 4 from the injection molding equipment, it is hot-molded to form a flange 12 with a flat outer edge 15, as shown in FIG. 2, thereby forming The container cap 1 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the present invention can also produce the above-mentioned partial moldings or preforms by means of a long gas barrier film 23 . By adopting this continuous molding method, the manufacturing processability of the container lid can be greatly improved.

By means of the invention, many advantages are obtained. In one aspect, a container closure according to the present invention has sufficient strength to withstand various forms of handling during product delivery and has very good gas barrier properties. Also, since the gas barrier film 23 is provided on the inner layer, this film can be relatively thin. Therefore, only a small force is required to break or peel off the film 23, thereby opening the container.

Furthermore, when the beverage in the container has only been partially consumed or drained, the opening can be reclosed using the previously removed pull-out lid. This makes it easy to store leftover beverages and to carry the container without the risk of the beverage spilling out of the container.

Also, when the beverage is completely used up from the container, or is emptied, and the container needs to be discarded, the container and the pull-top can be provided together by inserting or fitting the pull-top into the opening.

The container lid can have a high quality form or appearance and facilitate sterilization after filling with a beverage.

Also, since the gas barrier film can be molded simultaneously with the injection molding of the container cap body, the manufacturing cost of the container cap can be in the range of decreased considerably.

In the foregoing specification, the principles, preferred embodiments and processing methods of the present invention have been described in detail. However, the claimed content of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned specific embodiments. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments are illustrative of the present invention, not limiting. Many other or equivalent forms may be obtained with changes or modifications without departing from the inventive concept. Therefore, all changes, modifications, or equivalent forms falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention are included in the claims of the present invention.

Claims (18)

1. container cover that is used to cover the upper open end of drinking container, it comprises lid and La Gai, they are made by thermoplastic resin material, lid has lower surface, in lid, be provided with opening, so that discharge content from container, draw lid to comprise cover and pulling-on piece part, they link together, described cover is with respect to the opening setting in the lid, so that have the gap between the open circumferential of lid and described cover, described cover has the neighboring, it is provided with projection, so that it is installed in the opening, after opening opening, can seal opening again, opening in the described lid is coated with gas barrier film, by the lower surface of described gas barrier film sealing lid.

2. according to the described container cover of claim 1, it is characterized in that: thermoplastic base resin is a polyolefin.

3. according to the described container cover of claim 1, it is characterized in that: gas barrier film is a lamination, and it has one deck ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer at least.

4. according to the described container cover of claim 2, it is characterized in that: gas barrier film is a lamination, and it has one deck ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer at least.

5. according to the described container cover of claim 3, it is characterized in that: described lamination has the material layer of sealing lid lower surface, and the material layer of described sealing lid lower surface is and the thermoplastic base resin identical materials of making lid.

6. according to the described container cover of claim 1, it is characterized in that: cover is sealed on the gas barrier film.

7. according to the described container cover of claim 1, it is characterized in that: lid has and the mutual opposed upper surface of lower surface, and the open circumferential in the lid is the oblique angle, so that the lower surface of the peripheral size of opening from the upper surface of lid towards lid enlarges.

8. according to the described container cover of claim 1, it is characterized in that: described lid has the neighboring, is provided with flange on the neighboring, so that lid is installed to the upper end of the unlatching of container.

9. one kind is used to cover the container cover with in-to-in vessel port upper end, it comprises lid and La Gai, described lid has lower surface, described lower surface is in the face of the inside of container, also has upper surface, lid is provided with the opening of perforation, pass through opening, content in can amount discharge container, described opening has periphery, and gas barrier film is sealed to the lower surface of lid, and extends along the opening of lid, draw lid to comprise cover and pulling-on piece part, both interconnect for it, and described cover is sealed on the gas barrier film, so that green phase is for lid removable cover part, make the gas barrier film of adjacent lid open circumferential tear, thereby open the opening of lid.

10. according to the described container cover of claim 9, it is characterized in that: described lid has the neighboring, on described neighboring, is provided with flange, so that container cover is installed to the upper end of the unlatching of container.

11. according to the described container cover of claim 9, it is characterized in that: the pulling-on piece part separates with the upper surface of lid.

12. the container cover according to claim 9 is stated is characterized in that: described cover comprises upright neck, and neck has the neighboring, and has the gap between the neighboring of the upright neck of open circumferential in lid and cover.

13. according to the described container cover of claim 9, it is characterized in that: described cover comprises upright neck, neck has the neighboring, and comprise from the outward extending projection in neighboring of the upright neck of cover, so that after the opening of lid is unlocked, by neck is inserted in the opening, and make the peripheral contact matching of projection and opening, so that the opening in the lid is sealed again.

14. according to the described container cover of claim 9, it is characterized in that: described lid is made by thermoplastic resin material, described gas barrier film is a laminated material, it has the material layer that is sealed to the lid lower surface, and the described material layer that is sealed to the lid lower surface is and the thermoplastic base resin identical materials of making lid.

15. according to the described container cover of claim 9, it is characterized in that: the opening in the described lid is the oblique angle, so that the lower surface of the peripheral size of opening from the upper surface of lid towards lid enlarges.

16. a manufacturing is fixed to the method for the container cover on the container, it comprises: gas barrier film is inserted in the cavity body of mould in the injection molding equipment, the thermoplastic resin material injection is entered in the cavity, form identical with container cover basically shape, open mould, and mechanograph is in hot state, and takes out mechanograph from mould.

17. according to the described container cover manufacture method of claim 16, it is characterized in that: mechanograph has periphery, and comprise from mould take out mechanograph after, the step of the periphery of mechanograph being carried out Heat forming.

18. according to the described container cover manufacture method of claim 16, it is characterized in that: the periphery that the step of described thermoforming mould article periphery is included in mechanograph forms flange, so that make container cover can be installed to the upper end of the unlatching of container.

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