MXPA96005645A - Closure with valve that automatically closes - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to closure for a container, in which the closure has: an upper section (2) with an extraction orifice (3) and a sealing plane (2a, 20a, 32a.), A valve (4) with a floor plane (4c), in which an automatically closing hole (4f) is formed, and an annular flange (4a) and a valve carrier element (5, 22, 34), which pretenses the closing valve in such a way automatically with the annular flange (4a) against a sealing plane (2a, 20a, 32a) in such a way that the annular flange at least at one site can be lifted from the sealed plane

Description

CLOSURE WITH AUTOMATICALLY CLOSING VALVE The invention relates to a closure having a valve that closes automatically. The closure can be applied particularly in the case of tubes, cans, bags and bottles and especially those containing pasty liquids or liquids. European specification EP-A-395 380 discloses a liquid dispenser having a valve that closes automatically. The automatically closing valve has a surrounding flange, a sleeve plane extending therefrom and a covering plane with a groove made therein. The automatically closing valve is located within the extraction orifice of a container while the valve flange is retained by a retainer ring at the edge of the extraction orifice. For the distribution of the liquid from the container, a pressure is exerted on it, whereby the automatically closing valve is first expelled outward, that is, the valve is transformed into a wavy shape in such a way from a resting position in the region of its sleeve plane that the covering plane projects outwards. In the extracted position, due to the pressure exerted on the container, the groove widens to become an extraction hole. When the pressure on the container is discontinued, the slot is closed automatically, and the valve arrives by the retraction to its rest position. Ventilation of the container is carried out by the groove that opens as a result of the subatmospheric pressure in the container. This system is well suited for many application cases, especially for use in containers that are stored with the opening down, so that the product to be extracted from it, can be removed directly by pressing on the container, as for example, for shower soaps, shampoo and the like. In this known closing system it turns out that the ventilation of the container does not always develop impeccably. Especially, in the case of thin-walled containers, this phenomenon leads to the container not returning to its original form but the walls of the container remain in the pressed-in position. European Patent EP-A-0545678 discloses a closure with a valve that automatically closes, which bears an annular flange, a cylindrical sleeve plane, which follows the flange and a covering plane with a cross-groove. The annular flange of the valve is L-shaped and is retained in the extraction orifice of a container by a retainer ring. In the rest position of the valve, the cylindrical sleeve plane with the coating plane is inserted into the extraction opening. By exerting pressure on the container, the valve is ejected outward and when the pressure is further increased, the cross-shaped groove is opened. When the pressure is discontinued, the valve returns to its resting position. Ventilation of the container occurs by opening the cross slot in rest position. In addition, a cover or a cursor is provided which prevents an inadvertent exit of the contents of the container. When the lid is closed, the automatically closing valve can not be ejected or opened outwards. In US-A 5 115 950 a closure with a valve that closes automatically is described. The valve has an annular flange, which has a trapezoidal shape in cross section and which is thicker towards the outside. The annular flange follows a jacket plane pointing to the outside and then an inwardly corrugated covering plane carrying a cross-groove. In a position adjacent to the inner side of the covering plane, a helmet is mounted on the inside, where the extraction hole is located. This helmet is retained with bridges against the inner wall of the extraction hole. The closure also has a cover that on its inner side has two surrounding projections, that in the case of the closed lid they touch the valve on the upper side of the sleeve plane as well as in the area of the hull-shaped pump to press said section against the c-"sr: o. Inadvertent discharge of the contents of the container In this known closure the annular flange is tightened between a contact plane and a bendable ear, in which case projections in the form of spikes or teeth may be provided in the contact plane or in the ear , which must improve the retention of the annular flange The purpose of the present invention is to provide a closure that has a valve that automatically closes, that can be opened easily, that seals impeccably and that has small dimensions, this being closure equipped with a container fan system that will work perfectly well, also in the case of slight differences in pressure .The task is solved by the characteristics contained in the claims. In solving the problem, the invention of the following basic concepts starts. The valve that closes automatically is mounted in its resting position inside the closure, in such a way that the annular flange is bent at least in one place when subatmospheric pressure is present inside the container, so that in this place it is produced a ventilation of the container. According to the inventive concept, the valve that automatically closes in its rest position is pretensioned, by means of a valve carrier element that comes into contact with the valve floor or with certain parts of the underside of the annular flange, to the extent that the upper side of the annular flange is in contact with a corresponding annular sealing plane of the closure. Due to the preliminary attention in the jacket planes and the construction of the annular flange, a seal between the annular flange and the corresponding sealing plane is ensured. In view of the fact that at least part of the lower side of the annular flange is not supported, this part of the annular flange can be bent in the manner previously claimed, that is, it can be lifted out of the sealing plane and thus through the intermediate space thus created between the upper side of the annular flange and the sealing plane, air can flow into the container. According to a particular configuration of the invention, the expandable elastic valve is mounted between an upper section with an extraction opening and a lower section in such a way that the plane with the opening of the valve rests in its rest position on a part in cup form present in the lower section, while the annular flange of the valve, under a certain tension and preferably with an automatically centering effect, comes to be placed around the extraction orifice, against the underside of the upper section. Between the upper section, the side wall of the valve and the lower section there is formed a lateral space that is in communication with a container, from which a product must be extracted. By exerting pressure on the container, the lateral space can be filled with the product that is under pressure. This causes the valve flange to be pressed with sealing effect against the upper section, while the valve due to the pressure exerted on its side walls comes out through the extraction orifice and opens to distribute the product. Once the pressure is discontinued, the elasticity of the valve causes it to retract again so that the rest of the product is returned by aspiration, as a result of the recovery force of the container. The bottom plane of the valve is placed again with sealing effect on the bowl of the lower section. In this position, the closure is sealed without major measures against an output of the product. Only in this position of the valve that closes automatically, ie, in its rest position, a subatmospheric pressure present in the container, causes the annular flange to rise from the underside of the upper section, whereby air can pass from the extraction orifice into the interior of the container . Once equilibrium is established in the pressure, the annular flange is again placed with sealing effect against the underside of the upper section.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the valve carrier element is mounted directly against the upper section. According to another configuration of the invention, instead of a bowl, which partially or completely covers the area of the groove of the valve, a support is created with which the groove area of the valve remains in free position in front of the container. Preferably, arms extending from the upper section (lower part), which supports the valve in its rest position for example at four sites in the marginal area of the bottom side, are applied to such effect so that it is retained the annular flange under pressure against a corresponding sealing plane by the upper section. Also in this embodiment, the lower side of the annular flange is free and this part can be lifted when a subatmospheric pressure is present in the container to face the ventilation of the container. According to a particular configuration of the invention, the valve carrier element is formed by a retainer ring, which communicates with the underside of the annular flange and presses it against a corresponding sealing plane, during which the lower side of the annular flange it is in free position at least in one place, whereby in this region of the annular flange and a subatmospheric pressure prevailing in the container, it can be raised to take charge of the ventilation of the container in this way. Depending on the number of free sites, the free area on the underside of the ring flange can be between 20 ° and 240 °. In other words, the underside of the annular flange is tightened only in partial regions with the retainer ring against the sealing plane. The present invention has the advantage that a ventilation of the container will be ensured even if there are small differences in pressure, while advantageously advantage is taken of the double character, that is the resilience of the annular flange of the element, which closes automatically, as an element to ventilate the container. According to another configuration of the invention, a secure seal is created that serves in particular as protection during transport. In this case, the upper section is formed with the possibility of moving axially against the lower part, while the sealing plane passes around the extraction hole in the upper section to communicate with a corresponding sealing plane, in such a way with the lower section that together with the intercalated valve that closes automatically, a perfect closure is achieved. In a particular configuration of the invention, the annular flange of the valve which closes automatically between the upper section and the lower section is tightened. The spherical bowl by the lower section on which the valve is placed, is closed. Preferably, an annular projection extending in the direction of the extraction hole present in the upper section is mounted on the edge of the spherical cup. When the upper section is moved axially against the lower section, the thin sleeve plane of the valve is pulled, which automatically closes, with preliminary tension above this projection of the spherical cup and the outer edge of the spherical cup tightens the flange annular against the sealing plane surrounding the extraction orifice, on the underside of the upper section. In this case, the sleeve plane of the valve is located, starting from the annular flange, between the annular projection present in the spherical cup and the inner wall of the extraction orifice, and from there to a greater extent around the projection towards the spherical cup. When in this position pressure is exerted on the container, the product can not exit. The valve, which closes automatically, remains in the position thus fixed. When the upper section is moved axially upwards, that is, from the transport position to the working position, the shape of the valve that closes automatically is modified due to the elastic properties of the silicone. The valve, which closes automatically, recovers its working form. The valve flange continues to press up against the sealing edge of the upper section. When pressure is now exerted on the container, first pass the product through the side hole into the lower section and tighten the flange firmly against the sealing edge present in the extraction hole, of the upper section, and then against the sleeve plane, that is to say, the valve wall, and all this has as a consequence that the valve changes shape, in a wavy manner, going upwards to allow the extraction operation. This produces the function that we have just described. The transport protection described above for the valve is automatically closed, it can also be used independently of the container ventilation previously described. For example, there could be a totally encircling retaining ring that presses the entire underside of the annular flange fixedly against the sealing plane present in the extraction hole of the upper section. Also in this case the protection during transport can be used in the same way. Other advantages of the invention lie in its easy and simple operability and cheap manufacturing. The advantage of the invention is noted in particular in containers such as tubes, cans, bags and bottles which due to the material used and / or the thickness of their walls possess a weak recovery force to return to their starting position. In the following, the invention is illustrated in greater detail, with reference to examples and drawings. Figure 1 is a first embodiment according to the invention in an exploded position. Figure 2 shows the closure according to Figure 1 in the rest position. Figure 3 is a cross-section through the line A-A 'in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a top view of the embodiment according to the invention, according to Figure 2.

Figure 5 is the embodiment according to the invention according to Figure 1 in protected position. Figure 6 is another embodiment according to the invention, in an exploded position. Figure 7 is the closure according to Figure 6 in resting position. Figure 8 represents the closure according to Figure 6 in protected condition. Figure 9 is a second embodiment of the invention with the valve, closed automatically, in the rest position.

Figure 10 shows the valve according to Figure 9 in the ventilation position. Figure 11 is a third embodiment according to the invention with the valve automatically closing in its rest state, and Figure 12 is a top view of the embodiment according to Figure 11 without retaining ring and without the valve that closes automatically. Figure 1 shows a first embodiment according to the invention of a closure in an exploded condition and Figures 2 to 5 show this part in its assembled position.

Between an upper section 2 and a lower section 1, a valve is fitted which automatically closes 4. Preferably a valve is used as described in the European specification EP-A-5 454 678. The valve 4 rests in position of rest with its floor plane 4 and on a spherical cup closed in the lower section 1 and placed with ring flange 4a, under tension, against a sealing plane 2a of the lower side of the upper section 2. Above the valve 4, there is an extraction hole 3 present in the upper section 2. Between the upper section, the side wall of the valve 4 and the lower section 1, a lateral space 7 is formed which is connected by hole 6 to the interior space of a container in which the closure is located (figure 2). As it can be recognized, in Figure 3, the spherical bowl is located by means of bridges in the lower section, whereby the holes 6 are placed on a round ring around the bowl 5. The orifice of the valve 4 is configured as a groove in the bowl. Cross 4f that opens under pressure and that closes after again, automatically. The lower section l is configured as an integrated component of a container, which here is a tube 10. During the extraction the closure is placed in the position according to Figure 2. By exerting pressure on the tube, an extractable product enters the lateral enclosure 7. , it presses against the flange 4a and the sleeve plane 4d of the valve 4. The valve is lifted by the bowl 5 and pushed out through the extraction hole 3, whereby the hole 4f is opened to distribute the product. At the same time, the flange 4a is sealed with its upper side 4d under pressure against the sealing plane 2a, ie, where the lower side of the upper section is located 2. If no pressure is exerted, the orifice is closed 4f, the valve 4 is automatically retracted again and the floor plane 4e becomes located above the bowl 5. During this, a remaining product is retracted on or through the interspace 7 and the holes 6 to return to the tube 10. Preferably, radially extending grooves which facilitate the retro-aspiration of the product are located in the edge area in the spherical cup. In the case of a subatmospheric pressure present in the container, the annular flange is raised at least at a location in the corresponding sealing plane 2a, on the underside of the upper section 2 and occurs between the upper side 4b of the annular flange and the flat sealer 2a a ventilation of the container. As soon as the balance in the pressures has been reached, the annular flange is located due to the attention present in the valve which automatically closes again against the sealing plane and thus takes care of a sealed closure. The sealing plane 2a has an oblique zone or chamfer adapted to the upper side 4b of the sealing flange 4a. This ensures automatic centering of the valve 4. The valve 4 is placed only under its own pressure against the upper section 2. This has the advantage that after emptying by lifting the annular flange 4a of the upper section 2, again the container can be ventilated without delay and also compensate for small differences in pressure. As protection during transport, the upper section 2 is configured in an axially movable manner on a steep thread against the lower section 1, so that the valve 4 can be tightened between the upper section 2 and the lower section 1 (FIG. 5) . During this, the valve flange 4 is tightened between a protrusion 5a by the edge of the cup 5 and the lower side 2a of the upper section so that the valve 4 also fits with greater load, for example during the transport, will be perfectly closed. Before use, the upper section 2 is screwed in such a way that valve 4 will again be free. Figures 6 to 8 show an embodiment according to the invention, in which the upper section 2, to be protected during transport, can be moved as a slide with stops 9 to thus move over the lower section 1 in order to tighten the valve 4. The lower section 1 is screwed with the neck of a bottle 11. When a displacement of the upper section 2 occurs in front of the section lower 1 through the thread 8, the upper section 3 is protected by the stops 13, against excessive rotation. In a second embodiment according to the invention, which is illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, a top section 20, in which the automatically closing valve 4 is inserted, is placed on a lower section 1. The upper section 20 has a surrounding sealing edge 20a, on which the annular flange 4a of the valve 4 rests, as shown in Figure 9. The upper section has four arms 22, which extend in an arcuate shape towards the inner side of the container and rest on the marginal area of the valve plane 4e of the valve 4 in such a way that the flange 4 under tension is pressed against the sealing plane 20a. Additionally, a lid 24 is applied in Figure 9 to close the extraction hole in the upper section 20, and this lid can be deflected with a film hinge 26. The upper section 20 is attached to the lower section 1 by an interlocking connection 28. For its operation, reference can be made to the above description. Also here for the ventilation of the container, the annular flange 4a of the sealing plane 20a can be lifted, as illustrated in Figure 10, with the cover offset 24. During this, a ventilation channel K is opened between the flange 4a and the 20a flat sealer. In a third embodiment according to the invention, and according to Figures 11 and 12, the automatically closing valve 4 is tightened in the region of its annular flange 4a between the lower section 31 and a retaining ring 32. For this purpose , the lower section 31 has a projection 34 with a sealing plane 34a, which supports at least a part of the lower side of the annular flange 4a and achieves that tightening together with the retaining ring communicating with the upper side of the annular flange 4a . In a region of preferably 20 ° to 240 °, the lower side of the annular flange 4a is placed in free condition and with a subatmospheric pressure present in a container, it can be lifted from its base to take charge of a pressure compensation.

In Figure 12, a top view of the embodiment of Figure 11 has been shown, in which both the retainer ring 32 and also the valve 4 have been omitted for clarity. The sealing plane 34a of the projection 34 present in the lower section 31 is clearly recognizable. Before the first use, as protection of originality, the extraction orifice 3 in the upper section 2 can be protected by means of a tear-off label or label, which is joined by spray or sprinkler system. Furthermore, a tear-off originality can be applied which prevents a displacement of the upper section 2 upwards, in the protected state, before the first use.

Claims (11)

1. CLAIMS 1. Closure for a container, in which the closure has: an upper section (2) with an extraction orifice (3) and a sealing plane (2a, 20a, 32a), a valve (4) with a floor plan (4e), in which an automatically closing orifice (4f) is formed, and an annular flange (4a) and a valve carrying member (5 22, 34), which pretenses the valve which closes automatically with the flange annular (4a) against a sealing plane (2a, 20a, 32a) in such a way that the annular flange at least at one site can be lifted out of the sealing plane. The closure according to claim 1, with a) A lower section (1), wherein b) The valve (4) with the valve flange (4a) rests against the lower side (2a) of the upper section (2) ), c) The valve (4) with its floor plane rests on a bowl (5) in the lower section (1) in resting position, and d) holes (6) are made between the bowl (5) and the wall interior of the lower section (1), by which an extractable product can be tightened in a lateral space (7) located between the valve flange (4a), the sleeve plane (4d), the valve (4), the lower section (1) and the upper section (2) under pressure so that the valve flange (4a) is pressed against the lower side (2a) of the upper section (2) and the valve (4) is ejected outwardly through the extraction hole (3) and open to remove the product. The closure according to claim 1, with an upper section (20), having a surrounding sealing plane (20a) and arms (22) extending in an arched manner to the inner side of a container, while the valve ( 4) is preliminarily tensioned by the arms (22) in such a way that the annular flange (4a) rests the sealing plane (20a) therein. The closure according to claim 1, with a lower section (31), which has a projection (34) and a retainer ring (32), in which the annular flange (4a) of the valve (4) is partially tightened between the projection (34) and the retaining ring (32). The closure according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the upper section 2 can be moved axially against the lower section (1) so that the valve flange (4a) can be pressed between the edge of the bowl (5). ) and the upper section and an expulsion and opening of the valve (4) is prevented and again the valve (4) is released in the opposite direction of the displacement. 6. The closure according to claim 5, characterized in that the edge of the cup (5) has a sealing attachment (5a) for tightening and sealing the valve flange (4a). The closure according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the upper section (2) can be moved by a steep thread (8), as a slide with stop (9) or as a bayonet system against the lower section ( 1) . The closure according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the lower section (1) is an integral part of a container (10). The closure according to any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the lower section (1) can be screwed or secured onto a container (10). The closure according to any of claims 1 to 9, characterized by an originality protection. The closure according to claim 10, characterized in that the originality protection is a removable cover of the hole (3) of the upper section (2) or removable blocker of the displacement of the upper section (2) against the section lower (1).