WO2010099566A1

WO2010099566A1 - A sealing member for a closure

Info

Publication number: WO2010099566A1
Application number: PCT/AU2010/000237
Authority: WO
Inventors: Manfred Imand Kurmis
Original assignee: Manfred Imand Kurmis
Priority date: 2009-03-02
Filing date: 2010-03-02
Publication date: 2010-09-10

Abstract

A sealing member for a closure that is applied to an opening is disclosed. The sealing member includes a cap portion for seating the sealing member in a roof portion of the closure and a flexible skirt portion extending from the cap portion and operable to contact an inner wall region of the opening on application of the closure to the opening. In one form the sealing member may be used in combination with a roll on tamper evident (ROTE) screw cap.

Description

A SEALING MEMBER FOR A CLOSURE CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application for patent claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2009900905 entitled "A SEALING MEMBER FOR A CLOSURE", filed 2 March 2009, which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to closures for sealing an opening. In a particular form, the present invention relates to a sealing member for a closure used in the sealing of wine bottles and other bottled beverages.

BACKGROUND

Screw caps are a common form of closure employed to seal a large range of containers such as plastic and glass bottles for liquids including beverages ranging from soft drinks to wine. For bottled wines, screw caps are generally made of aluminium and have now become increasingly popular as a replacement for the traditional cylindrical cork due to concerns about cork taint and variability of quality of cork material which can lead to a poor seal and the associated premature oxidation of wine. While initially screw caps were associated with budget wines they are now commonly used for the packaging of premiums wine due to their inherent reliability.

Referring now to Figure 1 , there is shown a cutaway view of a roll on tamper evident (ROTE) screw cap 100 for a wine bottle 200. Screw cap 100 consists of an outer sleeve 1 10 formed of a malleable aluminium alloy which is rolled on to the opening 250 of bottle 200. Screw cap 100 further incorporates a wad or liner 120 which seats within the roof of the screw cap 100 and which forms a seal against the rim 220 of the bottle or container 200. Wad 120 may be formed of any number of materials ranging from plastic such as polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), cork, rubber or multilayer combinations of these materials. In this example, the sealing layer 130 of wad 120 is formed from PVDC.

Screw caps of the type illustrated in Figure 1 and more generally have the significant disadvantage that they are not suitable to seal a container containing a liquid that is at a high internal pressure. As an example, many sparkling varieties of wine are sealed at high pressure and the screw cap is simply not able to withstand the internal pressure exerted by the contents of the bottle. Accordingly, it is then necessary to use traditional cylindrical corks with all of their associated disadvantages.

There is therefore a need for an improved means for sealing liquids in a container that is capable of withstanding increased pressures. SUMMARY

In a first aspect the present invention accordingly provides a sealing member for a closure, the closure for applying to an opening, the sealing member including: a cap portion for seating the sealing member in a roof portion of the closure; and a flexible skirt portion extending from the cap portion and operable to contact an inner wall region of the opening on application of the closure to the opening.

In another form, the opening is for a container of fluid.

In another form, the container for fluid is a bottle.

In another form, the container contains a pressurised fluid, and wherein the flexible skirt portion under the action of the internal pressure of the pressurised fluid is forced against the inner wall region to seal the opening.

In another form, the closure is a screw cap.

In another form, the sealing member further includes a peripheral skirt portion extending from the cap portion, the peripheral skirt portion operable to locate against the wall of the closure.

In another form, a receiving portion is formed between the peripheral skirt portion and the flexible skirt portion to receive a rim of the opening.

In another form, the peripheral skirt portion forms a secondary seal against the rim of the opening.

In another form, the sealing member is formed as a unitary body.

In a second aspect the present invention accordingly provides a closure incorporating the sealing member of the first aspect of the present invention.

In a third aspect the present invention accordingly provides a method for sealing an opening including applying a closure to the opening, the closure including a sealing member having a cap portion for locating the sealing member within the closure, the sealing member further having a flexible skirt portion extending from the cap portion arranged to contact an inner wall region of the opening on application of the closure to the opening. In another form, the opening is of a container for a liquid.

In another form, the closure is a screw cap.

In another form, the closure is roll formed onto the opening of the container.

In another form, the sealing member further includes a peripheral skirt portion extending from the cap portion, the peripheral skirt portion operable to locate against the wall of the closure when the closure is applied to the opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention will be discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: FIGURE 1 is a cutaway side view of a prior art closure in the form of a screw cap;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of a sealing member for a closure according to a first illustrative embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is an underside view of the sealing member illustrated in Figure 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cutaway side view of the sealing member illustrated in Figure 2 in combination with the screw cap type closure illustrated in Figure 1 ;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of a sealing member for a closure according to a second illustrative embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is an underside view of the sealing member illustrated in Figure 5;

FIGURE 7 is a cut away side view of the sealing member illustrated in Figure 5 in combination with the screw cap type closure illustrated in Figure 1 ;

In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to Figures 2 to 4, there are shown various views of a sealing member 300 for a closure 100 in accordance with a first illustrative embodiment of the present invention. In this illustrative embodiment, and as illustrated in Figure 4, the closure 100 is a standard ROTE screw cap 100 as typically employed for wine bottles. However, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, the present invention is applicable to the sealing of any general opening having a rim that a respective closure may be applied to.

Sealing member 300 includes a cap portion 310 which in this illustrative embodiment is a circular disc which seats in the roof of closure 100 (as best seen in Figure 4). Sealing member 300 further includes a flexible skirt portion 320 extending from cap portion 310. Skirt portion 320 is circular in shape to match the shape of the opening 250 of bottle 200 and suitably sized to contact the inner wall region 230 of the rim 200 of the opening of the bottle 200. In this illustrative embodiment, sealing member 300 is formed of PEARLTHANE^® 15N80 material which may be injection moulded as a unitary body. In another illustrative embodiment directed to higher pressure environments, sealing member is formed of PEARLTHANE^® 16N92. However, as would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, other flexible food safe materials such as polyurethane type plastics (e.g. Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Polyethers) or neoprene rubber may be employed depending on the sealing requirements. Furthermore, sealing member 300 may form one layer of a composite liner or wad used in screw cap 100.

Closure 100 incorporating sealing member 300 is applied to the opening 250 of bottle 200 in the standard manner by pushing closure 100 onto the neck 280 of bottle 200 and then roll forming closure 100 onto the neck 280 using a standard roll forming process as is known in the art. Flexible skirt portion 320 then locates against the inner wall region 230 of the rim 220 of the bottle 200. In the event, that the bottle contains a pressurised fluid such as champagne or other pressurised liquid or gas or combination of both, the internal pressure of the bottle or container forces the flexible skirt portion 320 against the inner wall region 230, thereby forming a seal between the sealing member 300 and the opening of the bottle 200.

The applicant has found that screw cap closures incorporating a sealing member 300 in accordance with the present invention will seal bottle pressures up to 7.5 bar (750 kPa) which exceeds the degree of sealing required to seal sparkling wines such as champagne. The applicant has also found that the degree of matching between the shape of the opening 250 of the bottle 200 and that of flexible skirt portion 320 need not be high as long as the skirt portion 320 initially contacts the inner wall region 230 of opening 250 upon application of the closure 100 to opening 250. This is due to the flexible skirt portion being forced against the inner wall region 230 of the opening 250 by the internal pressure of the contents of the bottle, thereby accounting for potential mismatches in the shape of the flexible skirt portion 320 and the opening 250. Sealing member 300 also forms a more effective seal at low pressures where the sealing member acts as a static seal. This can be contrasted with the sealing effect at higher pressures where sealing member 300 functions to form a dynamic seal. Unlike the wad of prior art closures where the seal is broken if there is any upward movement of the wad, sealing member 300 is able to move upwards as a result of the pressure within bottle 200 and provided that flexible skirt portion 320 contacts the inner wall region 230 the seal will be maintained. Furthermore, the end of flexible skirt portion 320 which is being forced against the inner wall region 230 of opening 250 due to pressure within the bottle will also frictionally resist this upward movement, thereby further improving the reliability of the seal.

Referring now to Figures 5 to 7, there is shown various views of a sealing member 400 in accordance with a second illustrative embodiment of the present invention. As with the first embodiment, sealing member 400 is designed to be used in combination with a standard screw cap closure 100 of the type that is typically applied to a wine bottle or the like. Sealing member 400 includes a cap portion 410, a flexible skirt portion 420 and a peripheral skirt portion 430 forming a receiving region 440 to receive the rim 220 of bottle 100.

Similar to sealing member 300, in operation the flexible skirt portion 420 flexes outwardly and sealingly engages with the inner wall portion 230 of rim 220 of bottle 200 due to the internal pressure of the contents of bottle 200. Peripheral skirt portion 430 functions to further locate sealing member 400 by engaging with the top side wall portion of closure 100 and in addition, act as a secondary or backup outer seal by sealing against rim 220 of bottle 200.

In another illustrative embodiment, the top of cap portion 410 includes a raised portion so that as the closure 100 is applied to the bottle, the cap portion 410 flexes in a concave manner pushing outwardly the flexible skirt portion 420 to engage with the inner wall region 230 of the rim 220 of bottle 200.

As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the sealing member of the present invention allows standard closures which otherwise would be unsuitable to seal containers containing liquid under pressure to be used in these circumstances. Furthermore, a closure incorporating a sealing member in accordance with the present invention is reusable in that the closure may be reapplied to the opening and the seal reestablished. While the present invention is described in relation to screw cap closures for wine bottles and the like it will be appreciated that the invention will have other applications consistent with the principles described in the specification such as plastic closures having a preformed internal screw thread as often employed with carbonated beverages. In one non-limiting example, a sealing member in accordance with the present invention may be used in combination with a NOVATWIST™ or similar type plastic cap where the conventional tin liner may be substituted with the sealing member described herein. In this manner, a plastic cap of this type may be used for containers containing a pressurised fluid having a standard screw thread arrangement such as the Bague Vin Suisse (BVS) bottle finish that is typically employed for wine bottles.

It will be understood that the term "comprise" and any of its derivatives (e.g. comprises, comprising) as used in this specification is to be taken to be inclusive of features to which it refers, and is not meant to exclude the presence of any additional features unless otherwise stated or implied.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement of any form of suggestion that such prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth and defined by the following claims.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS

1. A sealing member for a closure, the closure for applying to an opening, the sealing member including: a cap portion for seating the sealing member in a roof portion of the closure; and a flexible skirt portion extending from the cap portion and operable to contact an inner wall region of the opening on application of the closure to the opening.

2. The sealing member of claim 1 , wherein the opening is for a container of fluid.

3. The sealing member of claim 2, wherein the container for fluid is a bottle.

4. The sealing member of claim 2 or 3, wherein the container contains a pressurised fluid, and wherein the flexible skirt portion under the action of the internal pressure of the pressurised fluid is forced against the inner wall region to seal the opening.

5. The sealing member of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the closure is a screw cap.

6. The sealing member of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the sealing member further includes a peripheral skirt portion extending from the cap portion, the peripheral skirt portion operable to locate against the wall of the closure.

7. The sealing member of claim 6, wherein a receiving portion is formed between the peripheral skirt portion and the flexible skirt portion to receive a rim of the opening.

8. The sealing member of claim 6 or 7, wherein the peripheral skirt portion forms a secondary seal against the rim of the opening.

9. The sealing member of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the sealing member is formed as a unitary body.

10. A closure incorporating the sealing member of any one of claims 1 to 9.

1 1. A method for sealing an opening including applying a closure to the opening, the closure including a sealing member having a cap portion for locating the sealing member within the closure, the sealing member further having a flexible skirt portion extending from the cap portion arranged to contact an inner wall region of the opening on application of the closure to the opening.

12. The method of sealing an opening as claimed in claim 1 1, wherein the opening is of a container for a liquid.

13. The method of sealing an opening as claimed in claim 12, wherein the closure is a screw cap.

14. The method of sealing an opening as claimed in claim 13, wherein the closure is roll formed onto the opening of the container.

15. The method of any one of claims 1 1 to 14, wherein the sealing member further includes a peripheral skirt portion extending from the cap portion, the peripheral skirt portion operable to locate against the wall of the closure when the closure is applied to the opening.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein a receiving portion is formed between the peripheral skirt portion and the flexible skirt portion to receive a rim of the opening.

17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein the peripheral skirt portion forms a secondary seal against the rim of the opening.