CLOSURE ASSEMBLY FOR SQUEEZE BOTTLE COMPRISING A THERMOPLASTIC VALVE

• US 20160001936A1
• Filed: 02/03/2014
• Published: 01/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Plasticum Netherlands B.V. (Weener Plastik GmbH)
• Original Assignee: Plasticum Netherlands B.V. (Weener Plastik GmbH)
• Inventors: Ellenkamp-Van Olst, Lenny Marita, Pun, Shi Ming, Rap, Albertus, Ramon, Willem, Den Boer, Sebastiaan Wilhelmus Josephus
• Granted Patent: US 9,845,180 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 43/16 hinged for upward or downward movement cigar or cigarette receptacles A24F15/00; suitcases, ètuis A45C; casings for cosmetic substances with hinged covers A45D40/22; toolboxes B25H3/02; hinges of door or similar type E05D ; boxes for switchboards with hinged covers H02B1/066
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 47/2031 the element being formed by a slit, narrow opening or constrictable spout, the size of the outlet passage being able to be varied by increasing or decreasing the pressure B65D47/2025 takes precedence

Abstract

A closure assembly includes a valve for containing a substance in a squeeze bottle, a multi-layer material for providing a valve for such a closure assembly, a method for providing such a multi-layer material and a method for providing such a closure assembly. The closure assembly includes a closure cap with a cap part and a body part, a valve arranged in the body part of the closure cap, and an induction element. The induction element is arranged in the closure cap body part for induction sealing a loop shaped peripheral section of the valve to a loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part.

Claims

1. A closure assembly for a squeeze bottle containing a substance, the squeeze bottle having a neck part with a dispensing opening, which closure assembly is placed or can be placed on the neck part of the squeeze bottle, the closure assembly comprising:

a closure cap, which closure cap has a cap part and a body part, which body part is provided with a recess for receiving the neck part of the squeeze bottle, and wherein the body part is provided with a top wall, that forms the bottom of the recess, which top wall has an outside surface and an inside surface, and has a dispensing opening for dispensing contents from the squeeze bottle on an outside of the closure cap body part, and wherein the top wall is on its inside surface provided with a loop shaped attachment surface extending around the dispensing opening,

a valve, which valve is arranged in said recess of the closure cap body part and is adjacent to the top wall such that it closes the dispensing opening, which valve is a flat flexible foil material, and which valve has a loop shaped peripheral section that overlaps the loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part, and which valve has a central section located in the dispensing opening of the closure cap body part, which central section is provided with at least one through slit, thus forming a resilient, essentially flat, self-closing valve, and

a first induction element, which induction element is arranged in said recess of the closure cap body part for induction sealing the loop shaped peripheral section of the valve to the loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part, which induction element has at least a loop shaped peripheral section that overlaps with the loop shaped peripheral section of the valve and the loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part.

2. The closure assembly according to claim 1, the closure assembly further comprising:

a first separator element which first separator element is arranged in said recess of the closure cap body part, adjacent the first induction element to enable separating the first induction element from an object located on an opposite side of the separator element.

3. The closure assembly according to claim 2, further comprising:

a second separator element, and wherein the first and second separator elements are provided on opposite sides of the first induction element.

4. The closure assembly according to claim 2, the closure assembly further comprising:

a seal, the seal comprising at least a sealing layer for sealing the dispensing opening of the squeeze bottle, which seal is arranged in the recess of the closure cap body part such that the first separator element is located between valve and the seal, and which seal has a loop shaped peripheral section that overlaps the loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part.

8. The closure assembly according to claim 3, wherein the first induction element comprises a metallic foil that covers the central section and the peripheral section of the valve, and the separator element preferably is disc shaped.

10. The closure assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first induction element is ring shaped and has central opening such that the induction element does not cover the central section of the valve.

12. The closure assembly according to claim 2, the closure assembly further comprising:

a seal, the seal comprising at least a sealing layer for sealing the dispensing opening of the squeeze bottle, which seal is arranged in the recess of the closure cap body part such that the first separator element is located between valve and the seal, and which seal has a loop shaped peripheral section that overlaps the loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part, and

wherein the first induction element is ring shaped, has a central opening such that the induction element does not cover the central section of the valve, is located adjacent the valve for induction sealing the valve to the closure cap body part, and wherein the assembly further comprises a second induction element, which second induction element is arranged in the closure cap body part adjacent the seal for induction sealing the seal to the squeeze bottle.

19. The closure assembly according to claim 2, wherein the first and/or second separator element are/is an inlay, which inlay made of a compressible, non-thermoplastic material.

22. The closure assembly according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing opening in the cap has a diameter between 12 and 20 mm.

23. The closure assembly according to claim 1, wherein the valve has a thickness of 0.01-1 mm, and is made of a polyolefin material, or is made of an elastomer material, or is made of a natural rubber material that on one side is provided with a sealing layer to enable induction sealing the natural rubber to the cap of the closure assembly.

26. The closure assembly according to claim 1, wherein the valve is part of a multi-layer material, the multi-layer material comprising:

a layer of flexible foil material forming the valve, which foil material has a loop shaped peripheral section for overlapping the loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part and a has central section suitable for locating in the dispensing opening of the closure cap body part, which central section is provided with at least one through slit, such that it forms a resilient, self-closing valve of thermoplastic material, and

a layer of metallic foil forming the first induction element, for being arranged in the closure cap body part for induction sealing the valve to the closure cap body part, which metallic foil layer has a loop shaped peripheral section overlapping with the loop shaped peripheral section of the valve.

30. The closure assembly according to claim 26, wherein the multi-layer material further comprises a first separation layer which first separation layer is arranged adjacent the metallic foil layer such that the metallic foil layer is located between the flexible foil layer and the first separation layer.

31. The closure assembly according to claim 30, wherein the multi-layer material further comprises the sealing layer of the seal.

32. The closure assembly according to claim 30, wherein the multi-layer material further comprises the second separation layer, wherein the first induction element is located in between the first and the second separation layers, and the first induction element and the separation layers are combined in a laminate that separates the valve layer from the seal.

33. A squeeze bottle assembly comprising a squeeze bottle and a closure assembly according to claim 1, wherein the squeeze bottle is provided with a neck part with a dispensing opening, and wherein the closure assembly and the squeeze bottle are each provided with an attachment device, which attachment device is configured for attaching the closure cap body part on the neck part of the squeeze bottle, such that at least the valve and the first induction element are clamped in between the squeeze bottle and the cap.

34. The squeeze bottle assembly according to claim 33, wherein the squeeze bottle is provided with a flange, the flange defining the dispensing opening, which flange matches the loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part, such that when the cap is attached to the squeeze bottle, the peripheral section of the valve, and optionally the peripheral section of the seal, are clamped between the loop shaped attachment surface of the closure cap body part and the loop shaped flange of the squeeze bottle.

35. A method for providing a closure assembly according to claim 1, the method comprising the steps:

providing a closure cap comprising a cap part and a body part;

providing a valve,

positioning the valve in the body part of the closure cap;

providing an induction element; and

positioning the induction element in the body part of the closure cap,

wherein the valve and the induction element are provided in the form of a multi-layer material or as a as a laminate and are positioned in the closure cap body part in a single step.

39. A method for providing a squeeze bottle with a closure assembly comprising the steps:

providing a dispenser squeeze bottle having a neck with a dispensing opening;

providing a closure assembly according to claim 1;

positioning the closure cap body part of the closure assembly, on the neck of the squeeze bottle such that at least the valve and the induction element are clamped between an upper end of the squeeze bottle neck and the top wall of the closure cap body part; and

induction sealing at least the valve to the closure cap body part.

43. A method for providing a multi-layer material for providing a valve for a closure assembly according to claim 1, the method comprising the steps:

providing a thermoplastic foil material for providing a valve;

providing an metallic foil material for providing an induction element;

cutting at least one opening in the metallic foil material;

cutting at least one through slit in the thermoplastic foil material to create a self-closing valve;

combining the metallic foil material and the thermoplastic foil material and positioning the thermoplastic foil and the metallic foil relative to each other such that the at least one through slit is positioned within the opening in the metallic foil; and

optionally;

bonding the metallic foil material and the thermoplastic foil material into a laminate, and, optionally, die cutting the multi-layer material such that is will fit the recess of a closure cap of an assembly according to the invention.

46. The closure assembly according to claim 12, wherein the second induction element is a disc shaped metallic foil located between the first separator and the seal, and wherein the first separator is provided between the first and second induction element.

47. The closure assembly according to claim 1, wherein the dispensing opening in the cap is at opposite ends of the slit at least 2 mm wider such that the diameter of the opening is similar to the length of the slit plus 4 mm or more.

48. The closure assembly according to claim 1, wherein the induction element is a metallic foil.

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