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Threaded dispensing closure with flap

  • US 5,330,082 A
  • Filed: 12/28/1992
  • Issued: 07/19/1994
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/22/1991
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An injection molded thermoplastic screw-on dispensing cap for a container with a circular mouth and an externally threaded neck, the cap having a generally cylindrical internally threaded skirt adapted to be threaded onto the neck of the container, a generally circular end wall radially inward of the skirt, the end wall having at least one dispensing opening therethrough for dispensing granular or particulate products from the container, a flap, a living hinge on the end wall formed integrally with the flap supporting the flap for movement between a closed and an open position, the flap being relatively rigid in its construction apart from the hinge, catch means for releasably holding the flap in its closed position with a retaining force that is sufficiently low to be overcome with a finger force applied by a user, the hinge being arranged such that when the flap is held closed by the catch means the hinge is adapted to resist forces on the flap, generally in the plane of the flap and away from the hinge, substantially exclusively by tensile reaction forces therein, the end wall including an annular area radially within the skirt for applying a circumferentially continuous pressure on the mouth of the container, the dispensing opening being relatively large with a dimension in the plane of the end wall generally at least an order of magnitude greater than the average wall thickness of the end wall and skirt and being adjacent a portion of said annular area, the annular area tending to deform axially upwardly when the cap is tightened onto the container neck and tending to move the flap in a direction to open it, means associated with said catch means and effectively responsive to axial upward deformation of the annular area to maintain an adequate level of retaining force of said catch means and thereby reduce the risk that the flap will open when the cap is over-tightened on the container neck.

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