Closure for a container

• US 20060092013A1
• Filed: 10/06/2005
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: West Pharmaceutical Services Incorporated
• Original Assignee: West Pharmaceutical Services Incorporated
• Inventors: Conard, William, Polini, Eugene T. III, Huffer, Jon, Hager, Garrett, Keirstead, Earle C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,394,383 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.1
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2045/14106 using electrostatic attraction or static electricity
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2045/14918 in-mould-labelling
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/14065 Positioning or centering articles in the mould
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2105/101 Oriented
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2203/10 Transponders
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 51/002 Closures to be pierced by an extracting-device for the contents and fixed on the container by separate retaining means
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 51/245 provided with decoration, information or contents indicating devices, labels B65D81/366 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 7/16 Letters, numerals, or other symbols adapted for permanent fixing to a support
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24942 including components having same physical characteristic in differing degree

Abstract

A closure for a container is disclosed. The closure includes a cap seal and an overcap removably fastened to the cap seal, where the overcap includes a decorated film fused into a top surface of the overcap.

Claims

1. An overcap for a container comprising:

a button-like member having a generally flat top surface; and

a decorated film fused into the top surface, said decorated film including at least one image on a top side of the decorated film.

2. The overcap of claim 1, wherein the decorated film comprises a silica filled micro-porous substrate.

3. The overcap of claim 1, wherein the at least one image is visible to the naked eye when illuminated with light having a spectra which is substantially that of daylight.

4. The overcap of claim 1, wherein the at least one image is invisible to the naked eye when illuminated with light having a spectra which is substantially that of daylight.

5. The overcap of claim 4, wherein the at least one invisible image is made visible to a person by illuminating the image with radiation of a predetermined wavelength.

6. The overcap of claim 1, wherein the at least one image is fixed to the top side of the decorated film by a process selected from the group consisting of lithography, gravure, and flexography.

7. The overcap of claim 1, wherein the film comprises a plurality of layers, each layer adapted to including at least one type of the at least one image.

8. The overcap of claim 7, wherein a portion of at least one of the plurality of layers is transparent to radiation of a selected range of wavelengths.

9. The overcap of claim 1, wherein the film includes at least one image which is visible when illuminated with light having a spectra which is substantially that of daylight and at least one image which is invisible when illuminated with light having a spectra which is substantially that of daylight.

10. The overcap of claim 1, wherein the at least one image includes covert information.

11. The overcap of claim 1, further including a memory device attached to a bottom side of the film.

12. The overcap of claim 11, wherein information stored in the memory device may be wirelessly read.

13. The overcap of claim 12, wherein the memory device is a radio frequency identification device.

14. The overcap of claim 12, further including an antenna attached to the bottom side of the film and connected to the memory device.

15. The overcap of claim 14, wherein the memory device and the antenna are attached to the film by an adhesive.

16. The overcap of claim 14, wherein the antenna is printed on the decorated film.

17. The overcap of claim 11, wherein the memory device includes a stored character sequence unique to the memory device, which is capable of being wirelessly read and incapable of being altered.

18. The overcap of claim 11, wherein the memory device attached to the overcap remains fully functional for reading and for writing following exposure to a temperature of about 121 degrees Celsius for at least twenty minutes.

19. The overcap of claim 11, wherein the memory device attached to the overcap remains fully functional for reading and for writing following exposure to a temperature of about minus 80 degrees Celsius for at least one month.

20. The overcap of claim 1, wherein each one of the at least one images is legible following exposure of the overcap to a temperature of about 121 degrees Celsius for at least twenty minutes.

21. The overcap of claim 1, wherein each one of the at least one images is readable following exposure to a temperature of minus 80 degrees Celsius for at least one month.

22. The overcap of claim 1, wherein each one of the at least one images is readable following exposure to a sterilizing method selected from the group consisting of gamma radiation, e-beam radiation and ethylene oxide gas.

23. A method of fabricating an overcap for a medicament container comprising the steps of:

forming a plurality of arrangements of at least one image on a top side of a substrate;

attaching a plurality of memory devices on a bottom side of the substrate such that the plurality of arrangements and the plurality of memory devices are aligned;

removing each one of the aligned arrangements and the memory devices from the substrate to form a plurality of decorated films;

forming a plurality overcaps by inserting each of the plurality of decorated films into a mold with a top side of the decorated film adjacent to a wall of the mold; and

injecting a polymeric material into the mold to form the overcap, wherein the decorated film is fused into a top surface of the overcap.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the decorated film is held to the wall of the mold by an electrostatic charge during the step of injecting the polymeric material into the mold.

25. A closure for a container comprising:

a cap seal; and

an overcap removably fastened to the cap seal, said overcap having a decorated film fused into a top surface.

26. The closure of claim 25, wherein the decorated film includes at least one image.

27. The closure of claim 26, wherein the at least one image includes an image which is visible to a person when the overcap is illuminated with light having a spectra which is substantially that of daylight and an image which is invisible to a person when the overcap is illuminated with light having a spectra which is substantially that of daylight but is visible with when the overcap is illuminated with radiation of a predetermined wavelength.

28. The closure of claim 26, wherein the decorated film includes at least one image on a top side and an electronic memory device on a bottom side.

29. The closure of claim 28, wherein the electronic memory device is a radio frequency identification device.

30. The closure of claim 25, wherein the overcap includes a depending projection that engages an annular center section which is frangibly connected to the cap seal.

31. A method of establishing traceability of the contents of a container, the method comprising the steps of:

storing in a memory device capable of being wirelessly read, an unalterable character string, the character string being uniquely associated with the memory device; and

attaching the memory device to the container substantially concurrently with filling the container with the contents, wherein the filled container is thereafter exposed to sterilization, and wherein the memory device remains fully functional after the container is exposed to the sterilization.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the memory device is a radio frequency identification device.

33. The method of claim 31, further including the step of reading the character string for identifying the contents of the container when preparing a paper label to be applied to the container.