Closure assembly

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Australian Provisional Appln. No. 2005-900-173 filed Jan. 17, 2005 and Australian Innovation Patent Appln. No. 2005-100-40 filed Jan. 17, 2005.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a closure assembly. More particularly, this invention relates to a container and to a closure assembly for the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Containers for fluent materials are available in a very large range of shapes and sizes. An important aspect of such containers relates to ease of use. To date, many different configurations have been applied to such containers in order to facilitate pouring of fluent materials from such containers.

Examples of such configurations include containers with gripping devices. These include handles which form an integral part of the container. Integrated handles are useful, but tend to cause packaging problems and space wastage, particularly with smaller containers.

In an attempt to address this, a handle is often connected to a nozzle of the container to be displaceable into and out of a position in which a minimal amount of space is taken up by the handle. Such handles include ring grips which allow users to hold the container with a finger inserted through a ring which is fastened to the container.

A disadvantage with such handles is that they are required to be manufactured in a separate step and also positioned on the container in another step. It will be appreciated that extra steps in production can increase costs greatly, particularly when the containers are manufactured on a large scale.

The present invention is provided to solve the problems discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior inventions of this type. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a closure assembly which includes

a tamper detection ring fastenable to a nozzle of a container;

a cap fast with the detection ring and engageable with the nozzle to close the nozzle;

a frangible connecting means interposed between the ring and the cap to be broken when the cap is removed from the nozzle; and

a handle fast with the ring.

The handle may be configured to permit a user to hold the container with at least one finger received through the handle. The handle may include a finger ring and a connector to connect the finger ring to the tamper detection ring.

The closure assembly may be a unitary one-piece plastics moulding.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a container which comprises

a vessel that defines a nozzle;

a tamper detection ring fastened to the nozzle;

a cap fast with the detection ring and engageable with the nozzle to close the nozzle;

a frangible connecting means interposed between the ring and the cap to be broken when the cap is removed from the nozzle; and

a handle fast with the ring.

The cap may form part of a drinking nozzle.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To understand the present invention, it will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side sectioned view of a nozzle of a container, in accordance with the invention, with a first embodiment of a closure assembly, also in accordance with the invention, on the nozzle.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a tamper detection ring and handle of the first embodiment of the closure assembly.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a tamper detection ring and handle of a second embodiment of the closure assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally indicates a first embodiment of a closure assembly, in accordance with the invention, for a nozzle 12 of a container, also in accordance with the invention.

Conventionally, the nozzle 12 has a circumferential channel 14 defined by a pair of radially extending lips 16. Such an arrangement can be found on many PET bottles. The nozzle 12 also has a threaded portion 18 above the channel 14.

The closure assembly 10 includes a tamper detection ring 20. A cap 22 is attached to the tamper detection ring 20 with a frangible connecting means in the form of a weakened zone 24 interposed between the cap 22 and the ring 20. The cap 22 is internally threaded to be screwed onto the nozzle 12 to seal the nozzle 12. The ring 20 has a retaining formation 26 that is configured to clip into the channel 14 in a non-removable manner, which is conventional. Thus when the cap 22 is unscrewed from the nozzle 12 the weakened zone 24 parts with the ring 20 remaining in the channel 14.

The cap 22 can be in the form of a drinking nozzle as used in, for example, purchased water bottles.

The closure assembly 10 includes a handle in the form of a finger ring 28. A connector 30 connects the finger ring 28 to the tamper detection ring 20. The connector 30 is shaped so that the finger ring 28 is angled towards the container to enhance storage of a number of the containers.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 40 generally indicates a tamper detection ring 20, a connector 30 and a finger ring 42 of a second embodiment of a closure assembly, in accordance with the invention. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, like reference numerals refer to like parts, unless otherwise specified.

The finger ring 42 has split, overlapping portions 44. Thus, the ring 42 can be clipped into position at a convenient location.

The tamper detection ring 20, the cap 22, the finger ring 28, 42 and the connector 30 are in the form of a one-piece moulding of a plastics material. It will therefore be appreciated that the closure assembly 10, 40 can be fabricated in a single moulding operation with associated cost savings.

Presently available handles for containers are attached to the container in a separate assembly step. This means that the assembly line would require a further station and associated operation to attach presently available handles. This can prove to be costly, especially when the containers are mass-produced on a very large scale as is the case with, for example, beverage containers.

It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a means whereby a container can be provided with a handle during the capping process. This leads to a substantial saving in cost and fabrication time.

While the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying Claims.