FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a closing arrangement or cap for packaging containers such as the well-known Tetra Pak™ containers for the distribution of beverage products. The closing arrangement includes a powder or a fluid that is added to the beverage prior to consumption.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Sealing methods for food and beverage containers are well known and varied, the most common being a cap or lid.

The technology for manufacture of filled beverage containers is quite sophisticated whereby a package is folded into shape from a roll of product, filled with the liquid food of choice and sealed typically with a perforable aluminium foil. A cap is then glued or ultrasonically welded to the container directly above (on top) the foil and typically includes mechanisms to perforate the foil immediately prior to consumption. Thus the cap is attached to the filled container after the container has been sealed.

Drinks which include another component or second component, such as a tablet or powder which is added to the liquid are growing in popularity. Usually this includes a blister pack contained in the lid which is adapted to store material separately from the liquid in the container.

It is preferable for the second component to be added immediately prior to consumption, especially when ingredients to be added are UV sensitive or do not have a long shelf life when mixed, or degrade when heated. Adding ingredients at the point of consumption also simplifies the production and filling of the beverages.

With there being a significant number of different type of components that can be added to the liquid food it has been impractical Therefore the known closures for bottles including blister packs are suitable for liquids that do not contain gas, and little or no carbonation pressure is exerted by the liquid when sealed within a container as such liquids have insignificant amounts of dissolved gas and exert little if any carbonation pressure within the sealed container. However they are not suitable for beverages with carbonation pressure and accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a design feature in the form of base material that alleviates the above problems, or at least provides the public with a useful alternative to known products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect the invention comprises a cap adapted to be sealingly attached to a container having a top wall and with an opening sealed by a first foil, the first foil extending under the top wall, the container holding a liquid food, the cap including a spout sealed at one end by a lid and at the other end by a second foil or rupturing material and including a component to be added to the liquid food at the time of consumption, the cap including a means to perforate both foils to allow the component to be mixed with the liquid food, whereby when the cap is attached to the container the first foil and the second foil are not in contact there being a gap thereinbetween.

In preference the cap includes the blister pack, the bottom of the blister pack acting as the second foil of the cap.

It should be noted that any one of the aspects mentioned above may include any of the features of any of the other aspects mentioned above and may include any of the features of any of the embodiments described below as appropriate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred features, embodiments, and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cap according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a cap according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a cap according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a cap according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a cap according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a cap according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a cap including a dynamic seal according to a further embodiment of the present inventions; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a cap including an alternate version of a dynamic seal.

LIST OF COMPONENTS

10 cap

12 top wall

14 opening

16 foil

18 spout

20 lid

21 needle

22 blister

24 tamper ring

26 component

28 ring pull

30 cutting collar

32 fin

34 teeth

36 flip cap lid

39 top cap

40 film

42 extension

44 cutting blade

46 skirt

48 inside wall

50 sealing lip

52 foot

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts. Dimensions of certain parts shown in the drawings may have been modified and/or exaggerated for the purposes of clarity or illustration.

Referring to FIG. 1 here is illustrated a cap 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Cap 10 is glued or welded to a container having a top wall 12, an opening 14 in the wall 12 sealed by foil 16.

The cap 10 includes a cylindrical spout 18 and a lid 20 that seals across the top of the spout 18 with a blister pack 22 sandwiched between the spout and the container extending so as to seal across the bottom of the spout and adapted to match the footprint of the opening 14. The blister pack includes an integral needle 20 and is filled with a desired component to be added to the liquid food in the container.

The lid 20 includes a tamper ring 24 as is well known in the industry. When the lid 20 is removed by unscrewing it from the spout the user presses on the blister pack causing the needle 21 to perforate both through the blister pack and the foil 16 thus causing the desired component 26 to flow into the container. The needle 21 can be integral or a separate component within the blister.

A ring pull 28 is then used to remove the blister pack and can also be adapted to remove the foil to enable the liquid food to be easily dispensed.

Illustrated in FIG. 2 is a second embodiment whereby the lid includes a cutting collar 30. As the lid is rotated a fin 32 engages with the cutting collar pushing it downwards and rotating it through an angle of around 270 degrees cutting with teeth 34 the bottom of the blister pack using and the foil thereby releasing the component into the container. The foils are then bent into the container allowing the liquid flood to be dispensed.

Yet an alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 3 whereby the blister pack still includes a cutting collar 30 but the blister 22 is located above the cutting collar. To release the component a flip cap lid 36 is flipped up, the blister pack is pressed for the needle to perforate its bottom and then top cap 38 is rotated pushing the cutting collar down and releasing the component into the container.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment where the cap 10 is itself filled with a component 26 and sealed at the bottom by film 40 there being no blister pack. When rotated the lid engages the cutting collar pushing it down and cutting through films 40 and 16. The cut foils remain attached to the cap and the container (or bottle) and are simply pushed aside. It is worth noting that the two films are not in contact with each other there being a gap between the two. This has advantages during the manufacturing process in that the cap can be attached to well-known containers having a film without having to modify the attachment of the cap to it whilst the contents of the cap are sealed keeping them sterilised. That is, the cap is attached by being welded to or glued around the sealed opening of the container and is not glued to the container film.

In a further embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 the lid has an extension 42 that includes a cutting blade 44. As the lid is unscrewed it is then inverted and pushed into the spout 18 to penetrate through the bottom of the blister pack and the foil 16 releasing the component into the container. Alternatively as illustrated in FIG. 6 the lid includes a spacing collar 46 that is peeled of and discarded and then the lid is simply screwed down for the cutting blade 44 to penetrate the blister and the film 16. The lid is then simply unscrewed form the spout to allow the dispensing of the liquid food.

It is to be understood that whilst the above embodiments illustrate the foil of the cap as extending beyond the bottom opening of the spout it is not intended to limit the extent of the foil to any size. All that is required is for the foil of the cap to seal it and different design solutions will achieve this.

Also whilst we refer to foil it is also to be understood that it may be made of any other suitable material that can seal and also be perforated such as epoxy coated foil, plastics as examples only.

Current packaging of liquids for human consumption include using aseptic packaging where the product and the package are sterilized separately and then combined and sealed in a sterile atmosphere, in contrast to canning, where product and package are first combined and then sterilized. When filled with ultra-heat treated (UHT) foodstuffs (liquids like milk and juice or processed food like vegetables and preserved fruits), the aseptic packages can be preserved without being chilled for up to one year, with the result that distribution and storage costs, as well as environmental impact, is greatly reduced and product shelf life expanded.

Aseptic technology enables food to stay fresh for more than 6 months without the risk of contamination, loss of nutrition or changes to the taste of the product. The entire filling process is performed in a sterile environment, the packaging material is sterilised on both sides and the packages are sealed under the liquid level to avoid contamination.

In that case the cap as described above can be effectively sterilised before it is placed onto the container. Although such as step is not absolutely necessary when using a dry component, it may be desirable when using a liquid component that may not have sufficient preservatives to ensure longevity.

‘The reader will now appreciate that in a manufacturing line a pre-filled cap may be used to be attached to liquid food containers. This gives the manufacturer options into what type of component may be attached to the container greatly increasing consumer choice and alleviating the need to post-manufacture try and to fill the cap with a desirable component. This is able to be achieved given that the cap itself is sealed and the container is sealed and that the two seals are simultaneously broken to enable the component to be added to the liquid food.

Thus in its simplest form the invention teaches a dispensing cap including a top, spout, and base that attaches to the container that stores liquid food and that is sealed to contain a component to be mixed with the liquid food at the time of consumption. Of course the cap can also be used to seal the container after it has been activated enabling the liquid food to be consumed over several days.

Whilst the cap as described above can be used to attach to a container already pre-filled with a component it may in some cases be desirable, especially if the component is not in a blister pack, to ensure that the cap is sealed against the environment to prevent dust and/or moisture to enter the cap. This can be achieved by an embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8.

Thus in FIG. 7 there is shown cap 10 that includes a skirt 46 that extends from the top of the cap and is of a shape and configuration to engage the inside wall 48 of the spout 18. The length of the seal is important since it needs to engage at different cap positions. This type of seal is commonly referred to as a dynamic seal as the seal is on the vertical face and is designed to work among the face so that any movement of the cap up and down does not immediately break the seal. Being under tension also results in the seal not being broken if the cap is rotated. The cap as a whole is then glued at circular foot 52 to the container.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternate shape of the seal whereby it is shaped so that sealing lip 50 presses against the inside wall of the spout. This seal also runs up and down the sealing edge.

Although not illustrated, the liquid food may be a carbonated beverage. In these products the storage component of the container has direct contact with the liquid or gas in the container and the material used to make the foil is often selected on the basis of barrier properties against moisture and gas for ease of puncture by the user. The parameters that can affect the physical strength of the base material includes surface area and base thickness and the consequence of increasing the thickness of the base material increases the difficulty of puncturing it. When the liquid in the bottle contains gas, for example in the case of carbonated beverages, a significant amount of pressure can develop within the sealed container which can physically damage the base material in the blister pack, potentially causing rupture during storage.

A disk may be positioned below the spout the disk having a central aperture to accommodate the passage of the pin therethrough. The disk provides the mechanical strength necessary to ensure that the container foil remains integral and does not perforate simply through pressure from the carbonated beverage.

Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus. Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in this field.

In the present specification and claims (if any), the word “comprising” and its derivatives including “comprises” and “comprise” include each of the stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or more further integers.