WO1988005411A1

WO1988005411A1 - Sealing of containers

Info

Publication number: WO1988005411A1
Application number: PCT/SE1987/000635
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lars Lindgren
Original assignee: Rexinell Ab
Priority date: 1987-01-15
Filing date: 1987-12-29
Publication date: 1988-07-28
Also published as: SE8700145L; SE456080B; EP0343176A1; SE8700145D0; US5031675A; JPH02501909A

Abstract

A device for sealing containers intended to be connected to a recipient provided with connection means for supply of their contents to the recipient in such a way that the container can be applied to and removed from the recipient without leakage and is sealed after the removal. For this an elastic body (4) is included in the device which contains a cavity (10) with a thin bottom (12), which cavity is adapted to the connection means (9) and is inclined relative to the longitudinal axis (C) of the body so that the interior portion of the body is displaced radially at the application of the device to the connection means (9) and opens a channel between the body and the container wall (5) for air supply to the container, the interior portion of the cavity, at least, being smaller than the exterior portion of the connection means to enable for the connection means (9) to open the sealing device by widening a normally closed hole or slit (13) located at the bottom (12) of the cavity.

Description

Sealino of containerε This invention relates to a device for εealing con¬ tainers intended to be connected to a recipient provided wit connection meanε for the sealing device for supply of their contents to the recipient, the connection means of which is also arranged to open the sealing device upon application of the container. The sealing device is particularly useful for liquid containers which, when applied to a recipient, are to supply liquid to said recipient, for example an ink for an i jet printer. However, this is only an example of several pos sible applications for the present device which can be used everywhere in principle where it is desired to supply a more or leεε viscous or running material, inclusive of liquid, to recipient via an applied container of some type without any considerable leakage arising when the container is applied o removed from the recipient.

In ink jet printers which are provided with an ink via an added ink container closed by means of a slit rubber stop per it is previously known to use a spout of about 5 mm thic neεs aε connection meanε, which upon application of the clos ink container perforates its slit rubber spout and is connec ed in this way to the ink of the container for supply thereo to the printer. However, this known arrangement has the em- baraεεing diεadvantage that leakage arises at each change of ink container and especially in the cases when the container is not quite empty and that a removed container is not seale in a satisfactory way.

In order that liquid might εtream out of such a contain er air must have acceεε to the interior of the container and according to known technique this is achieved by meanε of a narrow hose which is placed in and extends through the rubber spout located in the container and which permits leakage of liquid at application of the container to the printer until the interior orifice of the hoεe comes over the liquid level within the container. When this is not positioned on the printer the liquid in the container is in contact with the ai which implies a certain loss of liquid through diffusion.

Another diεadvantage of thiε known arrangement is that leakage may arise via the air hoεe aε soon aε the whole print er is tilted or laid on its side with the ink container in po¬ sition, due to the fact that its interior orifice normally be¬ ing over the liquid level iε brought below the same when the printer is considerably aired. Changes in pressure and tem- perature may result in great leakage in this connection.

Attempts have been made to eliminate the leakage via the stopper of the liquid container by replacing the spout of the ink jet printer by a narrow cannula which is made to perforate a rubber membrane arranged in the container and replacing the rubber stopper upon the application of the ink container to the printer in the same way as when handling injection solu¬ tions. However, these attempts have not been satisfactory but have pointed at several practical problems and some disadvant¬ ages of the same type as described above. Moreover, the prob- lem remains with the air supply to make possible for the ink to stream out of the container.

It iε therefore the object of this invention to provide a seal of containers of the kind mentioned above which has not said disadvantages but iε εo conεtituted that it seals the container hermetically in the non-applied position of the con¬ tainer and makes possible in its applied poεition supply of the contents of the container to the recipient without leakage arising and that it allows application of the container to the recipient and removal from the recipient without leakage and that it εealε the container hermetically after removal of the container from the recipient.

Thiε object iε achieved in that the sealing device of the invention has been given the characteristic features de¬ fined in the claims. The invention will be described in the following in greater detail with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which Fig . 1 shows a section of a sealing device according to the invention arranged in a sealing container in a phase during the application of the liquid container onto a connec- tion meanε of a recipient, Fig . 2 εhows a section taken along the line II—II in Fig. 1 and Fig . 3 shows a section of the container in Fig. 1 in a position applied to the recipient.

In the enclosed drawings there iε shown an example of an embodiment of the inventive sealing device positioned in a filling and emptying opening of a liquid container, preferab formed as a throat and sealed hermetically by the sealing de vice in the position shown in Fig. 1. The container iε desig nated by 1 and its opening by 2 and the very sealing device 3.

The sealing device consists of a homogeneous body or stopper 4 of an elastic, preferably highly elastic material resistant to the intended liquid or material and having an e ternal cross-sectional form corresponding to that of the con tainer opening and which should be somewhat greater than the container opening 2 with respect to its dimension so that th stopper 4 must be pressed into position and consequently is made to fit tightly against the sides 5 of the opening.

Even if it need not always be the case the stopper 4 a cording to the embodiment shown on the drawings iε formed wi or aε a εeat εurface 6 at its end located outside the contai er opening 2 for cooperation with a corresponding seat surfa 7 of a recipient 8 not shown more in detail on the drawings, for fixing the container in a correct position on the reci- pient and its connection means 9 having the form of a spout open at the end and the longitudinal axis A of which forms preferably but not necessarily a right angle to the seat ^"sur faces 7 of the recipient.

For cooperation with the connection means 9 of the re- cipient the inventive sealing device 3 iε formed with a cavit 10 extending from the εeat surface 6 and terminating at such distance from the end surface 11 of the sealing device facing the interior of the container that a relatively thin wall 12 constituting the bottom of the cavity remains. A very narrow εlit 13 (Fig. 3) is made in this wall 12, for example by the aid of a thin razor blade or the like, or a very small hole, for example by the aid of a narrow sewing-needle or the like. The εlit 13 or hole iε located at the centre of the cavity an iε kept closed by the material due to itε elaεtic properties and to a certain extent by the curved form of the cavity bottom or the wall 12. In case of a εlit it iε suitable to have tranεversal reinforcing wires inserted in the material a the ends of the εlit to prevent the slit from extending and, consequently, the material from cracking. The cavity 10 has a length or depth which must not be less than and should be equal to the length or height of the connection meanε 9 of the recipient, at least in the embodi¬ ment with seat εurfaceε shown on the drawings. In embodiments without seat surfaces the cavity 10 of the present connection means 3 can have a depth that iε leεs and also substantially leεε than the height of the connection meanε 9 of the reci¬ pient. Furthermore, the cavity 10 of the sealing device shoul have a form conforming or closely agreeing with the exterior form. of the connection means 9 of the recipient. This agree¬ ment of form should at least be present between the tip or ex¬ terior part of the connection meanε and the interior part of the cavity which, however, should be somewhat smaller in di¬ mensional respect than the tip of the connection meanε. In the embodiment shown the whole cavity like the whole connection meanε 9 haε the form of a more or leεε truncated cone but of course it can have another form suitable for the purpuse, for example the form of a more or lesε truncated pyramid or wedge or a spherical zone. At agreement of form only between the^* in terior part of the cavity and the tip of the connection means the remaining part of the cavity 10 and the connection means may have any other form permitting application of the sealing device in the intended way to the connection means 9 of a re¬ cipient . Another esεential characteriεtic feature of the device of this invention iε the orientation of the cavity in the bod

4 and, more specifically, the cavity 10 is so located that it longitudinal axis B normally iε inclined relative to the long itudinal axiε C of the body 4 and the angle of inclination be tween these iε acute, the longitudinal axiε B of the cavity poεεibly intersecting the longitudinal axiε C of the body in the end surface 6 of the body, aε εhown on the drawingε, or i spaced relationship, inwards or outwards, from said end sur¬ face 6. In other words, the croεε-εection of the cavity in th end surface 6 need not have its centre in the longitudinal axiε C of the body but may be displaced relative to the same.

Aε a reεult of the extenεion and inclination of this cavity, also relative to the longitudinal axiε A of the con¬ nection meanε, at application of a container provided with th inventive sealing device onto the connection means 9 of a re cipient, the interior portion of the body iε displaced radia ly by the connection means 9 of the recipient and the cavity 10 iε aligned and brought into a poεition concentric with th connection meanε 9 due to the fact that the body iε compress on one side and straightened on the other side of the connec tion means 9 so that it is drawn from the wall of the contai er opening and opens a channel 14 (Fig. 3) between the insid 5 of the container wall and the body 4. It iε realized from this that the degree of inclination of the cavity must be adapted to a large extent to the compressibility of the mate rial from which the body 4 is made and to the dimensions of the body so that said channel 14 is always obtained.

In order to make the alignment of the cavity 10 easier the body 4 can be provided with one or more curved εlits 15 located about the cavity 10, aε iε apparent from Figε . 1 and 2.

At itε interior peripheral section the sealing device the invention, further, has a sealing flange 16 running all around and a groove 17 located inside this flange 16 and als running all around which is connected with the atmosphere through an air hole 18 arranged in the container. Thus, in this way access of air to the interior of the container is prevented aε long aε the container iε not applied in poεition on a recipient, and in thiε way loss of liquid iε also avoide by diffusion during storage.

In order to prevent contamination of the liquid in the container with particles and microorganiεmε that may accompan incoming air it iε εuitable for liquids sensitive to such a contamination to provide the air hole 18 with a hydrophobic filter 19 through which air streaming in, thus, must pass and be cleaned, and in this way such a contamination of the liqui in the container iε prevented.

In the poεition shown in Fig. 1 the present sealing de- vice seals the container hermetically and at application of the container onto the connection meanε 9 of a recipient to b provided with liquid the interior part of the sealing device iε thus diεplaced radially by the connection meanε 9 of the recipient, the channel 14 being opened, and consequently the interior of the container is connected to the air hole 18 and the atmosphere. In its interior part the cavity 10 is narrower than the tip of the connection meanε and aε a result of thiε, when the sealing device iε pressed into poεition on the connection means 9, an extension of the εlit 13 or the hole at the bottom of the cavity also takes place besides sai radial movement. Through this opening in the wall 12 created by the connection means 9 liquid can now pass via the connec¬ tion meanε to the recipient simultaneously as an equivalent amount of air streams into the container via the air hole 18 and the channels 17 och 14. Thuε , it is avoided in this way that a negative pressure will be created in the container.

When the container has thereafter been removed from the recipient the εealing device will return to itε original form meaning that the εlit or hole 13 iε closed and that the air passage 14 is shut aε the sealing flange 16 iε brought into a sealing contact with the inside 5. The container iε again her metically sealed by thiε and no leakage will ariεe in the ver short time necessary for removing the container from the re- cipient and itε connection meanε 9.

The invention iε not restricted to what has been de- εcribed above and shown on the drawings but can be amended an modified in several various ways within the scope of the in¬ ventive idea defined in the claims. Thuε, it is possible to form the interior end surface 11 of the body so that it is concave and curved instead of convex and, furthermore, the groove or channel 17 can be connected to the atmosphere or another air source, optionally under pressure, via a channel made in the body 4.

Claims

Claims 1. A device for εealing containers intended to be con¬ nected to a recipient provided with connection meanε for the sealing device for supply of their contents to the recipient, the connection means of which is arranged to open the εealing device at application of the container, said device comprising a body of an elastic material tightly applicable to the open¬ ing of the container, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the body (4) containε a cavity (10) having a relatively thin bottom (12), which cavity (10) iε adapted to the connection means (9) of the recipient and iε so inclined relative to the longitudinal axiε (C) of the body that the interior portion of the body is radially displaced at the application of the εeal¬ ing device to the connection means (9) of the recipient and opens a channel (14) between the periphery of the body and the container wall (5) for air supply to the interior of the con¬ tainer and that at least the interior portion of the cavity in dimensional respect iε smaller than the exterior portion of the connection meanε to enable that the connection meanε (9) can open the sealing device by widening a normally closed hole or slit (13) located at the bottom of the cavity.

2. The device of claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the body (4) is provided with a groove (17) at its periphery, said groove being located more closely to the in- terior end surface (11) of the body than itε exterior end sur¬ face (6) and associated with the atmosphere via an air hole (18) in the container or an air channel in the body (4) and with the channel (14) opened after the application of the εealing device.

3. The device of claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said groove (17) on the periphery of the body extendε around the body (4) and defineε a peripheral εealing flange (16) at the interior peripheral portion of the body.

4. The device of any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a hydrophobic filter (19) iε arranged at the inlet of the air εupply channel.

5. The device of any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the interior end εurface (11) of the body iε curved convexly or concavely.

6. The device of any one of the preceding claimε, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that one or more εlitε (15) ex tending in a curved manner are made around the cavity (10) in the body (4) .

7. The device of any one of the preceding claimε, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the exterior end surface (6) of the body is formed as a seat surface adapted to a cor¬ responding seat surface (7) of the recipient.

8. The device of any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the cavity (10) has a depth corresponding to the length of the connection meanε.

9. The device of any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the longitudinal axis (B) of the cavity intersects the longitudinal axiε (C) of the bod in the exterior end surface (6) of the body or spaced from this end surface.