Composite two-piece tamper-evident closure with a seal-delay-release feature and a method therefor

摘要

An apparatus includes an outer closure including a closure plane and a circumferentially depending outer skirt extending in a first direction from the closure plane. The closure plane has first ramped lugs equi-spaced around a circumference of the closure plane and which extend axially in the first direction. The outer skirt has screw threads on a radially inward side and a tamper-evident arrangement frangibly connected to a lower edge of the outer skirt. A first ramp of each of the first ramped lugs is substantially parallel to the screw threads on a same radius. The apparatus also includes an inner sealing disk adapted to nest rotatably and axially movably against a side of the closure plane facing the first direction. The inner sealing disk is enclosed by the outer skirt and an axial movement of the inner sealing disk is limited by a retaining arrangement of the outer closure. The inner sealing disk includes second ramped lugs extending axially in a second direction opposite the first direction. Each second ramped lug corresponds to one of the first ramped lugs. A second ramp of each of the second ramped lugs is substantially parallel to the first ramp for each radial position. A container includes a sidewall having screw threads on a radially outward side adapted to engage the screw threads on the outer closure and an upper edge adapted to engage a container sealing area of the inner sealing disk. The upper edge is arranged around an opening of the container. The sidewall has an arrangement adapted to engage the tamper-evident arrangement of the outer closure. The outer closure and the inner sealing disk cooperate to provide a tamper-evident closure with the container. The tamper-evident closure maintains the inner sealing disk on the container while the outer closure is unthreaded from the container for a first time until the tamper-evident arrangement shows evidence of tampering.