Container closure with membrane-piercing punch

Abstract

A container closure includes a body formed to include a product-dispensing spout and to mate with a filler neck of a bottle or other container. A thin membrane seal is coupled to the bottle filler neck to close and seal a top opening of the bottle filler neck.

1 . A package comprising 
 a container formed to include an interior region and an edge defining an opening into the interior region,    a membrane seal coupled to the container to close the opening into the interior region to block discharge of any fluid material stored in the interior region from the container though the opening, and    a closure including a body coupled to the container to cover the membrane seal and formed to include a product-discharge outlet and a membrane opener coupled to the body for movement relative to the body while the body is coupled to the container between a first position leaving the membrane seal intact and a second position piercing the membrane seal to produce a fluid-flow aperture therein to allow fluid material stored in the interior region to leave the container by passing through the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal, the opening defined by the edge, and the product-discharge outlet formed in the closure.    
     
     
         2 . The package of  claim 1 , wherein the closure further includes a flip-top cap and a hinge coupled to the body and to the flip-top cap to support the flip-top cap for movement relative to the body from a closed position on the body covering the membrane opener and the product-discharge outlet to an opened position away from the body uncovering the membrane opener and the product-discharge outlet to expose the membrane opener to allow a user to move the membrane opener relative to the body from the first position to the second position to pierce the membrane seal.  
     
     
         3 . The package of  claim 2 , wherein the membrane opener includes a movable punch support coupled to the body and arranged to lie in an interior cavity formed in the flip-top cap upon movement of the flip-top cap to the closed position on the body, wherein the membrane opener further includes a membrane-piercing punch coupled to the movable punch support and formed to include a tip arranged to face toward an upwardly facing outer surface of the membrane seal and to pierce the membrane seal to produce the fluid-flow aperture therein upon movement of the flip-top cap to the opened position and movement of the membrane opener to the second position, and wherein a portion of the membrane-piercing punch is arranged to lie in the interior cavity formed in the flip-top cap upon movement of the flip-top cap to the closed position on the body.  
     
     
         4 . The package of  claim 1 , wherein the membrane opener includes a movable punch support coupled to the body and a membrane-piercing punch coupled to the movable punch support and arranged to face toward an upwardly facing outer surface of the membrane seal and pierce the membrane seal to produce the fluid-flow aperture therein upon movement of the membrane opener to the second position.  
     
     
         5 . The package of  claim 4 , wherein the movable punch support includes an upwardly facing exterior surface adapted to be contacted by a finger of a user as the user applies a downwardly directed force to the membrane opener and configured to define means for transferring a downwardly directed force applied by a user to the membrane-piercing punch so that the membrane-piercing punch is moved downwardly toward the interior region of the container to pierce the underlying membrane seal and thus form the fluid-flow aperture in the membrane seal.  
     
     
         6 . The package of  claim 4 , wherein the membrane opener further includes means for spreading portions of the membrane seal in radially outward directions once pierced by the membrane-piercing punch to expand and maintain the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal during flow of any fluid material extant in the interior region of the container through the fluid-flow aperture and the product-discharge outlet to exit the container.  
     
     
         7 . The package of  claim 4 , wherein the movable punch support is made of a deformable material and is configured to undergo deformation and change shape during movement of the membrane opener between the first and second positions.  
     
     
         8 . The package of  claim 7 , wherein the movable punch support has a convex shape and is arranged to extend away from the container upon movement of the membrane opener to the first position and wherein the movable punch support has a concave shape and is arranged to extend toward the container upon movement of the membrane opener to the second position.  
     
     
         9 . The package of  claim 8 , wherein the movable punch support includes a frustoconical exterior surface when the movable punch support is arranged to lie in the first position and the second position.  
     
     
         10 . The package of  claim 4 , wherein the movable punch support includes a ceiling and a frustoconical side wall having a narrow-diameter edge coupled to a downwardly facing interior surface of the ceiling and a relatively larger larger-diameter edge coupled to the body and the membrane-piercing punch is coupled to the ceiling.  
     
     
         11 . The package of  claim 10 , wherein the membrane opener further includes a plurality of membrane spreaders coupled to a downwardly facing interior surface of the frustoconical side wall and configured to provide means for spreading portions of the membrane seal in radially outward directions once pierced by the membrane-piercing punch to expand and maintain the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal during flow of any fluid material extant in the interior region of the container through the fluid-flow aperture and the product-discharge outlet to exit the container.  
     
     
         12 . The package of  claim 4 , wherein the movable punch support includes a downwardly facing interior surface coupled to the membrane-piercing punch and an upwardly facing exterior surface adapted to be pushed downwardly by a user to move the membrane opener from the first position to the second position and wherein the upwardly facing exterior surface has a convex shape upon movement of the membrane opener to the first position and a concave shape upon movement of the membrane opener to the second position.  
     
     
         13 . The package of  claim 12 , wherein the movable punch support includes a round ceiling and a frustoconical side wall, the frustoconical side wall is arranged to interconnect the round ceiling and the body and to cooperate with the round ceiling to define the downwardly facing interior surface and the upwardly facing exterior surface, and the membrane-piercing punch is coupled to a portion of the downwardly facing interior surface provided on the round ceiling.  
     
     
         14 . The package of  claim 13 , wherein the membrane opener further includes a plurality of membrane spreaders coupled to a portion of the downwardly facing interior surface provided on the frustoconical side wall and configured to provide means for spreading portions of the membrane seal in radially outward directions once pierced by the membrane-piercing punch to expand and maintain the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal during flow of any fluid material extant in the interior region of the container through the fluid-flow aperture and the product-discharge outlet to exit the container.  
     
     
         15 . The package of  claim 4 , wherein the membrane-piercing punch is formed to include at least one fluid-discharge port to provide means for communicating fluid material discharged from the interior region of the container through the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal upon movement of the membrane opener to the second position past the membrane-piercing punch to the product-discharge outlet formed in the closure.  
     
     
         16 . The package of  claim 15 , wherein at least a portion of the membrane-piercing punch is arranged to extend into the passageway formed in the filler neck upon movement of the membrane opener to assume the first position.  
     
     
         17 . The package of  claim 15 , wherein the membrane-piercing punch has an inverted bulbous onion-dome shaped wall formed to include the at least one fluid-discharge port and terminating at a tip providing a downwardly projecting sharpened point.  
     
     
         18 . The package of  claim 1 , wherein the container further includes a vessel formed to include the interior region and a filler neck coupled to the vessel and formed to include the edge defining the opening and a passageway leading from the opening to the interior region, the membrane seal is coupled to the edge of the filler neck, the body of the closure is mounted on the filler neck to locate the membrane opener above the membrane seal, and the membrane opener is arranged to be moved manually relative to the body in a downward direction toward the vessel to pierce the membrane seal to produce the fluid-flow aperture while the body remains mounted on the filler neck.  
     
     
         19 . The package of  claim 10 , wherein the closure further includes a flip-top cap and a hinge coupled to the body and to the flip-top cap to support the flip-top cap for movement relative to the body from a closed position on the body covering the membrane opener and the product-discharge outlet to an opened position away from the body uncovering membrane opener and the product-discharge outlet to expose the membrane opener to allow a user to move the membrane opener relative to the body from the first position to the second position to pierce the membrane seal.  
     
     
         20 . The package of  claim 1 , wherein the membrane opener includes a sharpened tip arranged to pierce the membrane seal to produce the fluid-flow aperture therein upon movement of the membrane opener to the second position.  
     
     
         21 . A package comprising 
 a closure including a body formed to include a product-discharge outlet and adapted to be coupled to a container formed to include a filler neck and seal breaker means coupled to the body for piercing a membrane seal coupled to the filler neck and arranged to lie under the product-discharge outlet formed in the body and close an opening into a passageway formed in the filler neck to establish a fluid-flow aperture in the membrane seal.    
     
     
         22 . The package of  claim 21 , further comprising a container and a membrane seal, and wherein the container includes a vessel formed to include an interior region and a filler neck coupled to the vessel and formed to include an edge defining an opening into a passageway leading to the interior region of the vessel, the membrane seal is coupled to the filler neck to close the opening into the passageway formed in the filler neck, and the seal breaker means includes a membrane-piecing tip.  
     
     
         23 . The package of  claim 22 , wherein the seal breaker means further includes spreader means adjacent to the membrane-piercing tip for spreading portions of the membrane seal in outward directions once pierced by the membrane-piercing tip to expand and maintain a fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal upon movement of the membrane-piercing tip to pierce the membrane seal so that any fluid material extant in the interior region of the vessel is free to flow through the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal, passageway formed in the filler neck, and product-discharge outlet formed in the body to exit the container.  
     
     
         24 . A package comprising 
 a container formed to include an interior region and an opening into the interior region,    a membrane seal coupled to the container to close the opening, and    a closure coupled to the container to cover the membrane seal and formed to include seal breaker means for piercing the membrane seal while the closure is coupled to the container to establish a fluid-flow aperture in the membrane seal to allow any fluid material extant in the interior region to flow through the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal and the opening formed in the container.    
     
     
         25 . The package of  claim 24 , wherein the seal breaker means includes a membrane-piercing tip arranged to overlie the membrane seal.  
     
     
         26 . The package of  claim 25 , wherein the seal breaker means further includes spreader means for spreading portions of the membrane seal in outward directions once pierced by the membrane-piercing tip to expand and maintain the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal during flow of any fluid material extant in the interior region of the container through the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal and the opening formed in the container.  
     
     
         27 . The package of  claim 26 , wherein the seal breaker means includes a movable punch support including a ceiling and a side wall, the membrane-piercing tip is included in a punch coupled to the ceiling, and the spreader means in coupled to the side wall.  
     
     
         28 . The package of  claim 26 , wherein the spreader means is formed to include at least one fluid-discharge port to provide means for communicating fluid material discharged from the interior region of the container through the fluid-flow aperture formed in the membrane seal to exit the container while an exterior wall of the spreader means engages a portion of the membrane seal defining a boundary of the fluid-flow aperture.