A screw cap or closure is a common type of closure for , , and tubes.
History
Screw caps had been used in Europe since the 1500s and a British patent was filed in 1810 by Peter Durand acting on behalf of Nicolas Appert.
John Landis Mason patented in 1858 a screw-on lid for a jar that became known as the
Mason jar.
Usage
A screw closure is a mechanical device which is screwed on and off of a "finish" on a container.
Either continuous threads or lugs are used. It must be engineered to be cost-effective, to provide an effective seal (and barrier), to be compatible with the contents, to be easily opened by the consumer, often to be reclosable, and to comply with product, package, and environmental laws and regulations. Manufacturers may ensure the integrity of a screw cap using a cap torque tester. Some closures need to be tamper resistant and have child-resistant packaging features. A tamper-evident band is a common tamper warning for screw caps of bottles, for example.
Wine industry
Screw caps' use as an alternative to cork for sealing
wine bottles is gaining increasing support. A screw cap is a
metal cap that screws onto threads on the neck of a
bottle, generally with a metal skirt down the neck to resemble the traditional
wine capsule ("foil"). A layer of
plastic (often
PVDC), cork,
rubber, or other soft material is used as wad to make a seal with the mouth of the bottle.
Sake industry
Sake bottles are almost universally closed with screw caps (some are packed in barrels, or novelty bottles).
See also
Sources
-
Soroka, W, "Fundamentals of Packaging Technology", IoPP, 2002,
-
Yam, K. L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 2009,
-
Prlewe, J. Wine from Grape to Glass. NY: Abbeville Press, 1999.
-
Wayne J. Mortensen and Brian K. Marks, The Failure of a Wine Closure Innovation: A Strategic Marketing Analysis ,
-
ASTM D3474 Standard Practice for Calibration and Use of Torque Meters Used in Packaging Applications
External links
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[2] New Zealand Screw Cap Initiative
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[3]Closure and Container Manufacturers Association(CCMA), international society of beverage technologists,
