1. Berry Plastics Liner-less Detergent Cap
Team 7
Tom Pepe
Ross Rozansky
Dale Heintzelman
Cherish Wilford
Glenn Catlin
Advisor: Dr. Michael Keefe
Sponsor Contact: John Tauber

2. About Berry Plastics
Leading manufacturer of injection molded packaging in the U.S.
Currently working on new product development around liner-less closures
With the partnership of UD and our sponsor, John Tauber, a new liner-less detergent cap will be designed

3. Problem Definition
The current cost of polypropylene is rising causing the cap liners to become more and more expensive
The cost of the liner is now close to 1/3rd of the total cost to make the cap
A new design is needed to eliminate the need for a liner
The design should be as effective and inexpensive as possible
Liner

4. Affected Customers Liquid detergent companies, i.e. Clorox
Retail stores, i.e. Walmart
General public
Elderly
Middle aged
Teenagers

5. Problem Specifics Wants Low Cost Maximum Seal Time
Aesthetically Pleasing
Easy to Grip
Easy to Close
Simple Design
Constraints
Liner-less Design
Injection Molded
One Piece
Applied Torque

6. Want Weights

7. Metrics and Target Values
Gap Size – Area between cap and bottle does not change from current design
Cost - < $60 per 1000 caps
Appendage Thickness – None
Time Until Leak – 1 hr < t < 24hr
Reproducibility of Results - > 90%
Loss of Fluid – 0 mL
Torque Required – τ = 35 in-lbs

8. Metric Weights

9. Benchmark Concepts Solo Cap XTRA Cap Type of seal Fin seal with bottle
Wedge seal to spout
component
Fin
Wedge

10. Benchmark Concepts cont.
All Cap
Type of seal
Cap lays flat against bottle land; tight tolerance
Febreze Cap
Wedge seal to bottle
spike
Wedge

11. Benchmark Cap Leak Testing
To determine which concepts work better than others
Tested with actual product (detergent) inside
Caps tightened to 35 in-lbs
Bottles lay flat on their side and checked periodically for leakage
Each benchmark tested twice

12. Leak Test Results From Benchmark Caps
All- Tied for best
-Excellent tolerance
XTRA- Tied for best
-Strong seal to deformable spout component
Febreze- Tied for worst
-Flimsy spike design
Solo- Tied for worst
-Fin offered weak seal with bottle
Cap
Viscosity (Pa-s)
Time until leak (hrs)
All
0.18 -
XTRA
0.05
Solo
0.12
2 to 3
Febreze
 < XTRA 3

13. Our Concepts Two Vertical Fins
Fray out to touch walls when screwed down
Force from cap walls and plastic fin resilience create seal with both bottle and spout
Problem- Space between outside fins and cap interior is too thin
Mold has a high probability to break over time from stress

14. Our Concepts Cont. Flat Contact Proven easy and successful
With proper tolerance cap sits flush on bottle top, creating a tight seal
Problem- Tolerance would have to be incredible
Top of bottle would have to be consistently manufactured completely flat

15. Our Concepts Cont. Internal Wedge
Cap tightens to inside wall of spout while screwing down
Allows more surface contact
Allows least amount of liquid to directly reach the seal
Fluid pushes cap against bottle naturally

16. Primary Cap Design Main Metrics Metric #1- Gap Size (26%) Tight fit
Metric #3- Appendage Thickness (18%)
No increases in thickness measured
from the base. i.e.- injection moldable

17. Prototype Testing Same testing procedure as before with water
No seal lasted 1 hr.
Notch
Wedge

18. Change in Problem Scope
The seal may not be achievable if the bottle was manufactured incorrectly
Changing a spec on the bottle itself may be a cheaper and simpler solution than designing a new cap
Need to show evidence of the bottle being direct cause of failure before changing specs

19. Bottle Testing
Tests of current bottles and liner-less caps from Berry Plastics
16 different bottles/16 different caps for a total of 256 tests
Bottles lay flat on
their sides with paper
towel underneath to
observe leakage

20. Bottle Testing cont. Bottles filled with water
for most extreme testing
Caps torqued to 35 in-lbs
using torque meter
Max time limit of 1 hour
Results: 48% success rate

21. Testing Results
Bottles show more consistency

22. Bottle Investigation Possible Causes of Failure Bottle land flatness
Wall thickness
Distance from start of thread to bottle land

23. Correlations More consistent wall thickness promotes a longer seal
Flatter Bottles sealed longer

24. Bottle Manufacturer Reaming process impact: Wall thickness Flatness
Land distance to thread

25. New Bottle Testing
Success rate of 94.4%

26. Leak Investigation
Fin
Gap
No Gap

27. Recommendations Implement new bottle specs with old cap design
Wall thickness variability- < inches
Flatness- < inches
End Lip variability- < inches
Manufacturer limitations?
Create a new cap design
Greater wedge angle
Same fin from old cap
Do both
Wedge
Fin

28. Questions/Concerns Thank You