AU1317599A - Easy opening bottle caps for sparkling wines - Google Patents

Description

S F Ref: 450305

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

S

Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Pechlney Emballage Alimentalre 16 Boulevard du General Leclerc 92115 Clichy

FRANCE

Bernard Dautreppe Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Easy Opening Bottle Caps for Sparkling Wines The following statement Is a full description of this invention, best method of performing It known to me/us:including the 5845 EASY OPENING BOTTLE CAPS FOR SPARKLING WINES Field of the invention S. The invention relates to the domain of outer caps for bottles of sparkling wines, typically champagne, o and particularly caps equipped with easy opening means.

State of the art "Easy opening" caps as shown in figures 1 to 5 are already known. Typically there are two types of these S" 10 caps, firstly caps with a tear-off strip frequently called "Tircell" as shown in figures 1 to 3, and secondly caps with a single or double weakness line with dots or slits as shown in figures 4 to Problems caused A number of problems, as described below, occur in all types of known easy opening systems.

As already mentioned, these caps are typically placed on champagne bottles, and they make a strong contribution to the finish and to improving their esthetics.

With existing caps, the consumer opens the cap either by pulling on the "Tircell" strip, or by cutting the cap along the dotted lines or the strip of dots, and the result is more often than not unwanted folding or tearing, since these caps are made from a relatively thin sheet or film, and consequently the cap does not necessarily tear along the lines of weakness formed in advance, which can result in an anesthetic and completely random appearance.

Furthermore, these sparkling wines are -put into bottles closed by corks that are usually fitted with wire bindings that hold the cork in place and keep the bottle closed even in case of an accidental overpressure. Therefore it is important that the wire binding should be exposed when the cap is opened so that it can easily be removed.

In short, there is a need for an easily opening cap S 20 solving all these problems.

S* Purpose of the invention The invention relates to a cap such that the top part of the cap can be removed manually and regularly, the top part being the part that covers the said wire binding, without damaging any of the lower part of the cap that covers the part of the bottle neck below the wire binding, in order to leave the maximum amount of the cap in position without damaging its esthetics, and being able to remove the wire binding.

Description of the invention The easy opening cap according to the invention is typically cone-shaped and consists of a top and a skirt made of a film or foil material for receptacles or bottles of sparkling wines, possibly but not necessarily provided with a metal binding and with a tightening wire passing under the glass ring of the said bottle and equipped with its opening twister, and comprising at least one line of weakness on the skirt :of the said cap, and is characterized in that the said cap comprises: a) two lines of weakness formed on the said skirt and e typically parallel to each other with a "bottom" line located at or below the said glass ring, and a "top" line at a distance L equal to at least 0.5 H above the said "bottom" line, where H is the height between the said "bottom" line and the upper end or top of the said cap, the lines of weakness 20 delimiting an opening strip with width L, b) a gripping tab, placed along a generating line of the said cone, located between the said two lines of S"weakness and firmly attached to the said opening strip, the said tab comprising a means of automatically orienting the tearing force towards the two said lines of weakness when the said cap is opened, such that the said cap is easily opened, maintaining the integrity of the remaining lower part of the said cap below the said lower line, and exposing the said wire binding if it is present.

The means defined above solve all problems caused.

Tests on caps according to the invention and according to the state-of-the-art clearly showed that the 4 invention provides the only known way of correctly and reproducibly opening the cap without the user consumer having to pay special attention and take special care when opening the bottle, which is usually the case.

It is important to realize how caps behave when they are opened under "typical" conditions, in which the person is among friends while opening the bottle, probably talking to somebody about something unrelated to the bottle, and in any case is not particularly concentrating on the cap of the bottle to be opened.

The cap according to the invention *is particularly advantageous under these "typical" conditions. With caps according to the state-of-the-art, it is only 15 possible to open the bottle correctly if the direction in which the consumer pulls on the "tircell" or the tear off strip remains perpendicular to the axis of the bottle which is only possible if he concentrates on what he is doing, otherwise the "tircel" does not 20 follow the tear off lines and part of the skirt which should remain undamaged will be torn, or the top part of the skirt may not be correctly separated to expose S•the wire binding.

S"Correct opening means removing the top part of the said cap to respect the integrity of the bottom part, with a separation line between the top and bottom parts which is typically a circle such that the bottle neck remains "covered" by the bottom part of the cap, and the esthetic effect of the said cap remains.

Description of the figures Figures 1 to 5 show partial side views of caps (1) according to the state-of-the-art obtained by rolling the developed shape of the skirt and gluing the axial edges (60, 61), and with different means of easy opening placed on the skirt The easy opening means used in figures 1 to 3 are "tircels" (41) with a more or less inclined orientation at the end.

The easy opening means used in figure 4 consist of a double line of weakness and figure 5 shows a single line of weakness In principle, these means make it possible to remove the "top" part (10) of the skirt leaving the "bottom" part (11) on the bottle.

Figure 6 is a side view of a cone-shaped cap (1) 15 according to the invention formed of a skirt and a top with two lines of weakness, a top line (43) and a bottom line (40) separated by a distance L equal to e 30 mm, the bottom line (44) delimiting the top or separable part (10) of the cap and the bottom or fixed 20 part (11) of the cap. This cap is formed by rolling the developed shape of the skirt and heat sealing or gluing one axial edge (60) onto the other (61) (not visible on figure The adhesive strip (63) sealing S" one edge to the other is shown in dotted lines.

Before rolling, the lines of weakness (43, 44) and notches (460, 461) that delimit the said tab (46) are .:-formed on the said developed shape, the bottom of each notch (460, 461) being located on the corresponding line of weakness (43, 44). As can be seen in figure 6, the said tab (46) is textured, in other words it is provided with a mesh of small upstands obtained by stamping when cutting the said developed shape and the said notches, in order to visually and esthetically differentiate the tab, and to reinforce the visual contrast between the tab and the rest of the capsule so that the consumer will instantly realize that he should use the said tab (46) to open the bottle. The top part of the skirt is equipped with a series of grooves (9) that are both esthetic and technically functional to the extent that they can contribute to obtaining a clean break along the line of weakness without accidentally tearing the bottom part (11) of the skirt.

Figure 7 is a side view of a neck of a bottle fitted with a cap according to the invention in :which the tab (46) is shown in the unfolded position ready to be pulled by the consumer, the tab being folded down and in contact with the bottle (shown in S•dotted lines in the figure) before opening, so that it does not project beyond the rest of the cap and consequently cannot be pulled accidentally.

Figure 8 is a side view similar to figure 7, after the consumer has pulled on the tab (46) to form the 20 opening strip (45) and thus expose the wire binding (3) that includes a tightening wire (30) passing under the glass ring and a tightening loop (31).

S" Figure 9 shows what is obtained after the said cap has been easily opened, the upper part forming the top generally remaining fixed to the opening strip which is the upper part (10) of the cap Figure 10 is a sectional view of the neck of a bottle showing the result after the top part of the cap (10) has been removed, with a wire binding (3) covering a cork and holding it in position by means of a tightening wire (30) passing under the glass ring on the bottle neck, and with a lower part (11) of the cap held in place on the neck Figure 11 is a top view of a developed shape of the cone-shaped skirt of the cap, formed from a film or foil material, usually printed or decorated on the outside surface, used for making the said cap, and comprising: two lines of weakness, the top line (43) and the bottom line terminating at notches (460, 461) along the axial edge 60 that will be the upper edge after rolling the said developed shape, and a textured tab (46), an adhesive strip (63) placed along the other axial edge (61), an upper edge (64) to which the top of the capsule is 15 fixed.

Figures 12a to 12d show different types of tabs (46) according to the invention.

Detailed description of the invention oo •According to the invention, the said means of automatically orienting the tear-off force when opening the said cap towards the two said lines of weakness, comprises notches or recesses (460, 461) formed at the "top" and "bottom" ends of the said tab these notches or recesses being formed in the said film or foil material making up the said cap, as shown on the developed shape of the skirt in figure 11, and in figure 6.

When the shape of the said tab is rectangular (see figure 12a) or trapezoidal (see figure 12c and figure 6 or 11), the width L i of the said tab (46) may vary from 8 L to L, where L varies from 1.5 to 4 cm, so that the said tab can be easily gripped manually and so that a force can be applied which will be transferred to the said opening strip (45) without the said tab being torn, as can happen with caps according to the state of the art.

The said tab may have various shapes, for example as shown in figures 12a to 12d.

Similarly, notches or recesses (460, 461) may have more or less sharp angles as shown in figures 12a to 12c. Preferably, the angle a at the bottom of the notch as shown in figures 12b and 12c is typically less than 90, such tfat the force exerted on the said tab directed towards the said lines of weakness (460, 461) The said material according to the invention is chosen among sheets or strips made of Al or an Al alloy, Sn or an Sn alloy, a shrink fitting plastic film, an Al/PE/Al complex in which Al refers to the outer Al layers and PE refers to the inner PE layer.

As shown particularly clearly in figures 6 and 11, ooooo it is advantageous if the said tab (46) is provided o with means of visual contrast and/or reinforcement, to discretely but clearly inform the consumer where he should exert a slight tension force, while giving him the impression of holding a tab with a certain degree of toughness, despite the fact that the said caps are made from thin foil or strip material.

The visual contrast and reinforcement means illustrated in figures 6 and 11 consists of a textured surface, in other words provided with a mesh of small relief obtained by stamping, which gives the tab sufficient contrast relative to the environment (not textured) of the tab, and at the same time a slight extra thickness due to the relief which both reinforces the mechanical strength of the tab and gives users a justified impression of security in being able to easily open the said cap.

It is also advantageous if the said top part of the skirt (10) comprises axial grooves the lower end of which are located one to 1 to 5 mm above the said bottom line of weakness (44) These grooves firstly have an advantageous esthetic effect known in itself, but it appears that they may also, within the framework of this invention, contribute to easy opening of the said cap along the lines of weakness, particularly along the bottom line (44) in order to leave the bottom part (11) of the cap intact.

According to the invention, the thickness of the said foil or strip material may vary from 25 to 50 Am 20 when the material is made of aluminum or aluminum alloy, between 110 and 150 Am when the material is made of tin or tin alloy, between 60 and 100 Am when the S• material is a shrinking plastic film, and between and 110 Am when the material is an Al/PE/Al multi-layer complex.

Another purpose of the invention consists of a process for making caps according to the invention comprising: cutting the developed shape of the said skirt out of the said film or foil material, with length H', with the formation of the said lines of weakness (43, 44) and notches (460, 461) on an axial edge possible deposit of a radial strip of adhesive that may be activated by heat or by pressure (63), typically applied on the other axial edge (61) of the said developed shape, except on the part corresponding to or facing the said tab (46), and in which the said developed shape is rolled S on a mandrel, folding the axial edge (60) over the other axial edge a strip of adhesive is deposited between the two edges, or possibly the said previously deposited adhesive is activated to form the said skirt by pressing the edges (60, 61) in contact with each other and possibly forming the said :..grooves a top is assembled or formed, ~possibly by adding on a top element and fixing it in place by heat sealing at the upper edge (64) of the said skirt, and then shrunk and folded over if required.

Thus, caps according to the invention may be made by only slightly modifying the manufacturing process by S°rolling, and therefore at no extra cost compared with caps according to the state of the art. They are even e 20 more economic than caps that use a "tircel" since they are easier to make.

D Example embodiment Cone-shaped caps were made as shown in figures 6 to 11, using the process described above.

The dimensions of the caps made are shown in figure 6, with particularly: L equal to 30 mm, H equal to 33 mm.

The tab, textured as shown in figure 6, has a width L, equal to 25 mm.

The angle ct at the bottom of the notches (460, 461) was chosen to be equal to 750 The taper of the caps in other words the angle formed by the oblique walls of the skirt shown on figure 6, was The material used for the strip was aluminum with a thickness of 35 Am, decorated on the outside face by a gold colored varnish.

Bottles with wire bindings covered by caps (1) according to the invention, and bottles covered by caps according to the state-of-the-art as shown in figure 4, were submitted to an opening test carried out by a group of persons representing the population of '"'"consumers, with instructions to open the bottles as they would normally, without taking more or less care than they normally would in company.

S 15 Results: with the caps according to the invention, the bottom part (11) of the cap was intact after easy opening on all bottles, whereas with caps according to the state of the art, the bottom part of the skirt was torn on about one third of the bottles, it was slightly 20 damaged on about one third, and only one third remained intact.

AdvantaQes of the invention The invention has the advantage that it solves the problems of easy opening of the caps for sparkling wines without the need to significantly modify normal manufacturing processes or to introduce a specific "tircel" type insert, while maintaining the decorative and attractive aspect of the cap itself.

Claims (9)

1. Easy opening typically cone-shaped cap, consisting of a top and a skirt made of a film or foil material for receptacles or bottles of sparkling wines, possibly but not necessarily provided with a metal wire binding and with a tightening wire passing under the glass ring of the said bottle and equipped with its opening twister or loop, and comprising at least one line of weakness on the skirt of the said cap, characterized in that the said cap comprises: a) two lines of weakness formed on the said skirt and typically parallel to each other and to a "bottom" line located at or below the said glass ring and a "top" line at a distance L equal to at least 0.5H above the said "bottom" line, where H is the height between the said "bottom" line and the upper end or top of the said cap, the lines of weakness delimiting an opening strip with width L, b) a gripping tab, placed along a generating line of the said cone, located between the said two lines of weakness and firmly attached to the said opening strip, the #oo* 15 said tab comprising a means of automatically orienting the tearing force towards the two vow* said lines of weakness when the said cap is opened, such that the said cap is easily opened, maintaining the integrity of the remaining lower part of the said cap below the said lower •line, and exposing the said wire binding if it is present. S

2. Cap according to claim 1, in which the said means comprises notches or recesses formed in the "top" and "bottom" ends of the said tab, and notches or recesses formed in the said film or foil material making up the said cap.

3. Cap according to claim 2, in which the width L 1 of the said tab varies from a to L, where L varies from 1.5 to 4cm.

4. Cap according to claim 2, in which the said material is chosen among foil or 25 strips of Al or Al alloy, Sn or Sn alloy, a heat sealing plastic film, or an A1/PE/Al complex o9eSo* where Al denotes the Al outer layers and PE denotes the PE inner layer.

5. Cap according to claim 3, in which the said tab is provided with means of visual contrast and/or reinforcement.

6. Cap according to claim 5, in which the said top part of the skirt comprises axial groves, the lower end of which is located 1 to 5mm above the said bottom line of weakness.

7. Cap according to claim 4, in which the thickness of the said foil or strip material may vary from 25 to 50im when the material is made of aluminum or aluminum alloy, between 110 and 150ptm when the material is made of tin or tin alloy, between 60 and 1 00p. m when the material is a shrinking plastic film, and between 60 and 11i.m when the material is an A/PE/Al multi-layer complex.

8. Easy opening typically cone-shaped cap, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

9. Process for making caps according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising: [N:/Iibc]00136:MEF 13 cutting the developed shape of the said skirt out of the said film or foil material, with length with the formation of the said lines of weakness and notches on an axial edge, possible deposit of a radial strip of adhesive that may be activated by heat or by pressure, typically applied on the other axial edge of the said developed shape, except on the part corresponding to or facing the said tab, and in which the said developed shape is rolled on a mandrel, folding the axial edge over the other axial edge, a strip of adhesive is deposited between the two edges, or possibly the said previously deposited adhesive is activated to form the said skirt by pressing the edges in contact with each other and possibly forming the said grooves, a top is assembled or formed, possibly by adding on a top element and fixing it in place by heat sealing at the upper edge of the said skirt, and then shrunk and folded over if required. Process for making caps, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. SOBS 15 Dated 20 January, 1999 Pechiney Emballage Alimentaire 0 Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON [N:/libc]00136:MEF