AU704159B2

AU704159B2 - A closure for a drink container

Info

Publication number: AU704159B2
Application number: AU63689/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter Edward Britton; Gary Francis Hickson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Britton Peter Edward
Priority date: 1997-08-08
Filing date: 1998-04-29
Publication date: 1999-04-15
Anticipated expiration: 2017-08-08
Also published as: AU6368998A; AU686551B3

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT v 0 .4

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Name of Applicants: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Gary Francis HICKSON Peter Edward BRITTON As above CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, Old. 4000, Australia.

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0 C Invention Title: A CLOSURE FOR A DRINK CONTAINER The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: A CLOSURE FOR A DRINK CONTAINER This invention relates to a closure for a drink container, and particularly relates to a reusable closure for a bottle such as a beverage bottle.

The invention will be described with reference to a beer bottle, but it should be appreciated that the invention has application in other areas, for instance, beverage cans and the like.

Beer bottles are provided with crown tops which can either be twisted off, or need to be removed by a bottle opener.

When the bottle is open, flies can enter into the bottle mouth, or can congregate around the mouth of the bottle. It is generally not possible or convenient to keep re-applying the crown top which is usually discarded as *soon as the bottle is opened.

It is also not convenient o- hygienic to cover the bottle mouth area with a hand or thumb.

Although replaceable stoppers such as corks could be used, it is extremely inconvenient to have to remove and replace the cork each time, The present invention is directed to a simple yet efficient reusable closure for a bottle, can, and the like, where the closure can be easily removed and reapplied where the closure provides a suitable sea to S.prevent flies and other vermin from entering into the bottle.

:In one form, the invention resides in a removable and replaceable closure for a container, the closure having a portion which is rounded and which is adapted to partially enter into the mouth of tha container, and a flexible line member to attach the closure to the containe or to the person holding the container.

In another form, the invention resides in a removable and reusable closure for a drink container, the closure having a lower portion which is rounded and which is able to pass into the mouth of the drink container to prevent flies from passing through the mouth, and to seat the closure on the mouth of the drink container such that the closure does not roll off the mouth when th, container is in an upright position, an upper portion

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3 which extends above the closure and which is dimensioned to cause the closure to fall off the mouth when the container is tipped so as to make the mouth of the container directly accessible to a person's mouth, and a flexible line member to attach the closure to adjacent the mouth cf the container, the line member being unable to assist in sitting the closure on the container mouth, The rounded portion of the closure allows the closure to sit on top of the mouth of the container with the rounded portion partially entering into the mouth which keeps the closure in place. The advantage of the rounded portion is that the closure can be readily removed by flicking it with a finger or thumb, or by tilting the container sufficiently to cause the closure to fall away from the mouth.

It is preferred that the closure has an upper portion which *e extends sufficiently above the mouth of the container such that the closure can be simply pushed off the mouth by a person's finger. Also, extending the upper portion raises the center of gravity of the closure such that it can also be removed from the container by simply tilting the container to a sutfficient extent.

The rounded portion does not need to be perfectly spherical but should be sufficiently rounded to allow it to at least partially pass into the mouth of the container, with any gap between the rounded portion and the edge of the container being sufficiently small to prevent flies and other vermin from entering into the container.

Suitable closures can include balls, although other types of closures can be used providing that the closure has a lower rounded portion able to pass into the container mouth.

The closure can be made from a variety of materials which can include plastic, metal and wood. The choice of material should be such to ensure that the closure can be reused many times. It is also preferred that ,he closure is made from a material which does not appreciably absorb or contaminate the contents of the container.

The size and shape of the rounded portion can vary to suit the size of the container mouth, The flexible line member can comprise a cord which can be attached to the container. For instance if the container is a bottle, the cord can be attached to the neck of the bottle. It is also possiole for the line member to be attached to a person's wrist.

The line member preferably has a loop portion which can extend around the container to allow the line member to be attb-zhed thereto.

A bead or like member can be used to vary the size of the loop portion.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following figures in which: Figure 1 illustrates a closure according to an embodimert of the *:*invention, and Figure 2 illustrates the closure of Figure 1 fitted to a bottle.

*Referring to Figure 1, there is illustrated a closure for a bottle.

Closure 10 consists of a ball 11. A flexible line member 12 is attached to ball 11. Ball 11 in the embodiment is spherical and therefore has a rounded portion 13 which can sit over mouth 14 of bottle 15. The rounded portion 13 extends somewhat into mouth 14 which stabilises the closure against being knocked off too easily. Ball 11 has an upper portion 16 which extends above the bottle and which can be pushed by a person's finger. Also, upper portion 16 raises the centre of gravity which allows ball 11 to be removed by tilting the bottle. Of course, ball 11 could also be removed by a quick shake of the container, this serving to illustrate the versatility of the closure according to the invention.

The diameter of ball 11 can vary depending on the size of mouth 14, but as most beer bottles have a standard mouth diameter, a single ball diameter of between 20 25mm will be suitable for most beer bottles.

Of course, the closure does not need to be entirely spherical and in one embodiment, the closure can have a rounded or spherical lower portion and an irregular shaped upper portion.

The flexible line member consists of a cord 12 which is looped to form a noose portion 17. A slidable bead 18 is attached to cord 12, which allows the size of noose portion 17 to be varied.

In the embodiment, cord 12 is glued to ball 11 via bead 18.

Cord 12 is sufficiently long to allow ball 11 to comfortably sit on top of mouth 14 as shown in Figure 2.

The device is effective in preventing flies or other insects entering into a bottle, where a cap or screw top is not available. The closure is designed to partially extend into the bottle mouth, and have a protruding portion.

The device can be dislodged as a drinker moves the bottle towards his mouth, but the device is prevented from being lost by being attached to the bottle by the cord.

The device could also be attached to and form part of a stubby cooler.

The closure can be made from non-toxic wood, plastic natural materials, nuts, ceramic, bone, pewter, tin and rubber.

:It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A removable and reusable closure for a drink container, the closure having a lower portion which is rounded and which is able to pass into the mouth of the drink container to prevent flies from passing through the mouth, and to seat the closure on the mouth of the drink container such that the closure does not roll off the mouth when the container is in an upright position, an upper portion which extends above the closure and which is dimensioned to cause the closure to fall off the mouth when the container is tipped so as to make the mouth of the container directly accessible to a person's mouth, and a flexible line member to attach the closure to adjacent the mouth of the container, the line member being unable to assist in sitting the closure on the container mouth.

2. The closure of claim 1, wherein the closure is formed from non- o resilient material. 15 3. A closure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. DATED this 12 th day of February 1999 Gary Francis HICKSON and Peter Edward BRITTON By their Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO. A* *S oo oooo lilj~ <7r 7 ABSTRACT A closure for a bottle consists of a ball connected by a cord to the neck of the bottle. The closure can be removed from the bottle in a simple manner.

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