EP0847930B1

EP0847930B1 - Bottle closure with anti-refill valve

Info

Publication number: EP0847930B1
Application number: EP97115775A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marco Erba
Original assignee: ALUCAPVIT SpA
Current assignee: Guala Closures SpA
Priority date: 1996-12-10
Filing date: 1997-09-11
Publication date: 2001-10-31
Anticipated expiration: 2017-09-11
Also published as: DE69707816T2; IT1288495B1; EP0847930A1; ES2162663T3; ITSV960043A1; DE69707816D1

Description

The invention relates to an anti-refilling closing device for bottles or similar, comprising a pouring device and meant for forcing and sealing engagement into the mouth of a bottle or similar, and which comprises a plugging body, generally a ball, which is held in one passage chamber between at least one exit or pouring opening and one passage opening which communicates with the inside of the bottle and interacts with the plugging body, in that it prevents the flow from the outside to the inside of the bottle, the passage chamber being formed of two separate parts, i.e. an upper part and a lower part of the pouring device, whereby the upper part comprises a closure part provided with the said at least one exit or pouring opening and connected to a fastening ring by at least one predetermined breaking wall having a transverse, inclined or perpendicular orientation with respect to the axis of the pouring device, i.e. with respect to the direction of the removal of the pouring device from the mouth of the bottle, and whereby the fastening ring snap engages in the inner wall of the lower part in such a way that when an attempt is made to remove the pouring device from the mouth of the bottle by acting on said closure part, this part breaks off from the fastening ring at the predetermined breaking wall preventing any further coupling thereto, freeing the plugging body and indicating the tampering.

Anti-refilling closing devices of this kind are known from the document GB 2 057 390 A for a perpendicular orientation of the predetermined breaking wall with respect to the axis of the pouring device, and from the documents EP 0 249 438 A and EP 0 367 427 A concerning the inclined orientation of the predetermined breaking wall.

In the known anti-refilling devices of this kind, since the pouring device is force mounted, there cannot be provided that the predetermined breaking wall connecting the closure part and the fastening ring of the upper part of the pouring device be thinned enough as to ensure their breaking, because said predetermined breaking wall must securely support the axial pressure exerted thereupon when the pouring device is introduced into the mouth of the bottle.

The invention aims to improve the known anti-refilling closing devices as described hereinbefore, in such a way as to ensure a sufficient resistance of the predetermined wall upon the forcing of the pouring device into the mouth of the bottle or similar, although guaranteeing a sure break-off of said wall upon attempted removal of the pouring device.

The invention achieves the above object with an anti-refilling closing device according to the precharacterizing part of claim 1 and characterized in that antibreaking means are provided for holding and supporting the predetermined breaking wall in a predetermined position against an axial compressive stress of the pouring device when it is introduced into the mouth of the bottle, said antibreaking means comprising axially bearing stops for the fastening ring on the lower part of the pouring device, and at least one axial annular projection which protrudes downwardly from an upper sealing disk covering the pouring device and interacts with said upper part of the pouring device substantially coaxially to said fastening ring and opposite to said axially bearing stops.

According to a further improvement of the invention and in order to make the predetermined breaking wall more resistant to the mounting force of the pouring device, there are provided means for limiting the flexion of the predetermined breaking wall against the axial compressive stress exerted while mounting the pouring device into the mouth of the bottle, which means consist in that the predetermined breaking wall is the wall in the inward side of an offset or annular neck of the pouring device, i.e. of the area connecting the part facing the outside and the part facing the inside of the bottle, the other wall of the offset, opposite to the predetermined breaking wall being provided with an annular continuous projection or with single projections distributed all over the annular offset, and projecting towards the predetermined breaking wall, thus reducing the distance between said two walls.

The invention also relates to other improvements which form the subject of the dependent claims.

The characteristics of the invention and the advantages deriving therefrom will be understood more clearly from the following description of certain non limiting embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view, with respect to a diametrical axial plane, of a first embodiment according to the invention.

Fig. 2 shows the device of fig. 1 when mounted to the mouth of a bottle.

Fig. 3 is a view like that of fig. 1, with the device according to the invention in a disassembled condition.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view on the outward part of the pouring device.

Fig. 5 is a lateral view of the part of the pouring device according to fig. 3.

Fig, 6 shows a detail of a magnified diametrical section of the part of the pouring device on the outward side thereof, according to a variant embodiment, specifically suitable for the devices being flush with the bottle mouth.

Referring to the figures, an anti-refilling closing device, particularly for bottles, or similar, is composed of a pouring device, or more briefly and simply pourer 1, generally made of plastic, which is a non-return valve to prevent the bottle from being zefilled, allowing to freely pour the contents thereof.

The cylindrical pourer 1 is outwardly provided, in the area which is meant for force-engagement into the mouth 2 of the bottle, with outer, substantially radial, annular and elastic flanges 3. The pourer 1 has, inside it, a cylindrical compartment 4 communicating with the inside of the bottle B through a central opening 5 at the inward end of the pourer, which opening may be closed by means of a ball-like plugging body 6, which is gravity-operated and may move freely, axially to the pourer 1, between a closing position and an opening position of the passage opening 5.

Preferably, the diameter of the compartment 4 for the plugging body 6 is greater than that of the ball, with the ball being held substantially centered by means of radial guiding ribs 7 uniformly arranged all along the wall of the compartment 5.

The opposite end, that is the outward end, of the pouring device 1 is closed by an element 8, which has a flange 9 superimposed on the lateral edge of the mouth of the bottle, and bears in a central area, coaxial to the compartment, a basket 10, having substantially coaxial pouring openings 11.

The basket 10 has, in its central area, an inverted cup-shaped element 12, extending upwards up to about the level of the flange 9 superimposed on the edge of the mouth 2 of the bottle B, and whose terminal part, facing the ball 6, has a concave, preferably spherical shape, acting as a compartment for the ball 6, when the latter is in the pouring condition.

The central basket 10 is held suspended in the central area of the compartment 4 for the ball by the flange 9, superimposed on the edge of the mouth of the bottle, whereas the combination of superimposed flange 9 and basket 10 is connected, by a relatively thin radial annular wall 13 to a ring 14, fastening the closing part 8 of the pourer to the inward part thereof, which may be force-secured into the mouth 2 of the bottle B.

The fastening ring 14 has, on its outer periphery, at least one annular tooth 15, preferably having a sawtooth cross section, for snap engagement with an annular groove 16 in the inner wall of the compartment 4 for the ball 6. Preferably, the fastening ring 14 and the wall of the compartment 4 have two annular teeth 15 and two annular grooves 16 respectively. The diameters are chosen in such a way as to ensure a sealing contact between the two walls. The annular teeth 15, as well as the corresponding grooves 16, may include two or more teeth and two or more notches, distributed along the perimeter of the corresponding parts. When they are coupled, the fastening ring 14 rests on inner radial shoulders 18 of the compartment 4 for the ball 6, particularly consisting of the ends of the guiding ribs 7 for the ball 6.

The annular radial wall 13 is preferably continuous and made to be so thin, that an attempted removal of the pouring device 1 from the bottle neck, by lifting the flange 9 from the edge of the mouth 2 of the bottle B certainly causes the wall 13 to break and the combination of central basket 12 and superimposed flange 9 to break off. Said two parts may no longer be coupled to the rest of the pourer 1, and their removal causes the compartment 4 to open at the end outside the bottle, and, consequently the ball 6 to come out. Thus, an attempted sophistication of the product, i.e. filling the bottle with a different product is readily signaled to the user, as it is immediately possible to detect that the part on the outer side of the pourer 1, made of the superimposed flange 9 and the central basket 12 is lacking, as well as the ball 6. If they were simply laid down in their original position, then they would irremediably fall, when the bottle is overturned to pour the liquid.

A stopper 20 is associated to the pouring device 1, consisting of an outer cap made of a plastic metal material. The outer cap 21 comprises a part 121, meant to be wrapped around the bottle neck and a part 221, being provided with a thread (fig. 2) on mounting the device onto the bottle B, for example by roll forming on the outer thread 22 provided on the mouth 2 of the bottle B. The two

capsule parts

20, 21, are connected by predetermined breaking means or, alternatively, by tear guarantee strips, indicated, as a whole, as 321.

On the inner end of the screw part of the stopper 221, a sealing disk 23 is fixed thereto, being engaged with its peripheral edge behind an annular shoulder 421 of the screw part of the stopper 221. This is preferably made of the same material as the pouring device 1, and has a first peripheral flexible sealing lip 24, which is meant to interact with the flange 9 superimposed on the edge of the mouth 2 of the bottle B. However, the main sealing action is provided at the central basket 10. The sealing disk 23 has a cylindrical protrusion 25, which is coaxial to the central basket 10, and is meant to sealingly interact with the cylindrical or substantially cylindrical edge of the central basket 10, particularly in the area in which the latter is jointed to the flange 9, superimposed on the edge of the mouth 2 of the bottle. The size of the basket 10, that is of its upper cylindrical part, and of the central cylindrical protrusion 25 of the sealing disk 23 are appropriately calibrated to ensure the necessary sealing action.

Thanks to this expedient, the main sealing area between the sealing disk 23 and the pouring device is transferred to the axial, non-horizontal walls. With this arrangement, in the bottle rest condition, there is no easy settlement of possible remains, which might reduce the sealing action, when they are dried. Moreover, the penetrating action of the cylindrical projection 25 into the cylindrical mouth of the basket 10 performs, thanks to the screwing action, a certain cleaning action through the rubbing of the walls in mutual sealing contact, further preventing loss risks, due to product remains, not to mention that the vertical orientation of the sealing walls involves a certain defluxion of the remains from the sealing walls.

On the free edge of the cylindrical protrusion 25 of the sealing disk 23, there are provided at least two teeth, preferably a crown of teeth, meant for engagement, in the mounted position, behind the upper sides of the pouring openings 11. This enables to assemble all the parts of the device before mounting onto the bottle B, and thus to mount them as a whole thereon. Advantageously, the teeth 26 are made to be tapered towards the free end of the cylindrical protrusion, so as to facilitate the coupling operation. The elasticity of the material allows for an easy disengagement of the sealing disk from the central basket, being also facilitated by the rotation of the sealing disk 23 and by the progressive removal, upon rotation, of the threaded part of the stopper 221, the whole without damaging the weakened radial wall 13. To this end, the teeth 26 may also taper in the circumferential direction with a draft wall, towards the outer surface of the cylindrical protrusion 25, frontally with respect to the direction of the uscrewing rotation of the stopper 221.

In an area substantially coinciding with the ring for fastening the part of the pourer 1 on the outer side of the mouth 2 of the bottle, the sealing disk 23 has another annular projection 28, coaxial to said fastening ring 14. This axial annular projection 28 has the function to evenly distribute the compressive force while mounting the device onto the mouth of the bottle, so as to prevent the device from being deformed or damaged. Further, the radial, annular offset being provided by the predeterminedly breaking annular wall 13 and by the radially inner part of the flange 9, superimposed on the mouth 2 of the bottle, is interposed between said annular, axial projection 28 and the fastening ring 14, which, in turn, is born, in the axial direction, by the ends 18 of the axial guiding ribs 7 for the ball 6.

In this way, the fastening ring 14 and the axial annular projection 28 are means for securing the weakened radial wall 13, preventing it from being excessively deformed, while allowing for the transmission of the necessary force for mounting the device onto the bottle B.

Also, advantageously, in order to provide that at least the weakened radial wall 13 be as thick and made of such a relatively less elastic material, as to ensure a certain and easier breakage, when an attempt is made to pull out the pouring device, without running the risk that said predetermined breaking wall breaks while the device is being mounted onto the bottle, there are provided, on the side of the flange 9 facing the bottle, some projections 27, for reducing the bending stroke. The thickness of the projections 27 is such, that they limit the flexion of the predetermined breaking annular wall 13, within levels being compatible with the material in use, to prevent it from being broken by a mounting stress. The construction is such, that in the mounting stress condition, the predetermined breaking wall 13 is unremovably secured, and subject to a slight deformation within its own intrinsic elasticity range, between two stops which securely prevent it from being any further deformed, and thus, from undesirably break.

The projections 27 may also consist of a continuous axial annular projection. Particularly, as shown in the illustrated embodiment, the projections are preferably equally spaced, and distributed all over the predetermined breaking annular wall 13. Advantageously, the projections 27 are made to be substantially axially coincident with the axial guiding ribs 7 for the ball 6.

The construction of the device described with reference to figures 1 to 5 is particularly suitable for anti-refilling closing devices in which the available radial span is sufficient for a predetermined breaking wall, having a perfectly radial orientation, as when the outward part of the anti-refilling pouring device 1 is substantially superimposed on the edge of the mouth 2.

On the contrary, when the span of the bottle mouth 2 is particularly small, or in the case of anti-refilling capsules being flush with the bottle mouth, in which the outer part of the pouring device is made of a thin annular flange 9', the invention provides that the predetermined breaking annular wall 13' has an inclined, substantially truncated cone-shaped profile.

This expedient is shown in figure 6, which, for the sake of simplicity, only shows the outward part of the pouring device 1. As is clearly shown in figure 6, excepting the orientation of the predetermined breaking wall 13', the construction according to fig. 6 is substantially identical to that according to the previous figures, if the dimensional differences and the construction variants involved thereby are accounted for.

In spite of the non perfectly radial profile of the predetermined breakable wall 13, at least one component of the force exerted when pulling out the pouring device 1 acts transversely to the predetermined breaking wall 13', providing a higher certainty that it will be broken. All this may be compensated by a proper dimensioning of the thickness of the predetermined breakable wall 13, and/or by a proper choice of its material.

Claims

An anti-refilling closing device for bottles or similar, comprising a pouring device (1) and meant for forcing and sealing engagement into the mouth (2) of a bottle (B) or similar, and which comprises a plugging body (6), generally a ball, which is held in one passage chamber (4) between at least one exit or pouring opening (11) and one passage opening (5) which communicates with the inside of the bottle (B) and interacts with the plugging body (6) in that it prevents the flow from the outside to the inside of the bottle (B), the passage chamber (4) being formed of two separate parts, i.e. an upper part (8) and a lower part of the pouring device (1), whereby the upper part (8) comprises a closure part (9, 10, 12) provided with the said at least one exit or pouring opening (11) and connected to a fastening ring (14) by at least one predetermined breaking wall (13, 13') having a transverse, inclined or perpendicular orientation with respect to the axis of the pouring device (1), i.e. with respect to the direction of the removal of the pouring device (1) from the mouth (2) of the bottle (B), and whereby the fastening ring (14) snap engages (15, 16) in the inner wall of the lower part in such a way that when an attempt is made to remove the pouring device (1) from the mouth (2) of the bottle (B) by acting on said closure part (9, 10, 12), this part breaks off from the fastening ring (14) at the predetermined breaking wall (13, 13') preventing any further coupling thereto, freeing the plugging body (6) and indicating the tampering,
characterized in that
antibreaking means are provided for holding and supporting the predetermined breaking wall (13, 13') in a predetermined position against an axial compressive stress of the pouring device (1) when it is introduced into the mouth (2) of the bottle (B), said antibreaking means comprising axially bearing stops (18) for the fastening ring (14) on the lower part of the pouring device (1), and at least one axial annular projection (28) which protrudes downwardly from an upper sealing disk (23) covering the pouring device (1) and interacts with said upper part (8) of the pouring device substantially coaxially to said fastening ring (14) and opposite to said axially bearing stops (18).
Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized by means for limiting the flexion of the predetermined breaking wall (13, 13') against the axial compressive stress exerted while mounting the pouring device into the mouth (2) of the bottle (B), which means consists on the inward side of an offset or annular neck of the pouring device (1), i.e. of the area connecting the part facing the outside and the part facing the inside of the bottle (B), the other wall of the offset, opposite to the predetermined breaking wall (13, 13') being provided with an annular continuous projection or with single projections (27) distributed all over the annular offset, and projecting towards the predetermined breaking wall (13, 13'), thus reducing the distance between said two walls.
Device as claimed in claims 1 or 2,
characterized in that the sealing disk (23) has means for snap engagement (25, 26) with the pouring device (1, 10, 11).
Device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sealing disk (23) is engaged or fixed to an outer cap made of metal, which is meant to form a collar (121) of a screw stopper (221) on the outward side of the neck and of the mouth (2) of the bottle (B) respectively.
Device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sealing disk (23) has main sealing means (25), interacting with the anti-refilling pouring device (1), the walls in mutual sealing contact (10, 25) of said two parts being oriented substantially axially to the mouth (2) of the bottle (B) that is in the defluxion direction.
Device as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the main sealing means (25) associated to the sealing disk (23) are provided in the central area of the mouth (2) of the bottle (B).
Device as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the upper part (8) of the pouring device (1) is provided with a plurality of pouring openings (11) made in a central body which has the form of a basket (10), and is supported to be coaxial and protruding inside the passage chamber (4) of the pouring device (1) by the offset or annular neck, one of whose walls is the transverse, weakened, predetermined breaking wall (13, 13'), whereas in the bottom area of the offset or annular neck, there is provided the mouth of the basket (10), having a cylindrical portion, which interacts with a cylindrical complementary protrusion (25) of the sealing disk (23).
Device as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the sealing disk and the pouring device (1) have interacting peripheral and substantially horizontal sealing surfaces (9, 24).
Device as claimed in one ore more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the predetermined breaking connecting wall (13, 13') is an annular or cone-shaped wall, which may be continuous or made of single spaced tongues.