EP3173349B1 - Fastener - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The invention relates to a closure for a container, preferably for a bottle for beverages or the like, comprising a first part provided with a collar with an internal thread.

State of the art

The shelf life after filling is always an issue, especially when it comes to packaging beverages or the like. In general, ready-mixed drinks have a reduced shelf life compared to separate storage of water and a concentrate to be mixed in, be it a powder or a liquid concentrate. In principle, it is possible to sell powders or concentrates, such as effervescent tablets or fruit syrups, directly, but the end customer then has to add the correct amount of solvent to these, which reduces the convenience of use. In a device for separate storage within a container and a corresponding mixing device, the prior art, such as, for example, shows WO2005 / 120977A1 , several solutions, all of which are, however, significantly more expensive to produce than the filling of ready-mixed drinks. This is due on the one hand to the complex construction of the storage and mixing containers and on the other hand to the fact that conventional filling systems are mostly not compatible with these constructions.

For example, the US 6045254 a container that divides the container into two compartments by means of a special collar in cooperation with an axially displaceable stamp with a sealing ring. The liquid and concentrate can then be stored in it separately. When the single thread on the container outlet is unscrewed, the ram is lifted and the concentrate and liquid mix. This construction is complex, since a special bottle with a special closure has to be produced. The thread on the bottle neck must also be provided with a special end stop so that the user has a complete Unscrewing the punch before the end of the mixing process is prevented. The filling system must also be equipped accordingly so that this type of container can be filled at all. Overall, this increases the manufacturing costs to such an extent that it becomes uneconomical for most applications in practice to use this type of container.

the DE 69905185 T2 shows a bottle closure with a mixing device which can introduce an additive into a liquid within the bottle. The structure is generally complicated and requires different materials for the bottle closure, since a membrane has to be pierced to initiate the mixing process. With this structure, the closure with the filled additive can also only be manufactured with high manufacturing costs, which makes its use in practice uneconomical.

the WO 2007/006414 A1 and the US 2631521 each show embodiments in which the release mechanism is formed by a flexible membrane and when pressure is applied to the membrane, another membrane inside the container is pierced or severed. Here, too, the manufacturing outlay is great due to the different materials used for the closure.

Brief description of the invention

The object of the present invention is thus to create a closure which is of simple construction, is easy to fill and can be used in conventional filling systems during final assembly with a container. The closure should ideally consist of a few parts, all of which can be made from one type of material. A pressure-tight chamber for receiving at least one concentrate in liquid form or in the form of a powder is to be formed in the closure.

This object is achieved by the present invention in that an upwardly open and downwardly closed first cylindrical sleeve is formed on the first part, in which a second cylindrical sleeve which is closed at the top and open at the bottom is axially formed is displaceably mounted, with openings being provided in the first sleeve at the lower closed end which, when the second sleeve is completely inserted, are sealed by the edge at the open end of the second sleeve a propellant is formed, and that at the upper closed end of the second sleeve an external thread is provided which engages with an internal thread of a cover part, wherein the cover part is held by means of locking projections on the collar of the first part and is rotatably mounted relative to this. The closure can thus be produced in a simple manner, for example by means of injection molding. It consists of only 3 parts, which can be made of the same material and can be easily and automatically assembled. The concentrate can be poured into the resulting chamber between the first sleeve and the second sleeve and the assembled closure with concentrate is then used in a filling system just like a conventional bottle closure, with little or no modifications to the filling system being necessary.

It is a further, optional feature of the invention that the threads on the cover part and on the second sleeve run in opposite directions to the thread on the collar of the first part. With a conventional bottle cap, it is unscrewed when it is turned counterclockwise. In the normal case, this corresponds to the running direction of the thread on the collar of the first part, which is screwed onto a container, for example a conventional bottle. If the lid part of the closure according to the invention is now twisted counterclockwise in the untwisting direction, the opposing thread between the lid part and the second sleeve causes the second sleeve to be lifted, which releases the openings at the closed lower end of the first sleeve and the pressurized concentrate can leak inside the bottle. This causes the liquid in the container and the concentrate to mix. As soon as the sleeve is completely screwed into the cover part, it comes to one End stop. If the closure is now rotated further in the untwisting direction, the entire closure would be unscrewed from the container, if this is desired by the user.

According to a further, optional feature of the invention, it is provided that a central outlet opening is provided in the cover part, which is sealed in the closed starting position by a closing plug at the closed end of the second sleeve, and that passage openings on the outside of the second sleeve and on the collar of the first part are provided, through which, when the closure is in the open end position, a communicating connection is formed between the interior of the container and the central outlet opening in the lid part, which is open in this position. With this measure, a drinking opening can be formed on the closure. Passage openings on the collar of the first part and on the outside of the second sleeve, together with the central outlet opening in the cover part, form a path to the interior of the container through which the ready-mixed liquid can exit.

In a possible embodiment of the invention it is provided that at least one partition is arranged inside the first sleeve or the second sleeve, whereby a subdivision of the chamber is formed for receiving different substances. As a result of this measure, several different substances can be stored separately from one another in the closure, which, depending on the application, can further increase the shelf life of the substances within the packaging.

It is a further, optional feature of the present invention that the frictional resistance between the thread on the second sleeve and the thread in the lid part is less than the frictional resistance between the thread on the collar of the first part and a corresponding thread on the opening of the container. This ensures that when the closure is rotated in the untwisting direction, i.e. normally counterclockwise, the second sleeve is always moved first in the direction of the open position and only then after reaching the end stop of the second sleeve, the entire closure can be unscrewed from the container.

In addition, it is an optional feature of the invention that a plurality of vertical guide grooves are arranged on the first part above the first cylindrical sleeve along the inner circumference of the first part, in which corresponding guide projections, which are arranged on the outside at the upper closed end of the second cylindrical sleeve, are guided, whereby the second cylindrical sleeve is rotatably axially displaceable relative to the first part when moving between the closed starting position and the open end position. This represents a simple way of ensuring that the second cylindrical sleeve is positively guided within the first part and does not rotate with the cover part when it is rotated.

Finally, it is an optional feature of the invention that the vertical guide grooves have inlet bevels at their upper open end which serve to center the guide projections of the second cylindrical sleeve in the guide grooves when the closure is assembled. In this way, with an automatic assembly of the closure, it can always be ensured that when the second cylindrical sleeve is inserted into the first part, the guide projections are always correctly aligned with the guide grooves. In this case, opposite centering bevels can also be provided on the guide projections. It is understood by the average person skilled in the art that the guide projections can of course also be arranged on the inner circumference of the first part and the guide grooves on the outside of the second cylindrical sleeve.

Brief description of the drawing figures

• Fig. 1 eine Schnittansicht durch einen erfindungsgemäßen Verschluss in offener Endstellung zeigt,
• Fig. 2 eine Schnittansicht durch den Verschluss aus Fig. 1 in geschlossener Ausgangsstellung zeigt,
• Fig. 3 eine Schnittansicht durch einen ersten Teil zeigt,
• Fig. 4 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines ersten Teils zeigt,
• Fig. 5 eine Seitenansicht einer zweiten zylindrischen Hülse zeigt,
• Fig. 6 eine Schnittansicht durch die zweite zylindrische Hülse auf Fig. 5 zeigt und
• Fig. 7 eine Schnittansicht durch einen Deckelteil zeigt.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein

• Fig. 1 shows a sectional view through a closure according to the invention in the open end position,
• Fig. 2 a sectional view through the closure Fig. 1 in shows closed starting position,
• Fig. 3 shows a sectional view through a first part,
• Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a first part,
• Fig. 5 shows a side view of a second cylindrical sleeve,
• Fig. 6 a sectional view through the second cylindrical sleeve Fig. 5 shows and
• Fig. 7 shows a sectional view through a cover part.

Description of the types of execution

The Indian Fig. 1 The closure shown has a first part 3 which essentially comprises a collar 1 with an internal thread 2 and a first cylindrical sleeve 4 molded onto the collar 1. The first cylindrical sleeve 4 has an upper open end and a lower closed end 6, a plurality of openings 7 being provided at the lower closed end 6. In the first cylindrical sleeve 4, a second cylindrical sleeve 5 is arranged to be axially displaceable. The second cylindrical sleeve has an upper closed end 10 and a lower open end. A chamber 9 is formed by the two sleeves 4, 5 pushed into one another. In the Fig. 1 the closure is shown in the open end position. However, if the breech is in the closed starting position, as in Fig. 2 Then the openings 7 at the lower closed end 6 of the first cylindrical sleeve 4 are sealed by the edge 8 at the open end of the second cylindrical sleeve 5 and the chamber 9 is pressure-tight and can contain a concentrate and / or propellant.

The second cylindrical sleeve 5 is moved axially within the first cylindrical sleeve by rotating the cover part 13. For this purpose, an external thread 11 on the upper closed end 10 of the second cylindrical sleeve 5 engages in a corresponding internal thread 12 on the cover part 13. The cover part is held on the first part 3 by means of locking projections 14 and is freely rotatable relative to this.

The cover part 13 also has a central outlet opening 15, here in the form of a drinking opening. In the closed starting position of the lock, as in the Fig. 2 shown, this outlet opening 15 sealed by a closing plug 16 which is formed on the upper closed end 10 of the second sleeve 5. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the closing plug 16 is integrally formed on the second sleeve 5 via a plurality of connecting webs 19. Furthermore, there are passage openings 17 on the outside of the second sleeve and further passage openings 18 on the collar 1 of the first part 3, which means that when the end position is open ( Fig. 1 ) of the closure liquid from the interior of the container can pass through the passage openings 17, 18 and the central outlet opening 15 to the outside.

In the Fig. 3 the first part 3 of the closure is shown in a sectional view. The first cylindrical sleeve 4 with the openings 7 at the lower closed end 6 and the molded collar 1 with the internal thread 2 can be clearly seen. In the collar 1 passage openings 18 are also provided. On the inner circumference above the open end of the first cylindrical sleeve 4, several upwardly open guide grooves 20 are provided which are intended to receive guide projections 21 formed on the second cylindrical sleeve 5 (see FIG Fig 5 ) to serve. The guide grooves 22 have at the upper open end, as in FIG FIGS. 3 and 4 You can see run-in bevels 22 which center the respective guide projections 21 in the direction of the guide grooves 20, which facilitates the automatic assembly of the closure.

In the first part 3, for filling the closure with a concentrate and / or propellant, the second cylindrical sleeve 5, which is shown in FIG FIGS. 5 and 6 is shown, used. With the edge 8 at the open end of the second sleeve 5, the latter seals the openings 7 of the first sleeve 4, whereby the pressure-tight chamber 9 is formed. On the outer edge of the upper closed end 10 of the second sleeve 5 there are through openings 17, an external thread 11, the guide projections 21 and a closing plug 16 molded on via connecting webs 19.

Fig. 7 finally shows the cover part 13, which is provided with an internal thread 12, which the external thread 11 of the second sleeve 5 can accommodate. Furthermore, there is a central outlet opening 15 at the upper end of the cover part 13 and latching projections 14 at the lower edge of the cover part, by means of which the cover part 13 is held on the collar 1 of the first part 3.

Claims (7)

1. A closure for a container, preferably for a bottle for beverages or the like, comprising a first part (3) provided with a collar (1) having an internal thread (2), characterized in that on the first part (3) an upwardly open and downwardly closed first cylindrical sleeve (4) is moulded, in which an upwardly closed and downwardly open second cylindrical sleeve (5) is axially displaceably supported, wherein openings (7) are provided in the first sleeve (4) on the lower closed end (6), which are sealed by the edge (8) on the open end of the second sleeve (5) when the second sleeve (5) is completely inserted, as a result of which a pressure-tight chamber (9) is formed for accommodating a liquid and/or a powder as well as, if appropriate, a propellant, and in that on the upper closed end (10) of the second sleeve (5) an external thread (11) is provided which engages an internal thread (12) of a cover part (13) wherein the cover part (13) is held by means of latching projections (14) on the collar (1) of the first part (3) and is rotatably supported with respect thereto.
2. The closure according to claim 1, characterized in that the threads (11, 12) on the cover part (13) and on the second sleeve (5) run in opposite directions to the thread (2) on the collar (1) of the first part (3).
3. The closure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in the cover part (13) a central outlet opening (15) is provided, which in the closed starting position is sealed by a closing plug (16) on the closed end (10) of the second sleeve (5), and in that passage openings (17, 18) are provided on the outside of the second sleeve (5) as well as on the collar (1) of the first part (3), through which, in the open end position of the closure, a communicating connection is formed between the interior of the container and the central outlet opening (15) in the cover part (13) which is open in this position.
4. The closure according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that at least one partition is arranged in the interior of the first sleeve (4) or the second sleeve (5), as a result of which a subdivision of the chamber (9) for accommodating different substances is formed.
5. The closure according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the frictional resistance between the thread (11) on the second sleeve (5) and the thread (12) in the cover part (13) is lower than the frictional resistance between the thread (2) on the collar (1) of the first part (3) and a corresponding thread on the opening of the container.
6. The closure according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that on the first part (3) above the first cylindrical sleeve (4) along the inner circumference of the first part (3) a plurality of vertical guiding grooves (20) are arranged, in which corresponding guiding projections (21) are guided, which are arranged on the outside on the upper closed end (10) of the second cylindrical sleeve (5), as a result of which the second cylindrical sleeve (5) is supported rotationally fixed, axially displaceable with respect to the first part (3) when moved between the closed starting position and the open end position.
7. The closure according to claim 6, characterized in that the vertical guiding grooves (20) include inlet bevels (22) on their upper open end which serve for centering the guide projections (21) of the second cylindrical sleeve (5) in the guide grooves (20) when assembling the closure.

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