GB2161134A

GB2161134A - Drink container

Info

Publication number: GB2161134A
Application number: GB08516727A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Charles John Flood; Royston Kenneth Ball
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-07-04
Filing date: 1985-07-02
Publication date: 1986-01-08
Also published as: GB8516727D0; GB8417074D0

Abstract

A bottle 1 for still or effervescent, soil or alcoholic drink is provided with a screw-cap 3 incorporated into or cooperating with a moulded bottom of a drinking cup 2. The rim 6 of the cup comes into close proximity with the side of the bottle when the screw cap is in position, to maintain the cup clean and hygienic until it is required for use. When needed, simple unscrewing of the cap provides the user with a drinking cup into which the contents of the bottle can be poured. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Drink container The invention relates to drink containers particularly to bottles for the sale of soft drinks, milk based drinks or alcoholic drinks in a form suitable for immediate consumption by the purchaser.

There is a current demand for drink containers which enable the drink to be consumed directly from the container. Pull-top cans are an example of such containers, and provide the option that the drink in the can may be poured into a drinking vessel or may be consumed by placing the can directly to the lips. Wide-topped bottles are another example, where the consumer is similarly presented with a choice of pouring the drink or drinking it directly from the bottle.

Although both the above containers have widespread public acceptance, there is still a strong preference among many consumers for the consumption of drinks from a drinking vessel rather than from a bottle or can.

The present invention provides a drink container comprising a screw-top bottle and a drinking vessel sized and shaped to fit, inverted, over the screw top of the bottle with a rim portion of the drinking vessel in close engagement with or close proximity to the side of the bottle and with a moulded location portion upstanding from the base of the drinking vessel for engaging the screw top of the vessel or a closure cap thereon. Thus the bottle, its contents and the drinking vessel are sold as a single unit. To open the bottle it is necessary to remove the drinking vessel, to remove the screw top of the bottle unless it has been removed together with the drinking vessel. and to pour the drink.

The cooperation between the rim of the drinking vessel and the side of the bottle acts to exclude dirt and contamination from the inside of the drinking vessel, and is preferably supplemented by a removable band of paper or film material over the junction between the rim of the drinking vessel and the side of the bottle. In this way it is possible to maintain sterility of the rim and interior of the drinking vessel.

The drink containers of the invention will be especially suitable for picnics, when there will no longer be any need to provide separate glasses or cups to avoid drinking out of the bottle, and for a variety of 'fast refreshment' retail outlets. For example, at exhibitions, fetes, catering outlets and outdoor sporting fixtures and on trains and aeroplanes drinks can be sold rapidly to the public without the need for the vendor to provide either a separate supply of disposable cups for a supply of glasses and a washing-up facility.

The moulded location portion of the drinking vessel may be an upstanding cylinder which in use closely surrounds a closure cap on the bottle to prevent lateral movement of the drinking vessel relative to the bottle.

Alternatively the moulded location portion may be an upstanding cylinder into which the closure cap of the bottle is fast, for example by being a press-fit, by being welded or otherwise adhered together, or by having the drinking vessel moulded around the cap.

When the vessel and cap are fast together in this way, removal of the closure cap is achieved by unscrewing and removing the drinking vessel. The same result can be achieved by the moulded location portion of the drinking vessel having moulded therein a screw thread cooperating with that of the bottie, so that the moulded location portion of the drinking vessel acts as a closure cap for the bottle when the vessel is fitted, inverted, over the screw top of the bottle.

Advantageously some additional positive location of the drinking vessel on the bottle is provided. For example the rim of the drinking vessel may engage a moulded shoulder portion of the bottle as a smap-fit, lightly to retain the drinking vessel on the bottle.

It will be appreciated that there is no overriding and direct relationship between the capacity of the drinking vessel and the capacity of the bottle. If the bottle has a greater capacity, then it can remain unstoppered while the consumer is drinking from the vessel and if desired resealed by replacing the cap and inverted drinking vessel when the vessel is empty. The invention is particularly suited, however, to the smaller bottles containing individual drinks. In such circumstances the capacity of the drinking vessel is advantageously the same as, or slightly in excess of, that of the bottle. This means that the consumer once having opened the bottle, need never reseal it but can transfer the contents of the bottle in its entirety to the drinking vessel for immediate consumption.

DRAWINGS: Figures 1 to 3 are each a vertical section through a drink container according to the invention, comprising a bottle 1 and a drinking vessel 2. In Fig. 1, a closure cap 3 is moulded integrally into the interior of the drinking vessel 2, the vessel 2 and closure cap 3 preferably being moulded from clear transparent plastics material such as polymethylmethacrylate, and removed from the moulding die by spinning. The bottle 1 may be made of plastics material or of glass, and preferably has an accurately formed flat top rim 4 which seats firmly on a correspondingly flat-formed surface 5 within the closure cap 3, to form a liquid seal therebetween.

The rim 6 of the vessel 2 is of a size and shape to cooperate closely with a shoulder 7 on the outside of the bottle 1 when the closure cap 3 is in position closing the bottle.

This close cooperation excludes dirt and contamination from the inside of the vessel for the purpose of hygiene. A better seal may be obtained, however, during packaging of the filled and closed bottle by shrink-wrapping a film band around the rim 6 of the vessel and the shoulder 7. This film band has the above advantages of providing a hygienic seal, coupled with the additional advantage of demonstrating to the purchaser that the bottle has not been opened or its contents tampered with.

In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the closure cap 3 is separate from the drinking vessel 2.

The vessel 2 has a central moulded location portion 8 which is formed as a cylinder upstanding from the base of the vessel. The portion 8 fits reasonably closely around the closure cap 3 when the inverted vessel 2 is placed over the bottle, and locates the vessel in position and prevents its accidental removal or falling off. If desired the cap 3 may be made fast to the moulded portion 8, for example as a friction fit, by welding or by adhering the two together. In those circumstances to open the bottle all that is necessary is to unscrew the vessel 2 and cap 3 as one unit, and pour the drink.

Fig. 3 illustrates a modification which may be applied to Fig. 1 or Fig. 2. The vessel 2 is provided with an inwardly projecting rim 6 which in use snaps over and engages beneath an overhanging shoulder 7 on the outside of the bottle to assist the retention of the vessel on the bottle.

Claims

1. A drink container comprising a screwtop bottle and a drinking vessel sized and shaped to fit, inverted, over the screw top of the bottle with a rim portion of the drinking vessel in close engagement with or close proximity to the side of the bottle and with a moulded location portion upstanding from the base of the drinking vessel for engaging the screw top of the vessel or a closure cap thereon.

2. A drink container according to claim 1, wherein the moulded location portion of the drinking vessel is an upstanding cylinder which in use closely surrounds a closure cap on the bottle to prevent lateral movement of the drinking vessel relative to the bottle.

3. A drink container according to claim 1, wherein the moulded location portion of the drinking vessel is an upstanding cylinder into which a closure cap of the bottle is fast, so that removal of the closure cap is achieved by unscrewing and removing the drinking vessel.

4. A drink container according to claim 1, wherein the moulded location portion of the drinking vessel has moulded therein a screw thread cooperating with that of the bottle, so that the moulded location portion of the drinking vessel acts as a closure cap for the bottle when the vessel is fitted, inverted, over the screw top of the bottle.

5. A drink container according to any preceding claim, wherein the rim of the drinking vessel engages a moulded shoulder portion of the bottle lightly to retain the drinking vessel on the bottle.

6. A drink container according to any preceding claim, wherein a removable band of paper or film material is placed over the junction between the rim of the drinking vessel and the side of the bottle to prevent contamination of the rim or interior of the drinking vessel prior to use.

7. A drink container according to claim 6, wherein the band is of a heat-shrinkable film material which has been heat-shrunk around the junction between the rim of the drinking vessel and the side of the bottle after filling and sealing the bottle.

8. A drink container according to any preceding claim, wherein the capacity of the drinking vessel is the same as, or slightly in excess of, that of the bottle.

9. A drink container according to any preceding claim, wherein the drinking vessel is moulded from a clear transparent thermoplastic material.

10. A drink container according to any preceding claim, wherein the bottle is moulded from a clear transparent thermoplastic material.

11. A drink container substantially as described herein with reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings.

1 2. A drink container substantially as described herein with reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings.

1 3. A drink container substantially as described herein with reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings.