IE61048B1 - A closure for bottles particularly of fine-quality spirits - Google Patents

Abstract

A closure (1) for bottles, particularly of fine-quality spirits, which has a broad decorable surface, free of any faults or deformations, comprises a cap (23) having an internal thread (26) for engagement with the external thread (15) of a non-refillable pouring fitment (12). Attached to or integral with the base (24) of the cap is a smooth tubular skirt (28), which extends coaxially with the cap and abuts an annular land (18) of the pouring fitment. The closure may carry a pilfer-proof seal (35).

Description

This invention relates to a closure,» particularly for bottles of fine-quality spirits, being of a type which comprises a cap having a tubular outer skirt.

As is well known, in the art of closures for fine-quality spirits, such as aged high-strength spirits, there exists a special demand for function-wise and aesthetically faultless closures; more specifically, the closures are required to show no flaws or deformations at their exposed surfaces and provide for application of suitable decorations, where desired.

Conventional closures, which usually comprise a cap which is threaded internally and either mounted directly on the bottle neck or a pouring body anchored in the bottle neck, are generally affected by surface rough spots that mar their appearance. In particular where the cap is made of plastics, there tend to appear at the inside thread formation frequent discolored spots due to material straining. Further, for a former grip on the cap to facilitate its threading out or down, the cap is generally knurled in an axial direction, thereby it cannot receive decorations in such knurled areas.

As an alternative, closures comprising caps made of synthetic plastics materials have conventionally been substituted for by aluminum caps, since aluminum is a material which can be easily pressed to provide smooth even surfaces and constant thickness, but during application, rolling operations, such as are usually carried out on the caps , are apt to deform their surfaces, thus making such closure unsuitable for use on bottles of fine-quality spirits.

The problem that underlies this invention is to provide a closure of the kind specified hereinabove, which has such constructional and operational features as to overcome the prior art drawbacks.

The present invention provides a closure, particularly for bottles of fine-quality spirits, comprising a cap having a tubular outer skirt whose inner and outer surfaces are smooth, a pouring body for anchoring on a neck of a bottle, the cap and the pouring body having mutually engageable screwthreads, and a collar, which is fixed to the pouring body, for fitting over the bottle neck, there being formed circumferentially around a bottom end of the collar an annular land which extends in continuation of the outer surface of the skirt and against which the skirt is intended to abut.

Preferably, moreover, the height of the skirt is at least equal to its maximum diameter.

The features and advantages of a closure according to the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, to be taken by way of illustration and not of limitation, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a closure on a bottle neck; and Figure 2 is a part-sectional elevation view of the- closure shown in Figure 1.

A bottle 2, which is known per se and has a longitudinal axis X-X, has a substantially cylindrical neck 3 having a mouth 4, and a bottle body 5 which merges externally into the neck 3 to which it is connected by an annular portion 6 set at an angle to the axis X-X.

Preferably, the closure 1 includes a valving assembly effective to defeat deceptive re-filling of the bottl 2. The valving assembly, known per se, comprises a tubular member 7 made of a resiliently deformable material which fits in interlocked relationship with the mouth 4 and consists of a cage 8 inserted into the neck 3 for retaining, in a guided fashion along the axis X-X, two glass balls 9, 10, and a flange 11 abutting the mouth 4.

A pouring body 12 is a drive fit over, an extension 13 of the tubular member 7. Mounted movable within the pouring body 12 is a bell-shaped shutter 14. A thread 15 is formed circumferentially around the pouring body 12.

The closure 1 is provided with a collar 16 formed from some suitable stiff synthetic plastics material and being substantially cylindrical in shape which fits over the neck 3 of the bottle 2 and is affixed with a top end 17 to the pouring body 12 as by ultrasonic welding.

At an opposite bottom end of the collar 16 located close to the angled portion 6 of the bottle 2, an annular land 18 is formed circumferentially.

On the collar 16 inside, there are formed tabs 19 which slope inwards toward the top end 17 of the collar 16 and abut into a recess 20 formed in the neck 3. Further, inside the collar 16 and on the neck 3, there are formed respective teeth 21 and matching teeth 22 in mutual axial engagement relationship.

The closure 1 further comprises a cap 23 which is mounted on the pouring body 12. Defined in the stopper 23 are a top wall 24 and a tubular wall 25 which is formed with an inside thread 26 adapted to engage with the thread 15 in screwed relationship.

The reference numeral 27 designates 3 stopper mounted inside the top wall 2« of the cap 23 to tightly shut, off the pouring body 12.

In accordance with this invention, the closure 1 further comprises a smooth tubular skirt 28 having a strictly constant CcKP thickness dimension and extending coaxially with the cap 23, being affixed to the top wail 24.

In particular, the closure cap 23 has an annular portion 29 extending in continuation of the top wall 2?-‘, to which portion a top end 30 of the tubular skirt 28 is attached. Further, an interspace 31 is defined between the skirt 28 and the tubular wall 25 of the cap 23.

Both the skirt 28 and the top wall 2¾ with the annular portion 29 are advantageously formed as one piece from some suitable stiff synthetic plastics material.

It is of interest to observe that the skirt 28 has a height dimension H at least equal to its diameter D, nearly twice that dimension in the example shown, and accordingly, the skirt 28 has a broad surface exposed to view.

The height H, moreover, is selected such that a bottom end 32 of the skirt 28 can abut against the annular land 18, said annular land 18 forming an extension of the skirt 28.

Indicated at 33 is an impression having a selected angular breadth alpha whose value is 30° in the example shown but may be .larger , it being formed circumferentially around the annular land 18. This impression 33 is also contiguous to the bottom end 32 of the skirt 28 and forms a step 34 therewith straddling which step is in an advantageous manner a pilfer-proof seal 35, only shown schematically, such as a sticker stamp, an olographed stamp, or sealing wax.

The closure 1 described above is assembled by fitting the pouring body 12 with the collar 16 attached to it over the extension 13 of the tubular member 7» Then, once the stopper 24 has been mounted inside the cap 23, the cap 23 is screwed onto the pouring body 12 until the bottom end 32 of the tubular skirt 28, being rigid with the cap 23, is brought to abut against the annular land 18, thereby providing a unitary assembly» On completion of the closure 1 assembling procedure, the seal 35 is applied to the step 34 formed by the bottom end 32 of the skirt 28 and the impression 33.

Thereafter, the closure 1 is applied to the bottle 2 by driving the tubular member 7 axially into the neck 3 of the bottle 2 so as to have it locked at the mouth 4.

It should be noted that the collar 16 will be firmly retained on the neck 3 by the tabs 19 abutting into the recess 20; furthermore, any rotary movement of the collar 16 relatively to the neck 3 would be prevented by the axial teeth 21 on the collar being engaged with their respective matching teeth 22 on the neck 3,.

By providing a cylindrical skirt around the screw cap, which skirt has a constant thickness throughout and is free of any inside rib or thread formations, the closure described above is enabled to afford a broad surface exposed to view which is smooth and faultless, and hence, ideally adapted to receive decoration patterns. By virtue of its dimensions, moreover, the cylindrical skirt can by gripped comfortably, which facilitates the cap screwing and unscrewing operations onto/out of the pouring body.

An additional advantage of the closure described e is that pilfer-proof seals may be applied to the step formed by the impression on the collar and the tubular skirt, to make any unsealing of the bottle readily detectable.

Advantageously, moreover, the closure described herein above has an aesthetically attractive design effective to upgrade a bottle mounting if.

In addition, the closure of this invention, in its opened state for pouring out, will still display its decorations from its cap laid on a table.

The closure described in the foregoing may be altered and modified in many ways without departing from the true scope of this invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims (5)

1. Claims: 1. A closure, particularly for bottles of fine-quality spirits, comprising a cap having a tubular outer skirt whose inner and outer surfaces are smooth, a pouring body for anchoring on a neck of a bottle, the cap and the pouring body having mutually engageable screwthreads, and a collar, which is fixed to the pouring body, for fitting over the bottle neck, there being formed circumferentially around a bottom end of the collar an annular land which extends in continuation of the outer surface of the skirt and against which the skirt is intended to abut.

2. A closure according to claim 1, in which the height of the skirt is at least equal to its maximum diameter.

3. - A closure according to claim 1 or 2, in which the cap and its skirt are a unitary construction of a stiff synthetic plastics material.

4. A closure according to any preceding claim, in which an impression on the annular land forms with the skirt a step to be straddled by a pilfer-proof seal thereon.

5. A closure according to claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, the accanpanying drawings.