IL125833A - Bottle closure - Google Patents

Abstract

A closure for a bottle having a screw threaded neck open at its top, said closure being composed of an annular portion (II) designed to be partly screwable on said neck and a cap-shaped portion (III) flexibly connected to said annular portion by means of a strap (8) designed for being lifted off said annular portion and for being placed next to said annular portion on the side of the neck of said bottle. 1397 כ" ג בסיון התשס" א - June 14, 2001

Description

BOTTLE CLOSURE BOTTLE CLOSURE.

The invention relates to a bottle closure in the form of a screwcap for a bottle made of glass or plastics, characterized by that it remains on the bottle neck after opening. It relates particularly to a screwcap made of a plastic material, but it may likewise be made of a non-corrosive metal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Bottles containing soft drinks and other beverages are generally closed by a screwcap which should enable the consumer to pour himself a drink or two, and to reseat the bottle afterwards. Either is the cap held in the hand which makes it more difficult to hold the glass and the bottle, or it is put away to be searched after the drinks have been poured. The screwcap is frequently thrown away, together with the empty bottle littering the landscape On the other hand, if the cap could be an integral part of the bottle, people would keep the bottle and re-use it.

A prior invention disclosed by Boesl et al. in US Patent No 5725115 also deals with a closure cap, but then, a closure cap retained by a tether. The tether being relatively long, thus hanging the cap in loose retention to the bottle, will inevitably bring the cap to interfere with the stream of liquid being poured from the bottle.

The present invention is intended to keep the cap closely attached to the neck of the bottle. Since a modified thread is required to this effect, a quick-fastening thread is also disclosed.

For these reasons its is the main object of the invention to provide a bottle closure which remains on the neck of the bottle after opening and permits ready sealing of the bottle after wards.

It is a second object to provide a closure that allows direct drinking from the bottle without interference by the opened portion.

The closure is also designed to prevent damage to the ecological environment.

Still another object is to provide a closure which is easy to open and to close without any effort and without the danger of hurting one's fingers.

And it is a final object to provide this closure at a price not higher than that of the conventional screwcap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

The bottle closure according to the present invention is in the form of a screwcap which includes two parts which are initially connected to form a firm closure of a bottle and which are separated when the bottle is opened into a portion remaining on the screw thread of the bottle and a portion which can be lifted and turned aside but remains connected to the fixed portion by a strap.

In the following description it is presumed that the bottle stands upright with the closure covering the opening at its top. In order to fasten the closure on a bottle the screw thread on the bottle neck requires a small change compared with the conventional screw thread on soft-drink bottles. The change consists in providing at least one - and preferably four -narrow gap in one or more up permost threads while the remaining threads extend fully around the neck. Another feature is a triangular protrusion at the bottom end of the screw thread. Their function will be explained further down.

The closure is essentially a screwcap made of a plastics or of sheet metal; it includes an annular lower port ion provided with full inner screw thread and an upper portion which forms a closed cap with at least one section of screw thread of a length coinciding with the width of one or more gaps in the upper screw thread on the neck of the bottle. The two portions are interconnected by one or more narrow and thin strips of material designed to break when the upper portion is forcefully lifted and by a wider, flexible strap or tongue which will permit lifting of the upper ion and placing it on the side of 125833/2 the neck. A triangular inner protrusion is provided near the bottom of the lower portion at a height corresponding to the level of the outer triangular projection on the bottle neck, while the closure is mounted on the bottle, At the factory the closure is screwed onto the bottle until the seal in the upper portion is firmly pressed onto the rim of the bottle thereby firmly sealing it, The two triangular protrusions on bottle and closure are positioned in a manner that after complete closing of the bottle the two protrusions are separated by less than a quarter rotation. A person wishing to open the bottle turns the closure in reverse direction until the protrusions meet with their straight edges which prevent further motion, while the gap or gaps in the upper screw thread coincide with the portions of screw thread on the upper closure portion. This permits lifting of the upper portion by tearing the narrow strips of material and placing it on the side of the neck. After the drinks have poured the bottle is closed by placing the upper portion back and turning the entire closure by about a right angle. This engages the screw threads on cap and bottle and locks the liquid firmly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a side view of a bottle neck closed by the closure of the invention, Figure 2 is a section through the top of a bottle provided with special screw thread, Figure 3 is a section along line 3-3 in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a vertical section of the closure Figure 5 is a section along line 5-5 in Figure 4, Figure 6 is a section along line 6-6 in Figure 4 125833/2 Figure 7 is a vertical section of a bottle closed by the closure of Figure 4, Figure 8 shows the bottle of Figure 7 with the closure in open state, Figure 9 is a vertical section of a bottle closed by a second embodiment of the closure, and Figure 10 illustrates the closure of Figure 9 in opened state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

A bottle I and the closure of the invention are shown in Figure 1 indicating the portion II remaining on the neck and portion III which can be lifted off portion II and placed on the side of the neck after opening the bottle. Figure 2 shows a vertical section of the bottle and Figure 3 a horizontal section along line 3-3. It can be seen that the neck features outside screw thread 1 with the uppermost thread interrupted by four evenly spaced gaps 2 and 2'. The neck is also surrounded by an outstanding rim 3. near the bottom end of the screw thread a triangular protrusion 4 serves to fix the closure in a given angular position. Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the closure in three sections:- herein the lower part II is in annular shape with internal screw thread 5 extending over its entire height. A triangular protrusion 6 extends inwardly near the bottom of the annular part and is visible in both Figures 4 and 6.. The upper portion III is in cap-shape with a seal ring 7 attached to its top serving to keep the contents from spilling, the two parts of the closure are connected by a short flexible strap 8 which keeps the cap on the bottle after opening and by one or more thin and narrow strips of material 9 which are intended to keep the two portions together after filling at the factory and to be broken off upon forceful lifting of cap III, Four short sections of screw thread are provided on opposite sides of a length somewhat shorter than the gaps 2 in the screw thread of the bottle (Fig.2) which permit the cap to be opened as soon as the thread sections are positioned underneath the gaps.

Figures 7 and 8 illustrates the assembly of the closure on the bottle neck before and after opening, respectively, and cap III positioned on the side of the bottle neck.

After filling of the bottle the closure is screwed onto the neck until the seal in the cap is pressed onto the rim of the bottle. The triangular protrusion 6 on the annular portion slips over the protrusion 4 on the bottle owing to the elasticity of the material. For the sake of opening the closure it is rotated in opposite direction until the two protrusions contact and stop the rotation. They are so positioned that a the moment of their contact the screw thread sections 10 in the cap coincide with the gaps 2 in the thread on the bottle. Now tearing open of cap III breaks the strip or strips 9 and permits full opening of the cap and its turning aside on strap 8. After drinks have been poured the cap is replaced onto the annular portion and both parts of the closure turned back into sealing condition.

Finally. Figures 9 and 10 illustrate a second kind of strap 15 connecting parts II and III of the closure. It is logger than the strap 8 shown before and permits the cap additional freedom as can be viewed in Figure 10.

It will be understood that the accompanying drawings are schematically only and that more threads than shown should be provided in both the screw threads on the bottle and in the closure. It is also understood that the proportions as shown are not binding and both the screw thread on bottle and in the closure could be made longer in order to obtain tighter closure.

It should be noted that the inclination of the screw thread is to be chosen with the aim of obtaining a firm closure of the bottle after each opening, taking into consideration the short angular turn that is available.

Claims (8)

1. 25833/2 C L A I M S :- 1. A closure for a bottle having a screw threaded neck open at its top, said closure being composed of an annular portion designed to be partly screwable on said neck and a cap-shaped portion flexibly connected to said annular portion by means of a strap designed for being lifted off said annular portion and for being placed next to said annular portion on the side of the neck of said bottle.

2. The closure of Claim 1 , wherein the neck of said bottle is provided with external screw thread whereof the uppermost one or more threads are interrupted by one or more gaps of predetermined width, and wherein a triangular protrusion is provided at the lower end of said screw thread., said closure being adapted to be connected to said bottle by means of sad external screw thread.

3. The closure of Claim 2, wherein said annular portion is provided with internal screw thread coinciding with the screw thread on said bottle and with a triangular protrusion at its bottom end.

4. The closure of Claim 2, wherein said cap-shaped portion includes a closed top and an cylindrical side wall as well as a flexible seal attached to its top ; said side wall being provided with sections of internal screw thread somewhat 125833/2 shorter than said gaps in said screw threads near the top of said bottle neck and with a flexible strap connecting said portion to said annular portion and permit its remaining attached to said annular portion and said bottle after opening of the latter.

5. The closure of Claim 4, wherein said strap connection said two portions is short.

6. The closure of Claim 4, wherein said strap connecting said two portions is of a length comparable with the height of said annular portion.

7. The closure of Claim 3, wherein said two portions are initially interconnected by at least one narrow and thin strip of material designed to be broken upon the first opening of said closure to allow lifting of said cap-shaped portion.

8. The bottle closure as defined any of the Claims 1 through 7 and substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the Applicants, Avi Lowy Patent Attorney