ITBO940416A1 - METAL CAPSULE FOR CLOSING BOTTLES. - Google Patents

Abstract

A metal capsule (1) for closing bottles comprising a central body (2) for closing an opening (3) presented by the edge (4) of the bottle (5) and an external crown (6) the cynical body with the central body (2) and defining a continuous plurality of teeth (7) deformable and lockable on the edge (4) in correspondence with a thread (8) with a number of principles (P) presented by the same edge, provides that the outer crown (6 ) defines a number of teeth (7) different from an integer multiple of the number of principles (P) presented by the edge (4) of the bottle (5), this number is between twenty-nine and thirty-three teeth (7). (FIG. 1 ).

Description

METALLIC CAPSULE FOR CLOSING BOTTLES.

The present invention relates to a metal capsule for the hermetic closure of bottles, in particular the so-called crown caps for the closure of glass bottles containing pressurized food liquids.

The aforementioned crown cap has been known and used for some time by bottling companies for closing many types of glass bottles, especially for those pressurized drinks, such as beer, cola, orangeade, etc.

These caps substantially consist of a circular central body equipped, on the surface that is opposite the opening presented by the neck of the bottle, with a relative pressure seal (usually made of synthetic thermoplastic material such as PVC or polyethylene derivatives, or natural material such as, for example, cork); on the external part of the body there is a deformable crown composed of corrugated walls defining a plurality of teeth intended to make the cap integral with the edge of the bottle neck.

It is also known, however, that in order to be able to open bottles equipped with classic crown caps, it is necessary to always have at hand, for example, at least one lever corkscrew.

This particular opening "inconvenience" has currently led some beverage bottlers to create a solution we would call "hybrid", that is to close the bottles with a crown cap with rotational screwing - unscrewing characteristics on the edge of the bottle. In practice, this particular type of cap (called "twist off" in the jargon of the sector) consists of a normal crown cap with 21 teeth that is firmly applied to the open edge of the bottle, which obviously has a relative thread for unscrewing the cap: the twist off cap therefore has a conformation substantially similar to the crown cap in which the teeth lock onto the protrusions defined by the external thread on the edge of the bottle.

The main problem of this solution is mainly given by the not particular ease of opening with the hands: in fact, to keep the liquid inside the bottle under pressure and avoid the risk of leaks during normal handling of the bottle, it must be fixed very firmly to the edge of the bottle. bottle, and therefore a reasonable effort is required from the user to obtain the opening rotation of the same that not everyone can have; this operation also involves the risk of injuries or cuts to the hands due to the architecture of the "sharp edge" crown teeth.

In this regard, some types of devices have been devised to obtain the quick opening of the "twist off" by the user (see also Canadian patent N. i.252.431), but obviously these too can be cataloged as accessories and must always be easy reach of the user to unscrew the cap.

For this purpose, therefore, the Applicant has, after many studies and tests, made a "twist off" metal cap for closing glass bottles with which it is possible to obtain a comfortable and safe manual unscrewing of the cap from the edge of the bottle, while maintaining the safety and stability standards of pressure tightness of the same cap unaltered.

The technical characteristics of the invention, according to the aforementioned purposes, are clearly verifiable from the content of the claims reported below and the advantages thereof will be more evident in the detailed description that follows, made with reference to the attached drawings, which represent a purely exemplary embodiment and non-limiting, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates the metal cap for closing bottles according to the present invention in a top plan view;

Figure 2 illustrates the capsule of Figure 1 applied to a bottle neck in a partially sectioned front view and on an enlarged scale;

Figure 3 illustrates a graph representing the sealing weeks of the capsule in relation to the number of teeth of the capsule itself.

In accordance with the figures of the attached drawings, and with particular reference to figures 1 and E, the metal cap 1 for closing the bottles in question is of the type called "twist off" cap and is used for sealed bottles containing food liquids.

Said capsule 1 comprises a central body £ for closing an opening 3 presented by the edge 4 of a bottle 5 and an external crown 6 in a single body with the central body £. The central body E is also provided with a gasket 9 on its part intended to be opposite the opening 3 of the bottle 5 for sealing the bottle itself.

The outer crown 6 defines a continuous plurality of deformable and lockable teeth 7 on the edge 4 in correspondence with a thread B presented by the same edge; this thread 8 is composed of a number P of thread starts, which may vary according to the type of bottle to be closed, and which in this solution, purely by way of example, is four (i.e. the most frequently used): in in this way the capsule 1 is firmly fixed on the edge 4, that is with the teeth 7 closed in engagement on the thread 8, in order to obtain a perfect sealing, but at the same time it is possible to obtain the opening through a simple manual rotation of the same capsule Through many studies and tests carried out by the Applicant it has been shown that increasing the number of teeth 7 beyond the classic number of twenty-one, which has long distinguished the well-known crown cap, decreases the discomfort and the possible risk of cuts or wounds to the hand of the user during the opening rotation phase of the capsule 1.

To obtain a number of teeth 7 that combines a discreet comfort and safety of manual opening with a sealing stability of the capsule 1 on the bottle, many possibilities have been studied, until a correlation was found between the number of teeth 7 and the number of principles P of the threads 8 present on the edge 4 of the bottle 5: it has in fact been ascertained that a number of teeth 7 equal to a multiple of the principles P of the thread 8 corresponded, over time, to a lower stability of the capsule 1.

This correlation is clearly visible in the graph of figure 3, where on the abscissa line there are several capsules 1 with different numbers of teeth 7 (from 25 to 33 to be precise, and as clearly indicated on the same graph) and with relative gaskets 9 of different material (i.e. high 9a, medium 9b and low 9c seizure), while on the straight line there is the number of weeks in which the cap 1 maintains a correct stability of the seal on the bottle 5: as you can see the caps with ΞΒ and 3Ξ teeth have a very poor seal over time regardless of the material of the gasket 9, while it has been noted that the caps 1 with a number of teeth 7 that are not multiples of the number of threads P of the thread 8 maintain a seal for a considerable number of weeks.

In particular, it has been proved that the optimal "range" of teeth 7 on the outer crown 6 is equal to a number comprised between 29 and 33; even if the edge 4 of the bottle 5 is provided with four principles P of the thread B, the optimal solution of the capsule 1 must have thirty-one teeth 7 <which is in fact a prime number).

With this solution, therefore, the set purpose is achieved since the greater number of teeth allows a faster and safer opening in rotation of the capsule from the edge, and at the same time a "status" of safety in the seal of the NI bottle is maintained equal to those closed with the traditional crown cap system.

With the same method it has been found that the aforementioned preferred number of teeth, ie equal to thirty-one, is also perfectly suited to the case of bottles using three-start threads, being indeed thirty-one prime number and not a multiple of three.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept. Furthermore, all the details can be replaced by technically equivalent elements.

Claims (3)

R I V E N D I C A Z I O N I 1. Metal capsule for closing bottles, capsule (1) of the type comprising a central body (2) for closing an opening (3) presented by the edge (4) of said bottle (5) and an external crown (6). ) and in a single body with said central body (2) and defining a continuous plurality of teeth (7) deformable and lockable on said edge (4) in correspondence with a thread (8) with a number of starts (P) presented by the same edge , characterized in that said outer crown (6) defines a number of teeth <7) different from an integer multiple of said number of principles CP) and comprised between twenty-nine and thirty-three teeth. 2. Capsule according to claim 1, wherein said thread (8) is provided with a said number of start (N) equal to four, characterized in that said outer crown (6) defines a number of said teeth (7) equal to to thirty-one. 4. Capsule according to claim 1, wherein said thread (8) is provided with a said number of principles (N) equal to three, characterized in that said outer crown (6) defines a number of said teeth (7) equal to at thirty-one, 3. Capsule according to the preceding claims and according to what is described and illustrated with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings and for the aforementioned purposes.