RU2379221C1 - Protective cap for bottles and other reservoirs, equipped with facility for prevention of repeated filling - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: packing industry.

SUBSTANCE: protective cap for bottles and other similar reservoirs is equipped with facility for prevention of repeated filling, cylindrical bush attached outside to bottle neck or other similar reservoir, cover screwed to cap for its corking and cylindrical safety belt, which is cover continuation at the bottom, besides lower edge of belt is retained in cylindrical bush. Facility for prevention of repeated filling is retained inside cylindrical bush. Safety belt has at least one line of rupture, which is damaged, when cover is unscrewed for the first time, at the same time at least one line of rupture passes along helical trajectory in direction of safety belt axis and preliminarily produces strip in safety belt, so that cover is unscrewed for the first time, line of rupture is damaged, thus creating strip that remains integral and attached to cover in one point and/or in other point of lower edge of safety belt, which is retained in cylindrical bush.

EFFECT: production of protective cap, design of which prevents repeated filling of bottles and other similar reservoirs in order to counterfeit their content, and also eliminates possibility of imitation and recovery of safety belt, which may be undertaken by manufacturers of counterfeit produce.

5 cl, 19 dwg

Description

The invention relates to protective caps for bottles and similar containers equipped with a refill protection system and a tamper indicating system; in other words, a system that signals that the lid has already been opened. Such caps are usually used when bottling alcohol to give the customer a guarantee that the bottle is not opened and its contents are not fake.

In particular, this invention relates to a protective cap for bottles and other similar containers, provided with means for preventing refilling and belonging to a type comprising a cylindrical sleeve that can be attached externally to the neck of a bottle or other container, while the means for preventing refilling is located inside the cylindrical bushings, a cap screwed into the cap to seal it, and a cylindrical safety belt, which is a continuation of the cap from the bottom, the lower edge otorrhea mounted in said cylindrical sleeve, said safety belt comprises at least one tear line which is destroyed when the closure is unscrewed for the first time.

Various tamper indicating systems for the protective caps of bottles and other similar containers are known, equipped with means for preventing refilling. With regard to these systems, the invention relates, in particular, to those that are based on providing a girdle connecting the cap of the cap with a part of the cap attached to the neck of the bottle, so that when the cap is unscrewed, the first mentioned girdle is destroyed along the rupture line, thereby showing that the cap has already been opened.

An example of a cap of this type is disclosed in EP 0711711. This publication relates to a cap equipped with a series of teeth that prevent the safety band from rotating and cause it to break into two halves when the cap is first unscrewed. The advantage of this solution is that the broken condition of the girdle clearly indicates that the cap has already been opened.

In order for a cap of this type to properly prevent the bottles from being refilled in order to counterfeit their contents, the cap design must not allow its imitation or restoration. Therefore, the known caps of this type are usually equipped with a safety belt of a rather complex design.

An object of the invention is the creation of a protective cap of the above type, the design of which prevents any attempts to simulate or restore the safety belt, which manufacturers of fake products can make.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a large degree of freedom of the design of the safety belt, as regards its shape and position, which takes the belt after breaking the fracture lines, and this degree of freedom should allow the belt to take various forms that impede any attempt to imitate or restore it.

These problems are solved by creating a protective cap of the type mentioned at the beginning, characterized in that at least one rupture line provided on the safety belt runs along a helical path in the direction of the axis of the safety belt and preliminarily forms a strip in the safety belt, so when the cover is unscrewed for the first time, the tear line breaks, forming a strip that remains intact and attached in one place to the cover and / or in another place to the lower edge of the safety belt ska held in a cylindrical sleeve.

This construction according to the invention means that as soon as the lid is once unscrewed, the user will have to tear off the strip at at least one of the connection points at which it is attached to the cap and / or to the lower edge of the safety belt; as a result, the system loses its original shape, and this deprives the manufacturer of counterfeit products of the possibility of restoring the safety belt on the cap. In addition, due to the fact that the attachment points are located at the ends of the fracture line, it is easy to adjust the strength of each attachment point in the manufacture of the fracture line to determine which one should break first and with what resistance.

An important advantage of the invention is that the helical path along which the tear line passes allows for the creation of various strip designs with advantages.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, the tear line runs along a continuous helical path in the direction of the axis of the cylindrical safety belt, so that when the cover is unscrewed for the first time, the tear line breaks, forming a continuous strip that remains attached at one of its ends to the cover and the other end to the lower edge safety belt held in a cylindrical sleeve. So get a continuous strip. In addition, this design implies that the length of the strip is easy to adjust and can be greater than the length of the perimeter of the safety belt, since the line of tearing passes around it more than once.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the tear line comprises two screw sections that overlap each other in a short overlap section and are located at a small distance from each other in the axial direction, forming a collapsible bridge between the two sections in a short overlap section, so that when the cover is unscrewed for the first time, the two sections of the discontinuity line and the brittle bridge are destroyed, resulting in the formation of a single continuous strip, which remains attached to one of the their ends to the cover and the other end to the lower edge of the safety belt is held in the cylindrical sleeve. This design, like the aforementioned, implies the possibility of obtaining a continuous strip with easily adjustable length. The advantage is that the line of the gap can be obtained using various sequences of slots, the ends of which in a short section overlap each other. This simplifies the process of industrial production of the cap, and also makes it difficult for manufacturers of counterfeit products to create an artisanal process that simulates the cap.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the safety belt comprises a first tear line and a second tear line, axially separated from each other so that they together form a stretch ring forming a strip. The first rupture line runs along a helical path, the two ends of which overlap each other in a short overlap area and are located at a small distance from each other in the axial direction, forming a collapsible bridge between two overlapping ends. In addition, the second break line runs along a helical path, the two ends of which in a short overlap section overlap each other and are located at a small distance from each other in the axial direction, forming a collapsible bridge between two overlapping ends. When the lid is unscrewed for the first time, the first and second rupture lines break, forming a strip in the form of an extruded ring that remains attached by destructible jumpers to the lid and / or to the lower edge of the safety belt held in the cylindrical sleeve. The advantage of this solution is that, due to the fact that the strip has the shape of an extendable ring, as soon as the user unscrews the cover once, it will be more convenient for him to pull the ring and separate it from the cover or from the lower edge of the safety belt.

According to a preferred embodiment of the cap according to the invention, the lower edge of the safety belt is held in the cylindrical sleeve by means of an axial holding means.

Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of non-limiting preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a side view, in partial section, of a cap according to the first embodiment of the invention;

figa-2d - side views of the cap cover according to the second variant embodiment of the invention from four sides:

figa - front view (0 °),

fig.2b is a right view (90 °),

figs - rear view (180 °),

fig.2d is a left view (270 °);

figure 3 is a front view of the cap of the cap according to the third embodiment of the invention, which is a variation of the second embodiment of the invention (figa-2d), including an enlarged view of the area indicated by a circle;

figa-4d are side views illustrating four successive stages of the process that occurs when the cap according to the third variant of implementation (figure 3) is unscrewed for the first time;

figa-5d are side views of the cap of the cap according to the fourth variant embodiment of the invention from four sides:

figa - front view (0 °),

fig.5b is a right view (90 °),

figs - rear view (180 °),

fig.5d is a left view (270 °);

figa-6d are side views illustrating four consecutive steps of the process that occurs when the cap according to the fourth embodiment (figa-5d) is unscrewed for the first time.

Figure 1 shows the first embodiment of a cap according to the invention, which in this non-limiting example is a protective cap made entirely of plastic and intended to be placed on the neck of a bottle with an alcoholic beverage. The cap consists essentially of a cylindrical sleeve 1, with which it is attached to the neck of the bottle, means 2 to prevent refilling and the cap 3, which is screwed onto the cap to seal.

The refill preventer 2 has a conventional construction known for this type of protective caps for alcoholic bottles: it consists of a filling element 2a, a cork valve 2b and a sealing element 2c (or “washer”), with which the preventive means 2 the refill is held in the cylindrical sleeve 1. Since the design of the refill preventer 2 is not important for the present invention, in the other drawings and in the following description the aforementioned the refill preventer 2 will be considered as a unit.

The lid 3 consists of an upper part of the lid 3a and an internal element 3b provided with an internal thread by which the lid 3 is screwed onto the corresponding thread on the casting element 2a. This device is known in the field of technology related to caps, therefore, in other drawings and in the following description, said cover 3 will be considered as a whole.

On the bottom side, the cover 3 is elongated with a cylindrical safety belt 4, the lower edge of which is provided with an annular collar 20, which is inserted into the corresponding annular recess on the cylindrical sleeve 1 so that the safety belt 4 remains stationary in the axial direction, since the collar 20 holds it The safety belt 4 and the corresponding part of the sleeve 1 do not contain rotation blocking means, therefore, nothing prevents the rotation of the safety belt 4.

The safety belt 4 contains a continuous line of rupture 5, consisting of a through slot cut off by destructible jumpers 21 located along the girdle at regular intervals. As already mentioned, the tear line 5 is continuous, in other words, the reference numbers 5 in FIG. 1 refer to the same tear line. According to an essential feature of the invention, the tear line 5 runs along a helical path in the direction of the axis of the safety belt, or, in other words, in the axial direction of screwing the cap 3. The direction of the pitch of the screw path is opposite to the direction of the thread lead connecting the casting element 2a and the cap 3. The helical line 5 preliminarily forms a strip 10 of the band 4. When the cover 3 is unscrewed for the first time, the tear line 5 is destroyed because the lower edge of the band 4 is held axially by the shoulder 20, forming one continuous strip, which remains attached at one end to the cover 3, and the other end to the lower edge of the safety belt 4, which is held in the sleeve 1.

The tear line may have various designs. For example, FIGS. 2a-2d show a variant of a cap 3 forming a second embodiment of a cap according to the invention. Its only difference from the cap shown in Fig. 1 is that in this case, the tear line 6, forming the strip 11, is not formed by a through slot cut off at regular intervals by destructible jumpers, but instead consists of a continuous, but not through slot (in other words, the slot does not pass through the entire thickness of the girdle 4, but has a depth sufficient to form a fracture line of break).

Figure 3 presents another variant of the cover 3, forming the third embodiment of the cap according to the invention. The only difference from the cap in FIGS. 2a-2d is that in this case, the tear line 7 forming the strip 12 contains two screw sections 7a, 7b overlapping each other in the short overlap section 14. A slight separation of these two sections 7a, 7b in the axial direction forms a collapsible bridge 15 in said short overlap section 14.

Figs. 4a-4d relate to the cap of Fig. 3, and they show four successive illustrations of the process that occurs when the lid 3 is unscrewed for the first time. On figa shows the cap in its original position, before opening. When the lid 3 starts to unscrew (Fig. 4b), it moves along an upward spiral path due to the screw connection with the refill prevention means 2. Then, since the lower part of the safety belt 4 is held in the sleeve 1 in the axial direction, the line 7 of the gap is destroyed; at the same time, the jumper 15 is destroyed under the action of axial tension. Thus (Fig. 4c), one continuous strip 12 is formed, which remains attached at one of the two ends to the cover 3, and the other end to the lower edge of the safety belt 4 held in the sleeve 1. Finally (Fig. 4d), the user pulls off the cover 3 thereby destroying one of the two connection points (for example, in FIG. 4d, the strip is destroyed at the connection with the lower edge of the safety belt).

With regard to the first two embodiments shown in FIGS. 2a-2d and 3, the method of breaking the tear line 5, 6, which produces the strip 10, 11, is similar to the method illustrated in FIGS. 4a-4d for the third embodiment (the difference is the absence of destructible jumper 15, dividing the rupture line into two sections).

One of the advantages of the invention is that at the design stage it is easier to see how the strip will separate from the cover or from the lower edge of the safety belt when the user pulls on the already unscrewed cover. In fact, in order to guarantee that the separation will occur primarily in the fastening section of the lower end of the strip (Fig. 4d), the shape of the tear line in the region of its lower edge should be adjusted so that the end of the strip has a noticeably smaller cross section than the opposite end, and therefore, the strip is more likely to collapse at the lower end. This is achieved, for example, by reducing at the lower end of the pitch the helical path along which the fracture line passes. Naturally, the same applies to the upper end, if it is necessary that it collapses in the first place.

Figures 5a-5d illustrate an embodiment of a cap 3 forming a fourth embodiment of a cap according to the invention. In this case, the safety belt 4 contains two different break lines: the first break line 8 at the bottom and the second break line 9 at the top. Lines 8, 9 are separated from each other in the axial direction, previously forming a strip 13 in the form of an extensible ring. Each of the aforementioned fracture lines 8, 9 follows a helical path, and both ends overlap on a short overlap portion 16, 18. The axial gap between these two overlapping ends is small, as a result of which corresponding destructible jumpers 17, 19 are formed on short overlap sections 16, 18. We also note that in this case the fracture lines 8, 9 consist of a through slot, interrupted by destructible jumpers at regular intervals 22 (as is the case with the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1). However, the fracture lines 8, 9 may also consist of a continuous through hole, as is the case with the second and third embodiments.

Figures 6a-6d relate to the cap shown in Figures 5a-5d, and they show four successive illustrations of the process that occurs when the cover 3 is unscrewed for the first time. The process is similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 4a-4d for the third embodiment; a significant difference is that in this case, the strip 13 is made in the form of an extensible ring.

On figa presents the cap in its original state, before the first opening. When the cover 3 is started to be unscrewed (Fig. 6b), it starts to move along an upward spiral path due to the screw connection with the refilling prevention means 2. Then, since the lower part of the safety belt 4 is held in the sleeve 1 in the axial direction, the fracture lines 8, 9 are destroyed, forming a strip 13 in the form of an extensible ring, which remains attached by jumpers 17, 19 to the lower edge of the safety belt 4 and to the cover 3, respectively (Fig.6). The jumpers 17, 19 are destroyed by axial tension caused by unscrewing, or they can break later when the user pulls off the cover 3 (as in the case shown in fig.6d). In any case, the end result is a strip 13 having the form of an extensible ring and remaining attached by one of its two ends to the cover 3 (as in the case shown in Fig.6d) or to the lower edge of the girdle 4, held in the sleeve 1 in the axial direction (this happens if, instead of jumper 17, jumper 19 is destroyed).

The fact that the strip 13 is in the form of an extensible ring provides an important advantage, since this means that the user can, by pulling the ring 13, easily separate it from the cover 3 or the lower edge of the girdle 4.

In addition, as in the embodiments disclosed above, this fourth embodiment also facilitates the possibility to provide at the design stage how the strip 13 should separate from the cover 3 or the lower edge of the safety belt 4. For this, the shape of the fracture lines 8, 9 can be adjusted to short overlap portions 16, 18 forming the jumpers 17, 19. For example, to ensure that the jumper 17 is destroyed first (FIG. 6d), the axial distance between the two ends of the fracture line 8 in section 16 can be reduced As a result, the width of the bridge 17 will decrease, and hence its strength.

As for the industrial process used to create the fracture lines along a helical path, in all the presented embodiments, a mechanical blade system equipped with a suitable positioning device is used. The design of this system is known to those skilled in the art, so there is no need to describe it here. However, as is well known to those skilled in the art, the manufacture of a screw slot requires accurate adjustment of the system, which is available to a person skilled in the art, but will cause difficulties for the manufacturer of fake products. This is another advantage in addition to the other technical advantages already highlighted.

Claims (5)

1. A protective cap for bottles and other similar containers, equipped with a means of preventing refilling and containing a cylindrical sleeve (1), attached externally to the neck of a bottle or other similar container, means (2) for preventing refilling, held inside the cylindrical sleeve (1), a cap (3) screwed to the cap to seal it, and a cylindrical safety belt (4), which is a continuation of the cap (3) from the bottom, while the lower edge of the girdle is held in a cylindrical sleeve (1), pr why does the safety band (4) have at least one rupture line (5, 6, 7, 8, 9), which breaks when the cover (3) is unscrewed for the first time, characterized in that at least one line ( 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) the gap passes along a helical path in the direction of the axis of the safety belt (4) and pre-forms a strip (10, 11, 12, 13) in the safety belt (4), so that when the cover (3) they are unscrewed for the first time, the line (5, 6, 7, 8, 9) of the fracture is destroyed, forming a strip (10, 11, 12, 13), which remains intact and attached in one place to the cover (3) and / or elsewhere to the lower edge of the safety belt (4) held in the cylindrical sleeve (1). 2. The cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the rupture line (5, 6) runs along a continuous helical path in the direction of the axis of the cylindrical safety belt (4) so that when the cover (3) is unscrewed for the first time, the line (5, 6) the fracture is destroyed, forming a single continuous strip (10, 11), which remains attached by one of its two ends to the cover (3) and / or the other end to the lower edge of the safety belt (4) held in the cylindrical sleeve (1). 3. The cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the rupture line (7) contains two screw sections (7a, 7b), which in the short overlap section (14) overlap each other and are located at a small distance from each other in the axial direction, forming a destructible bridge (15) between two portions (7a, 7b) in the short overlap section (14), so that when the cover (3) is unscrewed for the first time, two sections (7a, 7b) of the tear line (7), and a destructible bridge (15 ) are destroyed, as a result of which a single continuous strip (12) is formed, which remains attached by one of its ends to the cover (3) and / or the other end to the lower edge of the safety belt (4) held in the cylindrical sleeve (1). 4. The cap according to claim 1, characterized in that it contains the first line (8) of the gap and the second line (9) of the gap, separated from each other in the axial direction so that together they form a stretch ring forming the said strip (13 ); moreover, the first fracture line (8) passes along a helical path, and its two ends overlap each other and are located at a small distance from each other in the axial direction on a short overlap section (16), forming a collapsible bridge (17) between two overlapping ends; the second break line (9) also runs along a helical path, and its two ends overlap each other and are located at a small distance from each other in the axial direction on a short overlap section (18), forming a collapsible bridge (19) between two overlapping ends; so when the cover (3) is unscrewed for the first time, the first and second lines (8, 9) of rupture are destroyed, forming a strip (13) in the form of an extensible ring that remains attached by means of destructible jumpers (17, 19) to the cover (3) and / or to the lower edge of the safety belt (4) held in the cylindrical sleeve (1). 5. A cap according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the lower edge of the safety belt (4) is held in the cylindrical sleeve (1) by means of an axial holding means (20).

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