US1706561A

US1706561A - Bottle cap

Info

Publication number: US1706561A
Application number: US172956A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edmund S Church
Original assignee: TILT TOP CAP Co
Current assignee: TILT TOP CAP Co; TILT-TOP CAP Co
Priority date: 1927-03-05
Filing date: 1927-03-05
Publication date: 1929-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 1946-03-26

Description

March 26, 1,929.

E. S. CHURCH BOTTLE CAP Original Filed Marh 5, 1927 2 Sheets-sheaf, 1

March 2 1929.

' E. s. CHURCH BOTTLE CAP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed March 5, 1927 Patented Mar. 26, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,706,561 PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND S. CHURCH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO THE TILT-TOP CAP COH- IEANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACOBPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE C AP.

Application filed March 5, 1927, Serial No. 172,956. Renewed July 9, 1928.

The invention relates to bottle caps and more particularly to that type which is provided with a corrugated skirt or flange which i tion is to provide a cap of this type which will be securely held on the bottle and which may be easily pried oil when force is applied at a certain or predetermined portion of the skirt.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap of this character having a stiffened tongue which is formed'integrally with the skirt and is operable by means of'the fingers to pry the cap off the bottle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle cap which is of new and improved construction and may be produced at a low cost.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description.

The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by the claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective of a cap embodying the invention before it has been applied to a bottle. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a device for applying the cap to a bottle. Fig. 3 is a section showingthe die member of the capping device in its operative position, the upper portion and plunger of the device being omitted. Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the cap after it has been applied to the bottle. Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the tongue after it has been swung away from the bottle a suflicient distance to withdraw from the groove in the bottle neck, the indentations on the portion of the skirt which is contiguousto the tongue. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the cap showing the tongue swung farther away from the bottle so as to withdraw from the groove the indentations on the skirt which are at the sides of the tongue. Fig. 9 is a section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

The invention is exemplified in a cap which is out from a sheet metal blank and then bent to form a top 10 and an integral depending flared skirt or flange ll'having a tongue 12 integrally formed at one side thereof. The skirt is provided with an annular series of corrugations 13 which extends from the middle thereof to the outer edge and consists of alternating crowns 14 and indentations 15.

The latter are adapted to fit in an annular groove 16' 111 the neck of a bottle 16 to secure the cap on the bottle. The tongue is formed with reinforcing ribs 17 therein. These ribs the groove to permit removal of the cap.

Ribs 17 extend to the outer edge of the tongue so that the latter is reinforced throughout its entire length. The crowns 14 on portion 18 extend to the edge of top 10 so that the portion ltself will not bend when "swung outwardly by the tongue 12. During such movement the metal at .the sides of portion 18 is expanded, as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9,'and the indentations between the crowns at the sides of said portion are drawn away from the groove. To facilitate this expansion so that the tonguev and portion 18 may be easily swung outwardly and to permit the metal to readily expand throughout the entire width of the skirt, one or more of the crowns at each side of portion 18 are extended, as at 14, to the edge of top 10. A sheet 19 of cork or any other suitable material is secured to the inner face of the top to form a hermetical seal for bottle 16 and to protect the contents of the bottle from contact with the metal of the cap.

The cap is applied to bottle 16 by any sultable capping device, such for example as the one shown (Fig. 2)' which comprises a hollow die member 20 which has a cylindrical inner wall 20 the lower end of which is flared slightly outwardly as at 20"; a retaining head 21 in which the die member is mounted; and an abutment member or plunger 22 which is slidably mounted in member 20 and is adapted to engage the top 10 of the cap and force strip 19 into firm contact with the mouth of the bottle. Plunger 22 is provided with a stem 23 which extends upwardly through die member 20 and is provided atits upper end with a pair of nuts 24. one of which abuts against the die member to limit the downward movement, of the plunger. A spring 25 is applied to yieldingly and forcibly hold the plunger init's lowermost position. This spring extends around stem 22 and between plnnger22 and a shoulder 20" on die member 20. r

The capping device is operated by relative movement between the bottle and member 20, which may be imparted to the bottle or said member in any suitable manner as well understood in the art. During this movement the flared portion 20 of the inner wall of die member 20 engages the outer edge and crowns 14 of the skirt and forces theminwardly. This causes the indentations 15 to be imbed-ded in groove 1(3 to securely lock the cap in place. As the movennmt continues the cylindrical wall comes into contact with the crowns and crushes them slightly. This in effect condenses the metal of the indentations so that it is diflicult to withdraw the latter from groove 16". I

In practice it has been found that if the extended crowns at the sides of portion 18 are crushed by the die member, they will not expand readily. It has also been found that if the crowns on portions 18 are crushed, the connection between the portion and tongue 12 is weakened. To avoid crushing these crowns when the cap is applied to the bottle, the inner wall 20 of the die member is slotted, as at 20 to form pocket-s into which the extended crowns fit during the capping operation.

A characteristic of securing the cap on the bottle by the capping device having the slots 20 therein is that the portion 18' and the corrugated metal at the sides of the tongue 12 are pressed into the groove 16 less than the remainder of the corrugated metal. Thus the tongue 12 may be readily swung away from the bottle and the removal of the cap is facilitated.

When the cap is to be removed from the bottle, tongue 12 will be grasped by the fingers aml swung outwardly and upwardly. During the initial movement of the tongue, portion 18 which is rigid with the tongue, swings outwardly and withdraws the indentations therein from the groove 16", as shown in Fig. 7 and by dotted lines in Fig. 5. As the tongue moves farther away from the bottle, the extended crowns at the sides of portion 18 stretch or expand outwardly due to the movement of the portion and draw the indentations between them away from the groove,

. The force necessary to remove the cap may be varied by increasing or decreasing the number of extended crowns at the sides of portion 18. If the number is increased then av greater number of imlentations will be. pulled away from the groove during the .expanding 0t these crowns and the force required to' remove the cap is relatively small. It the number is decreased, then the number of indentations which remain imbedded in the groove is increased and the force required to remove the cap is relatively large.

The invention exemplifies a bottle cap of the corrugated skirt type, which is provided with improved means whereby it may be readily removed from the bottle.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, a sheet metal cap con'iprising a top and an integral continuous flange depending from the top and having a substantially continuous annular series of corrugations pressed into the groove, so that the cap will be secured on the bottle by the inner crowns of substantially all of the corrugations, some of the corrugations being pressed less than others to render them more readily expansible than the others and to permit them to be more easily spread by the upward flexing of the flange.

2. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof a sheet metal cap comprising a top and an integral continuous flange depending from the top and having a substantially continuous annular series of corrugations pressed into the groove, so that the cap will be secured on the bottle by the inner crowns of all of the corrugations, some of the corrugations being under less com pression than others to render them more easily expansible and facilitate their spreading by the upward flexing of the flange.

3. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, a sheet metal cap comprising a top, a continuous integral flange depending from the top and having a substantially continuous annular series of corrugations pressed into the groove, so that the cap will be secured on the bottle by the inner crowns of substantially allthe corrugations, and means depending from the flange adapted to be manually gripped to pry the cap from the bottle, the corrugations contiguous to the sides of said means being mbre readily expansible than others to permit them to be spread by the upward flexing of said means.

4. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, a sheet metal cap comprising a top, an integral continuous flange depending from the top and having a substantially continuous annular series of I, inner crowns of substantially all of the corrugations, and means depending from the flange adapted to be manually gripped to pry the cap from the bottle, the corrugations contiguous to the sides of said means being under less compression than others to facilitate the expansion of'the flange by the lifting of said means.

5. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, a sheet metal cap comprising a top an integral continuous flange depending rom the top and an integral tongu depending from the flange, the flange and tongue having a substantially continuous series of substantially parallel corrugations therein, when the cap is applied to the bottle, the inner crowns of all of said corrugations being pressed into the groove of the bottle to secure substantially all portions of the cap thereon, portions of the flange being more easily expansible than others to facilitate theremoval of the cap from the bottle by the lifting of the tongue.

6. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, a sheet metal cap comprising a top, an integral flange depending from the top and having a substantially continuous annular series of corrugations pressed into the groove so that the cap will be secured onthe bottle by the inner crowns of substantially all the corrugations, and

means depending from the flange adapted to be manually gripped to pry the cap from the bottle, the corrugations contiguous to the sides of said means being compressed less than others and extended above the crowns of other of thecorrugations of the flange so that they will spread more easily by the upward flexing of said means in the removal of the cap from the bottle,

7. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, asheet metal cap comprising a top, an integral continuous flange depending from the top and having a substantially continuous annular series of corrugations pressed into the groove so that the cap will be secured on the bottle by the inner crowns of all of the corrugations, and a tongue depending from and integral with the flange adapted to be manually gripped to pry the cap from the bottle and having continuations of the corrugations in the flange, the corrugations adjacent the sides of the tongue extending above and being more easil expansible than other corrugations of the ange so they will expand easily by the upward flexing of the tongue in the removal of the cap from the bottle, the continuing corrugations of the flange and tongue extending substantially to the top.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 28th day of February, 1927.

EDMUND s. cannon.