US20070131643A1

US20070131643A1 - Bottle cap with a lock

Info

Publication number: US20070131643A1
Application number: US11/292,003
Authority: US
Inventors: Wu-Chang Liao
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-12-02
Filing date: 2005-12-02
Publication date: 2007-06-14

Abstract

A bottle cap with a lock has a hollow barrel, a plug received into the hollow barrel, a ring provided under the plug, and a fastener. When a bottle neck is mounted with the bottle cap with the lock and the plug rotates relative to the hollow barrel via a key, the fastener slides upwardly adjacent to the plug thereby compressing against the ring to expand to lock the bottle. When rotating the key backwardly, the fastener slides downwardly opposed to the plug thereby the ring being shrunk to get back to an original status so that the ring and the fastener can be taken off from the plug easily for cleaning.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bottle cap with a lock, and more particularly to a bottle cap which can be locked on a re-seal bottle to prevent drinking by mistake or by purpose, or being poisoned by others, and which can be cleaned conveniently.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional bottle cap such as a cork is used to seal a bottle neck for wine or beverage. When the drink is not completely consumed, it is not convenient for a drinker to re-seal the bottle neck with the bottle cap.
When people exercise together and their refreshment bottles are grouped together, it is difficult for those people to find their individual bottles and this may pose a health risk.
When the re-seal wine is stored in a hotel, it is easy to be drunk by mistake or by purpose, i.e., the opened bottle is accessible by children or, a person may secretly drink another person's wine.
When the re-seal beverage is put in the public, it is easy to be drunk by mistake or by purpose or be poisoned.
When the re-seal chemical is stored in the chemical factory or in the laboratory, it is easy to be used or taken by mistake.
When the re-seal medicine is stored in the hospital, it is easy to be taken or mixed by mistake.
A further situation concerning caps of bottle-like containers is that a child may take medicine in error when the bottle cap for the medicine bottle is not locked.
Therefore, the invention provides a bottle cap with a lock to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a bottle cap with a lock which can be locked on a re-seal bottle to prevent drinking by mistake or by purpose, or being poisoned by others, and which can be cleaned conveniently.
A bottle cap with a lock comprises:
a body having a hollow barrel and a plug which is received into the hollow barrel, a hole defined in a lower end of the body, a keyway defined in an upper end of the body, whereby the plug rotates relative to the hollow barrel when a key is received and rotated in a keyway;
a ring having an opening defined in a center thereof and provided under the body; and
a fastener with an inverted T-like cross section provided under the ring and having a shaft upwardly formed in a center thereof whereby the shaft is inserted into the opening and the hole in turn to connect to the plug so that the shaft can slide in an axial direction relative to the hollow barrel with the rotation of the plug;
whereby when the ring is inserted into a bottle neck and the plug rotates relative to the hollow barrel via the rotation of the key in a first direction, the fastener slides upwardly adjacent to the plug thereby compressing against the ring to expand so that an outer wall of the ring securely attaches to an inner wall of the bottle neck to lock the bottle; when the key is rotated in a second direction opposed to the first direction, the plug rotates and the fastener slides downwardly opposed to the plug thereby the ring can resume its original pre-expanded status so that the present invention can be separated from the bottle neck; when continuing rotating the key in the second direction, the shaft separates from the hole and the opening, the ring and the fastener can be taken off from the plug for cleaning. Hence, the bottle cap with the lock is easy to use and has a simple configuration.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of a bottle cap with a lock in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of the bottle cap with the lock in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the bottle cap with the lock in accordance with the present invention being provided on a bottle neck;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the bottle cap with the lock in accordance with the present invention being locked on the bottle neck;
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of a bottle cap with a lock in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the second preferred embodiment of the bottle cap with the lock in accordance with the present invention being locked on the bottle neck;
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a third preferred embodiment of a bottle cap with a lock in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the third preferred embodiment of the bottle cap with the lock in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the third preferred embodiment of the bottle cap with the lock in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a fourth preferred embodiment of a bottle cap with a lock in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1-3, a first preferred embodiment of an easy-clean bottle cap with a lock comprises a body (10), a ring (20) and a fastener (30).
The body (10) has a hollow barrel (110) and a hole (111) is defined in a center of the hollow barrel (110). An arcuate cutout (112) is laterally defined in an inner wall of a middle portion of the hollow barrel (110) and multiple slots (130) are evenly and longitudinally defined in an upper portion of the inner wall of the hollow barrel (110). A plug (120) is received into and mated with the hollow barrel (110). A keyway (121), into which a key (51) can be inserted, is defined in an upper end of the plug (120), and at least one lug (122), which corresponds to and is engaged with the cutout (112), is formed on a periphery of the plug (120). Multiple latch tabs (230), which are respectively supported by springs, are respectively formed on an upper periphery of the plug (120) in a row and mated with one of the slots (130) whereby the multiple latch tabs (230) can be respectively extended into the plug (120) thereby the plug (120) being rotated in the hollow barrel (110) when the key (51) is inserted and rotated in the keyway (121).
The ring (20), made of a resilient material such as rubber, is mounted under the body (10) and an opening (21) is defined in a center thereof.
The fastener (30), a lower periphery of which is bigger than an upper periphery of the fastener (30), is provided under the ring (20), has a shaft (31) that extends upwardly from the center of the lower end thereof. The shaft (31) is inserted into the opening (21) and the hole (111) in turn thereby connected to the plug (120), so that the shaft (31) can move in an axial direction when the plug (120) rotates.
The shaft (31), which is configured to mate with the hole (111) and has two flat portions (32) formed on an upper end thereof and opposed to each other and two threaded portions (33) formed on the upper end thereof and spacing the flat portions (32).
A flange (113), an outer diameter of which is slightly bigger than that of the hollow barrel (110), is formed on and radially extends from the lower end of the hollow barrel (110). A threaded hole (125) is defined in a lower end of the plug (120) and thereby can be mated with the threaded portion (33).
In assembly, the latch tabs (230) pressed by the springs are mounted on the periphery of the hollow barrel (110) and the plug (120) is inserted into the hollow barrel (110) so that the at least one lug (122) can be received into the cutout (112) and the plug (120) can be rotated in the hollow barrel (110) without being separated from the hollow barrel (110). Then, the shaft (31) is inserted into the opening (21), the hole (111) and the threaded hole (125) in turn to complete the assembly procedure.
With reference to FIGS. 2-4, when the first preferred embodiment of the present invention is used, the body (10) is mounted on a bottle neck (50) to enable the fastener (30) and the ring (20) to be inserted into the bottle neck (50). The latch tabs (230) are respectively engaged with one of the slots (130) so that the plug (120) can not rotate relative to the hollow barrel (110). When the key (51) is inserted and rotated in the keyway (121), the latch tabs (230) are extended into an interior of the plug (120) via multiple serrations (52) of the key (51) and therefore, the latch tabs (230) separate from the slot (130) and the plug (120) rotates relative to the hollow barrel (110). Additionally, the shaft (31) is configured to mate with the hole (111) so that the shaft (31) does not rotate in a radial direction relative to the body (10). When the plug (120) rotates due to the key (51) in a first direction, the shaft (31) moves upwardly with the threaded portion (33) corresponding to the threaded hole (125) and the cooperation of the hole (111) so that the ring (20) is compressed to expand. Hence, an outer wall of the ring (20) securely attaches to an inner wall of the bottle thereby sealing the bottle. Furthermore, the sealing extent depends on the adjacent extent of the body (10) and the ring (20).
Additionally, by rotating the key (51) and the plug (120) backwardly in a second direction opposed to the first direction, the ring (20) moves downwardly to return to an original status and therefore, the present invention can be easily removed from the bottle.
Furthermore, by rotating the plug (120) in the second direction, when the threaded portion (33) is separated from the threaded hole (125) and the shaft (31) is separated from the plug (120), the ring (20) and the fastener (30) can be cleaned separately and conveniently.
With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is similar to the first preferred embodiment except that the flange (113) is not integrally formed under the barrel (110) thereby simplifying the configuration of the barrel (110). An anti-dust head (150) is provided under the barrel (110) and two protrusions (151) are respectively formed in an inner wall of the head (150). Two gaps (119) are respectively defined in a lower outer wall of the barrel (110) to mate with the protrusions (151). The head (150) also can be detached from the barrel (110) and cleaned conveniently. A hole (111′) is defined in a center of the head (150). The flat key (51) and a barrel-like key (51′) described in the preferred embodiment are limited in such configuration and may be all other keys with different configurations.
With reference to FIGS. 7-9, a third preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is similar to the first preferred embodiment, is composed of a body (10′), a ring (20) and a fastener (30), except that a plug (120′) is mated with a barrel-like key (51′).
The body (10′) has a hole (111) defined in a lower center thereof and an arcuate cutout (112) defined in an inner wall of the hollow barrel (110). At least one stopping edge (114) is formed adjacent to the inner wall of the hollow barrel (110). A seat (115), which is securely mounted with the stopping edge (114), has multiple lower orifices (116) defined in an evenly radial direction thereof. Multiple coil springs (117) and multiple lower pins (118) are respectively received into the orifices (116) in turn. The plug (120′), which is received into the hollow barrel (110), has an arcuate keyway (121′) defined in an upper end thereof, and the barrel-like key (51′) is mated with the keyway (121′). At least one lug (122), which is formed on a periphery of the plug (120′), is received into the cutout (112) and multiple upper orifices (126) are defined in an interior of the plug (120′) and in a radial direction and multiple upper pins (128) are respectively received into the upper orifices (126).
In assembly, the springs (117) and the lower pins (118) are respectively received into the lower orifices (116) in turn, and then the plug (120′), into which the upper pins (128) are respectively received, is engaged with the seat (115). The seat (115) with the plug (120′) is received into the hollow barrel (110) to enable the at least one lug (122) to be mated with the cutout (112) so that the plug (120′) can only rotate relative to the hollow barrel (110) without separating from the hollow barrel (110). When the third preferred embodiment is locked, the lower pins (118) are provided in both of the lower and the upper orifices (116, 126) via the springs (117) so that the plug (120′) can not rotate relative to the hollow barrel (110). When the key (51′) is inserted and rotated in the keyway (121′), serrations (52′) compress against the upper pins (128) to move downwardly thereby pushing a joint of the lower pins (118) and upper pins (128) to move a contact side of plug (120′) and the seat (115) so that the plug (120′) can be rotated relative to the hollow barrel (110) via the rotation of the key (51′). Other action steps of the third preferred embodiment are similar to those of the first preferred embodiment.
With reference to FIG. 10, a fourth preferred embodiment is similar to the first and the third preferred embodiment except that a threaded element (129) is provided on a lower end of the plug (120′) and a shaft (31′) corresponding to the hole (111) has two sliding portions (32′) formed on an upper end thereof and opposed to each other, and a threaded aperture (34) defined on an upper end of the shaft (31′). The action steps of the fourth preferred embodiment are similar to those of the first and the third preferred embodiment.
Hence, the bottle cap with a lock is composed of the body with the rotated plug, the ring and the fastener. Not only is the present invention of a simple configuration and easily cleaned, but also provides safety and health measures. It is appreciated that the present invention processes the novelty, the inventiveness and the practical applicability with the obvious and concrete functions thereby according to the invention patent and being applied.

Claims

1. A bottle cap with a lock comprises:

a body (10, 10′) having a hollow barrel (110) and a plug (120, 120′) which is received into the hollow barrel (110), a hole (111,111′) defined in a lower end of the body (10, 10′), a keyway (121, 121′) defined in an upper end of the body (10, 10′), whereby the plug (120, 120′) rotates relative to the hollow barrel (110) when a key (51, 51′) is received and rotated in a keyway (121, 121′);

a ring (20) having an opening (21) defined in a center thereof and provided under the body (10, 10′); and

a fastener (30) provided under the ring (20) and having a shaft (31,31′) upwardly formed in a center thereof whereby the shaft (31,31′) is inserted into the opening (21) and the hole (111,111′) in turn to connect to the plug (120,120′) so that the shaft (31,31′) can slide in an axial direction relative to the hollow barrel (110) with the rotation of the plug (120, 120′);

whereby when the ring (20) is inserted into a bottle neck (50) and the plug (120, 120′) rotates relative to the body (10,10′) via the rotation of the key (51, 51′) in a first direction, the fastener (30) slides upwardly adjacent to the plug (120, 120′) thereby compressing against the ring (20) to expand so that an outer wall of the ring (20) securely attaches to an inner wall of the bottle neck to lock the bottle; when the key (51, 51′) is rotated in a second direction opposed to the first direction, the plug (120,120′) rotates and the fastener (30) slides downwardly opposed to the body (10,10′) thereby the ring (20) can resume its original pre-expanded status so that the present invention can be separated from the bottle neck; when continuing rotating the key (51, 51′) in the second direction, the shaft (31) separates from the hole (111,111′) and the opening (21), the ring (20) and the fastener (30) can be taken off from the plug (120, 120′) for cleaning.

2. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein a flange (113) is formed on and radially extends from the lower end of the hollow barrel (110).

3. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft (31) is inserted into the hole (111,111′) whereby the shaft (31,31′) moves upwardly or downwardly in an axial direction rather than rotate in a radial direction, the hole (111,111′) is defined in a lower end of the hollow barrel (110).

4. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein an anti-dust head (150) is provided under and detachably attached to the barrel (110); and

the hole (111′) is defined in a center of the anti-dust head (150) to allow the shaft (31,31′) move upwardly or downwardly in an axial direction rather than rotate in a radial direction.

5. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft (31) is configured to mate with the hole (111,111′) and has two flat portions (32) formed on an upper end thereof and opposed to each other and two threaded portions (33) formed adjacent to and spaced the flat portions (32).

6. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 2, wherein the shaft (31) is configured to mate with the hole (111,111′) and has two flat portions (32) formed on an upper end thereof and opposed to each other and two threaded portions (33) formed adjacent to and spaced the flat portions (32).

7. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shaft (31) is configured to mate with the hole (111,111′) and has two flat portions (32) formed on an upper end thereof and opposed to each other and two threaded portions (33) formed adjacent to and spaced the flat portions (32).

8. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft (31′) is configured to mate with the hole (111,111′) and has two sliding portions (32′) formed on an upper end thereof and opposed to each other, and a threaded aperture (34) defined on an upper end of the shaft (31′).

9. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 2, wherein the shaft (31′) is configured to mate with the hole (111,111′) and has two sliding portions (32′) formed on an upper end thereof and opposed to each other, and a threaded aperture (34) defined on an upper end of the shaft (31′).

10. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shaft (31′) is configured to mate with the hole (111,111′) and has two sliding portions (32′) formed on an upper end thereof and opposed to each other, and a threaded aperture (34) defined on an upper end of the shaft (31′).

11. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 5, wherein a threaded hole (125) is defined in a lower end of the plug (12020′), and the threaded hole (125) corresponds to and is engaged with the threaded portions (33).

12. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 6, wherein a threaded hole (125) is defined in a lower end of the plug (12020′), and the threaded hole (125) corresponds to and is engaged with the threaded portions (33).

13. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 7, wherein a threaded hole (125) is defined in a lower end of the plug (12020′), and the threaded hole (125) corresponds to and is engaged with the threaded portions (33).

14. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 8, wherein a threaded element (129) is provided on a lower end of the plug (120,120′) and is screwed into the threaded aperture (34) in the shaft (31′).

15. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 9, wherein a threaded element (129) is provided on a lower end of the plug (120,120′) and is screwed into the threaded aperture (34) in the shaft (31′).

16. The bottle cap with the lock as claimed in claim 10, wherein a threaded element (129) is provided on a lower end of the plug (120,120′) and is screwed into the threaded aperture (34) in the shaft (31′).