US2671572A

US2671572A - Manually removable closure

Info

Publication number: US2671572A
Authority: US
Inventors: Satz William
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1949-06-07
Filing date: 1949-06-07
Publication date: 1954-03-09
Anticipated expiration: 1971-03-09

Description

March 9, 1954 Wl SATZ 2,671,572

MANUALLY REMOVABLE CLOSURE Filed June '7, 1949 W/LL/AM SATZ.

/NMBNTQQ HL/LBA/f?, lQLEHL ER, WORREL,

HERZ/G g CALDWELL,

ATnMWEK Patented Mar. 9, 1954 UNITED S TATES 2,671,572

REMOVABLE GLOSHIQE WilliamiSatz, `:Los Angeles-Galli.

Applicationjuneg?, 1949,` ,Serial'No 97,581

1.1Claim. l1

The invention relates to closures for-containers andhas particular reference toaclosure which ts sufficiently tightly so that it is capable of sealing contents in whichl there may be considerable pressure built up but which is so designed that-the seal can be easily released by hand withoutthe employment of any special instrument.

A great deal of development has been directed in the past-to closures in order to form a-tght seal Aon jars, cans and Vbottles and particularly where thosejars, cans and bottles are made 0f glass. The activity has been directednot only to providing a dependable-air-tight seal capable of insuring against the passage of vairor gas into or out-ofthe container but also to the making of a seal or closure suiciently inexpensive so as not to bereflected to any greatextent in the pricing of ingredients sold in the sealed container. Closures which have been most successful have been of the throwfaway type, not being designed for reuse. Invariably, however, closures which have been most widely used have not been designed for opening with the hands alone and have needed either a can opener, bottle opener, or some special instrument for breaking the seal between the closure and the container.

The necessity for the use of a special instrument `has been most apparent for uncapping bottles of the sort in which soft drinks, beer, and

carbonated beverages are dispensed. Unless a Y special instrument is available, uncapping such containers becomes extremely inconvenient and in the case of carbonated beverages when the contents are unnecessarily agitated during uncapping in some manner other than by use of a proper-instrument, much of the contents is lost. It is therefore among the objects of the invention to `provide a new and improved gas-tight closure for containers which is relatively inexpensive, which is capable of forming a tight seal suflicient wherenecessary to retain high. gas pressures, which can be used upon containers of presently standardized sizes and construction about vthe opening, and which, no matter how tightly applied, is capable of being released `by hand-without the use of any instrument.

Also among the objects of the invention is to provide a new Vand improved closure for containers which is adaptable to use on containers of'various sizes having openings of variable diameter, yone which is yeasily applied, one which is certain in its sealing actionand also one which is reusable after having once been removed.

Stillfurther among `the objects of the inventionristo provide anew and improved Aclosure for containers which, when assembled land v`ready for'use, is essentially a single unit andV which in use is hygienicfsafewhenused with containers made ofv glass, aswell as providing a highly elflcientseal which can be broken and released-by handfaction.

With these and other objects in view,the invention consists inthe construction, arrangement and combination ofthe various'parts-of'the device whereby the objects contemplatedereattained, as hereinaftersetforth, pointed Vout in the appended claims and illustrated-inthe-accompanying drawings.

In thedrawings:

`liigure 1 is a plan view partially in section of another modied form of the device.

Figure 2 is an exploded elevational sectional View taken on the line 2--2 of Figure-lshowing the relationship of therparts.

Figure 3 is an elevational viewpartiallyinsection taken onthe line 3-3'of Figure 1 showing the parts in closed or sealing position.

Figure 4'is a view similar to VvFigure 3 showingl the parts separated as in releasing position.

YFor the purpose of illustrating the invention the closure is described herein in a form applicable to bottles in which carbonated beverages are. stored having in mind that a closurecapable of successful operation under such circumstances wherein a high degree of sealing eciency is requisitecan be depended upon as a successfulseal or closure under other circumstances as well where the sealing requirements are less rigid. The selection of a bottle closureby way of illustration further takes into consideration Ythe fact that a closure which can-be successfully built'ina size small enough to be accommodated to the neck of a bottle ofthe type customarilyused for soft drinks can even more readily be builtfor containers lhaving openings of substantially larger. sizes.

Byway of illustrationtherefore anlembodiment chosen to illustrate fthe vinvention there ,is

Is hown the neckof a bottle whaving aconventional upper end Il lat the outer vextremityof which is-a bead l2 `provided with a recess I3 therebeneath. An opening .|.4 havingarimatgits.

`In la `form of the invention chosen for thepur- .v lpose of 'illustration `there is yshown mountedA upon.

the bottle 10, "having the lcustomary bead 'i2 at the rim of the upper end l I, a releasable closure comprising a cap 50 which is held in place upon the bottle by utilization of a generally ringshaped fastening element In this case the fastening element and the cap are permanently secured together at one point only by use of a movable connection or loose tie 52 by which one part is pivotally connected to the other.

In this form the cap 50 may be constructed for use with a rotating fastening means in that the cap has a nat top 53, a sealing disk 54 to make the closure air-tight where the cap is pressed against the top of the bead, and an annular continuously rounded flange at the lower edge of which are spaced fingers 55 having slots therebetween. The fingers have depressions 56 adjacent the lower portions thereof. As previously described the depressions are adapted to underlie the bead I2 thereby to assist in holding the cap in place.

In order to effectively secure the cap upon the bead with such force as to confine the contents even when a gas pressure of 90 to 100 pounds may possibly be present, the fastening element 5I is applied to the cap and particularly the fingers 55 in the position shown in Figure 3. To build into the closure the desirable function of being capable of release by manual pressure the fastening element is herein shown as one generally annular in form except for a space 5l which may be in the neighborhood of Li5 degrees, thereby leaving substantially a B-degree portion of the fastening element in a position encircling the anges. As illustrated in Figure 3 the side wall of the fastening means is substantially cylindrical.

To hold the parts together, namely, the fastening element and the cap, there is provided in this instance a rivet 58 securely fastened upon one flange 59 of the cap which has a straightened portion adapted to receive the rivet head. As here shown the shank of the rivet is adapted to extend through an aperture 5S in the wall of the fastening element which is very much greater in diameter than the shank of the rivet but slightly smaller in diameter than an external head Si of the rivet. The purpose of this connection is primarily to hold the cap and fastening element together so that they cannot inadvertently become separated and therefore may be considered as a single piece. The connection further serves as a fulcrum for lever action between the fastening element andthe cap.

To assist the user in lifting and thereby releasing the fastening element El there is provided a laterally projecting extension S2 on the side of the fastening element opposite from the rivet which is designed to stick out far enough so that the thumb or nger of the user can be applied to the underside. The fastening element 5| as a Whole is designed to be made of stiff material slightly resilient to the extent that it exerts considerable stress upon the iingers 55 and thus is adapted to hold them tightly against the bead to effectively seal the cap upon the bottle.

When the closure is applied to the bottle in sealing position the parts will assume the relative locations illustrated in Figure 3. This may be done by machine if preferred and in the ordinary course of commercial use machine application of the closure to the bottle Would be customary. When the closure is initially applied the fastening element is pressed tightly around the flanges and the cap pressed down against the bead so that an air-tight seal is made at the bottle opening.

When it is desired to remove the closure, finser pressure may be applied at the point 63 whereby to lift the fastening element upwardly to the position shown in Figure 4. During this releasing operation the rivet 58 acts as a fulcrum for the end of the fastening element opposite from the projection 62. It will be clear from an examination of Figure 4 that even in extreme position the rivet holds the fastening element to the cap but nevertheless permits the fastening element to be tilted relative to the cap to a position such that the Wall of the cap is entirely free from pressure against the fingers 55. After the fastening element has been lifted, the cap can be readily pulled from its position on top of the bottle either by pressing against the rivet 58, by pulling upon the cap at the area of the rivet or merely by prying under any one of the fingers 55.

In capping a container by use of the closure herein described the fastening element may be set with respect to the fingers 55 in the relationship shown in Figure 4. The closure may then be placed upon the neck of the bottle in engagement with the bead l2 thereon as shown in Figure 4 by operation of a substantially conventional capping machine of the type well known in the trade which may be employed to force the fastening element into position. By use of such a machine highly carbonated contents, for example, can be successfully and rapidly sealed by the enicient application of the cap in a manner already proved successful.

By use of the closure defined, constructed so as to be accommodated to containers of conventional construction, there need be no substantial departure from presently acceptable commercial mechanisms for the filling and capping of containers. Further, because of the compactness in size of the closure, such cartons, cases or other means as are customarily used for the transportation of the containers may be employed withou change.

Because of the fact that rotation of the fastening element relative to the cap does in no way distort or damage any portion of the closure, the closure is reusable. As such the closure can operate as a temporary recapper by application of the closure to the container with the fastening element pressed into place manually so that the fingers are pressed into position beneath the bead. Reclosing in this manner is sufficient for ordinary needs even though the fastening element may not be moved all the way into its former position overlying the fingers. For utilization of the closure in a mechanical recapping operation the disc 54 may be replaced if need be, the fastening element reset above the fingers inthe position initially described, and the closure again applied to the container by the conventional capping means in the manner initially related.

As will be noted from the foregoing description the closure is so formed that the parts are interconnected in order that the closure acts as a single unit with the parts incapable of separation one part from another. In mass production the parts, simple in form and construction, can be made and assembled relatively inexpensively and once formed are capable of reuse innumerable times with an equal degree of sealing success sufficient to far offset any slight additional initial cost due to there being a number of parts in excess of those used on conventional caps and closures heretofore adapted to the same general.

purpose. Because of the fact that thewclosure is so designed that it can be released by manual pressure, not only is there the convenience of having the closure capable of use under all circumstances without the operation of auxiliary tools or appliances but also, because of the fact that manual pressure only is required to effect a release, the likelihood of damage to the closure is minimized to the extent that reuse over and over again is substantially assured.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in what I have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of my invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claim so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

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

A closure for a bottle having a neck providing an opening, a rim around the opening and a bead below the rim having a lower inwardly tapered surface, said closure comprising a sealing cap having an unobstructed interior surface adapted to fit over the rim and seal the opening, a depending annular continuous rounded ange at the perimeter of the cap, said ange having slots at the free edge to provide a series of spaced fingers of substantially equal length and uniform thickness extending throughout the circumference of the iiange and normally diverging downwardly, said fingers having each a convexly formed portion on its inside face initially diverging out of contact with the tapered surface of the bead, said convexly formed portion having a shape adapted to conform to the tapered surface of the bead, a relatively flat sealing disk on the inside Surface of the cap and conned within said flange, said disk being adapted to engage only the rim of the bottle, and means for pressing the fingers on all sides of the cap into position against the tapered surface of the bead comprising a fastening ring having a width sufficient to overlie said flange and fingers, said ring having a pivotal connection with one of the fingers at its convexly formed portion, said ring having an upwardly tilted position before sealing and adapted to be tilted downwardly to engage and force the diverging ngers into sealing position over the bead with the convexly formed portions of the ngers on all sides of the cap forced slidably against said tapered surface whereby the sealing disk is compressed against the rim or" the bead, said fastening ring having a lateral projection adapted to be manually lifted whereby the ring may be tilted upwardly about its pivotal connection to release the fingers for movement away from the tapered surface of the bead to permit removal of the cap.

WILLIAM SATZ.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date '796,734 Kirkegaard Aug. 8, 1905 848,174 Jebsen Mar. 26, 1907 1,021,488 Reutter Mar. 26, 1912 1,123,670 Bohleber Jan. 5, 1915 1,545,227 Baltzley July '7, 1925 1,713,676 Rose May 21, 1929 2,045,480 Magnesen et al. June 23, 1936 2,392,507 Sebell Jan. 8, 1946 2,398,554 Nyden Apr. 16, 1946 2,444,779 Krasberg July 6, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,641 Great Britain Feb. 2, 1887 of 1887 709,751 France May 20, 1931 446,612 Great Britain May 4, 1936