US3223268A

US3223268A - Bottle cap and method of applying

Info

Publication number: US3223268A
Application number: US408039A
Authority: US
Inventors: William E Whitchurch
Original assignee: Champion Papers Inc
Current assignee: Champion Papers Inc
Priority date: 1964-11-02
Filing date: 1964-11-02
Publication date: 1965-12-14
Anticipated expiration: 1982-12-14

Description

1965 w. E. WHITCHURCH 3,223,268

BOTTLE CAP AND METHOD OF APPLYING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 2, 1964 TWA M27: MM 95- MMML 1955 w. E. WHITCHURCH 3,

BOTTLE CAP AND METHOD OF APPLYING Filed Nov. 2, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 14, 1965 w. E. WHITCHURCH 3,223,268

BOTTLE CAP AND METHOD OF APPLYING Filed Nov. 2, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 54 55 6 f 59 7 l! w B Q I} a 48 54 54 I l %Z United States Patent Ofi ice 3,223,268 Patented Dec. 14, 1965 3,223,268 BOTTLE CAP AND METHOD OF APPLYING William E. Whitchurch, Belvidere, IlL, assignor to Chamgign Papers Inc., Hamilton, Ohio, a corporation of Filed Nov. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 408,039 7 Claims. (Cl. 21538) This is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 327,018, filed November 29, 1963, now abandoned.

This innvention relates to bottle caps and more particularly to bottle caps capable of providing a double seal on milk bottles and the like, and to a novel method of applying caps onto bottles to obtain a double seal.

In the art of milk bottle caps, certain caps did not provide the most desirable sanitary seal. Witness the fact that the disk-type cap, which sealed on the cap seat of the bottle, did not protect the rim from contamination but, in fact, provided a recess for accumulation of foreign matter. As the art advanced, this problem was solved; the advancement being encouraged, in part, by various agency rules and regulations requiring more sanitary closures. The most recent regulation concerning bottle caps of this type is the type of regulation established by many of our largest municipalities and typified by the requirement for a double closure which is tamperproof. By tamperproof, it is meant that the cap cannot be taken off and replaced without the fact being readily recognized by the ordinary consumer. It is an object of this invention to provide a tamperproof cap which furnishes double seal on bottles.

Another object of this invent-ion is to provide a cap which will leave no unsanitary residue on the bottle when the cap is removed. Various caps are objectionable for the reason that portions of the paper will adhere to the botle, particularly in the mouth or on the lip of the bottitle. Others have a cement which adheres to the outside of the bottle.

A regulation of the type described supra is satistied in the art by the following: (1) the combination of a disk-type cap sealed on the cap seat plus an overcover such as a hood-type cap which covers the rim of the bottle; (2) the combination of a hood-type cap and a disk which is subsequently centered on the bottle and hood, the disk being inserted into the bottle pushing the hood ahead of it and sealing on the cap seat, and the hood providing a cover over the rim of the bottle; or (3) a preformed hood with a disk attached, the disk being inserted into the mouth of the bottle to seal the bottle, and the hood being treated with an adhesive which is heated to secure the hood and to protect the lip of the bottle. All have certain disadvantages. The first requires a double capping operation with two different cappers. The second requires a double feeding operation to feed the two elements to the bottle. Each feeding operation requires a centering of the bottle which slows the capping operation. This slowing effect has led to the virtual commercial extinction of this type of cap. The third type requires heat which is an expensive added step. All these disadvantages are typified by a double operation or additional step which adds expense and makes the use of glass bottles less competitive with other containers. Thus, another object of this invention relates to a cap capable of providing a double seal on a bottle and to a method of obtaining the double seal in a single operation.

The problem of providing a double closure is complicated by the fact that many bottles are constructed without a cap seat. Such bottles are known as no seat type bottles and cannot be sealed with any cap which requires seating on a cap seat. These no sea bottles are furnished in all the diameter openings presently utilized for milk bottles, for example the 48 mm. size which is most common, however, another size, the 38 mm. size, is generally furnished only in the no seat type. It can be seen that caps of the first two types described supra cannot be utilized with no seat type bottles. Thus, another object of this invention relates to a cap capable of providing a double seal on a bottle of the no seat type.

It is another object of this invention to provide a'bottle cap capable of being utilized without regard to the type of bottle supplied. This would eliminate any necessity of sorting bottles.

Obtaining the same seal on difierent types of bottles cannot be achieved, however, by merely inserting the cap into a no seat bottle a distance equal to the depth of the cap on an ordinary bottle. This is because there are ditferences in diameter between the two bottle types at this point. Reference is made to the Standard for 48 mm. bottles adopted by the Glass Container Manufacturers Institute, approved October 24, 1946. This Standard requires that the diameter of mouth of a no seat type milk bottle must meet certain tolerances at a distance of down from the bottle lip. On the other hand, this same Standard requires that the diameter of the mouth of an ordinary bottle meet these same tolerances all the way to the cap seat, and also provides for a small fillet between the sealing wall and the cap seat. Thus, while the ordinary bottle has a fillet at the cap seat and consequently a smaller diameter than the mouth, the no seat bottle may have, and usually does have, a larger diameter at an equal distance into the mouth. From a perusal of this Standard, it can be seen that the only place where the mouth diameter is controlled, consistent in both types of hottles, is at a distance of down from the lip. Since the Standard calls for radius from the sealing wall of the bottle to the lip, this point of control is also the apex of the sealing wall which has been characterized as defining a mouth. It is obvious that a seal cannot be obtained exactly at this point, for a cap has to be inserted into the mouth at least a distance equal to the thickness of the cap. From the foregoing, however, it is obvious that the seal must be obtained as near this point as practical. Thus, a further object of this invention relates to a cap capable of providing a double seal on a bottle without necessitating the utilization of the cap seat for one seal.

Still another object is to provide a method of capping all types of bottles said method including the insertion of the mouth-spanning portion of the cap a minimum distance into the mouth of the bottle.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a method of capping bottles said method including controlling the distance of insertion of the cap into the bottle mouth during the beginning of the capping operation and maintaining the distance during the remainder of the capping operation.

Previous mention has been made to the desirability of speeding the capping operation. The greater the speed that the finished product can be turned out, the greater the capacity of the plant and the greater the potential earnings. Modern high speed filling equipment is capabio of filling bottles faster than the bottles can be capped. The limiting factor in the capacity of a dairy, therefore, is the rate at which the caps can be removed from a stack of preformed caps which are shipped by the cap manufacturers. The speed of feed has been a problem with many caps, caused in part by the lack of rigidity which easily allows premature deformation in handling. Any such deformation can interfere with either the feeding process or the capping process. Thus, a further object of this invention is to provide a preformed cap which is more rigid than closure caps heretofore available and thus lend itself to more eflicient dispensing from cap feeding units.

Another problem occurs when caps are picked off the top of the above mentioned stack by vacuum means or suction cups because there is a tendency for the second cap to follow the first cap. This is because the caps are stacked relatively close together and the faster the caps are withdrawn from the stack the greater the suction on the next cap. Thus, another object of this invention is to provide a preformed cap which may be dispensed from a cap feeding unit fast and efiiciently with the complete assurance that, when a suction feed is employed, only one ca-p will be withdrawn from the stack at a time. 'These,- and other objects and advantages will be more readily apparent from a reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings where- FIGURE 1 is a top view of a bottle cap made in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 and showing a reinforcing disk attached to the depressed central portion;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the bottle cap;

FIG. 4 .is an enlarged sectional view of the bottle cap after hooding, centered on the top of a conventional glass bottle but showing the laminations as a single layer;

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but showing the cap on the top of a no seat type bottle;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view, at greatly enlarged scale, taken along line 66 of FIG. 1 and showing the laminations in exaggerated thickness, the outer layer being metal foil and the inner layer being paper;

FIG. 7 is a central vertical sectional view, at an enlarged scale, of four bottle caps in ordinary stacked relationship, showing the nesting relationship of the caps and indicating the laminations of the cap in exaggerated thickness;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the relationship between the capper, the bottle cap, and a no seat type bottle in the middle of the capping operation, after the first seal has been obtained and before the second seal is obtained;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view, at a greatly enlarged scale, of a portion of FIG. 8 and illustrating the relationship of the elements in greater detail, except that the laminations are shown as a single layer;

FIG. 10 resembles FIG. 8 but illustrates the relationship between the capper, the bottle cap and a no seat type bottle at the completion of the capping operation;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view of a conventional glass bottle with a sealed cap thereon; and

FIG. l2 is a fragmentary side view of a bottle with a sealed cap thereon.

Referring further to the drawings, the bottle illustrated in FIG. 4 is a conventional glass bottle 20. This bottle has a cap seat 21 recessed from a lip 22, a neck ring 25, and an annular internal sealing wall 23 defining a mouth, said' sealing Wall having a small fillet to the cap seat 21 and having an upper end curving outwardly to the top lip 22. The no seat type bottle 19 is illustrated in FIG. 5 and like parts have the same description and reference numbers as the conventional bottle. The difference is the absence of a cap seat.

I The cap 30 as illustrated in FIG. 7 is preformed from a generally circular outer layer 31 of thin metal foil adhesively secured to an inner layer 32 of paper. The outer layer of dead soft foil serves to make the cap impervious and also has the additional property of retaining the shape after reforming by the capping operation. Because there is practically no resiliency in dead soft foil, the reformed cap will retain the double seal but any tampering such as cap removal and replacement will deform the cap so as to make the tampering readily recognizable. Preferably, the exposed surface of the paper inner layer is impregnated with paraffin (not shown) which renders the paper relatively impervious to moisture but the impregnation is not sufficient to prevent slow absorption from the contents of the bottle; therefore, the paper will absorb some moisture and swell. This expansion increases the sealing action along the sealing wall. It should be understood, however, that this swelling action is not necessary to provide a complete double seal with this cap. The paraflin also serves to prevent any sticking of paper to the bottle when the cap is removed. In practice, the paper is first adhesively affixed to the foil and then partially impregnated with paraflin. The impregnation is controlled so that it is limited only to the outer fibers and the paraflin does not reach the adhesive and destroy the bond. In this manner, a minimum amount of paraflin is used. By way of illustration and not limitation, I have successfully used aluminum metal foil of .0015 gauge adhesively secured to paper of .0'040 gauge and impregnated at about F. with approximately 1.874 pounds of parafiin per 1000 sq. ft. of paper.

After the stock is made, the cap is cut in a substantially circular shape and preformed to the shape illustrated. Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the shape comprises a generally planar, mouth-spanning, central portion 33, a gen: erally frusto-conical inner wall 34 rising upwardly from the periphery of the mouth-spanning portion and inclined outwardly at an angle of about 11 which is about 101 measured from the mouth-spanning portion 33, a rim 35 extending outwardly from said wall and thence downwardly in a smooth arc, and a skirt 36 extending from the outer margin of said rim portion. There is a welldefined juncture 37 between the skirt portion 36 and rim portion 35 and another well-defined juncture 38 between the rim portion 35 and the inner wall 34. Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 7, it can be seen that the inner wall and rim have outwardly extending ribs 39 which are compacted from excess stock of foil 31 and paper 32 and lend substantial rigidity to the preformed cap. The ribs leave substantially smooth sealing surfaces on the underside of the inner wall and rim, and the only evidence of their presence, visible on the inner surfaces, are folds 42 shown in FIG. 6. The skirt portion contains pleats made by folds 40 extending from the ribs 39. These pleats are adaptable to be reformed into ribs 39a during the sealing of the bottle and the resulting structure can be seen in FIG. 12.

A reinforcing disk 41 overlies the mouth-spanning portion 33 and is preferably adhesively secured thereto. This disk is conveniently formed from relatively stiff paper stock and has a diameter approximating the inside diameter of the mouth-spanning portion 33. When the disk and mouth-spanning portion is pushed into the bottle mouth, the disk presses the lower portion of the inner wall 34 against the sealing wall 23 of the bottle and thus effectuates a first seal.

The caps of the present invention are ordinarily fu-rnished in nested relationship whereby the outwardly inclining inner walls 34 rest on the upstanding ribs 39 of the adjacent cap as shown in FIG. 7. Because of the incline of the inner wall 34, which is approximately 11, that is, approximately 101 from the plane of the mouthspanning portion, the caps nest fairly close together. However, the ribs 39 maintain a separation which is greater than that provided by foil caps in the past. It can be seen that the skirt portions 36 and the rim portions 35 of adjacent caps do not touch. At a result, when these caps are removed from the stack by a suction cup of a cap feeding device, there is no tendency for more than one 'cap to be removed at a time. As indicated supra, this has been a problem in the past, lbllt the ribs of the present cap maintain a separation sufficient to allow air to readily flow in back of the cap which is being removed. Thus, caps may beremoved from a stack.

at a very high rate.

- The bottle cap shown and described is especially well adapted for being dispensed through a bottle cap feeding device of the nature shown in my copending application Serial No. 368,021, filed May 18, 1964, or in the Sonnenberg Patent No. 2,349,523, issued May 23, 1944. In such top feeding devices, a suction cup is brought into contact with the faces of successive caps to withdraw them from the stack and, drop them successively into a chute wherein the caps slide down the chute and become partially exposed at the lower end thereof. When a cap occupies the position at the lower end of the chute, the top of the milk bottle moving along a conveyor will engage the parti-ally exposed cap, tip it over on top of the bottle mouth and then move on, allowing another cap to rop down the chute and become similarly exposed.

In this invention, the skirt 36 and the inner wall 34 of the cap have utility in such a feeding or hooding operation. The skirt of the cap is usually the first portion to engage the bottle in the feeding operation. As the skirt 36 slides down the neck ring 25, the lower extremity of the inner wall 34 engages the radial portion of the bottle at the apex of the sealing wall 23. Initially one side of the cap may be lower than the other. If so, the cap will pivot on the aforementioned radial portion of the :bottle and come to rest in a generally level position as illustrated in FIGS. 4 or 5. It can be seen that the shapes of the skirt 36 and inner wall 34 are important in accomplishing this result.

In capping operations on caps having a foil skirt, it is the purpose to effect a very tight seal on the top lip of the bottle. When pressure is applied to wipe and squeeze the skirt into conformity with the neck ring and thus reform a cap of this character, a problem arises in drawing the metal under such pressure, causing a rupture thereof. A novel method of applying caps has been developed to eliminate this problem. This method is equally applicable to a no seat type bottle 19 or a conventional bottle 20 and, as best shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, will effectuate a double seal on either type bottle.

The method begins by placing the cap loosely onto the top in such a manner as aforedescribed, or any other acceptable manner. The cap rests with the lower extremity of its inner wall 34 resting on the aforedescribed radius between the sealing wall 23 and the lip 22, as is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Note that all other portions of the cap are spaced from the bottle. Pressure is applied to the disk 41 to push the disk and mouth-spanning portion 33 into the mouth of the bottle to a final position a distance less than the height of the inner wall 34. When this is done, the lower portion of the inner wall moves abruptly toward the center of the bottle, or cams inwardly, into conformity with the sealing wall 23 and is held tightly against the sealing wall by the disk 41 to provide a first seal at the final position. Simultaneously, the skirt 36 is moved toward the neck ring to begin the reforming operation on the skirt. Pressure is then applied to the mid-portion of the rim 35 to push it down against the outer portion of the lip 22 with the result that the inner portion of the rim and the upper portion of the inner wall 34 are spaced slightly from the bottle as is best shown in FIG. 9. While the disk is maintained at its final position during the remainder of the capping operation, the outer portion of the cap is then wiped downwardly and squeezed inwardly to pull the cap into tight conformity with the lip 22 and reform the cap against the neck ring 24. Lastly, the lower extremity of the skirt 36 is squeezed upwardly into conformity with the lower surface of the neck ring to maintain a bridging or connecting relationship in the area between the lip 22 and the lower surface of the neck ring and maintain a second seal. The squeezing of the outer portion of the cap compacts the skirt into ribs which add rigidity to the reformed structure and aid in maintaining the aforementioned bridging relationship.

The capping portion of the above described method may be accomplished by a capper, generally indicated by the number 50, of the type shown in the Hogg Patent 2,112,842, issued April 5, 1938, and modified to add a plunger 51 and a compression spring 49, shown in FIG. 1'1. It can be seen that the capping machine is conveniently fitted with a guard 52 which aids in positioning the 'modified resilient pressure head 53. The pressure head is conveniently in the shape of a ring to provide an opening for the plunger 51. This modified pressure head 53 is squeezed by a plurality of fingers 54 which are activated by a spreader block 48 as described in the Hogg patent. The plunger 51 is conveniently mounted on a shaft 55 which is contained inside the spindle 56. The plunger shaft may have a spring 57 and a pin 58 which allow the plunger to drop down a short distance below the illustrated capping position, to aid in the centering of the bottle under the capper.

The bottle with a cap loosely placed thereon is centered under the capper 50. The bottle is conveniently raised against the capper, however, any operation may be utilized which will cause the capper to engage the bottle. As their relative positions move closer, the plunger 51, if spring mounted as described supra, is the first portion of the capper to engage the cap which pushes the plunger up until it seats on the flange 59. The plunger then operates to push the disk 41 and mouth-spanning portion 33 into the bottle mouth until the innermost portion of the resilient pressure head 53 engages the rim 35 onto the outer portion of the bottle lip 22. The lower portion of the inner wall 34 is camrned inwardly into a vertical position by this operation and pressed into a sealing relationship with the sealing wall 23 by the disk 41. The pressure head is resilient enough to mold around the ribs 39 and push the rim 35 securely on the bottle lip 22 as shown in FIG. 9. This is accomplished by an unusually high axial pressure caused by the compression spring 49. This additional pressure is also important in obtaining the second seat as will be explained infra. The cap enters the mouth of the bottle a minimum distance, said distance being less than the height of the inner wall 34 of the cap. As a result, there is a gap between the rim 22 of the bottle and the cap as best illustrated in FIG. 9. This provides an excess of material to be pulled by the resilient pressure head 43 as it elfectuates the second seal. Simultaneously, the skirt portion 36 of the cap is wiped by the skirt 53a of the resilient pressure head and is reformed inwardly.

After the capper and bottle have reached the relationship above described, an operation similer to that described in the aforementioned Hogg patent occurs and is illustrated here in FIG. 10. Preferably, the spreader block 48 moves axially downwardly along the spindle 56 to spread apart the upper ends of fingers 54. This results in a rocking of the fingers about their pivot on the flange 59 to force radially inwardly the lower ends of the fingers. Because of the outwardly flaring shape of the skirt 53a of the sealing head, the contraction of the skirt 53a necessary to force the skirt 36 inwardly is less near the top'of the neck ring 25 of the bottle than at the bottom of the neck ring. Therefore, actuation of fingers 54 results in a downward squeezing and wiping action which eliminates the aforementioned gap by pulling the cap into conformity with the lip 22 and squeezing the outer portion of the cap into conformity with the neck ring 25 of the bottle. It will be understood that during this action the skirt portion 36 of the cap overlaps itself about is fold lines 40 to form ribs 39a which extend from the ribs 39 of the rim portion as indicated in FIG. 12. This completes the capping operation with the final relationship of the elements generally indicated in FIG. 10.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the high pressure exerted through the compression spring 49 and the resilient squeezing of the outer portions of the cap results in a seal on the top lip of the bottle. This seal is together they provide a double seal on the bottle.

While I have thus described and illustrated the invention, this has been by way of illustration and not limitation, and I do not wish to be limited except as required by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bottle cap for bottles of the type having an annular internal sealing wall defining a mouth, a top lip, and an outer peripheral neck ring; said cap preformed from a substantially circular blank comprising an outer layer of metal foil, an inner layer of paper, means for securing said inner layer to said outer layer, and means for impregnating the exposed surface of said inner layer with paraflin to render it relatively impervious to moisture, said cap comprising a generally planar mouth-spanning portion; a generally frusto-conical inner wall rising upwardly from, and extending around said mouth-spanning portion; a rim having a top wall extending outwardly from said inner wall; an outer wall disposed from said top wall in a smooth arc and flowing outwardly and downwardly to a level substantially adjacent to the level of the mouthspanning portion; a skirt on the lower end of the outer wall, said skirt flowing outwardly at a wider angle than .said outer wall; said inner wall culminating in a welldefined juncture with said rim and said outer wall of the rim having a well-defined juncture with said skirt; said inner wall, rim, and skirt being gathered in a plurality of circumferentially spaced folds extending outwardly from the mouth-spanning portion; said folds in the inner wall and rim being compacted into ribs projecting outwardly from the outer foil side of the cap to provide a generally smooth sealing surface at the underside of the inner wall and rim; a relatively stiff disk disposed inside said inner wall, means for securing said disk to the foil side of the mouth-spanning portion, said disk having an outer diameter approximately equal to the inside diameter of the inner wall at the juncture with said mouth-spanning portion to press the lower edge of the inner wall firmly against said sealing wall when the disk and mouth spanning portion are pressed into the mouth of the bottle, and thus eifectuating a first seal; said inner wall being inclined outwardly at an angle whereby the lower portion of said inner wall is adapted to be cammed inwardly as it enters the mouth of the bottle; and said rim and skirt being adapted to be reformed around said lip and neck ring of the bottle to eflectuate a second seal.

2. A bottle cap for bottles of the type having an annular internal sealing wall defining a mouth, a top lip, and an outer peripheral neck ring; said cap comprising an outer layer of thin metal foil and an inner layer of paper ad hesively secured to said outer layer, and a preformed shape comprising a generally planar mouth-spanning portion, a generally frusto-conical inner wall extending upwardly around said mouth-spanning portion, and inclined outwardly at an angle of approximately 11", a rim having a top wall extending outwardly from the upper edge of the inner wall and an outer wall connected to the top wall in a smooth arc and flaring downwardly to a level substantially adjacent the level of the mouth-spanning portion, a skirt on the lower end of the outer wall and flaring outwardly at a wider angle than said outer wall, circumferentially spaced folds gathered in said inner wall, rim and skirt and extending outwardly from the mouthspanning portion, ribs compacted from the folds in the inner wall and rim and projecting outwardly from the outer foil side of the cap to provide a generally smooth sealing face at the underside of the inner wall and rim, a relatively stifi disk disposed inside said inner wall, and means for securing said disk to the foil side of the mouth spanning portion, said disk having an outer diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the inner wall at its juncture with said mouth-spanning portion to press the lower edge of the inner wall firmly against the sealing wall of the bottle when the mouth-spanning portion of the 8 cap is pressed into the mouth of the bottle whereby the lower portion of said inner wall is cammed inwardly as the inner wall enters the mouth of the bottle.

3. A bottle cap for use to provide a double seal on a bottle containing a liquid and having an annular internal sealing wall defining a mouth, a top lip, and an outer peripheral neck ring; said bottle cap comprising an outer layer of metal foil, an inner layer of fibrous material, means for securing said inner layer to said outer layer, and a preformed shape comprising a generally flat, mouth-spanning, central body portion; an inner wall in the shape of an outwardly inclined frustoconical rising from the periphery of said central body portion; a reinforcing disk having a diameter approximating the diameter of said mouth-spanning portion, means for attaching said disk to the foil side of said mouth-spanning portion, and said disk shaped to push the mouth-spanning portion into the bottle mouth and to press and maintain the lower edge of said inner wall against said sealing wall to effectuate a first seal; said fibrous material being expandible upon contact with said liquid to more tightly secure said first seal; a rim comprising a top wall portion extending outwardly from the culmination of said inner wall, and an outer wall portion disposed from said top wall in a substantially smooth arc and flaring outwardly and downwardly; a skirt extending outwardly and downwardly from said outer wall of the rim; a plurality of gathered ribs on said inner wall and rim, said ribs extending outwardly to the foil side of said cap and forming substantially smooth sealing surfaces on the underside of said inner wall and rim; pleats in said skirt, said pleats extending from the ribs and said pleats shaped to be reformed into ribsduring the sealing of the bottle; said rim and skirt portions shaped to be reformed around said lip and neck ring of the bottle to effectuate a second seal; and said metal foil being of suflicient thickness to maintain said fibrous material in said sealing relationship with said lip upon completion of the reforming operation.

4. A milk bottle cap for application to a milk bottle of the type having an annular internal sealing wall defining a month, said wall extending radially outwardly to a top lip, and an outer peripheral neck ring; said cap comprising laminated sheet material having an outer layer of thin metal foil adhesively secured to an inner layer of paper, a substantially flat depressed central mouthspanning area, an annular upstanding intermediate portion having a top wall and diverging outer and inner side walls depending therefrom, a peripheral substantially circular pleated skirt depending from the outer margin of the outer depending wall of said intermediate portion and outwardly and downwardly flaring therefrom in preformed condition, and a relatively stiif paper disk secured to and covering the top surface of said depressed central mouth-spanning area, the combined length of said intermediate portion and said skirt being approximately equal to the distance around said outer peripheral neck ring and top lip and into said bottle mouth a distance approximately equal to the thickness of said paper disk, the inner depending wall of said intermediate portion being radially inclined and connected to the central mouthspanning area, the central mouth-spanning area having an outside diameter at its lower level slightly less than the inner diameter of said top lip, said diameter being approximately equal to the inner diameter of the bottle mouth, for sealing contact with said sealing wall, and said inner wall being inclined at a small angle whereby the lower extremity of said inner wall rests on said radial extension of the sealing wall when the cap is loosely placed on the bottle to thereby center the cap on the bottle prior to capping.

5. The method of applying a pliable skirted cap of the type having an outer layer of metal foil and an inner layer of paper and having a preformed shape comprising a generally ring-shaped rim portion extending outwardly and downwardly to a peripheral skirt portion and a generally planar mouth-spanning portion recessed from said rim portion and connected thereto by an upwardly and outwardly extending frusto-conical inner wall, said mouthspanning portion having a reinforcing disk adhesively secured thereto, onto a bottle having an annular internal sealing wall defining a mouth, a top lip, and an outer peripheral neck ring, to obtain a double seal; said method comprising placing said cap loosely on the top of the bottle, pressing said reinforcing disk having a diameter approximately equal to the mouth-spanning portion into the bottle mouth a distance less than the height of the inner wall of the cap to provide a first seal with the sealing wall, said movement into the bottle mouth operating to reform said inner wall by camming the lower portion of said inner wall inwardly into conformity with the sealing wall, simultaneously pressing said skirt portion inwardly to begin the reforming thereof, applying suflicient pressure to press the mid-portion of said rim downward and engaging said portion against the outer portion of the lip of the bottle to control the depth of entrance of said disk and mouth-spanning portion into the mouth and whereby the inner portion of said rim and said upper portion of the inner wall are spaced from the bottle, maintaining said depth of entrance during the remainder of the capping operation, resiliently squeezing and wiping the outer portion of the cap downwardly whereby the inner portion of said rim and the upper portion of said inner wall are pulled into conformity with the adjacent bottle surface, and the outer portion of the cap is squeezed into conformity with the outer surface of the neck ring, and resiliently squeezing the extremity of the cap into conformity with the lower surface of said neck ring thereby disposing and maintaining the outer portion of the cap in self-supporting connecting relationship in the area between said lip and the lower surface of said neck ring to effectuate a second seal.

6. The method of applying a pliable skirted cap of the type formed from a substantially circular blank having an outer layer of metal foil and an inner layer of waximpregnated paper adhesively afiixed to said outer layer, said cap preformed into a shape comprising, a generally planar, circular mouth-spanning portion, a generally frusto-conical inner wall rising upwardly and outwardly from said mouth-spanning portion, a rim extending outwardly from the top of said inner wall and downwardly to the peripheral skirt portion, and a relatively stiff disk having a diameter substantially equal to said mouthspanning portion and adhesively affixed to the foil side of said mouth-spanning portion; onto a container having a peripheral neck ring and a mouth-defining annular internal sealing wall with an upper portion extending radially upwardly and outwardly to a top lip, to obtain a double seal; said method comprising placing said cap loosely on the bottle with the lowermost portion of said inner wall of the cap resting on said radial-extension of said sealing wall to center the cap on the container and with the outer portion of the cap disposed from the container, applying pressure to said disk and pushing said disk and mouth-spanning portion into the container mouth a distance less than the height of said inner wall of the cap, said movement into the container mouth operating to reform said inner wall by moving the lower portion of said inner Wall inwardly into conformity with the sealing wall, said disk pressing said lower portion of the inner wall tightly against said sealing wall to provide a first seal, simultaneously moving said skirt toward said neck ring to begin the reforming of the skirt, pressing the mid-portion of said rim of the cap downward and engaging said portion against the outer portion of the lip of the container to control the depth of entrance of said disk and mouth-spanning portion into the mouth of the container and whereby the inner portion of said rim and said upper portion of said inner wall of the cap are spaced from the radial extension of said sealing wall and the inner portion of the lip of the container, maintaining said depth of entrance during the remainder of the capping operation, resiliently squeezing and wiping the outer portion of the cap downwardly whereby the inner portion of said rim and the upper portion of said inner wall are pulled into conformity with the radial extension of said sealing wall and the inner portion of the lip of the container, and the outer portion of the cap is squeezed into conformity with the outer surface of the neck ring, and resiliently squeezing the lower skirt portion of the cap into conformity with the lower surface of said neck ring thus disposing and maintaining the outer portion of the cap in self-supporting bridging relationship in the area between said lip and the lower surface of said neck ring to effectuate a second seal.

7. The method of applying a preformed skirted cap of the type having an outer surface of metal foil and an inner surface of fibrous material adhesively secured to said outer surface and having a recessed mouth-spanning portion with a reinforcing disk attached to the foil side thereof, said mouth-spanning portion being disposed to the outer portion by a generally frusto-conical wall extending upwardly and outwardly from said mouth-spanning portion, onto a bottle having an annular internal sealing wall defining a mouth, a top lip, and an outer peripheral neck ring; said method comprising placing said cap loosely on the bottle, pushing the disk and mouthspanning portion of the cap into the mouth of the bottle a distance less than the height of said cap wall, said entrance into the mouth reforming the lower portion of said frusto-conical wall into conformity with said sealing wall, pressing and engaging said cap against the outer peripheral portion of said lip of the bottle, maintaining said disk and mouth-spanning portion at said distance during the remainder of the reforming operation, wiping the cap downwardly from said point of engagement to [pull and reform the cap into conformity with said top lip of the bottle and simultaneously, in a downwardly progressing manner, resiliently squeezing and reforming the outer portionof the cap into conformity with said neck ring, and resiliently squeezing and reforming the peripheral skirt portion of the cap into conformity with the lower surface of said neck ring whereby the reformed structure maintains the outer portion of the cap in selfsupporting connecting relationship in the area between said lip and the lower surface of said neck ring.

Claims

1. A BOTTLE CAP FOR BOTTLES OF THE TYPE HAVING AN ANNULAR INTERNAL SEALING WALL DEFINING A MOUTH, A TOP LIP, AND IN OUTER PERIPHERAL NECK RING; SAID CAP PERFORMED FROM A SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCULAR BLANK COMPRISING AN OUTER LAYER OF METAL FOIL, AN INNER LAYER OF PAPER, MEANS FOR SECURING SAID INNER LAYER TO SAID OUTER LAYER, AND MEANS FOR IMPREGNATING THE EXPOSED SURFACE OF SAID INNER LAYER WITH PARAFFIN TO RENDER IT RELATIVELY IMPERVIOUS TO MOISTURE, SAID CAP COMPRISING A GENERALLY PLANAR MOUTH-SPANNING PORTION; A GENERALLY FRUSTO-CONICAL INNER WALL RISING UPWARDLY FROM, AND EXTENDING AROUND SAID MOUTH-SPANNING PORTION; A RIM HAVING A TOP WALL EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID INNER WALL; AN OUTER WALL DISPOSED FROM SAID TOP WALL IN A SMOOTH ARC AND FLOWING OUTWARDLY SND DOWNWARDLY TO A LEVEL SUBSTANTIALLY ADJACENT TO THE LEVEL OF THE MOUTHSPANNING PORTION; A SKIRT ON THE LOWER END OF THE OUTER WALL, SAID SKIRT FLOWING OUTWARDLY AT A WIDER ANGLE THAN SAID OUTER WALL; SAID INNER WALL CULMINATING IN A WELLDEFINED JUNCTURE WITH SAID RIM AND SAID OUTER WALL OF THE RIM HAVING A WELL-DEFINED JUNCTURE WITH SAID SKIRT; SAID INNER WALL, RIM, AND SKIRT BEING GATHERED IN A PLURALITY OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED FOLDS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM THE MOUTH-SPANNING PORTION; SAID FOLDS IN THE INNER WALL AND RIM BEING COMPACTED INTO RIBS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM THE OUTER FOIL SIDE OF THE CAP TO PROVIDE A GENERALLY SMOOTH SEALING SURFACE AT THE UNDERSIDE OF THE INNER WALL AND RIM; A RELATIVELY STIFF DISK DISPOSED INSIDE SAID INNER WALL, MEANS FOR SECURING SAID DISK TO THE FOIL SIDE OF THE MOUTH-SPANNING PORTION, SAID DISK HAVING AN OUTER DIAMETER APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE INSIDE DIAMETER OF THE INNER WALL AT THE JUNCTURE WITH SAID MOUTH-SPANNING PORTION TO PRESS THE LOWER EDGE OF THE INNER WALL WALL FIRMLY AGAINST SAID SEALING WALL WHEN THE DISK AND MOUTH SPANNING PORTION ARE PRESSED INTO THE MOUTH OF THE BOTTLE; AND THUS EFFECTUATING A FIRST SEAL; SAID INNER WALL BEING INCLINED OUTWARDLY AT AN ANGLE WHEREBY THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID INNER WALL IS ADAPTED TO BE CAMMED INWARDLY AS IT ENTERS THE MOUTH OF THE BOTTLE; AND SAID RIM AND SKIRT BEING ADAPTED TO BE REFORMED AROUND SAID LIP AND NECK RING OF THE BOTTLE TO EFFECTUATE A SECOND SEAL.