US3794220A

US3794220A - Toggle necklock

Info

Publication number: US3794220A
Application number: US00241472A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Valle
Original assignee: AUTO BAR SYST CORP
Current assignee: AUTO BAR SYST CORP
Priority date: 1972-04-05
Filing date: 1972-04-05
Publication date: 1974-02-26
Anticipated expiration: 1991-02-26

Abstract

A bottle dispenser mounted on the open end of a bottle has a rotatable threaded shaft extending into the neck of the bottle with a toggle nut threaded onto the shaft for combined rotation and translation movement and a pair of oppositely extending wings pivotally mounted on the toggle nut. The wings are expanded to engage the inner surface of the bottle neck and the shaft rotated so that the toggle nut moves therealong to lockingly engage the expanded wing members against the inner surface of the bottle neck.

Description

1451 Feb. 26, 1974 4] TOGGLE NECKLOCK FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Howard C. Valle, Doylestown, Pa. 2

234,486 5/1911 Germany 215/98 [75] Inventor:

Auto Bar Systems Corporation, New York, NY.

[73] Assignee:

Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-Thomas E. Kocovsky 22 Filed: Apr.'5, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 241,472

Attorney, Agent, or Firm -Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue.& Raymond T C m S B A H 5 0 7 w 8 2 m m D8 o or 6 0 k '0 D. N r ne SS M mm -0 .mn m m t n O C 1 3 6 A bottle dispenser mounted on the open end of a bottle has a rotatable threaded shaft extending into the abandoned.

[52] us CLMLUW neck of the bottle with a toggle nut threaded onto the 51 Int. Cl............::...13..........................-B67d 5/32 Shaft for rtatineand mvemem 581 Field of Search.... 222/153; 85/3; 215/9, 98, 73} a P extending wings Pivmally mounted on the toggle nut. The wings are expanded to engage the inner surface of the bottle neck and the shaft rotated so that the toggle nut moves therealong to lockingly engage the expanded wing members against the inner surface of the bottle neck.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 85/3 S 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures 2,559,815 7/1951 Woodward... 2,721,005 10/1955 Leswick...... 1,694,493 12/1928 Tomkinson............................

PATENTEDFEBZEW 3,794,220

sum

2 or 2 '.F|G,4 Y;

INVENTOR //o MflRQ C 1491.461

7 I a f'i X V ATTORNEYS TOGGLE NECKLOCK I This-is a continuation, division, of application Ser. No. 6,428 filed .Ian'. 28, 1970 now abandoned.

In order to dispense. measured or predetermined quantities of liquid from a bottle, various forms of liquid disp'ensers have been devised for mounting on the open end of the bottle. Such a dispenser is locked upon the bottle by means of'a necklock assembly or other form of bottle closure anchorage which generally extends into the neck of thebottle and is lockingly engaged against the inner surface of the bottle neck. Such dispensers can only be removed by means of a special key or tool which is not available to the bartender or the waiter who is dispensing the liquids. The anchoring or necklock assembly generally comprises some form of expansible structure which is lockingly engaged against the interior surface of the bottle neck and cannot be released therefrom except by means of a special tool or key. One form of such an anchoring structure comprises a pair of wing members pivotally mounted on a mounting block threaded upon a shaft extending into the bottole neck. The pivotal mounting of these expandable wing members hastended to be complex, and hence, has added significantly to the cost of manufacturing such dispensers. Since these dispensers are used in large quantities in bars, hotels, restaurants and the like, various attempts have been made to simplify and improve the anchoring structure.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved necklock assembly for a liquid dispenser of the type which is mounted on theend of a bottle containing the liquid to be dispensed.

Another of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved structure-for pivotally mounting a pair of wing members which are expanded into locking engagement with the interior surface of the bottle neck.

According to one aspect of the invention, a liquid dis- I penser adapted to be mounted on the end of a bottle containing liquid to be dispensed is provided with a necklock assembly which includes a cap assembly adapted to be mounted on the open end of the bottle. An elongated member is rotatably mounted in the cap assembly and extends into the neck ofa bottle when the dispenser is mounted on the bottle. A toggle nut is mounted on the elongated member for combined rotation about and translation therealong. The toggle nut is provided with oppositely extending lateral arms with a pair of oppositely extending wing members being pivotally mounted on these lateral arms. The wing members are pivotable between an expanded position to engage the inner surface of the bottle neck and a contracted position against the elongated member pointed toward the open end of the bottle. Each of the wing members is provided with means engageable with the elongated member for limitirig the pivoting movement into the expanded position. The connection between the toggle nut and the elongated member is such that relative roinvention will be apparent from the accompanying description and drawings, which are merely exemplary.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the open end of a bottle and a liquid dispenser mounted on the open end provided with a necklock assembly;

FIG. 2 is an end view taken in the direction of the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the toggle'assembly showing the wing members intermediate between the expanded and contracted positions;

Proceeding next tothe drawings wherein like reference symbols indicate the same parts throughout the 1 various views, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

A liquid dispenser having a necklock assembly according to the present invention is indicated'generally at 10 in FIG. 1 and may comprise a cap assembly including a bottlecap or closure 11 and a cap .engaging member 12 secured together by screws such as 13. One form of a dispenser with which the invention can be used is illustrated in U. S. Pat. No. 2,559,8l5. A slide 14 having an opening 15 therein is slidably mounted between the closure 11 and cap 12 for-preventing the dispensing of the liquid from the bottle when in closed position. The slide 14 is positioned between upper and lower gaskets 16.

The cap assembly is sealingly mounted in an open end 17 ofa bottle having a neck 18 by means ofa tubuing and is surrounded by a sleeve seal 20.

The necklock assembly comprises a threaded shaft 21 having one end 22 rotatably mounted in a sleeve 23 mounted within the central opening of the cap assembly by a plurality of radial flanges 24. The extreme end of the shaft is provided with a nut 25 having a special shape or configuration so as to be engageable by a tool 26 (FIG. 7) and having an open end 27 to receive nut 25.

Mounted upon the threaded shaft 21 within the interior of the bottle is a toggle assembly indicated generally at 28 in FIGS. 3 and 4 and comprising a toggle nut 29 shown in greater detail in FIG. 5. The nut 29 has a threaded bore 30 through which passes the threaded shaft 21 and also a pairof oppositely extending lateral arms 31. A pair of

wing members

32 and 33 each have a substantially U-shaped cross section. Both wing mem--

bers

32 and 33 are identical in construction with the wing member 33, for example, being provided with opposed openings 34 which receive the lateral arms 31 of the toggle nut so that the wing member is pivotally mounted on this toggle nut. In a similar manner, the wing member 32 is also pivotally mounted on the arms of the toggle nut.

The ends of

wing members

32 and 33 are provided with upturned extensions 35 each having threaded portions 36 to closely engage threads on the shaft 21.

The wing members have a contacted position as indicated by the dot-dash lines at 37 in'FIG. 1 in which position the wing members point toward the open end of the bottle. In their fully expanded positions, the wing member extensions 35 engage the shaft in the manner shown in FIG. 4; The wing members are so dimensioned that when in their contracted position as indicated at 37 in FIG. 1, they will pass through the bottle opening. Since the wing members are freely pivotable about the toggle nut, they can be pivoted to the contracted position as the end of the shaft 21 is inserted into the bottle neck as the first step in mounting this liquid dispenser upon the bottle. As the wing members move into the gradually expanding neck of the bottle, they can be pivotally moved to their expanded position under their own weight as the bottle is held in upright position until the ends of the wing members contact the inner surface of the bottle neck as shown in either FIG. 3 or FIG. 4.

In order to lock the dispenser into position, tool 26 of FIG. 7 can be used to rotate shaft 21 so as to cause the toggle nut to move'upwardly toward the end of the bottle. This upward movement causes the wing members to become locked with their ends against the inner surface of the bottle neck, and thus, withdrawal of the dispenser from the bottle is prevented.

It will be understood that various details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for dispensing liquid from a bottle having a relatively narrow neck portion adjacent its open end, said apparatus including liquid dispenser means releasably engageable with a necklock assembly secured to the bottle, an improved necklock assembly comprising:

a. a cap assembly adapted for mounting on the open end of the bottle, said cap assembly having means for engaging said liquid dispenser means;

b. an elongated, threaded member rotatably mounted adjacent one end in said cap assembly and extending into the neck ofthe bottle when the cap assembly is mounted on the bottle, the end of the elongated member received in said cap assembly having a configurated means thereon adapted to be received in a complementarily co'nfigurated tool for rotating said elongated member about its longitudi nal axis; and

c. a toggle assembly comprising 4 i. a nut having oppositely extending lateral arms and being threadedly mountedon said elongated member so that relative rotation between said nut and said elongated member causes the nut to longitudinally traverse the elongated member; and ii. two oppositely extending wing members, each pivotally mounted adjacent one end on said lat- 'eral arms for pivotal movement under the influence of gravity between a retracted position, longitudinally adjacent said elongated member with its free end directed toward the open end of the bottle, and an expanded position, angularly spaced from said elongated member and generally perpendicular to the inner surface of the neck of the bottle, and having threaded means adjacent its pivot end for releasably engaging the elongated member and limiting the pivotal move ment of said wing member into its expanded position, I said wing members, when mounted on 'said elongated member and in said retracted position, presenting maximum dimensions transverse to said elongated member smaller than the inner dimensions of the neck of the bottle so as to be able to pass therethrough, and further said wing members coacting with said nut and said elongated member such that longitudinal movement 'of the nut along the elongated member toward the open end of the bottle causes the free end of each wing member, when in its expanded position, to lockingly engage the inner surface of the neck of the bottle and further causes the threaded means adjacent the pivot end of each wing member to engage the elongated member and secure the free end of each wing member against the inner surface of the bottle, and reverse longitudinal movement of the nut causes the free end of each wing member to disengage said bottle surface and permits said wing member to pivot to its retracted position, when the bottle is inverted, thereby allowing the necklock assembly to be removed from the bottle with the toggle assembly still mounted on the elongated member and without breaking the bottle.

fl 22 33 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION irate: No. 3,794',2 2 0 I Dated February 26, 197 4 Inventor, .Heward C. Valle n certified that error a ipears in the above-identified pat ent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

1 Col. 1, line 2 division," should read -appl icatibn- Col. 1, line 23, "bottole" should read -bottle--.; and,

Col. 2, line 66, "contacted" should read contracted- Signed and sealed this 2nd. day of July 1974.

(SEAL) Attest EDWARD M. FLETCHER ,JR. c .'MA13sH1 xLL DANN v Attesting Officer Comm-1ss1one-1 0f Patents

Claims

1. In apparatus for dispensing liquid from a bottle having a relatively narrow neck portion adjacent its open end, said apparatus including liquid dispenser means releasably engageable with a necklock assembly secured to the bottle, an improved necklock assembly comprising: a. a cap assembly adapted for mounting on the open end of the bottle, said cap assembly having means for engaging said liquid dispenser means; b. an elongated, threaded member rotatably mounted adjacent one end in said cap assembly and extending into the neck of the bottle when the cap assembly is mounted on the bottle, the end of the elongated member received in said cap assembly having a configurated means thereon adapted to be received in a complementarily configurated tool for rotating said elongated member about its longitudinal axis; and c. a toggle assembly comprising i. a nut having oppositely extending lateral arms and being threadedly mounted on said elongated member so that relative rotation between said nut and said elongated member causes the nut to longitudinally traverse the elongated member; and ii. two oppositely extending wing members, each pivotally mounted adjacent one end on said lateral arms for pivotal movement under the influence of gravity between a retracted position, longitudinally adjacent said elongated member with its free end directed toward the open end of the bottle, and an expanded position, angularly spaced from said elongated member and generally perpendicular to the inner surface of the neck of the bottle, and having threaded means adjacent its pivot end for releasably engaging the elongated member and limiting the pivotal movement of said wing member into its expanded position, said wing members, when mounted on said elongated member and in said retracted position, presenting maximum dimensions transverse to said elongated member smaller than the inner dimensions of the neck of the bottle so as to be able to pass therethrough, and further said wing members coacting with said nut and said elongated member such that longitudinal movement of the nut along the elongated member toward the open end of the bottle causes the free end of each wing member, when in its expanded position, to lockingly engage the inner surface of the neck of the bottle and further causes the threaded means adjacent the pivot end of each wing member to engage the elongated member and secure the free end of each wing member against the inner surface of the bottle, and reverse longitudinal movement of the nut causes the free end of each wing member to disengage said bottle surface and permits said wing member to pivot to its retracted position, when the bottle is inverted, thereby allowing the necklock assembly to be removed from the bottle with the toggle assembly still mounted on the elongated member and without breaking the bottle.