FR3103470A1 - IMPROVED BOTTLE CAP - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a cap, in particular made of plastic, for a bottle such as a bottle of water or soda. This cap (1,11,13) comprises an upper part (2) intended to be unscrewed and connected by bridges (6,15,16,17,18) to a lower part (7) intended to remain on the neck of the bottle (8), and it has the particularity that it comprises recesses (9,10,12,14) in its lower part (2), one on each circumferential side of each of the bridges (6,15,16 ,17). The invention also relates to a bottle provided with such a stopper as well as to a process for manufacturing this stopper. Figure for abstract: figure 1

Description

IMPROVED BOTTLE CAP

The invention relates to a stopper, in particular made of plastic, for a bottle such as a bottle of water or soda, as well as a bottle provided with such a stopper and a process for manufacturing this stopper.

Background of the invention

Corks composed of an upper part connected to a lower part by bridges regularly arranged on the circumference of the cork are well known.

The lower part of the cork is intended to remain on the bottle and the upper part is intended to be turned, unscrewed in order to tear the bridges and separate the two parts. The upper part can then be completely unscrewed and separated from the bottle, while the lower part remains on the bottle.

Such stoppers are described in particular in the French patent application published under the number FR 2525565 and in the international patent application published under the number WO03/084833.

In British Patent No. GB 1134894 is proposed a stopper whose bridges 19 connecting the upper part to the lower part have the shape of a truncated pyramid. The breaking of the bridges is predicted to occur at the top of the pyramids.

The European patent application published under number EP290720 relates to a cap comprising connecting tabs 4 between the upper and lower parts, the base of which is trapezoidal and the vertical development triangular. The theoretical breaking points of the legs are at the upper end of the legs.

In US Patent No. US 5007545, the bridges 44, which can be clearly seen in Figures 2 and 3, take the form of a truncated cone whose apex is located at the level of the upper part. It is at the top of the truncated cones that the rupture of bridges 44 occurs.

Finally, in French patent application No. FR 2736893, frangible connecting bridges 13 are provided with a trapezoidal shape, the small base of which, where the rupture must occur, is located at the level of the upper part of the stopper.

Thus, in all the caps of the aforementioned documents, when the two parts of the cap are separated, the breakage of the bridges takes place at the top of the bridges. It follows that once the upper part is removed, there are usually shreds of bridge left on the lower part. These bridge flaps feature an irregular, often sharp upper end. When a user drinks from the neck, the upper ends of the bridges may come into contact with the user's lips, causing an awkward and unpleasant sensation. In some cases, there may even be a risk of cutting the user's lips.

Brief Disclosure of the Invention

The major object of the invention is to provide a cap which, once unscrewed, allows a user to drink from the neck without being bothered by pieces of bridge or risking being injured by them.

This goal is achieved by a stopper according to the following point 1:

1.- Bottle cap, comprising an upper part intended to be unscrewed and connected by bridges to a lower part (7) intended to remain on the neck of the bottle (8), this cap being distinguished in that it comprises recesses in its lower part, one on each circumferential side of each of the bridges.

Thus, the breaking of the bridges takes place inside the recesses, therefore out of the reach of the lips of the user, if the latter drinks normally, that is to say if he does not press excessively his lips against the lower part of the cork still on the bottle.

Advantageous characteristics of this stopper are indicated in the following points 2 to 8:

2.- Cap according to point 1, in which at least the recesses located on the side towards which the cap is intended to be turned to open the bottle have a flared shape towards the upper part of the cap.

3.- Plug according to point 1 or 2, in which each bridge has a fragile zone.

4.- Plug according to point 3, in which the area is fragile due to a local decrease in the thickness of the bridge.

5.- Plug according to point 3, in which the area is fragile due to a local decrease in the width of the bridge.

6.- Plug according to one of points 3 to 5, in which the fragile zone is at the level of the lower end of the bridge.

According to another aspect, the invention also relates to a bottle provided with a stopper according to the aforementioned points.

Finally, the invention also relates to a method according to the following point 7:

7.- Process for manufacturing a bottle cap comprising an upper part intended to be unscrewed and connected by bridges to a lower part intended to remain on the neck of the bottle, this process being distinguished in that recesses are formed in the lower part of the stopper, one on each circumferential side of each of the bridges.

Advantageous features of this process are listed in the following points 8 to 12:

8.- Method according to point 7, in which at least the recesses located on the side towards which the stopper is intended to be turned to open the bottle are made with a flared shape towards the upper part of the stopper.

9.- Process according to point 8, in which each bridge is made with a fragile zone.

10.- Process according to point 9, in which the fragile zone is achieved by locally reducing the thickness of the bridge or the width of the bridge.

11.- Process according to point 9 or 10, in which the fragile zone is made at the level of the lower end of the bridge.

12.- Method according to point 10 or 11, in which the fragile zone is made at the level of the lower end of the bridge.

Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will now be described in detail in the following description which is given with reference to the appended figures, which schematically represent:

: a cap according to the invention, mounted on a bottle, in perspective front view;

: a variant of the stopper according to the invention, mounted on a bottle, in perspective front view;

: another variant of the stopper according to the invention, mounted on a bottle, in perspective front view;

: part of a variant of the cap of Figure 3, projected onto a plane;

: a section of Figure 4, along the line CC;

: part of another variant of the cap of Figure 3, projected onto a plane;

: a section of Figure 6, along the line EE;

: part of yet another variant of the cap of Figure 3, projected onto a plane;

: a section of Figure 8, along the line AA;

: part of yet another variant of the cap of Figure 3, projected onto a plane;

: a section of Figure 10, along the line DD;

: the cap of Figures 8 and 9, after separation of its upper and lower parts and projection on a plane; And

: a section along the line BB of the upper and lower parts of the cap of figure 12.

Detailed disclosure of the invention

As mentioned above, the invention lies in the connection between the upper and lower parts of the cap.

In Figures 1 to 13 are shown several examples of embodiments of the invention.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the cap 1 according to the invention comprises:

an upper part 2 with a closed upper axial end 3, ribs 4 to facilitate its rotation, an internal thread corresponding to the thread of the neck of the bottle and a lower axial end 5 from which project bridges 6 downwards, parallel to the longitudinal axis of symmetry X of the bottle 8; And

a lower part 7 connected by bridges 6 to the upper part 2.

The upper part 2 is intended to be unscrewed by the user and separated from the bottle 8.

The lower part 7 is intended to remain on the neck of the bottle 8.

The general structural characteristics of the stopper are well known to those skilled in the art and described for example in the documents cited in the introduction, in particular in French patent applications No. FR 2736893 and FR 2525565.

However, according to the invention, the lower end of each bridge 6 joins the lower part 7 of the stopper 1 inside and preferably in the middle of a notch provided in this lower part 7, thus creating two recesses 9,10 on each circumferential side of the bridge 6, because, because the neck of the bottle is circular, each bridge 6 is in fact an arc of a hollow cylinder.

In Figure 1, the recesses 9 and 10 have a substantially parallelepipedic shape or more precisely, that of arcs of hollow cylinders.

In Figure 2 is shown an advantageous variant 11 which differs from the plug 1 of Figure 1 by the shape of its recesses 12 different from that of the recesses 10.

Each recess 12 has substantially the shape of an upside-down triangle, that is to say it is flared upwards. This configuration aims to further facilitate the breaking of the bridge inside the notches, when the cork is turned in the direction of the opening of the bottle symbolized by the arrow F.

Another variant 13 of the stopper can be seen in FIG. 3. In this variant, the two recesses are substantially identical. The recesses on the left 14 in FIG. 3 are flared like those on the right, for reasons of symmetry, the latter being able to facilitate the manufacture of the stopper.

According to a more advantageous embodiment of the invention, a fragile zone is provided on each bridge to ensure that its breakage takes place inside the notches.

Thus, as can be seen in Figures 4 and 5, the weakening of each bridge 15 can be achieved by thinning the thickness of the bridge.

In Figures 6 and 7, the embrittlement comes from a narrowing of the width of each bridge 16.

Preferably, the weakening is located at the end of the bridge joining the lower part of the stopper, as shown in Figures 8.9 and 10.11, where the bridges 17.18 are weakened at the bottom of the notches, respectively by a thinning the thickness of the bridges 17 (Fig. 8 and 9) and a narrowing of the bridges 18 (Fig. 10 and 11).

Process according to the invention

The stopper according to the invention is generally made of plastic material, in a manner known to those skilled in the art, in particular according to the methods described in the aforementioned prior art documents.

The only particularity of the method according to the invention is that recesses are made in the lower part of the stopper, on each circumferential side of the bridges (cf. Fig. 1).

As explained above, at least the recesses located on the side towards which the stopper is intended to be turned to open the bottle are advantageously made with a flared shape towards the upper part of the stopper (cf. in particular Fig. 2 and 3).

Similarly, the bridges are preferably made with fragile areas, by thinning the thickness of the bridges (cf. Fig. 4.5) or by narrowing the width of the bridges (cf. Fig. 6.7), preferably at the level of the lower ends of the bridges (cf. respectively Fig. 8.9 and 10.11).

Use of the stopper according to the invention

Once manufactured, the cap 1,11,13 is screwed fully onto a bottle. Its lower part 7 generally comprises blocking means which cooperates with a collar (not shown) provided on the bottle in order to prevent the lower part 7 of the cap from being removed from the bottle 8.

When a user then wishes to open the bottle 8, he normally turns the upper part 2 of the stopper 1,11,13 counterclockwise. Thanks to its thread cooperating with the thread of the bottle 8, this upper part 2 is driven upwards. Because it is integral with the lower part 7 due to the presence of the bridges 6,15,16,17, it tends to cause this lower part 7 in its upward movement. But the latter is blocked in its ascent by the collar of the bottle 8. As the user continues to turn the upper part 2, the latter continues its helical movement and pulls on the lower part 7. The bridges 6,15,16,17 are then stretched then they eventually give in.

Thanks to the conformation of the cap 1,11,13 according to the invention, the bridges 6,15,16,17,18 break inside the notches.

Figures 12 and 13 show for example the stopper of Figures 8 and 9, after the bridges 17 have broken. As can be seen in these figures, the bridges 17 have broken at their lower end and only a shred remains of material at the bottom of the notches, out of the reach of the user's lips if he is drinking from a bottle.

In this way, there is no risk that the user will be bothered or injured by the remains of the bridges 17.

Claims (12)

- Bottle cap (1,11,13), comprising an upper part (2) intended to be unscrewed and connected by bridges (6,15,16,17,18) to a lower part (7) intended to remain on the neck of the bottle (8), characterized in that it comprises recesses (9,10,12,14) in its lower part (2), one on each circumferential side of each of the bridges (6,15,16, 17). - Stopper (11,13) according to claim 1, in which at least the recesses (12) located on the side towards which the stopper (11,13) is intended to be turned to open the bottle (8) have a flared shape towards the upper part (2) of the plug (11,13). - Stopper according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each bridge (15,16,17,18) has a fragile zone. - Stopper according to claim 3, in which the zone is fragile due to a local reduction in the thickness of the bridge (15,17). - Stopper according to claim 3, in which the zone is fragile due to a local reduction in the width of the bridge (16,18). - Stopper according to one of claims 3 to 5, in which the fragile zone is at the level of the lower end of the bridge (17,18). - Bottle, characterized in that it is provided with a stopper according to one of claims 1 to 6. - Method of manufacturing a bottle cap (1,11,13) comprising an upper part (2) intended to be unscrewed and connected by bridges (6,15,16,17,18) to a lower part (7) intended to remain on the neck of the bottle (8), characterized in that recesses (9,10,12,14) are made in the lower part (7) of the stopper (1,11,13), one of each circumferential side of each of the bridges (9,10,12,14). - Method according to claim 8, in which at least the recesses (12) located on the side towards which the stopper (11,13) is intended to be turned to open the bottle (8) are made with a flared shape towards the upper part (2) of the cap (11,13). - Method according to claim 9, in which each bridge (15,16,17,18) is produced with a fragile zone. - Method according to claim 10, in which the fragile zone is produced by locally reducing the thickness of the bridge or the width of the bridge (15,17). - Method according to claim 10 or 11, in which the fragile zone is produced at the level of the lower end of the bridge (16,18).