Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention rela-tes to a new improved derormable
plastic cap for bottles and to the combination of bottle and
cap.
One usc for the present invention is to seal a wine boktle, ~ !
although the cap ~ay be used to seal other types Or bottles.
Heretofore, wine bottles have generally been sealed with
cork forced into the bottle neck~ Tho present invention i9 a
replacement ~or such cork.
An advantage of the invention is the fact that the seal is
very tight in that the locations of sealing are not on~ the
inside of the neck but also the upper edge or fini4h o~ the neck
and the exterior Or the neck. Hence the sealing against lea~age
of contents and ingress of air is improved over conventional
bottle caps and closures.
;~ A further feature of the invention is the fact that the
~ cap may be easily installed on the bottle neck by automatic
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machiner~. ~
Further, the cap may be removed merely by pulling-a~fin8er
tab, tearing from a portion o~ the outer skirt a weakened band,
~ which reduces the friction between the cap and the bottle neck
and permits manua1 removal,
Still another feature of the invention is the ~act that
the cap after being torn results in a residual reclosure cap
which ma~ be used repreatedly. When the reclosure cap is in
place, the bottle is protected to a oertain extent against in-
gre~ss o~ air and also is protected against leakage of the
~; contents.
A still further fsature of the invention is the fact that
the outer skirt of the cap when intact pre~ents removal of the
cap, and hence prevents tampering with the contents. On khe
other hand~ once the weakened band is removed the purchaser can
detect the fact that the contents o~ the bottle have been subject
to tampering.
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Accordingly the invention provides a thin walled,
flexible plastic cap for ~losing a wine bottle having A neck
formed with an annular finish at the upper end of said neck,
the outside of said neck shaped with a short, cylindrical
outside upper surface below said finish, a first bead below
said upper surface and an elongated cyl:indrical outside lower
surface below said first bead, said upper and lower surfaces
being of about the same diameter, said neck being formed with
a cylindrical inner surface below said finish; said cap be-
ing deformable to stretch over said bead, said cap comprisinga top disc having a diameter about equal to said finish, a
thin walled outer skirt depending from said disc, said outer :
skirt having a top portion shaped to fit tightly around said
upper surface, a pair of internal beads shaped to fit tlghtly
around the edges of said first ~ead, a bottom portion shaped
: to fit around at least a portion of said lower surface and a
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: pull tab depending below said pair of beads, vertically
spaced apart upper and lower score lines being located between
said pair of beads which weaken said outer skirt when said
tab ls pulled so that a circumferential band may be torn off
between said score lines, permitting removal of the portion
of said cap above said upper score line.
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Other obJects of the present invent,ion will beoome apparent
upon reading the following specification and referring to the
`~ accompanying drawing in which similar characters of reference
represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.
In the drawings:
Fig~ 1 is an exploded side~elevational view partly broken
away to reveal internal construction of a Cflp and bottle~
Fig~ 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the cap and
bottle assambled and also showing the weakened band partiaLl~
torn away.
Fig. 3 is~a sectional viaw tak3n substantially along the
line 3--3 of Fig. 1 prior to removal of the weakened band.
Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the weakened
band removed and the use of the upper portlon of the cap as a
reclosure capO
The present invention~provides a cap 11 for a conventional
bottle neck 12, here shown a~a wine bottle. ~The cap is so
formed that a weakened band 13 may be manually removed from the
cap 113 permitting the upper portion of the cap to be pulled off
the neclc and constituting a reclosure cap ll~ for reclosure
` purpo~es.
The bottle neck 12 hfls a lip or finish 16 at its t~op,
Where the cap is used on a wine bottle, the neck 12 is ~ormed
with an external) approxi~atel~ re~ctangular c~oss section bead
17 spaced downward from~the finish 16. The inside of neck 12
is appro~imately oylindrical.
Cap 11 fits tightly on the upper porti~on of neok 12. For
such purpose9 it is formed with~a ~top disk Zl preferabl~ flat
both inside and out~ Extending below top disk 21 is a peripher-
al top portion ~2 of the outer skirtO Top portion 22 h~s Iengthabout equal to the height of neck 12 above bead 17. Be1ow top
portion 22 are a pair o:~ circumferential beads 19~ 20 having
inside dia~neters to ;~it tightly against the indentations at the
top and bottom edg0s of bead 17. Below bead 20 is the bottom 21
o~ the outer sk.;rt.
The thin-walled outer skirt consisting of the portions 22
23 and 24 fits snugly against the outside of the neck l2; and
when intact, the cap cannot be removed from the bottle and hence
the possibility o~ tampering with the contents is prevented. It
i9 al50 appflrent that there is a liquid type seal between the
inside o~ the top disk 21 and the .~inish 16 and also between the
exterior of the neck 12 and the bead 17 thereo~ and the interior
of the outer skirt and~particularly beads 19, 20 of the cap.
The ingress of air is prevented by the sealing surfflces~
Two circum~erential vertically ~paced ap~t internal score
lines, namely~ upper line 26 and lower line 27 are pre~erably
~ormed in skirt section 23 between beads 19~ 20~ and ~orm;weak
ened band 13. A gap 28 o~ a short arcuate d1stance cab be : ;~ ;
~ormed into the lower line 27. Immediately below gap 28~is an
integral tear tab 31 ~ormed~on the exterior Or lower skirt por-
tion 24~ A ~irst internal curved score:line 36 on skîrt portion
23 extends ~rom the upper ri~ght corner (as viewed in Figo 1) of
tab 31 generall~ upward and to the left until it merges with
upper circumferential score line 26. Similarly9 a second, :~
shor~er radius,:interna1 curvad score line 37 extends from the: . ~. ~
upper left corner of tab 31 ganerall~ upward and to the le~t ; ~ ~.
until it merges with lower oircum~erential score line 27. Below
the level o~ lower ~core line 27 the s~irt section 23 is thinned
area 38 immediat~ely under the upper end of tear tab 31. To pre- :~
vent the tab 31 ~rom being torn apart~ lt is pre~erably formed
with fl rainrorcement 32 angling upwardly to the band 13.
:~ 30 In the pre.ferred embodlment of the invention i1lustrated in
khe accompanying drawings there is an inner or "corking" skirt
34 depending from disk 21 and ~itting tlghtly against the inside
surface 18 o~ the neck 12. This skirt 34 augments the seali.ng
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i{~a~O~o
o~ the CMP 11. and further facilltates the pos:itioning of the
reclosure CflP 14.
~ ap 11 may be installed on khe neck 12 b~ automatic capping
machineryO ~or such purpose, the portion of neck 12 above boad
17 slanks slightly downwa.rdly~outwardl~ as best shown in Fig. lo
This portion ~its inside the lower edge o~ lower skirt portion
2L~ Downward pressure applied to top disk 21 stretches the
skirt 2l~ oukwardly. The lower edge o~ inner ~kirt 31~ SIA1PS
inside neck 12. When cap 11 is seated~ there is a sealing
~; 10 between the inner skirt 3LL and the inside 18 o~ the neck 12,
also between the finish 16 and the underside of the top disk 21
and also of the exterior of neck 12 with the portions 22, 23, 24
and particularly beads 19~ 20. When intact, the cap 11 cannot
be removed by any ordinary means,
When it is decided to open the bottle~ the user gr~sps the
tab 31 and pulls upward and toward the left as viewed in Fig~
: and 2. As the tab 31 is lifted and pulled: the thinned area 38
~ ~ractures, permitting the ta~ to be torn upward. Skirt portion
; ~ 23 tears along cu.rved lines 36, 37. The tear at line 36 ~erees
: 20 with line 26 and:the tear at line 37 merges with line 27.
Further pulling on tab 31 tears Iines 26 and 27 around the cap.
: B~ thus continuing to pull on the tab~31 around the bottLe, the . .
: : entire band 13 between lines;2~ and 27 is removed.
~ The user pries the oap from the bottle neck, One means for
;: removing:the cap is by the ~ingers grippine the under~ide of the
reclosure cap 14 shown in Fig. 40 In the condltion of Fig. 4
the resistance to the removal of the reclosure cap 14 is consid-
~: erably less than to the csp Ll because a Lesser sur~acs area~of
-~ contact between the skirt and the neck re~ains and also because
the Lower portion 24 below the baad 17 has been disconnected from
the reclosure cap lL~ and the shoulder on the lower side Or the
bead 17 no longer prevents upward pulling of the cap 14,
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After a portion Or the contents o~ th~ bottle has been
dispensed~ it i9 possible to use the reclosure cap lL~. The
inner slci.rt 31~ ~uides the reclosure cap lL~ in place as the
inner skirt 31~ is lnserted inside the surface 1~ o:~ neck 12
and a downward manual .~orce on disk 21 causes the cap to seat
into the position.
Although only one spec:i~ic en~odiment of the invention
ha~ been described~ it is understood that chan~es and modiri-
cations can be made without departi.ng ~rom the spirit thereo~,
as set forth in the following claims.
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