Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DEVICE FOR CLOSING BOTTLES OF ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND
SPIRITS
The present invention refers to an anti-tampering
closing device for caps of bottles of alcoholic drinks
or spirits.
Different devices for closing bottles of alcoholic
drinks are known, in general made up of a cap and a
pourer.
The cap has an internal threading suitable for
engaging, to open or close the bottle, with a
corresponding threading foreseen on the outer surface
of the pourer.
The latter is fixed with pressure in the opening of the
neck of the bottle or through known means to the neck
of the bottle.
Moreover, a further aluminium or plastic coating can be
foreseen that covers the cap.
Known closing devices also generally have an annular
band provided with a predetermined breaking line to
join the cap to the neck of the bottle before it is
first opened.
The first time the bottle is opened is made clear by
the breaking of the aforementioned annular band at the
predetermined breaking line.
Once the bottle has been opened for the first time it
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is extremely simple to remove the pourer to alter the
content of the bottle, without it being at all clear
that this has occurred.
In light of the above, there is clearly a need to have
a device for closing bottles, like the one according to
the present invention, which allows the possibility of
alteration or contamination of the content of bottles
to be eliminated or in any case reduced.
Therefore, a purpose of the present invention is to
solve the problems of the prior art, providing a device
for closing bottles that clearly and obviously shows
when the bottle has been opened for the first time and
the subsequent times that the bottle has been opened.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide
a device for closing bottles of alcoholic drinks and
spirits that is simple and intuitive to use.
Finally, another purpose of the present invention is to
provide a device for closing bottles of alcoholic
drinks and spirits that is simple and cost-effective to
make.
These and other purposes according to the present
invention are accomplished by making a device for
closing bottles of alcoholic drinks and spirits as
outlined in claim 1.
Further characteristics of the closing device are the
object of the dependent claims.
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The characteristics and advantages of a device for
closing bottles of alcoholic drinks and spirits
according to the present invention shall become clearer
from the following description, given as a non-limiting
example, referring to the attached schematic drawings,
in which:
- figure 1 is a side elevation view partially in
section of a first embodiment of the closing device
according to the present invention with the lever
element in the second position prior to the first time
that the bottle is opened;
- figure 2 is a side elevation view partially in
section of the cap of the closing device according to
the present invention with the lever element in the
second position after the first time that the bottle
has been opened;
- figure 3 is a side elevationview partially in section
of part of the closing device according to the present
invention with the lever element in the first position
before the complete assembly of the cap onto the
pourer;
- figure 4 is a side elevation view in section of the
cap of the device according to the present invention
with the lever element in the first position, before
assembly of the device;
- figure 5 is a side elevation view in section of the
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cap of the device according to the present invention
with the lever element in the second position, after
assembly of the device and installation onto the
bottle, but before the bottle is opened for the first
time;
- figure 5a is a view from below of the cap of the
device according to the present invention with the
lever element in the second position, after assembly of
the device and before the bottle is opened for the
first time;
- figure 6 is a side elevation view in section of the
cap of the device according to the present invention
with the lever element in the second position, closed
on the bottle after it has been opened for the first
time; and
- figure 6a is a view from below of the cap of the
device according to the present invention with the
lever element in the second position, closed on the
bottle after it has been opened for the first time.
With reference to figures 1-6, a device for closing
bottles of alcoholic drinks and spirits according to
the present invention is shown, wholly indicated with
100.
The closing device 100 comprises a cap 1, a pourer 2
equipped with a drop-breaker 13 and a coating 4. The
pourer 13 can be attached to the neck of the bottle 3
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in a known way.
The coating 4, in a known way, is provided with an
annular band 16 equipped with at least one annular line
17 with predetermined breaking that is, necessarily,
lacerated to open the bottle 3.
Once the annular line 17 has been lacerated, the
coating 4 remains divided into a top portion 23 and a
bottom portion 24.
The cap 1, on the other hand, comprises at least one
lever element 5 irreversibly mobile between a first
position, set prior to the assembly of the device and
before installation of the closing device 100 on the
bottle 3, see figure 4, and a second position in which
it prevents the device 100 from completely closing on
the bottle 3, once installed on the bottle and opened
for the first time, figure 6.
By assembly of the device 100 we mean the operation in
which at least the cap 1, the pourer 2 and the coating
4 are associated with one another.
Possibly, during assembly, it is possible to associate
a lower diffuser and a possible valve and/or ball with
the pourer 2.
The cap 1 also comprises a central portion 6 to which
the lever element 5 is fixedly connected and a tubular
side portion 7 equipped with a threading 8 suitable for
engaging in a corresponding threading 9 of the pourer.
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The engagement between the threading 8 and the
threading 9 closes the cap 1 on the pourer 2 and
consequently closes the device 100 on the neck of the
bottle 3.
The side portion 7 extends from the central portion 6
up to the predetermined breaking line 17.
The central portion 6 is mobile, during the assembly of
the device 100, under the action of the pourer 2 to
take the lever element 5 from the first position, as
shown for example in figure 3, to the second position,
shown in figure 1.
The lever element 5 comprises at least one membrane 11
and at least one interference element 12.
The membrane 11 connects the side portion 7 of the cap
1 with the central portion 6 thereof.
In detail, each cap 1 has a plurality of interference
elements 12 arranged spaced apart along a circumference
concentric to the central portion 6, see figure 6a and
5a.
Each interference element 12 is fixedly connected to
the membrane 11 and prior to the assembly of the cap 1
onto the pourer 2 is arranged according to a determined
angle.
In detail, following production, the cap 1 is as shown
in figure 4, in other words with the membrane 11
inclined centrally downwards and the elements 12 almost
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parallel to the side portion 7.
During the first mounting of the device 100, or
assembly, the drop-bzeaker 13 of the pourer 2 acts upon
the central portion 6 of the cap moving it upwards, see
figure 5.
The aforementioned movement causes the movement of the
lever element 5 towards the second position in which
the membrane 11 tilts upwards and each interference
element 12 irreversibly rotates in the direction
indicated by the arrows F of figure 5, so as to no
longer be substantially parallel to the tubular element
7, but inclined towards the centre.
In other words, after the closing device 100 has been
mounted, the cap 1 is in the configuration shown in
figures 5, 5a with the central portion 6 moved upwards
and the interference elements 12 irreversibly rotated
into the second position, in other words substantially
inclined centrally downwards.
After the assembly of the device 100, the latter is
associated with a bottle 3.
During the first time the bottle is opened causing the
laceration of the predetermined annular breaking line
17 of the coating 4, the interference means 12,
although in the second position, in any case allow the
pourer 2 to slide downwards.
However, during the subsequent closing of the device
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100 on the neck of the bottle 3, the drop-breaker 13 of
the pourer 2 interferes with the bottom free end
portion of the interference elements 12, bending them
further upwards, as shown in figures 6, 6a.
The bending of the interference elements 12 upwards and
towards the inside of the cap 1 does not allow the
pourer 2 to reach the top limit switch and consequently
does not allow the device 100 to completely close on
the neck of the bottle 3.
In other words, the bending of the interference
elements 12 upwards, during the closing of the cap 1
prevents the drop-breaker 13 from going into abutment
on the central portion 6 of the cap 1, as however
occurred previously.
In this condition, the top portion 23 of the coating
remains separate from the bottom portion 24 making it
obvious when the bottle 3 has been opened for the first
time.
According to an advantageous aspect of the present
invention, it can be made even more obvious that
opening has occurred by providing the bottom portion of
the side portion 7 of the cap 1, at the lacerated
predetermined breaking line 17, with a colour that
contrasts with the colour of the coating 4.
From the description that has been made the
characteristics of the system object of the present
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invention are clear, just as the relative advantages
are also clear, including:
- impossibility of opening the bottle without it
becoming obvious that this has occurred;
- intuitive operation;
- simplicity of construction;
- relatively low manufacturing costs.
Finally, it is clear that the device for closing
bottles of alcoholic drinks and spirits thus conceived
can undergo numerous modifications and variations, all
of which are covered by the invention; moreover, all of
the details can be replaced with technically equivalent
elements. In practice, the materials used, as well as
the sizes, can be whatever according to the technical
requirements.
