U.S. patent application number 10/553337 was filed with the patent office on 2006-09-21 for combined toy/bottlecap system.
This patent application is currently assigned to HUGH THORMAN BUILDER. Invention is credited to Hugh Thorman Builder, Matthew Robert Cahill, Bradley Andrew Wright.
Application Number | 20060211330 10/553337 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 31500950 |
Filed Date | 2006-09-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060211330 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Cahill; Matthew Robert ; et
al. |
September 21, 2006 |
Combined toy/bottlecap system
Abstract
Disclosed is a bottlecap (200) for a soft drink or other bottle
(100), which provides one half of a yoyo body. When combined with a
second bottlecap (300), a yoyo is formed. The bottlecaps (200, 300)
can also include a removable display piece on which advertising or
other information may be displayed. These display pieces may be
interchangeable with each other to allow the yoyo to be
customized.
Inventors: |
Cahill; Matthew Robert;
(South Australia, AU) ; Wright; Bradley Andrew;
(South Australia, AU) ; Builder; Hugh Thorman;
(South Australia, AU) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HAMRE, SCHUMANN, MUELLER & LARSON, P.C.
P.O. BOX 2902-0902
MINNEAPOLIS
MN
55402
US
|
Assignee: |
HUGH THORMAN BUILDER
Adelaide
AU
|
Family ID: |
31500950 |
Appl. No.: |
10/553337 |
Filed: |
April 22, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
April 22, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/AU04/00526 |
371 Date: |
October 14, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/250 ;
215/228 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 81/36 20130101;
B65D 51/24 20130101; A63H 1/30 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
446/250 ;
215/228 |
International
Class: |
A63H 1/30 20060101
A63H001/30; B65D 39/00 20060101 B65D039/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 22, 2003 |
AU |
2003901913 |
Claims
1. A bottlecap for engaging a bottle, the bottlecap including: a
bottle engaging portion for engaging the bottle; a body portion;
and a bottlecap engaging portion for engaging a second bottlecap,
the second bottlecap also having a bottle engaging portion, a body
portion and a bottlecap engaging portion; wherein upon combination
with the second bottlecap, a yoyo body is formed.
2. A bottlecap according to claim 1 wherein the bottlecap engaging
portion engages the second bottlecap via a connector piece.
3. A bottlecap according to claim 1 wherein the bottle engaging
portion is a screw-thread for engaging a reciprocal screw-thread of
the bottle.
4. A bottlecap according to claim 1 wherein an outer surface of the
body portion is adapted to display information.
5. A bottlecap according to claim 4 wherein the outer surface of
the body portion is provided by a bottlecap display piece that is
removably connected to the body portion and is interchangeable with
other bottlecap disks.
6. A bottlecap according to claim 4 wherein a string for connection
to the yoyo body is provided in association with the bottlecap.
7. A bottlecap according to claim 6 wherein the string is provided
within the body portion.
8. A system of bottlecaps, including a first bottlecap and a second
bottlecap, for engaging respective bottles, each bottlecap
including; a bottle engaging portion for engaging respective
bottles; a body portion; a bottlecap engaging portion for engaging
the second bottlecap in the case of the first bottlecap, and for
engaging the first bottlecap in the case of the second bottlecap,
wherein, upon engagement of the first bottlecap with the second
bottlecap, a yoyo body is formed.
9. A system according to claim 8 wherein the first and second
bottlecap engaging portions engage each other via a connector
piece.
10. A system according to claim 8 wherein the bottlecap engaging
portion of the first bottlecap is a male connector piece, and the
bottlecap engaging portion of the second bottlecap is a female
connector piece for receiving the male connector piece of the first
bottlecap, to thereby form the yoyo body.
11. A system according to claim 9 wherein the bottlecap engaging
portions of the first and second bottlecaps are both female
connectors with a separately-connectable peg being provided to
connect the first and second bottlecaps.
12. A system according to claim 8 wherein each bottle engaging
portion is a screw-thread for engaging a screw-thread of respective
bottles.
13. A system according to claim 8 wherein an outer surface of at
least one body portion is adapted to display information.
14. A system according to claim 13 wherein an outer surface of both
body portions are adapted to display information.
15. A system according to claim 14 wherein the outer surfaces of
the respective body portions are provided by respective bottlecap
display pieces that are removably connected to respective body
portions, and are interchangeable with other bottlecap display
pieces.
16. A system according to claim 8 wherein a string for connection
to the yoyo body is provided in association with at least one of
the bottlecaps.
17. A system according to claim 16 wherein the string is provided
within the body portion of at least one of the bottlecaps.
18. A method of advertising, the method including placing
advertising on a bottlecap according to claim 1.
19. A method of advertising, the method including placing
advertising on at least one of the bottlecaps of the system
according to claim 8.
20. A yoyo having two halves connected together, at least one half
including a display portion for displaying information, wherein at
least one of the display portions includes a display piece which is
removably attached to a respective half.
21. A yoyo according to claim 20 wherein the display piece is able
to be interchanged with removable display pieces of other yoyo
halves.
22. A bottlecap according to claim 1 wherein the bottlecap is able
to be spun on a surface to provide a spinning top.
23. A bottlecap according to claim 22 wherein the spinning top
includes a display portion for displaying information.
24. A bottlecap according to claim 23 wherein the display portion
includes a display piece which is removably attachable to the
bottlecap.
25. A bottlecap according to claim 24 wherein the display piece is
interchangeable with display pieces of other bottlecaps.
26. A bottlecap according to claim 1 wherein the bottle engaging
portion engages in use, the bottle indirectly via a standard
bottlecap already located on the bottle.
27. A system according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the
bottle engaging portions engages, in use, the respective bottle
indirectly via a standard bottlecap already located on the
bottle.
28. A yoyo formed by connecting together the two bottlecaps of the
system of claim 8.
29. A bottlecap according to claim 5, wherein an inner surface of
the display piece is adapted to display information.
30. A system according to claim 15, wherein respective inner
surfaces of the display piece are adapted to display
information.
31. A yoyo according to claim 20 wherein an inner surface of the
display piece is adapted to display information.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This invention relates to bottlecaps and combinations of
bottlecaps to construct an object.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
[0002] Bottlecaps provide the function of sealing contents within a
bottle while allowing access to those contents by unscrewing or
otherwise removing the bottlecap from the bottle.
[0003] Benefits can be obtained from expanding the function of the
bottlecap to extend beyond its purely sealing function to provide a
novelty item which will increase the attractiveness of the product
being sold in the bottle.
[0004] A number of attempts to expand the functionality of the
bottlecap have been made, including constructing the bottlecap in
such a way as to provide a building block such that upon
combination of multiple bottlecaps/building blocks, a particular
structure can be formed.
[0005] Other extensions of bottlecap functionality include
constructing the bottlecap in the form of a container which can
contain a small novelty item.
[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide an
alternative extension of the function of bottlecaps.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] According to a first aspect of the present invention there
is provided a bottlecap for engaging a bottle, the bottlecap
including:
[0008] a bottle engaging portion for engaging the bottle;
[0009] a body portion; and
[0010] a bottlecap engaging portion for engaging a second
bottlecap, the second bottlecap also having a bottle engaging
portion, a body portion and a bottlecap engaging portion;
wherein
upon combination with the second bottlecap, a yoyo body is
formed.
[0011] According to a second aspect of the present invention there
is provided a system of bottlecaps, including a first bottlecap and
a
second bottlecap, for engaging respective bottles, each bottlecap
including;
[0012] a bottle engaging portion for engaging respective bottles;
[0013] a body portion; [0014] a bottlecap engaging portion for
engaging the second bottlecap in the case of the first bottlecap,
and for engaging the first bottlecap in the case of the second
bottlecap, wherein, upon engagement of the first bottlecap with the
second bottlecap, a yoyo body is formed.
[0015] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a method of advertising, the method including placing
advertising on a bottlecap according to the first aspect of the
invention.
[0016] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a yoyo having two halves connected together, at least
one half including a display portion for displaying information,
wherein at least one of the display portions includes a display
piece which is removably attached to a respective half.
[0017] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a yoyo formed by connecting together the two bottlecaps
of the system according to the second aspect of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The invention will now be described in detail with reference
to the following figures in which:
[0019] FIG. 1--shows two bottles of the system of the present
invention with respective bottlecaps;
[0020] FIG. 2--shows an exploded perspective view of each
bottlecap;
[0021] FIG. 2a--shows a detail of an interaction between the
bottlecap disc and bottlecap lid of FIG. 2;
[0022] FIG. 3--shows an exploded side view of the two
bottlecaps;
[0023] FIG. 4a--shows a perspective view of the bottlecap lid;
[0024] FIG. 4b--shows a plan view of the bottlecap lid from
below;
[0025] FIG. 4c--shows a side view of the bottlecap lid;
[0026] FIG. 4d--shows a plan view of the bottlecap lid from
above;
[0027] FIG. 5a--shows a perspective view of the bottlecap disc;
[0028] FIG. 5b--shows a plan view of the bottlecap disc from
below;
[0029] FIG. 5c--shows a side view of the bottlecap disc;
[0030] FIG. 5d--shows a plan view of the bottlecap disc from
above;
[0031] FIG. 6a--shows a perspective view of the peg;
[0032] FIG. 6b--shows a plan view of the peg of FIG. 6a;
[0033] FIG. 6c--shows a side view of the peg of FIG. 6a;
[0034] FIG. 6d--shows another side view of the peg of FIG. 6a;
[0035] FIG. 7a--shows a perspective view of the peg casing;
[0036] FIG. 7b--shows a different perspective view of the peg
casing of FIG. 7a;
[0037] FIG. 8a--shows a side view of a completed yoyo body;
[0038] FIG. 8b--shows a plan view of the completed yoyo body of
FIG. 8a; and
[0039] FIG. 9--shows a cross section of the completed yoyo body
along section A-A' of the yoyo body of FIG. 8b.
[0040] FIG. 10a--shows a perspective exploded view of the bottlecap
adapted for use as a yoyo.
[0041] FIG. 10b--shows an assembled side view of the bottlecap
adapted for use as a yoyo.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0042] In FIG. 1, there is shown two bottles containing a vendible
product, for example a soft drink. The bottle 100 shown in part A
of FIG. 1 is identical to bottle 101 shown in part B of FIG. 1.
These bottles may be of conventional construction as would be
understood by the person skilled in the art.
[0043] Bottle 100 shown in part A of FIG. 1 is sealed by bottlecap
200 while bottle 101 shown in part B of FIG. 1 is sealed by
bottlecap 300. A food grade hygienic seal 500 is placed over
exposed parts of the bottlecap to prevent contamination of the
liquid within the bottles. Seal 500 will be described in more
detail below.
[0044] In accordance with the present invention, each bottlecap 200
and 300 form one half of a yoyo body. Upon removal of each
bottlecap 200, 300 from their respective bottles 100, 101, and upon
joining the two bottlecaps together as will be described in more
detail below, a yoyo body is formed.
[0045] In practice, some bottles may have the male bottlecap 300,
while others have the female bottlecap 200, or, for simplicity, all
bottles will have the male bottlecap 300. Preferably however, both
bottlecaps will be female, and may be connected by a separate peg
member as will be described in more detail below.
[0046] FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of bottlecaps 200
and 300, together with a connecting peg 400. Each bottlecap 200,
300 consists of two parts, bottlecap lid 310 and 210 respectively
and bottlecap disc 320 and 220 respectively. In practice, each
bottlecap 200, 300 will be identical and any description relating
to one bottlecap 200 will be equally applicable to the other
bottlecap 300 and vica versa.
[0047] Bottlecap lid 210 consists of a dome shaped shell having
four tabs 211, 212, 213 and 214 extending from a perimeter 215 of
the lid 210.
[0048] Bottlecap disc 220 consists of a disc having a circular
recess 221, the inner surface of which is threaded. Within recess
221, is circular wall 222 which itself defines a well 223.
[0049] Bottlecap disc 220 also includes a post around which a
string for the yoyo may be wrapped for storage. The post is more
easily seen on disc 320, referred to as element 328.
[0050] Bottlecap disc 220 also includes four apertures 224, 225,
226 and 227, which receive corresponding tabs 211, 212, 213 and 214
from bottlecap lid 210. Upon aligning these tabs with their
corresponding recesses and pressing bottlecap lid 210 and bottlecap
disc 220 together, tabs 211, 212, 213 and 214 will be received
within apertures 224, 225, 226 and 227 and will be retained therein
by any suitable means. For example, each tab 211 to 214 may be made
to be resiliently flexible and shaped so as to be deformed upon
insertion in respective apertures 224 to 227 and upon exiting the
other side of apertures 224 to 227, will resume their original
configurations such that a tip of each tab exits respective
recesses and overlaps the perimeter of these recess, thereby
securing bottlecap lid 210 to bottlecap disc 220. Alternatively,
bottlecap lid 210 may be secured to bottlecap disc 220 by tabs 211
to 214 frictionally engaging respective recesses 224 to 227. Of
course, any other suitable means of securement may be used as would
be understood by the persons skilled in the art.
[0051] Ideally however, bottlecap lid 210 may be secured to
bottlecap disc 220 by tabs 211 to 214 being inserted into recesses
224 to 227 and bottlecap lid 210 being rotated so as to "lock"
bottlecap lid 210 to bottlecap disc 220. The locking mechanism may
be accomplished by providing a small depression 211a to 214a to
each of tabs 211 to 214 respectively. Upon rotation, these
depressions receive corresponding protrusions disposed on an inner
face of recesses 224 to 227.
[0052] This is shown in more detail in FIG. 2a which shows tab 214
depending from perimeter 215, with recess 214a. Upon insertion of
tab 214 into recess 227, and upon rotation of lid 210, tab 214 will
engage protrusion 227a, flex as it is forced over the protrusion by
the rotation force, and snap back into its normal position, to
receive protrusion 227a in depression 214a.
[0053] To facilitate the rotation and removal of bottlecap lid 210
from bottlecap disc 220, a series of protrusions 216, providing
finger grips are provided around the periphery of bottlecap lid
210.
[0054] It is desirable to be able to easily remove bottlecap lid
210 from bottlecap disc 220, firstly to access the string within
bottlecap 200, but more importantly, to allow bottlecap lid 210 to
act as a collectable token or display piece, on which is displayed
a logo or other design, as will be described in more detail below.
It will be appreciated that the inner surface of bottlecap lid 210
may also be used for advertising or displaying other indicia.
[0055] Peg 400 is provided to connect the two bottlecaps 200 and
300. In use, peg 400 is inserted into respective wells 223 and 323
(not shown) and retained therein via tabs 401, 402, 403 and 404.
Tabs 401 to 404 are resiliently flexible which provides the
retention means by which peg 400 is secured to bottlecaps 200 and
300. Specifically, upon insertion of peg 400 into well 223 of
bottlecap disc 220, tabs 401 and 402 are biased towards each other
due to the narrowed circumference of well 223 until peg 400 is
received deep enough into well 223 such that tabs 401 and 402 exit
on opposite opening of well 223 to assume their original shape,
whereby projections at the top of tabs 401 and 402 extend beyond
the periphery of well 223 to retain peg 400 within bottlecap disc
220. This arrangement is described in more detail with reference to
FIG. 9 below.
[0056] In place, tabs 401 to 404 also extend into second well 229
(more easily viewed as second well 329 in bottlecap 300), to allow
access to the tabs. The user can place their fingers into second
well 229/329 and pinch together tabs 401 to 404, to release peg 400
from bottlecap disc 200 and/or 300.
[0057] In practice, one of bottlecaps 200 and 300 may have peg 400
already inserted and used to seal bottles 100 as shown in FIG. 1.
Referring back to FIG. 1, bottle 101 in part B of FIG. 1 may have
lid 300 with peg 400 (ie, being the male cap) while bottle 100 in
part A of FIG. 1 may have bottlecap 200 with no peg inserted (ie,
female bottlecap). Alternatively, and preferably, each bottle may
be sealed with identical cap configurations, with peg 400 being
provided separately, for insertion into each bottlecap or provided
with both caps as shown in FIG. 1. It is also possible for one or
the other bottlecap to be manufactured with peg 400, or the like,
integrally with it. In this case, the bottlecaps can be joined
directly, without a separate connector piece.
[0058] FIG. 3 shows the components of FIG. 2 from a side view.
[0059] FIGS. 4a to 4d show bottlecap lid 210 from various angles.
FIGS. 5a to 5d show bottlecap disc 220 from various angles.
[0060] FIG. 6a shows peg 400 from a different perspective view to
that shown in FIG. 2. Tabs 401 to 404 are clearly seen with their
corresponding projections which assist in securing peg 400 to the
bottlecap discs 220 and 320. The central portion 405 of peg 400
forms a channel for receiving a string which is used in the
completed yoyo as will be described in more detail below.
[0061] FIG. 6b shows a top view of peg 400 of FIG. 6a. FIG. 6c
shows a side view of peg 400 showing the contour of channel 405.
FIG. 6d shows another side view of peg 400 of FIG. 6a.
[0062] FIGS. 7a and 7b show a bottlecap cover 500 which may be used
in practice to cover peg 400 when attached to bottlecap 200 or 300.
This is used to protect peg 400 from the contents of the bottle as
well as to protect the contents of the bottle from peg 400 for
maintaining pressure within the bottle and for hygienic purposes.
Cover 500 will be discarded upon removing the bottlecap from the
bottle.
[0063] FIG. 8a shows yoyo body 600 formed by respective bottlecap
lids 200 and 300. Respective bottlecap lids 200 and 300 are formed
by respective bottlecap lids 210 and 310 and bottlecap discs 220
and 320. The two bottlecap lids are joined by peg 400 (of which
only section 405 is visible).
[0064] FIG. 8b is a plan view of the yoyo body 600 of FIG. 8a.
[0065] FIG. 9 is a cross section view along the lines A-A' of FIG.
8b and dearly shows the interaction between peg 400 and bottlecap
discs 220 and 320. As can be seen, projections on tabs 401 to 404
provide the retention means by overlapping beyond the periphery of
well 223 and 323.
[0066] It will be noted that seal 500 (not referenced) is shown in
FIG. 9, however, it will be understood that seal 500 would be
removed and discarded before assembling the yoyo.
[0067] It can also be seen that tabs 401 to 404 are extended to
allow a user to pinch them together to release them from bottlecap
discs 220 and 320.
[0068] The various components described above may be made by any
suitable materials for example, in the case of bottlecap lids 210
and 310, these may be made out of high impact polystyrene (HIPS)
which has suitable properties in relation to impact resistance,
ease of printing, ease of adhering stickers, is a low cost material
and is easy to mould.
[0069] Bottlecap discs 220 and 320 may be made from PET which has
the desirable properties of good impact resistance, can be made
transparent, is a low cost material and is easy to mould.
[0070] Peg 400 may be made from acetal NC10 which has the desirable
properties of good impact resistance, low friction when spinning
the toy, is a low cost material and is easy to mould.
[0071] Bottlecap cover 500 may be made out of low density
polyethylene (LDPE), which has the advantage of providing good
sealing properties, is a low cost material and is easy to
mould.
[0072] In practice, a string will be required to be attached to peg
400 and may be provided in association with each or some of bottles
100, 101. For example, the string may be provided in a plastic bag
somehow adhered to the bottle, or preferably, come contained within
the bottlecap and secured to post 228/328.
[0073] The outer surface of bottlecap lid 210, 310 (see FIGS. 1, 2,
4a to 4d, 8a and 8b) can advantageously be used to display any
advertising material such as the logo of a company or graphics
relating to a current movie or event. The space provided by
bottlecap lid 210, 310 provides "vendible" advertising space and
may be used as an additional stream of revenue for the
manufacturers of the product contained in bottle 100.
[0074] It will be understood that the inner surface may be equally
used to display advertising or other information. This other
information may include a surprise "win" message.
[0075] Also, as previously described, bottlecap lid 210 may be used
as a separate collectable token and may be swapped with others to
complete a "set". Furthermore, the bottlecap lids being removable
also means that they are interchangeable, allowing users to
customise their yoyos.
[0076] It is also conceivable that, bottlecap 300 may be redesigned
to engage an existing standard bottlecap, rather than the bottle
itself. In this way, the bottle and standard bottlecap may be
manufactured in the normal way, with the modified bottlecap
addition attached at a later date.
[0077] Furthermore, bottlecap 300 may be used on its own to form a
spinning top. Referring now to FIGS. 10a and 10b, it can be seen
how bottlecap 300 may be used as a spinning top, with bottlecap
disc 320 forming the inertial body of the top, and peg 400
providing an axis for the top to spin on. As can be seen, tabs 401,
402 (see for example FIG. 2), have been replaced by a single
element 401 to provide the spinning point. Alternatively, disc 320
could be formed so as to have an integrally-formed axis or spinning
point.
[0078] The top could also benefit from having lid 310 which may
bear advertising material or some other indicia. Lid 310 may be
removable and interchangeable with lids from other bottlecaps, and
may also be used as collectable tokens as described above.
[0079] The bottlecap may also contain a string as previously
described, which may be used to energise the spinning top in a
conventional manner. Peg 400 may be formed to provide an
appropriate anchor for the string as would be understood by the
person skilled in the art.
[0080] Described above is a bottlecap and a system of bottlecaps,
which provide extended functions beyond the primary function of
sealing a bottle. The bottlecaps provide a novelty item for
purchasers, a means by which softdrink (for example) manufacturers
can increase the sale of their softdrinks and may also provide an
additional revenue by providing advertising space for sale to other
parties wishing to advertise their products and/or current events.
The increase in sale may in part result from the encouragement to
buy two bottles to complete the toy.
[0081] While the above has been described with reference to a
particular embodiment, it will be understood that many variations
and modifications may be made within the scope of the present
invention, as would be understood by the person skilled in the
art.
* * * * *