U.S. patent number 3,851,783 [Application Number 05/330,109] was granted by the patent office on 1974-12-03 for bottle closure.
Invention is credited to Paul A. Braginetz.
United States Patent |
3,851,783 |
Braginetz |
December 3, 1974 |
BOTTLE CLOSURE
Abstract
A bottle closure having a stopper which extends into the bottle
opening to seal (and/or hermetically seal) the same and a collar or
cap attached to the stopper and also sonically welded to the flange
of the bottle extending about the opening so as to effect a vacuum
seal (or partial seal) for volatiles and perishables and also to
insure the integrity of the package against tampering for all types
of seals where in the weld can be easily checked by application of
torque to the cap collar.
Inventors: |
Braginetz; Paul A. (Staunton,
VA) |
Family
ID: |
23288347 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/330,109 |
Filed: |
February 6, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
215/232; 156/64;
156/69; 215/245; 215/306; 215/343; 215/364 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
39/00 (20130101); B65D 55/16 (20130101); B65D
39/0011 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
39/00 (20060101); B65D 55/00 (20060101); B65D
55/16 (20060101); B65d 039/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;215/63,64,72,99,232
;53/39 ;156/64,69,73 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Norton; Donald F.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Cushman Darby and Cushman
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A closure for a bottle having a neck portion terminating in an
opening and a flange circumferentially extending about the opening
comprising a collar with portions for engaging the upper and lower
surfaces of said flange about a substantial portion of said flange
part of the circumference to permit said collar to be freely
rotated about said flange and a stopper pivotably attached to said
collar with portions of said stopper engaging said upper surface of
said flange and at least in part welded to said upper surface and
having a portion for extending into said bottle opening to seal
said opening.
2. In combination as in claim 1 wherein said portions of said
stopper engaging said upper surface of said flange are at least in
part sonically welded to said upper surface.
3. In combination as in claim 1 wherein said weld is a vacuum
weld.
4. In combination as in claim 1 wherein said collar and stopper are
plastic.
5. In combination as in claim 1 wherein said stopper has a tab
portion extending beyond said collar when said stopper portion is
in said opening.
6. In combination as in claim 1 wherein said stopper has a latch
portion for engaging a portion of said flange.
7. In combination:
a bottle having an opening for receiving and dispensing and a
flange extending circumferentially about said opening, and
a closure for said opening having a collar engaging the upper and
lower surfaces of said flange about a substantial part of the
circumference of said flange so that said collar is freely
rotatable about said flange, and a stopper pivotably attached to
said collar for movement between a position sealing said opening
and a position permitting dispensing from said opening, said
stopper having a closing portion extending down into said opening
and an extending surface about said closing portion in contact with
the upper surface of said flange and at least in part welded to
said flange so that the integrity of the weld can be checked by
applying torque to said collar.
8. A method of closing a bottle having an opening for receiving and
dispensing and a flange extending circumferentially about said
opening comprising:
placing a collar of a collar member about said flange engaging the
upper and lower surfaces of said flange about a substantial part of
the circumference of said flange so that said collar is freely
rotatable about said flange,
placing in said opening a stopper pivotably attached to said collar
for movement between a position sealing said opening and a position
permitting dispensing from said opening, said stopper having a
closing portion extending down into said opening and an extending
surface about said closing portion in contact with the upper
surface of said flange and welding at least part of said extending
surface to said flange so that the integrity of the weld can be
checked by applying torque to said collar.
9. A method as in claim 8 further including the step of applying
torque to said flange to check the integrity of the weld.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an improved closure for a bottle.
A wide variety of products are now vended in bottles which are
closed by a cap at an opening thereof which terminates a neck
portion. Usually, the cap is simply forced over a flange
surrounding the opening of the bottle with some mechanism such as a
gasket or the like providing sealing, particularly with products
which are volatile or which are stored under a vacuum. Failure of
the cap seal usually results in rendering the stored product
worthless for its intended use. Unfortunately, it is very difficult
or impossible with caps now in use to ascertain by inspection
whether the seal has failed. This can be accomplished only by
actually opening the product and this cannot normally be done
before purchase and usually not until just before the intended
use.
Caps have been suggested in the past which are altered in some
physical way when the seal is broken. For example, in the patents
to Leech, U.S. Pat. No. 2,961,119, and Hazard, U.S. Pat. No.
3,651,992, the closures are held in a physically fixed position
with respect to the bottle so long as they are in a sealed
condition. However, once the seal is broken, the caps are freely
rotatable thereafter with respect to the bottle. These designs,
while an improvement over simple caps as discussed above, have a
number of drawbacks. First, it is not as simple as would be desired
to check the physical condition of the cap. Second, the designs are
too complex to be economically competitive with existing caps.
The present invention relates to a bottle closure of this type
which has a very simple and effective design, and which provides
quick and simple test of the sealing of the bottle which can be
carried out before use and without necessarily breaking that
seal.
The closure of this invention includes a stopper which extends down
into the opening of the bottle and provides a seal for the same
which can be reinserted after some of the contents have been
removed from the bottle. The closure also includes a collar or cap
which is attached to the stopper and which has a surface extending
circumferentially for at least a portion of the circumference about
the flange surrounding the bottle opening, so that the collar or
cap is freely rotatable with respect to the bottle. An extending
surface of the bottle closure engages a surface of the flange and
is sonically welded over at least part of its surface to the flange
so that the sonic seal can be tested by applying a torque to the
collar or cap. The sonic seal can provide either a hermetic or
vacuum seal. If the collar or cap freely rotates in whole or part,
then the sonic seal is no longer effective, and the seal of the
closure can be considered to have been broken.
In one embodiment, as discussed in detail below, the collar and
stopper are formed in a unitary plastic or other construction with
the collar having surfaces engaging the upper and lower surfaces of
the flange for at least a portion of the circumference of the
flange so that the bottle can, if desired, be carried by the
closure without the closure being vertically pulled from the
opening. The stopper includes a surface extending about the portion
which fits down into the opening and a ring about this portion
extending down into the opening is sonically welded to the upper
surface of the flange to provide the desired seal. The construction
also preferably includes a latch member on the stopper portion
which engages the under surface of the flange for providing an
effective re-seal of the cap following initial use.
According to a second embodiment of the invention, as also
discussed in detail below, the closure includes a grommet of latex
or other flexible material which extends into the opening, engaging
in preferably hermetic seal the interior surface of the flange and
a cap which is fixed to the grommet but rotatable with respect
thereto. A surface of the cap extends in contact with the upper
surface of the flange and is at least in part sonically welded to
that upper surface for providing a seal so that the integrity of
the closure can be readily ascertained by the application of a
torque. If the upper cap is rotatable, then the sonic seal has been
broken.
Many other objects and purposes of the invention will be clear from
the following detailed description of the drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention
of this application in use on a bottle.
FIG. 2 shows a top view of the closure of this invention in the
open position.
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the closure of this invention
illustrating the manner in which the closure can be applied to a
bottle having a flange about its opening.
FIG. 4 illustrates a cut-away view of the closure of FIG. 1 along
the lines 4--4.
FIG. 5 illustrates a cut-away view of a further embodiment of the
invention of this application.
FIG. 6 illustrates a close-up of a portion of the embodiment of
FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 shows a number of different vacuum and hermetic seal
configurations.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Reference is now made to FIGS. 1-4 which illustrate one embodiment
of the invention of this application. As can be seen best in FIGS.
1, 3 and 4, this embodiment is designed particularly for use with a
bottle 20 having a neck 22 terminating in an opening 24 which is
surrounded by a flange 26 having an upper surface 28, a lower
surface 30 and an interior surface 32.
The closure 34 is of unitary construction, preferably of plastic
such as polypropylene or styrene acrylonitrile, and is composed of
a collar 36 and a stopper 38 which are pivotably connected together
at a hinge 40 according to well known techniques in the art of
forming plastic structures of this type.
Stopper 38 includes a portion 41, having a number of
circumferential rings, which extends into opening 24 engaging the
interior surface 32 of flange 26 to provide a good seal. If desired
a grommet of latex or other material providing a hermetic seal can
also be employed about stopper 38. Collar 36 includes an upper
surface 42 and a lower surface 44 which respectively engage the
upper and lower surfaces 28 and 30 of flange 26 about a substantial
portion of the periphery as can be seen best in FIG. 3, so that
collar 36 cannot be removed by application of a vertical force.
Thus, bottle 20 can be safely carried by closure 34.
As discussed above, the integrity of the seal of the embodiment of
FIGS. 1-4 can be easily ascertained by applying a torque to the
periphery of collar 36. If the collar rotates in whole or part or
is in any way loose, then the integrity of the seal has been broken
and the tester should avoid that bottle. This seal is preferably
provided by an ultrasonic weld ring 50 which is provided between
the surface 52 of stopper 38 surrounding portion 41, and the upper
surface 28 of flange 26. It has been found that a sonic rib having
a height of 0.006 inches satisfactorily seals the bottle and can be
broken by a reasonable torqueing force.
FIG. 7 shows a number of seal configurations for weld ring 50. For
perishables a hermetic ring, which is preferably not continuous,
may be employed. For maintaining a vacuum or preventing escape of
volatiles one of the vacuum seals is preferred.
The construction of FIGS. 1-4 includes as a portion of stopper 38,
a latching member 56 having a hook portion 58 of latch 56 which
engages the under surface 30 of flange 26 to hold portion 41 in the
opening 24 as can be best seen in FIG. 4. If desired latching
member 56 can engage some other portion of the cap. Thus, the cap
is removable and easily replaceable after the initial removal in
part or whole of the contents of bottle 20 as shown. Flange 26 is
preferably chamfered.
Closure 34 can be easily and quickly sealed onto bottle 20 after
placing closure 34 in place on the bottle as shown in FIG. 1. A
metal shim can be placed under flange 26, and a conventional sonic
welding device employed to generate the ring of weld 50. The
stopper and latch may require coating to prevent ultrasonic
fusion.
Reference is now made to FIGS. 5 and 6 which illustrate a further
embodiment of the invention of this application. In the embodiment
of FIGS. 5 and 6, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, bottle 60 is
provided with a flange 62 about its opening 64. Closure member 66
is comprised of a grommet or gasket 68 which may be made of latex,
rubber or other suitable material and which serves to extend into
opening 64 and engage the interior surface 70 of flange 62 in a
sealing relation. Preferably, the surface of grommet 68 engaging
the surface 70 of flange 62 has a conventional construction
providing a hermetic seal along region 71. There are many such
hermetic seal constructions which are widely used, and any which
provide a satisfactory hermetic seal can be employed. A cap 74 of
plastic or other similar material is attached to grommet 68 and is
preferably rotatable with respect to that grommet. As can be best
seen in FIG. 6, cap 74 is sonically welded by a ring 80 to the
upper surface of flange 62, so that as in the previous embodiment,
of FIGS. 1-4, the integrity of the weld ring 80 can be easily
ascertained by applying a torque to the periphery of cap 74. If the
cap turns or is loose, the circumferential welding seal provided
for vacuum and volatile materials has been ruptured. In this
embodiment, however, once the sonic seal has been ruptured, the
hermetic seal remains effective and the cap can be removed by
applying a vertical pressure to pull grommet 68 from opening 64.
One of the disadvantages of the arrangement of FIGS. 5 and 6 is
that bottle 60 cannot be carried vertically by means of closure
member 66.
Many changes and modifications in the above described embodiments
of the invention can be carried out without departing from the
scope of the invention. Accordingly, that scope is intended to be
limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *