Bottle closure

Abstract

Closure means for providing a resealable closure for a bottle containing champagne, sparkling wines, or the like comprises a stopper for insertion into the neck of a bottle to close it; and retainer means secured to the neck of the bottle to be closed. The retainer means is pivotable between an open position in which the it does not engage the stopper and an operative position in which the retainer positively engages with the stopper so as to retain the stopper in the neck of the bottle. The stopper is preferably provided with engagement means such as a groove on at least one surface thereof external to the closed bottle. The retainer means in its operative position positively engages with the engagement means of the stopper so as resist movement of the retainer means relative to the stopper away from the operative position. The stopper, the retainer means or both are resilient so that it is necessary to deform the stopper, the retainer means or both in order to bring the retainer means into the operative position.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved closure for bottles, in particular, to an improved closure for bottles intended to contain champagne, sparkling wines, or the like.

In conventional champagne bottles, the pressure exerted by the gas bubbles in the liquid means that the bottle cannot simply be closed by means of a conventional cork; rather, the cork must be retained by fixing it securely to the neck of the bottle. Traditionally, this has been achieved by means of a wire cage which fits over the cork and engages under an abutment molded onto the neck of the bottle. The traditional wire cage/cork arrangement makes the opening of champagne bottles tricky and, more importantly, makes it impossible for a bottle to be re-sealed. Simply reinserting the cork is not possible because of the pressure within the bottle and so a variety of complex bottle closures which can be substituted for the cork have been proposed.

Generally, these have been used in place of the cork which originally closed the bottle and have been designed to cooperate with the abutment formed on the neck of the bottle. This has meant that where it has been necessary to re-seal a champagne bottle or the like it has been necessary to plan ahead to the extent necessary to make sure that an alternative closure is available when needed. Also, because many of the designs require a wedging action to engage the closure under the abutment, usually a molded ring, on the neck of the bottle, a degree of manual strength and dexterity has been required when using many of the alternative closures previously proposed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention there is provided closure means for providing a resealable closure for a bottle containing champagne, sparkling wines, beers, carbonated drinks or other liquids under pressure; the closure means comprising a stopper for insertion into the neck of a bottle to close it; and retainer means secured, in use, to the neck of the bottle to be closed so as to be pivotable between an open position in which the retainer does not engage the stopper and an operative position in which the retainer positively engages with the stopper so as to retain the stopper in the neck of the bottle. In a preferred embodiment, the stopper is provided with engagement means on at least one surface thereof external to the closed bottle, the retainer means in its operative position positively engaging with the engagement means of the stopper so as resist movement of the retainer means relative to the stopper away from the operative position. Further, the stopper, the retainer means or both may be resilient so that it is necessary to deform the stopper, the retainer means or both in order to bring the retainer means into the operative position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of a bottle closure in accordance with the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a bottle fitted with a first closure in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the bottle and closure of FIG. 1 with a retainer thereof in an operative position;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a bottle fitted with a second modified closure in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 shows the closure of FIG. 3 with the cork thereof removed;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, from below the closure of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 shows the closure of FIG. 3 with the retainer thereof in an operative position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings show a first embodiment of a bottle closure 10 in accordance with the invention which comprises a stopper or cork 12 and a retainer 14.

The stopper 12 may be formed at least in part of cork or of rubber so that the portion of the stopper which engages in the bottle neck 15 makes a good, gastight seal. However, the crown 16 of the stopper 12, that is, the face of the stopper 12 remote from the bottle neck 15, must be of material sufficiently robust to engage with the retainer 14 without damage. For this reason, it is preferable to make the crown of 16 of the stopper, at least, of molded plastic material.

The crown 16 of the stopper 12 is shaped to form engagement means 18; as shown in the drawings, the engagement means is a groove formed in a convex end surface at the crown 16 of the stopper. However, provided that the engagement means 18 is able to provide a positive engagement between the stopper 12 and retainer 14, in use, other shapes and configurations are possible. For example, the engagement means 18 on the stopper 12 might be in the form of one or more depressions or recesses or, alternatively, the engagement means might be formed by one or more projections from the surface of the stopper 12. Similarly, although the engagement means shown in the figures is formed on the end, crown surface of the stopper, it will be appreciated that one or more engagement means might be formed on a circumferential surface of the portion of the stopper 12 which protrudes from the end of the bottle when the stopper is in place to close the bottle.

The retainer 14 is permanently fixed to the neck 15 of the bottle. For these purposes, it will be understood that ‘permanently’ means at all times during use rather than indicating that it cannot be removed if a user chooses to do so.

The retainer 14 is in the form of a U-shaped strap of metal or other material sufficiently rigid to maintain its shape and strong enough not to tear or break when pressure is exerted on it by the gas contained within the liquid in the bottle. The retainer 14 is secured to the bottle neck 15 by mounting means in the form of a ring or collar which is securely fixed around the neck 15 of the bottle.

Alternatively, the retainer means 14 may be provided with pins or stub axles which project inwardly from the ends of the U-shaped strap and engage in recesses molded into the neck 15 of the bottle. The retainer 14 can pivot freely about the axis defined by the straight line joining the points at which it is secured to the ring or collar.

The retainer 14 may be of uniform cross-section and unitary construction or, alternatively, as shown in the drawings, the crosspiece 17 may include a roller 11 which extends between the two arms 19 of the ‘U’ shape and which is pivotally mounted between the arms 19, so as to facilitate operation of the device. In either case, the crosspiece 17 forming the bottom of the ‘U’ is configured to make a positive engagement with the engagement means 18 on the stopper 12. As shown in the drawings, the crosspiece 17 is relatively narrow so that it can engage firmly in the groove formed in the crown 16 of the stopper 12. The crosspiece 17 may be made of resilient material so that it can deform to permit engagement with the stopper 12.

In use, the bottle is sealed initially by inserting the stopper 12 into the neck 15 of the bottle. The retainer 14, which may be snap-fitted onto the bottle neck 15 as part of the sealing process or which may have been assembled around the neck 15 of the bottle before it is filled, is then pivoted from the position shown in FIG. 1, in which it does not engage the stopper 12, into the operative position of FIG. 2. As the retainer 14 is pivoted about the pins or stub shafts which secure it to the bottle neck 15, the crosspiece 17 comes into contact with the crown 16 of the stopper and then into positive engagement with the groove or engagement means 18 of the stopper 12. The closure construction and the materials of which the stopper 12 and retainer 14 are made are such that one or both can deform sufficiently to allow the crosspiece 17 of the retainer 14 to engage firmly with the engagement means 18 of the stopper 12. Thus the retainer 14, in its operative position, positively engages with the stopper 12 so as to resist relative movement between the two. Preferably, the retainer 14 is arranged symmetrically with regard to the stopper 12 when in the operative position so that the force exerted on it by the liquid in the bottle through the stopper 12 is distributed evenly and there is no tendency for the retainer 14 to twist in such a way as to dislodge the retainer 14 from engagement with the bottle neck 15.

When the stopper 12 is to be removed, the retainer 14 is simply pivoted out of the operative position, into the position shown in FIG. 1, the resilience of the closure elements allowing the retainer 14 to be disengaged from the stopper 12. This operation may be assisted by pivoting of the crosspiece 17 relative to the arms 19 of the retainer 14 so that the roller 11 rolls over the crown 16 of the stopper 12, reducing the friction between the crosspiece 17 and the stopper 12. If the bottle is to be resealed, the original stopper 12 is simply reinserted and the retainer 14 is moved back to the operative position in which it engages with the stopper 12.

It will be appreciated that many variations on the particular construction shown in the drawings are possible.

For example, rather than being provided with pivot mountings in the form of pins/stub shafts which directly engage the neck 15 of the bottle, the retainer 14 may be pivotably mounted on a collar or ring which is secured to the neck of the bottle, perhaps by engagement under the traditional ring-shaped abutment formed on the bottle neck 15. As mentioned above, many different forms of engagement means on the stopper 12 are possible and their location may be such that they engage with the arms 19 rather than the crosspiece 17 of the retainer 14. It might also be possible or desirable in some circumstances to provide more than one retainer, each of which pivots over an edge of the stopper 12 rather than extending across it fully, as does the U-shaped retainer 14 in the drawings.

Whilst the closure described with reference to and shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is satisfactory in many circumstances, FIGS. 3 to 6 show a second embodiment which may, in some cases, be easier to use.

It will be appreciated that, in order to ensure a good engagement or interaction between the retainer 14 and stopper 12 of the closure of FIGS. 1 and 2, it is preferred to align the crosspiece 17 of the retainer with the engagement means or groove in the crown 16 of the stopper 12. If the two are not aligned, the crosspiece 17 is likely to lie diagonally across the groove 18 rather than lodging securely in it. As described above, the retainer 14 may be secured to the neck 15 of the bottle in such a way that it is fixed against rotation around the bottle and any adjustment to align the crosspiece 17 of the retainer 14 with the groove 18 in the crown 16 of the stopper 12 must be effected by rotating the stopper 12. Given that, in order to provide a gastight seal, the stopper 12 must be a tight fit in the neck 15 of the bottle, this can be difficult.

The second embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 of the drawings has additional features intended to facilitate the proper alignment of the crosspiece 17 of the retainer 14 in the engagement means provided on the stopper 12. In the following description of the embodiment of FIGS. 3 to 6, components of a closure 20 which are the same as those of the closure 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be identified by means of the same reference numerals.

It will be noted, firstly, that the stopper 12 in the closure of FIG. 3 is provided with modified engagement means 28. Rather than a single groove, the engagement means 28 take the form of a plurality of grooves arranged at an angle to one another and intersecting in the centre of the crown 16 of the stopper 12 so as to form a flower-like configuration. As shown in FIG. 3, there are four intersecting grooves arranged regularly at an angle of 45 degrees to adjacent grooves so as to form a flower-like configuration having eight ‘petals’. As a result, there are eight angular positions in which the engagement means 28 can be aligned with the crosspiece 17 of the retainer 14. This means that any angular or rotational adjustment of the stopper which needs to be made to bring the engagement means 28 into proper alignment with the crosspiece 17 is likely to be smaller than adjustments required when there are only two angular positions in which proper engagement can be made, as is the case in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

However, whilst the engagement means 28 of FIGS. 3 to 6 somewhat facilitates proper alignment of the stopper 12 and retainer 14, the closure 20 is provided with additional features which act with the engagement means 28 to improve the operation of the closure 20 yet further.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the retainer 14 is, in this preferred embodiment, secured to the neck of the bottle by means of an annular collar 40. The collar 40 is secured to the bottle either by snap-fitting or by welding or gluing to form a closed ring. The customary molded ring formed in the glass around the neck of the bottle prevents the collar 40 being removed axially of the bottle neck. The retainer 14 is secured, as described above, by means of pins or stub axles which may either penetrate the material of the collar 40 to lodge in suitable openings or recesses (not shown) formed in the material of the bottle or may simply lodge in openings or recesses formed at diametrically opposite locations on the collar 40 itself. If the retainer 14 engages with the neck of the bottle itself, then the collar 40 will be fixed against rotation. If the retainer 14 is mounted on the collar 40 alone then the whole assembly may rotate around the neck of the bottle. This does not, however, prevent the proper operation of the features which will be described below.

The collar 40 is of finite thickness and is shaped to form a plurality of generally triangular teeth 42 which together define a cam surface 44. The cam surface 44, when viewed from an axial direction, looking into the neck of the bottle, is annular and faces in the same direction as the open end of the neck of the bottle. When viewed from the side, the cam surface 44 forms a zig-zag path around the periphery of the collar 40. To ensure proper alignment, the number of teeth 42 is chosen to correlate with the number of intersecting grooves of the engagement means 28 on the stopper 12; in the embodiment shown there are four intersecting grooves in the engagement means 28, forming eight petals in the flower-like configuration shown in FIG. 3. There are, accordingly, eight triangular teeth 42 defining the zig-zag cam surface 44 on the collar 40.

The stopper 12 of the closure 20, shown most clearly in FIG. 5, is provided with a similar cam surface 54 defined by a plurality of triangular teeth 52 molded around the inside of a sleeve portion 53 of the stopper 12 which, in use, overlies the collar 40. The cam surface 54 is, like the cam surface 44 on the collar 40, annular when viewed from an axial direction but faces towards the open neck of the bottle as the stopper 12 is being pushed into it. The teeth 52 on the inside of the sleeve portion 53 of the stopper 12 are so shaped as to fit closely between the teeth 42 on the collar 40. There may, as shown in the drawings, be the same number of teeth 42 and 52 on the collar 40 and on the stopper 12. Alternatively, the number of teeth 42 or 52 on one component may be a whole multiple of the number of teeth on the other.

The teeth 42 and 52 on the collar 40 and stopper 12 act as location means to align the stopper 12 and collar 40. Further, in the preferred embodiment shown, the location means or teeth 42 and 52 define cam surfaces 44 and 54, respectively, such that, as the stopper 12 is inserted into the neck 15 of the bottle to close it, the cam surface 54 on the inside of the stopper 12 comes into engagement with the cam surface 44 on the collar 40. Further axial movement of the stopper 12 into the neck 15 of the bottle and, hence, through the collar 40, causes the cam surfaces 44 and 54 to slide over one another, rotating the stopper 12 relative to the collar 40 until the stopper 12 is fully inserted and the teeth 52 on the stopper 12 lie snugly between the teeth 42 on the collar. This engagement between the cam surfaces 44 and 54 as the stopper 12 is inserted ensures that the stopper 12 takes up only one of a limited number of rotational positions relative to the collar 40 (eight in the embodiment shown in the Figures) and to the retainer 14 it carries. Thus, by aligning the retainer 14 with the teeth 42 on collar 40 during the manufacturing process, it is possible to ensure that the retainer crosspiece 17 is always properly aligned with the engagement means 28 on the stopper 12 when the stopper 12 is fully inserted in the neck 15 of the bottle, as shown in FIG. 6.

While the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings uses generally triangular teeth 42 and 52, it will be understood that other shapes may be used and that the teeth 42 on the collar 40 need not be the same shape as the teeth 52 on the stopper 12, provided that the two sets of teeth interengage to fit snugly with one another and are of a suitable shape to define a cam surface which serves to urge the stopper 12 into the correct angular position relative to the collar 40 as the stopper 12 is inserted.

The bottle closures of the invention may, thus, provide a neat, convenient means for closing and re-closing a bottle of the kind used to contain champagne, sparkling wines, beers and carbonated soft drinks. They avoid the need to provide a separate, alternative closure in cases where bottles are to be resealed.

Claims

1. Closure means for providing a resealable closure for a bottle containing champagne, sparkling wines, or the like, said closure means comprising: a stopper for insertion into the neck of a bottle to close it; andretainer means secured, in use, to the neck of said bottle to be closed;said retainer means being pivotable between an open position in which said retainer does not engage said stopper and an operative position in which said retainer positively engages with said stopper so as to retain said stopper in the neck of the bottle.

2. The closure means set forth in claim 1 wherein: said stopper is provided with engagement means on at least one surface thereof external to said bottle when closed;said retainer means in its operative position positively engaging with said engagement means of said stopper so as to resist movement of said retainer means relative to said stopper away from said operative position.

3. The closure means set forth in claim 1 wherein: said stopper, said retainer means or both are resilient so that it is necessary to deform said stopper, said retainer means or both in order to bring said retainer means into said operative position.

4. The closure means set forth in claim 2 wherein: said stopper has an end surface which is remote from said bottle when said bottle is closed; andsaid engagement means comprises a groove formed in and extending across said end surface of said stopper.

5. The closure means set forth in claim 4 wherein: said retainer means is of generally U-shaped configuration having a pair of arms which extend from the neck of said bottle and a crosspiece extending between the ends of the arms at a location remote from said bottle so that, in use, said crosspiece engages with said stopper when said retainer means is in said operative position.

6. The closure means set forth in claim 5 wherein said crosspiece is rotatably mounted to said arms of said retainer means.

7. The closure means set forth in claim 6 wherein said crosspiece is a roller.

8. The closure means set forth in claim 1 wherein said closure means further comprises: a mounting means for securing to the neck of a bottle; andsaid retainer means is pivotably fixed to said mounting means.

9. The closure means set forth in claim 8 wherein said mounting means is annular in shape so as to extend, in use, wholly or partially around the neck of said bottle.

10. The closure means set forth in claim 2 wherein said engagement means is configured to positively engage with said retainer means in its operative position with said retainer means in one of a plurality of angular orientations of said retainer means relative to said stopper.

11. The closure means set forth in claim 10 wherein said engagement means comprises a plurality of grooves formed in and extending across said end surface of said stopper, said plurality of grooves being arranged so as to intersect one another at an angle to each other.

12. Closure means for providing a resealable closure for a bottle containing champagne, sparkling wines, or the like, said closure means comprising: a stopper for insertion into the neck of a bottle to close it, said stopper comprising first location means;retainer means secured, in use, to the neck of said bottle to be closed; said retainer means comprising a second location means; andsaid retainer means being pivotable between an open position in which said retainer does not engage said stopper and an operative position in which said retainer positively engages with said stopper so as to retain said stopper in the neck of the bottle;wherein said first location means on said stopper and said second location means on said retainer are interengageable with one another so that the stopper can only be fully inserted into the neck of said bottle in one or more predetermined angular positions relative to one another.

13. Closure means according to claim 12 wherein said first location means on said stopper defines a first cam surface and said second location means on said retainer define a second cam surface; the first and second cam surfaces being so configured that, as the stopper is inserted into the neck of said bottle, said first and second cam surfaces are brought into contact with one another so that further insertion of the stopper into said bottle causes said first and second cam surfaces to slide over one another to rotate said stopper and said retainer relative to one another to bring the stopper into one of said predetermined angular positions.

14. Closure means as set forth in claim 12 wherein: said stopper is provided with engagement means on at least one surface thereof external to said bottle when closed; andsaid retainer means in its operative position positively engaging with said engagement means of said stopper so as to resist movement of said retainer means relative to said stopper away from said operative position;said engagement means is configured to positively engage with said retainer means in its operative position with said retainer means in one of a plurality of angular orientations of said retainer means relative to said stopper.

15. The closure means set forth in claim 14 wherein said engagement means comprises a plurality of grooves formed in and extending across said end surface of said stopper, said plurality of grooves being arranged so as to intersect one another at an angle to each other.

16. The closure means set forth in claim 12 where in said first and second location means each comprise a plurality of teeth arranged around the circumference of said stopper and said retainer respectively.

17. The closure means set forth in claim 15 wherein said first and second location means each comprise a plurality of teeth arranged around the circumference of said stopper and said retainer respectively, the number of teeth in each of the first and second location means being an exact multiple or an exact divisor of the number of grooves forming the engagement means on said stopper.

18. Closure means for providing a resealable closure for a bottle containing champagne, sparkling wines, or the like, said closure means comprising: a stopper for insertion into the neck of a bottle to close it, said stopper comprising a first cam surface;retainer means secured, in use, to the neck of said bottle to be closed; said retainer means comprising a second cam surface; andsaid retainer means being pivotable between an open position in which said retainer does not engage said stopper and an operative position in which said retainer positively engages with said stopper so as to retain said stopper in the neck of the bottle;wherein the first and second cam surfaces are so configured that, as the stopper is inserted into the neck of said bottle, said first and second cam surfaces are brought into contact with one another so that further insertion of the stopper into said bottle causes said first and second cam surfaces to slide over one another to rotate the stopper and retainer relative to one another to bring the stopper into one of one or more predetermined angular positions relative to the retainer.

19. Closure means as set forth in claim 18 wherein: said stopper is provided with engagement means on at least one surface thereof external to said bottle when closed; andsaid retainer means in its operative position positively engaging with said engagement means of said stopper so as to resist movement of said retainer means relative to said stopper away from said operative position;said engagement means is configured to positively engage with said retainer means in its operative position with said retainer means in one of one or more angular orientations of said retainer means relative to said stopper.

20. The closure means set forth in claim 19 wherein said engagement means comprises a plurality of grooves formed in and extending across said end surface of said stopper, said plurality of grooves being arranged so as to intersect one another at an angle to each other.

21. The closure means set forth in claim 19 where in said first and second cam surfaces are each defined by a plurality of teeth arranged around the circumference of said stopper and said retainer respectively.

22. The closure means set forth in claim 20 wherein said first and second cam surfaces are each defined by a plurality of teeth arranged around the circumference of said stopper and said retainer respectively, the number of teeth in each of the first and second location means being an exact multiple or an exact divisor of the number of grooves forming the engagement means on said stopper.