Patent Application
20090166313
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 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.
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:
a 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;
a 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
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 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
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.
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
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
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
During the first mounting of the device 100, or assembly, the drop-breaker 13 of the pourer 2 acts upon the central portion 6 of the cap moving it upwards, see
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
In other words, after the closing device 100 has been mounted, the cap 1 is in the configuration shown in
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 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
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 invention are clear, just as the relative advantages are also clear, including:
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.
