Claims
- 1. A screw cap for a screw threaded container neck, the cap comprising an internally threaded cap portion having a head and a skirt extending from said head to a skirt edge, and further comprising a security ring adjoining said skirt edge and having an edge opposing said skirt edge, the security ring effectively constituting a continuation of said skirt, away from said head, beyond said skirt edge, at least one of said opposing edges of the skirt and the security ring having a plurality of recesses open towards the other side edge, said recesses being distributed around the circumference of the cap, the cap further including a plurality of bridge portions connecting the cap with the security ring, each said bridge portion being disposed in a said recess and extending from a respective first point on the security ring to a respective second point on the cap skirt which is located in advance of the respective first point in the rotational sence in which, according to the internal threading of the cap, the cap must be turned to screw it onto a container neck, whereby when the cap is screwed onto a container neck having a collar for engagement with said security ring, after the security ring engages said collar, further screwing on of the cap will cause the skirt edge of the cap skirt to press against the opposing edge of the security ring after, at most, relatively slight bending of the bridge portions at said first and second points, to allow the cap portion to force the security ring past said collar, whilst after the cap has been fully screwed onto a container and neck and is subsequently unscrewed therefrom, after the security ring engages said collar to be retained thereby, the bridge portions will be subjected to relatively great bending at said first and second points whilst being tensioned and thereby fractured, said security ring being further provided with weakening points at one or more of the bridge connections.
- 2. The screw cap of claim 1, in which said skirt edge has a plurality of said recesses therein and wherein said opposing edge of the security ring has, for each said recess in said skirt edge, a respective recess in register therewith, each said bridge portion extending from the bottom of one said recess to the bottom of the registering recess.
- 3. The screw cap of claim 1, in which said recesses in which the bridge portions are located, are provided only in the cap skirt.
- 4. The screw cap of claim 1, in which said recesses in which the bridge portions are secured, are provided only in the security ring.
- 5. The screw cap of claim 4, wherein the cap has been manufactured in one piece by injection moulding.
- 6. The screw cap of claim 1, in which there are from 3 to 12 such bridge portions.
- 7. The screw cap of claim 1, which comprises a plurality of said bridge portions disposed at regular intervals around the circumference of the cap.
- 8. The screw cap of claim 1, in which the cap portion, sealing ring and bridge portions are formed integrally with one another and constitute a single homogenous body of plastic material.
- 9. The screw cap of claim 8, in which said plastics materials is polypropylene.
- 10. The screw cap of claim 1, in which, in each said bridge portion, said first and second points lie on a respective straight line inclined at an angle of between 45.degree. and 90.degree. to a plane perpendicular to the rotational axis of the screw cap.
- 11. The screw cap of claim 1, comprising engagement means on said cap skirt and said security ring, the engagement means on the cap skirt being engageable with the engagement means on the security ring to transfer to the security ring a torque applied to the cap portion to screw the cap portion onto a container neck.
- 12. The screw cap of claim 11, in which said engagement means comprise complementary teeth and notches.
- 13. The screw cap of claim 12 in which said complementary teeth and notches have axial directed front edges, which are engaged when the cap is screwed onto the bottle and inclined back edges which are engaged in the beginning when the cap is unscrewed.
- 14. The screw cap of any one of the claims 1-7 in which one or more of the bridges are provided with weakening points at the connection to the cap portion.
- 15. The screw cap of claim 1 in which the bridges are made with two or more different inclinations.
- 16. The screw cap of claim 1 in which the weakening points in the security ring are placed on the front side of the bridges.
- 17. The screw cap of claim 1 in which one or more ringshaped sealing elements are placed around the inner surface of the cap above and/or below the threaded part of the cap.
- 18. A container having a neck terminating in an opening, an external screw thread around said neck and an external collar around said neck, further from said opening than said external screw thread, and a screw cap for said neck, the cap comprising an internally screw threaded cap portion for screwing onto said neck, the cap portion having a head and a skirt extending from said head to a skirt edge, and further comprising a security ring for cooperation with said collar, the security ring adjoining said skirt edge and having an edge opposing said skirt edge, the security ring effectively constituting a continuation of said skirt, away from said head, beyond said skirt edge, at least one of said opposing edges of the skirt and the security ring having a plurality of recesses open towards the other said edge, said recesses being distributed around the circumference of the cap, the cap further including a plurality of bridge portions connecting the cap with the security ring, each said bridge portion being disposed in a said recess and extending from a respective first point on the security ring to a respective second point on the cap skirt which is located in advance of the respective first point in the rotational sense in which, according to the screw threading on the cap and container neck, the cap must be turned to screw it onto the container neck, the security ring being dimensioned to clear the screw thread on the container neck during such screwing on of the cap, but to engage said collar, the collar and security ring being configured to promote resilient deformation of the security ring to allow the same to pass over the collar during screwing on of the cap for the first time, but to prevent subsequent withdrawal of the security ring over the collar, whereby, when the cap is screwed onto the container neck for the first time, after the security ring engages said collar, further screwing on of the cap will cause the skirt edges to press against the opposing edge of the security ring after, at most, relatively slight bending of the brdige portions, at said first and second points to allow the cap portion to force the security ring past said collar, whilst after the cap has been fully screwed onto the container neck and is subsequently unscrewed, after the security ring engages the collar to be prevented thereby from being withdrawn further, the bridge portions will be subjected to relatively great bending of said first and second points whilst being tensioned as the cap portion is unscrewed and will thereby be fractured allowing removal of the cap portion, said security ring being further provided with weakening points at one or more of the bridge connections.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
8303099 |
Jun 1983 |
SEX |
|
8412344 |
May 1984 |
GBX |
|
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 526,030, filed Aug. 24, 1983, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,401 issued on Mar. 19, 1985.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0052804 |
Jun 1982 |
EPX |
0080846 |
Jun 1983 |
EPX |
0096351 |
Dec 1983 |
EPX |
2298255 |
Aug 1976 |
FRX |
268186 |
Mar 1927 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
526030 |
Aug 1980 |
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