Information
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Patent Grant
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6250504
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Patent Number
6,250,504
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Date Filed
Friday, October 29, 199924 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, June 26, 200122 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A stopper is provided which is intended to replace the lid fitted at the production stage, for the screw closure of bottles for liquids, with a device for drawing up metered amounts of the product. A stopper includes a capsule (9) with internal thread for screwing onto the threaded neck (1A) of the bottle. The capsule (9) forms coaxially and in one piece a cylinder (12) of a syringe metering device (10). The syringe metering device(10) has a control rod (16) which is graduated to allow measurement of the suction stroke of the plunger and hence to allow measurement of the amount of liquid drawn up.
Description
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a stopper-cum-metering device for the crew closure of bottles for liquids with a device for drawing up metered mounts of the product; this stopper is simple and convenient to use.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Said stopper-cum-metering device comprises a capsule with an internal thread for screwing onto the threaded neck of the bottle, which capsule forms coaxially and in one piece the cylinder of a syringe device hose plunger is worked by a rod which is graduated to allow measurement of the suction stroke of the plunger and hence of the amount of liquid drawn up.
A component internal to the capsule and positioned around the cylinder may be provided to form an annular seal that can be clamped onto the rim of the neck of the bottle by the screwing on of the capsule. Said internal component may form not only the annular seal but also, around the cylinder, an annular lip directed toward the center of the bottle; this lip is for wiping the outer surface of the cylinder during withdrawal of the capsule. Said internal component may be so shaped that it engages in the neck of the bottle when the capsule is first screwed onto the neck of the bottle. This internal component may in particular include a section capable of being forced into the neck of the bottle, being of dimensions such as to give limited interference with the internal dimension of the neck, by exploiting the elastic properties of the internal component.
The internal component that forms a lip for wiping the outer surface of the cylinder of the syringe device may include at least one hole in said lip, so that differential pressures do not develop between the outside and inside of the bottle. The shaping of the capsule and of the wiper lip may be such that the lip essentially fits an intermediate structure between the capsule and the cylinder of the syringe device; when the capsule is in its screwed position on the neck of the bottle there is contact between this structure and the wiper lip, of essentially tapering form, and the abovementioned hole is consequently closed, to ensure that liquid is not lost through said hole or holes between the intermediate structure (and hence the capsule) and said internal component that forms the seal and the wiper lip. This is especially useful when the bottle is horizontal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A better understanding of the innovation will be gained by following the description with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a non-limiting example of an embodiment thereof. In particular, in the drawing:
FIG. 1
shows a sketch of the complete system, packageable in a protective box or the like, with the bottle sealed for long-term storage and accompanied by a separate stopper-cum-metering device for drawing the product up, after the bottle has been opened;
FIG. 2
shows a partial cross section of a stopper-cum-metering device which is to replace the lid of the original packing and allow the contents of the bottle to be drawn up by the syringe device;
FIGS. 3 and 4
show separately two components of the stopper-cum-metering device; and
FIGS. 5 and 6
show locally two possible variants and simplifications compared with the version of FIG.
2
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As shown in the drawing,
1
denotes the bottle whose neck
1
A has an external thread
3
(see
FIG. 2
in particular) that serves for fitting the lid
5
used for the closure immediately after filling the bottle and throughout the period of long-term storage, that is to say warehousing and distribution.
7
is the general reference for a stopper-cum-metering device to be used in place of the lid
5
, once the bottle has been broken open by removing this lid
5
; the stopper-cum-metering device
7
comprises a syringe device for drawing up metered amounts of the contents of the bottle, for use of these contents.
In the embodiment shown in
FIGS. 2-4
,
9
denotes a capsule capable of being screwed onto the thread
3
in place of the lid
5
when the contents of the bottle are to be used in metered doses. The capsule
9
is substantially equivalent to the lid
5
, but is made in one piece with a cylinder
12
; this cylinder forms part of a syringe metering device
10
, together with a plunger
14
that forms a hermetic seal as it slides against the inside surface of the cylinder
12
and is mounted on the inward end of a rod
16
, one end
16
A of which, passing out through the capsule
9
, is suitable for the operations of moving the rod
16
and hence the plunger
14
. The plunger
14
may be dispensed with and replaced by an appropriate annular terminal shaping of the rod to give a sliding seal with the inside surface of the cylinder
12
. In either case the rod
16
has a collar
16
X. The cylinder
12
contains a hole
12
A at its inward end to allow communication between the inside of the bottle and the cylinder. When the capsule
9
is screwed onto the neck
1
A of the bottle, the hole
12
A will be within a short distance of the bottom of the bottle
1
when arranged vertically. The cylinder
12
—formed in one piece with the capsule
9
—is combined with a structure
18
joining it to the top
9
A of the capsule
9
; this structure
18
comprises, specifically, a tapering, and in particular frustoconical, section
18
A where it connects with the cylinder
12
, and a cylindrical section as it joins the top
9
A of the capsule
9
. The section
18
,
18
A defines a cavity
18
X surrounding the cylinder
12
in the region of an annular ridge
12
X on the inside of the cylinder
12
. This cavity
18
X makes the molding of the ridge
12
X possible.
20
denotes an internal component of sufficiently elastic material for the purposes indicated later: it forms an annular seal
20
A that fits between the top
9
A of the capsule
9
and the rim
1
B of the neck
1
A of the bottle; said annular seal is functional when the capsule
9
is screwed onto the screwthread
3
. The internal component
20
includes an essentially cylindrical section
20
B whose external diameter is slightly greater than the internal diameter of the neck
1
A of the bottle and may correspond to the cylindrical section of the structure
18
. The internal component
20
A forms a terminal annular lip
20
C of essentially frustoconical form directed toward the center of the bottle, when the capsule
9
is fitted over the neck
1
A; the terminal edge of said lip encircles and tends to conform closely to the outer surface of the cylinder
12
so as to form a wiper for wiping, that is to say cleaning said outer surface of the cylinder
12
, for the purposes indicated later. The internal component
20
may be retained by being slightly forced into the capsule
9
or by exploiting the friction between the outer edge of the annular seal
20
A and the corresponding inside surface of the capsule
9
, or by other such means.
The stopper-cum-metering device
7
with the capsule
9
, the syringe device
10
and the internal component
20
constitute a single assembly that can be manipulated for the purposes of packaging it together with the closed bottle
1
having its own lid
5
, in a cardboard box or other pack for sale.
When the contents of the bottle are to be used—a process that does not normally extend in time beyond the first administration of the contents—the lid
5
is taken off and the stopper-cum-metering device
7
is fitted onto it by screwing the screw capsule
9
onto the screwthread
3
; in this operation the internal component
20
is easily forced—simply by virtue of the screw coupling—into the neck
1
A of the bottle, where this internal component
20
will continue to be held sufficiently firmly for the use of the stopper-cum-metering device
7
.
To draw up a metered amount of the contents of the bottle, the rod
16
,
16
A is operated, causing the plunger
14
to move and draw into the cylinder
12
through the hole
12
A the desired amount of liquid to be administered, before the capsule
9
is unscrewed or with only very slight slackening of said capsule; the amount can easily be checked by providing the rod
16
with graduations, the index for which may be the upper edge
12
C of the cylinder, which is easily visible from the outside. The annular ridge
12
X acts on the collar
16
X to prevent the rod
16
from coming out of the cylinder
12
. The capsule
9
is then taken off in order to use the metered liquid which is expelled by pushing the rod
16
of the plunger in the reverse direction in order to expel the product drawn up by the syringe system consisting of the cylinder
12
and plunger
14
with rod
16
. It should be observed that any liquid that may cling to the outside surface of the cylinder
12
will be wiped off by said lip
20
C of the internal component
20
, which remains in the neck of the bottle, and the cylinder
12
moves relative to this lip
20
C during the extraction of the assembled capsule
9
and syringe system
10
(cylinder
12
and plunger
14
with rod
16
); the withdrawn stopper-cum-metering device assembly
7
does not therefore present the risk of bringing out a significant quantity of liquid that could drip or that would then have to be returned to the bottle.
The lip
20
C contains at least one hole
24
: this allows communication between the outside and inside of the bottle so as to avoid a pressure difference building up during the operations of aspiration and of withdrawal of the cylinder
12
through the lip
20
C, and the reverse operations, especially when inserting the assembly
9
,
10
into the bottle
1
. This hole
24
is effectively closed by the contact of the lip
20
C with the tapering—essentially frustoconical—section
18
A that corresponds to the profile of the lip
20
C, when the assembly is closed; the liquid contained in the bottle does not therefore penetrate between the structure
18
,
18
A and the internal component
20
when the capsule
9
is in the closed position, even if the bottle is held horizontally or tilted with the neck in a downward direction.
FIG. 5
shows a modified version in which the internal component
20
is limited to a generally diskoidal portion
120
A that constitutes the seal and can be held in place either by friction on the surface of the cylinder
112
, equivalent to cylinder
12
but directly joined to the top
109
A of the capsule
109
, or pinched on the inside surface of the side wall of the capsule
109
. The annular ridge
112
X (equivalent to ridge
12
x) is suitably out of alignment with the top
109
A.
In the further variant,
FIG. 6
, there is no internal component such as
20
or such as
120
A, but the capsule
209
(equivalent to
9
or
109
) will be made of a material of sufficient stiffness to form the capsule
209
and the wall of the cylinder
212
equivalent to cylinder
12
, though with a narrow internal edge
240
on the internal surface of the top
209
A of the capsule
209
; when the capsule
209
is screwed on, said edge
240
acts on the rim
1
B of the bottle to ensure adequate leaktightness and closure of the bottle, during the relatively brief period in which the bottle is closed by the capsule
209
during the withdrawals of the bottle's contents.
It should be understood that the drawing shows only an example purely as a practical demonstration of the innovation, since the latter may be varied in its shapes and arrangements without thereby departing from the scope of the concept on which the innovation is based. The presence of any reference numerals in the accompanying claims is for the purpose of facilitating the reading of the claims with reference to the description and drawing, and does not limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.
Claims
- 1. A stopper, intended to replace the lid fitted at the production stage, for the screw closure of bottles for liquids, with a device for drawing up metered amounts of said product, said stopper comprising a capsule (9) provided with an internal thread and forming coaxially and in one piece a cylinder (12) of a syringe metering device (10) with a graduated control rod (16) to allow measurement of the suction stroke of a plunger (14) and hence of the amount of liquid drawn up in the metering device (10), and in which there is formed, on the inside of the cylinder (12), a ridge (12X), and level with this, around the cylinder, is a cavity (18) to enable demolding of the cylinder (12); said rod (16) having a collar (16X) cooperating with said ridge (12X).
- 2. Stopper as claimed in claim 1, in which a component (20) internal to the capsule (9) and positioned around the cylinder forms an annular seal (20A) that can be clamped onto the rim (1B) of the neck (1A) of the bottle by the screwing on of the capsule (9).
- 3. Stopper as claimed in claim 2, in which said internal component (20) forms not only the annular seal (20A) but also, around the cylinder (12), an annular lip (20C) directed toward the center of the bottle for wiping the outer surface of the cylinder (12) during withdrawal of the capsule (9); said internal component (20) being so shaped as to engage with the neck of the bottle when the stopper is first screwed onto the neck of the bottle.
- 4. Stopper as claimed in claim 3, in which said internal component (20) includes a section (20B) capable of being forced into the neck (1A) of the bottle.
- 5. Stopper as claimed in claim 3, in which said internal component (20) includes at least one hole (24) in said lip (20C) so that differential pressures do not occur between the outside and inside of the bottle.
- 6. Stopper as claimed in claim 5, in which said lip (20C) essentially fits an intermediate structure (18A) between the capsule (9) and the cylinder (12) of the syringe device, so that the or each hole (24) is essentially closed when the stopper-cum-metering device (7) is in the fitted position.
- 7. Stopper as claimed in claim 1, in which the rod (16) comprises a plunger (14) which may either be attached or formed in one piece with the rod itself.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
FI97A0103 |
May 1997 |
IT |
|
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
102e Date |
371c Date |
PCT/IT98/00107 |
|
WO |
00 |
10/29/1999 |
10/29/1999 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO98/50156 |
11/12/1998 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
882 755 |
Jul 1953 |
DE |
1 154 232 |
Sep 1963 |
DE |
79 29 839 |
Feb 1980 |
DE |
85 29 592 |
Jul 1986 |
DE |
0 723 921 A2 |
Jul 1996 |
EP |
814161 |
May 1959 |
GB |