BOTTLE LOCK

Abstract

The invention relates to a bottle lock for a bottle, comprising a housing part designed to enclose an upper portion of the bottle neck of the bottle to be secured, including the bottle cap of the bottle to be secured, a plurality of claws arranged in the housing part, which are designed and intended to engage non-releasably with the upper portion of the bottle neck when the bottle lock is in a secured state and to allow the bottle lock to be released and removed away from the upper portion of the bottle neck in the released state of the bottle lock, and to a locking mechanism intended to assume an unlocked state in which the bottle lock can be transferred from the secured state to the released state, and a locked state in which the bottle lock cannot be transferred from the secured state to the released state.

Claims

1. Bottle lock for a bottle, comprising: a housing part which is designed to enclose an upper portion of the bottle neck of the bottle to be secured including the bottle cap of the bottle to be secured; a plurality of claws arranged in the housing part, which are designed and intended to engage non-releasably with the upper portion of the bottle neck when the bottle lock is in a secured state and to allow the bottle lock to be released and removed away from the upper portion of the bottle neck in the released state of the bottle lock; and a locking mechanism which is designed and intended to assume an unlocked state in which the bottle lock can be transferred from the secured state to the released state, and to assume a locked state in which the bottle lock cannot be transferred from the secured state to the released state, wherein the plurality of claws is subdivided at least into a first and a second claw arrangement, wherein each claw arrangement is assigned a part of the plurality of claws, wherein the first claw arrangement differs from the second claw arrangement with regard to at least one claw design feature.

2. Bottle lock according to claim 1, wherein the at least one claw design feature corresponds to a length and/or a width and/or an angle and/or a shape of the claws.

3. Bottle lock according to claim 1, wherein the first claw arrangement and/or the second claw arrangement is each formed from a plurality of claws arranged in a row.

4. Bottle lock according to claim 1, wherein the first claw arrangement and the second claw arrangement are arranged adjacent to one another.

5. Bottle lock according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of claws are attached in a displaceable or pivotable manner to the housing or a part connected to thereto, and is biased in the direction of the bottle neck by a resilient element.

6. Bottle lock according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises at least a first housing part and a second housing part, which are connected to one another so as to be movable relative to one another and can be transferred between the secured state in which the plurality of claws of the bottle lock engages non-releasably with the upper portion of the bottle neck, and the released state, in which a detachment of the bottle lock from the bottle neck is made possible.

7. Bottle lock according to claim 6, wherein the locking mechanism is assigned to one of the first and the second housing part and is set up to lock the first and the second housing part in the secured state.

8. Bottle lock according to claim 6, wherein the first and the second housing part are connected to one another by a hinge in a pivotable manner relative to one another, wherein a pivot axis of the hinge is arranged in the secured state above the bottle neck or is parallel thereto.

9. Bottle lock according to claim 6, wherein the first and the second housing part are preloaded to their released state by a second resilient element.

10. Bottle lock according to claim 6, wherein: the locking mechanism has an actuating element which can be displaced between a released position and a secured position; a blocking element is operatively connected to the actuating element and engages with the other of the first and the second housing part in the secured position of the actuating element in order to fix the two housing parts in their relative orientation; and a release element is assigned to the actuating element and is set up to block a movement of the actuating element from the secured position into the released position in the locked state of the locking mechanism, and to allow a movement of the actuating element from the secured position into the released position in the unlocked state of the locking mechanism.

11. Bottle lock for a bottle according to claim 1, the bottle lock comprising: a housing part which is designed to enclose an upper portion of the bottle neck of the bottle to be secured including the bottle cap of the bottle to be secured; a plurality of claws arranged in the housing part, which are designed and intended to engage non-releasably with the upper portion of the bottle neck when the bottle lock is in a secured state and to allow the bottle lock to be released and removed away from the upper portion of the bottle neck in the released state of the bottle lock; and a locking mechanism which is designed and intended to assume an unlocked state in which the bottle lock can be transferred from the secured state to the released state, and to assume a locked state in which the bottle lock cannot be transferred from the secured state to the released state, wherein the bottle lock comprises an insert portion which is designed and intended to be inserted into the housing part of the bottle lock, wherein the plurality of claws is attached to or encompassed by the insert portion.

12. Bottle lock according to claim 11, wherein the insert portion is also designed and intended to be releasably inserted into the housing part.

13. Bottle lock for a bottle according to claim 1, the bottle lock comprising: a first and a second housing part which are designed to non-releasably enclose an upper portion of the bottle neck of the bottle to be secured, including the bottle cap, in a secured state, wherein the first and the second housing part are connected to one another such that they can move relative to one another and can be transferred between the secured state and a released state in which the bottle lock can be released from the bottle neck; and a locking mechanism which is assigned to one of the first and the second housing part and is set up to lock the first and the second housing part in the secured state, wherein the locking mechanism comprises: an actuating element which can be displaced between a released position and a secured position; a blocking element which is operatively connected to the actuating element and which, in the secured position of the actuating element, engages with the other of the first and the second housing part in order to fix the two housing parts in their relative orientation; and a release element which is assigned to the actuating element and is set up to block a movement of the actuating element from the secured position into the released position in the locked state of the locking mechanism, and to allow a movement of the actuating element from the secured position into the released position in the unlocked state of the locking mechanism, wherein the blocking element is arranged substantially transversely to the actuating element.

14. Bottle lock according to claim 13, wherein the blocking element is designed as an elongated strip made of sheet metal.

15. Bottle lock according to claim 13, wherein the other of the first and the second housing part comprises a recess which is designed and intended to interact with the blocking element.

16. Bottle lock according to claim 13, wherein the actuating element is movably connected to the blocking element, wherein one end of the actuating element is designed as a pin and/or is nail-shaped and/or the blocking element is fork-shaped.

17. Bottle lock according to claim 13, wherein the release element is designed as a slide, which has an opening through which the actuating element is guided, and/or wherein the release element can be substantially displaced orthogonally to a direction of movement of the actuating element in order to selectively block or release the movement of the actuating element.

18. Bottle lock according to claim 13, wherein the release element has a projection which is designed and intended to interact with a further projection formed on the other of the first and the second housing part when the bottle lock is transferred to the secured state, in such a way that the release element releases the movement of the actuating element in the direction of its released position.

19. Bottle lock according to claim 13, wherein the actuating element is preloaded to its released position by a third resilient element.

20. Bottle lock according to claim 13, wherein the locking mechanism further comprises an actuator which is operatively coupled to the release element.

21. Bottle lock for a bottle according to claim 1, the bottle lock comprising: a housing part which is designed to enclose an upper portion of the bottle neck of the bottle to be secured, including the bottle cap of the bottle to be secured; a plurality of claws arranged in the housing part, which are designed and intended to engage non-releasably with the upper portion of the bottle neck when the bottle lock is in a secured state, and to allow the bottle lock to be released and removed away from the upper portion of the bottle neck in the released state of the bottle lock; and a locking mechanism which is designed and intended to assume an unlocked state in which the bottle lock can be transferred from the secured state to the released state, and to assume a locked state in which the bottle lock cannot be transferred from the secured state to the released state, wherein the bottle lock further comprises a first sensor unit, which is set up to detect whether the bottle lock is in the secured state or in the released state, and a second sensor unit which is set up to detect whether the upper portion of the bottle neck of the bottle to be secured is enclosed or not.

22. Bottle lock according to claim 21, wherein the first sensor unit and/or the second sensor unit comprises a light barrier and/or an ultrasonic sensor and/or a magnetic sensor and/or a pushbutton switch and/or a Hall sensor.

23. Method for operating a bottle lock according to claim 21, the method comprising: a) putting the bottle lock into an idle mode; b) detecting whether the bottle lock is transferred from a released state to a secured state; c) as soon as the bottle lock has been transferred from the released state to the secured state, switching the bottle lock into an active mode; d) detecting whether the bottle lock is attached to an upper portion of a bottle neck of a bottle to be secured; e) as soon as the bottle lock has been attached to the upper portion of the bottle neck of the bottle to be secured, switching the bottle lock into an alarm mode; f) monitoring whether the bottle lock is removed from the upper portion of the bottle to be secured, and if this is the case, emitting an alarm signal; and g) receiving an opening signal and transferring the bottle lock from the secured state to the released state, so that the bottle lock can be removed from the upper portion of the bottle neck of the bottle to be secured and returning to step a).

Description

[0057] In FIG. 1, a bottle lock according to the invention is generally designated by 100. The bottle lock according to the invention comprises a housing part 102 which is designed to enclose an upper portion of a bottle neck H of a bottle F to be secured.

[0058] In order to be able to non-releasably engage with the upper portion of the bottle neck H, the bottle lock 100 further comprises a plurality of claws 104 which, in the embodiment shown, are designed in the form of a plurality of barbs.

[0059] In contrast, FIG. 2 shows the anti-theft device 100 according to the invention from FIG. 1 after it has been removed from the bottle neck H of the bottle F to be secured. FIG. 2 shows the bottle lock 100 according to the invention in a released state, i.e. an open state, in which the bottle lock 100 can be removed from the bottle F to be secured. In the illustrated embodiment, the housing 102 of the bottle lock 100 is designed as a two-part housing which comprises a first housing part 102a and a second housing part 102b. To transfer the bottle lock 100 from the secured state, i.e. a closed state, to the released state shown in FIG. 2, the first housing part 102a and the second housing part 102b are connected to each other by a hinge 106 so that they can pivot about a pivot axis S. The first housing part 102a and the second housing part 102b can be preloaded to the released state, i.e. the open position shown in FIG. 2, by a spring housed in one of the two housing parts, which acts along the pivot axis S.

[0060] In order to also be able to ensure that the bottle lock 100 can be held securely in the secured state, it further comprises a locking mechanism 110 which, in the embodiment shown, is assigned to the housing part 102a or is arranged thereon. The locking mechanism 110 is designed and intended to assume a locked state in which the relative pivoting movement of the two housing parts 102a and 102b from the secured state into the released state is prevented, and to assume an unlocked state in which the pivoting movement of the two housing parts 102a and 102b from the secured state into the released state is allowed.

[0061] The locking mechanism 110 will be described in more detail below.

[0062] FIG. 3 now shows a perspective view of the housing part 102b of the bottle lock 100 from FIG. 2. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the housing part 102b comprises a plurality of claws 104 arranged thereon, which are subdivided into a first claw arrangement 104a and a second claw arrangement 104b. The claws of the first claw arrangement 104a differ in terms of their design from the claws of the second claw arrangement 104b. This has the advantage that the anti-theft device 100 according to the invention can be used both to secure a bottle type which corresponds to the claws of the first claw arrangement 104a and for a bottle type which corresponds to the claws of the second claw arrangement 104b. In addition, both the first claw arrangement 104a and the second claw arrangement 104b are each formed from a plurality of claws 104 arranged in a row along an attachment direction A of the bottle lock 100.

[0063] In order to be able to ensure an adequate distribution of force in a circumferential direction U of the housing part 102b, the first claw arrangement 104a and the second claw arrangement 104b are arranged adjacent to one another in the circumferential direction in an alternating manner. It should also be pointed out here that the housing 102 can also comprise further claws or claw arrangements, which substantially correspond to the claw arrangements 104a or 104b, which are not shown here for the sake of simplicity.

[0064] Furthermore, the claws 104 can be attached to the housing 102 in a displaceable or pivotable manner and can be biased in the direction of the bottle neck H by a further spring, for example a spiral spring.

[0065] The bottle lock 100 further comprises an insert portion 108, which in the illustrated embodiment is formed by an insert sub-portion 108a assigned to the first housing part 102a and an insert sub-portion 108b assigned to the second housing part 102b (see, for example, FIG. 2). In the illustrated embodiment, the claws 104 are attached to the insert portions 108a and 108b. Preferably, the insert portions 108a and 108b can be removed from and reinserted in the housing 102, i.e. the housing part 102a and 102b, so that the bottle lock 100 can be provided with different claw arrangements if desired, or a defective claw arrangement can be replaced in the event of wear. The insert portions 108a and 108b are shown in FIG. 2 only with dashed lines for the sake of simplicity.

[0066] With reference to FIGS. 4 to 8, the locking mechanism 110 of the bottle lock 100 according to the invention will now be described in more detail.

[0067] With reference to FIG. 4, which shows the locking mechanism 110 in the secured state, the locking mechanism 110 comprises an actuating element 112 which, in the embodiment shown, is designed as an actuating button mounted by means of a spring 114.

[0068] A free end 112a of the actuating element 112 is operatively connected to a blocking element 116 which, in the embodiment shown, is designed as an elongated strip made of sheet metal. A front end of the blocking element 116 is sheathed with a cap 118 made of plastics material.

[0069] In FIG. 4, the actuating element 112 is shown in its secured position, which causes the blocking element 116 to interact with a recess 120 formed in the housing part 102b in order to fix the two housing parts 102a and 102b in their relative orientation about the pivot axis S.

[0070] FIG. 5 shows the bottle lock 100 from FIG. 4, which has been transferred to the released state. For this purpose, the actuating element 112 is moved out of the housing part 102a along an actuating direction B, so that the blocking element 116, which is operatively connected to the end 112a, is brought out of engagement with the recess of the housing part 102b. As a result of this, the housing part 102b can be pivoted about the pivot axis S, preferably supported by a spring, and the bottle lock can be transferred to the released state.

[0071] In order to be able to control the movement of the actuating element 112 from its secured position into its released position, a release element in the form of a slide 122 is also provided, which has an opening 122a through which the actuating element 112 is guided substantially transversely to its direction of movement B. If the locking mechanism 110 of the bottle lock 100 is in the locked state (see FIG. 4), the slide 122 engages with the actuating element 112 in such a way that said actuating element cannot be displaced along its direction of movement B and is consequently held in its locked position.

[0072] If the bottle lock is to be transferred from the secured state shown in FIG. 4 to the released state shown in FIG. 5, the slide 122 is displaced substantially orthogonally to the direction of movement B or orthogonally to the plane of the drawing, as a result of which the effective blocking on the actuating element 112 by the slide 122 is cancelled and the actuating element 112 can move along its direction of movement B into the released position shown in FIG. 5.

[0073] The actuation of the slide 120 will be explained again in more detail with reference to FIG. 7.

[0074] FIGS. 6a, 6b and 6c again show several perspective views of the blocking element 116, which in the embodiment shown is formed as an elongated strip made of sheet metal, and of the actuating element 112.

[0075] As can be seen in FIG. 6a-c, the blocking element 116 has a fork shape into which the end 112a of the actuating element 112, which is nail-shaped in the illustrated embodiment, is inserted in a rotatable manner.

[0076] In order to be able to ensure that the operative connection between the actuating element 112 and the blocking element 116 has sufficient wear resistance, the plastics sheathing 118 already briefly mentioned above is also provided on the fork-shaped end of the blocking element 116. At this point, however, it should be pointed out that, if desired, the entire blocking element 116 can also be formed from plastics material.

[0077] The actuation of the slide 122 already explained in FIGS. 4 and 5 will now be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows the slide 122 with the previously described opening 122a, through which the actuating element 112 is guided transversely to its direction of movement B. In order to be able to hold the actuating element 112 in its secured position, the slide 122 further comprises an engagement portion 122b which engages with an engagement groove (not shown) formed on the slide 122. In order to allow the movement of the actuating element 112, preferably supported by the spring 114, into the released position, the slide 122 is also connected to an actuator 124, which is also received in the housing part 102a, but for the sake of simplicity in the drawing is shown only as a black box. The actuator 124 comprises two shape memory wires 124a and 124b, which are connected at one end to the actuator 124 and at the other end to a free end of the slide 122. If the wires 124a and 124b are heated by the actuator 124, they contract, which leads to a displacement of the slide 122 in the direction R. As a result of this, the engagement between the engagement portion 122b and the groove of the actuating element 112 is cancelled, whereby the actuating element 112 can be transferred to its released position.

[0078] In order to provide the energy required for this, the actuator 124 is operatively connected to an energy supply unit 126, which can be designed as a battery, for example. Furthermore, the actuator 124 can be operationally connected to a signal receiving unit 128, so that the actuator 124 preferably only actuates the slide 122 when a corresponding release initiation signal has previously been received by the signal receiving unit 128.

[0079] In the event that the bottle lock 100 is in the released state (see FIG. 5), but the locking mechanism has already assumed its locked state (see FIG. 4), it may be that the bottle lock 100 cannot be transferred to the secured state without the actuator 124 first actuating the slide 122 and the actuating element 112 being transferred to its released position. In order to prevent a release initiation signal always first having to be sent to the bottle lock 100 in such a situation, the slide further comprises a projection 130 having an active surface 130a which has a curved shape.

[0080] FIG. 8 shows a schematic sectional view of the slide 122 when it is received in the housing part 102a. In order to be able to displace the slide 122 along the direction R without the action of the actuator 124, a further projection 132 having a further active surface 132a can be provided on a free end of the housing part 102b, which, as soon as the bottle lock 100 is transferred from the released state, i.e. the open state, to the secured state, i.e. the closed state, first runs through a guide 134 formed in the housing part 102a and then interacts with the active surface 130a of the projection 130 of the slide 122, so that the slide 122 is displaced along the direction R, the actuating element 112 is transferred along the direction B from the secured position to the released position, and therefore the bottle lock 100 can be brought into the state shown in FIG. 4, without an actuation of the actuator 124 being required here.

[0081] It should also be added that the bottle lock 100 can further comprise a first sensor unit 140, which is set up to detect whether the bottle lock 100 is in the secured state, i.e. the state shown in FIG. 4, or in the released state, i.e. in the state shown in FIG. 5. The sensor unit 140 can for example be designed as a pushbutton switch or the like.

[0082] In order to also be able to check whether the bottle lock 100 is attached to a bottle F to be secured or not, the bottle lock 100 can further comprise a second sensor unit 142, which can also be designed as a pushbutton switch, a light barrier or the like.

[0083] In order to be able to prevent the bottle lock 110 from being removed from a secured area, it can finally include an anti-theft element which is set up to interact with an external anti-theft system so that an alarm signal can be emitted if the bottle lock is removed from the secured area without authorisation.