Hinged stopper

Abstract

The present invention includes a plastic stopper, comprising a closure shell with a top roof and a tamper band to be secured on a bottle neck. The plastic stopper also includes a weakness line with bridges separably linked a bottom edge of the closure shell and a top edge of the tamper band and at least two hinges, the two hinges pivotably link the bottom edge of the closure shell and the top edge of the tamper band. At least one gap is located between the two hinges, the gap having a shape with a middle area. At least one tongue extends outwardly and laterally from the roof, the tongue being located over the middle area of the gap. The stopper includes knurls distributed around a peripheral wall of the closure shell and has the at least one tongue shaped alike one of the knurls.

Claims

1. A plastic stopper, comprising a closure shell with a top roof and a tamper band to be secured on a bottle neck; a weakness line with bridges, the bridges separably link a bottom edge of the closure shell and a top edge of the tamper band; at least two hinges, the two hinges pivotably link the bottom edge of the closure shell and the top edge of the tamper band; at least one gap located between the two hinges, the gap having a shape with a middle area; at least one tongue that extends outwardly and laterally from the roof, the tongue being located over the middle area of the gap; and knurls distributed around a peripheral wall of the closure shell; wherein the tongue is shaped alike one of the knurls.

2. Plastic stopper according to claim 1, wherein the gap has an inverted “U” shape.

3. Plastic stopper according to claim 1, wherein the gap has a “U” shape.

4. Plastic stopper according to claim 1, wherein the gap has an “H” shape.

5. Plastic stopper according to claim 1, wherein the gap has a double “I” shape.

6. Plastic stopper according to claim 1, wherein the at least one tongue has approximately a same width as the knurls.

7. Plastic stopper according to claim 1, wherein the at least one tongue has almost a same thickness as the knurls.

8. Plastic stopper according to claim 1, wherein the middle area comprises at least one portion of the knurls.

9. Plastic stopper according to claim 8, wherein the portion is continuous.

10. Plastic stopper according to claim 8, wherein the middle area comprises multiple portions wherein each of the portions is continuous.

11. Plastic stopper according to claim 8, wherein the portion is interrupted.

12. Plastic stopper according to claim 1, further comprising three tongues, the tongues being shaped alike the knurls.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] The invention can be better understood on reading the following description given merely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0035] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective rear view of a stopper according to a first embodiment;

[0036] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic lateral view of the stopper of the FIG. 1;

[0037] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic top view of the stopper of the FIG. 1;

[0038] FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic rear view of the stopper of the FIG. 1;

[0039] FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic rear view of the stopper according to an improvement of the first embodiment;

[0040] FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective rear view of a stopper according to a second embodiment;

[0041] FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic top view of the stopper of the FIG. 6;

[0042] FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic rear view of the stopper of the FIG. 6;

[0043] FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic rear view of the stopper according to a first improvement of the second embodiment;

[0044] FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic lateral view of the stopper according to the first embodiment, into an opened secured position of the closure shell;

[0045] FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic lateral view of the stopper according to the first improvement of the second embodiment;

[0046] FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic rear view of the stopper according to a second improvement of the second embodiment; and

[0047] FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic rear view of the stopper according to a third improvement of the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] As required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein. The disclosed embodiments are merely examples that may be embodied in various and alternative forms, and combinations thereof. As used herein, for example, exemplary, and similar terms, refer expansively to embodiments that serve as an illustration, specimen, model or pattern.

[0049] In some instances, well-known components, systems, materials or methods have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure.

[0050] Phrasing such as ‘configured to’ perform a function, including in the claims, can include any or all of being sized, shaped, positioned in the arrangement, and comprising material to perform the function.

[0051] Terms indicating quantity, such as ‘first’ or ‘second’ are used for exemplary and explanation purposes and are not intended to dictate the specific ordering of a component with respect to other components. Terms indicating position such as ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ or ‘front’ and ‘back’ are used to indicate components relation to one another. One of skill in the art would recognize other configurations are possible.

[0052] Various embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein. The described embodiments are merely exemplary illustrations of implementations set for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Variations, modifications, and combinations may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the claims. All such variations, modifications, and combinations are included herein by the scope of this disclosure and the claims.

[0053] The invention relates to a stopper 1 for closing an aperture of a bottle neck.

[0054] The stopper 1 is made of a plastic material. The stopper 1 globally has a tubular shape. The stopper 1 is made of one or several plastic piece(s). Especially the stopper 1 is integrally made of one plastic piece by a molding fabrication step. Other parts or elements of the stopper 1 can be created into the plastic piece through a cutting or slitting step during the manufacturing process.

[0055] The stopper 1 comprises a closure shell 2 and a tamper band 4. The closure shell 2 and the tamper band 4 are linked together, the tamper band 4 being top connected around the bottom of the closure shell 2.

[0056] Especially the stopper 1 comprises a weakness line 6 with bridges 8. The bridges 8 separably link a bottom edge of the closure shell 2 and a top edge of the tamper band 4. The bridges 8 are distributed almost all along the weakness line 6, regularly or not. The bridges 8 are torn until they break when opening the closure shell 2. the bridges 8 are made during the molding step or after through a cutting or slitting step of the weakness line 6.

[0057] At a bottom part the tamper band 4 internally comprises retaining features. The retaining features secure the stopper 1 when sealing the bottle neck. The retaining features can form a collar. Usually, after the collar is inverted inside the tamper band, in bottle sealing the collar locks the tamper band 4 and the entire stopper 1 against a tamper evident ring outwardly located around the bottle neck. The retaining features can also be an inner bead, made when molding, that do not need to be inverted like the collar.

[0058] The stopper 1 further comprises knurls 18. The knurls 18 are distributed around a peripheral wall of the closure shell 2. The knurls 18 are distributed around the stopper 1 in a regularly way or not. The knurls 18 are almost vertically or vertically orientated. Two adjacent knurls 18 are regularly spaced apart.

The knurls 18 are almost identical and have the same shape, the same dimensions (height, width and thickness). Some knurls 18 can be shorter or less high, in order to position the stopper 1 relative to the tool thanks to typically a vision system.

[0059] Such knurls 18 are designed to cooperate with a tool, also called “capping chuck”, used to apply the stopper on the bottle neck. Especially the tool comprises inner complementary grooves and is shaped to engage the stopper 1 from top to bottom. When the stopper 1 is engaged into the tool, the cooperation between the knurls 18 and the grooves block any angularly free movement of the stopper 1. So when rotating the tool or the bottle neck, the stopper 1 is screwed on a bottle neck in order to seal the aperture, until the retaining features of the tamper band 4 engages with the ring of the bottle neck.

[0060] According to an embodiment, the stopper 1 can be a screw type stopper. The stopper 1 comprises inner thread(s). The inner thread(s) are located on the closure shell 2 (and/or eventually on the tamper band 4). The inner thread(s) are complementary shaped to cooperate by screwing and unscrewing with outer thread(s) located around a peripheral wall of the bottle neck. So when sealing the bottle neck, the stopper 1 is screwed, until the retaining features of the tamper band 4 engage with the outer ring of the bottle neck. Reversely when opening, the stopper 1 is unscrewed until the bridges 8 of the weakness line 6 are broken, then the closure shell 2 can be moved from the bottle neck.

[0061] The closure shell 2 is typically not removable from the rest of the stopper 1, especially from the tamper band 4. Therefore, the stopper 1 comprises at least two hinges 10. The hinges 10 are top attached to the closure shell 2 and bottom attached to the tamper band 4. Hence, when opening, the closure shell 2 stays attached to the tamper band 4 through the hinges 10, the tamper band 4 being secured on the bottle neck through its retaining features. Moreover, the weakness line 6 extends along all the periphery of the stopper 1, except along the hinges 10. So the stopper 1 combines a screw type with a snap movable closure shell 2.

[0062] According to another embodiment, the stopper 1 can be of a snap type, without thread(s) but with inner retaining features of the closure shell 2 and/or of the roof, which is movable through the hinges 10.

[0063] The stopper 1 comprises at least one gap 12. The at least one gap 12 is located between the two hinges 10. So the two hinges 10 are spaced apart and the gap 12 is located on a side of each hinge facing the other hinge 10. Moreover, the gap 12 has a shape with a middle area 22. According to different embodiments, the gap 12 has a “U” shape like, an inverted “U” shape, an “H” shape or a double “I” shape.

[0064] According to a preferred embodiment, the gap has an inverted “U” shape. The inverted “U” shape gap also comprises a slit 14. The slit 14 is managed into a horizontal part of the inverted “U” shape of the gap 12. The gap 12 also comprises two vertical or almost vertical parts, which are laterally located.

[0065] The stopper 1 also comprises one or several tongue(s) 16. The tongue(s) 16 is protruding relative to a peripheral border of a top roof of the closure shell 2. The tongue(s) 16 is almost aligned with the surface of the roof. So the tongue(s) 16 outwardly and laterally extends from the roof. Moreover, the tongue(s) 16 is located over the gap 12, especially over the middle area 22, and so over the slit 14. The tongue(s) 16 is shaped to cooperate with the gap 12, especially with the outer surface of the middle area 22, in order to secure the closure shell 2 in an opened position. Especially the protruding shape of the tongue(s) 16 relative to the roof of the closure shell 2, allows the tongue(s) 16 to cooperate below the slit 14 against the middle area 22 until the closure shell 2 comes into a totally opened position blocked into an angular position, more than 180° relative to its closure position. In other words, the folding of the hinges 10 combined with the cooperation of the tongue(s) confer a bistable position of the closure shell 2, especially into the opening position.

[0066] The stopper 1 according to the invention has specifically shaped tongue(s) 16 in order to allow the stopper 1 to be freely and easily inserted into the tool when sealing the bottle neck. Therefore, the tongue(s) is shaped alike one of the knurls 18. In other words, as the tongue(s) 16 is exactly dimensioned as the knurls 18, the tongue(s) 16 perfectly fits with the inner grooves of the tool, when the stopper 1 is engage therein. The tool can be similar to a normal one, as the tool is symmetrical relative to a center point. Moreover, the tool and the stopper 1 can be engaged together whatever the angularly position relative from one to each other.

[0067] According to an embodiment, the knurls 18 has a width and the tongue(s) 16 has a width, the width of the tongue(s) is almost the same as the width of the knurls 18. So the tongue(s) 16 has almost the same width as the knurls. In other words, each tongue 16 has the same or less angular length than a knurl 18. So the tongue(s) 16 can insert into the grooves of the tool.

[0068] According to an embodiment, the knurls 18 has a thickness and the tongue(s) 16 has thickness, the thickness of the tongue(s) 16 is almost the same as the thickness of the knurls 18. So the tongue(s) 16 has almost the same thickness as the knurls 18. In other words, each tongue 16 has the same or less radial length than a knurl 18. So the tongue(s) 16 can insert into the grooves of the tool.

[0069] As the tongue(s) 16 is located at the top edge of the stopper 1 in an aligned way with the surface of the roof, with the gap 12 and the slit 14 just underneath, the tongue(s) 16 has a smaller height than the knurls 18. The expression “almost” relating to above dimensions is considered as strictly identical or a little bit more or less depending on the required space to engage the tool when sealing the stopper 1 on the bottle neck. For example, the spacing can be approximately between 0.05 mm to 1 mm.

[0070] According to a first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the stopper 1 comprises only one tongue 16. As especially visible on FIGS. 1 and 4, the one tongue 16 is centered relative to the gap 12. So the one tongue 16 is located at the most distal point relative to the center of the stopper 1.

[0071] According to another embodiment, not shown, the tongue 16 can be located at another angular position, as the one tongue 16 is still located over the slit 14.

[0072] According to an improvement, as previously mentioned, when the stopper 1 comprises two hinges with the gap 12 located between the two hinges 10, the inverted “U” shape of the gap 12 comprises a middle area 22 under the slit 14. So such middle area 22 is connected to the tamper band 4 and the top edge cooperates with the tongue(s) 16 to secured the closure shell 2 into the open position. In order to avoid any break or damage of the tongue(s) 16 when the tool is engaged on the stopper 1, the middle area 22 comprises one or several portion(s) 20 of the knurls 18. The portion(s) 20 is vertically aligned with the tongue(s) 16. So the forces applied by the grooves of the tool on the tongue(s) 16 are also distributed to the portion(s) 20.

[0073] According to a first improvement, the top end of the tongue(s) 16 cooperates with a top edge of the portion(s) 20 to secure the closure shell 2 into the opened position. So the portion(s) 20 is located on a bottom portion of the middle area 22, under the contact surface of the end of the tongue(s) 16 in the opened position. Such improvement is shown in FIG. 11. Such first improvement can be combined with the first embodiment such as shown in FIG. 5, or the second embodiment, such as shown in FIG. 9.

[0074] According to a second improvement, the bottom end of the tongue(s) 16 cooperates with a bottom edge of the portion(s) 20 to secure the closure shell 2 into the opened position. So the portion(s) 20 is located on a top portion of the middle area 22, over the contact surface of the end of the tongue(s) 16 in the opened position. Such second improvement can be combined with the first embodiment or the second embodiment, such as shown in FIG. 12.

[0075] According to an improvement, the portion(s) 20 are continuous. So, depending of the length or height of the portion(s) 20 and/or their location, the tongue(s) 16 cooperates with the top edge, the bottom edge or the outer surface of the portion(s) 20.

[0076] According to a third improvement, the portion(s) 20 are interrupted. So the portion(s) 20 has a top part and a bottom part vertically spaced, so that the end of the tongue(s) 16 cooperates into the interruption of the portion(s) 20. Such third improvement can be combined with the first embodiment or the second embodiment, such as shown in FIG. 13.

[0077] According to a modification of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the stopper 1 comprises one tongue 16 and the middle area 22 comprises one portion 20 of one knurl 18. The one tongue 16 and the one portion 20 are vertically aligned.

[0078] According to a second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the stopper 1 comprises three tongue(s) 16.

[0079] According to an improvement of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the stopper 1 comprises three portions 20. Each of the three portions 20 is located and vertically aligned under each of the three tongues 16.

According to other embodiments, not shown, the stopper 1 comprises less or more portions 20 and correspondent tongues 16.