Anti-counterfeit bottle cap

Abstract

An anti-counterfeit bottle cap, having a body (10) and a safety ring bell (20), and a slit (30) in between; an anti-theft mechanism (40) is provided within the slit (30); the anti-theft mechanism (40) has upper rods (41), lower rods (43) and a tear ring (42) in between; upper ends of the upper rods (41) are connected to the body (10), lower ends of which are connected to the tear ring (42); upper ends of the lower rods (43) are connected with the tear ring (42), lower ends of which are connected with the safety ring belt (20). The tear ring is subject to irreversible plastic deformation after the body (10) disengages from the bottle mouth. Therefore, the tear ring (42) cannot be restored. The torn and broken upper rods (41), lower rods (43) or tear ring (42) cannot be glued back to its/their original position(s).

Claims

1. An anti-counterfeit bottle cap, comprising a bottle cap body having internal screw threads and a safety ring belt injection molded with the bottle cap body to form a one whole piece with the bottle cap body; an annular slit is positioned between the safety ring belt and the bottle cap body; an anti-theft mechanism connecting the bottle cap body and the safety ring belt is provided within the annular slit; wherein the anti-theft mechanism comprises a plurality of upper connecting rods, a plurality of lower connecting rods, and a tear ring provided between the upper connecting rods and the lower connecting rods; upper ends of the upper connecting rods are connected with the bottle cap body; lower ends of the upper connecting rods are connected with the tear ring; upper ends of the lower connecting rods are connected with the tear ring, lower ends of the lower connecting rods are connected with the safety ring belt; when rotation of the bottle cap body causes the bottle cap body to displace towards a direction, away from the safety ring belt, the safety ring belt is deformed; when the bottle cap body displaces to a predetermined position, the upper connecting rods or the lower connecting rods or the tear ring is/are torn and broken, and the safety ring belt and the bottle cap body are mutually separated; the tear ring consists of a first tear ring and a second tear ring; the first tear ring and the second tear ring are connected with each other via intermediate connecting rods; the upper connecting rods are provided between the bottle cap body and the first tear ring; the lower connecting rods are provided between the safety ring belt and the second tear ring.

2. The anti-counterfeit bottle cap according to claim 1, wherein the tear ring comprises a plurality of convex portions at an upper end thereof; the convex portions are mutually spaced with respect to one another; a sinking portion is provided between every two consecutive convex portions; the tear ring also composes a plurality of concave portions at a lower end thereof; the concave portions are mutually spaced with respect to one another; a floating portion is provided between every two consecutive concave portions; the convex portions are positioned corresponding to the floating portions; the concave portions are positioned corresponding to the sinking portions; the upper connecting rods are provided between the convex portions and the bottle cap body; the lower connecting rods are provided between the concave portions and the safety ring belt; the upper connecting rods and the lower connecting rods are positioned in a staggered manner.

3. The anti-counterfeit bottle cap according to claim 2, wherein the bottle cap body and the safety ring belt are injection molded as a one whole piece by using PE plastic materials.

4. The anti-counterfeit bottle cap according to claim 3, wherein the tear ring has a thickness from 0.1 mm to 10 mm; a cross section of each of the upper connecting rods and a cross section of each of the lower connecting rods are both in a rectangular shape; a width of the rectangular shape is from 0.1 mm to 10 mm; a length of the <rectangular shape is from 0.1 mm to 10 mm; both a thickness of each of the upper connecting rods and a thickness of each of the lower connecting rods range from 0.1 mm to 10 mm.

5. The anti-counterfeit bottle cap according to claim 4, wherein a number of the upper connecting rods is twelve, and a number of the lower connecting rods is also twelve; a lateral spacing between every two consecutive upper connecting rods is more than 0.1 mm; a lateral spacing between every two consecutive lower connecting rods is also more than 0.1 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of portion A shown in FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3 shows a use condition of the present invention (the bottle cap body displaced away from the safety ring belt but yet to be broken away from the safety ring belt).

(4) FIG. 4 shows another use condition of the present invention(the bottle cap body is broken away from the safety ring belt).

(5) FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the tear ring of the present invention.

(6) FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of the present invention according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) With reference to FIGS. 1-6, an anti-counterfeit bottle cap comprises a bottle cap body 10 having internal screw threads and a safety ring belt 20 injection molded with the bottle cap body 10 to form a one whole piece with the bottle cap body 10; an annular slit 30 is positioned between the safety ring belt 20 and the bottle cap body 10 An anti-theft mechanism 40 connecting the bottle cap body 10 and the safety ring belt 20 is provided within the annular slit 30. When the bottle cap is mounted onto a bottle mouth, the safety ring belt 20 is fixed with a position limiting mechanism on the bottle mouth so as to be fixed and positioned. Connection structure between the safety ring belt 20 and the bottle mouth is known in the prior arts, for example in the prior arts discussed in the background section, and therefore will not be described in detail herein.

(8) The main features of the present invention are described as follows: The anti-theft mechanism 40 comprises a plurality of upper connecting rods 41, a plurality of lower connecting rods 43, and a tear ring 42 provided between the upper connecting rods 41 and the lower connecting rods 43. Upper ends of the upper connecting rods 41 are connected with the bottle cap body 10; lower ends of the upper connecting rods are connected with an upper end of the tear ring 42. Upper ends of the lower connecting rods 43 are connected with the tear ring 42; lower ends of the lower connecting rods 43 are connected with an upper end of the safety ring belt 20. According to the present invention, after injection molding of the bottle cap body 10 and the safety ring belt 20 is finished, the annular slit 30, the tear ring 42, the upper connecting rods 41 and the lower connecting rods 43 can be formed directly by annular cutting procedures using a bottle cap openings cutting machine. After the bottle cap is manufactured, rotation of the bottle cap body 10 will cause the bottle cap body 10 to displace towards a direction away from the safety ring belt 20; accordingly, the safety ring belt 20 will be gradually deformed; when the bottle cap body 10 displaces to a predetermined position which is a maximum damage tolerable position, the upper connecting rods 41 or the lower connecting rods 43 or the tear ring 42 will be torn and broken and so the safety ring belt 20 and the bottle cap body 10 will be mutually separated. According to the inventive concept of the present invention, a person skilled in t his field of art may determine what materials should be used for making the bottle cap and how strong each part of the bottle cap should be, so that when the bottle cap body 10 is rotated, the upper connecting rods 41 will be torn first, or the lower connecting rods 43 will be torn first, or the tear ring 42 will be torn. Besides, the maximum damage tolerable position of the bottle cap body 10 is also associated with the choice of materials and relevant designs, therefore the present invention will not specifically limit the maximum damage tolerable position to a particular position.

(9) Preferably, the tear ring 42 comprises a plurality of convex portions 44 at an upper end thereof; the convex portions 44 are mutually spaced with respect to one another. A sinking portion 45 is provided between every two consecutive convex portions 44. The tear ring 42 also comprises a plurality of concave portions 46 at a lower end thereof; the concave portions 46 are mutually spaced with respect to one another; a floating portion 47 is provided between every two consecutive concave portions 46; the convex portions 44 are positioned corresponding to the floating portions 47; the concave portions are positioned corresponding to the sinking portions 45; the upper connecting rods 41 are provided between the convex portions 44 and the bottle cap body 10; the lower connecting rods 43 are provided between the concave portions 46 and the safety ring belt 20; the upper connecting rods 41 and the lower connecting rods are positioned in a staggered manner. By using this structure, an upper end surface and a lower end surface of the tear ring 42 are both in a wavy shape. In addition to this, the upper connecting rods 41 and the lower connecting rods 43 are skillfully designed. As a result, the present invention saves much effort involved in rotating the bottle cap body 10. The bottle cap can be easily opened while the anti-theft mechanism 40 can be effectively damaged.

(10) Preferably, the bottle cap body 10 and the safety ring belt 20 are injection molded as a one whole piece by using PE plastic materials. The tear ring 42 has a thickness from 0.1 mm to 10 mm. A cross section of each of the upper connecting rods 41 and a cross section of each of the lower connecting rods 43 are both in a rectangular shape. A width of this rectangular shape is from 0.1 mm to 10 mm, a length of this rectangular shape is from 0.1 mm to 10 mm. Both a thickness of each of the upper connecting rods and a thickness of each of the lower connecting rods range from 0.1 mm to 10 mm. Preferably, a number of the upper connecting rods 41 provided is twelve, and a number of the lower connecting rods 43 provided is also twelve. A lateral pacing between every two consecutive upper connecting rods 41 is more than 0.1 mm; a lateral spacing between every two consecutive lower connecting rods 43 is also more than 0.1 mm. By using this structure, connecting strength between the bottle cap body 10 and the safety ring belt 20 is taken into account, while the bottle cap body 10 can be ensured to effectively break away from the safety ring belt 20 when it is rotated to the maximum damage tolerable position. Effort of opening the bottle cap can also be saved.

(11) Reference is now made to FIGS. 3-4. FIG. 3 shows the bottle cap body 10 displaced away from the safety ring belt 20 but yet to be broken away from the safety ring belt 20. In this condition, the tear ring 42 is tensioned. In FIG. 4, the bottle cap body 10 is broken away from the safety ring belt 20. In this condition, the bottle cap body 10 can be easily disengaged from the bottle mouth by continual rotation of the bottle cap body 10 to achieve opening of the bottle cap.

(12) Obviously the bottle cap of the present invention is not only limited to have only one tear ring 42. FIG. 6 shows a modified embodiment wherein the tear ring 42 consists of a first tear ring 421 and a second tear ring 422. The first tear ring 421 and the second tear ring 422 are connected with each other via intermediate connecting rods 423. The upper connecting rods 41 are provided between the bottle cap body 10 and the first tear ring 421. The lower connecting rods 43 are provided between the safety ring belt 20 and the second tear ring 422. Such a structure is essentially equivalent to using two tear rings. A person skilled in this field of art may alternatively provide three or more tear rings according to practice situation. All the tear rings are directly formed by using bottle cap openings cutting machine.