Bottle cap

The present invention relates to the structural improvement of tearing bottle capsules formed of light metal sheets. The opportunity to carry out further refinement in existing bottle and tear capsules becomes increasingly evident as more widely used. This increase in demand will be partly due to recyclable or reusable glass containers as well as to the constant consumer demand for convenience packaging. One aspect of known tear-bottle capsules, in which the need for further refinement has become particularly evident, relates to the easy removal of the capsule from the underlying edge of the bottle at the end of the tearing action. This removal,

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of the bottle, and of its capsule, caused by the pressure applied to remove the capsule itself from the bot to. The changes in the arrangement of the schemes of. tearing as determined, from the fooma of the incision lines have not yet completely satisfied the aforesaid requirement in that) the other fundamental structural requirement of the capsule must always be satisfied at the same time in which the removal of the capsule is made easier, consequently , the optimal position of the capsule incision line must provide satisfactory and adequate containment of the pressure as well as a tear ease before the capsule is removed and finally the ease of removal of the capsule from the edge of the bottle.

A similar appearance of the tear-off capsule for bottles of an old design susceptible of further improvement concerns the degree of rigidity imparted to the capsule in its manufacture, so as to. effectively withstand the abrupt treatments in shipping and in handling during manufacture. This aspect has a particular significance in the construction of capsules employing a radially arranged gripper, which not only requires a considerable degree of stability for

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an efficient high-speed processing operation but must also possess sufficient rigidity to effectively facilitate tearing or tearing action.

Summary

The bottle cap illustrated herein is designed to refine the old design by providing a bore of incision lines having portions closely following the upper periphery of the capsule. This particular form of incision offers the advantage of allowing most of the upper disc of the tear capsule to be lifted upward, out of the edge of the underlying bottle when the capsule itself is torn openly, leaving only a surrounding part very close to the body of the die capsule can easily be removed from the bottle at the end of the tearing action.

The exact position of the incision lines is also important in order to avoid any slackening in the parts of the body of the capsule subject to more difficult formations surrounding the central disc, - with the incision line according to the invention, it is possible to avoid any carried

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«To the counterproductive from normal stresses and efforts in the construction and subsequent application of the tear capsule. moreover, the positioning of the parts of the circular incision line relative to the annular sealing gasket formed "in situ" inside the capsule is such that any metal exposed in the incision line is protected from the attack of the product while at the same time there will be a minimum thickness in the gasket material which will have to be torn for the removal of the capsule, moreover, stiffening ribs are provided in the section of laceration of the capsule flap so as to present a certain resistance to the grip fin during the operations of handling of the flip-up capsule and removal of the same.

Another object is to provide a tearing metal closure with an improved incision pattern which substantially reduces the tensile force required to detach a tear closure from the edge of the underlying bottle.

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Another object is to provide an engraved metal tear closure in which the exposure of the incision to the bottled product is protected against the aforesaid by the seal ring.

Yet another object is to provide a tearing metal closure having a structurally reinforced gripper to aid opening and to protect against damage caused by handling and closing operations at a high speed.

Other and more detailed purposes will be partly highlighted and partly underlined during the description of the invention, in conjunction with the attached drawing.

In the drawing:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of the capsule&gt;

closing charge in accordance with the invention; fig. 2 is a top view of the same? fig. 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the overlap relationship between the seal gasket and the incisions; and fig. 5 is a perspective view of the closure in the open, torn position just before removal from a bottle.

The tear-off closure cap of the invention, generally indicated by the number 1 and shown in Figures 1 and 2, is formed of a light metal sheet and is intended to comprise a circular top disc 2 surrounded by a rounded joint portion 3. A cylindrical flap 4 goes down from the joint part 3 and ends in a low free edge 5. The flip-off cap 1 is provided with a gripping flap 6 which projects downwardly starting from the free edge 5 of the flap with a short neck 7 and then disposed radially outwardly and downwards into a base portion 8 which is connected in a traction ring 9. A pair of parallel reinforcing ribs 10 outwardly extending extends vertically from the base portion 8 around the neck 7 and to the flap 4 to terminate in the rounded joint portion 3. The ribs 10 serve to reinforce the ribs 7 so that the adjacent ground portion 4A may offer some resistance to the detrimental bending of the pickup lug 6 relative to the body of the tear capsule as frequently occurs in handling conditions during the process.

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ment, packaging and shipping. This reinforcement is also enhanced by the extension of the ribs 10 as represented by the number 11 in Figure 3, in a fold line 7A formed between the neck 7 and the base part 8 thus preventing the flexing of the ring 9 and basic part of the package 7.

Two incision lines indicated generally on 12 are formed within the tear-off capsule and for illustration purposes, are shown in the outer surface of the capsule, although an internal incision can also be used. Each of the incision lines is determined by an incision 13 formed in the edge 5 of the flap on both sides of the neck part 7 and arranged upwardly through the flap 4 of the glove capsule according to the number 14, in crossing the rounded junction part 3 the incision lines move away from each other at 15 and pass through a circular path as shown in FIG. 3 extending along part of the path around the edge of the upper disc 2 of the capsule.

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since there may be a slight counterfeiting of the capsule during the construction of the capsule and its application, when the incision is located around the rounded part 3. Each part 16 of the incision line continues along this circular path up to a point angularly displaced by about 45 ° beyond the central portion of the capsule and then disposes radially outwards at 17, while the rounded joint part 3 is crossed again, ending on the flap of the capsule at the opposite end of the capsule with respect to the pick-up lug.

An annular sealing gasket 18 composed of a vinyl resin plastisol as a non-limiting example, is formed "in situ" within the capsule so as to attach directly to the inner surface of the rounded joint portion 3. As can be clearly seen in fig. 4, the gasket 18 is superimposed on the portions 16 of the circular incision line for a minor extension while the bulk or major part of the gasket is arranged radially outward of the incision line. This particular; the gasket arrangement offers the advantage of protecting the area of ​​the

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'UA C'j the engraving line against exposure to the packaged product without resorting to expensive subsequent coating operations, such protection is frequently required where the product's incompatibility may cause a chemical attack to the base metal of the closure capsule and contamination of the packaged product, it must be emphasized that even if the outer surface of the capsule is damaged, damage occurs in the inner surface coatings which must in any case be protected.

A bottle 20 provided with an edge 21 which externally directs and circumscribes the opening of the bottle is shown in fig. 5. The closure capsule 1 of the invention is shown here in an intermediate opening position and in lacerated conditions, Bla before having complete removal from the underlying edge 21 of the bottle. In addition to the advantages already described resulting from the improved reinforcement of the gripper and from the improved construction details of the incision pattern according to the invention, at the same time both the opening and the tearing of the capsule are more functional. Initially it is normal to see some resistance in tearing, when the part

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thicker, i.e. the mass of the gasket 18 is cut off during the initial tear of the capsule. When this resistance occurs while the tear proceeds along the rounded connecting part 3,_tThe irrigation effect conferred to the part of flap 4A by means of the ribs 10, provides an appreciable resistance to the tearing action.

While the continuous tearing action in the parts 16 of the peripheral incision line, the resistance offered by the gasket 18 is greatly reduced following the thinning of the cross section of the gasket along its inner edge which abuts the incision line. As is clearly illustrated in FIG. 5. A small residue of seal material 18A remains along the edges of a central part externally lacerated of the upper disc of the capsule. The presence of this residue indicates that the incision line has been completely protected from exposure of the contents of the bottle, being located inside a minor groove of the seal, which stands out easily torn during the tearing process.

Finally and decisively, this

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The etching line has proved to be such as to give a noticeable improvement in the ease with which the open and torn capsule is separated from the bottle. This ease in removing the capsule is accomplished by reducing to a minimum the capacity of the remaining portions of the capsule to grasp the underlying edge 21 of the bottle. With the engraving scheme shown here, ί

only a narrow metal band composed of the ground part 4 and the remaining part of the rounded part of the part 3 is left engaged with the edge of the bottle after tearing. The completion of the tearing action occurs when the light metal foil is torn along the entire etching line 12 and the end points far from the gripper are reached. The normal tensile force applied to the ring 9 therefore causes the remaining relatively free capsule portion to be moved very simply from the underlying edge 21 of the bottle thus avoiding any counterproductive loss of the bottled product.

From the foregoing it is easily evident that numerous advantages derive from the chiù capsule

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sura to laceration of the! invention as previously described, it should be noted that there may be variations in the construction of the tear capsule, such as for example modifying the construction or the shape of the pickup fin of the capsule itself, '

Various seal arrangements may also be used, such as a total adherent or friction lining inside the capsule. Still other variations and modifications in the construction and various embodiments of the invention may be presented in. persons skilled in this field and can be realized without departing from the spirit and technique of the invention.

It is therefore considered that all the arguments contained in the description above, or shown in the accompanying drawing, must be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense of the invention itself.