EP0013249B1 - Method of tamper-proof closing a bottle with a threaded neck portion, and bottle with a threaded neck portion for carrying out such a method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method of corking a bottle with a screw neck, using a corking cap of the type known as “inviolable”.

Capsules of this type include a circular bottom and a long skirt in two parts separated by a circular weakening zone, formed, for example, by non-continuous incisions.

The bottom of the cap and the region of the skirt which is immediately adjacent to the bottom are in contact with the sealing means of the bottle. The remaining area of the upper part of the skirt is crimped onto the thread of the neck. The lower part of the skirt which constitutes the guarantee ring is crimped on a reentrant of the neck which prevents its displacement upwards, so that, during unscrewing, the weakening zone breaks and the guarantee strip remains on the neck.

In the current circumstances, where a return to the returnable bottles is planned, this capping method has the disadvantage that before any further filling, the guarantee strip which has remained attached to the neck must be removed, and which represents an operation additional awkward, because it is a dessert.

In addition, this closure mode imposes tight tolerances, in particular with regard to the line of weakness and the crimping of the guarantee strip. Four types of incident are in fact to be avoided: a break in the weakening line by an involuntary shock during handling, a weakening line that is too strong making the opening of the bottle difficult for the operator, the guarantee strip making it possible to open the bottle and remove the cap without breaking the weakening zone, a widening of the part of the cap at the level of the thread which makes it turn freely without being able to be removed. Compliance with tolerances therefore requires precise and therefore expensive machines.

There have been proposed, for example in US Pat. Nos. 3,235,115 and FR 1,371,041, bottles whose neck has, below the thread, protrusions directed towards the outside, which cooperate with reentrants directed towards the inside. from the lower part of the skirt of the capsule which constitutes the guarantee strip.

In this way, the rotation of the lower part of the skirt is prevented, or at least considerably hampered, when the capsule is unscrewed. This eliminates many of the incidents just mentioned.

The technique thus proposed has not, however, spread for several reasons.

The first of these is that obtaining the gadroons on the neck of a bottle is impossible with the most common usual technique for obtaining glass bottles, namely molding in a two-part mold. Indeed, to avoid breaking the gadroons on demolding, it is necessary to provide additional parts which are placed between the gadroons and which are removed independently from the half-molds, which considerably increases the cost price, bringing it closer to that of luxury bottle making.

Another drawback of the technique proposed by the aforementioned patents is that the shapes which they described correspond to “short” capsules whose skirt does not descend beyond the gadroons. It is true that the presence of gadroons dispenses with having a capsule which descends lower than the gadroons, which allows a saving of material on the capsule, and another on the bottle, whose neck can be shorter, but these savings, in use, prove costly for the professional who corks, because they force him to have two different stocks of capsules, one of long capsules for classic bottles, the other of short capsules for gadroon bottles.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks and to provide a capping process which includes the use of fluted bottles and which, however, does not affect the cost prices of the bottle manufacturer, or possibly that of the professional of the capping.

The present invention therefore provides a method of capping a bottle with a screw neck obtained by molding between two half-shells separated by an axial plane and the neck of which comprises, below the thread, at least one flute projecting towards the outside and the outermost part of which is at a distance from the axis of the neck, process in which a tamper-proof cap is placed on the neck of the bottle, comprising a bottom and a skirt in two parts separated by a zone d weakening, this capsule carrying, on the part of the skirt which is separated from the bottom by the weakening zone, at least one gadroon situated at a height corresponding to that of the gadroon of the neck, and the most inside is at a distance from the axis less than that of the outermost part of the neck of the neck, and greater than the external radius of the rest of the neck, then the part of the skirt closest to the bottom is crimped, on the thread of the neck, dice which has the particularity that the godrons of said neck are placed only in the plane separating the two half-shells, and / or in the part of the periphery of the neck where the tangent to the latter makes with said plane a lower angle at the maximum angle which forms the wall of the godron with a radius.

Preferably, a capsule is used which has a skirt long enough to also allow the use of this capsule on a bottle with a screw neck of the conventional type, this capsule then being crimped onto a narrowed part of the neck situated below the part threaded, and advantageously, the neck has a narrowed portion below the gadroons and the capsule is further crimped in this narrowed part.

The present invention also provides a bottle with a screw neck, the neck of which comprises, below the thread, at least one gadroon projecting outwards and the outermost part of which is at a distance from the axis of the neck. greater than the outside radius of the rest of the neck, and in which the gadroons are placed only in the plane separating the two half-shells, and / or in the part of the periphery of the neck where the tangent thereto forms the wall of the godron with a radius.

Preferably, the neck of this bottle, below the gadroons, does not have a diameter greater than that of a circle enveloping the external limits of the gadroons, at least over a length corresponding to that of a long capsule of the current type, and , advantageously, the neck has a narrowed part below the gadroons and this narrowed part is located in the zone corresponding to the lower part of a long skirt.

• Fig. 1 est une vue de côté du goulot,
• Fig. 2 est une vue de dessus du même goulot,
• Fig. 3 est un schéma expliquant la position limite des godrons du goulot,
• Fig. 4 est une vue de côté et une demi-coupe axiale de la capsule.

The invention will be explained in more detail using a non-limiting example of embodiment according to the invention, illustrated by figures, among which:

• Fig. 1 is a side view of the neck,
• Fig. 2 is a top view of the same neck,
• Fig. 3 is a diagram explaining the limit position of the gadroons of the neck,
• Fig. 4 is a side view and an axial half-section of the capsule.

The neck 1 comprises an upper part 1, which carries a thread whose external radius of the threads 2 is designated by R1. Under the threaded part 1 is a cylindrical part 3, of the same diameter, which carries gadroons 4, 5, projecting outwards. Under the gadroons 4 and 5 is provided a part 6 of diameter, at the start, less than R1; this part is slightly conical, widening downwards.

The gadroons 4, 5, of identical shape, are divided into several groups: if we consider the plane P of symmetry of the bottle, plane which is that which separates the two half-shells which are used for its molding, two groups of gadroons 4 are placed symmetrically in the zones of the periphery furthest from the plane P. On the other hand, two other gadroons 5 are situated astride the plane P itself.

The reason for this arrangement is as follows: to allow the bottle to be removed from the mold during its manufacture, it is preferable that it has no relief capable of opposing the spacing of the mold along a perpendicular to the plane P.

If we consider Figure 3, which is a greatly enlarged and deformed schematic view of part of Figure 2, we see that a gadroon 4 makes, with a radius R, an angle A. It is necessary that this angle A is less than the angle B made by the radius with the perpendicular to the plane P, this angle B being that of the tangent T at the neck with a plane P 'parallel to the plane P. This leads to limit the zone carrying gadroons to a part of the periphery corresponding to an angle at the top 2C at most equal to 2A. The choice of the value of the angle A depends, in particular, on the nature of the capsule. If the latter is made of more malleable material, we may prefer gadroons of more acute shape, that is to say a with A smaller, gadroons 4 then being less numerous, whereas, if the material is more rigid , we may prefer more softened gadroons, but distributed over a larger part of the periphery.

The radius R1 of the neck outside the gadroons is shown in FIG. 3, and the radius R2 of the cylinder tangent to the top of the gadroons 4.

The gadroons 5, being astride the plane of separation of the half-shells, do not pose any problem with demolding; however, it is difficult to give them as precise a form as the others. On the other hand, they can be obtained more easily by a simple transformation of an existing mold. The decision to provide type 4 gadroons, type 5 gadroons, or both is therefore a matter of expediency.

In the example shown, the neck is provided with 2 groups of 8 gadroons of type 4, plus 2 gadroons 5 in the plane P. The angle A is approximately 45 °, and the gadroons 4 are distributed over areas d 'center angle equal to 2 x 42 = approximately 84 °, the interval between gadroons corresponding to 12 °.

Figure 4 shows a capsule that fits on the neck that has just been described. The bottom 7 of the capsule is internally provided with a disc-shaped seal 8, a knurling 9 being provided to facilitate gripping. The upper part 10 of the skirt has a radius R3 slightly greater than the radius R1, and it is separated from the lower part 11 by an immobilization zone 12 constituted by a circular groove interrupted by bridges 13. The lower part 11 of the skirt is, as a whole, of radius equal to the radius R2 of the circle tangent to the ends of the gadroons 4, 5 of the neck; it comprises, towards its upper part, a series of gadroons projecting inwards 14. The bottom of these gadroons is at a distance from the axis equal to R1. The gadroons are also distributed over the entire periphery of the capsule, at an interval corresponding to an angle equal to that which separates the gadroons of type 4 from the neck, that is to say, here, 12 °. This angle is not critical, but it is necessarily equal to 180 ° / n, n being an integer.

Indeed, a different arrangement would make it practically impossible to use machines to place the capsules. For the same reason, if the neck has gadroons of type 5, these must be separated from those of type 4 by an angle corresponding to an integer number of times the angle which separates gadroon 4 from its neighbor. Thus, on the machine, there is no need to take into account the orientation of the bottle.

To facilitate the positioning of the capsule on the neck, the upper part of the gadroons 4, 5 of the neck and the lower part of the gadroons 14 of the capsule are rounded. They could also be tapered vertically.

The installation of the capsule is done without difficulty by simple vertical displacement. It is followed by the crimping of the part 10 on the thread 3. Unlike the prior art, one does not normally proceed by crimping the lower part 11 of the skirt on the narrower part 6 of the neck, although this operation be possible if it is deemed necessary.

Indeed, and this is an important point of the invention, the tearing of the weakening zone 12 takes place because the gadroons effectively brake the lower part 11 in its rotational movement, whereas, in the prior art , it is only the vertical movement of the capsule which is braked. It follows that the braking causing the break takes place from a rotation of only a few degrees, and even less, whereas, in the arrangements according to the prior art, it is frequent to have to turn a quarter of a turn and more, before braking is effective.

The height of the threaded part can therefore be considerably reduced. In addition, the risk of premature contact of the contents of the bottle with the atmosphere is considerably reduced by a rotation which has caused displacement of the sealing parts without going so far as to completely remove the latter with rupture of the weakening zone. This point is important if we want to guarantee the bacteriological purity of the products transported.

One might fear that the lower part of the skirt, once separated from the rest, will be released and risk sliding along the neck when the bottle is emptied, and falling, for example, into the consumer's glass. Experience shows that this is not the case, at least with the values chosen for the angle A. Indeed, during unscrewing, there is a jamming of the gadroons one on the other, which effectively immobilizes this part . On the other hand, it only takes a very small rotation in the opposite direction to release it, in particular for reuse of the bottle. It will be noted, as a particular advantage of the invention, that the release of the lower part of the skirt requires only very low forces, that it can be obtained without using a tool of special shape, and that consequently it practically negligible risk of damaging the neck, even if it is made of glass or other fragile material, which is important when the reuse of the bottle is envisaged.

It should be noted that the shape of the bottle described above allows it to be used with a conventional cap, either by crimping it on the narrowed part 6, and in this case the use is identical to that of the prior art, or in the crimping by pushing around the gadroons, and in this case we find the advantages of the present invention, at the price, it is true, of a different tool.

On the other hand, the capsule described above can also be used on a bottle of the conventional type, and in the known manner, the crimping taking place below the region of the gadroons 14, or even at the level that the latter , which are then overwritten.

The best results are therefore obtained by the combined use of the bottle and the capsule according to the method of the invention.

Claims (6)

1. A method of stoppering a bottle having a threaded neck obtained by moulding between half-moulds separated by axial plane (P), the neck (1) of which comprises, below the screw thread (2), at least one boss (4, 5) protruding outwardly and the outermost part of which is at a distance from the axis of the neck greater than the outer radius of the rest of the neck, the method comprising placing on the neck (1) of the bottle a cap of the tamperproof type comprising an endwall (7) and a skirt in two parts (10, 11) separated by a weakening zone (12, 13), the cap having, on the part of the skirt which is separated from the endwall by the weakening zone, at least one boss situated at a height corresponding to that of the boss on the neck and the innermost part of which is at a distance from the axis less than that the outermost part of the boss on the neck and greater than the outer radius of the rest of the neck, then crimping the part (10) of the skirt closest to the endwall on the thread of the neck, characterized in that the boss or bosses (4, 5) of the said neck are placed only in the plane separating the two half-moulds, and/or in the part of the periphery of the neck where the tangent thereto makes with the said plane an angle less than the maximum angle the wall of the neck makes with a radius.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that a cap is used comprising a skirt (10, 11) long enough to also permit the use of thes cap on a bottle having a conventional threaded neck, this cap then being crimped on to a narrowed part (6) of the neck situated below the threaded part.

3. A method according to claim 2, and in which the neck (1) has a narrowed part (6) below the bosses (4, 5) characterized in that in addition the cap is crimped in this narrowed part.

4. A bottle having a threaded neck and the neck (1) of which comprises, below the screw thread (2) at least one boss (4, 5) protruding outwardly and the outermost part of which is at a distance from the axis of the neck greater than the outer radius of the rest of the neck, characterized in that the boss or bosses (4, 5) are placed only in the plane separating the two half-moulds, and/or in the part of the periphery of the neck where the tangent thereto makes with the said plane an angle less than the maximum angle the wall of the neck makes with a radius.

5. A bottle according to claim 4, characterized in that the neck (1) of the bottle, below the bosses (4, 5), does not have a diameter greater than that of the circle cricumscirbing the outer limits of the bosses (4, 5), at least along a length corresponding to that of a common type of long cap.

6. A bottle according to claim 5, in which the neck (1) has a narrowed part (6) below the bosses (4, 5), characterized in that this narrowed part (6) is situated in the zone corresponding to the lower part (11) of a long skirt.

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