WO2006115467A1

WO2006115467A1 - Bottle fitment

Info

Publication number: WO2006115467A1
Application number: PCT/UA2005/000036
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mykola Artyomovich Titarenko; Oleksii Mykolayovich Titarenko
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-04-25
Filing date: 2005-09-09
Publication date: 2006-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 2007-10-25
Also published as: EP1874643A1; EA200601915A1; UA9924U; EA008461B1

Abstract

Bottle fitment comprises of a flexible cork (l)that, in working position, is inserted mostly into bottleneck (11) , and a rigid capsule(2) . It consisting of skirt (3) , upper part (8) of which is equipped with at least single internal screw-thread and surrounded, in working position, a part of said cork, and cover plate (4) that is rigidly connected to said skirt and has a window(5) for passing unscrewed cork.

Description

BOTTLE FITMENT Field of the Invention

The invention relates to structure of bottle fitments that comprise, as a rule, round corks prefabricated from suitable for cutting of screw-threads on their side surface deformable materials. These fitments may be used preferably for corking of such alcoholic drinks as vintage wines, cognacs, brandies, whiskies etc. and opening of bottles hereafter without any external means.

Prior Art

It is known, that respectable manufacturers of high-quality alcoholic drinks aim to protect from falsification and facilitate consumption of theirs. First said purpose is succeeding easily using coin-like publicity-playing metallic insertions according to UA 25201 A. Heads of all these insertions bear identical for all regular production run relief images of value, for example, an « 1 THALERv, and tail of each single insertion bears individual playing code.

Falsification of such insertions is very difficult. Therefore, they may be used in support of origin and quality of target drinks.

However, attaching of such insertions onto bottlenecks is intricate technical problem. It was solved using composite device for corking of bottles according to UA 1112U that comprises of:

(1) an usually round cork, which is made from material inert in respect of corked liquid and, in working position, inserted into bottleneck so, that its upper butt end is located up to the bottleneck butt end, and

(2) a capsule, which is made from shrink polymeric film and consisting of skirt that, in working position, at least partly surrounds said bottleneck, and cover plate that is rigidly connected to said skirt, has a window for viewing of said insertion heads and, in working position, tightly presses said insertion to the bottleneck butt end and said cork. This device, which is technically nearest to proposed further improved bottle fitment, enables, not taking off capsule by consumer, to detect a presence and authenticity of each said coin-like insertion that was placed under said cover plate at the time of bottle corking.

Unfortunately, each bottle equipped with described bottle fitment may be opened by consumer using of some additional external means only. Summary of the Invention

The invention is based on the problem of creation - by modification of capsule form, selection of materials for cork and capsule making and change of their connection in working position - such bottle fitment which could provide comfortable opening the bottle without any additional external means and, at the same time, confirm integrity of bottle contents until its opening by consumer.

This problem is solved in that a bottle fitment for corking of bottles, which comprises of - an usually round cork, which is made from material inert in respect of corked liquid and, in working position, inserted into bottleneck, and a capsule consisting of skirt that, in working position, at least partly surrounds said bottleneck, and cover plate that is rigidly connected to said skirt and has a window, according to the invention the capsule is made from material, hardness and rigidity of which exceed hardness and rigidity of cork material, the capsule skirt consists of smooth on the inside lower part allowing free rotation of capsule around the bottleneck at the time of bottle opening, and upper part that is equipped with internal screw-thread and located, in working position, above the bottleneck butt end, the cork is inserted in working position into the bottleneck so, that it is partly located above the bottleneck butt end and surrounded from its outside by at least one turn of said screw-thread, and diameter of said window in the capsule cover plate is sufficient for passing of said cork at the time of bottle opening. This device provides opening (uncorking) of each bottle by a simple rotation of capsule around the bottleneck. Moreover, this device provides detecting of unauthorised opening of bottle. In fact, each consumer can remove the capsule, extract the cork from suspicious bottle using suitable external means, and then find tracks of unscrewing on the outside of such cork.

First and second additional feature consist, accordingly, in that said window in the capsule cover plate is blocked by partition that must be break or tear-off under pressure of unscrewed cork, and the capsule skirt has in lower part a tear-off element fixed, in working position, relative to at least one intermediate annular shoulder on the bottleneck outside. It increases protection of corked bottles from unauthorised opening.

The third additional feature consists in that said screw-thread is at least double thread. It facilitates uncorking of bottles.

A fourth additional feature consists in that said capsule is made from the material selected from group consisting of hard high-density polyethylene, reinforced polystyrene, polypropylene, polycarbonate and polyformaldehyde, and said cork is made from a whole rind or pressed rind crumbs of cork oak. It allows to make capsules and corks from acceptable at a price and quality materials, but in no way limits their selection for the purposes of required correlation hardness and rigidity of theirs.

It is clear to the each person skilled in the art that said additional features can be used in different combinations with the basic invention idea.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will now be explained by detailed description of a proposed device and procedure of its use with references to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig.1 shows such bottle fitment that has a capsule with a whole skirt (longitudinal section by a plane passing through the bottleneck symmetry axis);

Fig.2 shows such bottle fitment that has a capsule with a sectioning skirt (longitudinal section by a plane passing through the bottleneck symmetry axis).

Best Mode Carrying Out the Invention Generally, proposed bottle fitment (Figs 1 and 2) comprises of a preferably round cork 1 made from material inert in respect of corked liquid, and capsule 2 consisting of a skirt 3 and rigidly connected to it cover plate 4 having a window 5. It is usually blocked by a tear-up or tear-off partition 6. Diameter of window 5 is sufficient for passing of said cork 1.

The capsule 2 is made from material, hardness and rigidity of which exceed hardness and rigidity of the cork 1 material. As a rule, material of the capsule 2 is selected from group consisting of hard high-density polyethylene, reinforced polystyrene, polypropylene, polycarbonate and polyformaldehyde, and said cork 1 is made from a whole rind or pressed rind crumbs of cork oak.

Said skirt 3 of the capsules 2 consists of smooth on the inside lower part 7, and upper part 8 having an at least single (but preferably double or more) internal screw-thread 9. Said lower part 7 of the skirt 3 may be equipped with a tear-off element 10 that is fixed, in working position, relative to at least one intermediate annular shoulder on the bottleneck 11 outside (Fig.2). The described bottle fitment must be using in such a way.

At the time of corking, the cork 1 must be inserted into the bottleneck 11 of each bottle so, that some part of said cork 1 will be placed above the bottleneck 11 butt end. Further the capsule 2 must be placed onto the bottleneck 11. Then the lower part 7 of said skirt 3 (together with said tear-off element 10, if it is foreseen) will be surrounded the bottleneck 11 at least partly, and at least one turn of internal screw-thread 9 will be fixed said prominent part of the cork 1 in consequence of rotation of the skirt 3 around the cork 1 and partial bearing failure of its.

In order to open the bottle, consumer rotates the capsule 2 around the bottleneck 11. Then said screw-thread 9 on upper part of the skirt 3 cuts a return screw-thread on the cork 1 outside and, in that way, provides extraction (unscrewing) of said cork 1 from the bottleneck 11..The cork 1 passes through said window 5 (and breaks through or tears off the partition 6, if it was used).

Further unscrewed cork 1 together with the capsule 2 can be taken off from the bottleneck 11.

Industrial Applicability The proposed bottle fitments may by producing in abundance from materials that are accessible in the market easily. These fitments provide comfortable opening of bottles without any additional external means together with very reliable protection of alcoholic drinks against their falsification.

Claims

C LA I M S

1. Bottle fitment, having - an usually round cork, which is made from material inert in respect of corked liquid and, in working position, inserted into bottleneck, and a capsule consisting of skirt that, in working position, at least partly surrounds said bottleneck, and cover plate that is rigidly connected to said skirt and has a window, characterised in that the capsule is made from material, hardness and rigidity of which exceed hardness and rigidity of cork material, the capsule skirt consists of smooth on the inside lower part allowing free rotation of capsule around the bottleneck at the time of bottle opening, and upper part that is equipped with internal screw-thread and, in working position, located above the bottleneck butt end, the cork is inserted in working position into the bottleneck so, that it is partly located above the bottleneck butt end and surrounded from its outside by at least one turn of said screw-thread, and diameter of said window in the capsule cover plate is sufficient for passing of said cork at the time of bottle opening.

2. Bottle fitment of claim 1 characterised in that said window in the capsule cover plate is blocked by partition that must be break or tear-off under pressure of unscrewed cork.

3. Bottle fitment of claim 1 characterised in that the capsule skirt has in lower part a tear-off element fixed, in working position, relative to at least one intermediate annular shoulder on the bottleneck.

4. Bottle fitment of claim 1 characterised in that said screw-thread is at least double thread.

5. Bottle fitment of claim 1 characterised in that said capsule is made from the material selected from group consisting of hard high-density polyethylene, reinforced polystyrene, polypropylene, polycarbonate and polyformaldehyde, and said cork is made from a whole rind or pressed rind crumbs of cork oak.