CN110573436A

CN110573436A - Container closure

Info

Publication number: CN110573436A
Application number: CN201780085935.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 乔安妮·理查森; 奥马尔·赞那塔
Original assignee: Division Co Ltd
Current assignee: Division Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-12-07
Filing date: 2017-12-06
Publication date: 2019-12-13
Also published as: AU2017371544C1; EP3551547B1; WO2018104693A1; PL3551547T3; PT3551547T; SI3551547T1; GB2557342A; AU2017371544A1; GB201620843D0; AU2017371544B2; EP3551547A1; ES2918953T3

Abstract

Closure for a container for carbonated liquid. The cover has a first part (1) forming a main housing and a second part (3) movable relative to the first part. The closure also has a manually depressible compression disc (2) for moving the second part relative to the first part to create or increase a gap within the closure in which a controlled amount of gas can be vented from the container to reduce the pressure within the container.

Description

Container closure

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a container closure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a closure for a container containing a carbonated liquid.

Background

carbonated beverages or liquids are generally provided in containers with screw top closures or corks or cans with pull tabs. All such mechanisms have problems with liquid ejection, sometimes violent liquid ejection, when the container is first opened at the moment when the gas is vented to relieve the pressure within the container.

In the case of soft-frothed beverages, the person opening the bottle is often prepared for some liquid ejection, especially if gas is built up by shaking the bottle, and all that is done is to try to relieve the ejection by slowly releasing the pressure by a very small amount by rotating the cap in very small increments. However, ejection of liquid is still a common problem.

Furthermore, since the amount of gas discharged at the point of opening is uncontrolled, the liquid is often found to be airless when consumed.

in the case of carbonated alcoholic beverages, such as champagne or Prosecco^TMPreferably, a cork is used.

The present invention seeks to alleviate the problems associated with liquid ejection when opening a container by providing a mechanism within the closure to relieve pressure within the container before the closure is removed.

References to carbon dioxide-filled include gassy, aerated or otherwise gassy or frothy liquids. The liquid is typically for human consumption (but may not necessarily be for human consumption) and may be an alcoholic liquid or a soft liquid (non-alcoholic).

Disclosure of Invention

a first aspect of the invention provides a closure for a container containing a carbonated liquid, the closure comprising actuation means to release a selected amount of fluid from the container into a defined chamber within the closure on actuation to reduce the pressure within the container prior to removal of the closure.

Preferably, the actuation means comprises a button which is pressed to actuate.

drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a closure constructed in accordance with the present invention, as viewed from above;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the lid of FIG. 1 from below;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the closure;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the closure taken through B-B of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the closure taken through C-C of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of the closure showing the disk depressed;

FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) show alternative forms of the lever of the tray;

FIG. 8 is a top perspective view of the closure; and

Fig. 9 is a side view of the closure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments herein describe a closure for a container containing a carbonated or sparkling beverage (e.g. champagne).

the closure is removable and in some embodiments is secured to the container by means of a screw thread arrangement, and the threads are located on the outer surface of the closure and the inner surface of the container respectively. This allows the user to unscrew the closure to reduce the chance of liquid spillage and also allows the gas to be released in a gradual and controlled manner, for example in the case of carbonated or carbonated beverages. The fact that the engagement means, i.e. the screw thread, is inside the appliance avoids contact with the user's mouth, which could otherwise cause irritation or skin damage. Thus, the outer surface of the appliance can be smooth.

fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a closure for use with, for example, a wine glass or champagne glass, but the glass can take any form and can be made of any material or combination of materials. For ease of explanation, the term "wine glass" will be used throughout.

The closure comprises four main components. These components include a main housing 1, a compression plate 2, a bottom movable part 3 and a cover 4. A gasket seal 5 is provided between the main housing 1 and the base member 3. These components are made of silicon. However, they may be made of any material suitable for use as a closure for a wine glass or wine bottle. For example, they may be made of a plastic material. The wine glass may also be made of any suitable material, preferably a plastic material, to complement the closure.

The main housing 1 is generally circular with a base and upstanding walls. As can be seen in fig. 1, the housing 1 has a central rod 6 with a through hole 7. A flange 8 extends from the rod 6 to an inner wall 9 of the main housing 1. The flange 8 provides a surface that a user can grip to rotate the main housing 1 to remove the closure. The flange 8 also provides a wall to define a plurality of discrete internal chambers within the main housing 1 of the closure.

Referring now to fig. 2, the bottom of the housing 1 includes a circular groove 10 extending around the aperture 7.

As can best be seen in fig. 4, the side wall of the main housing 1 is provided with an external thread 11. The thread 11 is designed to engage with a complementary thread located on the inside of a wine glass. The sides of the main housing 1 further extend outwardly to a flanged perimeter 12, which flanged perimeter 12 extends beyond and beyond the threads 11. In use, the cup wall of the wine glass extends into the perimeter 12 and the threaded wall 11 of the main housing 1 and between the perimeter 12 and the threaded wall 11 of the main housing 1.

The capping compression disc 2 comprises a generally disc-shaped body 13, the body 13 having a downwardly extending central stem 14. When assembled, the stem 14 of the compression disc 2 extends into and through the central bore 7 of the main housing 1. The stem 14 may have side moldings for strength. An example of a rod with a reinforced molding is shown in fig. 7.

When assembled, the compression disc 2 sits in a recess formed in the side wall of the main housing 1.

The disc-shaped body 13 is flexible and since the outer periphery of the body 13 of the disc is merely seated in the groove of the side wall, the central portion of the body 13 can be manually pressed by a user into the space located below the body. The body of the disc has a radial line 15 of reduced thickness which provides further flexibility to the central portion of the disc 13.

Pressing the central portion of the disc 13 causes the rod 14 to be lowered slightly by a controlled amount within the hole 7.

The movable part 3 comprises a substantially cylindrical body 16, the body 16 having a base and a side wall. The inner surface of the body 16 comprises an upstanding central stem 17 with an opening 18, the end of the stem 14 of the disc being receivable in the opening 18. When assembled, the side walls of the body 16 extend into the recess 10 formed in the bottom surface of the housing 1 and the stem 17 extends upwardly through the aperture 7 to connect with the stem 14 of the tray.

The gasket seal 5 fits around the stem 17 against the inner surface of the base.

The lowering of the stem 14 of the disc in the hole 7 caused by pressing the central part of the body 13 of the disc causes the lowering of the bottom part by a predetermined and controlled amount. The distance traveled by the bottom part is very small. The bottom part is held within the confines of the housing 1, as can be seen in fig. 5. However, the distance of descent is sufficient to increase the area of the internal chamber 18 of the closure to allow a small amount of gas to be vented from the wine glass into the chamber 18 to relieve the pressure within the wine glass. The bottom member cannot move downward sufficiently to affect the liquid level, which would otherwise cause an upward force on the liquid.

Importantly, before removing the closure, pressing the disc 13 causes a pressure release inside the wine glass. Subsequently, the closure can be removed by rotating the housing 1 relative to the wine glass, but now the pressure within the wine glass has been reduced, thus avoiding ejection of liquid.

Furthermore, the initial discharge of gas is controlled such that the liquid remains charged with carbon dioxide and does not become airless.

In use, the cover 4 covers the body 13 of the tray to protect the body of the tray from accidental depression. As can be seen in fig. 5, the lid 4 can pivot about the housing 1 to allow access to the main body 13 of the tray. The cover 4 can be completely removed.

As can be seen in fig. 8, the lid 4 has a groove 19 cut into the edge to provide a handle to lift the lid 4 from the housing 1.

The base of the bottom part 3 may be made of a hydrophobic membrane instead of silicon. Similarly, a hydrophobic seal may be provided between each cover member.

the above-described embodiments should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations, and substitutions can occur, depending on design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A closure for a container containing a carbonated liquid, the closure comprising activation means for releasing a selected amount of fluid from the container into a defined chamber within the closure on activation, thereby reducing the pressure within the container prior to removal of the closure.

2. The closure of claim 1, wherein the activation device comprises a depressible portion formed on the closure, the depressible portion being manually depressed for activation.

3. A closure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the closure comprises a first part forming a main housing and a second part movable relative to the main housing, and wherein the depressible section is located on a top surface of the main housing and depressing the section causes the second part to move relative to the first part to provide or increase a gap within the closure from which gas from the container can escape to reduce the pressure in the container.

4. A closure according to claim 2 or claim 3, further comprising a removable cover portion which, when in position, extends over the depressible portion.

5. A closure as claimed in claim 3 or 4, in which the side wall of the main housing is externally threaded to engage with complementary threads formed on an internal surface of a wall of the container.

6. the cover according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the main housing comprises a central rod having a through hole.

7. The closure according to claim 6, wherein the main housing further comprises a radial flange extending between the central rod and the through bore.

8. The closure of claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the depressible portion is formed as a compression disc having a disc-shaped body including a downwardly extending central rod that extends into the through-hole of the main housing when the closure is assembled.

9. The closure of claim 8, wherein the compression disc is seated within a recess formed in the main housing.

10. A closure according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the second part of the closure comprises a main body having a base and side walls, and the second part has an upstanding central stem having an opening in which the distal end of the stem of the disc is received when the closure is assembled, so that when the compression disc is pressed, the second part of the closure is moved downwardly relative to the main housing.