ES2918953T3 - receptacle closure - Google Patents

Abstract

A closure for a receptacle containing carbonated liquid. The closure has a first part (1) forming a main shell and a second part (3) that is movable in relation to the first part. The closure also has a manually depressible compression disc (2) to move the second part relative to the first part to form or widen a gap within the closure where a controlled amount of gas can be expelled from the receptacle to reduce pressure. inside the receptacle. (Automatic translation with Google Translate, without legal value)

Description

DESCRIPTION

receptacle closure

field of invention

This invention relates to a receptacle closure. More particularly, the invention relates to a closure for a container containing a carbonated liquid.

Background of the invention

Carbonated beverages or liquids are generally supplied in screw-top or corked containers or ring-shaped cans. All of these mechanisms suffer from a sometimes violent release of liquid when the container is first opened at the instant the gas is expelled to release the pressure within the container.

In the case of carbonated soft drinks, a person opening the bottle is often prepared for some of the liquid to spray out, especially if gas has built up from shaking the bottle, and all they would do is try to mitigate the amount of liquid sprayed by making very small incremental turns of the cap to slowly release the pressure in very small amounts. However, liquid spray is still a common problem.

Furthermore, since the amount of gas expelled at the opening point is not controlled, it is often found that the liquid has run out of gas when it is drunk.

In the case of carbonated alcoholic beverages, such as Champagne or Prosecco™, the use of corks is favoured.

The present invention seeks to alleviate the problems associated with liquid spraying upon opening of the container by providing a mechanism within the closure to release pressure within the container before the closure is removed.

Reference to carbonated includes gas-containing, aerated or otherwise sparkling or effervescent liquids. The liquids are generally for human consumption (although not necessarily) and can be alcoholic or soft (non-alcoholic).

GB 2276 153A discloses a lid for a pressurized container, according to the preamble of claim 1.

Summary of the invention

A first aspect of the invention provides a closure for a container containing carbonated liquid, the closure including activation means for releasing a selected quantity of fluid from the container into a defined chamber within the closure during activation to thereby reduce the pressure within the container. before closure removal

Preferably, the activation means comprises a push button for activation.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example, with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded top view of a closure constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is an exploded bottom view of the closure of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the closure;

Figure 4 is a side cross-section of the closure taken through B-B of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a side cross section of the closure taken through C-C of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a side cross section of the closure illustrating how the disk is pressed;

Figures 7(a) and 7(b) show alternative versions of the disc stem;

Figure 8 is a top perspective view of the closure; Y

Figure 9 is a side view of the closure.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

Embodiments of this document describe closures for receptacles containing carbonated or sparkling beverages, eg, champagne.

The closure is removable and, in some embodiments, is secured to the receptacle by means of a helical thread arrangement, the threads being respectively on an exterior surface of the closure and an interior surface of the receptacle. This allows the user to unscrew the closure to reduce the chances of liquid spillage and also to allow the gradual and controlled release of gas, for example in the case of carbonated or fizzy drinks. The fact that the coupling means, ie the threads are inside the bowl prevents contact with the user's mouth which could otherwise cause skin irritation or damage. Therefore, the outer surface of the bowl can be smooth.

Figure 1 illustrates an exploded view closure for use with a wine or champagne glass for example, although the glass may take any shape and may be made of any material or combination thereof. For ease of explanation, the term 'wine glass' will be used throughout.

The closure consists of four main parts. These parts consist of a main casing 1, a shrink disc 2, a movable bottom part 3 and a cover 4. A grommet seal 5 is provided between the main casing 1 and the bottom part 3. The parts are made of silicone. However, they could be made of any material suitable for use as a closure for a cup or bottle. They could, for example, be made of a plastic material. The cup may also be made of any suitable material, preferably the cup is made of a plastic material to complement the closure.

The main casing 1 is generally circular with a vertical base and walls. As can be seen in Figure 1, the casing 1 has a central stem 6 with a through hole 7. The flanges 8 extend from the stem 6 to the inner wall 9 of the main casing 1. The flanges 8 provide surfaces that a user can grasp to rotate the main casing 1 to remove the lock. The flanges 8 also provide walls to define discrete internal chambers within the main housing 1 of the closure.

Referring now to Figure 2, the bottom of the casing 1 includes circular recesses 10 which extend around the hole opening 7.

As best seen in Figure 4, the side walls of the main casing 1 are provided with an external thread 11. The thread 11 is designed to mate with a complementary thread located inside the wine glass. The sides of the main casing 1 extend further outward to a flanged perimeter 12 which extends beyond and overhangs the thread 11. In use, the walls of the wine glass extend towards and between the perimeter 12 and the threaded wall 11 of the main casing 1.

The compression disk 2 of the closure comprises a generally disk-shaped body 13 having a central stem 14 extending downwardly. When assembled, stem 14 of compression disc 2 extends into and through center hole 7 of main casing 1. Stem 14 may have side moldings for added strength. Examples of stems with reinforced moldings are shown in Figure 7.

When assembled, compression disc 2 sits within recesses formed in the sidewalls of main casing 1.

The disk-shaped body 13 is flexible, and since the outer periphery of the disk body 13 rests only in the recesses in the side walls, the user can manually press the central part of the body 13 into the space below it. The body of the disc has a radial line of reduced thickness 15 that provides greater flexibility to the central part of the disc 13.

The depression of the central part of the disk 13 causes the stem 14 to lower slightly into the hole 7 in a controlled amount.

The mobile part 3 comprises a body 16 with a generally cylindrical shape with a base and side walls. The inner surface of body 16 includes an upright central stem 17 with an opening 18 in which the stem end of disc 14 can be received. When assembled, the side walls of body 16 extend into recesses 10 formed in the surface. bottom of casing 1 and stem 17 extends up through hole 7 to connect with disc stem 14.

The washer seal 5 is fitted around the stem 17 against the inner surface of the base.

The descent of the stem of the disc 14 within the hole 7 caused by the depression of the central part of the body of the disc 13 causes the lower part to descend by a predetermined and controlled amount. The distance traveled by the bottom is very small. The lower portion remains within the confines of the casing 1 as can be seen in Figure 5. However, the lowering distance is sufficient to increase the area of the internal chamber 18 of the closure to allow a small amount of gas to be expelled from the glass of wine in the chamber 18 to release the pressure inside the wine glass. The bottom does not move down far enough to affect the liquid level, which would otherwise produce an upward force on the liquid.

Importantly, depression of disc 13 causes a release of pressure within the wine glass prior to removal of the closure. Subsequently, the closure can be removed by rotating the casing 1 with respect to the cup, but at this time the pressure has already been reduced inside the cup and therefore spraying of liquid is prevented. In addition, the initial expulsion of gas is controlled so that the liquid remains carbonated and does not run out of gas.

The cover 4, in use, overlaps the body of the disk 13 to protect it from accidental depression. As can be seen in Figure 5, the cover 4 can pivot around the casing 1 to allow access to the disk body 13. The cover 4 can be completely removable.

As can be seen in Figure 8, the lid 4 has recesses 19 cut into the edge to provide grips for lifting the lid 4 from the casing 1.

The base of the lower part 3 can be made of a hydrophobic membrane instead of silicone. Similarly, hydrophobic seals can be provided between each part of the closure.

Claims (6)

1. A closure for a container containing carbonated liquid, including the closure means of activation, wherein: - the closure comprises a first part forming a main shell (1) and a second part (3) movable with respect to the main shell; Y - the activation means comprise a depressible section formed in the closure that is manually pressed for activation where the depressible section is on the upper surface of the main casing and the depression of the section causes the second part to move with respect to the first part for providing or increasing a space (18) within the closure through which gas can be expelled from the container to thereby reduce the pressure in the container; Y - the main casing comprises a central stem (6) with a through hole (7); and wherein the depressible section is formed as a compression disc (2) having a disc-shaped body (13) including a central downwardly extending stem (14) which, when the closure is assembled, extends into the through hole of the main casing, characterized in that said disc-shaped body (13) has a radial line of reduced thickness (15) that provides flexibility to the central part of said disc-shaped body (13). A closure according to claim 1, further comprising a removable lid section (4) which, when in place, extends over the collapsible section. 3. A closure according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the side walls of the main housing are provided with an external thread (11) to engage with a complementary thread formed on the inner surface of a wall of the receptacle . A closure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the main housing further comprises radial flanges (8) extending between the central stem and the through hole. 5. A closure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the compression disc seats within a recess formed within the main housing. A closure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the second part of the closure comprises a main body with base and side walls, and has an upright central stem (17) having an opening into which A distal end of the disc stem is received when the closure is assembled to move the second part of the closure downward relative to the main housing when the compression disc is depressed.