April 29, 1969
`
`Filed March 9, 1967
`
`P. S. V AN BAARN
`BOTTLE CAP
`
`3,441,161
`
`Sheet
`
`/
`
`of 3
`
`6
`
`1
`
`"Fia. i.
`e
`
`13
`
`3
`
`18
`
`18 -===:::::;C::--::117
`
`INVENTOR.
`.s. \IAN &RIIIl\)
`BY~~
`
`PAu,-
`
`CLARIANTX 1010 Page 1
`
`

`

`April 29, 1969
`
`P. S. V AN BAARN.
`BOTTLE CAP
`
`3,441,161
`
`Filed March 9, 1967
`
`Sheet ~ of 3
`
`Yio·.3.
`
`:j
`
`i
`
`16
`
`14
`
`10
`
`~iO·.4.
`C)
`
`lfio·.5.
`;:,
`
`19
`20
`3
`
`4:
`
`10
`
`13
`
`19
`
`1
`13
`
`INVENTOR.
`?Au~ s. "A~ ~"'''''n.u
`
`B~~'Q~
`
`CLARIANTX 1010 Page 2
`
`

`

`April" 29, 1969
`
`Filed Maroh 9, 1967
`
`P. S. V AN BAARN
`
`BOTTLE CAP
`
`Fig. 6
`
`2
`
`3,441,161
`
`Sheet ~ of 3
`
`CLARIANTX 1010 Page 3
`
`

`

`United States Patent Office
`
`3,441,161
`Patented Apr. 29, 1969
`
`1
`
`3,441,161
`BOTTLE CAP
`Paul S. Vau Baarn, 8 Rue Bellevue,
`Monte Carlo, Monaco
`Continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 576,942,
`Sept. 2, 1966. This application Mar. 9, 1967, Ser.
`No. 632,484
`Int. Cl. B65d 41122, 41120
`U.S. Cl. 215-40
`
`6 Claims
`
`ABSTRACT OF mE DISCLOSURE
`A bottle cap comprising an upper and lower pair of
`body sections hinged together and initially joined by a
`rupturable security seal and having a hand grip in a
`protective position to the rupturable security seal.
`
`2
`material forming the hinge and secondly.by a num?~r of
`said rupturable connections or wall sectIOns of mmlmal
`extent.
`Further, in order to safeguard the container contents
`5 against tampering, seal members are connected ?~tween
`the edges of the two body sections thereby requmng re(cid:173)
`moval preparatory to opening movement of the top sec-
`tion.
`.
`.
`h
`The top section of the body, on the Side oPPosite. t e
`10 hin"e has a laterally extending grip to facilitate mampu(cid:173)
`lati~~ it through movement breaking ~he interconnected
`wall sections between the two body sectIOns.
`.
`By way of example, illustrative and in no w~y restrIC(cid:173)
`tive an embodiment of a stopper cap accordmg to the
`15 inv~ntion will now be described in detail with reference
`to the accompanying drawing, wherein:
`FIG. 1 is a view in diametral section of the cap in place
`on a container.
`FIG. 2 is a top view of the cap.
`FIG. 3 is a side view showing the securing tabs and
`hinge.
`.
`FIG. 4 is a side view of the cap locked on the contamer.
`FIG. 5 is a view of the cap with hood raised.
`FIGS. 6 and 7 are views similar to FIGS. 3 and 1, r~­
`spectively but are of another embodiment of the cap m
`which th~ removable part thereof is threadable on the
`container.
`.
`The cap comprises a fiat-topped upper "Yall 1 Wlt~ a
`hollow,cylindrical body. The body has a hne o! delIne(cid:173)
`ation therethrough along a circumference 3, formm~ a top
`section 2 having the closed top and a bottom section or
`ring 4 intended to remain in place on the neck 10 of the
`container.
`.
`Molded in one piece with the top wall 1, there IS. an
`inner annular sealing lip 5, and in the annular portIOn
`-between the body 2 and lip 5, a circular sealing ridge 6.
`The body section 2 has on its inner face a circular rib 7
`above the circular arrangement 3 of alternately spaced
`slots and fupturable wall sections.
`The container to be stopped has a neck with two con(cid:173)
`centric rings 8 and 9, these rings contributing t? t~e
`ti"htness with which the cap over the neck openmg IS
`~aintained and also the extent of the contact of the inner
`lip 5, aided by a circular lip 11, which i.s made against
`the inner neck surface 12. Also contact IS made by the
`circular ridge 6 with the top of !he neck, and contact by
`the circular rib 7 beneath the nng 8 on the neck of the
`container; that is, at the points marked a, band c in the
`drawing. The air trapped in the chambers d and e formed
`by the clearance between the cap and neck impedes leak(cid:173)
`a"e of the contents of the container by capillarity.
`o The top and bottom sections 2. and 4 of the body. are
`interconnected by plural wall sectIOns 13 and by a hmge
`14. The hinge consists of a strip of material 15.1eft be-
`55 tween two openings 16 in the edge of the top sectIOn 2 of
`the body and of course joins the top section to the bottom
`ring 4.
`The cap is forced over the mouth of the bottle, the body
`section 2 slipping over the neck until the bottom body
`section 4 is snapped under the bottom ring 9 on the con(cid:173)
`tainer. The wall sections 13 and hinge 14 provide suffi-
`cient initial rigidity and a unitary construction to the cap.
`To secure inviolability and retention of the cap 1 on
`the container, one or more removable seal members 17
`are preferably removably connected, as at two or more
`points 18, along the circumference 3 of the body, bridg(cid:173)
`ing the slots delineating the top and bottom body sec(cid:173)
`tions. Thus, removal of these sections must precede rela-
`tive opening and closing movement of the cap sections.
`A laterally extending lug or grip 19 is provided on the
`upper cap section 1 in conventional manner to facilitate
`
`70
`
`This is a continuation-in-part of my copending appli- 20
`cation Ser. No. 576,942, filed September 2, 1966, now
`<tbandoned.
`The present invention relates -generally to caps for con(cid:173)
`tainers of the type having a neck thereon bounding a neck
`opening into the container, and more particularly to an 25
`improved cap serving as an effective closure for such a
`container when force fit upon the neck thereof.
`There ,are numerous known types of caps of plastic
`material for stopping containers, which generally com(cid:173)
`prise an annular body with a closed end adapted to be 30
`fit elastically over the neck of the container; some such
`stoppers also have an inner depending annular sealing
`lip engaging against the inner wall bounding the neck
`opening of the container.
`Some caps also have a so-called security strip deline- 35
`ated on the cap body, which security strip is effective to
`be pulled off either completely or only partially so as
`to leave a hinge for the cap connecting the two body sec(cid:173)
`tions together which are formed by removal of the secur-
`ity strip. A cap with a delineated removable strip oriented 40
`circumferentially about the body requires special tooling
`and is not easily and economically made.
`Another difficulty that has been encountered with such
`plastic caps is to obtain a seal, and for this reason it has
`been proposed that beads and recesses be provided in the 45
`neck opening of the container to be engaged by peripheral
`ridges provided inside the cap body, but' this proposal
`would increase the manufacturing cost of the -container.
`An object of the present invention is to provide a cap
`of plastic material for security stoppering of containers, 50
`said cap having good sealing properties, having an upper
`section hinged to a lower section which remains at all
`times mounted on the neck of the container, and which
`does not require any security tearstrip but has improved
`means for detecting any tampering.
`For this purpose, the cap has an upper section, for
`example, with a fiat upper wall or top provided internally
`with a circular sealing lip intended to fit elastically against
`the inner wall of the neck of the container, an annular
`sealing ridge on an internal annular zone of the movable 60
`cap section between the cap body and said sealing lip, and
`a peripheral sealing lip provided on the sUlface of the
`annular sealing lip facing the neck of the container.
`According to one feature of the invention, the cap
`body, throughout almost the whole of its circumference 65
`is delineated by an arrangement of slots and rupturable
`connections into two sections, a top section with the closed
`end and a bottom section forming a neck-engaging ring
`intended to remain -in place on the neck of the container
`and held in place thereon.
`In molding, the bottom section of the cap bo~y is
`made integral with the top section firstly by a strIP of
`
`CLARIANTX 1010 Page 4
`
`

`

`3
`manipulating this section through opening and closing
`movement relative to the lower cap section 4.
`To reduce the risk of inadvertent removal of all of
`the seals 17, it is advisable to locate at least one, spe(cid:173)
`cifically designated 20 herein, under the grip 19. This
`location serves to both protect the seal 20 and, as in-
`dicated in FIG. 4, also blocks access to the grip 19 from
`the direction of approach thereto for manipUlating cap
`section 1 through opening movement, thereby requiring
`removal of the seal 20 prior to removing the cap sec- 10
`tion 1 from the neck 12.
`According to another known arrangement, a projec(cid:173)
`tion 2ll is added to the inner lip 5 to serve as a stop against
`the edge of the container when the cap is open (FIG. 5).
`The bottom cap section 4 may advantageously have 15
`an inner thickening 22 to assist its retention on the shoul(cid:173)
`der 9.
`To use the cap, one need only tear off the tabs 17 and
`20, and force open the cap by its grip 19, wherein the
`walls 13 in response to this force will give way readily. 20
`Reference is now made to the cap embodiment of
`FIGS. 6 and 7 in which like parts are designated by the
`same reference numbers 1 through 21. The major dif(cid:173)
`ference in this embodiment is that the top section 2
`has internal threads 24 which threadably engage with 25
`threads 27 on the container neck 10. Thus, the hinge 14
`of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5 is dispensed with. Addi(cid:173)
`tionally, a medial strip 25 is adapted to be removed
`preparatory to removing the top section 2. That is, wall
`sections 13 and 23 initially form an integral construction 30
`of the top section 2, medial strip 25 and bottom section
`or ring 4 but these wall sections are easily ruptured to
`free the top section 1 so it can be thread ably disengaged
`from the container neck 10. The strip 25 preferably has
`a finger grip 26 to facilitate the grabbing and pulling of 35
`this member during the stripping operation.
`A latitude of modification, change and substitution
`is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some in(cid:173)
`stances some features of the invention will be employed
`without a corresponding use of other features. Accord- 40
`ingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be con(cid:173)
`strued broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit
`and scope of the invention herein.
`What is claimed is:
`1. A cap for a container having a neck thereon bound- 45
`ing a neck opening into said container, said cap com(cid:173)
`prising a body having an axial opening therein of a pre(cid:173)
`determined extent adapted to accommodate said neck
`of the container therein in a force fit in an operative
`position of said cap on said neck, an upper wall on said 50
`body adapted to serve as a closure for said neck opening
`in said operative position of said cap, said body being
`delineated into an upper section and a lower section
`by an arrangement of spaced slots therein, and intercon(cid:173)
`necting wall sections located between said slots oriented 55
`about said body, a hinge connecting said upper and lower
`sections for relative movement therebetween, said wall
`sections being of a comparatively minimal extent to
`facilitate the rupturing thereof preparatory to said rela(cid:173)
`tive movement of said upper and lower sections about
`said hinge, a laterally extending grip on said upper section
`for manipUlating said upper section in movement, and
`at least one removable seal member in a prescribed loca(cid:173)
`tion on said body connected across a slot between said
`body sections such that removal thereof is required pre(cid:173)
`paratory to said relative movement of said body sec(cid:173)
`tions, said prescribed location of said one seal member
`being beneath said grip whereby said grip protects said
`~e1tl member asainst inad'Vertent remQv1tl an~ sai~ sea~
`
`4
`member obstructs access to said grip from a direction
`to cause said relative movement of said body sections.
`2. A cap as defined in claim 1 including a sealing lip
`spaced inwardly of said body and dependent from said
`upper wall so as to extend within said neck opening and
`sealingly engage the surface on said neck bounding said
`neck opening in said operative position of said cap on
`said neck.
`3. A cap as defined in claim 2 including a sealing ridge
`formed on said upper wall at a location between said
`body and said sealing lip adapted to sealingly engage
`said neck in said operative position of said cap on said
`neck and also maintain said upper body section in a
`clearance position from said neck for forming sealing
`chambers in said clearance therebetween.
`4. A cap as defined in claim 2 wherein said sealing lip
`is annular in configuration and includes a sealing lip
`formed on the surface thereof in facing relation to said
`body for sealingly engaging said neck within said neck
`opening.
`S. A cap for a container having a circular neck there(cid:173)
`on bounding a circular neck opening into said container,
`said cap comprising a hollow, annular body closed at
`one end and of a corresponding diameter to accommo(cid:173)
`date said neck of the container therein in a force fit in
`an operative position of said cap on said neck, an an(cid:173)
`nular sealing lip depending from said closed end of said
`body for sealing said neck opening in said operative
`position of said cap, said body being delineated into an
`upper section and a lower section by an arrangement of
`alternately spaced slots and interconnecting wall sections
`circumferentially oriented about said body, a hinge con(cid:173)
`necting said upper and lower sections for opening and
`closing movement therebetween, said wall sections being
`of a comparatively minimal extent to facilitate the rup(cid:173)
`turing thereof preparatory to said opening movement of
`said upper section relative to said lower section, a lateral(cid:173)
`ly extending grip on said upper section for manipulating
`said upper section in at least said opening movement,
`and a removable seal member connected across a slot
`between said body sections such that removal thereof
`is required preparatory to said relative movement of
`said body sections formed on said upper section in a
`location beneath said grip whereby said grip protects
`said seal member against inadvertent removal and said
`seal member obstructs access to said grip from a direction
`to manipulate said upper section through said opening
`movement thereof.
`6. A cap as defined in claim S including a sealing ridge
`formed on said upper wall at a location between said
`body and said sealing lip adapted to sealingly engage
`said neck in said operative position of said cap on said
`neck and also maintain said upper body section in a
`clearance position from said neck for forming sealing
`chambers in said clearance therebetween.
`
`References Cited
`UNITED STATES PATENTS
`11/1963 VVood ____________ 215-46 )(
`7/1967 Fields ____________ 215--42 )(
`FOREIGN PATENTS
`10/1960 France.
`211965 France.
`III 1965 Great Britain.
`
`3,109,547
`3,329,295
`
`1,247,480
`1,394,105
`1,010,762
`
`DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner.
`l).S. Cl. XR"
`
`215-41, 44
`
`3,441,161
`
`5
`
`60
`
`65
`
`CLARIANTX 1010 Page 5
`
`