Abstract:
A tear open bottle cap comprises a top planar disk 2, a cylindrical skirt 1 depending downwardly therefrom, a slant score line 9 extending upwardly from the lower edge of the skirt, a pull tab 7 projecting downwardly from the lower edge of the skirt at the score line, and an inner bead 4 extending around the circumference of the skirt and spaced from the lower end thereof to engage an upper bead of the bottle neck. The score line crosses the inner bead and has severable transverse partition walls 21, 22. A plurality of vertical, radially inwardly directed lugs 6 project from the corner 3 between the disk and skirt and have slant lower edges 11 for engaging the upper bead of the bottle neck. A circumferential internal rib 5 on the disk abuts the upper edge of the bottle neck to act as a shock absorber, together with the lugs 6.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention refers to improvements in bottle caps and, more particularly, it is related to tearable bottle caps of the type used for large capacity bottles. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Tearable bottle caps comprising a top planar disk and an approximately cylindrical skirt depending from said planar disk to snugly fit around the neck of the bottle and having a pull tab and a score line starting from the lower edge of said skirt in order to enable the tearing of said tab along said score line so as to loosen the cap from the bottle neck, have been known for long. 
     For instance, British patent specification No. 816,787 published July 22, 1959 discloses a bottle cap having a pull tab and a slant score line starting from the lower end of the skirt and extending up to the portion of the skirt that is provided with an internal bead being used to be snapped over a circumferential flute provided near the upper edge of the bottle neck, which upper edge is sealed by a plurality of circumferential ribs provided on the inner surface of the top disk of the cap. This cap, however, while providing the principle of opening the cap by means of a pull tab and a score line slanting from the bottom of the cap and up to the bead portion thereof, is deficient in that it relies, for the sealing engagement of the cap with the bottle neck, merely on the provision of said internal bead and the provision of said circumferential ribs that supposedly should seal on the upper edge of the bottle neck, but this arrangement is not quite efficient, because it is necessary to provide the flute on the neck of the bottle in a very accurate position in order to enable sealing of the bottle neck against the circumferential ribs of the top disk of the cap. On the other hand, and while said ribs may be sealingly engaged against new bottles, it is quite clear that, when the bottles are spoiled in use, the sealing engagement would also be materially useless and, therefore, this type of caps is not adequate for bottles of the type which are interchanged or refilled for marketing purposes. 
     Another tearable cap for bottle necks is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,226 to Terwilliger, patented May 1st, 1962. This cap for the first time provides for a vertically extending pull tab and a vertical score line to tear the cap, but again relies on the provision of an internal bead provided at the lower edge of the skirt of the cap and effects the sealing engagement with the bottle neck by means of the provision of a channel-like section which comprises an inner circumferential flange which is engaged within the top of the flask, whereby this engagement mainly relies on the force exerted by the inner cylindrical flange on the inner surface of the wall of the bottle neck, which cannot be very strong unless the contents of the flask are under pressure. This cap, therefore, is not useful for common type large capacity bottles and, on the other hand, the vertical score line provided therein is also very inefficient to tear the cap, with the consequent disadvantages caused thereby. Also, the manufacture of a cap of the characteristics disclosed by Terwilliger is extremely difficult, particularly considering the modern methods of injection molding of this type of caps. 
     One other tearable cap for bottle necks is described and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,900 to Faulstich, patented Feb. 11, 1964, which is a combination of the above mentioned patents, in that it provides a vertically extending pull tab as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,226 and a slant score line as in British specification No. 816,787, but also provides a score line which extends throughout the circumference of the cap, so that the tearing of said cap may be complete around the circumference thereof. The sealing engagement of this cap, however, leaves much to desire because it relies on an accurately placed dovetail engagement between the cap and the bottle neck, whereby this type of cap is more adequate for plastic containers and is quite unsuitable for rigid containers, regardless of the fact that the sealing engagement is also provided by an internal circumferential bead provided on the skirt of the cap. While said bead efficiently holds either the corresponding groove the plastic container or the corresponding bead of the bottle neck, the latter, that is, said groove or said bead of the bottle neck must be provided at accurate positions, because the sealing engagement is made between the upper edge of the container and the inner surface of the top disk of the cap, which is not quite efficient for large capacity bottles or for large diameter bottle necks. 
     One other tearable cap is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,860 to Faulstich, patented July 16, 1968, which also contains a vertically extending pull tab and a diagonal or slanting score line continued by a small circumferential score line, but the sealing engagement of this cap relies on the provision of an inner cylindrical flange which engages the inner surface of the bottle neck and said sealing engagement also relies on an outwardly directed or external hollow bead which is an arcuate portion provided at a predetermined position around the skirt of the cap, in order to insert within said hollow bead, the upper head of the bottle neck. The external form of the cap, that is, the arcuate portion of the exteral bead provided on the skirt of the cap, renders series manufacture of said cap considerably difficult and also renders the sealing engagement relatively disengageable, because the arcuate thin portion of the skirt which provides the external bead of the cap of U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,860 does not provide a sufficiently strong engagement to maintain the cap permanently in its closed position, whereby said sealing engagement may be lost through misuse or other external causes, thus providing a rather unsafe cap for bottle necks, particularly if the bottles are of large capacity or contain large diameter bottle necks. 
     Another embodiment of a tearable cap for a bottle neck is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,446 to Faulstich, patented Aug. 29, 1967, which is an improvement of the cap disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,900 also to Faulstich, and which incorporates, as additional elements, a vertical pull tab having a short vertical score line followed by a slant score line and thereafter by a circumferential score line to tear the cap throughout its circumference, and said cap having rigidifying gussets for avoiding deformation of the cap and at the same time facilitating opening of the flask, and providing reclosure devices. This cap, however, again relies, for tight closure engagement, on the provision of internal accurately positioned beads, which are introduced in also accurately positioned grooves provided on the outer surface of the bottle neck, and complemented by an inner cylindrical flange which snugly fits the internal surface of the bottle neck, whereby both the manufacture of the tearable cap and the manufacture of the bottle neck must be of special characteristics and is rendered extremely difficult, in view of the fact that accurately positioning of the grooves and the beads is required. 
     Another tearable bottle cap is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,862 also to Faulstich, patented July 16, 1968, wherein said bottle cap is provided with a vertically extending pull tab which tears a vertical score line continued by a short slant score line followed by a partially circumferentially slant line, but this bottle cap relies, for its sealing engagement with the bottle neck, on the provision of the above mentioned external hollow bead to insert the upper bead of the bottle neck thereinto, and rigidifying elements are provided on the top disk of the cap in order to avoid undue deflection thereof inwardly or outwardly of the bottom, so as to improve the safety of the sealing engagement of the hollow internal bead against the upper bead of a bottle neck, particularly of the high capacity type flasks. The defects of this tearable bottle cap, however, are the same as those described in connection with the bottle cap of U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,860, with the only exception that the sealing engagement of the external bead with the upper bead of the bottle neck is somewhat improved by the provision of the rigidifying elements of the top disk of the cap. 
     One other design of a tearable bottle cap is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,137 also to Faulstich, patented Oct. 8, 1974, which provides the same type of outer hollow bead to engage the upper bead of the bottle neck but which, for the first time, provides a bottle cap which may be used with both screw threaded or unthreaded neck bottles, by furnishing a sealing engagement which does not rely on the snug fit between the inner wall of the hollow bead and the upper bead of the bottle neck, but which relies on the provision of a plurality of circumferential ribs on the lower portion of the bead of the cap, in order to snugly fit around the bottle thus providing a sealing engagement which may be regarded as more secure. While this type of bottle cap may be ideally used for threaded neck bottles, because the top disk of the cap fits on the upper edge of the bottle neck, thus providing almost absolute stability of the bottle cap, the defect of having the top disk of the bottle cap directly seating in sealing engagement against the upper edge of the bottle neck, is very likely to produce breakage of said bottle neck when piling of the bottles one over the other is contemplated, as well as frequent breakage of the bottoms of the upper bottles plied, in view of the shocks received by careless handling. On the other hand, when this type of cap is used with unthreaded neck bottles, then there is a cushion left over the upper edge of the bottle neck, which supposedly acts as a shock absorber which may avoid the above disadvantage, but the problem with this bottle cap is that, when the bottles are piled one over the other, the pressure exerted on the top disk of the cap may be sufficiently strong to flatten the top cushion and to dislocate the sealing engagement between the lower ribs of the outer bead of the cap and the upper bead of the bottle neck, thus defeating the purpose of the cap. 
     Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,002 also to Faulstich, and patented Sept. 7, 1976 discloses an improvement over the cap shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,860, and also more particularly refers to an improvement of the bottle cap of U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,137, in that it is also suitable for serving to close both threaded and unthreaded neck bottles, but providing the sealing rib on the upper third portion of the external bead, which clearly is not the solution to the dislocation of the sealing engagement when the caps are used for unthreaded neck bottles and the bottles are piled and thus exert a pressure on the top disk of the cap of the bottle below, which tends to dislocate the sealing engagement thereof. Also, the bottle cap of U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,002, when used with threaded neck bottles, while perfectly sealing the said bottle, is also likely to produce breakage in view of the fact that it does not provide any cushion which may serve as a shock absorber against breakage of the upper edge of the bottle neck or of the bottoms of the bottles piled above. 
     From the above, it may be concluded that, while the provision of an outer hollow bead on a bottle neck may be of relatively economical construction because it involves the use of less material than an interal solid bead, said external beads do not provide a completely safe sealing engagement, particularly when the bottle caps are to be suitable for use with both threaded and unthreaded neck bottles and particularly when, as is common in handling the bottles, they are plied one over the other with the consequent risk of breakage of the bottles when they are threaded neck bottles or of dislocation of the sealing engagement when they are unthreaded neck bottles. 
     However, while the solid inner beads provide for a better sealing engagement than the outer hollow bead, it has been very well known that, for the provision of an inner bead, it is mandatory to provide a complementary groove on the bottle neck, accurately positioned thereon in order to receive the inner bead of the bottle neck, and it is also mandatory to provide either sealing circumferential ribs on the top disk of the bottle, or a pressure fit between the inner surface of said top disk of the bottle cap and the upper edge of the bottle. This, obviously, rendered it impractical up to now to use a bottle cap provided with an internal bead, both with threaded and unthreaded neck bottles. 
     Therefore, for long it has been sought to device a bottle cap which, being provided with the advantages of having the sealing characteristics of an internal solid bead, would be capable of being useful both for threaded or unthreaded neck bottles, and would provide for a cushion to avoid breakage of the necks or of the bottoms of plied bottles, which up to the present date has been provided only by the unsafe outer hollow beads disclosed in the above mentioned patents to Faulstich. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Having in mind the defects of the prior art tearable bottle caps, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a tearable bottle cap which, while providing an absolutely safe sealing engagement, will be useful both for threaded and unthreaded neck bottles, without ay of the disadvantages shown by the tearable bottle caps of the prior art. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a tearable bottle cap of the above mentioned character, which will contain a shock absorbing cushion which will be effective both with threaded and unthreaded neck bottles and which will not dislocate the sealing engagement when used with unthreaded neck bottles. 
     It is still another object of the present invention to provide a tearable bottle cap of the above mentioned character, which will be of a very economic and simple construction and of a very efficient performance. 
     Another and more particular object of the present invention is to provide a tearable bottle cap of the above described character, which will contain stiffening elements for the shock absorbing cushion which at the same time will serve as stops for avoiding the dislocation of the sealing engagement between the cap and the bottle neck. 
     One other object of the present invention is to provide a tearable bottle cap of the above mentioned character, which will be provided with a nearly cylindrical outward shape, which will prevent undue trapping of protrusions of the bottle cap which may tend to inadvertently dislocate the sealing engagenment thereof with the bottle neck. 
     The foregoing objects and other ancillary thereto are preferably accomplished as follows: 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a cylindrical bottle cap comprising a top disk and a depending skirt, is provided with an internal circumferential bead arranged at a distance from said disk such that it will engage the lower portion of the upper bead of a bottle neck, particularly of large capacity threaded or unthreaded neck bottles, and a plurality of vertically extending lugs extending from said disk downwardly to a distance such that they will serve as stops for the outer portions of the upper bead of said bottle neck, to thereby achieve a completely tight engagement of said internal bead against the lower portion of the upper bead of the bottle neck, to secure a fully tight engagement regardless of the pressure exerted on the top of the cap. Also, said disk is provided with a circumferential rib extending downwardly of the inner surface thereof, in order to serve as an additional shock absorber when the cap is used with the threaded neck bottles, said circumferential rib also serving as an additional sealing engagement of the cap against the bottle. The plurality of lugs provided on the upper portion of the tearable bottle cap of the present invention, prevent that the pressure exerted by piling of the bottles one above the other may deform the shock absorbing cushion formed on the top of unthreaded neck bottles, because they will transmit said pressure directly unto the upper edge of the bottle neck, through a soft material which serves also as a shock absorber and prevents dislocation of the sealing engagement of the internal bead of the cap with the upper bead of the bottle neck. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The novel features that are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment, when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional elevational view of a tearable bottle cap built in accordance with the present invention and showing the internal bead and the upper lugs which provide for a secure sealing engagement and for a top shock absorbing cushion to avoid breakage of the bottles when they are piled above each other; 
     FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the tearable bottle cap shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings; 
     FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional elevational view of the tearable bottle cap built in accordance with the present invention, engaged over an unthreaded neck bottle and being drawn loose for clarity purposes only; and 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-section elevational view of the bottle cap built in accordance with the preesent invention, engaged over a threaded neck bottle in order to show the usefulness of the cap with both types of bottles. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Having now more particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is shown a tearable bottle cap in accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, which essentially comprises a top disk 2, joined through an arcuate edge 3 to a depending skirt 1, the skirt 1 being of a nearly cylindrical configuration and being provided with an internal bead 4 having a semicylindrical cross-section and extending throughout the circumference of the inner surface of skirt 1, for the purpose of being engaged snugly over the lower portion of the upper bead of a bottle neck as will be described in more detail hereinbelow. 
     The skirt 1 of the bottle neck is also provided with a plurality of lugs 6 equidistantly arranged throughout the circumference thereof and extending downwardly of the top disk 2 as more clearly shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the slanting lower edges 11 of lugs 6 serving as a stop for the upper edge of the upper bead of the bottle neck, in order to provide a practically immovable snug pressure fit between said internal bead 4 and the upper bead of the neck as will be also described in more detail hereinafter. The radial width of lugs 6 from the inner surface of the skirt 1 is such that they will allow accomodation of the terminal screw threaded portion of a threaded neck bottle, in order to provide for the usefulness of the device both with unthreaded and with threaded neck bottles. 
     The skirt 1 of the cap of the present invention is provided with the customary and well known slant score line 9, extending from the lower edge of the skirt 1 and up past the body of the internal bead 4, and a pull tab 7 extends downwardly of the lower edge of said skirt 1, with one of the side edges of said pull tab coinciding with the point where the slant score line 9 starts, in order to provide an element for tearing the bottle cap along the score line 9 and loosening the same for the purpose of removing it from the bottle neck. As is also well known in the art, the pull tab 7 is provided with a plurality of antiskid ribs 8, to provide for a secure grasp for tearing the cap. 
     In order to maintain the sealing engagement betwen the internal bead 4 of the cap and the upper bead of the bottle neck, a partition wall 22 is provided within the score line 9 covering the full cross sectional area thereof, above said internal bead, and one other partition wall 21 is similarly arranged within the score line 9 at a point near the lower edge of the skirt 1, thus providing a fast and expedite removal maintaining the leak-proof closure unaltered. 
     The tearable bottle cap built in accordance with the above, is of a very simple construction and of a very economic manufacture, and still provides for an absolutely safe sealing engagement and an absolutely safe shock absorbing cushion, to avoid breakage of the bottles on which the cap is used, as will be described in terms of its engagement with an unthreaded neck bottle as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, and with a threaded neck bottle as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings. 
     Having now more particular reference to FIG. 3 of the drawings, the tearable bottle cap built in accordance with the present invention is shown as engaged to an unthreaded neck bottle, the cap having been drawn loose for purposes of clarity of description only, but it must be understood that the fit of the cap around the bottle neck is quite tight in order to provide for a completely safe sealing engagement to avoid the possible leak of the liquid contained in said bottle. 
     The cap built in accordance with the present invention is inserted around the bottle neck 14 which generally comprises a lower bead 12 and an upper bead 13, particularly when dealing with large capacity bottles, such as water bottles, and by so inserting the cap around the bottle neck 14, the lower edge of the skirt 1 snugly engages the lower bead 12 of the neck 14, whereas the internal bead 4 of the skirt 1, snaps downwardly into the neck bottle, forming an absolutely safe sealing engagement between the upper third portion of the internal bead 4 of the cap, and the lower arcuate portion 20 of the upper bead 13 of the bottle neck, as is clearly shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. 
     The insertion of the cap built in accordance with the present invention is permitted to be effected downwardly to a distance such that the sealing engagement between the bead 4 and the neck bead 13 is absolutely safe, by the provision of the plurality of lugs 6 on the upper portion of the cap, equidistantly distributed around its circumference, in view of the fact that, when the cap is in strictly sealing position, the lower slant edges 11 of lugs 6 firmly abut against the upper arcuate portion of the upper bead 13 of the neck 14, so as to form stops to maintain portion 10 of the internal bead 4 of the cap, firmly and snugly fit against the lower arcuate portion 20 of the upper bead 13 of the bottle neck 14, while the lower edge of the skirt 1 is also snugly fit around the arcuate portion of the lower bead 12 of said neck. 
     By having the upper edge 16 of the bottle neck 14 completely free except for its abutting engagement against the lower slant edges 11 of lugs 6, a very effective shock absorbing cushion is provided, in view of the fact that the top disk 2 of the cap remains completely spaced from the upper edge 16 of the bottle neck 14, and effectively absorbs all the shocks caused by piling the bottles one over the other, but without showing the drawbacks of the prior art shock absorbing cushions, because this cushion cannot be deformed regardless of the pressure exerted by the piled bottles (within reasonable limits) because the lugs 6 also serve as stiffening members for the upper portion of the skirt 1, which on the one hand cannot be inserted further inwardly of the bottle neck 14, which might dislocate the sealing engagement between the internal bead 4 and the upper bead 13 of the bottle neck, and cannot also be deformed to dislocate said sealing engagement by misplacement of the sealing elements described above. 
     The lugs 6 which form a very important part of the present invention, are provided not only for the purposes of stiffening the upper portion of the skirt 1 and the top disk 2 in order to provide a practically undeformable air cushion above the upper edge 16 of an unthreaded neck bottle, but are also provided for the purpose of accomplishing, in view of the position of their lower slant edges 11, the positioning of the internal bead 4 of the skirt 1 such that it will be very firmly fit against the upper bead 13 of the bottle neck, for the purposes of providing an absolutely and undislocatable leakage proof tight closure between the cap and the bottle. 
     The cap built in accordance with the present invention, as described above, may be removed from the bottle neck shown in FIG. 3 by merely grasping the pull tab 7 and tearing along the score line 9, past the thick internal bead 4, in order to loosen the cap and enable removal thereof from the bottle neck. 
     Now having reference to FIG. 4 of the drawings, it will be seen that the cap of the present invention may also be used with threaded neck bottles, in view of the fact that the inner vertical edges 18 of lugs 6 are arranged at a distance such that they will accomodate the upper terminal threaded portion 16 of the bottle neck 14, as clearly shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings. 
     As also clearly shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings, the terminal portion 15 of the bottle neck 14 is received within the space left by lugs 6, and said lugs 6, together with the internal bead 4 accomplish the sealing engagement exactly the same as described in connection with FIG. 3 of the drawings, but for the fact that said terminal portion 15 of neck 14, raises the upper edge 16 of the bottle neck to a position such that it engages the circumferential rib 5, providing an additional sealing engagement against said rib, as well as an undeformable shock absorbing element, in view of the fact that the rib 5 is flexible and will not produce breakage of the upper edge 16 of the bottle neck. The thread 17 of the terminal portion 15 of the bottle neck abuts against the iner edges 18 of the lugs 6, thereby providing an absolutely immovable engagement between the cap and the bottle, particularly at the upper portion thereof, so as to prevent breakage of the terminal portion 15 of the bottle neck, by inadverted sidewaredly directed impacts of the bottle neck against other bottles when they are being handled or piled one above the other. 
     From the above it may be seen that for the first time a completely safe tearable cap has been provided, that will accomplish a perfectly leak proof sealing engagement with the bottle neck, and at the same time will be useful both for threaded and unthreaded neck bottles, also providing a shock absorbing cushion which is undeformable by being suitably supported by a plurality of lugs which were inexistent in all the tearable bottle caps of the prior art. Also, by providing a sealing engagement between an internal bead and the upper bead of the upper neck, the nature of said sealing engagement is considerably improved, inasmuch as the outwardly directed hollow beads provided in prior art caps are easily deformable, particularly when an upper air shock absorbing cushion is provided in the caps as it is provided in the cap of the present invention. Also, despite the thickness of the internal bead provided within the skirt of the cap of the present invention, tearing of the same for easy removal of the cap is accomplished by extending the score line past said internal bead, which is possible with the cap of the present invention due to the provision of at least two partition walls plugging the full cross section of said score line, which fully and tightly close the portion of the cap where the score line extends, against the wall of the bottle neck, with a leak proof engagement prior to tearing. 
     Although certain specific embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is to be understood that many modifications thereof are possible. The present invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.