Tamper-evident bottle closure
View Patent ↗A tamper-evident bottle closure has a ring element affixable to a bottle neck and a cap unit manufactured separately from the ring element and being coupled with the ring element externally to a bottle. The ring element of a coupled closure is affixable to a bottle neck prior to a first time opening of the bottle to retain a contained product in a confirmed sealed condition, yet the cap unit is irreversibly separable from the ring element when unscrewed for a first time to indicate that the bottle has been opened.
1. A tamper-evident bottle closure complying with the regulations of the Jewish Sabbath, comprising:
(a) a ring element affixable to a bottle neck having an annular locking bead and an annular flange located below said bead and extending radially outwardly from said bottle neck; and
(b) a cap unit manufactured separately from said ring element and which is coupled with said ring element externally to a bottle,
wherein said ring element of a coupled closure is affixable to said bottle neck prior to a first time opening of the bottle to retain a contained product in a confirmed sealed condition, yet said cap unit is irreversibly separable from said ring element when unscrewed for a first time to indicate that the bottle has been opened;
wherein a maximum outer diameter of said ring element is greater than an inner diameter of a cap unit bottom surface,
wherein an outer sloped wall of said ring element is engageable with an inner sloped wall of said cap unit, said inner sloped wall of said cap unit having a substantially equal inclination as that of said outer sloped wall of said ring element,
wherein said ring element is also configured with an inner sloped wall and with a substantially horizontal surface that extends from an upper edge of said inner sloped wall, said inner sloped wall being slidable over the locking bead of said bottle neck when the coupled bottle closure is being lowered onto said bottle neck while the cap unit is being threadedly engaged with said bottle neck until said substantially horizontal surface of the ring element is in abutting relation with an underside of the bead.
2. The closure according to claim 1 , wherein the ring element is compressible to enable engagement with the cap unit externally to the bottle but resists compression when affixed to the bottle neck.
3. The closure according to claim 1 , wherein the cap unit is expandable upon application of heat thereto to enable engagement with the ring element externally to the bottle.
4. The closure according to claim 1 , wherein the ring element is in temporary fixed engagement with the locking bead when the substantially horizontal surface of the ring element is placed in abutting relation with the underside of the bead.
5. The closure according to claim 4 , wherein the ring element is movable between the bead and the flange after the cap unit has been unscrewed for the first time.
6. The closure according to claim 1 , wherein the cap unit is also configured with an upper surface and a circumferential wall extending downwardly and substantially perpendicularly from said upper surface to a bottom surface which is located below the inner sloped wall of the cap unit.
7. The closure according to claim 6 , wherein the cap unit is also configured with a substantially horizontal surface inwardly extending from an upper edge of the inner sloped wall, said substantially horizontal surface being engageable with an upper surface of the ring element.
8. The closure according to claim 6 , wherein the ring element is made of a flexible or temperature sensitive material.
9. The closure according to claim 6 , wherein the ring element is made from a material or a color dissimilar to that of the cap element.
10. The closure according to claim 1 , wherein the ring element is made of a flexible material.
11. The closure according to claim 1 , wherein the ring element is made of a temperature sensitive material.
12. The closure according to claim 1 , wherein the ring element is made from a material or a color dissimilar to that of the cap element.
13. A tamper-evident bottle closure complying with the regulations of the Jewish Sabbath, comprising:
(a) a ring element affixable to a bottle neck having an annular locking bead and an annular flange located below said bead and extending radially outwardly from said bottle neck; and
(b) a cap unit manufactured separately from said ring element and which is coupled with said ring element externally to a bottle,
wherein said ring element of a coupled closure is affixable to said bottle neck prior to a first time opening of the bottle to retain a contained product in a confirmed sealed condition, yet said cap unit is irreversibly separable from said ring element when unscrewed for a first time to indicate that the bottle has been opened,
wherein a maximum outer diameter of said ring element is greater than an inner diameter of a cap unit bottom surface,
wherein an outer sloped wall of said ring element is engageable with an inner sloped wall of said cap unit, said inner sloped wall of said cap unit having a substantially equal inclination as that of said outer sloped wall of said ring element,
wherein the said cap unit comprises a cap element and a sleeve element engaged with said cap element, said outer sloped wall of said ring element being engaged with an inner sloped wall of said sleeve unit.
14. The closure according to claim 13 , wherein the sleeve element is configured with a serrated edge above the inner sloped wall and the outer sloped wall of the ring element is compressed by said serrated edge when the ring element is lowered into engagement with the inner sloped wall of the sleeve unit externally to the bottle.
15. The closure according to claim 14 , wherein the sleeve element is also configured with a plurality of vertically spaced, inwardly protruding, and circumferentially extending engagement elements of triangular cross section, an apex of each of said engagement elements defining the serrated edge.
16. The closure according to claim 15 , wherein the cap element is also configured with an upper surface, a circumferential wall extending downwardly and substantially perpendicularly from said upper surface, and a plurality of circumferentially extending and inclined notches which are recessed from an outer surface of said wall and arranged such that an upper notch is more inwardly recessed than a notch located immediately therebelow, each engagement element of the sleeve element being received in a corresponding notch upon progressive and ratched displacement of an inclined wall of each of said notches against a corresponding inclined surface of an engagement element.
17. The closure according to claim 16 , wherein a lowermost surface of the cap element contacts an upper edge of the ring element after the cap element is completely displaced with respect to the sleeve element.
18. The closure according to claim 13 , wherein the ring element is made of a flexible material.
19. The closure according to claim 13 , wherein the ring element is made of a temperature sensitive material.
20. The closure according to claim 13 , wherein the ring element is made from a material or a color dissimilar to that of the cap element.