CAP FOR A BRVERAGE CONTAINER

The present invention relates to caps for beverage containers and in particular,

but not exclusively, to caps for use in conjunction with bottles.

The occurrence of tampering with drinks, particularly alcoholic drinks in pubs,

bars and the like, has increased significantly in recent years. Specifically, the

contamination or "spiking" of drinks with debilitating drugs is a serious concern to many

people.

In order to reduce the opportunity for drinks to be spiked, many people are now

less inclined to drink beverages from a glass and instead opt to consume the beverage

directly from a bottle. However, even the consumption of beverages from bottles can provide ample opportunity for spiking of drinks with tablets and the like.

In accordance with the present invention, a cap for a beverage container

comprises a body having an outlet, attachment means engageable with a beverage

container to secure the body to the container with the outlet over an aperture of the

container and restriction means for inhibiting the passage of objects into the container

to which the body is secured.

By securing the cap over the beverage container, e.g. a bottle, the restriction

means significantly reduces the possibility of objects (e.g. tablets) being inserted into the

bottle without the knowledge of the person who is consuming the beverage.

Preferably, the body comprises a sealing face for engagement with the periphery

of the aperture of the container.

Preferably, the body comprises a sleeve portion, which is preferably shaped to fit

over a portion of the beverage container.

In a preferred embodiment, the sleeve portion is frusto-conical.

The means for inhibiting the passage of objects into the beverage container may comprise a mesh means. Preferably, the mesh means is located between the outlet of the

container and the outlet of the cap body. The mesh means may comprise a perforated

screen.

Alternatively, the means for inhibiting the passage of objects may comprise wall

means which are located over the container aperture when the body is secured to the

container and wherein the outlet is formed in the wall means.

Preferably, the wall means has a sealing face for engagement with the periphery

of the aperture of a container.

The cap may further comprise one or more projections extending across the

outlet. In one embodiment, the cap comprises a plurality of inwardly-projecting fingers

extending across the outlet. The projections are preferably deformable, more preferably

resiliently deformable. The provision of inwardly-directed projections allows a drinking

straw to be inserted into a beverage container (e.g. a bottle) to which the cap is fitted and

allows the drinking straw to be firmly retained in the cap.

Conveniently, the cap may further comprise a tubular projection extending from

the outer face of the wall means and aligned with the outlet.

The cap may further comprise drinking straw means extending through the outlet

in the wall means. The drawing straw means may be formed integrally with the body.

The attachment means may conveniently comprise an inwardly-directed

projection extending from an inner face of the body. Preferably, the projection is located adjacent to the outlet of the body.

Preferably, the projection is adapted to engage the rim of the outlet aperture of

the container to which the body is secured.

Preferably, the cap comprises a plurality of inwardly-directed projections. The

inwardly-directed projections are preferably substantially evenly spaced from each other.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a

beverage container, comprising a cap as herein above described. It will be apparent to

one skilled in the art that the cap may be integrally formed with the container if desired.

Both the cap and the container may also be manufactured from the same material (such

as a plastics material).

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided

a beverage container having an aperture, wherein a cap is disposed within or adjacent to

the aperture, the cap comprising a mesh means for inhibiting the passage of objects into

the container. Preferably, the cap further comprises features as herein above described.

By way of example only, a specific embodiment of the present invention will now

be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figs. Ia, Ib and Ic are a side view, plan view and cross-section respectively of

a first embodiment of safety cap for a beverage container, in accordance with the present

invention;

Figs. 2a, 2b and 2c are a side view, plan view and cross-section respectively of

a second embodiment of safety cap for a beverage container, in accordance with the present invention;

Figs. 3 is a side view of a third embodiment of safety cap for a beverage container, in accordance with the present invention; and

Figs. 4a, 4b and 4c are a side view, plan view and cross-section respectively of

a. fourth embodiment of safety cap for a beverage container, in accordance with the

present invention.

Figs. Ia, Ib and Ic show a tamper-resistant cap 10 which is suitable for fitting

to the neck of a bottle 12. The bottle 12 (shown in chain dot) is of the type which is

supplied with a crown cap which is removed from engagement with an annular

peripheral bead 14 immediately radially outward of the bottle opening in order to open

the bottle. The cap comprises an elongate sleeve formed from a hollow frusto-conical

wall 20 whose angle of inclination is chosen to correspond to that of a typical bottle. The

narrower, upper end of wall 20 is turned back inwardly on itself to form an overhanging

recessed lip 23 which defines a circular discharge opening 22. As best seen in Figs. Ib

and Ic, positioned immediately below the opening 22 at the upper end is a mesh member

24 formed by four intersecting diametrically extending fingers 26 and a ring 28 arranged

concentrically with the opening 22 and intersecting the diametrically extending fingers

26.

Positioned slightly below the mesh member 24 on the inner surface of the frusto-

conical wall 20 are four inwardly-projecting retaining lugs 30, spaced evenly around the

periphery of the wall 20 and shaped and positioned to fit underneath the rim of an opened

crown cap bottle.

The cap 10 is injection moulded in one piece from a plastics material.

In use, the crown cap is removed from the bottle 12 and the tamper-resistant cap

of Fig. 1 is placed over the neck of the opened bottle. By pushing the cap 10

downwardly, the four retaining lugs 30 snap over the bottle rim and engage the

undersurface of the beading of the bottle opening and are positioned so that the rim of

the bottle is in sealing contact with an annular sealing surfaced formed by the

overhanging recessed lip 23 of the cap 10.

Thus, a person may drink freely from the bottle, since the liquid contents can

easily flow through the mesh member 24 and out of the cap 10. However, if an attempt

is made to drop an object, e.g. a tablet, into the bottle, the object will be retained by the

mesh member 24. Therefore, the likelihood of a drink being "spiked" is greatly reduced.

A variant of the device in Fig. 1 is shown in Fig. 2. As for the first embodiment,

the cap of Fig. 2 has a hollow frusto-conical wall 40 shaped to fit a typical bottle which

merges into a flat, circular end wall 42 at the narrow end. The centre of the end wall is

provided with a short upstanding tubular extension 44 which opens at its lower end into

a small circular aperture 46 in the end wall. As best seen in Fig. 2b, the periphery of the

aperture 46 in the end wall of the cap is provided with eight identical inwardly-directed, radially projecting, resilient fingers 48 which cooperate to leave a central through

aperture 50.

The upstanding tubular extension 44 and the aperture 46 in the end wall 42 of the

cap are shaped and dimensioned to receive a drinking straw 52, as shown in Fig. 2c.

When the straw is pushed through the aperture 46, the resilient fingers 48 are deflected

out of the position illustrated in the drawings, in order to allow the straw to pass through

and the resilience of the fingers causes them to grip the straw to prevent its inadvertent

removal.

As for the first embodiment, the inner face of the frusto-conical wall 40 is

provided with four inwardly-projecting retaining lugs 50, spaced evenly around the

periphery of the wall 40 and shaped and positioned to fit underneath the rim of an opened

crown cap bottle 12. As for the first embodiment, the cap is placed over the neck of a

opened bottle and by pushing the cap downwardly the four retaining lugs 50 snap over

the rim of the open bottle and engage the undersurface of the rim. The lugs 50 are

positioned so that when they are engaged, the rim of the bottle is in sealing contact with

the inner face of the end wall 42. A straw can then be pushed into the cap through the

tubular extension 44 and circular aperture 50 as described above.

A second variant of the invention is shown in Fig. 3. This is identical to the

second embodiment, except that a drinking straw 60 is permanently fixed into the

aperture 50 of the end wall 42. The straw may be manufactured as an integral part of the

cap (e.g. by injection molding) or may instead be formed separately and subsequently secured in position, e.g. by means of adhesive, heating etc. The straw 60 is shown as

being bendable, but any type of straw may be used.

A third variant of the invention is shown in Fig. 4. This is identical to the embodiment of Fig. 1 except that the length of the frusto-conical wall 20 of Fig. 1 has

been reduced to form a shorter sleeve portion 20', which is more suitable for use with bottles having shorter neck portions.