COMPOSITE BOTTLE FORMED FROM A CONTAINER AND A NECK SEALEDLY MOUNTED ON THE CONTAINER MOUTH The invention relates to a composite bottle formed from a container on the mouth of which there is sealedly mounted a neck which is produced separetely from the container and can have different shapes and dimensions.

Many types of food, pharmaceutical, chemical and in particular cosmetics industries are known to make considerable use of bottles for containing liquid or creamy substances which are retained in the bottles by stoppers screwed or snap-mounted on the bottle necks, or by accessories of other type, such as dispenser caps for creamy substances or pumps for spraying liquid substances when operated.

Bottles of the same shape and capacity are used by every type of industry, and in particular the cosmetics industry, to contain different products; however the stoppers or accessories applied to the necks of the bottles are of different shapes and dimensions. For example, the stoppers applied to such bottles can be short, long, of small cross-section or of much larger cross-section. In addition, the stoppers or other accessories mounted on the necks of such bottles

can be applied by snap-fitting, by screwing or by bayonet or similar connection systems.

In follows that for equal capacities of the constituent container part of each bottle, containers must be available having a narrow or wide, short or long neck which, as its means for connection to the accessories (stoppers, pumps, dispensers, etc.), is provided with different types of threads, ribs or grooves for snap-fitting, etc..

The result is that an industry using such bottles must have available, and quickly if necessary, a considerable number of bottles of the same capacity but with different necks, some types of such bottles being used shortly after their production, whereas other types may be used much later, depending on market requirements.

All this implies the need for the availability of stocks of bottles with different types of necks, resulting in a considerable cost which is also influenced by the fact that the total volume of a large number (many thousands or tens of thousands) of plastic bottles occupies a considerable volume, although having a relatively low weight. In this respect it should be noted that such bottle stocks must be in store, both because it is often not

known much beforehand how many bottles will be effectively used, and because a considerable time is required after their ordering before bottles produced by specialist firms are ready.

It should also be noted that inscriptions have often to be silk-screen printed on the outer surface of the bottles (especially in the cosmetics industry). Silk-screen printing on plastic bottles is relatively complicated and requires particular printing machine adjustments based on the shape and dimensions of their necks.

The cost of these requirements is greater the larger the variety of bottles employed by the user industry.

The main object of this invention is to provide bottles which enable the necessarily held stocks to be drastically reduced, with consequent cost reduction, which allow more economical silk- screen printing of the bottle outer surfaces, and, very importantly, which enable bottles of the required type to be made available in a much shorter time after their requirement is noted than is currently the case.

The FR-A-593202, FR-A-1319580 and DE-A-2552084 describe composite bottles formed from a container

or the like having a mouth or which a neck is screw, pressure or snap mounted in such a way that the neck is retained in an axially fixed relationship on the container, no elements or means being provided for preventing rotation of the neck or the container mouth.

The FR-A 593202 teaches that the neck must be easily removable from the container in order to be replaced by another neck.

The neck of the FR-A-1319580 is applied on the mouth of a container whose wall is so thin that it is impossible to mount a stopper or the like directly on it.

The DE-A-2552084 describes a container on whose mouth there is mounted a neck which is used for retaining and positioning a special apparatus on the same container.

The above referred references concern composite bottles whose necks are axially retained -but are freely rotatable on it-on the containers on which each neck is mounted, so that the neck opening can be closed only by means of crown caps or the like (see the two French patents) or it can support the special apparatus disclosed in the German patent.

It is to be noted that stoppers or accessories of any types cannot be screwed on such necks because the same would rotate on the mouths of the respective containers. Should stoppers or accessories have been screwed on the necks before their mounting on the mouths of the containers, such stoppers could no more be unscrewed from such necks after their mounting on the containers because the same would jointly freely rotate on the mouths of the containers.

In view of the foregoing facts a further object of the invention is therefore to get a composite bottle formed by a shaped neck mounted on the shaped mouth of a container, wherein the neck is safely axially retained on such mouth (in order to prevent tampering of the product contained in the bottle when its stopper is closed) and especially wherein the neck cannot rotate in respect of the container on whose mouth it is mounted (in order to safely screw stoppers or the like on the necks or to easily unscrew the same stoppers from the same necks).

The objects of the invention are attained by a plastics made composite bottle consisting of a container having a mouth with an outer shaped

surface and of a tubular neck mounted on said mouth, at least one portion of the neck close to one of its ends having an inner shaped surface which is substantially complementary to said outer shaped surface of the mouth on which the neck is superimposed and axially retained by at least one annular rib engaging a corresponding annular groove provided on the facing shaped surfaces of the mouth and respectively of the neck, or vice versa, the outer surface of the neck being it too shaped for engaging and retaining thereon stoppers or accessories of other type, characterised in that cooperating stop elements are provided on the facing shaped surfaces of said mouth and respectively the neck for preventing rotation of the neck on the mouth.

The invention also relates to a container having a mouth on which a neck produced separately from the container can be sealedly mounted, and also relates to the necks produced separately from the containers and provided with elements enabling them to be sealedly mounted on the mouths of said containers, said mouths and necks being provided with stop elements for preventing rotation of the necks on the mouths.

Finally, the invention also relates to a method according to which composite bottles upon which stoppers or the like having different sizes and shapes can be applied are obtained by mounting necks having different outer sizes and shapes on one and the same type of containers.

The structure of the composite bottle of the invention will be more apparent from the description of a preferred embodiment thereof, given hereinafter by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, on which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a bottle ; Figure 2 is similar to Figure 1, from which it differs by the presence of a neck and stopper of different structure; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a neck different from those shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a partial axial section on an enlarged scale through the bottle obtained by sealedly mounting the neck and container of Figure 1 one on the other; and Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 through a single portion of the bottle of

Figure 4.

Figure 1 shows a container or bottle B, a neck or adaptor A and a stopper or cap C. For greater clarity the container and stopper are viewed from above, whereas the neck is viewed from below.

The bottle of the invention is formed from two separate bodies, namely the container B and the neck A, of which the shape can be seen from Figure 4.

The container consists of a hollow plastics body 1 having at its top (with reference to the Figures) an aperture or mouth, from which there outwardly extends a collar or annular wall 2 shaped to comprise, in proximity to its free end, a sawtooth-shaped continuous annular rib 3 (Figure 4), below which there is an annular groove or recess 4. A shoulder or annular bearing surface 5 (the presence of which is preferred but is not strictly necessary) is provided in the connection region between the hollow body 1 and the annular wall 2. Finally it can be seen that from the outer surface of the wall 2 there project a plurality of separate teeth or projections 6, the purpose of which is explained hereinafter.

The adaptor or neck A is formed from a hollow

body (also constructed by moulding plastics material) open at its two ends. That end of the neck A facing downwards (in the Figures) has a shape and size substantially complementary to the shape and outer size of the mouth of the container 1, and internally comprises an annular projection or rib 7 shaped in such a manner as to be able to be slid (during the connection of the neck to the container) over the inclined surface of the rib 3 (by causing slight inward elastic bending of the annular wall 2 at the rib 3) until it sits in the groove 4 of the wall 2 (Figure 4).

From the inner surface of the neck A there projects a profiled annular rib 8 which extends downwards (with respect to the Figures) to define with the adjacent surface of the neck A an annular recess into which the free end of the wall 2 of the container B becomes sealedly inserted when the neck A is mounted on the container (Figure 4). It can be seen that under these conditions the sawtooth rib 3 of the wall 2 and the insertion of the neck rib 7 into the annular recess or groove 4 of the wall 2 provide secure fixing of the neck A on the container B, a perfect seal being ensured both by the cooperation between the mutually contacting

surfaces of the upper end of the wall 2 and the profiled annular rib 8 projecting from the neck A, and between its surface at the recess or groove 4 and the surface of the rib 7.

Finally, it can be seen that from the inner surface of the neck A in proximity to that end thereof close to the rib 7 there project a plurality of teeth or the like 9 which, when the neck A is mounted on the mouth of the container B are positioned between the teeth 6 with project from the container mouth, so prohibiting rotation of the neck relative to the container, as will be apparent examining Figures 4 and 5.

The shape of the neck and the shape of the container mouth can be different from those described heretofore, provided they allow reliable and simple fixing of the neck onto said mouth, while preventing rotation of the one relative to the other and ensuring a perfect seal between them, which can be easily achieved in various different ways.

The outer surface of the neck A can be smooth (of conical or cylindrical shape), in which case any accessory, for example a stopper, can be fitted to it by simple friction.

Preferably, however, the necks A have their outer surface shaped in exactly the same manner as the necks of those bottles of traditional type which the bottle of the invention are intended to replace.

For example, the two necks of Figures 1 and 2 comprise on their outer surface threads or spiral ribs of different shapes, but indicated by the same reference numeral 10 for simplicity, to be engaged by corresponding ribs or recesses provided on the inside of the stoppers C which are to close the bottles (instead of the stoppers C other types of accessories can be provided, such as pumps, cream dispensers, etc.) on which the stoppers can be easily screweed or from which they can be unscrewed.

In that embodiment of the neck A shown in Figure 3 it can be seen that from the outer surface of the neck there project rectilinear axial ribs 11 below which (with respect to the Figure) there is provided an annular groove 12 to house and securely retain a corresponding annular rib projecting from an accessory (for example a stopper) also provided with slots to house the ribs 11. Such a stable coupling system is well known and enables the

accessory to be mounted on the neck of the bottle by simple axial approach, while preventing subsequent separation and rotation of the accessory from and relative to the bottle, what is possible only if the neck is safely retained on the container mouth without being rotatable on it.

Assuming that containers B of the required capacity are available, necks A such as those shown in Figures 1 to 3 or of different form can easily be sealedly mounted and securely retained on them.

These necks can be of very different lengths, outer transverse dimensions and shapes, so that accessories of the most varied forms and comprising housings (for the bottle neck) of any shape and size can be mounted and retained on them.

On this basis, the considerable advantages obtainable with the invention are well apparent.

The moulded bottle producer or the bottle user can stock ready for use a certain number of containers B of the required capacity. The same user or moulded plastic bottle producer stocks a certain number of ready necks A of different shapes corresponding to the shapes of the necks which may be required by the user, on the basis of the accessories to be used by him.

The volume and cost of the stocked containers is low because only containers of one and the same type (capacity) are held ready, whereas the stocked quantity of the various necks has smaller volume and weight (and hence cost) than if traditional bottles with the various necks were held in stock.

When complete bottles are required for use, the necks of the desired shape are applied to the container mouths by automatic machines working at high speed. The bottles obtained in this manner can then be used exactly as bottles of known type.

A great advantage of the composite bottles of the invention is the short time involved between the decision to obtain them and their actual availability.

Usually a user does not stock all the bottle types which he may require. The user hence has to order such bottles from the bottle producer when necessary, but this may involve considerable time, with the consequences which can be easily imagined.

By exploiting this invention the producer can have already previously moulded the containers B (to be used to form bottles with different necks) and already hold them in stock, with a hence very reduced cost and storage space. Likewise the

producer (or user) can already hold in stock those necks A of the different types commonly used by that user.

The complete bottles of the required capacity and neck can hence be supplied very quickly after ordering.

An advantageous characteristic is the ability to fill the containers B with liquids or creamy substances before applying their necks.

If desidered, the containers can be printed (generally by silk-screen printing) on their outer surface before applying the necks to them. This is advantageous because all containers of a given capacity are identical, whereas different necks can be applied to them to obtain different bottles which all have the the same images printed on their outer surface. In this respect, the silk-sceen printing is carried out by automatic machines which would otherwise have to be carefully adjusted each time and set to accomodate the neck shape and dimensions.

A further advantage for the user is the ability to fill the containers B and then apply to them, using very simple automatic machines working at high speed, the required necks on which the producer has already mounted the desired accessory.