This invention relates to an improved closure for a bottle.

This invention has particular, but not exclusive, application to closures for bottles that are used to store beverages and wherein reference will be made to same.

US patent application No. 10/222,517, in the name of Nini Policappelli, discloses an improved container, (hereinafter referred to as a "Policappelli container") comprising a bottle and a closure, (hereinafter referred to as a "Policappelli closure"), that is adapted to close an access opening in a neck of the bottle and whereby the closure includes a battery operated electric light that may be used to illuminate the contents of the bottle. The Policappelli closure includes a cylindrically shaped, tubular, body having a lower portion that includes an internal thread adapted to threadably engage an external thread of the neck and an upper portion which includes an open topped housing adapted to house the electric light. The housing includes a bottom wall in which there is formed an opening through which a bulb may extend, and whereby said bottom wall shall abut an annular lip of the neck when the closure is used to close the access opening.

The Policappelli closure also includes a top wall, which is preferably secured to the upper portion once the electric light has been placed within the housing, said top wall forming a closed end of the tubular body for enclosing the electric light within the housing.

Because the electric light is housed within a void located between the annular lip of the neck and the top wall of the Policappelli closure, the Policappelli container is taller than a standard container comprising the same bottle and a standard closure. Consequently, packaging previously used for the transportation and storage of the standard container may not be suitable for use in conjunction with the Policappelli container and whereby packaging developed specifically for the Policappelli container may require the use of more material. Further, the distance separating shelves located one above the other in storage units, such as those found in supermarkets and in refrigerators, may need to be altered so as to accommodate the · taller Policappelli containers .

It is also believed that use of the Policappelli closure, because it is taller than a standard closure, will necessitate changes to existing bottling machinery, including machinery used to ^unscramble", (term used to describe the process of ensuring that the closure is presented to a capping machine in the correct orientation, i.e. the lower end of the cap is orientated to meet the neck of the bottle) , closures and capping machinery adapted to apply standard closures to bottles.

It is also believed that the Policappelli closure lacks an annular sealing element and as a consequence a container that includes the Policappelli closure will leak and most likely would not be suitable for the storage of carbonated beverages .

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a closure which alleviates at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art and which will be reliable and efficient in use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention in one aspect relates to a closure that is adapted to close an access opening in a neck of a bottle and retain a light source that is capable of illuminating the contents of the bottle, said access opening having an annular lip, said closure including: a tubular body; attachment means associated with said tubular body for attaching the closure to the neck, and a housing adapted to receive a light source, said housing being connected to said tubular body, and whereby in use, when the tubular body is attached to the neck, at least a portion of said housing extends through the access opening.

Preferably the closure includes a top wall and whereby the tubular. body resembles a skirt that depends from said top wall. Further, it is preferred that the housing also depends from the top wall and whereby the top wall includes an aperture which shall permit access to the interior of said housing for the purpose of locating the light source within said housing. The aperture in turn may be selectively closed by a lid, or plug, or by a portion of the light source.

Preferably the top wall, skirt and housing are a unitary item.

In another aspect, this invention relates to a closure that is adapted to close an access opening in a neck of a bottle and retain a light source that is capable of illuminating the contents of the bottle, said access opening having an annular lip, said closure including: a top wall; a skirt that depends from said top wall; a housing that is adapted to receive the light source, said housing depending from said top wall and being surrounded by said skirt, and an aperture in said top wall which shall permit access to the interior of said housing for the purpose of locating the light source within said housing.

Preferably the top wall, skirt and housing are a unitary item.

Preferably the closure includes attachment means associated with the skirt for releasably securing the closure to the neck of the bottle.

Preferably the aperture is selectively closed by a lid or a plug, or by a portion of the light source.

In still yet another aspect, this invention relates to an improved bottle for storing beverages, said bottle including: a base upon which the bottle may be supported in a generally upstanding attitude; a neck located remote from said base, said neck having an access opening that allows access to the interior of said bottle; at least one side wall that extends generally upwardly from said base, said side wall connecting said base to said neck, and a closure that is adapted to close said access opening, said closure including a housing that is adapted to receive a light source for illuminating the contents of the bottle, characterised in that said closure includes a tubular body and attachment means associated with said tubular body for attaching said closure to said neck, and whereby said housing

1 is connected to said tubular body and at least a portion of said housing extends through said access opening when said closure is attached to said neck.

Preferably the bottle also includes a light source located within the housing and whereby the light source is adapted to illuminate the contents of the bottle.

Preferably the neck and the base are located at opposite ends of the bottle.

Preferably the bottle Includes a second housing located in the base, said housing being adapted to receive a second light source and whereby in use light emitted by the first light source and/or the second light source may be used to illuminate the contents of the bottle.

In still yet another aspect, this invention relates to an improved bottle for storing beverages, said bottle including: a base upon which the bottle may be supported in a generally upstanding attitude; a neck located remote from said base, said neck having an access opening that allows access to the interior of said bottle; at least one side wall that extends generally upwardly from said base, said side wall connecting said base to said neck, and a closure that is adapted to close said access opening, said closure including a top wall, a skirt that depends from said top wall and a housing that is adapted to receive a light source for illuminating the contents of the bottle, said housing depending from said top wall and being surrounded by said skirt, and an aperture in said top wall which shall permit access to the interior of said housing for the purpose of locating the light source within said housing.

Preferably the bottle also includes a light source located within the housing and whereby the light source is adapted to illuminate the contents of the bottle.

Preferably the neck and the base are located at opposite ends of the bottle.

Preferably the bottle also includes a second housing located in the base, said housing being adapted to receive a second light source and whereby in use light emitted by the first light source and/or the second light source may be used to illuminate the contents of the bottle.

In still yet another aspect, this invention relates to an improved bottle for storing beverages, said bottle including: a substantially tubular body; a first light source located at a firet end of said tubular body, said first light source being adapted to emit a beam of light generally in the direction of an opposing second end of said tubular body, and a second light source located at said second end of said tubular body, said second light source being adapted to emit a beam of light generally in the direction of said first end of said tubular body.

Preferably said bottle includes a neck having an access opening and whereby said bottle also includes a closure that is adapted to close said access opening and whereby said first light source is housed within a first housing contained within said closure. Preferably the bottle also includes a base that is adapted to support said bottle in an upstanding attitude, said base having a second housing that is adapted to receive the second light source. Preferably the first and second light sources are arranged such that the beams of light they emit combine partway between the opposing ends of the tubular body. Further, when the light sources emit light simultaneously, it is believed that the resulting beam of light will be brightest approximately midway between the two light sources and whereby the resulting bright glow of light may be used to illuminate a label applied to the bottle between the bottle's opposing ends .

In still yet another aspect, this invention relates to an improved bottle for storing beverages, said bottle including: a base upon which the bottle may be supported in a generally upstanding attitude; a neck located at an opposite end of the bottle to said base, said neck having an access opening that allows access to the interior of said bottle; at least one side wall that extends generally upwardly from said base, said side wall connecting said base to said neck; a closure that is adapted to close said access opening, said closure including a top wall, a skirt that depends from said top wall and a housing that is adapted to receive a light source for illuminating the contents of the bottle, said housing depending from said top wall and being surrounded by said skirt, and an aperture in said top wall which shall permit access to the interior of said housing for the purpose of locating the light source within said housing, and a second housing located in said base, said housing being adapted to receive a second light source for illuminating the contents of the bottle. Preferably the bottle includes a first light source located in the first housing and a second light source located in the second housing.

The closure is preferably transparent or translucent, or includes selected portions that · are transparent or translucent, such as portions of the closure through which light must pass in order to illuminate the contents of the bottle.

The closure may be made from any suitable material. For example, the closure, which may be an injection moulded item, may be made from a transparent or translucent high-density poly-ethylene (HDPE) or low-density polyethylene (LDPE) , or a combination thereof. Further, the material from which the closure is made may be colourless or may be coloured and whereby the colour of the light that illuminates the contents of the bottle may be affected by the colour of the closure. For example, an orange coloured cap may be used to turn white light emitted by a light emitting diode an orange colour.

The bottle is preferably transparent or translucent and may be constructed from any suitable material. For example, in one embodiment the bottle may be constructed from transparent or translucent glass, and whereby the glass may be colourless or coloured.

Alternatively, the bottle may be constructed from a plastics material, such as a thermoformable polymeric material, including polyethylene terephthalate, pPET") . Again, the resulting bottle may be transparent or translucent, and may be colourless or coloured. The attachment means may include a threaded portion located on an internal face of the skirt, said threaded portion being adapted in use to threadably engage an externally threaded portion of the neck of the bottle. The threads may be of. any suitable design, pitch and depth, including traditional single spiral screw-on, multi-spiral screw-on, or multi-spiral snap-on/screw-off (SOSO) designs.

Preferably the closure includes a tamper-evident device that may in use serve as an indication as to whether the bottle has been opened, and possibly the contents tampered with, following initial filling of the bottle. For example, the closure may include a tamper-evident ring appended to the skirt, said ring being frangibly attached to said skirt by one or more frangible tabs or bridges. Further, the frangible tabs or bridges may be formed directly during a moulding process employed in the manufacture of the closure, or may be' formed during a post moulding slitting operation.

The tamper-evident ring may also include tethering means for retaining the tamper-evident ring tethered to the bottle once the frangible connections connecting it to the skirt have been broken. For example, the tamper-evident ring may include one or more inwardly extending projections or interference tabs that are adapted to engage a suitably shaped abutment located on the neck of the bottle. The closure may also include sealing means for forming a liquid-tight seal with the neck of the bottle. For example, the closure may in combination with the neck of the bottle form a . ^' "bore seal", namely, where the outer diameter of a cylindrical portion of the closure is greater than the inner diameter of the bottle neck, ("bore diameter"), so as to provide an interference fit. In one embodiment, an annular face of the housing may, in use, enter the neck of the bottle and sealably engage against an opposing internal annular face of the neck.

Alternatively the sealing means may include a sealing liner element, such as a sealing liner element manufactured from a deformable plastics material, such as a flexible plastics material. For example, the sealing liner element may be a ring like element that is locatable between the skirt and an outer face of the housing of the closure and whereby, when the closure is' secured to the neck, the sealing liner element is clamped between the annular lip of the - neck and the top wall of the closure. Further, the closure may include suitable retaining means for retaining the sealing liner element in an operative attitude within the closure, such as an annular flange that extends inwardly from the skirt and behind which a portion of the sealing liner element is retained.

The Lid or plug may be either permanently or releasably secured to the closure. For example, the lid or plug may be used to prevent persons from removing the light source from the housing. Accordingly, the lid or plug may be retained in its operative position due to the use of a suitable adhesive or a heat welding process. However, it will be appreciated that a variety of mechanical fasteners or a snap lock system may also be used. The light source preferably includes a light emitting element, a power source for powering the light emitting element, and actuation means for controlling the operation of the light emitting element. For example, the light emitting element may include an electric light bulb or a light emitting diode, and whereby the light bulb or the light emitting diode may be operatively connected to a battery. Preferably the light emitting element and the power source are encased within a suitable casing.

The light source may be capable of producing light of a single colour. However, in other embodiments, the colour of the light produced by the light source may be selectively varied. For example, the light source may be capable of producing green coloured light and red coloured light and whereby the light source may further include selection means that a user may engage so as to select the ; colour of the emitted.

In other embodiments the light emitted by the light source may be the result of a chemical reaction brought about by the mixing of two chemicals that, prior to said chemical reaction, at least one of said chemicals had previously been retained within a frangible container.

The light source in some embodiments may also include actuation means for initiating and/or terminating the production of light by the light source, the thereby permitting the user to control the illumination of the beverage that is retained within the bottle. For example, the actuation means may include an electric switch that is operatively connected to both a battery and a light emitting diode and whereby a portion of the switch may extend through an opening in the body and/or top wall and/or lid of the closure.

For identification purposes it is envisaged that users will be able to distinguish their beverage from beverages belonging to others by the colour of the beverage when illuminated. For example, one person's beverage, when illuminated, may be red in colour, while another person's beverage when illuminated may exhibit a blue colour. The colour of the illuminated beverage may be selectively varied by varying the colour of the light emitted by the light source, and/or by the inclusion of filters that will only transmit light of a particular colour.

Further, it has been observed that at least some coloured carbonated beverages when illuminated by light of a contrasting colour will appear to change colour.

In another aspect, this invention relates to packaging of a beverage including: a bottle having a base upon which the bottle may be supported in a generally upstanding attitude; a neck located at an opposite end of the bottle to said base, said neck having an access opening that allows access to the interior of said bottle; at least one side wall that extends generally upwardly from said base, said side wall connecting said base to said neck, a closure that is adapted to close said access opening, said closure including a tubular body; attachment means associated with said tubular body for attaching said closure to said neck, and a housing adapted to receive a light source, said housing being attached to said tubular body, and whereby in use, when said tubular body is attached to said neck, at least a portion of said housing extends through said access opening; a coloured beverage retained within said bottle, and a light source located within said housing said light source being capable of emitting light of a contrasting colour to the colour of the beverage whereby the beverage when illuminated by said light shall appear to change colour.

Preferably the beverage is a carbonated beverage.

In still yet another aspect, this invention relates to packaging of a beverage including: a bottle having a base upon which the bottle may be supported in a generally upstanding attitude; a neck located at an opposite end of the bottle to said base, said neck having an access- opening that allows access to the interior of said bottle; at least one side wall that extends generally upwardly from said base, said side., wall connecting said base to said neck, a closure that is adapted to close said access opening, said closure including a tubular body; attachment means associated with said tubular body for attaching said closure to said neck, and a housing adapted to receive a light source, said housing being attached to said tubular body, and whereby in use, when said tubular body is attached to said neck, at least a portion of said housing extends through said access opening; a clear beverage retained within said bottle, and a light source located within said housing said light source being capable of emitting coloured light whereby the beverage when illuminated by said light shall appear to change colour.

Preferably the beverage is water. In still yet another aspect, this invention relates to a method of distinguishing the same type of beverage contained in two similar bottles, said method including: providing two bottles of the type previously described but wherein the colour of the light emitted by one of the light source is visually distinguishable from the colour of the light emitted by the other light source.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a pictorial side view, looking from above, of a closure constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a pictorial side view, looking from below, of the closure illustrated in figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the closure illustrated in figure 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of the closure illustrated in figure 1, said closure being shown apart and in line for assembly;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the assembled closure shown in figure 4, and

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of a bottle constructed in accordance with the present invention. Figures 1 to 6 show a closure 10 that is adapted to close an access opening in a neck of a bottle and to retain a light source for illuminating the contents "of the bottle. The closure 10 includes a substantially tubular body 11, attachment means 12 associated with said tubular body for attaching the closure to the neck, and a housing 13 that is adapted to receive a light source. Preferably the body 11, attachment means 12 and the housing 13 are a unitary item.

The body 11 includes a top wall 14 and a substantially cylindrically shaped skirt 15 that depends from said top wall^ The skirt 15 includes a knurled external face 16 and an opposing internal face 17.

The attachment means 12 includes a plurality of cooperating threaded portions or threads 18 located on the internal face 17 of the skirt 15, said threads being adapted in use to threadably engage an externally threaded portion of the neck of the bottle. The threads 18 may be of any suitable design, pitch and depth.

The housing 13 is substantially cylindrical in shape and includes a first continuous side wall 19 that depends from the top wall 14, said side wall 19 having an external face 20 that faces the skirt 15 and an opposing internal face 21.

The housing 13 also includes a base wall 22, that is spaced from, said top wall 14 and is surrounded by the skirt 15, said base wall 22 being connected to said first side wall 19 by a second, slightly inclined, side wall 23 that extends upwardly and outwardly from the periphery of said base wall 22 in the direction of said side wall 19. The base wall includes a centrally located opening 24 and a small depending projection 25 that in shape resembles a nipple.

The housing 13 also includes a flexible, substantially disc shaped, lid 26 that is adapted to close a circular access opening 27 defined by the internal face 21 of the side wall 19 and whereby the lid 26 includes a rim 28 having a lip 29 that extends outwardly rom a lower portion of said rim. The lip 29 is adapted to engage a complimentary shaped annular recess 30 formed in the internal face 21 of the side wall 19, as shown in figure 5.

The side wall 19 together with the top wall 14 and the skirt 15 define an inner annular channel 31 and whereby the inclined side wall 23 in combination with the opposing lower portion of the skirt 15 forms an enlarged mouth that leads into said annular channel 26.

The closure 10 also includes an annular, somewhat rounded, rib 32 that extends outwardly from an inner face of an upper portion of the skirt 15 such that said rib 32 intrudes upon the void defined by the channel 26.

The closure 10 also includes a ring like tamper evident device 35 that depends from and is connected to a lower edge portion of the skirt 15 by a thin, frangible, web 36. The tamper evident device 35 includes a continuous side wall 37 having an external face 38 and an opposing internal face 39. The internal face 39 includes a plurality of inwardly pointing barbs 40 that are spaced equally from one another around the circumference of said internal face 39. The closure 10 is preferably either transparent or translucent, and is manufactured from either a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or a low density poly-ethylene (LDPE) using an injection moulding process. The lid 26, may be manufactured from HDPE or LDPE using an injection moulding process and whereby the colour of said lid need not be the same as that of the closure 10 and may, in use, resemble the colour of light emitted by a light source 45 retained within the housing 13.

The light source 45 includes a light emitting element, such as a light emitting diode (not shown), and an electrical power source, such as a battery (not shown) , that is operatively connected to the light emitting element. The light source 45 is also provided with actuation means, such as a switch (not shown) , that is operatively connected to the light emitting element and the power source for selectively controlling the emission of light by said light emitting diode, and whereby actuation of said actuation means is controlled by a push button 46 that is operatively connect to said switch.

The light emitting element, power source and actuation means are housed within a protective casing 47 that is generally cylindrical in shape and which includes a top wall 48 and an opposing bottom wall 49 that are interconnected by a continuous side wall 50. The top wall 48 includes an opening through which the push button 46 sealably extends. The bottom wall 49 includes a centrally located opening and a small depending, transparent or translucent, projection 51 that in shape resembles a nipple and whereby the light emitting element, or a portion thereof, such as a light emitting diode is housed within said projection 51. The protective casing 47 is preferably manufactured from a transparent or translucent plastics material.

The casing 47 is preferably fractionally retained within the housing 13 resulting from the engagement of the side wall 50 with the side walls 19 and/or 23, and whereby the projection 51 is located within the projection 25. Further, preferably the top wall 48 is spaced from the lid 26, which is permitted to abut the button 46, and whereby actuation of the actuation means shall be affected by applying a small force to the flexible lid 26 sufficient to move the button 46 the distance required to actuate the switch. Figure 6 shows the closure 10 when used to selectively close an access opening 110 in a neck 111 of a bottle 112, said access opening 110 being defined by an annular lip 113.

The neck 111 includes a threaded end portion 114 having an external thread 115 which is adapted to threadably engage the threads 18. The neck 111 also includes a first annular flange 116 and a second annular flange 117 that is spaced from said first annular flange 116 a distance slightly less than the height 52 of the side wall 37 of the tamper evident device 35.

The first annular flange 116 extends outwardly from the neck a distance sufficient whereby the barbs 40 shall be permitted to engage said first annular flange 116.

The second annular flange 117 extends outwardly from the neck a distance greater than the first annular flange 116 and, in use, shall function as an abutment upon which a lower edge portion of the wall 37 may rest.

Preferably the first annular flange 116 and the second annular flange 117 in combination with the barbs 40 cooperate so as to retain captive the tamper evident device 35, namely the wall 37, between said first annular wall 116 and said second annular wall 117.

In use, clockwise rotation of the closure 10, when threadably engaged with the neck 111, will cause the lip 113 to move progressively into the channel 31 until the lip 113 is sealably wedged between the rib 32 and the external face 20 of side wall 19 and preferably the lip also abuts against an internal face 54 of top wall 14.

In order to remove the closure 10 from the bottle 112, and thereby open the access opening 110, the closure 10 shall be rotated in an anticlockwise direction until disengagement of the threads 18 with thread 115 occurs. If the tamper evident device 35 is still attached to the skirt 15, the frangible web 36 will be broken following engagement of the barbs 40 with the annular flange 116 and the ever increasing force applied to said web by the continued rotational movement of the closure 10 in an anticlockwise direction. However, as previously stated, the detached tamper evident device will remain held between the first and second annular flanges 116 and 117. The bottle 112 also includes a base 120 which provides support for the bottle when standing in an upright position. The base 120 includes a centrally located, substantially cylindrically shaped, cavity 121 comprising a continuous side wall 122 that extends upwardly from a base wall 123 and which depends from a top wall 124. The cavity further includes a centrally located opening 125 in the top wall 124 and a small upstanding projection 126 that in shape resembles a nipple.

The cavity 121 is adapted to receive a light source 45' comprising a light emitting element, such as a light emitting diode (not shown), and an electrical power source, such as a battery (not shown) , that is operatively connected to the light emitting element, and actuation means, such as a switch (not shown) , that is operatively connected to the light emitting element and the power source for selectively controlling the emission of light by said light emitting diode. The actuation means is controlled by a push button 46'.

The light emitting element, power source and actuation means are housed within a protective casing 47' that is generally cylindrical in shape and which includes a top wall 48' and an opposing bottom wall 49' that are interconnected by a " continuous side wall 50'. The bottom wall 49' includes an opening through which the push button 46' sealably extends.

The top wall 48' includes a centrally located opening and a small upwardly extending, transparent or translucent, projection 51' that in - shape resembles a nipple, and whereby the light emitting element, or a portion thereof, such as a light emitting diode is housed within said projection 51' .

The protective casing 47' is preferably manufactured from a transparent or translucent plastics material. The casing 47' is preferably frictionally retained within the cavity 121 resulting from the engagement of the side wall 50' with the side wall 122, and whereby the projection 51' is located within the projection 126.

In use, by depressing the lid 26 so as to move the button 46 and thereby actuate the light emitting component of the light source 45, a beam of light shell be transmitted through the projection 25 in the general direction of the base 120. This beam of light, depending on the nature of the light source and/or the colour of the projection 25, may be one of a variety of colours and may be continuous or intermittent.

By depressing the button 46' so as to actuate the light emitting component of the light source 45', a second beam of light shall be transmitted through the projection 126 in the general direction of the closure 10. This second beam of light, depending on the nature of the light source and/or the colour of the projection 25, may be one of a variety of colours and may be continuous or intermittent.

Where the light sources 45 and 45' are actuated simultaneously the resulting beams of light it is believed may combine approximately midway between the base 120 and the closure 10 so as to create an intense glow sufficient to illuminate an adjacent label, or decoration, applied to the bottle midway between its ends.

It will of course be realised that while the foregoing description has been given by way of example of this invention, all other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as herein defined in the appended claims.