Luminescent beverage caps and method for manufacturing and applying it

This invention relates to luminescent beverage caps suitable to seal bottles of very diverse beverages and other liquid materials. These caps emit "cold light" at external illumination and in given cases after external illumination, too, by the help of which the caps hereby the bottles can be differentiated from other caps and bottles in dusk and darkness, too. The material of caps is some kind of plastic into which a luminescent material is mixed in such an amount which is necessary to let the luminescent light seen. This cap can be worked out by the help of whatever technologies usual in the plastic manufacturing, first of all by injection moulding. This cap can constitute the full sealing of the bottles, but there is another solution, too, in which the cap is put onto another cork made from another material. This invention relates to a method, too, according to which there is an opportunity to differentiate bottles containing beverages of various type by the help of the arising luminescence in dusk and darkness, too, and these caps can be also employed to form decorations in semi-dark rooms.

Frequently there is a need to differentiate beverages of various types from a greater batch of beverage bottles in dusk and darkness, too, and this sorting is very wearisome, sometimes almost impossible in dusk or darkness on the basis of colour, bottle-shape or labelling. The beverage caps according to this invention are suitable for this purpose, they start to luminescent during and/or after a short-term illumination, and on the basis of this phenomenon they can be selected among a greater batch of beverage bottles disordered or ordered from other point of views. By the formation of bottles luminescent with different colours it is possible to separate several kinds of beverage bottles from each other and from bottles containing non-luminescent caps. Moreover, by the help of these caps it is possible to form attractive designs on the counter and in the background in half-dark and dark rooms. Actually, this possibility can be regarded as most important field of this invention.

Luminescence means in a wider sense the emission of radiation quanta, first of all such luminous phenomena emitted by certain materials under influence of a quantum excitation (mostly visible- or ultra-violet light) without addition of any thermal energy

("cold light"). Luminescence is the collective concept of fluorescence and phosphorescence; it can be called in a narrow sense photoluminescence, too.

Fluorescence is the luminescence of organic or inorganic compounds of gaseous, liquid or solid state (in this case always solid state) which can be characterized as the material pass down the absorbed energy almost immediately after the excitation in most cases on same wavelength or in the form of radiation of longer wavelength.

Phosphorescence ("delayed fluorescence") is such a form of the luminescence which can be characterized as that the irradiated materials emit the absorbed energy slightly slower on same wavelength or in the form of longer wavelength. If an irradiated material "afterglows" after finishing of the illumination, then the matter in question is phosphorescence. The afterglowing can be detected in full darkness, at certain materials only for some seconds, at other materials throughout hours or maybe days too ("light- accumulator"). Manifold luminescent, within this phosphorescent materials are available in the trade, on the basis of the guidebooks of which the period of phosphorescence can be adjusted with a tolerable security.

This invention refers to both fluorescent and phosphorescent caps. The given task decides what kind of cap would be necessary. In case of fluorescent caps it is always necessary an external illumination to the exhibition of the "cold light", while in case of phosphorescent caps the caps can be planned in such a manner that the phosphorescence keeps to be detectable maybe for hours in darkness after exciting illumination. The brilliance which can be called well detectable, is the hundredfold of the minimum visibility limit, that is 0,3 mcd/m ² (mcd = millicandela). At less than this brilliance the cap though can be seen to a certain extent but it is not able to fulfil its decorative role.

Luminescent materials in beverage caps cannot be found in the technical literature. It is doubtless however, that caps were indicated with luminescent paints for various purposes dissimilar to this purpose.

According to the Chinese patent document CN 1431130 the phenomenon of fluorescence is utilized to uncover falsification. A pattern is painted to the cap of a product with a thermo-disappearing ink, this pattern, however, covers up a fluorescent layer of paints. When warming the cap the thermo-disappearing pattern becomes invisible and the fluorescent layer appears, that is when the cap start to fluoresce. In this case the product is not false.

According to Japanese patent document JP 2004141235 an eye-dropper receptacle is painted with luminescent material in order to drop the eye-drops safely into eyes in a dark room, too.

According to PCT Publication Document WO 0136950 there is a cap on which a fluorescent paint can be found, and the vessels provided with such cap can be sent onto a conveyor by the help of an optical waveguide; on the contrary, the vessels provided with unpainted cap cannot be sent. As obvious from the foregoing the abovementioned patent documents indicate only very far relationship with the present invention, and none of them can be regarded as document that affects the novelty of the present invention, because both the purpose and the implementation of these solutions remarkably differ from the solution of the present invention.

The luminescent (fluorescent or phosphorescent) caps can have numerous employments. First it can be mentioned, as indicated earlier, the opportunity of the selection of a beverage type from other beverages in darkness or dusk. The appearance of the luminescent cap itself in dusk (e.g. in night lounges, clubs, bars) can be conceived as an enjoyable sight. Whereas there is an opportunity to reach different luminescent nuances by the proper selection of the luminescent material, there is a possibility to distinguish some different beverage type, too, besides to shape a multi-coloured decoration by the help of caps with different colours. This invention does not contain technological novelty for the manufacture of luminescent caps. A luminescent material should be mixed into a plastic material most suitable to the given purpose, and this mixture should be worked up (first of all injection-moulded) according to usual procedures of the plastic industry. Most of the

thermoplastic resins are suitable for this purpose; the state of the plastic material is determined by the applicability of the plastic material as a cap, the workability of the plastic material, and the price of the plastic material. Because of their low price and easy workability the application of polyalkylenes (polyethylene, polypropylene) is the most practical. Among the point of views of the selection of luminescent material first of all the vitality and attractiveness of the appearance of the luminescent light can be mentioned, besides the price of the material.

The invention further will be presented by the help of figures. On the enclosed drawings:

Figure 1 is the semi-sectional view of a cap - in a half- view;

Figure 2 is the semi-sectional view of a cap - in a half- view, with a luminescent layer.

Figure 1 presents a luminescent cap where 1 closing element has an Ia outer surface at least 60% of which has luminescent feature, and to the basic material of which an additive of luminescent effect is mixed in 1-30 percent. In figure 2 a luminescent 2 top layer is fastened to the Ia outer surface of the regular 1 closing element.

The luminescent cap can be made in a great variety of methods. It can be made by mixing a luminescent material into the thermoplastic resin basic material, and from this mixture working out the closing cap, first of all the re-lockable closing cap e.g. by injection moulding. It can be made such a manner that an abovementioned cap can be put or snapped onto the already closed, corked bottles. In this case, of course, the solution in question is not a re-lockable closing. A further solution can be the application of a luminescent material onto already ready cap by shrinking foil or by sticking, or can be the application of a top layer by pressing, by tampon-pressure or by some kind of typographical solutions. AU these are practical transfers of solutions common in this technical field, they for themselves don't represent any novelty. These applications or carryings can be applied to the cap still not screwed on, and also to the cap of a ready, closed bottle.

Hereinafter the invention will be illustrated by the help of examples and implementations. The invention is not limited to the examples described here.

Example 1 Production of luminescent plastic caps for closing beverage bottles. 20 percent (by mass) of luminescent paint, namely a phosphorescent product of the firm Honeywell International Inc, Lumilux Red N 100 (item number 50031) is mixed into polypropylene granulates. The mixture obtained is worked out to caps by injection moulding. The cap obtained is suitable to close beverage bottles. This cap phosphoresces for at least 60 minutes after finishing the illumination, consequently this cap is able to exhibit the hundredfold of the minimum visibility level even after 60 minutes.

Example 2 Supply of beverage bottles already provided with cork with cap containing luminescent paint as cap piece. Soft drink bottles already closed by a cork have to provide with luminescent labelling. According to example 1 such cap is planned and manufactured which can be snapped or can be put onto the cork in another way, and this cap is put onto the cork.

Example 3 Application of a luminescent layer onto a screwed cap suitable for re- closing.

Thin plastic 2 top layer of luminescent feature covering at least 70 percent of the Ia outer surface and containing some sort of patterns is stuck onto the 1 closing element of a well-known cap suitable for closing coke bottles, and the 2 top layer is fixed by the employment of shrinking foil.

Example 4 Application of luminescent layer by pressing.

The procedure according to example 3 is employed with the difference that the luminescent layer is applied by pressing.

Example 5 Application of luminescent layer by tampon-pressure.

The procedure according to example 3 is employed with the difference that the luminescent layer is applied by tampon-pressure.

Example 6 Application of luminescent layer on a typographical way. The procedure according to example 3 is employed with the difference that the application is fulfilled by screen printing.

Example 7 Selection of beverage products by the help of cap containing luminescent material.

Among greater batch of mixed beverage bottles it is necessary to select quickly particular products in dusk or maybe darkness, too. These particular products are provided with caps containing luminescent material, and by the help of this solution it is possible to select the particular products from the bottles containing no luminescent material in their caps in half-darkness and during the period of afterglowing in full darkness, too.

Example 8 Employment of plastic caps containing luminescent material with different nuances of colours for distinction.

Among coke products of a firm the regular product is provided with a cap according to example 1, the version "light" is provided with a cap containing a luminescent paint with green cap containing a luminescent paint with yellow nuance also from firm Hone3^well. The three sorts of products are still well distinguishable from each other and from the other beverage products containing no luminescent paint in their caps in darkness for 1 hour after the last illumination.

Example 9 Employment of plastic caps containing luminescent material with different nuances of colours for purposes of decoration in half-dark rooms. In the background of a disco club an attractive decoration is shaped from coke bottles provided with luminescent caps having different colours.