Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to improvements in or relating to bottle caps and in particular, to bottle caps which include an indicator for tracking the number of times the bottle is refilled.

Background to the Invention

It is essential to remain hydrated through consumption of a sufficient amount of water throughout the day. However, it is becoming more common for a person to fail to drink the necessary amount, which may be as a result of the person forgetting to drink through preoccupation with other tasks, or through simply forgetting how much they have drunk. There is therefore a need to provide a visual indicator which tracks the amount of water or other fluids a person has consumed within a set period of time. These generally take the form of counters which can be connected to or be provided integral with a drinks bottle or bottle cap. It is known to provide counters integrated within drinks bottles or, in particular, integrated within a bottle cap, operable to track the number of times the bottle has been filled, relating directly to the amount of water or other fluid which has been consumed from the bottle in a particular time period. A known type of counter is one which is rotatable, and may be rotatable with respect to the bottle or the bottle cap, for example. It is advantageous to provide such a counter given that they are particularly suited to bottles which are commonly cylindrical in shape. Known counters include those which are positioned about a portion of the bottle or bottle cap and are rotated manually to increase or change the counter reading. However, these counters suffer a number of drawbacks. Firstly, as the counter must be manually rotated to change the counter reading, the operation of the counter is reliant upon the user rotating the counter by the correct amount in order to show the correct reading. This may not always be the case, and the counter may be over or under rotated and therefore display a counter reading which is greater or less than the correct reading. The user may also forget to rotate the counter after any given use of the drinks bottle. Furthermore, some known counters provide no means to prevent the counter from being rotated in a direction which decreases the counter reading. This is particularly a problem wherein the counter is being used to track an incremental variable, such as the number of times the bottle has been refilled. Many known systems are also susceptible to erroneous rotation of the counter, for example, when the bottle has been stored in a user's bag or pocket and the counter is rotated through contact with another object. Whilst it is known to overcome this problem by providing a locking mechanism operable to increase the force required to rotate the counter between positions, no complete solution has been provided. It is therefore an aim of an embodiment or embodiments of the present invention to overcome or at least partially mitigate the problems associated with the prior art.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a bottle cap comprising: a rotatable portion, a biasing mechanism and a counter; wherein the rotatable portion is rotatable between first and second positions, the biasing mechanism is operable to bias the rotatable portion towards its first position and the counter is operable to increase upon rotation of the rotatable portion from its first position to its second position.

In some embodiments the counter may be operable to increase incrementally upon rotation of the rotatable portion from its first position to its second position. The first position may be a rest position and the second position may be a counter increase position.

The configuration of the counter may be such that upon rotation of the rotatable portion from its second position to its first position, the counter remains at the same reading. In this way, the counter is operable only to increase upon movement of the rotatable portion from its first position to its second position and thereby prevents unwanted increasing or decreasing of the counter reading when rotating in the opposite sense. In presently preferred embodiments the configuration of the counter may be such that the counter increases, preferably incrementally, only once upon rotation of the rotatable portion from its first position to its second position.

The bottle cap may be connectable to a bottle by means of a screw-fit or click-fit connection, for example. In embodiments wherein the bottle cap is connectable to a bottle by means of a screw- fit connection, the bottle cap may comprise a threaded portion thereon to enable such a connection with a complimentary threaded portion on a bottle. In further embodiments the bottle cap may be connectable to a bottle by means of a turn lock fastening, which may comprise a quarter-turn lock, for example.

In some embodiments the rotatable portion may comprise a rotatable body positioned on the bottle cap. In presently preferred embodiments the rotatable portion is rotatable about a central axis between a first angular position and a second angular position. For example, in such embodiments, the rotatable portion comprises a coaxial ring positioned outside an inner body portion of the bottle cap, the coaxial rotatable portion being rotatable in use with respect to the inner body portion between its first and second positions. In such embodiments, the inner body portion of the bottle cap may comprise the means to connect the bottle cap to a bottle, in use. In other embodiments the rotatable portion may comprise a rotatable central body and the cap may comprise a fixed coaxial portion, such as a ring, positioned outside the rotatable central body, the rotatable central body being rotatable in use with respect to the fixed coaxial portion between its first and second positions. In such embodiments, the fixed coaxial portion may comprise the means to connect the bottle cap to a bottle, in use.

In embodiments wherein the bottle cap is connectable to a bottle by means of a screw-fit connection or turn lock fastening, the configuration may be such that the direction of rotation required to screw or fasten the bottle cap onto a bottle is opposite to the direction of rotation of the rotatable body when moved from its first position to its second position, in use. In this way, the bottle cap may be screwed or fastened onto a bottle without increasing the counter. In such embodiments, the cap may be configured to automatically increase the counter each time the cap is unscrewed or unfastened from the bottle.

However, in presently preferred embodiments the configuration is such that the direction of rotation required to screw or fasten the bottle cap onto a bottle is the same as the direction of rotation of the rotatable body when moved from its first position to its second position, in use. In this way, the cap is configured to automatically increase the counter each time the cap is screwed or fastened onto a bottle. This provides a way to automatically track the number of times the cap is replaced onto a bottle which would usually indicate that the bottle had been refilled, and hence provides a way to automatically track the number of refills of the bottle. In addition, configuring the cap in this way ensures that the counter remains unaffected when unscrewing or unfastening the cap from a bottle.

In some embodiments the activation energy required to rotate the rotatable portion from its first position to its second position, against the bias provided by the biasing mechanism, may be greater than the energy required to screw or fasten the bottle cap onto a bottle. In this way, the cap may initially be screwed or fastened onto a bottle without increasing the counter. In such embodiments, the configuration may be such that the rotatable portion may then be rotated, and the counter increased, upon tightening the cap beyond a given point, which may be at the end of a threaded portion or when a further portion of the cap abuts a portion of the bottle, for example, which thereby increases the energy required to screw or fasten the cap onto the bottle above the activation energy of the rotatable portion.

In some embodiments the rotatable portion of the cap may comprise an aperture therethrough. In such embodiments, the cap may be configured such that the counter, or at least a section of the counter, is visible, in use, through the aperture in the rotatable portion. For example, in embodiments wherein the rotatable portion comprises a coaxial ring outside an inner body portion, the counter may be positioned on the inner body, interior of the coaxial rotatable portion, or may comprise a separate component located between the rotatable portion and the inner body portion. In some embodiments the rotatable portion of the cap may comprise two or more apertures therethrough. In such embodiments the cap may be configured such that the counter, or at least a section of the counter, is visible, in use, through each of the two or more apertures in the rotatable portion.

The counter may comprise indicia thereon for indicating the counter reading, in use. The indicia may be one or more numbers, letters, shapes, colours or other indicia. In some embodiments the indicia may comprise a series of consecutive numbers, the numbers indicating the number of times the counter has been increased, and hence the number of refills of a connected bottle. In other embodiments the indicia may comprise a series of shapes, with the number of shapes indicating the number of times the counter has been increased, and hence the number of refills of a connected bottle. In some embodiments the counter may be configured such that is displays a different reading to a user each time the counter is increased. For example, in embodiments wherein the rotatable portion comprises an aperture through which at least a section of the counter may be viewed in use, the section of the counter visible through the aperture may comprise indicia relating to the incremental value of the counter. In such embodiments, as the rotatable portion is rotated to increase the counter, the counter may be moved relative to the aperture in the rotatable portion such that the section of the counter visible through the aperture is changed. The counter may comprise two or more sections, each section having different indicia thereon, the counter being moveable with respect to the aperture in the rotatable portion to corresponding positions wherein at least one of the two or more sections can be viewed through the aperture.

In some embodiments the rotatable portion and counter are coaxial, each being rotatable about a common central axis. In such embodiments, the rotatable portion is preferably located about the counter. In some embodiments the rotatable portion and counter are connected such that, in use, rotation of the rotatable portion by a user effects a simultaneous rotation of the counter. In presently preferred embodiments, the cap is configured such that as the rotatable portion is rotated from its first position to its second position, the counter is rotated with respect to the rotatable portion. In embodiments wherein the rotatable portion comprises an aperture therein, the cap may be configured such that as the rotatable portion is rotated from its first position to its second position, the counter is rotated with respect to the rotatable portion such that section of the counter which is visible through the aperture is changed.

In presently preferred embodiments the counter comprises a rotatable ring or circular member. In such embodiments, the counter may be fully rotatable (i.e. can be rotated by 360°) with respect to the rotatable portion such that the counter reading is cyclical, i.e. it will be reset to an initial reading after a set number of rotations with respect to the rotatable portion which, as discussed above, may result from rotation of the rotatable portion itself from its first position to its second position. For example, in some embodiments the counter may comprise three separate sections, each section comprising a different indicator thereon for indicating the incremental value of the counter. For example, a first section may comprise the number '0' or may comprise no indicia thereon. The first section may be adjacent to a second section which may comprise the number T or may comprise a single shape thereon. Similarly, the second section may be adjacent to a third section which may comprise the number '2' or may comprise two shapes thereon, the third section also being adjacent to the first section. In this configuration, the counter is operable to display to a user, which in some embodiments may comprise positioning the relevant section such that it may be viewed through an aperture in the rotatable portion, the first section (to indicate that a connected bottle has not been filled), second section (to indicate that the bottle has been filled once), third section (to indicate that the bottle has been filled twice), and then the first section again (to reset the counter) in order upon consecutive rotations of the rotatable body between its first and second positions.

In some embodiments the biasing mechanism comprises a spring based mechanism which may include one or more springs connected to the rotatable portion. In embodiments wherein the cap comprises both a rotatable portion and an inner body portion, the one or more springs may be connected to the rotatable portion and/or the inner body portion. In some embodiments the one or more springs may be configured to be in a rest position when the rotatable portion is in its first position and may be stretched or compressed from said rest position when the rotatable portion is moved to its second position, in use. In such embodiments, the stretching or compression of the one or more springs provides the biasing force. In other embodiments the biasing mechanism may comprise a resilient or elastic member operable in use to be stretched or compressed upon rotation of the rotatable portion.

In some embodiments the cap may comprise a stopper. The stopper may be connected to a component of the cap, which may be the rotatable portion, the counter or an inner body portion, for example. The stopper may be operable to abut a surface of a component of the cap to prevent movement of said component with respect to a further component to which the stopper is connected. For example, the rotatable portion of the cap may comprise a stopper which may abut a surface of the counter or an inner body portion to control the extent to which the rotatable portion may be moved with respect thereto. In some embodiments the stopper may abut a surface of the rotatable portion of the cap and may be positioned to ensure that the rotatable portion is not rotated beyond its second position, in use. The stopper may additionally or alternatively be operable to abut a further surface of the rotatable portion, in use, to ensure that the rotatable portion is not rotated beyond its second position, in use. The cap may comprise an actuator arm. The actuator arm may be connected to a component of the cap, which may be the rotatable portion, the counter or an inner body portion, for example. The actuator arm may be operable in use to contact a surface of at least one of the rotatable portion, the counter or an inner body portion in order to effect movement of the contacted component. The actuator arm may effect movement of the contacted component upon movement of the actuator arm itself, which may move under the movement of the component to which it is itself connected. For example, in some embodiments the cap comprises an actuator arm connected to the rotatable portion. In such embodiments, the actuator arm may contact a surface of the counter causing the counter to move upon rotation of the rotatable portion from its first position to its second position, or from its second position to its first position. The cap may comprise a retention arm. The retention arm may be connected to a component of the cap, which may be the rotatable portion, the counter or an inner body portion, for example. The retention arm may be operable in use to contact a portion of at least one of the rotatable portion, the counter or an inner body portion in order to ensure that the contacted component does not move with respect to a component of the cap to which the retention arm is connected. The operation of the retention arm may be such that it retains two or more components of the cap in the same position with respect to one another, but which may be overcome through applying a user applying a force thereto. The retention arm may comprise an activation energy above which the connected and contacted components may be moved with respect to each other. For example, in some embodiments an inner body portion of the cap comprises a retention arm. In such embodiments, the retention arm may contact a portion of the counter ensuring that the counter and inner body portion do not move with respect to each other, save for the application of a given force by a user to manually move these components with respect to each other. Providing a retention arm of this type ensures that the components of the cap are not erroneously moved with respect to each other which may affect the reading of the counter causing it to be incorrect.

In some embodiments one or more components of the cap may comprise one or more grooves or slots. The one or more grooves or slots may be operable in use to contact an actuator or retention arm of a further component of the cap. In some embodiments the one or more grooves or slots may comprise a series of locking teeth against which an actuator or retention arm may contact. The locking teeth may be provided as a ring of locking teeth. For example, one or more rings of locking teeth may be provided about a surface of a ring-shaped counter. The surface may be an inner surface. In some embodiments the counter may comprise a pair of rings of locking teeth. In such embodiments, a first ring of locking teeth may, in use, contact an actuator arm and a second ring of locking teeth may contact a retention arm. The actuator arm may be connected to the rotatable portion. In this way, rotation of the rotatable portion may effect a simultaneous rotation of the counter, in use. The retention arm may be connected to an inner body portion. In this way, the inner body portion and counter may be prevented from moving with respect to one another, in use. The retention force provide by the retention arm may be overcome by a user applying a force thereto in order to move the counter with respect to the inner body portion, in use.

The cap may comprise an opening therethrough through which contents located within a bottle may be accessed, or may be withdrawn from a connected bottle, in use. For example, where the cap is used as a bottle cap for a drinks bottle or the like, the opening through the cap may allow a user to pour liquid contents out of the connected bottle. In some embodiments the rotatable portion, counter and an inner body portion may each comprise ring-shaped configurations and be coaxial about a central opening through the cap. In some embodiments the bottle cap may be connectable to a further component.

The further component may be a mouthpiece or filter, for example, for use when the bottle cap of the invention is used with a bottle. In some embodiments the cap may comprise an integral mouthpiece. In such embodiments the mouthpiece may comprise a portion of the cap adapted to provide access to the contents of a connected bottle, such as providing access to an opening through the cap. In some embodiments the cap may additionally comprise a cover. The cover may be connectable to the cap and in some embodiment may cover a mouthpiece, or a substantial portion of a mouthpiece, for example, when the cap is not in use. The cover may be releasably connectable to the remainder of the cap by means of a click-fit or screw-fit connection, for example. According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a container comprising a bottle cap in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention and a bottle, the bottle cap and bottle being removably connectable to one another at an opening within the bottle. The bottle cap forming part of the container of the second aspect of the invention may comprise any or all of the features of the cap of the first aspect of the invention as is desired or appropriate.

The connection between the bottle and the bottle cap may comprise a screw-fit connection or a click-fit connection, for example. In embodiments wherein the connection comprises a screw-fit connection, the bottle cap and bottle may each comprise corresponding threaded portions. For example, the bottle may comprise a male threaded portion and the cap may comprise a corresponding female threaded portion as will be readily understood. In some embodiments the connection between the bottle and bottle cap may comprise a turn lock fastening. In such embodiments, the bottle cap or bottle may comprise a projecting portion which may engage with an aperture or channel within the other of the cap or bottle upon rotation of the cap and bottle with respect to one another.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of tracking the number of times a bottle is refilled using the bottle cap of the first aspect of the present invention, the method comprising the steps of: (a) filling the bottle with a consumable product;

(b) connecting the bottle cap to the bottle; and

(c) rotating the rotatable portion of the bottle cap from its first position to its second position to increase the counter to indicate that the bottle has been filled. The method may comprise repeating steps (a) to (c) at least one further time, preferably at least twice, and more preferably at least three times.

In some embodiments the method may comprise rotating the rotatable portion of the bottle cap from its first position to its second position to increase the counter incrementally to indicate that the bottle has been filled.

The method may comprise automatically increasing the counter each time the cap is fastened or unfastened from the bottle. In such embodiments a user does not need to think about increasing the counter manually, as the counter will increase every time the user refills the bottle, which prevents accidental increasing of the counter and ensures accurate recording of the number of refills made.

In embodiments wherein the bottle and bottle cap are connectable by means of a screw-fit connection or turn lock fastening, the method may comprise rotating the bottle cap and/or bottle with respect to one another to connect the cap and bottle via said screw- fit connection or turn lock fastening. In such embodiments, the rotation of the bottle cap and/or bottle with respect to one another automatically rotates the rotatable portion of the bottle cap as per set (c) of the method. In other embodiments the method may comprise connecting the bottle cap to the bottle before the rotatable portion is moved from its first position to its second position. This may be performed by a user in a single twisting action.

In some embodiments the method may be repeated to refill the bottle with a consumable product. In such embodiments, rotating the rotatable portion of the bottle cap from its first position to its second position acts to increase the counter again. For example, in embodiments wherein the method comprises refilling the bottle for the first time, the counter may be increased to show that bottle has been filled with a consumable product for a second time overall. The method may be repeated any number of times with the counter increasing each time the bottle is filled.

In presently preferred embodiments the method comprises a means to track the consumption of a consumable product, such as water, to ensure a user drinks enough water within a set period. The set period may be a day, for example. In embodiments of the method which comprise monitoring the consumption of water to ensure a user reaches a set target, say 3 litres per day, for example, the method may comprise using a bottle with a capacity of approximately 1 litre. In such embodiments, a user would need to fill the bottle three times to reach the daily target and the counter would be increased each time the bottle is filled as described above, with the counter increasing with each refill to illustrate that the bottle has been filled once, twice and finally three times.

The method may additionally comprise resetting the counter at the end of the given time period. In such embodiments, the method may comprise rotating the rotatable portion of the bottle cap from its first position to its second position at least once more after the final refill, with the final rotation of the rotatable portion resetting the counter to zero.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood an embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a side perspective view of a bottle and bottle cap of the present invention;

Figures 2A - 2D are a series of side perspective views of the bottle and bottle cap shown in Figure 1 illustrating the operational use of the bottle cap; Figure 3 is an exploded view of the components of the bottle cap shown in

Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a top perspective view of the bottle cap shown in the preceding

Figures; Figure 5 is a top perspective view of a component of the bottle cap shown in the preceding Figures;

Figure 6 is a top perspective view of a component of the bottle cap shown in the preceding Figures;

Figure 7 is a top perspective view of a component of the bottle cap shown in the preceding Figures;

Figure 8 is a top perspective view of two connected components of the bottle cap shown in the preceding Figures; and

Figure 9 is a top perspective view of two connected components of the bottle cap shown in the preceding Figures. The Figures illustrate an embodiment of a bottle cap 2 of the present invention, along with its connection to a bottle 14 to form a container of the present invention.

The cap 2 comprises a rotatable portion 4 which is coaxial with and surrounds a counter mechanism 6, the operational use of which will be described in detail below. The rotatable portion 4 of the bottle cap 2 is rotatable with respect to the remainder of the cap 2 between first and second rotatable positions and includes a biasing mechanism (see Figure 4) which biases the rotatable portion 4 to its first position, in use.

The rotatable portion 4 of the cap 2 further comprises an aperture 10 therein through which a portion of the counter 6 is visible. In use, the portion of the counter 6 visible through the aperture 10 within the rotatable portion 4 of the bottle cap 2 forms an indicator of the value of the counter 6, the purpose of which is discussed hereinbelow. In Figure 1, for example, the portion of the counter 6 visible includes an indicator 12 which comprises a single circle which may, for instance, indicate a single refill of the connected bottle 14. The cap 2 additionally includes a removable cover 8 which when connected to the remainder of the bottle cap 2 provides a lid for a mouthpiece 20. The mouthpiece includes an opening therein for providing access to the contents located within the interior of a connected bottle 14.

The bottle 14 shown comprises an opening 16 therein which is defined by a threaded portion 18 on the exterior of the bottle 14. The threaded portion 18 forms part of a screw-fit connection with the bottle cap 2, which itself comprises an interior threaded portion (not shown). The orientation of the threaded portion 18 on the exterior of the bottle 14, along with the corresponding threaded portion on the bottle cap 2 is such that the bottle cap 2 must be screwed onto the bottle 14 in a certain direction, the direction being the same direction of rotation of the rotatable portion 4 of the bottle cap 2 between its first position and its second position, in use.

The operational use of the embodiment of the bottle cap 2, when in use with a bottle 14, is described below with reference to Figures 2A-3D.

Initially, the bottle cap 2 and bottle 14 may be provided as shown in Figure 2A, with the bottle cap 2 being entirely removed from the bottle 14. Alternatively, the bottle cap 2 and bottle may initially be provided in a connected configuration wherein the bottle cap 2 is screwed onto the bottle 14 by means of the threaded screw-fit connection (described above) as shown in Figures 2C and 2D and may be removed by simply unscrewing the cap 2 from the bottle 14. In this configuration, as shown in Figure 2A, the bottle 14 may be filled with a consumable product, which in the illustrated embodiment comprises water. The bottle 14 is filled through the opening 16.

The bottle cap 2 may then be placed (or replaced) onto the bottle 14 by screwing the bottle cap 2 in a given direction to engage the threaded portion 18 with the corresponding threaded portion on the interior of the bottle cap 2. This is illustrated by Figure 2B. Upon screwing the bottle cap 2 onto the bottle 14, the rotatable portion 4 of the bottle cap 2 is urged to rotate with respect to the remainder of the cap 2 from a first rotatable position to a second rotatable position. In doing so, the counter 6 is simultaneously rotated with respect to the rotatable portion 4 such that the indicia 12 visible through the aperture 10 in the rotatable portion 4 is changed. In the illustrated embodiment, the portion of the counter 6 visible through the aperture 10 is changed from a portion comprising no dots (shown in Figure 2B) to a portion comprising one dot (shown in Figure 2C). This may indicate that the bottle 14 has been filled once.

Upon release of the bottle cap 2, the cap 2 is reset as the rotatable portion 4 is rotated from its second rotatable position to its first rotatable position under the operation of a biasing means (see Figure 4). The bottle cap 2 is configured such that as the rotatable portion 4 rotates from its second to its first rotatable position, the counter 6 moves simultaneously such that the portion of the counter 6 visible through the aperture 10 in the rotatable portion 4 remains the same. The internal components and operation of the bottle cap 2 of the invention is now described with reference to Figures 3 to 9.

Figure 3 is an exploded view of the bottle cap 2 shown in Figures 1 and 2. It illustrates the components of the bottle cap 2 which include the rotatable portion 4, counter 6 and inner body portion 24. Each individual component is shown separately in Figures 5 to 7 and are discussed in detail below.

As shown, the bottle cap 2 is formed from the rotatable portion 4, which is substantially hollow and comprises a bore 22a therethrough, a hollow ring shaped counter 6 having a bore 22b therethrough and the inner body portion 24 which is formed from three stepped sections 26a, 26b, 26c which have a bore 22c running therethrough. The bores 22a, 22b and 22c form the opening 22 through the bottle cap 2. The rotatable portion 4, counter 6 and body portion 24 are fitted together by locating the counter 6 inside the rotatable portion 4 and the inner body 24 inside the counter 6. The inner body portion 24, as shown in Figure 3 (and 5), comprises a shoulder portion 28 formed from the step between stepped portions 26a and 26b, a clip 30, a retention arm in the form of clicker 32 and stopper 34 (Figure 5 only), the operation of which will be discussed in detail below. The clicker 32 is connected to the stepped section 26c of the inner body portion 24 at mounting point 44 (as shown in Figure 5) and comprises an outwardly extending arm which is resiliently biased to the position shown in Figure 5. It may be moved against this bias by pushing the clicker 32 towards the stepped section 26c of the inner body portion 24.

The counter 6 comprises a substantially hollow ring shaped configuration comprising a smooth outer surface having indicia thereon (as shown in Figure 3) and an inner surface which comprises two sets of locking teeth in the form of primary locking teeth 46 and secondary locking teeth 48 (as shown in Figure 6). Both the primary and secondary locking teeth 46, 48 are provided in a ring around the inner surface of the counter 6. In the orientation shown in Figure 6, the ring of primary locking teeth 46 are located below the ring of secondary locking teeth 48. Primary locking teeth 46 comprise a trapezoidal cross section having opposed sloped edges 46a connected via a flat edge 46b. On the other hand, secondary locking teeth 48 comprise a curved edge 48a which leads to a straight edge 48b forming a series of steps in the each of the secondary locking teeth 48.

Figure 3 also illustrates the relative positions of indicia 12 located on an outer surface of the counter 6 with respect to the aperture 10 in the rotatable portion 4. As shown, the indicia 12 are radially spaced apart and comprise a sequential number of 'dots'. In use, the counter 6 is rotated with respect to the rotatable portion 4 (as the rotatable portion 4 is rotated from its first position to its second position) by an amount equal to the radial spacing of the indicia 12 on the outer surface of the counter 6. In this way, upon rotation of the rotatable portion 4 the counter 4 is rotated so that an increasing number of "dots" are visible through the aperture 10. The illustrated rotatable portion 4 includes an additional aperture 10 ^λ positioned diametrically opposite the first aperture 10. The counter 6, in this embodiment, may therefore include identical indicia 12 ^λ (not shown) diametrically opposed to the indicia 12 shown such that the same number of "dots" are visible through apertures 10 and 10 ^λ at any given time.

Figure 7 illustrates the interior of the rotatable portion 4 shown in Figure 3 which comprises a cover member 35 which protrudes into the bore 22a. Connected to the cover member 35 is an actuator arm in the form of clicker 50 mounted to the cover 35 of the rotatable portion 4 at a mounting point 52. The clicker 50 comprises an outwardly extending arm which is resiliently biased to the position shown in Figure 7. It may be moved against this bias by pushing the clicker 50 inwards towards the bore 22a through the rotatable portion 4. The cover member 35 is substantially ring shaped and protrudes only partly from the rotatable portion 4 into the bore 22a but comprises gaps 36, 38 therein, the purpose of which is discussed below. Figure 4 is a top down perspective view of the bottle cap 2 illustrating part of its internal mechanism, in particular the operation of the biasing mechanism which in the illustrated embodiment is in the form of a spring 42. The spring 42 is connected at a first end to the clip 30 of the inner body portion 24 and at a second end to a corresponding clip 40 on the rotatable portion 4. The clip 40 is formed in the rotatable portion as part of the cover member 35.

In the view shown in Figure 4, the cover member 35 obscures the counter 6 which is located coaxially between the rotatable portion 4 and the inner body portion 24.

The purpose of the spring 42 is to bias the rotatable portion 4 to the position shown in Figure 4, which shows the first rotatable positon of the rotatable portion 4. The rotatable portion 4 is moved to its second position through rotation of this portion with respect to the inner body portion 24. In the illustrated embodiment this comprises rotating the rotatable portion 4 clockwise with respect to the inner body portion 24 which remains stationary. This rotation of the rotatable portion 4 acts to move clip 40 in the same direction thereby stretching the spring 42. This stretching of the spring 42 provides the biasing force to subsequently return the rotatable portion 4 to its first position. In rotating the rotatable portion 4 in this way, the gap 38 in the cover 35 of the rotatable portion 4 also rotates with respect to the inner portion 24, and in particular with respect to the clip 30 which effectively moves along the gap 38 from its illustrated position. Similarly, the gap 36 rotates in the same direction with respect to the inner body portion 24, and in particular with respect to the stopper 34. The stopper 34 moves along the gap 36 in the cover 35 from its position as shown in Figure 4 to the opposing end of the gap 36. When reaching the opposing end of the gap 36, the stopper 34 abuts the cover member 35 thereby preventing the rotatable portion 4 from being rotated any further. In this way, the stopper 34 controls the distance by which the rotatable portion 4 may be rotated with respect to the inner body portion 24 thereby preventing over rotation of the rotatable portion 4. Upon release of the rotatable portion 4, the biasing force provided by the spring acts to rotate the rotatable portion 4 back to the position shown in Figure 4.

The purpose of the rotation of the rotatable portion 4 as described above is to increase the counter 6 which, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises rotating the counter 6 such that a different portion of the counter 6 is visible through the apertures 10, W in the rotatable portion 4. This is achieved under the operation of clickers 32 and 50 as described below and with reference to Figures 8 and 9.

Figure 8 illustrates the connection of the inner body portion 24 and the counter 6. As shown, the counter 6 is placed coaxially about the inner body portion 24 with the clicker 32 contacting the primary locking teeth 46 of the counter 6. In the position shown in Figure 8 the clicker 32 is in a rest position with its end being positioned between two adjacent teeth 46. Upon rotation of the counter 6 with respect to the inner body portion 24 (caused, in use, through rotation of the rotatable member 4 as discussed below), the locking teeth 46 are moved with respect to the clicker 32 causing the clicker 32 to move inwards as its end is moved up a sloped edge 46a of one of the locking teeth 46. The biasing force provided by the clicker 32 ensures that there is an activation energy required to rotate the counter 6 with respect to the inner body portion. In use, this prevents erroneous rotation of the counter 6 which would otherwise lead to an incorrect reading of the counter 6 to a user. Figure 9 illustrates the connection of the rotatable portion 4 with the counter 6. As shown, the rotatable portion 4 is placed coaxially about the counter 4 with the clocker 50 of the rotatable portion 4 contacting the secondary locking teeth 48 of the counter 6. In the position shown in Figure 9, the clocker 50 is in a rest position with its end being positioned against a straight edge 48b of one of the secondary locking teeth 48. Upon rotation of the rotatable portion 4 by a user from a first position to a second position as described above with reference to Figure 4, the apertures 10, 10 ^λ of the rotatable portion 4 are moved with respect to the counter 6 to change the portion of the counter 6 visible through said apertures 10, 10\ Ideally, this results in the indicia 12 of the counter 6 visible through said apertures 10, 10 ^λ to increase (e.g. to increase the number of "dots" visible in the illustrated embodiment). Simultaneously, the clicker 50 is moved with respect to the secondary locking teeth 48 such that the clicker moves along the curved edge 48a of one of the secondary locking teeth 48. This causes the clicker 50 to move inwards against the biasing force provided by the clicker 50. The clicker 50 is rotated (upon rotation of the rotatable portion 4) until it reaches a straight edge 48b of one of the secondary locking teeth 48. At this point, the biasing force provided pushing the clicker 50 inwards is released causing the clicker 50 to move outwards and abut both the straight edge 48b and the adjacent locking tooth 48. The rotatable portion 4, and hence the clicker 50 of the rotatable portion 4, is prevented from being rotated any further with respect to the counter 6 under the operation of the stopper 34 as discussed above. With the clicker 50 in contact with the straight edge 48b, and the rotatable portion 4 in its second position, the rotatable portion 4 is then released by a user causing it to rotate back to its first position under the biasing force provided by the spring 42. The abutment of the clicker 50 with the straight edge 48b causes the counter to rotate with the rotatable portion 4 when moving from its second position to its first position thereby ensuring that the new portion of the counter 6 visible through apertures 10, W moves with the apertures 10, 10\ In this way, with the cap 2 reset with the rotatable portion 4 back in its first position, the counter 6 is positioned correctly with respect to the rotatable portion 4 to show the new updated indicia 12 through the apertures 10, 10\ With the rotatable portion 4 in its first position, the abutment of the clicker 50 with a straight edge 48b of a secondary locking tooth 48 along with the stopper 34, ensures that the rotatable portion 4 cannot be rotated with respect to the counter 6 beyond its first position. This ensures that the counter 6 cannot be reduced erroneously by rotating the rotatable portion 4 in the wrong direction.

By configuring the components of the cap 2 as shown in the Figures, the operational use of the cap 2 is cyclic, that is, the counter may be increased a given number of times with a subsequent rotation of the rotatable portion 4 decreasing the counter 6 back to zero to completely reset the cap 2.

The illustrated cap 2 comprises a biasing mechanism in the form of a spring 42. However, the spring 42 may be replaced with any other component capable of providing a biasing force upon rotation of the rotatable portion 4 between first and second angular positions. For example, in alternative embodiments the spring 42 may be replaced with a resilient member which may be compressed upon rotation of the rotatable portion 4, the compression of the resilient member providing the biasing force to rotate the rotatable portion 4 in the opposite direction. The illustrated cap 2 comprises indicia 12 in the form of "dots" on an outer surface of the counter 6. However, the invention is not limited in this sense. Rather, the counter may comprise indicia of any type capable of representing a number of refills of a connected bottle 14. For example, the "dots" could be replaced with numbers, letters or other shapes.

The above embodiment is described by way of example only. Many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.