SECURITY CLOSURE TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a security closure for a bottle with a neck terminating with an opening around which an outwardly projecting annular edge is formed and defines a radial abutment opposed to the opening.

BACKGROUND ART

A security closure may comprise a pouring body, having a flange, a cap in the form of a capsule, which is connected via a weakened area to an end of a tubular sleeve having predetermined inner diameter D and wall thickness S, the other end being open, threads for connecting the cap in the form of a capsule with the pouring body, a first annular projection which radially protrudes out of the inner wall of the sleeve and is axially located above the flange, a second annular projection which radially protrudes out of the inner wall of the sleeve by a length T, and is axially located between the open end and the weakened area, the second projection defining a circular passage having a predetermined diameter Dl, a tubular insert for retaining the security closure on the bottle, the insert being situated inside the sleeve and having, in the longitudinal section of its wall, an essentially C-shaped portion, with a core and two wings, the two wings being designed for engagement with the flange of the pouring body and with the abutment of the bottle neck respectively, the tubular insert also having an axially extending portion wherein, at least at a free open end thereof, it has a predetermined outside diameter D2 which is greater than Dl, the free open end being axially engaged against the second annular projection of the tubular sleeve.

Security closures as defined above are known in the art, one example whereof is described and illustrated in GB 2 302 867.

In spite of their satisfactory resistance against attempts of pulling the closure off and removing it from the bottle neck, it was found that some of these closures have an inherently weak insert, which is typically made of polycarbonate and is placed between the outer surface of the bottle neck and the tubular sleeve connected to the capsule cap.

Since this insert is designed to exert most of the action against removal of the overall closure, any weakening of its structure, e.g. due to even microscopic flaws or cracks in the wall of the tubular insert may have fatal effects and allow the closure to be pulled off the bottle neck and, especially for bottles containing valuable spirits, the bottle content to be replaced with some other low-quality content.

The possibility that flaws or cracks may occur in the insert, which, as mentioned above, is typically made of plastic material, is deemed to be associated with the closure assembly procedure, during which the insert is axially fitted into the sleeve from the open end thereof and pushed toward the capsule cap at high speed.

During its axial fitting movement, the tubular insert must move past the second inner projection of the sleeve against which, once positioning is complete, the free end of the insert will be axially seated, and this will occur upon elastic deformation of the tubular insert, which will first radially shrink to be able to pass through the opening defined by the second projection of the sleeve and then radially expand for the free edge of the tubular insert to be brought to axial interference with the aforementioned second projection.

While the tubular sleeve and the insert may be formed of such a size as to maintain the aforementioned deformations, required for assembling the closure, within the elastic range of the material selected for the tubular insert, it is practically impossible to avoid the formation of cracks in the insert material, which will thus weaken the structure of the closure and cause the risk that the closure may be pulled off the bottle neck.

Therefore, the present invention has the object to obviate the aforementioned drawback by ensuring that the procedure for assembling the closure, and particularly the procedure for assembling the tubular insert, will involve a reduced degree of elastic deformation, and the formation of cracks in the insert will be prevented, or at least the risk of cracks will be considerably reduced, without affecting the effectiveness of the anti-pull-off action to be exerted by the insert on the closure when it is placed within the closure.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

These and other objects, as better explained hereafter, are fulfilled by a security closure as defined in claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be now described in greater detail with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, given by way of illustration and without limitation, and shown in the annexed drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a partially lateral and longitudinal sectional view of a security closure of the invention, as assembled and fitted on the neck of a bottle;

- Figure 2 shows a partially lateral and longitudinal sectional view of the tubular sleeve, the pouring body and the insert of the closure of the invention, as assembled together in the embodiment in which the wing of the C shape of the insert is rigidly joined to the flange of the pouring body;

- Figure 3 shows an enlarged partially lateral and longitudinal sectional view of the tubular sleeve with its capsule cap connected thereto by a weakened area; - Figure 4 shows an enlarged view of a portion of the wall of the tubular sleeve proximate to the second annular projection; and

- Figure 5 shows an enlarged view of a detail of Figure 1 with the wing of the C shape of the insert connected to the flange of the pouring body.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the above mentioned figures, the security closure of the present invention comprises a pouring body 1, having a flange 2, a cap 3 in the form of a capsule, which is connected via a weakened area 4 to an end 5 of a tubular sleeve 6.

The tubular sleeve 6 has an inner diameter D and wall having thickness S, both having predetermined values according to the size of the bottle that is designed to be equipped with the closure.

The other end 7 of the tubular sleeve 6 is open.

Threads 8, as well as threads 9 mating therewith, are designed to reversibly connect the cap 3 in the form of a capsule with the pouring body 1.

A cap cover 10 is fitted on the capsule cap 3, with conventional axial ribs 11,

11a interposed therebetween to ensure that any angular movement of the cap cover 10 will be transferred to the underlying cap 3.

A first annular projection 12 is formed inside the tubular sleeve 6, to radially protrudes out of the inner wall 13 of the tubular sleeve 6 in a position that axially overlies the flange 2 of the pouring body 1, when the closure is assembled and fitted on the neck 14 of a bottle, schematically referenced 15, with the interposition of sealing means, generally referenced 16 therein, in Figure 1.

A second annular projection 17 , radially protruding out of the inner wall 13 of the tubular sleeve 6 by a length T, is formed in an axial position between the open end 7 and the weakened area 4. The second annular projection 17 defines a circular passage having a predetermined diameter Dl .

The closure also comprises a tubular insert, referenced 18, to hold the security closure on the neck 14 of the bottle and prevent removal thereof in case of a tampering attempt.

The tubular insert 18 is situated inside the tubular sleeve 5 and has, in the longitudinal section of its wall, an essentially C-shaped portion, with a core 19 and two wings 20 and 21. The wing 20 of the C shape of the insert 18 is joined to the flange 2 of the pouring body and is connected thereto to form a single body, whereby the insert 18 and the pouring body 1 are made of the same material. The wing 21 is designed for engagement with the abutment 22 of the neck 14 of the bottle 15.

The tubular insert 18 also has an axially extending portion 23 which, at least at its free open end 24, has a predetermined outside diameter D2 greater than Dl .

When the closure is assembled, the end 24 is designed for axial engagement against the second annular projection 17 of the tubular sleeve 6. The free end 24 of the extending portion 23 is preferably crenellated by the presence of teeth 29 distributed at regular intervals so as to anchor stably the free end 24 in the second annular projection 17.

According to the invention, the tubular sleeve 6 comprises an annular recess 25 which radially extends into the thickness S of its wall to a depth P.

The recess 25 also axially extends at least to a length L from the second annular projection 17 of the tubular sleeve 6 toward the weakened area 4 that connects the tubular sleeve 6 to the capsule cap 9.

According to the invention, due to the presence of the annular recess 25 on the wall of the tubular sleeve 6, immediately upstream from the projection 17, the value of the diameter Dl may be increased, and hence the passage opening for the insert 18 may be enlarged, while the protruding length T of the projection 17 may be maintained substantially unchanged.

The enlargement of the passage opening can advantageously limit the elastic deformations of the insert 18 when the latter is assembled, with the pouring body 1 , within the tubular sleeve 6.

The increase of the diameter Dl, obtained by reducing the protrusion of the second projection 17 out of the wall of the tubular sleeve 6, is compensated for by the provision of a substantially corresponding depth P of the recess 25, which will ensure a substantially unchanging protruding length T of the recess 17 against which the end 24 of the insert 18 is designed to abut, with a diameter D2 that must be greater than Dl .

According to a construction example, the closure was formed with a tubular sleeve 6 having a diameter D of 30.50 mm, the passage opening for the insert 18, defined by the profile of the second annular projection 17 protruding into the tubular sleeve 6 was formed with a diameter Dl of 29.50 mm for an insert 18 having a diameter D2 of 31.60 mm.

The recess 25 was formed with a radial depth P, from the inner wall 13 of the tubular sleeve 6, of 0.15 mm, and an axial length L of 2 mm.

Figure 5 shows the interference of the insert 18 with the wall of the tubular sleeve 6 which, in this construction example, is 0.40 mm. Without the recess 25, and with all the other construction parameters of the closure confirmed, such interference would have been of 0.55 mm. Therefore, the recess authorizes an increase of the value of the diameter Dl, and hence an enlargement of the passage opening for the insert 18, while the inner diameter D and the thickness S of the sleeve 6, and hence the outside diameter of the sleeve 6, will remain unchanged. This possibility is of critical importance when the closure is designed to be used on the same bottle on which cracks occurred, i.e. when the profile of the closure and bottle assembly has to be maintained unchanged.