Technical Field

The present invention relates to a bottle neck to be sealed by a screw type stopper.

The present invention relates to the field of liquid packaging, wherein it is very common to seal the aperture of a container with a stopper as “caps”.

Such container is an individual object. The container is usually made of plastic, glass or metal material. The container can be a bottle filled with a fluid or a liquid, especially of a food or a cosmetic product.

Moreover, such bottle comprises a neck at a top part. The neck comprises a peripheral wall and at a top end an aperture through which the bottle is filled and emptied.

The stopper can be made of metal or plastic material. The stopper is made of one or several piece(s). A plastic stopper is mainly obtained through a molding process. Other parts or elements of the stopper can be created into the plastic piece through a cutting or slitting step during the manufacturing process.

Such stopper globally has a tubular or cylindrical shaped body closed at its top edge by a roof wall. The stopper body comprises a closure shell attached at its bottom to a tamper band (also called “tamper evident ring”) through a weakness line. Such weakness line is made of bridges, distributed around the closure shell and the tamper band. So the bridges link the closure shell and the tamper band together. Moreover, the bridges are made when molding the stopper or after molding through a cutting step.

As known, according to a screw type stopper, the closure shell comprises inner thread(s) arranged on the inner side walls. In order to engage the stopper to seal the container, the peripheral wall of the neck comprises outer complementary fixation features, such as outer thread(s). The combination of outer and inner thread(s) allows the stopper to be screwed on the container neck to seal said container and unscrewed for container opening.

Moreover, the stopper tamper band comprises an inner annular bead, located at a bottom part. Such inner bead cooperates with an outer annular ring outwardly managed on the peripheral wall of the bottle neck, under the outer thread(s). When sealing the bottle by screwing the stopper on the bottle neck, the bead crosses the outer ring and gets engaged in order to lock the tamper band relative to the bottle neck. So, when opening by unscrewing the stopper, the tamper band remains on the bottle neck and only the closure shell is moved up. During unscrewing, the bridges of the weakness line are torn apart from the closure shell until they break, and the closure shell can be moved relative to the tamper band secured on the bottle neck.

A stopper can also comprise a closure shell with a sealing roof movable from a closing position to an opening position, and reversely. The roof may be separated upon opening but remains preferably connected with the closure shell through a hinge. So such hinge crosses the weakness line and maintains the roof attached to the closure shell when said roof is tilted by the consumer in the opening position.

During bottle opening, the consumer first unscrews the stopper and the weakness line is broken to separate the closure shell from the tamper band. Then when the inner thread(s) are disengaged from the outer thread(s), the consumer upwardly pushes with a finger, especially the thumb, against an edge of the roof diametrically situated at the opposite of the hinge. So the roof is raised up and the bridges of the weakness line are torn apart from the closure shell, when the roof swings around the hinge. After opening, the roof remains attached thanks to the hinge to the closure shell.

Known bottle neck comprises a specifically shaped aperture. Especially the aperture comprises a top edge having a roundly shape instead of a sharp top edge, in order to confer a better drinking experience to the consumer when she/he directly drinks with her/his lips in contact with the top edge. So the rounded shape confers a smoother contact to the lips when drinking.

Moreover due to the rounded shape, the top edge is radially protruding relative to the peripheral wall. In other words, the peripheral border of the rounded shape edge comprises a bottom offset relative to the peripheral wall of the bottle neck.

Thenceforth when opening, the offset makes it more difficult to unscrew the stopper from the bottle neck. Indeed the offset interferes with the inner thread(s) of the stopper, which may cause an angular shift of the stopper relative to the bottle neck and a blockage of the inner thread(s) against the offset.

Summary of Invention

An object of the present invention is to improve a bottle neck with a peripheral wall comprising outer thread(s) to engage inner thread(s) of a screw type stopper. The neck also comprises an aperture with a edge with a bottom offset relative to the peripheral wall. Moreover, the peripheral wall of the neck comprises at least one slope located along the offset and over the thread(s), the slope being shaped in an outward inclined way.

Therefore the bottle neck according to the invention comprises

- a peripheral wall and an aperture, the aperture is delimited inside a top edge of the peripheral wall;

- one or several outer thread(s), the outer thread(s) is located around the peripheral wall, the outer thread(s) has a top end;

- an offset, the offset is located under the top edge and laterally extends from the peripheral wall to a border of the top edge; wherein

- the bottle neck comprises one or several slope(s); - the slope(s) is located along the offset and over the outer thread(s);

- the slope(s) extends from the peripheral wall to the border of the top edge in an outward inclined way.

According to an embodiment, the top edge has a rounded shape.

According to a first embodiment, the slope(s) is located over the top end of the outer thread(s); the slope(s) extends in an outward inclined way according to an unscrewing direction of the outer thread(s).

According to an embodiment, the slope(s) comprises a blend located at a distal end, the blend radially links the distal end to the peripheral wall.

According to an embodiment, several slopes, the slopes are regularly distributed around the peripheral wall.

According to a preferred embodiment, the bottle neck further comprises three slopes. According to a second embodiment, the slope(s) is shaped as a chamfer and extends in an outward inclined way relative to a vertical direction.

According to an embodiment, one slope, the slope extends around all the angular length of the peripheral wall.

According to an embodiment, the bottle neck further comprises several slopes, the slopes are spaced apart from each other and are regularly distributed around the peripheral wall.

Brief description of the Drawings

The invention can be better understood on reading the following description given merely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a bottle neck according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a detail of figure 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic lateral view of figure 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic section view of figure 3 along the plan A-A';

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic lateral view of a bottle neck according to a second embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic lateral view of a bottle neck according to an improvement of the second embodiment.

Detailed Description

As required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein. The disclosed embodiments are merely examples that may be embodied in various and alternative forms, and combinations thereof. As used herein, for example, exemplary, and similar terms, refer expansively to embodiments that serve as an illustration, specimen, model or pattern. In some instances, well-known components, systems, materials or methods have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure.

Phrasing such as 'configured to' perform a function, including in the claims, can include any or all of being sized, shaped, positioned in the arrangement, and comprising material to perform the function.

Terms indicating quantity, such as ‘first’ or ‘second’ are used for exemplary and explanation purposes and are not intended to dictate the specific ordering of a component with respect to other components. Terms indicating position such as ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ or ‘front’ and ‘back’ are used to indicate components relation to one another. One of skill in the art would recognize other configurations are possible.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein. The described embodiments are merely exemplary illustrations of implementations set for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Variations, modifications, and combinations may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the claims. All such variations, modifications, and combinations are included herein by the scope of this disclosure and the claims.

The invention relates to a bottle neck 1.

The bottle comprises a body and the neck 1 is located at a top part of the body. The bottle is made of plastic, glass or metal material. The bottle can be filled with a fluid or a liquid, like a beverage.

The bottle neck 1 comprises a peripheral wall 2. The peripheral wall 2 extends around the neck 1.

The bottle neck 1 also comprises an aperture 4. The aperture 4 allows to fill and empty the bottle. The aperture is delimited inside a top edge 6 of the peripheral wall 2. So the bottle neck 1 has a global cylindrical shape, which is top opened at the aperture 4.

The bottle neck 1 is shaped to be sealed by a stopper of a screw type stopper. A screw type stopper comprises inner thread(s), in order the screw the stopper to close the aperture 4, and reversely.

Therefore, the bottle neck 1 comprises one or several outer thread(s) 8. The outer thread(s) 8 is located around the peripheral wall 2. When there are several outer threads 8, they are regularly distributed around the neck 1 with an angular distance relative to each other. For example, three outer threads 8 can be angularly located at 120° from each other.

The outer thread(s) 8 are oriented with a screwing direction and especially with an unscrewing direction. The screwing direction can be oriented clockwise or counterclockwise. Moreover, the outer thread(s) 8 has a top end 10. In other words, the top end 10 delimits the extremity of the outer thread(s) 8. Such top end 10 is flat at the proximity of the top edge 6.

The inner thread(s) of the stopper is complementary shaped, so that it can be engaged with the outer thread(s) 8 when turning the stopper relative to the bottle neck 1 in the screwing direction, and reversely.

The bottle neck 1 further comprises an offset 12 relative to the peripheral wall 2. The offset 12 is located under the top edge 6. In other words, the border of the aperture 4 laterally is protruding relative to a surface of the peripheral wall 2 with a radial distance between the border and the surface, where the offset 12 is located.

According to different embodiments, the top edge 6 can have any shape, sharp or smooth. According to one embodiment, such as visible in figures 1 to 3, the top edge 6 has a rounded shape. Such rounded shape confers a smooth contact to the lips of the consumer when directly drinking at the aperture 4.

According to the invention, the bottle neck 1 is shaped to facilitate the unscrewing of the stopper over the offset 12. Therefore, the bottle neck 1 comprises one or several slope(s) 14. According to an embodiment, the bottle neck 1 comprises one slope 14 per outer thread 8. According to another embodiment, as shown in figure 5, the bottle neck 1 only comprises one slope 14 surrounding all the periphery wall 2. So the one slope 14 extends around all the angular length of the peripheral wall 2. According to another embodiment, as shown in figure 6, the bottle neck 1 comprises several slopes 14 spaced apart from each other. The multiple slopes 14 are regularly distributed around the peripheral wall 2.

Moreover, the slope(s) 14 is located along the offset 12 and over the top end 10 of the outer thread(s) 8. Such slope(s) 14 extends from the peripheral wall 2 in an outward inclined way. In other words, the slope(s) 14 extends away from the surface of the peripheral wall 2 to the outer of the top edge 6.

According to a first embodiment, the slope(s) 14 extends from the peripheral wall 2 in an outward inclined way according to the unscrewing direction. The slope(s) 14 also is divergent in the unscrewing direction, and reversely the slope(s) 14 is convergent from the border of the top edge 6 to the surface of the peripheral wall 2 in the screwing direction. So the slope(s) 14 is bridging with the offset 12. The slope(s) is shaped in a round inclined way.

According to a second embodiment, the slope(s) 14 is shaped as a chamfer and extends in an outward inclined way relative to a vertical direction. So the slope(s) 14 is divergent from bottom to top. Such chamfer shape of the slope(s) 14 allows a better unscrewing of the stopper and also a better insertion and screwing.

According to a preferred embodiment, such as shown in figures 4 and 5, the slope(s) 14 comprises a blendl6 at a distal end. The blend 16 radially links the distal end of the slope(s) 14 to the peripheral wall 2. So the blend 16 is a junction between the peripheral wall 2 and the slope(s) 14 located at the furthest relative to the unscrewing direction.

According to a preferred embodiment, such as shown in figure 4, the bottle neck 1 comprises several slopes 14. The several slopes 14 are regularly distributed around the peripheral wall. The slopes 14 also have the same angular length relative to each other. According to a preferred embodiment, such as shown in figure 4, the bottle neck 1 comprises three slopes 14. The three slopes 14 are angularly spaced at 120° from each other.

So when unscrewing the stopper on the bottle neck 1, the slope(s) 14 allows the inner thread(s) to go through and over the offset 12. The slope(s) 14 facilitates the unscrewing of the stopper and also engagement when screwing of the stopper on the bottle neck 1 according to the invention.