Receptacles – Closures – Vent at closure – closure support juncture
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-14
2001-05-22
Garbe, Stephen P. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Closures
Vent at closure, closure support juncture
C215S307000, C215S331000, C215S902000, C220S203060, C220S290000, C220S296000, C220S298000, C220S303000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234338
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to the use of a rotatable closure to close a container for carbonated beverages, to a container for carbonated beverages, and to a rotatable closure for a carbonated beverage container.
British patent No. 2,254,594 discloses a container for beer and other beverages which is particularly suitable for dispensing carbonated beverages to a large number of people at a public venue. The container disclosed in the identified British patent is made of plastics material and has an unrestricted mouth opening such that the container itself can be used as the drinking vessel. The opening has an external screw thread proximate thereto and the proposal of British patent No. 2,254,594 is to provide a correspondingly threaded end closure.
There are currently large numbers of designs of closures for containers, including many designs of closures arranged to be affixed and removed from the corresponding container by a screw action. However, none of the readily available closures behave entirely satisfactorily with a container of the type disclosed in the above identified British patent.
The present invention seeks to provide closures which can be used satisfactorily with carbonated beverage containers.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided the use of a rotatable closure to close a container for carbonated beverages, wherein said rotatable closure comprises a top member and a separate rim, the rim being held on the top member and being rotatable relative to the top member, and wherein said container has a body member having an opening at one end thereof, and external engagement means formed on said body member proximate to said opening, wherein cooperable engagement means are formed internally of the rim of said rotatable closure, and wherein the container opening is closed by engaging the engagement means of said rim with the engagement means of the container.
The use of a rotatable closure of an embodiment of the invention, which has a separate, rotatable, rim ensures that the container can be reliably closed against the pressure of its contents, and yet be opened relatively easily. In this respect, to open the container it is only necessary to rotate the rim and not the top member of the closure. If the container has a wide mouth opening, the top member forms a large part of the closure. By this means, the opening torque of the closure is reduced quite considerably.
The container may be fabricated from any suitable material, for example, from metal or glass. In a preferred embodiment, the container is fabricated from plastics material.
Preferably, said opening defines an unrestricted mouth opening for the container. For example, the opening may have a diameter exceeding 30 mm, or 50 mm.
In an embodiment, said cooperable engagement means on said rim and on the container are arranged such that said rotatable closure is engageable and removable from the container by rotating the rim of the rotatable closure relative to the opening of the container.
As explained, the rotatable closure is removable from the container by rotation of the rim, and preferably, rotation of said rim through less than one complete revolution thereof is effective to enable removal of the closure.
In one embodiment, the cooperable engagement means comprises an external screw thread provided on said container around said opening. The screw thread on the container may be continuous or interrupted. The screw thread on the container may vary in pitch.
The cooperable engagement means on the interior of the rim of the closure, for cooperation with the screw thread, for example, on the container, may comprise a plurality of lugs and/or an internal screw thread.
In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of lugs are spaced around the opening of the container, and an internal screw thread is provided on the interior of the rim of the closure for cooperation with said lugs.
Preferably, to prevent missiling of the closure on opening, pressure venting means are associated with the closure. For example, said pressure venting means may comprise one or more slots extending through said closure, and/or through said container.
Additionally and/or alternatively, said pressure venting means comprise means associated with said cooperable engagement means for imparting a two stage opening movement to said rotatable closure relative to the opening of the container.
The present invention also extends to a container for carbonated beverages comprising a body member having an opening at one end thereof, and external engagement means formed on said body member proximate to said opening, and a rotatable closure engaged on said container to close the opening, the rotatable closure comprising a top member and a depending rim, and wherein cooperable engagement means are formed internally of the rim of said rotatable closure and engage the external engagement means to hold the rotatable closure on the container.
As previously, the body member may be of any suitable material, for example of glass or metal. However, for use at public venues it is preferred that the body member be fabricated of plastics material.
The rotatable closure defined above, and the rotatable closure incorporated in an embodiment of a container of the invention, may be fabricated, at least in part, of metal. Closures incorporating metal generally have a lower coefficient of friction than closures made entirely of plastics material and the use, therefore, of metal reduces the opening torque.
The rim of the rotatable closure may be made of any suitable material, for example, of plastics or of metal.
The top member of the rotatable closure is preferably suitably shaped to provide stiffness thereto.
In a preferred embodiment, the top member of the rotatable closure is deformed inwardly. This deformation provides the closure with a large surface area and thereby stiffens the closure and enables it to withstand the pressure of the carbonated contents of the container.
In a preferred embodiment, the inward deformation of the top member is utilised to form a seal between the closure and the container.
Preferably, the engagement between the rotatable closure and the container is arranged such that the closure may be removed by rotating it through less than one complete revolution thereof. This ensures quick and easy removal of the closure, a feature which is very important if the container is being used to dispense beverages at a public venue.
The container is also, preferably, provided with pressure venting means to prevent missiling of the closure. Preferably, the pressure venting means are associated with the closure. For example, slots may extend through the closure and/or the container. In one embodiment, these slots are adjacent to the engagement means of the closure.
Additionally and/or alternatively, means may be associated with the engagement means of the closure to impart a two stage opening movement thereto. For example, such means may be arranged to halt an opening movement of the closure relative to the container opening. For example, appropriate stops may be provided on the closure and/or on the container. As the closure is rotated to effect opening, part of the closure or of the container will abut against the stops. This arrest of the opening movement is designed to provide for pressure venting. The effect of the stops can be overcome by, for example, pressing down on the closure whereby the rest of the opening rotation is enabled.
In an embodiment, cooperable engagement means on said rim and on the container are arranged such that said rotatable closure is engageable and removable from the container by rotating the rotatable closure relative to the opening of the container. For example, said rotatable closure may be removable by rotating said closure relative to the periphery of the opening, and wherein rotation of said closure through less than one complete revolution thereof is effective to enable its removal.
Preferably, the cooperable engagement means comprises an external screw thread provided on said contain
Eloshway Niki M.
Garbe Stephen P.
Nixon & Vanderhye PC
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