Bottle Cap Replacement

Abstract

A bottle cap is disclosed comprising a central portion, a one or more side portions, a socket opening, and a lip around said socket opening. Said central portion having a first end and a second end. Said one or more side portions attached to said central portion. Said one or more side portions each having a width. Said socket opening in said first end of said central portion capable of receiving a mouth of a bottle. Said lip around said socket opening. Said socket opening comprises a female threading having a height and an interior surface within said socket opening. Said mouth of said bottle comprises a male threading having a height. Said female threading capable of selectively attaching to said male threading.

Description

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates generally to a bottle cap replacement.

Bottle caps are a type of closure used to seal an opening of a bottle. One common form of bottle caps are screw-on closures, which are easy to apply by a wide variety of automated equipment, or they can be applied by hand. The application torque of closures however must be controlled in order for the closures to perform properly. Closures must be applied tight enough to maintain a seal and to resist closure back-off, but must be not be applied so tightly that the end user cannot remove the closure. A common problem arises when bottle caps are applied too tightly since the application of sufficient torque to remove said bottle cap from said bottle may become too high for common users of bottle caps.

Said bottle can comprise a plastic bottle (a bottle constructed of plastic). In one embodiment, said bottle can comprise a neck that is narrower than its body and an opening (a mouth) at the top. The mouth of the bottle is normally sealed with said bottle cap. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The size ranges from very small sample bottles to large carboys.

Systems and methods for removing a bottle cap from a bottle have been developing for some time.

Mr. Charles Heine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,741) discloses a bottle cap remover comprising a tool capable or attaching to a standard bottle cap and applying torque by increasing grip about a circumference of said standard bottle cap. Heine, however, does not provide for a bottle cap replacement capable of reattaching to said bottle after dislodging said standard bottle cap. Additionally, Heine does not provide a means of increasing leverage on said standard bottle cap since Heine's invention does not substantially increase said circumference of said standard bottle cap (rather, it attaches around and increases gripping ability of users removing said standard bottle cap).

Mr. Christopher Battles (U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,138) discloses a bottle cap removal device capable of attaching to a bottle cap with an opening capable of receiving said bottle cap. Battles does increase leverage on said bottle cap by an annular member extending in two directions from said bottle cap. However, Battles does not replace said bottle cap and therefore must be found for every use and is subject to being misplaced between uses. Likewise, Battles comprise many moving parts and compartments designed for gripping a bottle cap; wherein, said moving parts are subject to breaking. Further, Battles is difficult to clean since water is likely to become trapped within during washing.

A bottle cap capable of replacing a standard bottle cap would be advantageous as the original cap could be discarded once said bottle is opened. Additionally, said bottle cap should be machine washable.

None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant disclosure as claimed. Accordingly, an improved bottle cap replacement would be advantageous.

SUMMARY

A bottle cap and a method of using the same are disclosed.

Said bottle cap comprising a central portion, a one or more side portions, a socket opening, and a lip around said socket opening. Said central portion having a first end and a second end. Said one or more side portions attached to said central portion. Said one or more side portions each having a width. Said socket opening in said first end of said central portion capable of receiving a mouth of a bottle. Said lip around said socket opening. Said socket opening comprises a female threading having a height and an interior surface within said socket opening. Said mouth of said bottle comprises a male threading having a height. Said female threading capable of selectively attaching to said male threading.

Said method of using a bottle cap comprising attaching a bottle cap to a bottle by: aligning a mouth of said bottle and a socket opening of said bottle cap, aligning a female threading of said bottle cap with a male threading of said bottle about a common axis, rotating said bottle cap around said common axis in a tightening direction, interlocking said male threading of said bottle and said female threading of said bottle cap, removing said bottle cap from said bottle comprises, pressing one or more of a one or more side portions of said bottle cap in a loosening direction about said common axis and relative to said bottle, and unlocking said male threading of said bottle and said female threading of said bottle cap. Said bottle cap comprises a central portion, a one or more side portions, said socket opening, and alip. Said central portion having a first end and a second end. Said one or more side portions attached to said central portion. Said socket opening in said first end of said central portion is capable of receiving said mouth of said bottle. Said lip around said socket opening. Said socket opening comprises said female threading having a height and an interior surface within said socket opening. Said mouth of said bottle comprises said male threading having a height. Said female threading capable of selectively attaching to said male threading.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an elevated front view of a bottle cap and a bottle, and a detailed perspective overview of bottle.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a perspective lower view and a perspective cross-section lower view of said bottle cap.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D illustrate an elevated front view, side view, top view and cross-section front view of bottle cap.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a perspective lower view of said bottle cap and said bottle in an open-configuration and a closed-configuration, respectively.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a cross-section perspective overview of bottle cap attaching to bottle and attached to bottle, respectively.

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective cross-section front detailed view of bottle cap attached to bottle.

FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C illustrate an exploded perspective overview of said bottle cap and said seal, an elevated bottom view and an elevated side view of said seal.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective overview of said bottle cap attached to said bottle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described herein is a bottle cap replacement. The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention as claimed and is provided in the context of the particular examples discussed below, variations of which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation (as in any development project), design decisions must be made to achieve the designers' specific goals (e.g., compliance with system- and business-related constraints), and that these goals will vary from one implementation to another. It will also be appreciated that such development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the field of the appropriate art having the benefit of this disclosure. Accordingly, the claims appended hereto are not intended to be limited by the disclosed embodiments, but are to be accorded their widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate an elevated front view of a bottle cap 100 and a bottle 102, and a detailed perspective overview of bottle 102. Bottle cap 100 and bottle 102 can share a common axis 103. Bottle cap 100 can comprise said one or more side portions and a central portion 106. Said one or more side portions can comprise a first side portion 104a and a second side portion 104b. Bottle 102 can comprise a mouth 108, a neck 109, a body 110 and a fluid storage portion 111. In one embodiment, mouth 108 can comprise a male threading 112. In one embodiment, male threading 112 can comprise a threading around mouth 108 of bottle 102. In one embodiment, bottle 102 can comprise plastic, glass, steel, stainless steel, aluminum or similar. In one embodiment, neck 109 is narrower than body 110. In one embodiment, a fluid can be stored in said fluid storage portion 111. In one embodiment, said fluid can be inserted and removed from bottle 102 through mouth 108.

In one embodiment, male threading 112 can comprise a height 114. In one embodiment, male threading 112 can comprise an upper portion 116 and a lower portion 117. In one embodiment, mouth 108 can comprise a lip 118 around mouth 108 and at upper portion 116. In one embodiment, mouth 108 can comprise a stopper 120 around lower portion 117 of male threading 112. In one embodiment, male threading 112 can comprise an external diameter 122. In one embodiment, stopper 120 can comprise an external diameter 124. In one embodiment, external diameter 122 of male threading 112 is less than or equal to external diameter 124 of stopper 120.

In one embodiment, said bottle cap 100 can comprise a plastic, a nonhazardous material capable of withstanding a torque at said one or more side portions.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a perspective lower view and a perspective cross-section lower view of said bottle cap 100. In one embodiment, said bottle cap 100 can comprise a female threading 202, a body 204, and a seal 206. In one embodiment, said body 204 and said seal 206 can comprise different materials. In one embodiment, said body 204 and said seal 206 can each comprise plastic and/or a hard plastic. In one embodiment, pressing said lip 118 against said seal 206 can cause a portion of said seal 206 to compress. In one embodiment, a fluid seal can be capable of limit fluid leaks between said seal 206 of said bottle cap 100 and said lip 118 of said bottle 102. In one embodiment, said bottle cap 100 can comprise a socket opening 208. In one embodiment, said socket opening 208 cam be capable of receiving and holding a portion of said mouth 108 and/or said male threading 112.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D illustrate an elevated front view, side view, top view and cross-section front view of bottle cap 100. In one embodiment, said bottle cap 100 can comprise a height 302 and a width 304. In one embodiment, said female threading 202 can comprise a height 306. In one embodiment, said bottle cap 100 can comprise a lip 308 around said socket opening 208. In one embodiment, each of said one or more side portions can each comprise a width. In one embodiment, first side portion 104a can comprise a width 310a and second side portion 104b can comprise a width 310b. In one embodiment, said width 310a can equal said width 310b.

In one embodiment, said central portion 106 can comprise a first end 312 and a second end 314. In one embodiment, central portion 106 can comprise a substantially cylindrical member. In one embodiment, said socket opening 208 can comprise a socket in said first end 312 of said central portion 106. In one embodiment, said second end 314 can be a solid portion having no opening.

Said one or more side portions can comprise members of said bottle cap 100 extending out from said central portion 106 and/or said common axis 103. In one embodiment, said one or more side portions can comprise substantially rectangular members. In one embodiment, one or more side portions can each be spaced apart from one another about said common axis 103 with a separation angle 316 between each of said one or more side portions. Thus, in one embodiment, bottle cap 100 can comprise one or more side portions extending in a plurality of directions about an exterior perimeter of central portion 106.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a perspective lower view of said bottle cap 100 and said bottle 102 in an open-configuration 400a and a closed-configuration 400b, respectively. In one embodiment, aligning said bottle cap 100 and said bottle 102 along said common axis 103 can comprise: aligning said female threading 202 of said bottle cap 100 with male threading 112 of bottle 102. In one embodiment, attaching bottle cap 100 to bottle 102 can comprise: aligning female threading 202 of bottle cap 100 with male threading 112 of bottle 102, rotating said bottle cap 100 around said common axis 103 in a tightening direction 404 and interlocking female threading 202 and male threading 112. In one embodiment, said tightening direction 404 can comprise rotating bottle cap 100 clockwise relative to bottle 102. In one embodiment, attaching bottle cap 100 to bottle 102 can comprise a procedure common to users of prior embodiments of bottle caps.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a cross-section perspective overview of bottle cap 100 attaching to bottle 102 and attached to bottle 102, respectively.

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective cross-section front detailed view of bottle cap 100 attached to bottle 102. In one embodiment, interlocking said male threading 112 and said female threading 202 can create a fluid seal between said bottle cap 100 and said bottle 102. In one embodiment, said height 114 of said male threading 112 can be greater than or equal to said height 306 of said female threading 202; wherein, said bottle cap 100 can attach to said bottle 102 with said seal 206 pressing against said mouth 108 and said lip 118 of said mouth 108.

In one embodiment, said seal 206 can comprise a compressible material capable of pressing against said lip 118 and holding a fluid seal between said bottle cap 100 and said bottle 102. In one embodiment, where said bottle cap 100 and said bottle 102 in said closed-configuration 400b, said lip 308 can press against said stopper 120. In such an embodiment, it can be concluded that said height 114 of said male threading 112 is equal to or less than said height 306 of said female threading 202. In one embodiment, said socket opening 208 within said bottle cap 100 can comprise an interior surface 602. In one embodiment, said seal 206 can be held against said interior surface 602.

FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C illustrate an exploded perspective overview of said bottle cap 100 and said seal 206, an elevated bottom view and an elevated side view of said seal 206. In one embodiment, said seal 206 can comprise a first side 702 and a second side 704. In one embodiment, said seal 206 can attach to said interior surface 602 of said bottle cap 100 with an adhesive. In one embodiment, creating a fluid seal between said bottle cap 100 and said bottle 102 can comprise: pressing said lip 118 against said seal 206. In one embodiment, pressing said lip 118 against said seal 206 can cause a portion of said seal 206 to compress.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective overview of said bottle cap 100 attached to said bottle 102. In one embodiment, removing bottle cap 100 from bottle 102 can comprise: pressing one of said one or more side portions, and rotating said bottle cap 100 relative to bottle 102 about common axis 103 in a loosening direction 802. In one embodiment, said loosening direction 802 can comprise counterclockwise. In one embodiment, said tightening direction 404 and said loosening direction 802 can be in opposite directions from one another. In one embodiment, said tightening direction 404 can comprise a counterclockwise direction and said loosening direction 802 can comprise a clockwise direction.

In one embodiment, said bottle cap replacement can comprise a method of removing said bottle cap 100 from said bottle 102 comprising: pressing one or more of said one or more side portions of said bottle cap 100 in said loosening direction 802 about said common axis 103 relative to said bottle 102, and unlocking said male threading 112 from said female threading 202. In one embodiment, unlocking said male threading 112 from said female threading 202 can comprise unscrewing said bottle cap 100 entirely from said bottle 102; wherein, said male threading 112 and said female threading 202 are no longer interlocked.

Various changes in the details of the illustrated operational methods are possible without departing from the scope of the following claims. Some embodiments may combine the activities described herein as being separate steps. Similarly, one or more of the described steps may be omitted, depending upon the specific operational environment the method is being implemented in. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described embodiments may be used in combination with each other. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.”

Claims

1. A bottle cap comprising:

a central portion having a first end and a second end;

a one or more side portions attached to said central portion;

said one or more side portions each having a width;

a socket opening in said first end of said central portion capable of receiving a mouth of a bottle;

a lip around said socket opening;

said socket opening comprises a female threading having a height and an interior surface within said socket opening;

said mouth of said bottle comprises a male threading having a height; and

said female threading capable of selectively attaching to said male threading.

2. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein,

said height of said male threading of said bottle is greater than or equal to said height of said female threading.

3. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein:

said socket opening of said central portion comprises a seal comprising a compressible material; and,

said seal and said lip of said bottle are capable of holding a fluid seal between said bottle cap and said bottle by pressing said lip of said bottle against said seal within said socket opening.

4. The bottle cap of claim 3 wherein

said seal comprises a first side and a second side; and

said first side of said seal attaches to said interior surface of said socket opening.

5. The bottle cap of claim 3 wherein

said seal comprises a soft plastic and

a body of said bottle cap comprises a hard plastic.

6. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein said bottle cap and said bottle each comprise a uniform material.

7. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein said bottle cap and said bottle each comprise plastic.

8. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein said central portion of said bottle cap comprises a cylindrical member.

9. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein said one or more side portions extend outward from said central portion and a common axis.

10. The bottle cap of claim 9 wherein said one or more side portions are separated about said common axis by a separation angle.

11. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein said one or more side portions comprise a first side portion and a second side portion.

12. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein

a tightening direction comprises rotating said bottle cap in a clockwise direction relative to said bottle, and

a loosening direction comprises rotating said bottle cap in a counterclockwise direction relative to said bottle.

13. The bottle cap of claim 1 wherein

interlocking said male threading of said bottle and said female threading of said bottle cap creates a fluid seal between said bottle cap and said bottle.

14. A method of using a bottle cap comprising:

attaching a bottle cap to a bottle by aligning a mouth of said bottle and a socket opening of said bottle cap, aligning a female threading of said bottle cap with a male threading of said bottle about a common axis, rotating said bottle cap around said common axis in a tightening direction, and interlocking said male threading of said bottle and said female threading of said bottle cap;

removing said bottle cap from said bottle comprises pressing one or more of a one or more side portions of said bottle cap in a loosening direction about said common axis and relative to said bottle, and unlocking said male threading of said bottle and said female threading of said bottle cap; and wherein,

said bottle cap comprises a central portion having a first end and a second end, said one or more side portions attached to said central portion, said socket opening in said first end of said central portion is capable of receiving said mouth of said bottle, a lip around said socket opening, said socket opening comprises said female threading having a height and an interior surface within said socket opening, said mouth of said bottle comprises said male threading having a height, and said female threading capable of selectively attaching to said male threading.

15. The method of using a bottle cap of claim 14 further comprising creating a fluid seal between said bottle cap and said bottle by

pressing said lip of said mouth against a seal and

compressing a portion of said seal with said lip.

16. The method of using a bottle cap of claim 0 wherein

said seal comprises a first side and a second side; wherein,

said first side of said seal attaches to said interior surface of said socket opening; and,

said seal comprises a compressible material.

17. The method of using a bottle cap of claim 14 further comprising creating a fluid seal between said bottle cap and said bottle by pressing said lip of said mouth against said interior surface of said socket opening.

18. The method of using a bottle cap of claim 14 further comprising creating a fluid seal between said bottle cap and said bottle by interlocking said male threading of said bottle and said female threading of said bottle cap.

19. The method of using a bottle cap of claim 14 wherein

said one or more side portions extend outward from said central portion;

said one or more side portions extend out from said common axis; and

said one or more side portions are separated about common axis by a separation angle.

20. The method of using a bottle cap of claim 14 wherein

rotating said bottle cap around said common axis in said tightening direction comprises rotating said bottle cap in a clockwise direction relative to said bottle, and

rotating said bottle cap around said common axis in said loosening direction comprises rotating said bottle cap in a counterclockwise direction relative to said bottle.