IMPROVED BOTTLE
An apparatus includes a bottle, a cap, and a tamper evident film. The bottle forms an opening having a lip that extends circumferentially around the opening. The cap is able to cover and seal the opening. The cap has a top with an outer surface, an inner surface, and a side wall. The outer surface and the side wall define a recessed region of the cap. The tamper evident film includes a perforated tear strip. The perforated tear strip is positioned to overlap a portion of the recessed region. The cap may also include a combination of micro knurls and/or micro knurls along the side wall of the cap. The lip may have a beveled profile able to interface with a gasket on the underside of the cap.
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This application claims priority to and any benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/740,214, filed Dec. 20, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDBottles are used in a variety of contexts. For instance, bottles may be used to store beverages or other similar fluids. In cases where the contents of a bottle may be consumed by the public, measures are taken to ensure that the bottle has not been tampered with. From the standpoint of a consumer that may be purchasing a bottled liquid, it may be desirable to know whether a bottle cap has been tampered with prior to purchasing a bottled product. In some instances, the bottle cap may be covered with a tamper evident film such that a purchaser may know whether the bottle has been previously opened. Oftentimes, the tamper evident film may be difficult to break or remove. Furthermore, once the tamper evident film is removed, depending on the friction between the bottle cap and the user's hand or the overall manual dexterity of the user, it may be difficult for the user to easily remove the cap from the bottle.
While a variety of bottles have been made and used, it is believed that no one prior to the inventor(s) has made or used an invention as described herein.
While the specification concludes with claims which particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention, it is believed the present invention will be better understood from the following description of certain examples taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify the same elements and in which:
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the invention may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe following description of certain examples of the invention should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. Other examples, features, aspects, embodiments, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, which is by way of illustration, one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different and obvious aspects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
As users purchase products stored in bottles, often the bottles are wrapped in a tamper evident film that needs to be removed before the user has access to the contents of the bottle.
An enlarged top view of cap (110) is shown in
Flat top (112) of cap (110) is slightly recessed within cap (110) as can be seen in
It will be appreciated that as a user attempts to screw open cap (110) to remove cap (110) from body (120), micro and macro knurls (118, 122) may provide increased friction, which thereby provides a better grip for a user to turn cap (110) relative to body (120) to loosen cap (110). It will further be appreciated that in many cases, different users may not necessarily grip cap (110) in a similar manner. For instance, a user may grip cap (110) by wrapping his or her fingers and thumb around cap (110). Another user may attempt to open cap (110) by putting his or her palm firmly on flat top (112) and clawing the fingers down along macro knurls (122) and micro knurls (118) prior to twisting cap (110) to remove cap (110) from body (120). It will be understood that other suitable ways of gripping and removing cap (110) may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein. Indeed, it will be understood that the use of both macro knurls (122) and micro knurls (118) may increase the ability for a user to obtain a proper grip on cap (110).
Disc-shaped gasket (124) covers the inside portion of flat top (112). In the exemplary version, disc-shaped gasket (124) comprises a rubber or flexible plastic material. However, it will be understood that any material suitable to form a hermetic seal between cap (110) and body (120) may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein. Furthermore, while the exemplary version shows gasket (124) being disc-shaped, it will be understood that a ring shaped gasket may also be used. Threads (126) extend rotationally around the inside of cap (110). Threads (126) are operable generally to complement threads (134) of body (120) such that cap (110) may be turned to remove cap (110) from body (120). It will be understood that while the exemplary version uses gasket (124) between body (120) and cap (110), other exemplary versions may exclude gasket (124) such that body (120) and cap (110) are in direct contact with each other to form a seal, which may include a hermetic seal. In some exemplary versions, rather than flat top (112), the inner portion of cap (110) may instead have a contoured top, plug-style top, or any other suitable top shape for forming a seal between cap (110) and body (120) as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein.
Neck (136) includes a ratcheted and/or knurled region (132) that extends part of the way around neck (136), though it will be understood that ratcheted region (132) may extend completely around neck (136). Ratcheted region (132) of neck (136) has a plurality of straight ribs spaced along ratcheted region (132). It will be understood that ratcheted region (132) may be operable to provide a better grip when a user grasps bottle (100). It will further be understood that ratcheted region (132) may be operable to serve as an interface to engage machinery and/or other devices, which may be involved, for instance, in the manufacturing, filling, and/or closing of bottle (100). As cap (110) turns, it will further be appreciated that ratcheted region (132) may serve as a tactile indicator that the user is successfully turning cap (110) due to the user's fingers brushing against ratcheted region (132) as cap (110) turns. Ratcheted region (132) may also provide better gripping in instances where a user picks up bottle (100).
Body (120) defines and leads to a mouth (140) operable to receive a fluid for storing within bottle (100). Additionally, mouth (140) may be used to pour out a fluid from bottle (100). A lip (138) encircles mouth (140) as seen in
It should be understood that any one or more of the teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. described herein may be combined with any one or more of the other teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. that are described herein. The following-described teachings, expressions, embodiments, examples, etc. should therefore not be viewed in isolation relative to each other. Various suitable ways in which the teachings herein may be combined will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein. Such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.
Having shown and described various embodiments of the present invention, further adaptations of the methods and systems described herein may be accomplished by appropriate modifications by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. Several of such potential modifications have been mentioned, and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, the examples, embodiments, geometrics, materials, dimensions, ratios, steps, and the like discussed above are illustrative and are not required. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be considered in terms of the following claims and is understood not to be limited to the details of structure and operation shown and described in the specification and drawings.
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. An apparatus comprising:
- a bottle forming an opening, the bottle having a lip extending circumferentially around the opening;
- a cap configured to cover and hermetically seal the opening in the bottle, wherein the cap includes a flat top having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein the cap further includes a side wall, wherein the outer surface of the flat top and the side walls define a recessed region of the cap; and
- a tamper evident film including a perforated tear strip, wherein the perforated tear strip is positioned to overlap a portion of the recessed region.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein at least a portion of the side walls comprise a plurality of micro knurls.
23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein at least a portion of the side walls comprise a plurality of macro knurls.
24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein at least a portion of the side walls comprises an alternating pattern of a first quantity of micro knurls and a second quantity of macro knurls.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the first quantity of micro knurls includes about 5 to 6 knurls for every 1 knurl of the second quantity of macro knurls.
26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the recessed region extends around the circumference of the cap.
27. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the recessed region includes markers, wherein the markers are operable to act as directional indicators for turning the cap.
28. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the cap further comprises a gasket operable to seal the cap against the bottle.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the gasket is disc shaped and operable to cover an inner portion of the flat top of the cap.
30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the lip has a beveled profile with a wider base and a thinner top, wherein the thinner portion of the lip is operable to engage the gasket.
31. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the recessed region is sized to encompass a substantial portion of the surface area of the flat top.
32. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the cap has a generally cylindrical shape and the bottle has a contoured shape with a waist extending around the circumference of the bottle.
33. An apparatus comprising:
- a body operable to hold a fluid; and
- a cap operable to engage the body and form a hermetic seal with the body;
- wherein the cap comprises a side wall, wherein at least a portion of the exterior of the side wall has a plurality of knurls that extend along the side wall of the cap, and wherein the cap includes a recessed region having a circular shape.
34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the plurality of knurls comprises both micro knurls and macro knurls.
35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the micro knurls and the macro knurls are uniformly spaced apart along the cap.
36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the micro knurls and the macro knurls extend along the circumference of the cap.
37. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the micro knurls and the macro knurls comprise ribbing that extends vertically along the side wall of the cap.
38. A bottle comprising:
- a body defining a mouth and the body having a beveled lip extending circumferentially around the mouth of the body;
- a cap operable to engage the body, the cap having a flat top and a side wall, the cap having an outer surface and an inner surface; and
- a gasket positioned on the inner surface of the cap, wherein the gasket is disc-shaped and configured to engage the beveled lip to form a hermetic seal with the cap.
39. The bottle of claim 38, wherein the bottle further comprises a tamper evident film having a perforated tear strip, wherein the perforated tear strip is positioned to overlap a portion of a recessed portion defined by the outer surface of the flat top and the side wall.
40. The bottle of claim 38, wherein the side wall comprises a portion having a plurality of micro knurls and a plurality of macro knurls.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 11, 2013
Publication Date: Jun 30, 2016
Applicant: ABBOTT LABORATORIES (Abbott Park, IL)
Inventors: CHRISTOPHER COX (Westerville, OH), JAMES PERRY (Gahanna, OH)
Application Number: 14/653,902