Rim enlarger collar

Abstract

A rim enlarger collar to be applied around the lower ledge of the rim of the neck of a glass bottle for beverages to enlarge the current rim in order to provide a greater support surface for the hand holding said bottle by the neck and prevent the bottle from slipping from the hand. The device is composed of: an external element with the function of ergonomic support surface for the hand, a cavity in the center of the external element with the function of containing the neck of the bottle, an internal gasket protruding from the external element towards the interior of the central cavity with the function of fixing the device under the lower ledge of the rim of the bottle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to devices to be applied to the neck of a bottle, and more specifically to a rim enlarger collar to be applied around the lower ledge of the rim of the neck of a glass bottle containing beverages for human consumption.

2. Description of the Related Art

As it is common knowledge among those skilled in the art there exist many types of bottles used for packing beverages for human consumption having different shapes both for design purposes and to make their hold more secure.

Common glass bottles for beverages can be held in two ways: by the body or by the neck.

The neck of a common glass bottle is usually thin and does not provide a great holding surface for the hand holding said neck. The thinness of the neck together with the fact that its surface is often wet because of the temperature difference between the refrigerated liquid inside the bottle and the warmer air of the environment surrounding said bottle makes the neck of the bottle slippery. Furthermore, the neck of a common glass bottle is usually devoid of any anatomical shapes for the grasp. The only element of the neck that can prevent the neck from slipping from the hand is the rim. The rim is a protuberance of the neck located in its upper portion, often called finish, which has different functions: preventing the neck from slipping from the hand, strengthening the neck in the point of insertion of the cork, offering an anchoring ledge for the cork and a hooking ledge for the factory machines that transport the bottle in the manufacturing plant. With the exception of some ancient bottles and modern bottles with a particular design, that are provided with large rims, common glass bottles are provided with rims protruding only few millimetres from their neck. Therefore, the common rim is an insufficient support surface for the hand holding the neck of a bottle and cannot prevent it from slipping from the hand, phenomenon that can accidentally occur, especially when the consumer holds the bottle by its neck for an extended period of time, for example when the standing consumer sips from the bottle in a bar or in a disco, places in which the consumer holds the bottle for a long time, also in the crowd, and can run the risk that the bottle slips from his hand.

The other way of holding a bottle is to hold it by its body. In this way the hold is more secure because of the greater holding surface for the hand holding said bottle. However, holding a bottle by its body makes the temperature of the liquid contained in said bottle rise more rapidly than when holding said bottle by the neck. This occurs because after few sips the neck of the bottle is emptied of its content and the heat transfer from the hand holding said neck to the liquid inside the bottle only occurs when the bottle is in a non vertical position and the neck is filled with liquid. On the contrary, the heat transfer from the hand holding the bottle by its body to the content of said bottle lasts until the bottle is completely empty, making the last sips unpleasant to drink.

Facing such circumstances, and with the purpose of surpassing them, the “Rim enlarger collar” was created.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The “Rim enlarger collar” is a device to be applied around the lower ledge of the rim of the neck of a common glass bottle to enlarge the current rim and provide a greater support surface for the hand holding the neck of the bottle and prevent said bottle from slipping from the hand.

The present invention also circumscribes to the sole neck of the bottle the heat transfer from the hand holding said neck to the liquid contained in said bottle, allowing the refrigerated liquid contained in said bottle to remain cool for a longer period of time. The warming of the content of the bottle can be further reduced if the hand holding said bottle holds it uniquely by the rim enlarger collar, for example holding the device from above with two fingers positioned under it as a hook.

The device is composed of: an external element having the function of ergonomic support surface for the hand, made of a sufficiently rigid material in order not to bend and to resist to the weight of the full bottle transferred to the device by the hand when the hand holding the neck of the bottle leans under the device; a cavity in the center of the external element with the function of containing the neck of the bottle; an internal gasket protruding from the external element towards the interior of the central cavity, narrower than the circumference of the lower ledge of the rim of the bottle, united with the external element in order to avoid that the two elements with the use separate one from the other, having the function of fixing the device under the lower ledge of the rim of the bottle and made of a sufficiently adherent material in order not to slip off from the ledge when the hand holding the neck of the bottle leans under the device and transfers to it the weight of the bottle.

The device can be an openable object to be closed around the lower ledge of the rim of the bottle or a non-openable object to be pushed down the neck of the bottle from above and fixed under the lower ledge of the rim of the bottle. In the second case the internal gasket of the device must have the aforementioned characteristics but also be made of an enough compressible material in order to pass from the point of maximum girth of the rim when the hand pushes the device down the neck of the bottle to apply said device under the lower ledge of the rim.

These and other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein is set forth, by way of illustration and example only, a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 (Sheet 1) is a perspective view of the device.

FIG. 2 (Sheet 2) is an elevation view of the device applied to a bottle.

FIG. 3 (Sheet 2) is an elevation view in cross-section of the device applied to a bottle.

FIG. 4 (Sheet 3) is a perspective cross-sectional view of the device.

FIG. 5 (Sheet 3) is a perspective cross-sectional view of the external element.

FIG. 6 (Sheet 3) is an elevation view of the device.

FIG. 7 (Sheet 4) is a top plan view of the device.

FIG. 8 (Sheet 4) is a top plan view of the external element.

FIG. 9 (Sheet 5) is a top plan view of the internal gasket.

FIG. 10 (Sheet 5) is an elevation view of the internal gasket.

FIG. 11 (Sheet 5) is an elevation view in cross-section of the internal gasket.

FIG. 12 (Sheet 6) is an elevation view in cross-section of the device.

FIG. 13 (Sheet 6) is an elevation view in cross-section of the external element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 the preferred embodiment of the “Rim enlarger collar” FIG. 1 is a device to be applied around the lower ledge of the rim of the neck of an uncorked beer bottle. In this embodiment the device FIG. 1 is composed of: an external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, having a discoidal shape and rounded edges 13, 14, 15, with the function of ergonomic support surface for the hand holding the neck of the bottle and made of a sufficiently rigid material to resist to the weight of the full bottle transferred to the device FIG. 1 by the hand; a cylindrical cavity 1 in the center of the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, with the function of containing the neck of the bottle, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3; an internal gasket FIGS. 9, 10, 11, protruding 10 from the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, towards the interior of the central cavity 1 united with the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, in order to avoid that the two elements with the use separate one from the other, arranged horizontally along the central cavity 1 with the function of fixing the device FIG. 1 under the lower ledge of the rim of the bottle, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, adhering under that ledge and resisting to the weight of the full bottle transferred to the device FIG. 1 by the hand in order not to slip off from the ledge.

The discoidal geometrical shape of the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, is obtained by a 360 degree rotation of an isosceles triangle having rounded angles 13, 14, 15, a 15 mm base, which is the side between the two angles 14 and 15, and a 18.5 mm height, around a cylindrical central cavity 1, said cavity 1 having a diameter 4 of 29 mm. The external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, has a height 2 of 15 mm, an external diameter 3 of 66 mm and an internal diameter 4 of 29 mm, which is the diameter of the central cavity 1.

In the middle of the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, at mid-height of its inner side, is located a circular groove 5. Said groove 5 is arranged horizontally along the inner side of the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, and is located at the same distance from the two internal edges 14, 15, of the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13. The diameter 11 of the groove 5 is 4 mm and only ¾ 9 of its diameter 11 are contained in the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13. The function of the groove 5 is to contain the gasket FIGS. 9, 10, 11. In order to avoid that the two elements of the device FIG. 1, the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13 and the internal gasket FIGS. 9, 10, 11, separate one from the other during the use of the device FIG. 1, the opening 12 of the groove 5 is narrower than the diameter 6 of the gasket FIGS. 9, 10, 11, and measures 3.6 mm.

The internal gasket FIGS. 9, 10, 11, inserted in the aforementioned groove 5, has the shape of a circular ring, as illustrated in FIG. 9, and has a diameter 6 of 4 mm. The gasket FIGS. 9, 10, 11, has an external diameter 7 of 35 mm, an internal diameter 8 of 27 mm. ¾ 9 of the gasket's diameter 6 are inside the groove 5 whereas 1 mm 10 of the gasket's diameter 6 protrudes from the groove 5 towards the interior of the central cavity 1 and has the function of fixing the device under the lower ledge of the rim of the bottle, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Said gasket FIGS. 9, 10, 11, located at the same distance from the two internal edges 14 and 15, makes the device FIG. 1 specular and versatile because it can be applied to the bottle from both sides without any variation in its efficacy.

The external edge 13 of the external element FIGS. 5, 8, 13, has a rounded shape obtained from a 2 mm radius circle, whereas the two internal edges 14 and 15 have a rounded shape obtained from a 1 mm radius circle. The compact discoidal shape with rounded edges 13, 14, 15, of this preferred embodiment of the “Rim enlarger collar” makes the device FIG. 1 practical and comfortable both to handle and to keep in a pocket. The “Rim enlarger collar” thanks to its structure is solid, easy to comprehend and to use.

From what has been described it is apparent that the device fulfils the aims of the present invention. The scope of the present disclosure fully encompasses other embodiments and is to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, wherein any reference to an element being made in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more”. All the elements can be substituted by technically equivalent elements and the materials of the components can vary according to the needs without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. All numbers expressing dimensions, physical characteristics, and so forth, used in the specification can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the practice of the invention. Although the device has been described referring to the accompanying drawings, the reference numbers in the description have been used to improve the intelligibility of the invention and are not to be intended as a limitation to the scope of protection of the invention.

Claims

1. Device to be applied around the lower ledge of the rim of the neck of the common glass bottle for beverages to enlarge the current rim in order to provide greater support surface for the hand holding the neck of the bottle and stop in a resolutive way the sliding of the neck from the hand, characterized in that it is composed of: an external element with the function of ergonomic support surface for the hand, that resists to the weight of the full bottle transferred to the device by the hand; a cavity in the center of the external element with the function of containing the neck of the bottle; an internal gasket protruding from the external element towards the interior of the central cavity, united with the external element in order to avoid that the two elements with the use separate one from the other, arranged horizontally along the central cavity, with the function of fixing the device under the lower ledge of the rim of the bottle adhering under that ledge and resisting to the weight of the full bottle transferred to the device by the hand, in order not to slip off from the ledge.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the device can have more than one gasket inside of the central cavity in order to further increase the grip of the device around the rim of the bottle.