CLOSURE DEVICE FOR A BOTTLE ADAPTED FOR STORING A SUBSTANCE CONTAINED IN A CAVITY THEREOF

Abstract

 Closure device (2) associated with a bottle (3) comprising an internally hollow cylindrical portion (21) associated with the bottle mouth, a concave upper portion (22), so as to form a cavity inside the device to contain a first substance to be mixed with a second substance present in the bottle, a closure element (4) inferiorly closing the cavity, to keep the first substance in the cavity protected against external agents. Such concave portion is comprised of a flexible material which, when pressed, crushes the contents of the cavity against the lower closure element, breaking the same and letting the first substance drop inside the bottle.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a closure device for a bottle in which a first substance is contained which must be mixed with a second substance contained in the bottle which must be kept separate from one another until the moment in which they are used, when they must be mixed together.

[0002] There are a plurality of technological fields in which such device can be used starting from the pharmaceutical sector, in which the drug must be prepared only at the time of use by mixing the two substances. Other fields in which substance separators are used are the food, cosmetics and trichology sectors.

[0003] The mixing operation normally takes place by opening the bottom of the capsule or of the housing of the closure device in which the first substance is located, which falls into the bottle becoming mixed with the second substance.

[0004] The operation of opening the bottom takes place according to various systems.

[0005] For example, patent EP2922767 in the name of this same applicant describes a closure device for a bottle comprising an outer concave cap comprising an edge portion adapted to seal the mouth of the bottle and a deformable concave upper portion. Such device comprises, in the inside, a chamber for containing said first substance closed at the bottom by a heat-sealed film. The device further comprises an element for breaking such film of the chamber comprising a stem which, at its upper end, is attached to the inside of the mentioned deformable portion of the cap and is able to move downwards after pressure has been applied on said deformable portion of the cap. Such breakage element has, at its lower end, teeth that can break said film.

[0006] Patent EP3110389B1 (Montefarmaco) describes a bottle comprising a container of a fluid and a dosing cap for a soluble substance in said container, said soluble substance being stored in a frangible capsule housed in a relevant seat inside said dosing cap at the mouth portion of said container.

[0007] The upper portion of the cap comprises side walls for the lateral containment of said capsule and an upper roof portion for the upper containment of said capsule which is movable under the manual action of a user between a raised rest position, in which it is in contact without compression against said capsule, and a lowered work position in which it compresses said capsule in a collapsed configuration, breaking it and making it release its contents into the container. The side walls are configured so that during the compression of said upper roof portion they do not penetrate into said dosing cap passing from a substantially stretched configuration when said upper roof portion is in the raised position, to a configuration that are substantially laterally folded onto themselves towards the outside when said upper roof portion is in the lowered position.

[0008] Patent EP2697135 (Lameplast) describes a bottle having a container for containing a liquid substance and a closing cap for such container. Between the cap and the stopper of the container a capsule is provided containing the second substance, which is powdered, to be mixed with the first liquid substance contained in the container and a coupling bushing of the capsule to the mouth of the container. The cap is internally concave and when it is coupled to the mouth of the container it houses within it also the mouth and the capsule. The latter is of the so-called "blisterable" type, i.e. with a crushable dome and a flat bottom that is breakable due to the pressure on the dome. The cap is provided with a presser cylinder which when pushed by the user penetrates into the cap and crushes the dome of the capsule making the bottom thereof break.

[0009] The applicant has noted that in such systems of the prior art the cap or closure device requires a relevant pressure device (piston, stem) for perforating the capsule and the capsule itself is a separate stand-along element that is inserted into an appropriately shaped housing or structured inside the cap. This implies construction and design complications for producing it.

[0010] In the same way, the action of breaking the capsule can sometimes be problematic as the user acts on an element which then in turn acts on the capsule.

[0011] The present invention provides a closure device for a bottle that is simple and effective at the same time.

[0012] An aspect of the present invention relates to a closure device for a bottle having the characteristics of the appended claim 1.

[0013] The features and advantages of the closure device for a bottle according to the present invention will result more apparent from the following description, which is to be understood as exemplifying and not limiting, with reference to the schematic attached drawings, wherein:

• figure 1 shows a perspective exploded view of the closure device according to the present invention and of a bottle;
• figures 2a-2b show the steps of filling the closure device with the first substance;
• figures 3a-3d illustrate the steps of preparing and using the mixture between the two substances in the bottle according to the present invention;
• figure 4 illustrates a perspective view of the closure device after the closure element has been fractured and the first substance has been inserted into the bottle.

[0014] With reference to the appended figures, an embodiment of the closure device 2 is illustrated, which device is associated with a bottle 3 for example with a cylindrical shape. The present invention can be equivalently applicable to bottles with different shapes.

[0015] In detail, the closure device comprises an internally hollow cylindrical portion 21 and a concave upper portion 22, preferably cap shaped, so as to form a cavity inside it to contain a first substance to be mixed with a second substance present in the bottle.

[0016] The cylindrical portion internally comprises a threading 23 screwed onto a corresponding threading 31 provided on the mouth of the bottle 3.

[0017] Such first and second substances can be for example powder, liquid, granulate or other substances to be mixed with liquid.

[0018] A closure element 4 inferiorly closes the cavity keeping the first substance protected against external agents. Such closure element is a film made up of polylaminate, generally polyethylene and aluminium, and is coupled to the concave portion by inserting it within the device and constraining it by heat-sealing.

[0019] In particular, such element 4 is a disc whose perimeter edge is heat-sealed to an annular edge 24 that is formed as the diameter of the concave portion 22 is slightly less than the diameter of the cylindrical portion 21. The difference of the two diameters forms such annular edge 24 both inside and outside the device.

[0020] Below the closure element 4 there is an annular gasket 5 placed between the device and the mouth of the bottle to guarantee the seal with the liquid present in the bottle.

[0021] Such lower cylindrical portion of the device possibly comprises an annular closure seal 25 with the bottle, of the type of those present on the caps of drinks contained in plastic bottles.

[0022] The concave portion is comprised of a flexible material which, when pressed, crushes the contents of the cavity against the lower closure element, breaking the same and letting the first substance drop inside the bottle.

[0023] Advantageously, a small punch 26 is provided above the concave portion, said small punch facing toward the inside of the cavity, and penetrating the same cavity, which helps to fracture the lower closure element. Such punch is preferably provided with a cross-shaped structure formed by two walls 27 and 28 that cross over each other.

[0024] Advantageously, the lower portion 22 comprises a plurality of ribs and/or grooves, substantially arranged vertically, adapted to facilitate the handling of the device during the container opening and closing operations.

[0025] The device according to the present invention operates in the following way.

[0026] The assembly step of the device onto the bottle illustrated in figures 2a-2b provides for the filling of the internal cavity of the concave portion with the first substance maintaining the device in the overturned position. Subsequently the disk is heat-sealed inside the cavity using the annular edge 24 for the sealing.

[0027] Finally, the gasket is inserted and the device is coupled to the bottle.

[0028] During use, the first operation to perform is a pressure on the top of the device (figure 3b), in order to fracture the closure element letting the first substance drop into the bottle. Then the bottle (figure 3c) is shaken to mix the two substances and form a uniform mixture and finally the closure device (figure 3d) is unscrewed for using such mixture.

Claims

1. Closure device (2) associated with a bottle (3) comprising
an internally hollow cylindrical portion (21) associated with the bottle mouth,
a concave upper portion (22), so as to form a cavity inside the device to contain a first substance to be mixed with a second substance present in the bottle,
a closure element (4) inferiorly closing the cavity, to keep the first substance in the cavity protected against external agents,
wherein such concave portion is of a flexible material which, when pressed, crushes the contents of the cavity against the lower closure element, breaking the same and letting the first substance drop inside the bottle.

2. Device according to claim 1, wherein a small punch (26) is provided above the concave portion, said small punch facing toward the inside of the cavity and, penetrating the same cavity, helps to fracture the lower closure element (4).

3. Device according to claim 2, wherein said punch is provided with a cross-shaped structure comprised of two walls (27,28) that cross over each other.

4. Device according to claim 1, wherein the concave portion has a cap-shape.

5. Device according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical portion internally provides a threading (23) screwed onto a corresponding threading (31) provided on the mouth of the bottle (3).

6. Device according to claim 1, wherein said closure element (4) is a film made up of polylaminate, e.g. polyethylene and aluminium, and is coupled to the concave portion by inserting it within the device and constraining it by heat-sealing.

7. Device according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the concave portion (22) is slightly smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical portion (21), so as to form an annular edge (24) both inside and outside the device to which said closure element (4) is constrained.

8. Device according to claim 7, wherein said element (4) is a disk whose perimeter edge is heat-sealed to the annular edge (24).

9. Device according to claim 1, wherein said first and second substances are for example comprised by powder, liquid, granulate or other substances to be mixed with liquid.

Drawing