Bottle Mouthpiece Discontinuity Relocation for Splinter Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Twist-crown mouthpieces for bottles often splinter when the cap is removed, leading to potential injury and ingestion of glass fragments due to the cap's interaction with a discontinuity on the mouthpiece body.
Innovation Solution
The discontinuity between the pouring opening and the closure thread is relocated to a protected area, ensuring it does not protrude beyond the core diameter of the thread, preventing the cap from attacking and tearing the mouthpiece during removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a discontinuity is formed at the transition between mouthpiece jaws and guide disc during manufacturing, then the mouthpiece can be produced with standard tooling, but the discontinuity protrudes beyond the thread core diameter causing chipping when the cap is removed
Solution Approach 1:
The solution moves the discontinuity from a radial dimension (protruding beyond thread core diameter) to an axial dimension (within the thread core diameter), effectively relocating it to a protected area where it cannot be engaged by the rotating cap. This dimensional repositioning resolves the contradiction by maintaining manufacturability while eliminating the harmful chipping effect.
2Ease of manufacture
If the discontinuity is positioned at the outer surface of the mouthpiece body, then it is easily formed during manufacturing, but it creates sharp edges that can cause injury and allows glass shards to penetrate the bottle
Solution Approach 1:
The discontinuity is repositioned from the radial outer surface to the axial interior region within the thread core diameter. This dimensional shift maintains ease of formation during manufacturing while simultaneously eliminating the safety hazard by placing the discontinuity in a protected area that cannot generate exposed sharp edges accessible to users.
3Productivity
If the discontinuity remains at its conventional position, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the cap can engage and tear the discontinuity during removal
Solution Approach 1:
The discontinuity is relocated from a radial position where it is accessible to the cap's rotating motion to an axial position within the thread core diameter. This dimensional repositioning maintains manufacturing simplicity while preventing the cap from engaging and tearing the discontinuity, thereby improving closure mechanism reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a mouth piece for a bottle with a twist-off crown cap closure, wherein the mouth piece comprises a mouth piece body with a dispensing opening at the end; a closure thread for interaction with a twist-off crown cap in order to close off the dispensing opening so that it is liquid-tight, which closure thread comprises a plurality of thread protrusions arranged over regions of the circumference of the mouth piece body at a predeterminable thread pitch, protruding from the exterior side of the mouth piece body; a discontinuity running circumferentially around the mouth piece body, arranged between the dispensing opening and the closure thread and formed as a result of a tool during manufacture of the mouth piece in a transition region between two orifice jaws on the one hand, and a guide disc on the other hand; wherein an exterior end of the discontinuity is offset inwards relative to an exterior surface of the mouth piece body situated between axially adjacent thread protrusions. Likewise, embodiments of the present invention relate to a corresponding bottle, to a tool for producing a mouth piece for a bottle with a twist-off crown cap closure, and to a method for producing a mouth piece for a bottle with a twist-off crown cap closure.