HUP0600581A2 - Luminescent beverage bottle caps and their application for distinction of several beverages, and for making decoration - Google Patents

Description

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LUMINESCENT BEVERAGE CAPS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO DISTINGUISH DIFFERENT BEVERAGES AND CREATE DECORATION

The subject of the invention is luminescent beverage caps, which caps are suitable for closing bottles of various beverages and other liquid substances. These caps emit cold light when illuminated from the outside and, if necessary, after external illumination, with the help of which they can be distinguished from other bottles in semi-darkness and darkness. The material of the caps is some kind of plastic, into which a luminescent material is mixed in the amount necessary to make the luminescent light visible. The cap can be formed by any of the technologies customary in plastic production, primarily by injection molding. The cap can form the complete closure of the bottle, but a solution can also be created in which the cap is placed on a plug made of another material. The subject of the invention is also a method according to which it is possible to distinguish bottles containing different types of beverages in semi-darkness or darkness with the help of the luminescence that occurs, and the caps can also be used to create decoration in semi-darkness rooms.

It may be necessary to distinguish bottles of different types of beverages from a larger batch of beverage bottles in more than one case in dim light or in the dark, and this sorting in dim light or in the dark based on colors, bottle shapes or inscriptions is very difficult, sometimes impossible. Beverage caps that are the subject of our invention are suitable for this purpose, which begin to luminescence during and/or after a relatively short period of illumination, and can be selected from a larger batch of disordered or otherwise ordered beverage bottles. By designing caps that luminescent in a different color, several types of beverage bottles can be distinguished both from each other and from bottles containing non-luminescent caps. In addition, these caps can also be used to create attractive patterns on the counter and in the background in dim or dark rooms. In fact, this can be considered the most important field of application of the invention.

Luminescence, in a broader sense, refers to light phenomena primarily caused by the emission of radiation quanta, which are emitted by certain materials under the influence of quantum excitation (primarily visible or UV light) without the contribution of thermal energy ("cold light"). Luminescence is a combined concept of fluorescence and phosphorescence; in a narrower sense, it can be called photoluminescence.

Fluorescence is the luminescence of organic or inorganic compounds in gaseous, liquid or solid states (in our case, it is always the latter), characterized by the fact that the substance releases the absorbed energy almost immediately after excitation, most often at the same wavelength or in the form of radiation with a longer wavelength.

Phosphorescence ("delayed fluorescence") is a form of luminescence characterized by the fact that irradiated materials emit the absorbed energy somewhat more slowly in the form of radiation of the same wavelength or longer. If an irradiated material "glows" after the end of the illumination, then it is phosphorescence. The afterglow can be observed in complete darkness, for some materials only for a few seconds, for others for several hours or even days ("light accumulator"). Many types of luminescent, including phosphorescent, materials are commercially available, based on the descriptions of which the duration of the phosphorescence can be set with a fair degree of certainty.

Our invention applies to both caps that fluoresce and caps that phosphoresce. The type of cap that is needed is always determined by the task at hand. In the case of fluorescent caps, some external illumination is always required to make the “cold” light visible, while in the case of phosphorescent caps, the caps can be designed so that the phosphorescence can be observed in the dark for hours after the excitation illumination. The luminance that is considered to be clearly visible is one hundred times the minimum visibility limit, i.e. 0.3 mcd/m (mcd = millicandela). Below this luminance, the cap is visible, but it can no longer fulfill its decorative role.

Luminescent materials are not found in beverage caps in the literature. However, it is certain that caps have been marked with luminescent paint for various purposes, but not for the present purpose.

According to Chinese patent document CN 1431130, the phenomenon of fluorescence is used to detect counterfeiting. A pattern is painted on the cap of the product with a thermo-disappearing ink, and this pattern covers a fluorescent paint layer. When the cap is heated, the thermo-disappearing pattern becomes invisible and the fluorescent layer appears, that is, the cap starts to fluoresce. In this case, the product is not counterfeit,

In Japanese patent document JP 2004141235, an eye drop container with a lid is painted with a luminescent material to allow eye drops to be safely applied to the eye even in dark places.

PCT Publication No. WO 0136950 describes a cap having a fluorescent dye on it, and a container with such a cap can be transferred onto a belt using an optical waveguide, while unpainted containers cannot. As can be seen, the cited literature is only distantly related to the present invention, and none of them is detrimental to the novelty of our invention, since both the purpose and the implementation of the solutions differ significantly from the solution of the present invention.

Luminescent (fluorescent or phosphorescent) caps have many uses. The first one to mention, as already indicated, is the possibility of selecting a drink from other drinks in the dark or semi-darkness. The appearance of the luminescent cap itself can also be perceived as a sight in semi-darkness (for example, in night-time restaurants). Since it is possible to achieve different luminescent shades by properly selecting the luminescent material, it is also possible to distinguish several different types of drinks, and also to create multi-colored decorations with the help of multi-colored caps.

Our invention does not contain any technological novelty for the production of luminescent caps. A luminescent material must be mixed into the plastic most suitable for the given purpose, and this mixture must be processed (primarily injection molded) according to the usual methods of plastic processing. Most thermoplastic plastics are suitable for this purpose; the nature of the plastic is primarily determined by its applicability as a plastic cap, the processability of the plastic, and the price of the plastic. Due to their low cost and ease of processing, the use of polyalkylenes (polyethylenes, polypropylene) is the most appropriate. Among the aspects of selecting the luminescent material, the vividness and attractiveness of the appearance of the luminescent light should be mentioned first of all, as well as the price of the material.

The invention will be further illustrated with the aid of figures. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows the cap in half section—half view,

Figure 2 shows the cap in half section - half view with luminescent layer.

Figure 1 shows a luminescent cap, where the closure element 1 has an outer surface la, at least 60% of which has luminescent properties, and 130% of which has a luminescent additive mixed into its base material. In Figure 2, the luminescent cover layer 2 is attached to the outer surface la of the normal closure element 1.

The luminescent cap can be made in several ways. It can be made by mixing a luminescent material into the thermoplastic material, and the closing cap, primarily a resealable closing cap, can be formed from this mixture, for example, by injection molding. It can also be made in such a way that the aforementioned caps can be placed or snapped on already closed, corked bottles. In this case, of course, it is not a resealable closure. Another solution can be to apply a luminescent material to any already finished cap by shrink wrapping or gluing, or to apply a covering layer by pressing, pad printing or some kind of printing technology solution. All of these are practical transfers of solutions that are general in the field, which in themselves do not represent anything new. These applications can be made to caps that have not yet been screwed on, but they can also be made to caps of finished, sealed bottles.

The invention will be illustrated below with the aid of exemplary embodiments and methods of implementation. However, our invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described herein.

Example 1. Production of luminescent plastic caps for closing beverage bottles.

20% by weight of luminescent dye is mixed into polypropylene granulate, specifically the phosphorescent product Lumilux Red N 100 from Honeywell International Inc. (article number: 50031). The resulting mixture is processed by injection molding into a cap, which is suitable for closing beverage bottles. This cap still phosphoresces 60 minutes after illumination, i.e. it still shows a hundred times the minimum visibility level after 60 minutes.

Example 2. Adding a cap containing luminescent paint to beverage bottles already equipped with a stopper.

We wish to provide luminescent markings on soft drinks that are already closed with a stopper. We design and manufacture a cap according to Example 1 that can be snapped or otherwise placed on the stopper, and we place this cap on the stopper.

Example 3. Application of a luminescent layer on a screw-type, resealable cap.

A thin plastic covering layer 2, having luminescent properties and containing some pattern, covering at least 70% of the outer surface 1 of a known cap suitable for closing a cola bottle, is glued to the closing element 1, and the covering layer 2 is fixed by shrink wrapping. Example 4. Application of a luminescent layer by pressing. ------------------------------The method according to Example 3 is used, with the difference that the luminescent layer is applied by pressing.

Example 5. Application of a luminescent layer by pad printing.

The method of Example 3 is used, except that the luminescent layer is applied by pad printing.

Example 6. Application of a luminescent layer by printing.

The method of Example 3 is used, except that the application is done by screen printing.

Example 7. Selection of fish products using a cap containing a luminescent substance. From a larger batch of mixed drink bottles, it is necessary to quickly select a named product in semi-darkness or even in the dark. The named product is provided with a cap containing a luminescent substance, and with this, we can separate the named product from bottles that do not contain a luminescent substance in their cap in semi-darkness and in complete darkness during the afterglow period.

Example 8. Use of plastic caps containing luminescent material of different shades for differentiation.

Among the cola products of a company, the regular product is provided with the cap according to Example 1, the “light” version is provided with a cap containing a green-tinted luminescent dye from Honeywell, and the “cherry” version is provided with a cap containing a yellow-tinted luminescent dye from Honeywell. The three products are still clearly distinguishable in the dark from each other and from the other beverage product that does not contain a luminescent dye in its cap, 1 hour after the last illumination.

Example 9. Application of plastic caps containing luminescent material of different shades for decoration purposes in semi-dark rooms.

We create an attractive decoration with cola bottles with luminescent caps in different colors against the backdrop of a disco club.

Claims (10)

PATENT CLAIMS 1. A cap for a beverage bottle, comprising a bottle closure element, the closure element being made of thermoplastic plastic, characterised in that at least 60% of the outer surface (la) of the closure element (1) has luminescent properties, and furthermore, 1-30% of a luminescent additive is mixed into the base material of the closure element (1), or a luminescent covering layer (2) is attached to at least 60% of its outer surface (la). 2. The cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the bottle comprises a closure element suitable for reclosing. 3. Cap according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cover layer (2) is attached to the outer surface (1a) by shrink wrapping, gluing, pressing, pad printing or a printing process. 4. Cap according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the covering layer (2) is made of a plastic material with fluorescent or phosphorescent properties. 5. The cap according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the luminescent additive mixed into the base material of the closure element (1) has fluorescent or phosphorescent properties. 6. Cap according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the material of the closing element (1) is polyalkylene. 7. Method for producing a cap according to claim 1 from a polyalkylene base material using injection molding technology, characterized in that a luminescent additive is mixed with the base material in an amount of 1-30%, preferably 15-25%, and then a luminescent closure element (1) of the desired size and shape is formed from the mixture. 8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that polyethylene or polypropylene granules are used as the polyalkylene raw material. 9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that a material suitable for injection molding with fluorescent or phosphorescent properties is used as the additive. 10. A method for using the cap according to claim 1 in dim light or darkness, characterized in that bottles containing a given composition and brand of beverage from among beverage bottles of different compositions are selected by detecting the luminescent appearance of their caps, or an attractive decoration is created using the different luminescent appearances.