Bottle cap
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Bottle caps, or Closures, are used to seal the openings of bottles of many types. They can be small circular pieces of metal, usually steel, with plastic backings, and for plastic bottles a plastic cap is used instead. A bottle cap is typically colorfully decorated with the logo of the brand of beverage. Caps can also be plastic, sometimes with a pour spout. Flip-Top caps like Flapper closures provide controlled dispensing of dry products. Bottle caps are often made of a different type of plastic than the bottle itself, and are often recyclable.[citation needed]
Bottle caps were originally designed to be pressed over and around the top of a glass bottle to grab a small flange on the bottleneck. The Crown Cork was patented by William Painter on 2 February 1892 (U.S. Patent 468,258). It originally had 24 teeth and a cork seal with a paper backing to prevent contact between the contents and the metal cap. The current version has 21 teeth. To open these bottles, a bottle opener is generally advised, although some bottles incorporate a screw cap, eliminating the need for the opener.
Individuals have experimented with different ways of opening bottles, including using teeth or snapping them open across another surface. A separate interest to collecting bottle caps is that of interesting ways to open bottles.
The height of the crown cap was reduced and specified in the German standard DIN 6099 in the 1960s. This also defined the "twist-off" crown cap, now widely used in the United States and Australia. This bottle cap is pressed around screw threads instead of a flange. Such a bottle cap can be taken off merely by twisting the cap.
Bottle caps are also a way for bottlers to hold promotions, especially for soda companies. A message is printed on the inside of the cap and people with the right message may win a prize. Since the bottle must be purchased to determine the message and win, people usually purchase more of the drink to increase their chances of winning. The most common prize is a free soda from that company.
Some companies, such as Snapple, also print interesting facts on the inside of their caps. Mickey's Malt Liquor as well, prints riddles underneath the 24 and 40 oz. bottle caps. Usually this is done on wide-mouthed bottles that have large caps with enough printing area to put a short sentence.
Some people collect used bottle caps as a hobby or to potentially earn future profits. On the children's show Sesame Street, the character Bert is a bottle cap collector.
In the video games series Fallout, bottle caps are use as currency in the post apocalyptic world it's set in.
[edit] Further reading
- Brody, A. L., and Marsh, K, S., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 1997, ISBN 0-471-06397-5
- U.S. Patent 468,226 -- Bottle sealing device
- U.S. Patent 468,258 -- Bottle sealing device
- U.S. Patent 314,358 -- Combined metallic cap and fastner
- U.S. Patent 468,258 -- Bottle sealing device
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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