Pilfer-proof bottle cap

Claim 1

A plastic pilfer-proof cap for a bottle having an open end, a screw thread adjacent its open end and a circumferential retaining bead below the screw thread, away from the open end of the bottle, said retaining bead having a lower peripheral edge distal to the screw thread and a lower peripheral surface adjacent the lower peripheral edge; the cap comprising a cap section having an open end adapted to be threaded on said screw thread, and a ring section attached to the open end of the cap section by one or more frangible bridges therebetween; the ring section having a free edge distal from the one or more bridges, and a plurality of circumferentially placed hook elements having free ends which extend inwardly and upwardly; the hook elements being integrally molded with the ring section at the edge of the ring section distal from the one or more bridges; the ring section having a portion thereof, adjacent said hook elements, of an inner diameter larger than that of said cap section which thereby provides a recess therein for accommodation of said hook elements; with the hook elements being adapted to adjacently pass over the screw thread and retaining bead of the bottle when the cap is initially threaded on the bottle, and wherein the hook elements are adapted to fold outwardly away from the bottle into said recess, when in adjacent peripheral contact with the retaining bead, whereby the hook elements can pass by the bead; with the hook elements springing back to their original conformation when they pass beyond a lower peripheral edge of the retaining bead, the free ends of the hook elements being adapted to engage a lower peripheral surface of the retaining bead, whereby unscrewing of the cap from the bottle causes the one or more frangible bridges to break, with the ring section remaining on the bottle as an indication of opening of the bottle, characterized in that the one or more bridges are laterally aligned with said bead at a position no higher than the lower peripheral edge of said bead, when the cap is seated on the bottle, and wherein said bead is in contact with a region of said cap section, peripherally adjacent said one or more frangible bridges, whereby when said ring is compressed at said edge, distal to the one or more bridges, to cause the hook elements to swivel, from engagement with said bead, into said recess, with the ring section and cap being thereby removable from the bottle; the lower peripheral edge of the bead functions as a fulcrum for swiveling breakage of the one or more bridges, upon continued compression of said edge, distal to the one or more bridges, of said ring section, with said swiveling breakage occurring prior to disengagement between the hook elements and the bead and movement of the hook elements into said recess.