Bottle closure

Abstract

A closure for securely resealing an opened beverage container, including a threaded male clamp for clamping onto a cylindrical bottle neck; and a threaded cap having female threads on an interior side for matable installation over said threaded male clamp. The clamp is adapted for installation on a bare neck, preferably immediately below a bottle collar. The threaded cap fits over the collar to threadably engage the clamp and thereby secures the cap over the mouth of the container.

What is claimed as invention is: 
     
         1 . A bottle closure, comprising:
 a cap having a closed top and a cylindrical side defining an open portion;   a female threaded element disposed interior to said cylindrical side; and   a threaded collar having first and second clamping portions configured to encircle and clamp around a portion of a cylindrical bottle neck so as to form continuous male threads disposed on the exterior sides of said first and second portions, said continuous male threads sized for threadable mating with said female threaded element;   wherein when said threaded collar is installed on a bottle neck, either under a bottle collar or a on a bare bottle neck, said open portion of said cap may be placed over the open mouth of the bottle so as to bring said female threaded element into engagement with said continuous male threads of said threaded collar and screwed down onto said threaded collar so as to provide a secure bottle closure.   
     
     
         2 . The bottle closure of  claim 1 , wherein said cap includes an enlarged rim to facilitate gripping. 
     
     
         3 . The bottle closure of  claim 1 , wherein said female threaded element comprises a threaded insert sized to tightly engage said cylindrical side. 
     
     
         4 . The bottle closure of  claim 3 , wherein said threaded insert includes an upper rim having an interiorly disposed flange. 
     
     
         5 . The bottle closure of  claim 1 , wherein said female threaded element has an upper rim with an interiorly disposed flange. 
     
     
         6 . The bottle closure of  claim 1 , wherein said cylindrical side of said cap includes an interior wall and said female threaded element is integrally formed in said interior wall. 
     
     
         7 . The bottle closure of  claim 1 , wherein said first and second clamping portions are pivotally joined on one end at a hinge and selectively joined at another end by first and second clasp elements. 
     
     
         8 . The bottle closure of  claim 6 , wherein said first and second portions of said threaded collar are each semicircular. 
     
     
         9 . The bottle closure of  claim 1 , wherein said first and second portions of said threaded collar are each semicircular. 
     
     
         10 . The bottle closure of  claim 1 , wherein said threaded collar includes downwardly extending opposing tabs. 
     
     
         11 . A closure for securely resealing an opened beverage container, comprising:
 a threaded male clamp for clamping onto a cylindrical bottle neck; and   a cap having female threads for matable installation over said threaded male clamp.   
     
     
         12 . The closure of  claim 11 , wherein said threaded male clamp includes first and second clamping elements configured to surround a portion of the beverage container neck. 
     
     
         13 . The closure of  claim 12 , wherein said first and second clamping elements each have at least one end configured with a clasp feature to snap together with a corresponding clasp feature on an end of the other clamping element. 
     
     
         14 . The closure of  claim 13 , wherein said first and second clamping elements are pivotally connected at one end. 
     
     
         15 . The closure of  claim 14 , wherein said first and second clamping elements are semicircular in shape. 
     
     
         16 . The closure of  claim 11 , wherein said female threads are integrally formed on an inside wall of said cap. 
     
     
         17 . The closure of  claim 11 , wherein said female threads are disposed on an insert fitted into an opening in said cap. 
     
     
         18 . The closure of  claim 11 , wherein said cap includes a central plug for insertion into the mouth of a bottle.