Tethered plastic screw stopper

Abstract

The present invention relates to tethered plastic stopper having a closure shell and a tamper band that separably connected to the closure shell by a plurality of bridges that connect a bottom edge of the closure shell to a top edge of the tamper band. Each bridge is configured to be stretched and broken when the closure shell is moved from a first orientation prior to opening to a second orientation after opening. The stopper further includes a strip and a hinge. The strip is intended to connect to the closure shell at a junction point and has an extremity located at an end of the top weakness line positioned above a first set of bridges located along the bottom weakness line. The hinge is intended to link the strip and the tamper band. The hinge is positioned beneath a set of bridges located along the top weakness line.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A tethered plastic screw stopper, comprising:
 a closure shell;   a tamper band separably connected to the closure shell by a plurality of bridges that connect a bottom edge of the closure shell to a top edge of the tamper band, each of the bridges configured to be stretched and broken when the closure shell is moved from a first orientation prior to opening to a second orientation after opening;   a strip connected to the closure shell at a junction point, the strip comprising an extremity at an end of the top weakness line positioned above a first set of bridges located along the bottom weakness line; and   a hinge linking the strip and the tamper band, the hinge being positioned beneath a set of bridges located along the top weakness line.   
     
     
         2 . The tethered plastic screw stopper according to  claim 1 , wherein considering a clockwise screwing motion stopper configuration, the end of the top weakness line located to the left of the hinge of the stopper is located over a bottom bridge of the bottom weakness line located at the nearest from the hinge relative to the clockwise screwing direction. 
     
     
         3 . The tethered plastic screw stopper according to  claim 1 , wherein the end of the top weakness line is located on the left of the hinge and is angularly positioned within 40° of the vertical axis of the bottom bridge located at the nearest from the hinge considering a clockwise screwing motion configuration. 
     
     
         4 . The tethered plastic screw stopper according to  claim 1 , wherein the end of the top weakness line is located on the left of the hinge and is angularly positioned within 20° of the vertical axis of the bottom bridge located at the nearest from the hinge considering a clockwise screwing motion configuration. 
     
     
         5 . The tethered plastic screw stopper according to  claim 1 , wherein the top weakness line is asymmetric relative to the bottom weakness line which is symmetric relative to a vertical plane crossing a diameter of the stopper. 
     
     
         6 . The tethered plastic screw stopper according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the strip is a first strip,   the screw stopper further comprises a second strip having extremity at an end of the top weakness line, linking section the strip with the closure shell at a second junction point,   the second strip is separably connected to the closure shell through a top weakness line and to the tamper band through a bottom weakness line and the second strip is positioned opposite the first strip about a diameter of the tamper band.