Universal bottle cap

Abstract

A dispensing cap system for dispensing a supplement material through a bottle neck opening and into the bottle. An exemplary embodiment includes a cap member with downwardly depending fingers and inwardly directed barbs configured for connection to beverage bottle necks of different sizes. The cap member has a unitary inner plug portion and outer seal member arranged to provide a liquid seal of a bottle mouth of a variety of sizes. A valve member passes through a storage member attached to the cap, and is configured for movement between a storage position and a dispensing position, in which passage is permitted of the supplement material from the storage member into the bottle. The cap member also has a unitary o-ring portion for sealing against the valve member on one side and the storage container on the other to prevent fluid and/or supplement leakage. A nipple member may be positioned over the valve member to allow the bottle contents to be utilized or consumed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dispensing cap assembly for dispensing liquid from a bottle, comprising:
 a cap member including an upper portion and a connection structure, wherein the connection structure has an engagement mechanism that engages at least one of a neck ring and a neck thread of the bottle;   a sealing member disposed inside the cap and extending downward therefrom and having a sealing surface arranged for sealing contact with the bottle neck,   said connection structure comprising a set of finger portions depending downwardly from the upper portion and having a free bottom end, the finger portions having finger barb portions extending inwardly, the finger portions having sufficient flexibility for the distal ends to splay outwardly to allow the barb portions to each pass over a neck ring as the cap is installed onto the neck, and such that the barb portions engage the at least one of the neck ring and the neck thread of the bottle to secure the cap onto the bottle neck.   
     
     
         2 . The cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein there are between six and twelve finger portions, inclusive. 
     
     
         3 . The cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein there are finger barb portions at an intermediate depth along the finger portions and at the bottom end of the finger portions. 
     
     
         4 . The cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein there are finger barb portions at least two different intermediate depths along the finger portions and at the bottom end of the finger portions. 
     
     
         5 . The cap assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a storage compartment for containing a material to mix with contents of the bottle. 
     
     
         6 . The cap assembly of  claim 5 , wherein the cap assembly further comprises a valve member movable between a first position where the valve member blocks any communication of the storage compartment with the contents of the bottle, and a second position where the valve member opens communication of the storage compartment with the contents of the bottle. 
     
     
         7 . The cap assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a nipple movable between an open position for dispensing liquid contents of the bottle and a non-drinking position for blocking flow of liquid contents of the bottle. 
     
     
         8 . The cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the barb portions are configured to splay outwardly upon being passed over threads and a neck flange of the bottle and to grip the underside of at least one of the neck flange of the bottle and threads of the bottle without threading to attach the cap assembly to the bottle. 
     
     
         9 . The cap assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the barb portions will grip onto at least one of the neck flange and the threads of the bottle where a depth from a top of the bottle to the neck flange and the threads may vary by at least 2 mm. 
     
     
         10 . A dispensing cap assembly for dispensing liquid from a bottle, comprising:
 a cap member including an upper portion and a connection structure, wherein the connection structure has an engagement mechanism that engages at least one of a neck ring and a neck thread of the bottle;   a sealing member disposed inside the cap and extending downward therefrom and having a sealing surface arranged for sealing contact with the bottle neck,   said sealing member comprising a downwardly extending plug portion and a downwardly extending seal portion from a web portion of the cap member, wherein the plug portion increases in diameter as the plug portion extends downwardly for sealing against an inner wall of a bottle, wherein the plug portion can accommodate at least two different diameters of the bottle neck.   
     
     
         11 . The cap assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the plug portion has a shape which is generally conical without a frustum. 
     
     
         12 . The cap assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the seal portion increases in diameter as the seal portion extends downwardly for sealing against an inner wall or an outer wall of a bottle. 
     
     
         13 . The cap assembly of  claim 10 , wherein there are between six and twelve finger portions, inclusive. 
     
     
         14 . The cap assembly of  claim 10 , wherein there are finger barb portions at an intermediate depth along the finger portions and at the bottom end of the finger portions. 
     
     
         15 . The cap assembly of  claim 10 , wherein there are finger barb portions at least two different intermediate depths along the finger portions and at the bottom end of the finger portions. 
     
     
         16 . The cap assembly of  claim 10 , further comprising a storage compartment for containing a material to mix with contents of the bottle. 
     
     
         17 . The cap assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the cap assembly further comprises a valve member movable between a first position where the valve member blocks any communication of the storage compartment with the contents of the bottle, and a second position where the valve member opens communication of the storage compartment with the contents of the bottle. 
     
     
         18 . The cap assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the barb portions are configured to splay outwardly upon being passed over threads and a neck flange of the bottle and to grip the underside of at least one of the neck flange of the bottle and threads of the bottle without threading to attach the cap assembly to the bottle. 
     
     
         19 . The cap assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the barb portions will grip onto at least one of the neck flange and the threads of the bottle where a depth from a top of the bottle to the neck flange and the threads may vary by at least 2 mm. 
     
     
         20 . A dispensing cap assembly for dispensing liquid from a bottle, comprising:
 a cap member including an upper portion and a connection structure, wherein the connection structure has an engagement mechanism that engages at least one of a neck ring and a neck thread of the bottle;   a sealing member disposed inside the cap and extending downward therefrom and having a sealing surface arranged for sealing contact with the bottle neck,   said connection structure comprising a set of finger portions depending downwardly from the upper portion and having a free bottom end, the finger portions having finger barb portions extending inwardly, the finger portions having sufficient flexibility for the distal ends to splay outwardly to allow the barb portions to each pass over a neck ring as the cap is installed onto the neck, and such that the barb portions engage the at least one of the neck ring and the neck thread of the bottle to secure the cap onto the bottle neck, and   said sealing member comprising a downwardly extending plug portion and a downwardly extending seal portion from a web portion of the cap member, wherein the plug portion increases in diameter as the plug portion extends downwardly for sealing against an inner wall of a bottle, wherein the plug portion can accommodate at least two different diameters of the bottle neck,   wherein the plug portion and the seal portion enable the cap member to seal a variety of standard ISBT bottles of varying inner and outer diameters, and the connection structure enables the barb portions to grip onto at least one of the neck ring and the neck thread of a variety of standard ISBT bottles having varying depths from the bottle mouth to the neck thread and neck ring.