Receptacles – Container attachment or adjunct – Drinking device
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-14
2004-07-06
Hylton, Robin A. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Container attachment or adjunct
Drinking device
C220S717000, C220S703000, C220S711000, C215S387000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06758364
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a container cap for a drinking container, e.g. a screw cap lid including a drinking spout or nipple, said container cap comprising at least one one-way drinking valve adjacent at least one drinking opening, a valve seat extending substantially transversely to the main plane of the container cap, and a valve body which in its closing position abuts on the valve seat. Furthermore, the invention relates to a valve body insert for such a container lid for a drinking container, as well as to a drinking container.
Such container caps for drinking containers are used, e.g., to facilitate drinking for infants or persons for whom drinking is difficult because they are physically disabled. Such container caps may also be used in drinking bottles used by people doing sports. The container cap sealingly closes the container so that the liquid present in the container can flow only through the drinking opening(s). In this connection it is, however, important that the liquid does not unintentially flow out when the container is tilted or shaken. To this end, drinking valves are applied which open and allow passage of the liquid only if the drinking opening, e.g. a drinking spout, is sucked at.
Moreover, it is also known to use air valves on the container so as to compensate for a negative pressure which is caused in the container interior when liquid is sucked from the container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,491 A, e.g. discloses a feeding bottle comprising an air valve in its bottom; there it is, however, disadvantageous that with a view to its mounting and cleaning, the air valve requires a separate bottom part, in addition to the upper bottle lid with the nipple,, and that the air valve may get clogged relatively easily because of its arrangement on the bottom.
A drinking valve and an air valve may also be applied at the container cap side by side, as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,670 A. In this instance, the container cap has a drinking spout which is connected with the container interior via the drinking valve, and next to it the air valve is arranged. The two valves are realized by an elastomeric body which is seated on cylindrical elements that project from the container interior. In detail, the valves are formed in that cross-shaped slots are provided in thin diaphragm parts of the elastomeric body, which slots widen when the spout is sucked at and when a negative pressure forms in the container interior, respectively, so that liquid, or air, respectively, may pass through the respective cross-shaped slot. If there is no pressure difference, these diaphragm parts will close again so as to prevent the passage of liquid or air, respectively. This valve construction is easy to clean, yet is suffers from a number of disadvantages: For instance, if the drinking container is shaken more severely, liquid may leak and be spilled through the cross-shaped slots which then will open somewhat. Also, the operability will not be ensured after some time has passed, since the elastic properties of the elastomeric body will decrease so that perfect opening and closing of the cross-shaped slots will no longer be ensured. Moreover, e.g., in case of a pulp or fruit juice comprising particles, part of the substance may adhere easily in the cross-shaped slots, whereby the valves will be kept open so that also for this reason further substance may emerge from the container unimpeded. Furthermore, it is disadvantageous that the drinking container cannot be completely emptied by drinking because of the valve formation described, since always residual liquid corresponding to the height of the cylindrical elements and the elastomeric body will remain in the container, if the container is pivoted during drinking. Moreover, when sucking has ceased, a relatively large volume of liquid will remain in the drinking spout outside of the drinking valve, which liquid may leak out of the drinking spout when the container is turned or shaken.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,013 A (and similarly, according to GB 2,314,497 A), a drinking valve and an air valve are provided side by side on a container cap of a drinking vessel. There, the drinking valve is formed as a disk valve (or a plug valve, respectively) which is held in its closed state by means of a helical spring. When a drinking spout located thereabove is sucked at, the valve body is lifted off its valve seat contrary to the spring force, whereby the opening will be freed for dispensing liquid from the container interior. According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,013 A, the air valve is a ball valve, with the ball being pressed by a helical spring against a valve seat provided on the container cap. The ball valve is mounted in a cylindrical element which projects into the container interior. According to GB 2,314,497, however, the air valve is formed by a gas-permeable diaphragm. The drinking valve does meet the purpose for which it is provided, i.e. to ensure a seal even if the container is tilted or shaken, yet this known embodiment has other grave disadvantages. Thus, the valves are difficult to mount and, particularly, hardly cleanable which constitutes a health hazard for the person drinking from the drinking container. For a thorough cleaning, the valves would have to be disassembled, which would be unreasonable for such a use. Moreover, the production with the numerous individual valve parts and their assembly is very complex. A further disadvantage consists in that also here the liquid cannot be sucked out completely from the container, and that,moreover, residual liquid will remain in the drinking spout after closure which may flow out of the container when the latter is turned or shaken, which is particularly unsuitable with drinking containers if they are held by infants.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a container cap for a drinking container of the initially defined type, which has a simple, yet nevertheless reliably opening and closing valve construction which is easy to mount and easy to take off, which can be cleaned well and without any problems, and which, in particular, also enables complete emptying of the container during drinking.
The container cap according to the invention of the initially defined type is characterized in that the valve body comprises at least one sealing lip made of an elastomeric material which abuts on the valve seat in the closing position. In this case, the arrangement is such that the sealing lip is provided at the outlet side of the valve seat which is provided with the valve opening(s). If a negative pressure prevails at the outlet end of the drinking valve, i.e., during sucking at, e.g., the drinking spout, in this embodiment the sealing lip will lift off the valve seat, whereby a passage is created for the liquid to be drunk—which may also be viscous or pulp-like. As soon as the negative pressure ceases, the sealing lip will move back into its original closing position, thus again preventing any passage.
For the formation of a drinking valve, or its valve seat, respectively, a compartment of angular cross-section would be possible in principle, with the sealing lips, e.g., abutting from within on oppositely arranged valve seat walls and being lobe-shaped. For a construction which is easy to produce and functions reliably, it is, however, advantageous if the valve seat is circumferentially closed and the sealing lip has a tubular configuration and, in the closing position, abuts the valve seat from within. A valve seat of oval cross-section would be conceivable, yet with a view to its production, a valve seat of circular cross-section is better suited. The valve seat may have cylindrical shape or be conically formed. The sealing lip and the valve seat may thus extend straight, with unchanging diameter in axial direction, or with a cross-section or diameter, respectively, which increases or decreases.
For a simple mounting it is suitable if the sealing lip is integrally connected with a base part. The base part may serve for fastening the valve body, it being possible to simply pull the
BAMED AG
Hylton Robin A.
Ladas & Parry
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