U.S. patent application number 09/855503 was filed with the patent office on 2002-11-21 for easy-open lid assembly for a bottle.
Invention is credited to Hou, Shui-Mu.
Application Number | 20020170874 09/855503 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25321418 |
Filed Date | 2002-11-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020170874 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hou, Shui-Mu |
November 21, 2002 |
Easy-open lid assembly for a bottle
Abstract
An easy-open lid assembly for a bottle has a body connected to
the bottle, a socket centrally defined in the body, a nipple
received in the socket, a straw connected to the nipple and
extending into the bottle, a first spring disposed around the
nipple, a lid hinged to the body, and a pushbutton. The lid is able
to be closed for convenient transportation, or a user is able to
push the pushbutton to open the lid and the nipple will rise out of
the socket automatically for the user to easily access the beverage
in the bottle.
Inventors: |
Hou, Shui-Mu; (Tainan,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BACON & THOMAS, PLLC
625 Slaters Lane, 4th Floor
Alexandria
VA
22314-1176
US
|
Family ID: |
25321418 |
Appl. No.: |
09/855503 |
Filed: |
May 16, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
215/229 ;
215/246; 215/388; 220/705; 220/835 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 19/2266
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
215/229 ;
215/246; 215/388; 220/835; 220/705 |
International
Class: |
A47G 019/22 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An easy-open lid assembly for a bottle, the lid assembly
comprising: a body adapted to be connected to the bottle and having
a socket centrally defined in the body, a slot defined in a side of
the body with at least one guiding slot defined in a periphery
defining the slot, a key-way defined in a boundary portion of a top
surface of the body to communicate with the slot; a cap detachably
disposed on the socket with a top opening defined in the cap; a
nipple received in the socket and the nipple having a configuration
to be able to extend through the top opening, the nipple having an
annular protrusion formed on the nipple to abut the socket and
prevent escape of the nipple from the socket; a lid hinged to the
body and the lid having a flange formed on an edge of the lid; a
straw connected to the nipple and extendable into the bottle; a
first spring disposed around the straw and sandwiched between the
annular protrusion and a bottom surface defining the socket to
provide an upward resilience to the nipple; a pushbutton with a
configuration to be received in the slot of the body, the
pushbutton having a hook to mate the flange of the lid and at least
one resilient barb corresponding to the guiding slot, whereby the
pushbutton is received in slot with the at least one barb received
in the at least one guiding slot and the hook slidingly received in
the sliding slot; and a second spring disposed in the slot of the
body and sandwiched between the pushbutton and the body to provide
an outward resilience to the pushbutton; whereby the lid is closed
and maintain closed due to engagement of the hook and the flange,
and the lid is opened by pushing the pushbutton to release the
flange from the hook such that the nipple is pushed outwardly from
the socket by the first spring.
2. The lid assembly for a bottle as claimed in claim 1, wherein a
sealing pad is centrally formed on an inside face of the lid to
provide a liquid-tight seal of the nipple when the lid is
closed.
3. The lid assembly for a bottle as claimed in claim 2, wherein at
least one slit is defined along each of the resilient barbs to
provide resilience to the resilient barbs.
4. The lid assembly for a bottle as claimed in claim 3, wherein the
bottle is replaced with a compact housing to prevent contamination
of the straw when not in use.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a lid assembly for a
bottle, and more particularly to a easy-open lid assembly for a
bottle.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a conventional lid assembly
for a bottle disclosed is shown and the lid assembly includes a
body (60) and a lid (70) hinged to the body (60).
[0005] The body (60) is connected to a bottle (80) and has a socket
(601) centrally defined in the body (60). A nipple (61) with a
bottom end connected to a straw (65) is received in the socket
(601), and the straw (65) extends into the bottle (80) through an
opening defined in a bottom surface of the socket (601). A spring
(62) is disposed around the straw (65) and abuts the nipple (61)
such that when the lid (70) is at an open position, the nipple (61)
will be pushed out of the socket (601) automatically for easy
access by a user. The lid (70) can be lowered to engagingly mate
with the body (60) whereby the nipple (61) is pushed down into the
socket (601) and the spring (62) is compressed. Thus, the nipple
(61) is hygienically covered when not in use, and the nipple (61)
is also sealed by an inner surface of the lid (70) such that liquid
content of the bottle (80) cannot leak if the bottle (80) is not
stored upright. The lid (70) can be maintained in the lowered
position due to clipping of a hook (64) formed on a top surface of
the body (60) and a flange (72) correspondingly formed on an edge
of the lid (70).
[0006] Although the lid assembly previously mentioned can fulfill
needs for convenient use and transportation when adapted onto a
beverage bottle, shortcomings still arise from the clipping between
the hook (64) and the flange (72). That is, if the hook (64) and
the flange (72) are tightly engaged, the user can not easily raise
the lid (70) to drink the beverage inside the bottle. Furthermore,
if the hook (64) and the flange (72) are loosely engaged, the lid
(70) may open undesirably during transportation, thereby leading to
possible leakage, loss of the beverage when the user is very
thirsty, possible staining of materials etc.
[0007] A further shortcoming of the cited art is that while
travelling a user may wish to minimize the volume of baggage, but
the bottle (80) takes up a lot of space. However, if the bottle is
discarded the drinking straw is exposed to contamination and
damage.
[0008] To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to
provide an easy-open lid assembly for a bottle to mitigate or
obviate the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The objective of the present invention is to provide an
easy-open lid assembly for a bottle which has a body, a retractable
nipple and a lid. The nipple is protruded from the body for
convenient use when the lid is open, and retracted inside for good
portability and hygiene when the lid is closed whereby the opening
and the closing of the lid can be easily controlled using a
pushbutton.
[0010] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
compact housing for a drinking straw of the easy-open lid assembly
whereby the lid assembly without a bottle attached thereto can be
conveniently and hygienically transported.
[0011] Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an easy-open lid assembly
for a bottle in accordance with the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the lid assembly with a
lid closed and a nipple retracted;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the lid assembly with
the lid opened and the nipple raised;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another preferred
embodiment of the lid assembly connected with a compact
housing;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional lid assembly;
and
[0017] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional lid
assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an easy-open lid assembly
for a bottle in accordance with the present invention includes a
body (10) connected to a bottle (50), a nipple (20) connected with
a straw (22), a lid (30) hinged to the body (10), and a pushbutton
(40) received in the body (10).
[0019] The body (10) has a socket (11) centrally defined in a top
surface of the body (10). The socket (11) is so configured to allow
the nipple (20) to be received inside. A cap (13) is detachable
disposed on top of the socket (11) and has a top opening (131)
defined in the cap (13). The top opening (131) has a configuration
to allow a top end of the nipple (20) to be extendable
therethrough. A slot (14) configured to slidably receive the
pushbutton (40) is defined in a side periphery of the body (10).
The slot (14) also has a key-way slot (141) defined in a top
periphery defining the slot (14), and a pair of guiding slots (142)
defined in opposed portions of a side periphery defining the slot
(14).
[0020] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the nipple (20) received in the
socket (11) is connected and communicated with the straw (22). The
straw (22) extends through a hole defined in a bottom surface of
the socket (11) and into the bottle (50). The nipple (20) has an
annular protrusion (21) formed on the nipple (20), whereby the
nipple (20) is divided into upper and lower portions separated by
the protrusion (21). The annular protrusion (21) abuts a
circumference defining the top opening (131) and thus keeps the
nipple (20) from escaping the socket (11). A first spring (23) is
disposed around the lower portion of the nipple (20) and has a top
end that abuts the annular protrusion (21) and a bottom end that
abuts the bottom surface of the socket (11) in order to provide an
upward resilience to the nipple (20). In a preferred embodiment, a
gasket (24) is sandwiched between the bottom end of the first
spring (23) and the bottom surface of the socket (11) to provide a
liquid-tight seal between the lower portion of the nipple (20) and
the hole of the socket (11).
[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, the lid (30) is shaped substantially as
a semi-sphere and hinged to a side of body (10). The lid (30) has a
sealing pad (31) centrally mounted on an inside face of the lid
(30) to provide a fluid-tight seal to the nipple (20), and a flange
(32) is inwardly formed on an edge of the lid (30).
[0022] The pushbutton (40) has a hook (41) formed on a top of the
pushbutton (40) to mate with the flange (32) of the lid (30). A
pair of resilient barbs (43) is formed on two sides of the
pushbutton (40) to correspond to the guiding slots (142) and each
resilient barb (43) has a pair of separating slits (44) defined
alone a longitudinal boundary of the resilient flange (43). The
separating slits (44) longitudinally separate the resilient flanges
(43) from the pushbutton (40) thus the resilient barbs (43) have
horizontal resilience.
[0023] When assembling the pushbutton (40) onto the body (10), the
resilient barbs (43) are trapped in the corresponding guiding slots
(142) and the hook (41) upwardly protrudes from the key-way (141).
A second spring (42) is disposed in the slot (14) to be sandwiched
between an end surface defining the slot (14) and the pushbutton
(40) in order to provide an outward resilience for the pushbutton
(40).
[0024] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the lid (30) can be either
closed or open relative to the body (10). During times when access
to a drink in the bottle is not required the lid (30) is closed and
the spring (23) is in a compressed state such that the nipple (20)
is mostly received in the socket (11) with the top of the nipple
(20) sealingly abutted on the sealing pad (31). The lid (30) can be
maintained closed due to the engagement of the flange (32) and the
hook (41). To open the lid (30), the pushbutton (40) is pushed
towards the end surface of the slot (14) by a user, and the hook
(41) slides toward the body (10) in the key-way (142), thus the
flange (32) no longer engages the hook (41) and the lid (30)
consequently open. Furthermore, the top portion of the nipple (20)
is pushed out of the socket (11) for access by a user.
[0025] With reference to FIG. 4, another preferred embodiment is
shown. The lid assembly is connected to a compact housing (55) with
the straw (22) enclosed by the housing (55) which provides a
convenient way to protect the straw (22) from damage and
contamination while travelling for example. That is, when the
consumer wants to use the lid assembly, the housing (55) is removed
and the lid assembly is engaged with a commercially available drink
bottle. By doing this, the user can conveniently and hygienically
consume beverages whenever required yet travel conveniently. From
the above description, it is noted that the invention has the
following advantages:
[0026] 1. convenience. The lid assembly for the bottle can provide
a convenient way to either drink the beverage in the bottle. ease
of use. The lid is easily opened by the pushing of the
pushbutton.
[0027] 3. hygiene. The lid and the compact housing protect
consumers from illness as the drinking straw and nipple are kept
clean.
[0028] 4. safety. The secure locking of the lid prevents spillage
which would otherwise spoil clothing, deprive the consumer of drink
when it is most needed.
[0029] 5. versatility. The provision of the compact housing enables
convenient and hygienic transportation of the lid assembly.
[0030] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
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