U.S. patent application number 11/732391 was filed with the patent office on 2007-10-25 for additive carrying cartridge for mixing the additive with the content of a container.
This patent application is currently assigned to SORIA NATURAL, S.A.. Invention is credited to Antonio Esteban Villalobos.
Application Number | 20070246380 11/732391 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36869865 |
Filed Date | 2007-10-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070246380 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Esteban Villalobos;
Antonio |
October 25, 2007 |
Additive carrying cartridge for mixing the additive with the
content of a container
Abstract
An additive carrying cartridge for mixing the additive with the
content of a container comprising a cylindrical additive containing
body (1) having a closed upper base (2) and an open lower base (3)
sealed by a sheet of breakable material (4). The perimetrical rib
(5) in the central part of the containing body (1), the diameter of
which is greater than the diameter of the mouth (11) of the
container (10), the containing body (1) being divided into a first
portion (6) having a plurality of broken sections joined to each
other defining a bellows and a second portion (7). The additive (8)
occupies a volume inside the containing body (1) defining a level
the distance D of which, measured from the lower base (3) of the
second portion (7), is greater than the distance E between said
lower base (3) and the upper base (2) of the first portion.
Inventors: |
Esteban Villalobos; Antonio;
(Soria, ES) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MERCHANT & GOULD PC
P.O. BOX 2903
MINNEAPOLIS
MN
55402-0903
US
|
Assignee: |
SORIA NATURAL, S.A.
Garray
ES
|
Family ID: |
36869865 |
Appl. No.: |
11/732391 |
Filed: |
April 3, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/219 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 81/3211
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/219 |
International
Class: |
B65D 25/08 20060101
B65D025/08 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 3, 2006 |
EP |
06380065.0 |
Claims
1. An additive carrying cartridge for mixing the additive with the
content of a container comprising: an additive containing body of a
substantially cylindrical shape with a smaller diameter than the
diameter of the mouth of the container having a closed upper base
and an open lower base, the lower base of the containing body being
sealed by a sheet of breakable material, wherein it has a
perimetrical rib in the central part of the containing body, the
diameter of which is greater than the diameter of the mouth of the
container, the cartridge being supported on the container through
said rib, the containing body being divided into a first portion
and a second portion; the first portion of which has a plurality of
broken sections joined to each other defining a bellows for varying
the height of said first portion with respect to the mouth of
container, said upper base moving between an extended initial
position and a withdrawn final position, and in that the additive
occupies a volume inside the containing body defining a level the
distance D of which, measured from the lower base of the second
portion, is greater than the distance E between said lower base and
the upper base of the first portion in its withdrawn final
position.
2. A cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the additive is in
solid state in the form of a plurality of cylindrical-shaped
elements, located one after the other, the element nearest to the
seal of breakable material being sharp.
3. A cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a peripheral bevel is
arranged in the transition area between the perimetrical rib of the
container and the second portion thereof.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention is within the field of dispensing or mixing
devices of several substances, the final mixture being contained in
a container, and more specifically, it relates to an additive
carrying cartridge for mixing the additive with the content of a
container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Different systems and devices are currently known for mixing
substances of a different nature, such as for example, when a solid
state product is intended to be mixed with the liquid content of a
container.
[0003] There are currently a great number of liquid containing
containers having stoppers inside of which the substance to be
mixed is comprised, said stoppers having closing sheets at their
lower base made of easily breakable materials.
[0004] There is a great variety of systems for mixing both
components. For example, the stopper may have an inner sharp
element such that when the stopper is rotated with respect to the
mouth of the container said element cuts the closing sheet causing
the substance to be mixed, contained inside it, to fall inside the
container and producing the mixture, such system can be observed
for example in Spanish patent application ES 2007538 and in the
Spanish utility model application ES 0280124.
[0005] In the cited devices, the stopper has a double function, the
primary function is to close the container and the secondary
function is to act as a container for the substance to be mixed,
therefore, the stopper is intimately joined to the container being
dependent on the same, which is dangerous because during the
transportation of the container, the substance to be mixed which is
inside the stopper may accidentally and undesirably be mixed with
the content of the container.
[0006] On the other hand, stoppers of the type described and known
up to date require complicated mechanisms for achieving the
breaking of the closing sheet of the same when the substances are
going to be mixed, requiring cutting and duplicating elements of
the inner partitions of the stopper to achieve the cutting of the
sheet.
[0007] In other occasions, it is the mouth itself of the container
that has a seal or closing sheet which is broken by the rotating
effect of the stopper on said mouth. Therefore, the manufacturing
process of said stoppers is laborious and mostly expensive given
the complex inner configuration of said stoppers.
[0008] Due to all this, the need to provide a cartridge that is
totally independent of the container containing the substance to be
mixed has been detected, that is, the cartridge can be used in
commercial containers such as, for example, mineral water bottles,
and that does not need to incorporate special stoppers for
achieving the mixture of the substances contained in the stopper
with the content of the container.
[0009] On the other hand, a cartridge has been designed that does
not need inner elements for the breaking of the sheet or seal
thereof, but it is the substance itself contained in the cartridge
that causes the breaking of the closing seal or sheet of the same,
so that due to the simplicity of its constitution, it is easy to
manufacture and of a lower cost.
[0010] This objective is achieved by means of the invention as it
is defined in claim 1, and preferred embodiments of the invention
are defined in the dependent claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present invention relates to an additive carrying
cartridge for mixing the additive with the content of a container
comprising an additive containing body of a substantially
cylindrical shape with a smaller diameter than the diameter of the
mouth of the container, having a closed upper base and an open
lower base, the lower base of the containing body being sealed by a
sheet (seal) of breakable material and said containing body having
two portions, a first portion and a second portion.
[0012] In a first aspect, the invention will have a perimetrical
rib in the central part of the containing body, the diameter of
which is greater than the diameter of the mouth of the container,
the cartridge being supported on the container through said rib,
the containing body being divided into a first portion and a second
portion, the first portion having a plurality of broken sections
joined to each other defining a bellows for varying the height of
said first portion with respect to the mouth of the container, said
upper base moving between an extended initial position and a
withdrawn final position.
[0013] In turn, the additive will occupy a volume inside the
containing body defining a level the distance D of which, measured
from the lower base of the second portion, is greater than the
distance E between said lower base and the upper base of the first
portion in its withdrawn final position.
[0014] In this way, and thanks to the described configuration, the
cartridge will be arranged on the mouth of the container, the
second portion of the cartridge being introduced inside the
container due to the fact that the cartridge is supported on the
edge of the mouth of the container through the rib, which prevents
the cartridge from being totally introduced inside the
container.
[0015] Subsequently and because of a slight pressure on the upper
base of the cartridge, thanks to the bellows defined in the first
portion, the additive contained inside the cartridge will be pushed
against the sheet of breakable material, causing the same to break
and the additive to fall inside the container and producing the
mixture of said additive and the content of the container. This is
achieved because the volume occupied by said additive is greater
than the volume contained inside the cartridge, when the upper base
is in its withdrawn final position.
[0016] Therefore, a cartridge which is independent of the container
and applicable to any liquid containing container currently
marketed is obtained, the constitution of which is simple and of a
low cost.
[0017] In another aspect of the invention, the additive can be in
solid state in the form of a plurality of cylindrical-shaped
elements, located one after the other, the element nearest to the
seal of breakable material being sharp or pointed for facilitating
the breaking of the seal in the necessary cases.
[0018] In this way, the sheet or seal is ripped more easily and by
applying a smaller pressure for achieving the mixture.
[0019] In turn, the transition area between the rib of the
container and the second portion of the same can have a peripheral
bevel. In this way, introducing and supporting the cartridge on the
mouth of the container is facilitated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] A series of drawings will be described below which aid in
understanding the invention better and are expressly related to
embodiments of said invention presented as illustrating and
non-limiting examples thereof.
[0021] FIG. 1 represents a sectional view of the cartridge
according to the object of the present invention, said cartridge
being in its initial state, that is, it has not been used yet.
[0022] FIG. 2 represents a sectional view of the cartridge, located
on the mouth of the container once it has been used.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
[0023] As can be observed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the additive carrying
cartridge for mixing the additive with the content of a container
object of the present invention comprises a substantially
cylindrical additive containing body (1) having a closed upper base
(2) and an open lower base (3) which is closed by a sheet (4) of
breakable material.
[0024] The containing body (1) has a smaller diameter than the
inner diameter of the mouth of the container (10) on which the
container will be arranged.
[0025] The containing body (1) has a ring-shaped perimetrical rib
(5) dividing the same into a first portion (6) and a second portion
(7), the diameter of said perimetrical rib (5) being greater than
the inner diameter of the mouth (11) of the container and said rib
being the support point of the cartridge in the mouth of the
container (10).
[0026] The first portion (6) has a bellows structure formed by a
plurality of adjacent broken sections, said structure enabling the
movement of the upper base (2) with respect to the perimetrical rib
(5) and therefore, with respect to the border of the mouth (11) of
container (10). Therefore, when a certain pressure is applied on
the upper base (2) and because the container is normally supported
in a fixed surface, said upper base (2) can be moved from an
extended initial position (FIG. 1) to a withdrawn final position
(FIG. 2), in which the mentioned bellows is fully folded.
[0027] The additive (8) is provided inside containing body (1); in
this particular case, the additive is in solid state and is
materialized as a plurality of cylindrical shaped elements in the
form of pellets, tablets, lozenges and the like. One of said
elements (9), specifically the one nearest to the sheet of
breakable material, can be sharp with the purpose of facilitating
the breaking of the same and can have any other shape as long as
said shape facilitates the ripping of the sheet (4). Anyway, the
additive can be a powder or granulated in any size and it can even
be in a liquid form, as long as the breaking coefficient of the
sheet (4) is less than the necessary pressure applied on the upper
base (2), which depends directly on the volume of the additive (8)
and the physical properties of the same, such as density.
[0028] The volume occupied by the additive (8) is such that the
distance D between the same and the position of the lower base
measured in a vertical direction is greater than the distance E
between the lower base and the upper base in the withdrawn final
position, likewise measured in a vertical direction. In this way,
when a certain pressure is applied on the upper base (2), there is
a moment when the volume inside the containing body (1) is reduced
to the volume initially occupied by the additive (8), therefore, if
pressure is continued to be applied on the upper base (2), the
additive (8) will tend to push the sheet of breakable material (4)
causing said sheet to break and releasing, at that moment, the
content of the containing body (1) inside the container (10); this
moment has been depicted in FIG. 2.
* * * * *