U.S. patent application number 12/097343 was filed with the patent office on 2008-12-11 for closure cap for using with containers to allow sharing drinks in a hygienic manner.
This patent application is currently assigned to GEMINI TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS LTD.. Invention is credited to Asaf Lewin.
Application Number | 20080302754 12/097343 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37814481 |
Filed Date | 2008-12-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080302754 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lewin; Asaf |
December 11, 2008 |
Closure Cap For Using With Containers to Allow Sharing Drinks in a
Hygienic Manner
Abstract
A closure cap for a beverage container that enables people to
share beverages from the same container in a hygienic manner. The
closure cap comprises a central capping member with a plurality of
drinking tubes attached thereto. Each tube can be opened for
drinking while the remaining tubes stay closed and they are
preferably distinguishable from each other by markings, color, etc.
In particular embodiments, each of the drinking tubes or the
central member comprises a one-way valve allowing beverage to flow
through the drinking tubes in only the outward direction, thereby
preventing saliva, or beverage that has entered a drinker's mouth,
from returning to the container. In such embodiments, the closure
cap preferably has one or more pressure equalizing holes to
equalize the air pressure inside the container as the beverage is
consumed, and optional one-way valves to prevent beverage leakage
via the pressure equalizing holes.
Inventors: |
Lewin; Asaf; (Nodia,
IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BROOKS KUSHMAN P.C.
1000 TOWN CENTER, TWENTY-SECOND FLOOR
SOUTHFIELD
MI
48075
US
|
Assignee: |
GEMINI TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS
LTD.
Nordia
IL
|
Family ID: |
37814481 |
Appl. No.: |
12/097343 |
Filed: |
December 14, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
December 14, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/IL06/01444 |
371 Date: |
June 13, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60750070 |
Dec 14, 2005 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
215/229 ;
220/714 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 19/2266 20130101;
A47G 2400/027 20130101; B65D 47/065 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
215/229 ;
220/714 |
International
Class: |
B65D 51/00 20060101
B65D051/00; A47G 19/22 20060101 A47G019/22 |
Claims
1. A closure cap for capping a closed-type beverage container, the
cap comprising: a central member adapted for said capping of said
container; and a plurality of drinking tubes attached to said
central member and adapted so each of the drinking tubes can be
individually positioned in an open drinking position or a closed
position.
2. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein each of the
drinking tubes or the central member comprise a one-way valve
allowing the beverage to flow through the drinking tubes in only
the outward direction, thereby preventing saliva, or beverage that
has entered a drinker's mouth, from returning to the container.
3. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the central member
comprises one or more pressure equalizing holes for facilitating
equalization of pressure between the inside and outside of the
container as the beverage is consumed, to ease drinking.
4. The closure cap according to claim 3, wherein the pressure
equalizing holes comprise one or more check valves to prevent
spillage via the holes.
5. The closure cap according to claim 3, wherein the central member
and drinking tubes are adapted so that the one or more pressure
equalizing holes are automatically closed when any of the drinking
tubes are closed.
6. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the drinking tubes
are distinguishable from each other and for that purpose comprise
one of the following distinguishing features: different colors,
different shapes, different sizes, different markings, different
text or symbols, different textures or combinations thereof.
7. The closure cap according to claim 1 wherein the central member
further comprises an internal tubular member extending toward the
inner part of the container, allowing the drinkers to drink from
the container while the container is standing in an upright
position via suction.
8. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the central member
is adapted to be detachably attached from the beverage
container.
9. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the central member
is adapted to be integrally formed with the beverage container.
Description
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a closed beverage
container's closure cap, in particular a closure cap that allows
sharing a beverage container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Beverage containers, and the plethora of related caps, tops
and closures associated therewith, can be found everywhere. Such
beverage containers are frequently packaged and sold as beverage
bottles, which are typically formed of plastic (such as PET) or
glass and are commonly sold as personal-size bottles with a volume
of between 1/8 liter and 3/4 liter or large format bottles with
typical volumes of a liter or more.
[0003] Many of these personal-size bottles employ differing valve
top technologies that allow a user to close and open a container. A
known top found in many personal-size beverage containers is the
ubiquitous push/pull drink spout which requires a user to pull the
outer top shell upward thereby creating a passageway for the liquid
to flow through. Another known top is a threaded drink spout that
requires the user to turn the outer top shell thereby creating a
passageway for the liquid to flow through.
[0004] These drink spouts are typically embedded in the bottle cap,
thereby providing the necessary hygiene for a single drinker. Such
drink spouts do not provide a hygienic condition in the event where
more than one person wishes to drink from the same bottle, due to
the fact that the drinking spout itself becomes unclean once the
first drinker drinks from the bottle, in addition saliva, or
liquid, which has entered a drinker's mouth, can easily return back
into the bottle.
[0005] Family-sized bottles typically have a simple threaded cap
and, in order to hygienically share a drink from these bottles, the
drink must be poured into a cup or other personal container.
[0006] The necessity to pour the drink into a cup or the like is
problematic mainly due to the following reasons: [0007] a) It
requires a clean cup, which is not always available, especially
when traveling. [0008] b) The cup needs to be washed afterwards
resulting with a waste of water, waste of cleaning detergent, and
generating environmentally harmful waste; or requires a disposable
cup, which also contributes to environmental waste.
[0009] The same problems exist with other types of closed beverage
containers such as thermoses, water bags and drink boxes.
[0010] Publications in the field include the following:
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,369, issued on Nov. 2, 1999 to
Yurkewicz., titled "Resealable pushable container closure and cover
therefore" describes a container closure comprising a single
drinking tube spanning the entire top of the closure cap. The straw
design does not allow a plurality of people to hygienically drink
from the same container.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,194, issued on Oct. 31, 1995 to
Barnwell, titled "Self-venting straw tip", discloses a solitary
straw for a drinking container that is self-ventilating and
self-sealing. The straw has two parts, a straw tip and a straw
cover. The cover is retained on the straw tip and is movable by
manual pressure between a closed position and an open position.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,087, issued on Nov. 3, 1992 to Mandell,
titled "Drinking straw" discloses a drinking straw designed to
demonstrate the need for teamwork of multiple (typically two)
people (such as in the basic "love straw" configuration). All the
drinking straws are connected to common hollow chamber, and only
when all drinkers suck their straws simultaneously, a partial
vacuum is generated in the common hollow chamber so that a beverage
is drawn up through the straws and into the drinker's mouths. The
drinking straw is suited for use with "open-type" drink containers
(such as a cup or a pitcher) and is not adapted for use with
"closed-type" containers such as portable plastic bottles. In
addition the drinking straw can only allow simultaneous drinking by
all drinkers and it does not provide means to hermetically close
the straw to prevent liquid from flowing through it while not in
use.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,318, issued on Oct. 13, 1987, to
Donatello et al., titled "Closure cap" discloses a closure cap for
enabling more than one person to simultaneously drink a beverage
from a container in much the same fashion as a straw is used. The
closure cap includes a plurality of tubes which are secured to a
base member. The closure cap is designed for use with "open-type"
containers such as a pitcher, and is not adapted for "closed-type"
portable containers.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,747, issued on Apr. 8, 1980, to Quigley,
titled "Flexible drinking tube with check valve" describes a single
flexible drinking tube having a check valve with a flapper at one
end for invalids that experience considerable difficulty in sipping
liquids from a glass, or other "open-type" container, placed on a
bedside table. The tubes are designed to be clipped on the glass
which remains on a bedside table, whereby sucking through the tube
raises the beverage to the drinker's mouth. A check valve within
the flexible drinking tube reduces the effort required to suck the
drink.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,527 issued on Apr. 15, 1969 by Elton
Berry, titled "Drinking straws" discloses a low cost drinking straw
for drinking from a container, where the drinking straw is tightly
fitted into an opening in the container in order to prevent
spillage. The straw does not provide for a plurality of people
drinking from the same container or means to close itself while not
in use.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 1,813,285, issued on Jul. 7, 1931, to
Galetschky, titled "Soda straw" describes a valve attachment for
soda straws with the primary object of preventing a beverage which
has been drawn into the straw from receding back into the container
when drinker stops drawing on the straw. The straw is designed for
use with "open-type" containers such as pitchers and glasses, and
does not provide means to close itself while not in use.
[0018] US Patent Application No. 20050150894, issued on Jul. 14,
2005, to Stribling, et al., titled "Leakage protection" provides a
flexible check valve in a beverage flow path of a straw to prevent
inadvertent spillage of the beverage from a drink box in the event
the box tips. The valved straw prevents liquid flow while the straw
is not sucked and is designed for use by one drinker.
[0019] US Patent Application No. 20040140314, issued on Jul. 22,
2004 to Hongbiao, titled "Non-spillable beverage container and
straw" discloses a beverage container having a cover designed to
prevent the inadvertent spillage of liquids in the event that the
container tips. The cover includes a single straw opening which is
sized to accommodate a separate and removable closeable straw with
an orifice extending longitudinally therethrough, and a vent
opening in the beverage cover having a closing means for preventing
the passage of liquid and air therethrough, unless the user inhales
through the straw.
[0020] US Patent Application No. 20030168462, issued on Sep. 11,
2003 to Hozumi, titled "Replacement cap for vessel" discloses a
replacement cap for a drink vessel. The cap has a single tube and a
cap body mounted on the mouth of the vessel designed to allow for
replacement thereof. The cap body comprises an air supply port
having a cup-shaped valve means which is normally closed and is
opened to supply the outside air into the drink vessel when the
interior of the drink vessel is at a negative pressure. The
replacement cap comprises a single drinking tube.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0021] The present invention provides a closure cap for using with
a "closed-type" container that enables people to share drinks from
that same container with other people in a hygienic manner.
[0022] The term "container" will be used in its broadest sense and
will denote a bottle, thermos, water bag, drink box or carton or
any other type of closed liquid container; and will be used
interchangeably with any of the aforementioned terms.
[0023] The term "closed-type" refers to containers that are
designed to be completely covered by a closure cap (although with
the exception of air-holes; i.e. pressure equalization holes in the
cap, if any). Such containers are typically portable, for example,
plastic water bottles with screw-tops. This type of container is
distinguished from "open-type" containers, such as pitchers,
glasses, cups, mugs and the like, which are open and not generally
designed to be capped.
[0024] The closure cap comprises a central member adapted for
capping the container, which could be either detachably attached or
integrally formed with the container; and a plurality of drinking
tubes attached to the central member adapted so each tube can be
individually positioned in an open drinking position, or, a closed
non-drinking position, whereby a plurality of drinkers can
hygienically drink in his/her turn from the container one person at
a time. When the tubes are adapted in their non-drinking (closed)
position, beverage cannot flow therethrough thereby preventing
spillage through tubes not being used for drinking at that
time.
[0025] The tubes are preferably distinguishable by any of color,
shape, text or symbol marking, texture (e.g. raised letter/symbol,
ribs, dots or the like), to allow each drinker to identify his/her
personal drinking tube.
[0026] In particular embodiments, the drinking tubes form a liquid
flow path within which there is a means for allowing a beverage to
flow through the tubes in only one direction thereby preventing
saliva, or liquid which has entered a drinker's mouth, from
returning to the container whereby the beverage and container may
be hygienically shared amongst a plurality of drinkers (up to the
number of tubes). In such embodiments, the central member also
contains one or more pressure equalizing holes that allow air to
flow into the container in order to equalize the air pressure
inside the container as the liquid is consumed. The pressure
equalizing holes may also contain one or more one-way valves that
prevent liquid from being spilled out of the container through
those holes. The one-way valves of the pressure equalizing holes
are also useful in preventing gas from carbonated drinks to escape
and thereby become "flat".
[0027] Advantages of the closure cap of the present invention
include that it: [0028] 1) allows hygienic drinking from a single
bottle by a plurality of drinkers; [0029] 2) prevents saliva and
liquid that has entered a drinker's mouth from returning back into
the container (commonly known as "back-wash"), thus maintaining the
beverage purity; [0030] 3) provides a means to close pressure
equalization holes when there is no drinking to thereby avoid
spillage through those holes; [0031] 4) provides equalization of
pressure during "suction type" drinking (versus pouring type) to
ease drinking and obviate noise often caused by the sudden
equalization of pressure when one stops drinking and detaches from
the bottle; [0032] 5) precludes the need for pouring a beverage
from a bottle into cups in order to allow hygienic multi-person
drinking. In cases where disposable cups are used, this saves the
energy required to produce such cups; reduces the amount of garbage
produced when such cups are thrown away; and obviates the need to
carry any cups, for example during a trip. In cases where
non-disposable cups are used, this prevents the need to wash those
cups which saves water and reduces the amount of washing detergent
purchased and entering the environment; [0033] 6) encourages the
use of large sized bottles, which on a volume basis use less
plastic (e.g. PET), thereby reducing the use of plastics; and
[0034] 7) is compact enough to be capped on bottles using
industrial bottle capping equipment, such as used for capping
sport-drink bottles, and it can be economically manufactured.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0035] The invention may be more clearly understood upon reading
the following detailed description of non-limiting exemplary
embodiments thereof, with reference to the following drawings, in
which:
[0036] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a container
closure cap of the present invention;
[0037] FIG. 2 illustrates use of the closure cap of FIG. 1;
[0038] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of
FIG. 1;
[0039] FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view of the embodiment of
FIG. 1 showing the beverage flow pathway through an open personal
drinking tube and the air flow path into the container;
[0040] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a
closure cap of the present invention, the cap comprising pressure
equalizing holes, and illustrating drinking tubes that are
distinguishable from each other;
[0041] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment
of a closure cap of the present invention wherein the drinking
tubes do not comprise one-way valves or pressure equalizing
holes;
[0042] FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of
FIG. 5 comprising an automatic closure for the pressure equalizing
holes via one-way valves;
[0043] FIG. 8 is a front perspective cross-sectional view of the
embodiment of FIG. 5 illustrating the beverage flow pathway through
the open personal drinking tube; and
[0044] FIG. 9 is a side view of yet another embodiment of the
closure cap of the present invention comprising an internal tubular
member facing down and into the bottle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0045] For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the
principles of the invention, reference will now be made to
particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings and described
herein. No limitation to the scope of the invention is thereby
intended. Further, it should be understood that the present
invention includes alterations and modifications to the illustrated
embodiments as well as further applications of the principles of
the invention as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to
which this invention pertains.
[0046] Throughout the description, the same reference number will
be used to indicate corresponding/similar components of the
invention.
[0047] Referring first to FIG. 1, a closure cap 1 of the present
invention is shown, comprising a central member 2 for attaching to
and capping a "closed-type" beverage bottle 16 and having an
attachment arrangement 3; and four personal drinking tubes 4. The
cap 1 is typically detachable, however it may be alternatively
designed to be integral with the bottle 16. It should be understood
that attachment arrangements may include a variety of fastening
means, e.g. threads, pressure fit and the like, for connecting the
cap 1 to the bottle 16. The personal drinking tubes 4 typically
have at least one of different colors, sizes, shapes, textures,
markings and so on (see FIG. 5) so as to be distinguishable one
from the other, and are intended to be used by each of a plurality
of drinkers (up to four in this embodiment) while drinking from the
bottle 16 one person at a time. The drinking tubes 4 are
permanently attached to the central member 2.
[0048] The drinking tubes 4 are adapted to be adjustable into two
positions, an open position B wherein the tubes are positioned
upward to allow drinking, and a closed position A wherein the tubes
are positioned downward to prevent spilling. The cap 1, and in
particular the central member 2, may comprise one or more pressure
equalizing holes 13, which are preferably only open when any of the
drinking tubes 4 is in the open position B--as discussed below.
[0049] As seen in FIG. 2, the closure cap 1 enables each drinker to
drink through his/her personal drinking tube 4 while holding the
bottle 16 such that the beverage 22 inside is elevated above the
mouth, and the beverage pours into the drinker's mouth, although
suction may also be used to facilitate drinking.
[0050] Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, it is seen that the closure
cap 1 and each drinking tube comprises a one-way valve 6 located in
a beverage flow pathway 7 and 8 (running through the central member
2 and tubes 4, respectively), partially defined by tubing 10
located in each drinking tube 4, allowing beverage 22 to flow
through the tubes in only one direction. It is seen that the
pathway 9 leading to the pressure equalizing holes 13 comprises a
one-way valve 5 to prevent beverage 22 from spilling out of the
bottle 16 through this/these hole(s). In this embodiment the
one-way valve 5 is inserted into the central member 2 through a
hole 33 and is fixedly positioned and fastened in its position via
a plug 11; and the personal drinking tubes 4 are permanently
attached to a central member 2 in a pivoting manner via sockets 17
and corresponding protrusions 18 and recesses 19, allowing the
drinking tubes to rotate upwards and downwards within the sockets
17 acting as valves for both the beverage outflow, and air
inflow.
[0051] In FIG. 4, the beverage flow path 7 is best seen, and it
runs through the central member 2; and the beverage flow path 8
runs through the drinking tubes 4 that permit the beverage 22 to
flow through the drinking tubes 4 in only one direction, thus
preventing saliva, or beverage which has entered a drinker's mouth
from returning to the bottle 16. In this embodiment, the one-way
valves 6 are constituted by duckbill valves which are located
inside the central member 2 in the beverage pathway 20 within the
central member leading to each of the drinking tubes 4 to provide
for the one-way flow.
[0052] The pressure equalizing holes 13 in the central member 2
that allow for air flow via pathway 9 into the bottle 16 in order
to equalize the air pressure inside the bottle as the beverage 22
is consumed by the drinker(s) are also best seen in FIG. 4. In this
embodiment the (air intake) pressure equalizing holes 13 include
duckbill valves constituting one-way valve 5 for preventing
beverage 22 from being spilled out of the bottle 16 through
this/these hole(s) 13 and allowing air flow in only one
direction--into the bottle 16. The central member may further
include an internal tube 12 that sticks down into the neck of the
bottle 16 to help prevent air flow 9 from being sucked into the
drinking tubes 4 while drinking.
[0053] The drinking tubes 4 comprise ball shaped members 32 acting
as valves in the beverage flow path 8, where the beverage flow
paths 7 and 8 are closed while the drinking tubes 4 are in a closed
position A, and the beverage flow paths 7 and 8 are open while a
drinking tube 4 is in an open position B.
[0054] In addition, the ball shaped member 32 of each drinking tube
4 acts as a valve for the airflow intake 9, where the airflow
intake pathway 9 is closed while the drinking tubes are in a closed
position A, and the airflow intake 9 is open while one of the
drinking tubes 4 is in an open position B. This feature provides
better sealing while none of the drinking tubes 4 are in use, such
as when the bottle 16 is placed in storage. Thus, in this
embodiment a drinking tube 4 must moved to an upward orientation in
order to allow the beverage flow and the air intake flow.
[0055] Referring to FIG. 5, another embodiment of the closure cap 1
is shown comprising two drinking tubes 4, protruding from the top
of the central member 2. The two drinking tubes 4 are visually
distinguishable via different raised numeric markings 29 imprinted
on each one. To illustrate how the tubes 4 can be distinguished in
a variety of ways, the tubes are also shown having different
colors, textures 30, shapes and sizes, although typically one such
feature is sufficient for a drinker to easily distinguish and
remember which is his/her drinking tube 4.
[0056] FIG. 6 shows exploded view of an embodiment of the present
invention wherein the cap 1 does not comprise one-way valves or
air-intake holes, thus providing the benefit of a lower
manufacturing unit price. The cap 1 is connected to the bottle 16
using a standard threading 31.
[0057] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the embodiment of FIG. 5
further illustrating the central member 2 having an automatic
closure means attached thereto, constituted by a base valve member
25 that holds two one-way valves 6 (exemplified by umbrella valves)
that prevent beverage 22 that has entered a drinker's mouth or
saliva from returning into the bottle 16, and another one-way valve
5 that prevents beverage from being spilled out of the bottle
through the air intake or pressure equalizing hole(s) 13.
[0058] FIG. 8 presents further exemplary details of the drinking
tubes 4 of the embodiment of FIG. 5. The drinking tubes 4 are
permanently attached to a central member 2, allowing each of them
to be pulled upwards to an "opened" position B, up to a "stop" (in
the form of a rib 26) allowing beverage flow 7 through a drinking
tube tip 27. When the drinker finishes drinking he/she pushes the
drinking tube 4 back downward to the closed position A until the
beverage pathway is sealed by a seal 28 preventing beverage
outflow. The one-way valves 6 held by the base member 25 permit
beverage 22 to flow through the drinking tubes 4 in only one
direction 7, thus preventing saliva, or beverage which has entered
a drinker's mouth from returning to the container.
[0059] Referring now to FIG. 9, in accordance with another
embodiment of the present invention, the central member 1 includes
an internal tubular member 34 facing down and into the bottle 16
allowing the drinkers to drink from the container while the bottle
is standing in an upright position via suction--similar to drinking
with a straw.
[0060] It should be understood that there are various closure caps
that can be devised according to the present invention and that the
above described embodiments are merely explanatory. Thus, the
present apparatus and method can be embodied in a variety of
aspects falling within the scope of the present invention, mutatis
mutandis.
* * * * *