U.S. patent application number 14/083964 was filed with the patent office on 2014-03-20 for airtight cover.
This patent application is currently assigned to KATTOE CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is KATTOE CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Wei Ling CHEN.
Application Number | 20140076894 14/083964 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49782020 |
Filed Date | 2014-03-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140076894 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHEN; Wei Ling |
March 20, 2014 |
AIRTIGHT COVER
Abstract
An airtight cover aims to cover an opening edge of a container
and includes an upper rigid lid and an airtight flexible plate
located below the upper rigid lid. The airtight flexible plate
includes a sealing rim in contact with the opening edge and a
central portion and a peripheral portion located respectively on an
inner side and an outer side of the sealing rim. The sealing rim
and upper rigid lid are interposed by a gap. When the airtight
flexible plate contacts with the opening edge through the sealing
rim to make the central portion continuously move downward, the
peripheral portion is forced to warp upward, and the upper rigid
lid presses the peripheral portion to bend downward. Hence the
contact area between the sealing rim and opening edge increases,
which can securely seal the container to meet requirements of
usage.
Inventors: |
CHEN; Wei Ling; (Taichung,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KATTOE CO., LTD. |
Taichung |
|
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
KATTOE CO., LTD.
Taichung
TW
|
Family ID: |
49782020 |
Appl. No.: |
14/083964 |
Filed: |
November 19, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/CN2012/077448 |
Jun 25, 2012 |
|
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14083964 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
220/203.19 ;
220/212.5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 45/02 20130101;
B65D 81/2015 20130101; B65D 51/1672 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/203.19 ;
220/212.5 |
International
Class: |
B65D 51/16 20060101
B65D051/16; B65D 45/02 20060101 B65D045/02 |
Claims
1. An airtight cover for covering an opening edge of a container,
comprising: an airtight flexible plate including a sealing rim in
contact with the opening edge and a central portion and a
peripheral portion located respectively on an inner side and an
outer side of the sealing rim; and an upper rigid lid which is
located above the airtight flexible plate, and includes an annular
grasp portion which is extended upward from the upper rigid lid and
includes an installation hole, wherein the airtight flexible plate
includes an annular flange corresponding to and latching on the
installation hole, and wherein the sealing rim and a distal end of
the upper rigid lid are interposed by a gap.
2. The airtight cover of claim 1, wherein the airtight flexible
plate includes a groove formed on the peripheral portion, and the
upper rigid lid includes a flange corresponding to the groove.
3. The airtight cover of claim 2, wherein the airtight flexible
plate includes an inverse flange extended from the groove.
4. The airtight cover of claim 1, wherein the airtight flexible
plate includes an air vent formed in the annular flange to hold a
check valve.
5. The airtight cover of claim 4, wherein the check valve is
gradually shrunk to form a duck-beak end with a crevice formed
therein.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an airtight cover and
particularly to an airtight structure for the airtight cover,
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Please referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 for a conventional
airtight cover 1 which is made of pliable material and formed in a
plate shape to be used on a container 2 with an opening smaller
than the airtight cover 1. When in use, the airtight cover 1 is
laid over and adsorbed on an opening 3 of the container 2 by
applying a pressure on the center of the airtight cover 1. Then the
opening 3 is sealed to isolate the container 2 from the external
air, therefore can prevent foods or drinking water held in the
container 2 from being contaminated.
[0003] The aforesaid conventional airtight cover 1 is simple in
operation and adaptable to containers 2 in different sizes, hence
is widely used as a temporary lid. However, when the airtight cover
1 is used to seal the container 2, due to its center is pressed to
sink slightly into the container 2, the rim of the airtight cover I
Warps upward. This makes the contact area between the airtight
cover 1 and opening 3 become smaller. As a result, the air
isolation effect becomes worse and a small gap is easily generated.
Moreover, the upward warping rim of the airtight cover 1 causes
users inconveniences when in use. For instance, users could
incidentally hit the airtight cover 1 when they move the container
2 and result in loosening and dropping of the airtight cover 1 to
lose the air isolation effect thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Therefore the primary object of the present invention is to
provide an airtight cover that is adaptable to various types of
containers and provides satisfactory airtight effect to meet
requirements of usage.
[0005] Another object of the present invention is to provide an
airtight cover that is adaptable to various types of containers and
provides function of vacuum pumping for preservation.
[0006] The airtight cover of the invention aims to cover an opening
edge of a container and includes an airtight flexible plate and an
upper rigid lid. The airtight flexible plate is located below the
upper rigid lid and includes a sealing rim in contact with the
opening edge and a central portion and a peripheral portion that
are located respectively on an inner side and an outer side of the
sealing rim. The upper rigid lid includes an installation hole, and
the airtight flexible plate includes an air vent which corresponds
to the installation hole and holds a check valve. The upper rigid
lid and a distal end of the upper rigid lid are interposed by a
gap.
[0007] By means of the structure mentioned above, when the airtight
flexible plate contacts with the opening edge through the sealing
rim to make the central portion sink continuously downward, the
peripheral portion is forced to warp upward. Meanwhile, the upper
rigid lid compresses the peripheral portion and sealing rim
downward to increase the contact area between the sealing rim and
opening edge, so as to form secure sealing of the container. In
addition, after the check valve has been installed on the upper
rigid lid the interior of the container can be vacuumed via an air
extraction duct. When vacuum is formed inside the container, a
pressure difference between an inside and an outside of the
container is formed, therefore the airtight flexible plate and the
upper rigid lid are pressed downward by the atmospheric pressure.
Hence the peripheral portion is securely pressed downward and the
central portion sinks severely downwards to further increase the
contact area between the sealing rim and the opening edge, thus the
vacuum airtight effect of the container can be maintained longer to
preserve the goods and meet requirements of usage.
[0008] The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and
advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the
following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional airtight
cover.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional airtight cover
in a use condition.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the invention.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a cross section of the invention.
[0013] FIG. 5A is a first schematic view of the invention in a use
condition.
[0014] FIG. 5B is a second schematic view of the invention in
another use condition.
[0015] FIGS. 6A through 6D are schematic views of containers
adaptable to the invention.
[0016] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the invention in a vacuuming
condition.
[0017] FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the invention in a
de-vacuuming condition.
[0018] FIG. 9 is a partial schematic view of the invention after
being vacuumed to show an airtight condition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] Please referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5A, the present invention
aims to provide an airtight cover to cover an opening edge 11 of a
container 10. The airtight cover comprises an airtight flexible
plate 20 and an upper rigid lid 30. The airtight flexible plate 20
includes a sealing rim 21 in contact with the opening edge 11 and a
central portion 22 and a peripheral portion 23 that are located
respectively on an inner side and an outer side of the sealing rim
21. The upper rigid lid 30 is located above the airtight flexible
plate 20, and the upper rigid lid 30 and a distal end of the upper
rigid lid are interposed by a gap D.
[0020] The upper rigid lid 30 also includes an annular grasp
portion 31 which is extended upward from the upper rigid lid and
includes an installation hole 32 formed therein. The airtight
flexible plate 20 includes an annular flange 24 corresponding to
and latched on the installation hole 32 to allow the airtight
flexible plate 20 and upper rigid lid 30 to couple together.
[0021] The airtight flexible plate 20 further includes a groove 25
formed on the peripheral portion 23 and an inverse flange 26
extended from the groove 25, and the upper rigid lid 30 includes a
flange 33. The flange 33 can be held in the groove 25 and encased
by the inverse flange 26 so that the upper rigid lid 30 and
airtight flexible plate 20 can be in contact with each other
closely and smoothly to press the peripheral portion 23
downward.
[0022] The airtight flexible plate 20 further includes an air vent
27 formed in the annular flange 24 to hold a check valve 40 for an
unidirectional evacuation. The check valve 40 is made of flexible
material and gradually shrunk to form a duck-beak end 41 with a
crevice 42 formed therein. When the check valve 40 forms a positive
pressure inside, the check valve 40 is pushed to open the crevice
42 and discharge air. When the positive pressure is absent, the
duck-beak end 41 generates naturally a compression force due to its
geometric shapes to close the crevice 42 to form an airtight
structure.
[0023] Also referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B for schematic views when
the airtight cover of the invention is in use. First, make the
airtight flexible plate 20 contact with the opening edge 11 through
the sealing rim 21 (as shown in FIG. 5A), and make the central
portion 22 sink downward to force the peripheral portion 23 to wrap
upward. Meanwhile, the upper rigid lid 30 compresses the peripheral
portion 23 downward (as shown in FIG. 5B); as a result, the contact
area between the sealing rim 21 and opening edge 11 increases to
form secure sealing of the container 10. Also refer to FIGS. 6A
through 6D for various types of containers adaptable to the
invention, such as 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D. The airtight flexible
plate 20 can respectively contact and seal an opening edge 11A,
11B, 11C and 11D to provide a satisfactory airtight effect for the
containers 10A, 10B, 10C and 10D.
[0024] Please referring to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, after the airtight
cover of the invention is mounted onto the container 10 and covered
the opening edge 11, vacuuming can be performed through using an
air extraction duct 50 to cover the check valve 40 (as shown in
FIG. 7) to extract the air, thus the container 10 can form a vacuum
condition to preserve goods or foods. To break the vacuum
condition, the duck-beak end 41 needs to be squeeze (as shown in
FIG. 8) to open the crevice 42, then air 60 can flow into the
container 10 through the air vent 24. Referring to FIG. 9, when the
airtight flexible plate 20 contacts with the container 10
initially, its position is shown in the broken line A; when the
upper rigid lid 30 is pressed downward, the position of the
airtight flexible plate 20 is changed as shown in another broken
line B with increased contact area between the sealing rim 21 and
opening edge 11. When the container 10 is vacuumed, due to the
pressure difference between the inner side and the outer side of
the container 10, the central portion 22 sinks continuously to
further increase the contact area between the sealing rim 21 and
opening edge 11, thus the airtight effect can be further
enhanced.
[0025] As a conclusion, through the structure that the upper rigid
lid compresses the airtight flexible plate downward, the contact
area between the airtight flexible plate and opening edge
increases, therefore the airtight effect can be enhanced. In
addition, the invention can provide vacuuming effect through
disposing the check valve. When the container is vacuumed inside,
the pressure difference between the inner side and the outer side
of the container is formed, and the airtight flexible plate and the
upper rigid lid are pressed downward by the atmospheric pressure.
Thus, the peripheral portion of the airtight flexible plate is
further compressed to bend downward, and the central portion sinks
more to further increase the contact area between the sealing rim
and opening edge, thus can keep the container in a vacuumed
airtight condition even longer to meet requirements of usage.
* * * * *