Shaker Cap

Abstract

An improved shaker cap in which a cover hinged at both its edge and the middle and having projections on one half which fit in the shaker holes in shown. The half of the cap over which the portion of the cover not having projections is placed is recessed so that pressing on that half will cause the cover to rotate about its middle hinge exposing the shaker holes.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to containers in general and more particularly to an improved shaker cap for containers.

Shaker caps presently used for dispensing salt, spices and the like have a number of disadvantages. One type of shaker cap is that in which a rotating member is installed which when rotated will expose the shaker holes out of which the material is to be shaken. Such caps have the disadvantage that the rotating member can be easily rotated accidentally causing undesired spillage of the contents. In addition such caps are not particularly resistant to moisture. Another type of shaker cap places a perforated disc on the bottle beneath a solid cap. With this type of shaker the solid cap must be completely removed before the contents may be shaken from the container. This is time consuming and requires remembering to replace the cap each time the container is used. In addition this is an operation requiring two hands. Thus, there is a need for a simple and effective shaker cap which does not suffer from these disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The shaker cap of the present invention provides a cap which may be tightly closed in the manner of screw-on caps but may be operated in a manner as simple as those caps having rotatable members. Thus, it provides protection for the contents and is easy to operate. In addition, its design is such that accidental opening of the shaker portion is unlikely. Further it is capable of operation with one hand. To accomplish this, the cap is formed with a two-level recessed section in its center. A first level contains the shaker holes and takes up a bit less than half of the central portion of the cap. Adjacent thereto is a second lower level recess. A cover which covers both recesses is hinged to the side of the cap and contains projections which fit into the shaker holes. When lowered down onto the depressed section, the projections fit into the holes and, along with an additional detent formed in the cap, hold it in place on top of the shaker holes. In addition these projections provide for self cleaning of the shaker holes should they become clogged. The cover and the depth of recess of the shaker portion are sized such that the top is flush with the rest of the cap. When in this position, because of the deeper recess on the other portion of the central section of the cap [which section is closest to the edge of the cap about which the top hinges,] pressing upon this half of the cover will cause the portion covering the shaker holes to be raised up. The top is hinged at its center so that when it is pressed down the portion nearest the hinge will push down into the depression causing the other portion which is covering the shaker holes to rotate upward. Small embossed scribelines on the hole-covering portion of the cover and on the step between the two levels of depression interlock and hold the cover down in the depression so that the shaker cap may be used. When finished using the cap it is only necessary to push the cover back in place to have a tightly sealed container. In addition, the whole top can be pulled up to aid in removing the cap from the container, for example, where, as in one embodiment, the cap press fits onto a lip of the container. In another embodiment the cover is split and exposes shaker holes on one side and a sifter on the other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the cap of the present invention with the hinged cover portion opened away from the container top.

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the same embodiment as in FIG. 1 and also shows the cover in place on top of the cap and the cover in position for shaking.

FIG. 3 is an alternate embodiment wherein the cover is split to provide a shaker on one side and a sifter on the other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As shown on FIGS. 1 and 2, the shaker cap of the present invention is formed as a hollow cylinder having a sidewall 11 and having around the outer part of its top, a solid annular portion 13. Inside the annular portion 13 is a two-level circular recess 14. The first level 15 rakes up slightly less than half the central circular portion 14 and contains within it a plurality of holes 17 through which the material may be shaken. The remainder 19 of the inner circular portion 14 is at a deeper recess level for use in opening the cover as will be described below. The cap will be constructed of a plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene or copolymers of these and is molded with a cover section 21 connected to the edge 11 at a hinge point 23. The cover 21 is constructed to have projections 25 matching the holes 17 of the first recess 15 of the center portion 14 of the cap. Approximately the center of cover 21 and parallel to the hinge portion 23 is an indentation 27 to permit hinging of the two halves of the cover 21. On the side of the cover 21 containing the projections 25 there is also an embossed scribeline 29 parallel to the recess 27. On the end of this section there is a projection 31 used for retaining the cover in place as will be described below.

On the inner cylindrical surface above the recess 15 containing the holes 17 is provided an indentation 33 matching the projection 31 on the cover. There is also provided across the level containing the holes 17 a triangular projection 37. On the step portion going from the level 15 to the level 19 is another embossed scribeline 39. The annular portion 13 on the cap has a gap 41 to accept a portion 43 extending from the circular portion of cover 21 to the side 11.

The cover 21 is placed on top of the inner circular section by rotation about the hinge 23. When this rotation takes place the portion 43 will fill in the gap 41 in the annular portion 13 and the cover 21 will cover the inner circle surrounded by this annular portion. The projection 31 will snap into the recess 33 and the projections 25 fit into the holes 17 to hold the cover in place on top of the cap. This position is shown by the dotted lines 21a of FIG. 2. In this position, the cap is almost completely moisture proof with the projections 25 filling the holes 17 and preventing any moisture getting in or any material getting out. When it is desired to use the container to shake out some of the material stored therein, the user presses in the direction of arrow 45, pressing down on the portion of the cover 21 closest to the hinge 23. The projection 37 acts as a fulcrum about which the portion 47 of the cover 21 can rotate with bending occurring at the hinge 49 formed by the indentation 27. The embossed scribelines 39 and 29 will then interlock to cause the cover 21 to stay in the position indicated by dot-dash lines 21b of FIG. 2.

As shown, the inside of the side 11 contains a flange portion 51 to permit snapping it on top of a bottle or the like having a corresponding recess. It should be noted, that the sides may equally well be made with threaded portions on their inside to permit screwing on to a bottle or the like. Although the holes 17 are shown as a plurality of small holes such as would be used for shaking salt, spices or the like, the cap of the present invention may also be manufactured with a number of larger holes or for that matter with a single hole for dispensing different types of materials, such as pills, capsules, etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention. Construction is as described above except that the cover 21 is divided into two sections 52 and 54. Section 52 contains projections 25 as above which fit in matching holes 17. Section 54 however contains a single large projection 53 which fits in a matching hole 55. Each of the sections 52 and 54 can be operated independently thereby providing both a shaker and a sifter cap. If desired, the projection 53 may be eliminated and the hole 55 enlarged to be bounded by lines 61, 63 and 65. Cover section 54 will still remain closed without projection 53 because of the slot 33 and projection 31 shown on FIGS. 1 and 2.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention which is intended to be limited solely by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An improved shaker cap comprising:

a. a hollow cylindrical member open on the bottom and containing on the inside of the bottom means for attachment to a container and having a top portion comprising:

1. a solid annular portion adjacent the sides of the cylindrical member surrounding a two level circular recess, with a first higher level containing at least one hole therethrough and a second lower level, said higher and lower levels divided along a line parallel to a diameter of the cylinder with the higher level being of smaller size;

2. a gap in said annular portion on the side of said lower level centered on a line perpendicular to said diameter;

3. a cover hinged by a first hinge to the side of said cylinder at said gap having a circular portion which is matched to fit said circular recess; and

4. said top being hinged by a second hinge along a diameter parallel to the separation of said levels.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said circular portion contains at least one projection sized to fit said at least one hole.

3. The invention according to claim 2 wherein said higher level contains a plurality of holes therethrough and said cover contains an equal plurality of matching projections.

4. The invention according to calim 1 and further including a first embossed scribe line on the vertical step between said first and second levels and a second embossed scribe line on the inside of said cover parallel to and on the side of said second hinge containing said at least one projection.

5. The invention according to claim 4 and further including a projection on the edge of said cover opposite the second hinge and a matching recess in the vertical portion connecting said annular portion with said first level recess.

6. The invention according to claim 5 and further including a triangular projection on said first level adjacent and parallel to the step between levels.

7. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said cover is split along a line perpendicular to said diameter and said first level recess contains at least one hole on each side of a plane through said split, and said cover contains at least one matching projection on at least one side of said split.

8. The invention according to claim 7 wherein a plurality of holes and matching projections are provided on one side of said split and a single hole on the other side of said split.

9. The invention according to claim 8 and further including a matching projection on said other side.

10. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said cap is made of a single piece of plastic material with said first and second hinges formed by narrowed sections in said plastic material.

11. The invention according to claim 10 wherein said plastic material is one of the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, and a copolymer of polyethylene and polypropylene.

12. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said means attachment comprises a projection encircling the inside bottom of said cap.