Background Art As well known in the art, a can comprises a cylindrical can body, upper and lower covers which are coupled to upper and lower ends, respectively, of the cylindrical can body to effect pressure-type fluid seals therebetween. In the case that the can is used to contain a beverage, the upper cover is partially formed with a discharging hole through which the beverage is capable of being discharged out of the can to be consumed by a user, and the discharging hole is initially maintained in a closed state by a seal plate.

In constructing such a can, the cylindrical can body, and the upper and lower covers are first formed by extrusion. Then, after the lower cover is coupled to the lower end of the cylindrical can body, contents are accommodated in the cylindrical can body. Thereafter, the upper cover including fastened thereto a pull tab for opening the discharging hole, is coupled to the upper end of the cylindrical can body to complete the

manufacture of the can. If inflow of air, etc. into the can occurs in the process of manufacturing the can, the likelihood of freshness of the contents to be degraded is increased. Therefore, it is considered extremely important to maintain airtightness of the can. Insofar as the airtightness of the can is maintained, the can has an extended shelf life, and the can advantageously is able to endure handling, even great-distance shipping, without breakage.

However, in the conventional can constructed as mentioned above, because potentially hazardous debris such as dust particles cannot but be accumulated on an upper surface of the upper cover of the can while the canned products are circulated on the market, the debris can enter into the human body when the user procures the can and consumes the contents accommodated in the can.

In this regard, because it is the norm that the contents are not drunk down at one gulp, if the can is held again vertical after being tipped to be drunken from, a portion of the contents, which is discharged out of the can and is not adequately drunk by the user, fills a circumferential channel which is defined below and radially inward from an upper edge of the can. In this state, when drinking again the contents, the potentially hazardous debris such as dust particles which exist in the circumferential channel, cannot but flow into the mouth of the user in a state wherein they are contained in the portion of the contents.

For this reason, troublesomeness is caused in that, after procuring the can, the user must wipe the upper surface of the upper cover with tissue before

opening the can to drink the contents. Moreover, because it is impossible to perfectly remove the dust particles from the upper surface of the upper cover, the user should submit to the inflow of foreign substances to a certain extent.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems occurring in the related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a can, in which a fluid discharging spout adapted for elastically projecting out of the can upon opening the can is attached around a seal plate to a lower surface of an upper cover of the can, to enable contents accommodated in the can to be discharged through the fluid discharging spout, whereby a user is allowed to drink the contents in a state wherein sanitization is ensured.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a can including a cylindrical can body, upper and lower covers which are coupled to upper and lower ends, respectively, of the cylindrical can body to effect pressure-type fluid seals therebetween, and a seal plate which is integrally formed in the upper cover and which has a pull tab joined thereto for defining a discharging hole through which contents accommodated in the can are capable of being discharged out of the can, the can comprising: a fluid discharging spout having a discharging section and an elastic supporting section, the discharging section being formed at a center portion thereof with an opening and

possessing substantially a bellows-shaped configuration in a manner such that it is maintained in a folded state inside the can when the discharging hole is not opened, the elastic supporting section being made of plastic material and possessing substantially a frusto-conical configuration in a manner such that an upper end thereof is attached to a lower surface of the upper cover and a lower end thereof is integrally connected to a lower end of the discharging section, the discharging section having a diameter which is smaller than that of the seal plate and being concentrically arranged below the seal plate, the seal plate being delimited on the upper cover by a scored line which extends around the seal plate except a portion of the seal plate which is opposite from the pull tab, the discharging section expanding and projecting out of the can by its own elasticity when the discharging hole is opened by pulling upward the pull tab and thereby breaking the seal plate free along the scored line.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the discharging section of the fluid discharging spout is formed at a side thereof with an air vent for allowing inflow of air into the can.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above objects, and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent after a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGs. la and lb are views illustrating a construction of a can in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. la is a perspective view and FIG. lb is a cross-sectional view; and FIGs. 2a and 2b are views illustrating a state wherein the can according to the present invention is opened, wherein FIG. 2a is a perspective view and FIG.

2b is a cross-sectional view.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIGs. la and lb are views illustrating a construction of a can in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and FIGs. 2a and 2b are views illustrating a state wherein the can according to the present invention is opened. As can be readily seen from FIGs. la, lb, 2a and 2b, while the can according to the present invention has an outer appearance which is the same as that of a conventional can, in the present invention, the can is constructed in a manner such that a fluid discharging spout projects out of the can to have a predetermined height when measured from an upper surface of an upper cover of the can, whereby it is possible to discharge, through the fluid discharging spout, contents which are accommodated in the can.

In other words, similarly to the conventional can, the can according to the present invention comprises a cylindrical can body 1, upper and lower covers 2 and 3 which are coupled to upper and lower ends, respectively, of the cylindrical can body 1 to effect pressure-type fluid seals therebetween, and a seal plate 4 which is integrally formed in the upper cover 2 and which has a pull tab 4a joined thereto for defining a discharging hole 4c through which contents accommodated in the can are capable of being discharged out of the can. A fluid discharging spout 5 which constitutes a characterizing feature of the present invention, is attached to a lower surface of the upper cover 2 in a manner such that it is concentrically arranged below the seal plate 4. The fluid discharging spout 5 has a discharging section 6 and an elastic supporting section 7. The discharging section 6 is formed, at a center portion thereof, with an opening. The discharging section 6 possesses substantially a bellows-shaped configuration in a manner such that it can be decreased in its height measured from a lower end to an upper end thereof when pressure is applied thereto, thereby to accomplish an elastically folded state. That is, the discharging section 6 is maintained in the elastically folded state inside the can when the discharging hole 4c is not opened. The elastic supporting section 7 possesses substantially a frusto-conical configuration in a manner such that an upper end thereof is attached to the lower surface of the upper cover 2 and a lower end thereof is integrally connected to the lower end of the discharging section 6.

In the fluid discharging spout 5, the upper end of the elastic supporting section 7 is attached to the lower surface of the upper cover 2 in a state wherein pressure is applied to the upper end of the discharging section 6 by the upper cover 2 to elastically depress downward the discharging section 6 and the elastic supporting section 7 and thereby hold the discharging section 6 and the elastic supporting section 7 on the same horizontal line. The discharging section 6 has a diameter which is smaller than that of the seal plate 4 and is concentrically arranged below the seal plate 4.

The seal plate 4 is delimited on the upper cover 2 by a scored line 4b which extends around the seal plate 4 except a portion of the seal plate 4, which is opposite from the pull tab 4a. The discharging section 6 expands and projects out of the can by its own elasticity when the discharging hole 4c is opened by pulling upward the pull tab 4a and thereby breaking the seal plate 4 free along the scored line 4b.

It is preferred that the fluid discharging spout 5 is made of plastic material such as polyurethane terephthalate (PETE) which has a predetermined elasticity. The discharging section 6 of the fluid discharging spout 5 is formed, at a side thereof, with an air vent 8. The air vent 8 serves to allow inflow of air into the can when the contents of the can are discharged out of the can, thereby ensuring smooth and uniform withdrawal of the contents out of the can.

In the can according to the present invention, constructed as mentioned above, by pulling upward the pull tab 4a of the seal plate 4, the seal plate 4 is

broken free along the scored line 4b, and thereby the discharging hole 4c is initially opened. At this time, it should be noted that, unlike the conventional can in which the discharging hole is defined while the seal plate is depressed downward by pulling upward the pull tab, in the can according to the present invention, the discharging hole 4c is defined while the seal plate 4 is lifted by pulling upward the pull tab 4a. Also, due to the fact that the scored line 4b is not formed on the portion of the seal plate 4, which is opposite from the pull tab 4a, it is possible to prevent the seal plate 4 including the pull tab 4a from being released from the upper cover 2. As the discharging hole 4c is opened by breaking the seal plate 4, the discharging section 6 of the fluid discharging spout 5 projects out of the can beyond the upper cover 2 to the predetermined height, whereby the contents which are accommodated in the can, are capable of being discharged through the opening formed in the discharging section 6.

At this time, due to the fact that the fluid discharging spout 5 is made of plastic material such as polyurethane terephthalate (PETE) which has a predetermined elasticity, the discharging section 6 possesses the bellows-shaped configuration to have a corrugated cross-section, and the elastic supporting section 7 is attached at the upper end thereof to the lower surface of the upper cover 2 while being integrally connected at the lower end thereof to the lower end of the-discharging section 6, when originally constructing the can, if pressure is applied to the discharging section 6 by the upper cover 2, the

discharging section 6 and the elastic supporting section 7 are elastically depressed downward, and the upper end of the discharging section 6 is brought into close contact with the lower surface of the upper cover 2. In this state, if the discharging hole 4c is defined when the seal plate 4 is opened, as the elastic supporting section 7 and the discharging section 6 are returned to their original shapes, respectively, by their own elasticity, the discharging section 6 projects through the discharging hole 4c out of the can.

Here, in order to reliably realize the can according to the present invention, the elastic supporting section 7 of the fluid discharging spout 5 must be attached to the lower surface of the upper cover 2 in a manner such that watertightness is achieved therebetween. In this respect, because the fluid discharging spout 5 and the upper cover 2 are made of different materials, a difficulty can be caused when attaching the fluid discharging spout 5 to the lower surface of the upper cover 2. However, this issue can be easily coped with by selectively using at least one of the conventional techniques including ultrasonic fusion splicing, heat fusion welding and tape attaching procedure, which are well known in the art. In addition to these techniques, any methods for attaching the fluid discharging spout 5 made of plastic material to the upper cover 2 made of aluminum or steel, can be used.

As described above, if the fluid discharging spout elastically projects out the can as the seal plate 4 is opened, it is possible to smoothly and uniformly discharge contents accommodated in the can through the

discharging section 6 of the fluid discharging spout 5, thereby to drink the contents. Due to the projection of the fluid discharging spout 5 beyond the upper cover 2 of the can, it is. possible to effectively prevent foreign substances from flowing into the can. Also, because the discharging section 6 of the fluid discharging spout 5 is put into the mouth of the user as it is, a possibility of a portion of the contents to flow along a circumferential channel which is defined below and radially inward from an upper edge of the can, is eliminated. Moreover, due to the presence of the fluid discharging spout 5 which projects out of the can to the predetermined height, an operation for pouring the contents, for example, a beverage into a container, such as a glass or the like, can be performed in an easier manner without experiencing side stream of the beverage along the circumferential channel.

In the meanwhile, because there is a limit in increasing the diameter of the discharging section 6 of the fluid discharging spout 5, in view of a size of the can, when the contents are discharged out of the can through the discharging section 6 of the fluid discharging spout 5, eruptive outflow under which smooth withdrawal of the contents cannot be fulfilled, can occur due to a small size of the discharging section 6.

Accordingly, in the present invention, due to the fact that the discharging section 6 of the fluid discharging spout 5 is formed at the side thereof with the air vent 8, when tipping the can to drink the beverage, air flows into the can through the air vent 8.

This prevents the eruptive outflow of the contents. The

aforementioned phenomenon can be readily understood by a person skilled in the art by introducing a water storing container having a fluid discharging tube which is formed at a side thereof with an air hole. At this time, because it is preferred that the air vent 8 is formed at a side which is opposite to a side along which the contents are discharged out of the can, in the structure of the can according to the present invention, wherein the fluid discharging spout 5 is eccentrically positioned on the upper cover 2, the air vent 8 is formed at the side of the discharging section 6 which is adjacent to a center of the upper cover 2.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the can according to the present invention, constructed as mentioned above, provides advantages in that, since a fluid discharging spout is attached to a lower surface of an upper cover of the can in a manner such that the fluid discharging spout is arranged directly below a seal plate in an elastically folded state, if the seal plate is pulled upward to define a discharging hole in the upper cover of the can, the fluid discharging spout is expanded upward by its own elasticity to project out of the can, whereby contents accommodated in the can are capable of being discharged out of the can through a discharging section of the fluid discharging spout to be consumed by a user. Due to the projection of the fluid discharging spout beyond the upper cover of the can, it is possible to effectively prevent foreign substances from flowing into the can. Also, because the discharging section of

the fluid discharging spout is put into the mouth of the user as it is, a possibility of a portion of the contents to flow along a circumferential channel defined below and radially inward from an upper edge of the can, is eliminated. Moreover, due to the presence of the fluid discharging spout which projects out of the can to a predetermined height, an operation for pouring the contents, for example, a beverage into a container, such as a glass or the like, can be performed in an easier manner without experiencing side stream of the beverage along the circumferential channel. Furthermore, since the discharging section of the fluid discharging spout is formed at a side thereof with an air vent, when tipping the can to drink the beverage, the beverage can be smoothly and uniformly discharged out of the can, without inducing eruptive outflow.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typical preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.