| US5803285A | 1998-09-08 | |||
| US5868264A | 1999-02-09 |
| 1. | A spout assembly for a liquid container, comprising: a spout body having a spouting portion through which contents in the container can be discharged, the spout body being fixed on an opening of the liquid container ; and a flexible closer closing an opening of the spouting portion of the spout body. |
| 2. | The spout assembly of claim 1 further comprising a cap coupled on the spout body, the cap being provided with an opening on which the flexible closer is inserted. |
| 3. | The spout assembly of claim 2 wherein the opening of the cap is closed by a thin layer. |
| 4. | The spout assembly of claim 3 wherein the thin layer is integrally formed with the cap and a cutting line is formed between the thin layer and the cap. |
| 5. | The spout assembly of claim 2 wherein the cap is provided with an assembling projection for fixing the flexible closer. |
| 6. | The spout assembly of claim 2 wherein the cap is provided with a tamperproof member for covering the flexible closer. |
| 7. | The spout assembly of claim 6 wherein the cap is provided at a top with a concave portion. |
| 8. | The spout assembly of claim 2 wherein the cap further comprises a coupling portion for fixing a tube needle inserted through the flexible closer. |
| 9. | The spout assembly of claim 8 further comprising a coupling device coupled on the coupling portion. |
| 10. | The spout assembly of claim 1 further comprising a tamperproof member formed on the spout body to cover the flexible closer. |
| 11. | The spout assembly of claim 1 further comprising a onetouch opening cap coupled on the spout body. |
| 12. | The spout assembly of claim 11 wherein the flexible closer is inserted in the onetouch opening cap. |
| 13. | The spout assembly of claim 12 further comprising a tamperproof member formed on the flexible closer. |
| 14. | The spout assembly of claim 1 wherein the flexible closer is selected from the group consisting of silicon, a rubber and a cork. |
15 BACKGROUND ART Generally, liquid or gel contents such as cream, source, medicine, detergents, and beverages are (a) contained in a variety types of containers according to their properties, (b) packed properly, (c) delivered to the market, and (d) sold in the market.
20 An opening of the container is sealed by a closer so that a user
can drink or use the contents using, for example, a straw or by contacting his/her lips on the opening after opening the cap.
The container is formed of synthetic resin and closed by a spout assembly with a cap.
Alternatively, the opening may be sealed by a rubber closer.
Alternatively, the opening may be sealed by a rubber closer after the contents are filled in the container. The opening sealed by the rubber closer may be further closed by a cap. However, when it is intended to dispense the contents into another container, since it is not easy to remove the rubber closer, it is troublesome for the user to remove the rubber closer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention has made in an effort to solve the above-described problems of the conventional art.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a spout assembly for a liquid container that can allow contents in the container to be dispensed out of the container without opening a cap and to inject mixable contents into the container through a flexible closer so that that mixable contents can be mixed with the contents in the container.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a spout assembly for a liquid container, which has a flexible closer associated with a cap so that the flexible closer can be easily removed from an opening of the container.
5 It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a spout assembly having a tamper-proof function that can prevent a flexible closer from being illegally used.
To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a spout assembly for a liquid container, comprising a spout body having 10 a spouting portion through which contents in the container can be discharged, the spout body being fixed on an opening of the liquid container; and a flexible closer closing an opening of the spouting portion of the spout body.
The spout assembly further comprises a cap coupled on the spout 15 body, the cap being provided with an opening on which the flexible closer is inserted.
The opening of the cap is closed by a thin layer. The thin layer is integrally formed with the cap and a cutting line is formed between the thin layer and the cap.
20 The cap is provided with an assembling projection for fixing the flexible closer.
The cap is provided with a tamper-proof member for covering the flexible closer. The cap is provided at a top with a concave portion.
The cap further comprises a coupling portion for fixing a tube 5 needle inserted through the flexible closer. The spout assembly further comprises a coupling device coupled on the coupling portion.
The spout assembly further comprises a tamper-proof member formed on the spout body to cover the flexible closer.
The spout assembly further comprises a one-touch opening cap 10 coupled on the spout body.
The flexible closer is inserted in the one-touch opening cap.
The spout assembly further comprises a tamper-proof member formed on the flexible closer.
The flexible closer is selective from the group consisting of 15 silicon, a rubber and a cork.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container assembly with a spout assembly according to the present invention; 20 Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a spout assembly according to the present invention; Fig. 3 is a sectional view illustrating an operation of the present invention; Figs. 4 through 6 are sectional views illustrating a variety of 5 modified examples of the present invention; Figs. 7 and 8 are sectional views illustrating a tamper-proof part of the present invention; Figs. 9 and 10 are sectional views of a needle coupling part and a coupling device of the present invention; 10 Fig. 11 is a sectional view of a spout assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 12 is a sectional view illustrating an operation of a spout assembly depicted in Fig. 11; and Figs. 13 through 16 are sectional views of another embodiment of 15 the present invention.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described more in detail hereinafter in conjunction with the 20 accompanying drawings.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a liquid container 1.
The liquid container 1 comprises a container body 10 for containing contents, a spout body 20 coupled on an opening of the container body 10, a cap 30 coupled on an spouting portion of the spout 5 body 20, and a flexible closer RC associated with the cap 30.
Preferably, the flexible closer is formed of rubber, silicon, or a cork.
The flexible closer RC is. designed closely contacting the top or inner wall of the spouting portion 21. The flexible closer RC may be manufactured to meet Korea Standard G-9103.
10 The cap 30 is provided at a top with an opening on which the flexible closer RC is preferably assembled. At this point, as far as the flexible closer RC is not easily removed from the opening of the cap 30, the flexible closer RC can be assembled on the opening in a variety of methods.
15 Fig. 3 illustrates an operation of the above described spout assembly.
As shown in the drawing, when a tube needle 40 is advanced into the container body through the flexible closer RC, the contents in the container body 40 can be dispensed through the tube needle 40 out of 20 the container body 10.
At this point, the contents is spouted out of the container body 10 while the container body 10 is contracted.
Figs. 4 through 6 show a variety of modified examples of the present invention.
5 Referring first Fig. 4, in order to protect the flexible closer RC, the top of the cap 30 is formed of a thin layer 431 to close the opening.
That is, in use, the thin layer is designed to be easily punctuated by the tube needle 40.
Referring to Fig. 5, an assembling projection 32 is formed 10 extending downward from the top of the cap 30. The flexible closer RC is assembled on the assembling projection 32. Therefore, in use, when the cap 30 is opened, the flexible closer RC is maintained on the opening of the container body 10.
Referring to Fig. 6, the cap 30 is provided at a top with an 15 assembling opening. A seal layer 33 provided with a pull handle 34 is formed covering the assembling opening on the top of the cap with a cutting line 35.
In use, when pulling the pull handle 34 of the seal layer 33, the cutting line 35 is broken and the seal layer 33 is removed from the top of 20 the cap 30 to expose the flexible closer RC.
In the above-described examples, a variety of spouting guide members 23 can be formed extending from an attaching portion of the spout body 20.
Figs. 7 and 8 show a tamper-proof structure of the spout 5 assembly according to the present invention.
Referring first to Fig. 7, a tamper-proof layer 37 is formed on a top of the cap 30. The tamper-proof layer 37 is formed to be broken by predetermined force.
In use, the user can remove the tamper-proof layer 37 by 10 applying predetermined force to the tamper-proof layer 37 using, for example, his/her nail. When the tamper-proof layer 37 is removed, the flexible closer RC is exposed so that the tube needle 40 can be inserted into the container body 10 while penetrating the flexible closer RC.
Referring to Fig. 8, a tamper-proof layer 37 is formed on a top of 15 the cap 30. The tamper-proof layer 37 is connected to the top of the cap 30 by at least one connecting member 36.
The top of the cap is concave to define a space 38 in which the tamper-proof layer 37 is formed. Therefore, it can be prevented that the tamper-proof layer 37 is inadvertently broken by outer force.
20 Figs. 9 and 10 show a spout assembly according to another
embodiment of the present invention.
In this embodiment, the cap 30 is provided at a top with a coupling portion 39 for stably fixing the tube needle 40.
That is, the cap 30 is provided with a coupling portion 39 for coupling a coupling device 50. The cap 30 is associated with the flexible closer 39. The tamper-proof member 37 with the pull handle 34 is further provided on the cap 30.
After the tamper-proof member 37 is removed by pulling the pull handle 34, the tube needle 40 is inserted through the flexible closer RC.
At this point, the tube needle 40 is stably fitted on the coupling device 50 as shown in the drawing.
Figs. 11 through 16 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which a one-touch opening cap is applied.
As shown in Fig. 11, the spout assembly 100 is attached on a corner of the container body 200. That is, the spout assembly has an attaching portion 101 that is attached on the container body 100. A spouting portion 102 is formed extending from the attaching portion 101 and a cap 300 is integrally formed with the spouting portion 101. A cutting line 105 is formed between the spouting portion 102 and the cap 300.
As a feature of the invention, a flexible closer RC is inserted in the spouting portion 102. That is, the flexible closer RC may be located in a spouting hole 103 defined by the spouting portion 102.
A protecting cover 201 may be formed with the container body 5 100 to protect the spouting portion 102 of the spout assembly 100.
A spouting guide 106 may be formed extending downward from the attaching portion 101. The spouting guide 106 functions to prevent two films of the container body 200 from sticking each other when contents is discharged out of the container body 200. The spouting 10 guide 106 further functions to prevent the container body 200 from being bent and to providing standing force to the container body 200.
In use, as shown in Fig. 11, the protecting cover 201 is first removed and the one-touch opening cap 300 is broken away from the spouting portion 102. Then, the tube needle 40 is inserted through the 15 flexible closer RC as shown in Fig. 12.
Fig. 13 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
In this embodiment, the flexible closer RC is disposed in the one-touch opening cap 300. In this case, the contents can be discharged out of the container body 200 after the cap 300 is broken 20 away from the spouting portion 102. In addition, when there is a need to use the tube needle 40, the one-touch opening cap 300 is forcedly fitted in the spouting portion 102. Then, the tube needle 40 is inserted through a thin layer 108 and the flexible closer RC.
In Fig. 14, there is shown an embodiment in which the flexible 5 closer RC is disposed in the one-touch opening cap 300 such that the flexible closer RC can be exposed.
In Fig. 15, there is shown an embodiment in which the flexible closer RC is disposed in the one-touch opening cap 300 and a sub closer is provided to protect the flexible closer RC.
10 In Fig. 16, there is shown an embodiment in which a tamper-proof member 37 is disposed above the flexible closer RC and connected to the cap 300 by a connecting member 107. The tamper-proof member 37 is designed to be easily broken by predetermined outer force.
15 INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention is directed to a spout assembly for a liquid container that can allow contents in the container to be dispensed out of the container without opening a cap and to inject mixable contents into the container through a flexible closer so that that 20 mixable contents can be mixed with the contents in the container. The present invention is further directed to a spout assembly for a liquid container, which has a flexible closer associated with a cap.