Background Art As well known to those skilled in the art, small- sized suction cups, typically made of pliable rubber, are used for affixing a variety of objects, such as pendants or suspensible dolls, on a smooth vertical surface, such as glass or tile. That is, such a suction cup may be preferably used for holding a memo pad on the interior surface of an automobile's windshield, or for holding a soap case on a tile or a mirror mounted to a sidewall within a bathroom, or for holding a marker on a whiteboard.

When such a suction cup is pressed against a smooth vertical surface, such as glass or tile, with the concave surface of the cup closely positioned on the surface, air is displaced from the gap between the cup and the surface into the atmosphere, and so a vacuum seal is accomplished at the junction between the cup and the surface.

Therefore, the suction cup is firmly held on the smooth surface. The suction cup in the above position is preferably used for affixing an item, or a somewhat heavy thing, on the smooth surface.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum sealing cap for containers, which is used for sealing the opening of a container using a vacuum effect provided by a suction cup.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a vacuum sealing cap for containers, comprising: a cap body made of an elastic material and having a sealed pressure chamber therein, the cap body being seated on the opening of a container so as to seal the opening; and a suction cup provided within the pressure chamber of the cap body for being brought into suction contact with top or bottom wall of the pressure chamber at its cup part with the cap body being pressed down on the opening of the container at a top wall thereof, thus reducing the internal pressure of the container and sealing the opening of the container, the suction cup being interiorly mounted to the cap body at a fixing part thereof.

In the above sealing cap, a peripheral chamber is formed along the outside edge of the cap body while being downwardly directed and communicating with the pressure chamber. The peripheral chamber is inflated with pressurized air with the pressure chamber being compressed, thus being brought into sealed contact with the external surface of the top edge around the opening of the container.

An air injection valve is provided on the cap body.

A pressure projection is formed on the edge of the cup part of the suction cup and is used for separating the cup part from the cap body.

An elastic recovering plate is interiorly provided on the bottom of the cap body while being inclined downwardly and outwardly. This recovering plate is used for elastically restoring the bottom of the cap body upwardly.

The above sealing cap is also used as a clamping means for clamping an object or as a height adjusting means for adjusting the height of an object, such as furniture, off a support surface. The vacuum sealing cap thus has an improved practical advantage in addition to improved compatibility.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum sealing cap for containers in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the vacuum sealing cap of Fig. 1, with the cap being separated from a container; Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views of the vacuum sealing cap of Fig. 1, showing the operation of the cap; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a vacuum sealing cap for containers in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 6 is a partially sectioned perspective view of a vacuum sealing cap for containers in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the vacuum sealing cap of Fig. 6, showing the operation of the cap; Fig. 8 is a partially sectioned perspective view of the vacuum sealing cap of Fig. 6, showing a releasing pin added to the cap in accordance with a modification of the third embodiment; Figs. 9 and 10 are a schematic sectional view and a partially enlarged sectional view, respectively showing the vacuum sealing cap of this invention provided with a clamp in accordance with a modification of the above preferred embodiments; Fig. 11 is a schematic sectional view, showing the vacuum sealing cap of this invention used as a height adjusting means for adjusting the height of an object off a support surface; and Fig. 12 to 21 are sectional views of vacuum sealing caps for containers in accordance with the other embodiments of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the vacuum sealing cap according to the primary embodiment of the invention is

a single body 1 having an upper pressure part 2 at its top wall. A lower support part 3, consisting of a close contact part 3a and a fixing part 3b, is formed at the lower portion of the body 1, while a corrugated shoulder part 4 is formed at the junction between the upper pressure part 2 and the lower support part 3. A pressure chamber 5 is defined inside the cap.

A skirt chamber 8 is defined within a skirt formed under the pressure chamber 5, while a suction cup 6, consisting of a fixing plate part 6a and a cup part 6b, is positioned within the pressure chamber 5. A pressure projection 7 is formed on the edge of the cup part 6b of the suction cup 6.

Within the pressure chamber 5, an elastic recovering plate 9 is provided on the close contact part 3a while being inclined downwardly and outwardly. The elastic recovering plate 9 brings the close contact part 3a into close contact with the top edge of a container R when the cap is seated on the container R. The above plate 9 also elastically restores the support part 3 to its original position when it is necessary to open the cap. An air injection valve 10 is provided on the corrugated part 4.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the operation of the above cap.

As shown in Fig. 3, the cap may primarily seal the opening of the container R when it is fitted over the opening of the container R without being pressed down on the container R.

That is, when the cap is fitted over the opening of the container R without being pressed down on the container R at the pressure part 2, the skirt, having the skirt chamber 8, comes into elastic close contact with the top portion of the container R due to both the elasticity of the skirt chamber 8 and the air pressure within the pressure chamber 5. The opening of the container R is thus primarily sealed by the cap.

In order to finally and completely seal the opening of the container R, the cap is pressed down on the container R at the pressure part 2 as shown in Fig. 3.

In such a case, the pressure chamber 5 is compressed, thus allowing the upper edge of the suction cup 6 to be

brought into contact with the lower surface of the pressure part 2. In addition, the elastic recovering plate 9, made of a stiff plastic material, accomplishes a horizontal position due to the pressing pressure applied to the pressure part 2. The elastic recovering plate 9 in the horizontal position allows the close contact part 3a to be brought into close contact with the top edge of the container R. The pressurized air of the pressure chamber 5 is introduced into the skirt chamber 8, thus inflating the skirt chamber 8.

The inflated skirt chamber 8 comes into elastic close contact with the external surface of the top edge of the container R, and so the cap is primarily held on the opening of the container R by the elasticity of the skirt chamber 8 and is secondarily held on the container R by the air pressure applied from the pressure chamber 5.

When the cap is designed to be free from any elastic recovering plate 9, the close contact part 3a fails to come into close contact with the top edge of the container R, but may undesirably sag. In the present invention, the plate 9 acts as a support plate for the close contact part 3a, and so it is possible to bring the close contact part 3a into close contact with the top edge of the container R when the cap is pressed down on the container R at the pressure part 2.

When an external force, or a pressing force, is removed from the pressure part 2, the increased pressure within the pressure chamber 5 raises the support part 3 upwardly. Therefore, the internal pressure of the container R is reduced lower than the atmospheric pressure, thus allowing the opening of the container R to be completely sealed due to a difference between the internal pressure of the container R and the atmospheric pressure.

In such a case, the cap is primarily held on the opening of the container R by the elasticity of the skirt chamber 8, and is secondarily held on the container R by the increased air pressure within the pressure chamber 5.

When the close contact part 3a comes into close contact with the top edge of the container R due to the elastic

recovering plate 8, the internal pressure of the container R is reduced due to the elastic restoring force of the plate 9. The opening of the container R is finally and completely sealed due to the difference between the reduced internal pressure of the container R and the atmospheric pressure.

The vacuum sealing cap of this invention reliably retains its sealing position relative to the container R until the pressure part 2 is separated from the suction cup 6 by operating the pressure projection 7.

On the other hand, it is possible to appropriately adjust both the elastic restoring force of the plate 9 and the tightening force of the skirt chamber 8 for the container R as desired by inflating or deflating the pressure chamber 5 of the cap through the air injection valve 10. Therefore, the cap of this invention easily adjusts the sealing of the container R.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a vacuum sealing cap for containers in accordance with the second embodiment of this invention. In this embodiment, a plurality of, for example, four leg chambers 18 in place of the skirt chamber 8 of the primary embodiment are regularly formed along the lower outside edge of the cap 11.

Of course, it should be understood that the number of the leg chambers 18 is not limited to four, but may be changed into three, five, six or more or less without affecting the functioning of this invention. When the pressure part 12 of the cap 11 is pressed down on a container R, the leg chambers 18 are inflated to elastically tighten the external surface of the top opening of the container R.

In a brief description, the cap 1 or 11 according to the primary or second embodiment of this invention is operated as follows. When the pressure part of the cap is thumb-pressed down on a container R, the skirt or leg chamber of the cap is primarily brought into close contact with the external surface of the top portion of the container. In addition, the elastic recovering plate of the cap biases the close contact part of the cap downwardly, thus accomplishing close contact between the

close contact part and the top edge of the container.

When the thumb-pressing force is, thereafter, removed from the pressure part of the cap, the internal pressure of the container is reduced lower than the atmospheric pressure due to the restoring force of the elastic recovering plate and the cap comes into closer contact with the container. Therefore, the cap almost completely seals the opening of the container.

Figs. 6 to 8 are views of a vacuum sealing cap for containers in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the cap of the third embodiment comprises top and bottom plates 11 and 13 individually having a disc profile. The two plates 11 and 13 are made of a light metal material. A throughout hole 12 is formed at the center of the top plate 11, while an actuation hole 14 is formed at the center of the bottom plate 13.

The top and bottom plates 11 and 13 are integrated together using a bellows tube 15. The above bellows tube 15 is attached along the outside edge of the top plate 11 at its top edge, and along the outside edge of the bottom plate 12 at its lower edge. Since the bellows tube 15 is corrugated horizontally, the tube 15 may be expanded or contracted in a vertical direction without being expandable in a circumferential direction.

In the embodiment, the two plates 11 and 13 have a circular profile, for example. However, the profile of the plates 11 and 13 is not limited to the circular profile, but may be changed into a rectangular, hexagonal, or another profile without affecting the functioning of this invention. Of course, the appearance of the bellows tube 15 may be appropriately changed into a variety of appearances in accordance with a selected profile of the plates 11 and 13.

A pressure chamber 21 is defined by the two plates 11,13 and the bellows tube 15 and receives fluid, such as air or liquid, therein. Provided within the pressure chamber 21 is a suction cup 16.

A depressed pressure part 17 is formed at the top

center of the suction cup 16, with the bottom of the depressed pressure part 17 being convexed upwardly at the central portion. The suction cup 16 is positioned within the pressure chamber 21 in a way such that the top edge of the pressure part 17 is fixedly attached to the edge of the hole 12 of the top plate 11.

A connection cord 18 is connected to the upper surface of the cup 16 and the sidewall of the pressure part 17 at both ends thereof. Therefore, when the pressure part 17 is thumb-pressed down, the connection cord 18 is pressed down, thus biasing the outside edge of the suction cup 16 upwardly.

On the other hand, an elastic plate 19 is provided on the bottom plate 13 for covering the actuation hole 14. The above elastic plate 19 is made of soft rubber, thus being pneumatically projected out of the hole 14 due to the internal pressure of the chamber 21 when the top plate 11 is pressed down.

A rubber packing 20 is provided on the lower surface of the bottom plate 13 in a way such that the packing 20 does not close the actuation hole 14. When the cap is seated on the top of a container R so as to suction-seal the opening of the container R, the top flange of the container R is brought into close contact with the lower surface of the packing 20.

In order to use the cap for sealing the opening of a container, the cap is primarily positioned on the top of the container with the top flange of the container R being brought into close contact with the lower surface of the packing 20. The top plate 11 is, thereafter, pressed down on the container R using a palm and the bellows tube 15 is contracted to accomplish a desired sealing of the container R as shown in Fig. 7.

When the top plate 11 is pressed down on the container R as described above, the increased internal pressure of the chamber 21 is discharged from the chamber 21 through the actuation hole 14 of the bottom plate 13.

The elastic plate 19 is, thus, projected out of the hole 14 into the opening of the container R.

When the external force, or the pressing force, is

removed from the top plate 11, the projected elastic plate 19 is likely to restore its original position due to both its restoring force and the suction force of the suction cup 16. Therefore, the packing 20 is brought into sealed contact with the top edge of the container R by the total force of the restoring force and the suction force.

In order to remove the cap from the top portion of the container R, it is necessary to press the pressure part 17 of the suction cup 16 down along with the connection cord 18.

That is, when the connection cord 18 is pressed down as described above, the end of the cord 18 is pulled while raising the outside edge of the suction cup 16.

Therefore, a gap is formed between the bottom plate 13 and the suction cup 16, thus allowing air or liquid to be introduced into the cup 16 quickly. This finally allows the suction cup 16 to be separated from the bottom plate 13 of the suction cup 16.

When the suction cup 16 returns to its original position as shown in Fig. 6, the internal volume of the pressure chamber 21 is enlarged while allowing the projected elastic plate 19 to return to its original flat position. Therefore, the suction force is removed from the junction between the top edge of the container R and the packing 20, thereby allowing the cap to be easily removed from the container R.

In conventional containers, it is necessary to give a specifically-sized lid to a container. However, the vacuum sealing cap of this embodiment is preferably and commonly usable with a variety of containers having differently-sized openings as shown by the phantom lines in Fig. 7.

When a container R, sealed by the vacuum sealing cap of this invention, is dropped or otherwise falls down, the sealing cap does not open the container R, thus preventing food of the container from being undesirably spilt.

Fig. 8 is a partially sectioned perspective view of the vacuum sealing cap of Fig. 6, showing a releasing pin

22 added to the cap in accordance with a modification of the third embodiment. The pin 22 is hinged to the bottom surface of the pressure part 17 of the suction cup 16 at the inside end thereof, with the outside end of the pin 22 being positioned around the outside edge of the suction cup 16.

Due to the releasing pin 22, it is easier to release the cap from the opening of the container R in comparison with the cap of the Fig. 6. That is, when the pressure part 17 of the cup 16 is pressed down, the connection cord 18 raises the outside edge of the suction cup 16 from the bottom plate 13 in the same manner as that described for the cap of Fig. 6. In addition, the outside end of the pin 22 is inserted into the junction between the edge of the cup 16 and the bottom plate 13, thus forcibly separating the edge of the cup 16 from the plate 13 and more reliably separating the suction cup 16 from the bottom plate 13.

The cap of this invention may be also used for clamping an object or for adjusting the height of an object, such as furniture, as follows.

Fig. 9 is a schematic sectional view, showing the vacuum sealing cap of this invention provided with a clamp in accordance with a modification of the above preferred embodiments. As shown in the drawing, the clamp comprises two clamp arms 26 that are provided on the edge of the cap, with an air passage 27 being formed within each clamp arm 26 and communicating with the pressure chamber 25 of the cap. An elastically deformable portion 28 is provided on the outside end of each clamp arm 26, with the interior of the portion 28 communicating with the passage 27.

When the top and bottom plates 23 and 24 of the above cap are pressed with an object being positioned between the elastically deformable portions 28 of the two clamp arms 26, the clamp arms 28 move closer to each other, thus somewhat firmly clamping the object by the elastically deformable portions 28.

In such a case, the increased internal pressure of the chamber 25 is drained into the air passages 27 of the

clamp arms 26 and finally reaches the elastically deformable portions 28, thus projecting the portions 28.

The projected portions 28 firmly and stably clamp the object.

When the vacuum sealing cap of this invention is designed to be mainly used as a clamp, the profile of the cap may be changed from the circular shape of Fig. 1 into another shape, such as a rod shape having a rectangular or hexagonal cross-section, suitable for easily clamping an object.

Fig. 11 is a schematic sectional view, showing the vacuum sealing cap of this invention used as a height adjusting means for adjusting the height of an object off a support surface, such as furniture. In this embodiment, two leg supports 29 are provided on the edge of the cap while crossing each other.

An object 30, such as furniture to be adjusted in its height, is supported on the leg supports 29. When it is necessary to adjust the height of an object 30, the cap is appropriately operated so as to increase or reduce the internal pressure of the pressure chamber of the cap.

This cap is preferably used for adjusting the height of a chair or equipment when necessary, and so the cap has an improved practical advantage in addition to improved compatibility.

Figs. 12 to 17 are sectional views of vacuum sealing caps for containers in accordance with the fourth to sixth embodiments of the present invention.

In the fourth embodiment of Figs. 12 and 13, the cap comprises top and bottom plates 31 and 32 individually having a disc profile, with a flexible tube 36 integrating the top and bottom plates 31 and 32. A pressure chamber 35 is defined within the cap.

An elastic part 33, which is thinner than the top plate 31 or the sidewall of the flexible tube 36, is provided on the central portion of the bottom plate 32.

An air chamber 34 is formed around elastic part 33.

Provided within the pressure chamber 35 is a suction cup 37, of which the fixing plate 38 is fixed to the bottom plate 32 with the cup part 39 being directed

toward the top plate 31. Of course, it should be understood that the suction cup 37 may be overturned without affecting the functioning of this invention.

When the top plate 31 is pressed down with the cap being positioned on the opening of a container R, the pressure chamber 35 is compressed to bring the lower surface of the top plate 31 into suction contact with the cup part 39 of said cup 37.

In such a case, the bottom plate 32, coming into contact with the top edge of the container R, is maximized in its elastic deformation due to the air chamber 34. Therefore, it is possible to allow the cap of this embodiment to be brought into suction contact with the top edge of the container R without failure even when the container has an uneven top edge.

When the pressing force is removed from the top plate 31, the compressed pressure chamber 31 is likely to return to its original volume, thus elastically deforming the elastic part 33 of the bottom plate 32 upwardly as shown in Fig. 13. Therefore, the internal pressure of the container R is reduced to be almost completely sealed by the cap.

Since the cap of this embodiment comes into suction contact with the uneven top edge of the container R without failure as described above, it is possible to prevent air from passing through the junction between the cap and the uneven top edge of the container R. The sealing cap on the container R is thus not unexpectedly released until the suction cup 37 is separated from the top plate 31.

Figs. 14 and 15 show a vacuum sealing cap for containers in accordance with the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In the fifth embodiment, the cap comprises top and bottom plates 41 and 43 individually having a disc profile, with a flexible bellows tube 44 integrating the top and bottom plates 41 and 43. A pressure chamber 45 is defined within the cap. A suction cup 46 is provided within the chamber 45, with a locking projection 47 being formed on the outside edge of the cup part 46a. A

pressure projection 48 is formed on the interior surface of the bellows tube 44 so as to be projected into the interior of the chamber 45. The pressure projection 48 is used for raising the locking projection 47 when it is necessary to remove the cap from a container R.

A pressing protrusion 42 is formed on the edge of the top plate 41 while extending downwardly. A peripheral chamber 49 is formed along the outside edge of the bottom plate 43 at a position corresponding to the pressing protrusion 42. Therefore, when the top plate 41 is pressed down on a container R, the pressing protrusion 42 presses the top portion of the peripheral chamber 49, thus allowing the chamber 49 to vacuum seal the external surface of the top edge of said container R.

In order to seal the opening of a container R using the above cap, the cap is primarily seated on the top edge of the container R as shown in Fig. 14. Thereafter, the top plate 41 is pressed down, thus compressing the pressure chamber 45. The cup part 46a of the suction cup 46 is thus brought into suction contact with the interior surface of the bottom plate 43.

In such a case, the pressurized air within the pressure chamber 45 is drained into the peripheral chamber 49, thus inflating the chamber 49. When the top plate 41 is fully pressed down on the container R, the pressing protrusion 42 of the top plate 41 biases the peripheral chamber 49 to the external surface of the top edge of the container R. The chamber 49 thus comes into sealed contact with the external surface of the top edge of the container R and seals said external surface.

The cap of Figs. 14 and 15 is designed to have the peripheral chamber 49, which comes into sealed contact with the external surface of the top edge of the container R and seals said external surface, in addition to the construction of the cap of Figs. 12 and 13. The chamber 49 is pressed down by the pressing protrusion 42 of the top plate 41. The cap of this embodiment more firmly seals the opening of a container R in comparison with the cap of Figs. 12 and 13.

In order to remove the cap from the opening of the

container R, the sidewall of the bellows tube 44 is pressed inwardly. When the sidewall of the bellows tube 44 is pressed inwardly, the pressure projection 48 of the tube 44 raises the locking projection 47 of the suction cup 46, thus allowing the outside edge of the cup part 46a to be separated from the bottom plate 43. The suction cup 46 is thus released from suction contact with the bottom plate 43.

In a brief description, the cap of this embodiment is advantageous in that it more firmly seals the opening of a container R and is more easily removed from the container R.

Fig. 16 is a sectional view of a vacuum sealing cap in accordance with a modification of the fifth embodiment of Figs. 14 and 15. In this modification, the cap is provided with an air pocket 55 in place of the pressing protrusion 42.

When the top plate 51 is pressed down on a container R to bring the suction cup 54 into suction contact with the top plate 51, the pressurized air within the pressure chamber 53 is drained into both the air pocket 55 and the peripheral chamber 56, thus inflating them.

As the air pocket 55 is inflated with pressured air as described above, it presses down the top portion of the peripheral chamber 56. In such a case, the peripheral chamber 56 is bent inwardly to come into sealed contact with the external surface of the container R and seals said external surface.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view of a vacuum sealing cap in accordance with the sixth embodiment of this invention.

In this embodiment, the cap is provided with a plurality of suction cups 64 within the pressure chamber 63 of the cap. In this cap, the suction cups 64 may be fixed to either the top or bottom plates 61 or 62.

The vacuum sealing cap of this embodiment is more preferably used for holding a cup or a can on an uneven surface 65 as shown in the drawing.

That is, when a cup or a can 66 is supported on the cap of this embodiment, it is preferable to position the sealing cap on a flat support surface, with the top and

bottom plates 61 and 62 of the cap being horizontally positioned. Thereafter, the can 66 is seated on the horizontal top plate of the cap in a way such that the bottom of the can 66 is also horizontally positioned.

The sealing cap is, thereafter, compressed by pressing the can 66 downwardly, thus suction-holding the bottom of the can 66 on the support surface.

However, when it is necessary to position the cap on an uneven surface 65 as shown in Fig. 17, the top and bottom plates 61 and 62 of the cap are not horizontally positioned, but are inclined. When a cup or a can 66 is positioned on the above vacuum sealing cap, liquid contents of the can 66 may be undesirably spilt.

Therefore, it is necessary for the vacuum sealing cap of this invention to always horizontally hold the bottom of the can 66 on such an uneven surface.

The above object is accomplished by the vacuum sealing cap of this embodiment. That is, even when a can 66 is pressed down on the cap of this embodiment with the bottom of the can 66 being not parallel to the top or bottom plate 61 or 62 of the cap, the can 66 is effectively and horizontally suction-held on the top plate 61 of the cap with at least one suction cup 64 coming into suction contact with the top plate 61 of the cap.

Therefore, the vacuum sealing cap of this embodiment is preferably used for holding a cup or a can on an uneven surface, such as a dashboard.

In the vacuum sealing caps of Figs. 12 to 17, an air chamber 34 is formed within the bottom plate, and so it is possible to reliably suction seal the opening of a container R even though the container has an uneven top edge. Therefore, the seal of the cap for the container R is retained for a lengthy period of time. When the sidewall of the sealing cap is pressed inwardly, a pressure projection 48 raises a locking projection 47 of the suction cup, thus allowing the outside edge of the cup part to be separated from the bottom plate of the cap. It is thus possible to easily remove the vacuum sealing cap from the top edge of the container R. When the pressure chamber of the cap is compressed, the

peripheral chamber is inflated with pressurized air. In such a case, either a pressing protrusion 42 or an air pocket 55 biases the peripheral chamber toward the external surface of the top edge of the container R, thus more firmly suction sealing the external surface of said top edge. In addition, it is also possible to hold a cup or a can on an uneven support surface using the vacuum sealing cap of this invention.

Figs. 18 and 19 are sectional views of a vacuum sealing cap in accordance with the seventh embodiment of this invention. In the vacuum sealing cap of this embodiment, the body 71 of the cap is designed to be gradually thickened in a direction from the central portion to the edge portion. That is, the thickness"t" of the central portion of the cap body 71 is less than the thickness"T"of the peripheral portion.

When an external pressing force is removed from the top wall of the cap body 71 after the cap of this embodiment is seated on the opening of a container R and is pressed down at the top surface thereof, the thin central portion of the cap body 71 is likely to primarily and elastically restore its original position due to the elastic property of the body 71. Therefore, the internal pressure of the container R is reduced less than the atmospheric pressure, thus firmly sealing the opening of the container R by the atmospheric pressure.

Figs. 20 and 21 are sectional views of a vacuum sealing cap in accordance with the eighth embodiment of this invention. In the vacuum sealing cap of this embodiment, the body 81 of the cap comprises a top plate 82 and a lower suction cup 83 with a pressure chamber 84 being defined within the cap body 81. A peripheral chamber 85 is formed along the outside edge of the cap body 81. The above peripheral chamber 85 communicates with the pressure chamber 84.

In order to seal the opening of a container R using the above vacuum sealing cap, the cap is seated on the opening of the container R prior to being pressed down at the top plate 82 as shown in Fig. 21. When the cap is pressed down at the top plate 82, the pressure chamber 84

is compressed, thus allowing the pressurized air to be drained from the pressure chamber 84 into the peripheral chamber 85. The peripheral chamber 85 is inflated with the pressurized air and is brought into sealed contact with the external surface of the top edge of the container R. The external surface of said top edge of the container R is firmly sealed by the peripheral chamber 85.

When an external pressing force is removed from the top wall of the cap body 81, the suction cup 83 is elastically biased upwardly while reducing the internal pressure of the container R less than the atmospheric pressure. The opening of the container R is thus firmly sealed by the atmospheric pressure.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the present invention provides a vacuum sealing cap for containers, which is used for sealing the opening of a container using a vacuum effect provided by a suction cup. In accordance with the invention, the cap body has an integrated structure, and so the structure of the sealing cap is simplified. This finally simplifies the process of manufacturing the sealing caps for containers. The present invention thus reduces the production cost of such caps.

In addition, the vacuum sealing cap of this invention easily seals the openings of a variety of containers having different sizes. The vacuum sealing cap of this invention is also used as a clamping means for clamping an object or as a height adjusting means for adjusting the height of an object, such as furniture, off a support surface. The vacuum sealing cap has an improved practical advantage in addition to improved compatibility.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.