TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a high-seal spout assembly that can preserve contents such as beverage contained in a container with an improved seal for a long period, and more particularly, to a high-seal spout assembly that can allow a user to either drink or dispense the contents by installing an operating member in a main body.

BACKGROUND ART Generally, beverages such as soda, juice, and mineral water are (a) contained in a variety types of container according to their properties, (b) packed properly, (c) delivered to the market, and (d) sold in the market.

Such a container is generally comprised of a container body formed of synthetic resin. A spout assembly is associated with the container body. Therefore, a user drinks the contents contained in the container body by opening the spout assembly and by inclining the

container to drink the contents by contacting his/her mouth or inserting a straw to drink the contents through the straw. When the straw is inserted, it should be prepared in addition to the container. This is a troublesome for the user in carrying and storing.

To solve the problems, a spout assembly having a straw function has been used so that the user can dispense or suck the beverage.

For example, the conventional spout assembly associated with the straw comprises a main body and an operating member slidably installed on the main body, and a small cap coupled on the main body.

Although the conventional spout assembly is designed such that it is convenient to drink the contents, it has a problem in that a seal cannot be stably provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention has made in an effort to solve the above-described problems of the conventional spout assembly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a spout assembly with an improved seal that can preserve contents such as beverage for a long period and can easily drink or dispense the contents by slidably installing an operating member into a main body.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded sectional view of a spout assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an assembled sectional view of a spout assembly depicted in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a combination of a spout assembly and a container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention ; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a using state of a spout assembly in which a small cap is initially being opened in a state where a straw is inserted into an operation member; Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a using state of a spout assembly in which a small cap is in a state just prior to be completely opened; Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a using state of a spout assembly in which a small cap is opened; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a using stare of a spout assembly in which a small cap is opened.

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 accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded sectional view of a spout assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, the inventive spout assembly 1 comprises a main body 100 screw-coupled on an opening of a container, an operating member 200 slidably inserted in a hollow portion of the main body 100, a small cap 300 screw-coupled on a spouting portion 103 of the main body 100 and separately engaged with an upper end of the operating member 200, and a straw support 400 coupled on a lower portion of the operating member 200 and received in the main body 100.

The main body 100 comprises a horizontal main body 101 and a lower main body 102. The spouting portion 103 is formed on an upper portion of the horizontal main body 101, being provided with a tamper-proof projection and a screw 104. A spouting cylinder 107 is fixedly disposed in the spouting portion 103 by a connecting portion 109 such that a circumferential gap 106 is defined therebetween.

A circumferential projection 110 is formed on an outer circumference of an upper end of the spouting portion 103, and a circumferential step 111 is formed on an inner circumference of the upper end of the spouting portion 103. A circumferential groove 112 is formed on an inner circumference of a lower end of the spouting portion 103.

A seal portion 113 is formed on an inner bottom of the horizontal main body portion 101 to receive a seal member Cl formed of, for example, a silver paper.

In addition, the screw portion 114 is formed on an inner circumference of the lower body portion 102, and a tamper-proof 114 is formed on a lower end of the lower body portion 102.

The operating member 200 is provided at its outer upper portion with a circumferential projection 201 and a circumferential step 202 and at its lower portion below a bypass hole 203 with a circumferential stopper projection 204. The bypass hole 203 is designed to communicate with the spouting hole 205. Side grooves 206 are formed on both sides of the bypass hole 203 and extended near the circumferential step 202. The operating member 200 is provided at its inner lower end with a straw insertion portion.

The small cap 300 comprises a top portion 301 and a side portion 302 having a tamper-proof 303. An inner closing portion 304 is extended from an inner bottom of the top portion 301. The inner closing portion 304 is designed to be associated with the circumferential projection 201 and to be inserted into the spouting hole 205 of the operating member 200. A circumferential groove 305 is formed on the lower portion. A seal wall 306 tightly contacting the circumferential projection 110 of the main body 100 is formed under the circumferential groove 305.

A gas discharge groove 308 is formed on a portion where the screw portion 307 is formed of the small cap 300 and on a portion where the screw portion 104 of the spouting portion 103.

In addition, the straw support comprises a flange portion 401 coupled between an opening top of the container and the main body 100, a supporting wall 402 extending from the flange portion 401, and a through hole 403 formed by cutting away a portion of the supporting wall 402, and a straw connecting portion 404 extending from the supporting wall 402.

When the straw connecting portion 404 is formed to be short, an addition straw 404'can be connected (see Fig. 4), or formed to be long

so that it can be used as the straw by itself.

The straw connection portion 404 is designed having an inner diameter corresponding to an outer diameter of the operating member 200. If required, the operating member 200 is provided at an outer circumference or at a straw connecting portion 404 with a projection or a groove to improve the seal force.

The operational effect of the present invention will be described hereinafter.

Fig. 2 shows an assembled state where the operating member and the small cap is assembled on the spouting portion 103 of the main body 100.

The flange portion 401 is first disposed on the opening top of the straw support 400 before the spout assembly 1 is assembled on the opening of the spout assembly 1. Then, the spout 1 is screw-coupled on the opening of the container as shown in Fig. 3. At this point, the operating member 200 is coupled associating with the insertion hole 405 of the straw support 400.

In use, from a state shown in Fig. 3, when the small cap 300 is opened, the small cap 300 moved upward along the screw 104 formed on the spouting portion 103 of the main body 100. At this point, since the

circumference groove 305 of the small cap is tightly engaged with the circumferential projection 201 formed on the upper end of the operating member 200, the operating member 200 also moves upward as shown in Fig. 4.

From the state shown in Fig. 4, as the circumferential step 202 is removed from the circumferential insertion step 111, the From the above state, while the circumferential step 202 is separated from the inserting step 111, the gas in the container is discharged through the side grooves 206 formed on both sides of the operating member, thereby preventing the contents from overflowing out of the container by the internal pressure of the container.

From the state shown in Fig. 4, when the small cap 300 is further rotated, the circumferential stopper projection 204 of the operating member 200 is hooked on the circumferential groove 112 formed on the lower end of the spouting cylinder portion 107. This is shown in Fig. 5.

From the state shown in Fig. 5, when the small cap is further rotated, the circumferential groove 305 of the small cap 300 is separated from the circumferential projection 201 of the operating member 200, thereby completely separating the small cap 300 from the operating member 200 and the main body 100. This is shown in Fig. 6.

From the state shown in Fig. 6, when a user suck the operating member 200, the contents in the container is sucked through the spouting hole 205 and the straw 300. At this point, outer air is introduced into the container through the side grooves 206, making it easy to drink the contents.

From the sate shown in Fig. 6, when the operating member 200 is pushed down, it is possible to dispense the contents to another container C through the spouting hole 203 and the bypass hole 205. This is shown in Fig. 7.

That is, since the spouting hole 203 is designed to communicate with an inner space of the container when the operating member 200 is pushed down and to be blocked when the operating member 200 is pulled upward, the above-described operation becomes possible.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

That is, it is also possible to a tight fitting cap instead of using the screw portion 104 and 120 can be used. A paper pack or a pouch container can be also used.

For example, the small cap 300 is designed to simply function to open and close, and the operation member 200 is designed to manually operate.

In addition, the straw support 400 can be assembled on the opening top of the container before and after the content is filled in the container.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the spout assembly is designed to provide a tight seal by forming the circumferential grooves and projections on the main body, the small cap and the operating member.

In addition, it is easy to drink or dispense the contents.

Accordingly, the spout assembly of the present invention can be applied to a variety of beverage containers.