RU2288150C2 - Drain valve for containers with liquid product - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: food industry.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to drain valve for containers with drinks. Proposed drain valve has body with cap and side wall passing from outer edge of cap downwards and secured over hole of container, outlet hole in upper side of body communicating with hole of container, sealing member for opening and closing of outlet hole of valve body, and dome-shaped rise of valve body arranged around outlet hole in valve body. Valve body is provided with shell member which, at least partially, covers outer part of dome-shaped rise. Material of shell member is softer than material of dome-shaped rise and/or cap and/or material of valve body.

EFFECT: provision of higher sealing of drain valve and pleasant feeling at direct contact with drain valve.

17 cl, 5 dwg

Description

The invention relates to a drain valve for containers containing a fluid product, in particular containers for drinks.

Such drain valves are known in the art in a variety of designs and are used for beverage containers of various materials, in particular glass and plastic.

In particular, in recent years increased demands have been placed on such beverage containers and related drain valves for various applications, the leak-tightness of the drain valve being also problematic under increased loads arising, for example, when carrying beverage containers with you during sports, is problematic. measures, and, on the other hand, it is desirable that the extraction of the product, in particular when drinking, in which the user's mouth, as a rule, comes in direct contact with the drain valve, It got away as enjoyable as possible.

Therefore, the present invention is the creation of an improved drain valve for containers containing a fluid product, in particular containers for drinks, which, on the one hand, would guarantee increased tightness of the drain valve, and, on the other hand, would create a pleasant feeling in direct contact with the drain shutter.

This problem is solved by means of a drain valve for containers containing a fluid product, in particular beverage containers, the drain valve including a valve body with a cap, a side wall fixed above an opening of the container on it, an outlet on the top to the side of the shutter body in communication with the opening of the container, a clogging element for opening and closing the outlet of the shutter body having a domed elevation that is located around the outlet about provided with sheath member opening the valve body, which at least partially covers the outer part of the dome-like elevation, the material softer than the material of the shell element the dome-like elevation and / or the cap and / or the material of the valve body.

This drain valve according to the invention has a very positive effect on the perception of the user, who, for example, comes into contact with drink, essentially, or exclusively with a shell element consisting of a softer material. In addition, due to the softer material of the shell element, the tightness of the drain valve increases, since the closure element closing the outlet opening seals it mainly due to direct contact with the shell element. Further, due to the stronger compressibility of the softer material, the dimensions of the parts can be chosen so that with reliable sealing, the requirements for manufacturing tolerances do not have to be too high. If necessary, an integrity guarantee element may additionally be provided in the form of a lock of the outlet of the shutter body. Due to this, in the sense of guaranteeing the quality of the contents of the container, any possibility of air or oxygen access inside the container is excluded until it is first opened. This integrity guarantee element may consist of the same material as the shell element and / or of the material of the shutter body. In addition to a high guarantee of the quality of the contents of the container, the mass production of the drain valve can be greatly simplified and cheapened in this way. The invention is therefore based on the unexpected fact that both of these problems or problems can be solved by the shell element consisting of a softer material.

Another advantage of a drain valve with a shell element made of soft material is noise insulation, since noise formation is prevented when opening and closing the lid, in particular the hinged lid. This is preferable, in particular, when, for example, in silence, for example in a library or during a presentation, it is necessary to open the corresponding container as discreetly as possible.

Suitable materials for the shell element are, in particular, thermoplastic polymers, in particular thermoplastic polyester (TPE), high pressure polymers (low density polyethylene, LDPE), as well as other soft plastics, rubber and / or silicone. These materials can also be given the desired softness of the shell element, however, they are sufficiently resistant to provide a long service life of the shell element and, thus, the drain valve.

Of course, it is possible to make a shell element from a combination of two or more of the above materials, without going beyond the scope of the present invention.

Preferably, the shutter housing is integrally formed with a domed elevation that extends beyond the upper side or edge of the shutter housing and can serve as a drinking neck. It is further preferred that the domed elevation is made concessive in diameter in height, and preferably has a smaller diameter in the direction of its outer zone, and an opening at its outer end.

In one preferred embodiment, the shell element is configured such that the domed elevation in its outer zone is closed by the shell element substantially completely, i.e. if necessary, also an opening and / or its integrity guarantee element from the material of the shutter body. This ensures that the entire area that may come into contact with the mouth of the drinker is covered by the shell element, so that a pleasant sense of contact is fully maintained. Further, due to this, the sealing element can have a more diverse implementation, since the response element of the sealing element provided for sealing can act in different places of the shell element and guarantee sealing. If, for example, the integrity guarantee element is made in the form of a tear-off tongue sealing the hole, then a user, for example, a cyclist, can open the tear-off tongue with his teeth while moving without moving his hands.

The shell element can, however, only pass through certain sections of the domed elevation, in particular along the upper part of the domed elevation. This embodiment, in particular the magnitude of the dome-shaped elevation, can be arbitrarily adapted by the specialist to the desired application.

In contrast, the shell element can pass not only along the domed elevation and, if desired, through its opening, but also close other portions of the shutter body.

In one preferred embodiment, the closure element is a hinged lid connected integrally with the shutter body via a hinge. Thus, the clogging element and the shutter body form a unit that can be molded under pressure in one piece from plastic and whose clogging element is not lost after it is mounted on the container.

Of course, of course, instead of a plugging element connected to the hinged lid, special plugging elements can be provided. Further, without going beyond the scope of the invention, there are any possibilities for clogging, for example, a clogging element fixed to the shutter body by means of a snap mechanism or thread.

The invention is described in more detail below using a schematic drawing of examples of the execution of the drain valve, which depict:

- figure 1: open drain valve in a longitudinal Central section;

- figure 2: the second form of execution of the drain valve in a longitudinal Central section, as in figure 1;

- figure 3: the third form of execution of the drain valve in the same form as in figures 1 and 2;

- figure 4: the fourth form of execution of the drain valve in the same form as in figure 1-3;

- figure 5: three-dimensional view of the drain valve of figure 4.

Figure 1 shows a drain valve 10 for containers containing a fluid product containing a valve body 100 and a closure element 200 made in the form of a cover. The valve body 100 and the closure element 200 are connected to one another by a hinge 290 made in the form of a film hinge, so that the closure member 200 can be rotated from a position of 180 ° around the axis formed by the film hinge 290 of the axis shown in FIG. 1 into a position ^that closes the shutter body.

The shutter body 100 has a cap 120 on its upper side, from which the side wall 110 extends downward from the radial outer edge of which. The side wall 110 is substantially cylindrical and has an internal thread 112 that can be screwed and secured to a container (not shown) with corresponding mating thread.

Instead of a threaded connection, other means may also be provided for securing the shutter body to the containers, for example snap connections. You can also perform a drain valve in one piece directly with the appropriate capacity.

In the upper part of the side wall 110 of the shutter body 100, near the outer edge of the cap 120 of the shutter body 100, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a sealing collar 114 is provided, which is made in the form of a ring slightly inclined downward from the horizontal so that when the closure element 100 is screwed onto the container this sealing lip 114 presses against the upper side of the opening of the container and seals it.

In the embodiment shown here, the sealing sleeve 114 is integrally formed with the shutter body, however, it consists of a soft material, in this case silicone, as opposed to the hard plastic of which the shutter body 100 and the closure element 100 of the drain shutter 10 are made. Here, however, it should be noted that in another embodiment, the sealing collar 114 can be made of the same material as the shutter body, which simplifies the manufacturing process.

The cap 120 of the shutter housing 100 has a substantially horizontal annular shoulder 122, from which the portion lying inside radially to the longitudinal middle axis extends dome-like and step outward beyond the limits of the annular shoulder, and the dome-shaped elevation 124 is made conical in diameter in height and has the outer end of the outlet 126.

The domed elevation 124 includes essentially the first (or upper) ledge 128, which with respect to the cap 120 lies above the second (or lower ledge) 134. Each of the ledges 128, 134 is made essentially cylindrical, both ledges 128, 134 have the same height, however, the first step 128 has a smaller diameter. The transitions from the outside between the first 128 and second 134 ledges, as well as the second ledge 134 and the annular shoulder 122 are rounded so that no sharp edges occur. Above the first step 128, a trailing edge 136 of the outlet 126 is bent radially inward, which extends almost horizontally in its uppermost part.

Also, the inner part of the domed elevation 124 of the cap 120 is made conical. Under the smallest inner diameter of the outlet 126 inside the domed elevation, the inner diameter of the domed elevation increases respectively downward or respectively inward. After the first increase in the inner diameter immediately below the trailing edge 136, the inner part extends substantially cylindrically along the entire axial extent (in the direction of height) of the first ledge and increases further at approximately the height of the transition zone between the first 128 and second 134 ledges.

The lower end of the first ledge 128 of the tube holder 180 forms in the inner part an annular abutment surface 130, which simultaneously delimits an annular groove 132 in the upper part inside the second ledge 134. The inner part of the second ledge 134 extends in the form of a truncated cone under the annular groove 132, extends downward and passes to its lower end to the lower side of the horizontally lying annular shoulder 122 of the cap 120.

The closure element 200 is made essentially in the form of a cover and includes a head plate 210 and a side portion 220 extending therefrom, the side portion 220 being made substantially so that it is substantially coaxial in the closed position of the closure element 200 with a side wall 110 of the shutter body 100.

Further, the closure member 200 has a groove 260 on its opposite side to the hinge 290 to accommodate the quality guarantee element 160, with the groove 260 (in the position of the closure member 200 shown in FIG. 1 in the lower zone, i.e. in the closed position in the upper zone) tapering inward so that the quality assurance element 160 can be pressed in to open into this tapering zone. The groove 260 for the quality guarantee element 160 is limited in its upper and lower zones by the spout 262 and the protrusion 264.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 comprises a shell element 150 consisting of a thermoplastic polyester (TPE), which extends substantially over the entire outer portion of the domed elevation 124 of the cap 120 and follows the outline of the domed elevation 124.

The dimensions of the shell element 150 of thermoplastic polyester and a domed elevation 124, as well as provided on the inner side of the head plate 210 of the closure element 200 of the flattening member 280, which is made essentially circular, are coordinated with each other so that when the closure of the closure 200 is almost silent, the flattener body 280 covers from above the first ledge 128 of the domed elevation 124 with the shell element 150 located on it and thereby tightly closes the outlet hole 126.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the outer diameter of the shell element 150 at the height of the first ledge 128 in its uncompressed state is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the circular flattening body 280 of the closure element 200, so that by closing the closure element 200 made in the form of a hinged cover while weak the compression of the shell element 150 creates an interference fit between the flattening body 280 and the shell element 150, which leads to reliable sealing in this place, even if They have small manufacturing tolerances in the geometry or dimensions of the individual elements, which, in particular, cannot be avoided in mass production, at least to a small degree, or more expensive manufacturing methods are required to comply with higher tolerances.

For the sake of completeness, it should be pointed out that the drain valve shown in FIG. 1 is configured such that an additional drain pipe can be inserted into the inner part of the shutter body 100, which is securely fixed in the inner part of the domed elevation 124 and whose outer end protrudes from the outlet 126 so as to further simplify the recovery of the liquid product, if necessary.

Figure 2 shows another embodiment of the drain valve, which is essentially identical to the embodiment shown in figure 1.

In contrast to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the shell element 150 is made, however, so that it covers only the upper part of the domed elevation 124, namely the first ledge 128 and the transition between the first 128 and second 134 ledges of the domed elevation 124. In addition, the shell element 150 is made in this form of execution of high pressure polyethylene (LDPE, low density polyethylene).

In Fig.3, the drain valve is made essentially in accordance with the embodiment of Fig.1. However, the outlet 126 on the upper side of the shutter body 100 is provided with an integrity guarantee member 300. This integrity guarantee element 300 is an integral part of the drain valve 10 and is made for this purpose from the relatively soft material of the shell element 150. The weakened strength line 302 following the edge of the outlet 126 of the domed elevation 124 connects the seal outlet 126 of the integrity guarantee element 300 to the shell element 150. Preferably, a tear tab 304, preferably made in one piece, is connected to the integrity guarantee element 300. The tear-off tab 304 provides easy opening of the container by tearing off even when this cannot be done by hand, for example, on bicycle races and the like.

The integrity guarantee element 300 thereby ensures that air or oxygen does not degrade the contents of the container until the container or bottle is first opened. Also here, the shell element 150 may be made, together with the integrity guarantee element 300, from thermoplastic polyester (TPE) and / or high pressure polyethylene (LDPE) or from rubber, silicone and / or soft plastic or a combination of these materials.

The embodiment of the drain valve 10 of FIG. 4 differs from the embodiment of FIG. 3 only in that the integrity guarantee element 400 is made of the material of the shutter body 100 together with it in the form of a single part by injection molding. This integrity guarantee member 400 extends freely upward or outward and is connected or integrally formed with the shutter body 100 by means of the weakened strength line following the annular edge of the outlet opening 126 of the line 402. The tear-off tab 404, as in FIG. 3, protrudes at an angle from the upper side of the integrity guarantee member 400, consists of the same material as the shutter body 100, and should facilitate opening of the container provided with the drain shutter 10, however, up to this point of opening, guarantee the quality of the contents of the container due to the tightness of the outlet 126 of the container. The shutter body 100 is made with a tear tab 404, preferably of injection molded polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE).

Of course, if necessary, the integrity guarantee element 400 consisting of the material of the shutter housing 100 and its tear tab 404 can be additionally coated with the soft material of the shell element 150, in particular if the container provided with it cannot be opened by hand or can be, but only in complex conditions, as is the case with certain sporting events, such as cycling, etc.

Figure 5 shows a General view of the described drain valve in figure 3 and 4, and the drain valve in figure 1 and 2 are also comparable with the image of the drain valve in figure 5, if you omit the element 400 guarantee the integrity and tear tab 404 and imagine open outlet 126 of the shutter body 100.

List of Reference Items

10 - drain valve

100 - shutter housing

110 - side wall

112 - thread

114 - sealing cuff

120 - cap

122 - annular shoulder

124 - domed elevation

126 - outlet

128 - first ledge

130 - annular thrust surface

132 - annular groove

134 - second ledge

136 - trailing edge

150 - shell element

160 - quality assurance element

180 - tube holder

200 - clogging element

210 - head plate

220 - side section

260 - groove

262 - nose

264 - ledge

280 - flattening organ

290 - hinge

300 - integrity assurance element

302 - line of weakened strength

304 - tear-off tongue

400 - integrity assurance element

402 - line of weakened strength

404 - tear-off tongue

Claims (17)

1. A drain valve (10) for containers containing a fluid product, in particular containers for drinks, including a valve body (100) with a cap (120), the side wall (110) secured above the container opening is separated downward from its outer edge on her; a substantially horizontal annular shoulder (122) of a cap (120), from which a dome-shaped elevation (124) extends outwardly from radially inwardly to the longitudinal middle axis of the portion, having at its outer end an outlet (126) in communication with a container opening; a shell element (150), which at least partially covers the outer part of the domed elevation and whose material is softer than the material of the domed elevation; a clogging element (200) for the outlet (126), characterized in that the domed elevation forms a neck for drinking, the outlet (126) of which has a radially inwardly bent closing edge (136) extending almost horizontally at its uppermost portion, and the dimensions a shell element (150) made of thermoplastic polyester and a neck for drinking, as well as a cylindrical flattening organ (280) provided on the inside of the head plate (210) of the closure element (200), are matched with Thus, in the closed position of the plugging element (200), the flattening body (280) covers the top of the drinking neck with the shell element (150) placed on it. 2. The shutter according to claim 1, characterized in that the neck for drinking is made in its height concessional in diameter. 3. The shutter according to claim 2, characterized in that the first upper ledge (128) of the drinking neck is located relative to the cap (120) above the second lower ledge (134). 4. The shutter according to claim 3, characterized in that each of the steps (128, 134) of the drinking neck is made essentially cylindrical. 5. The closure according to claim 3, characterized in that both ledges (128, 134) of the drinking neck have the same height, however, the first ledge (128) has a smaller diameter. 6. The shutter according to claim 3, characterized in that the transitions from the outside between the first (128) and second (134) ledges of the neck of the drink, as well as its second ledge (134) and the annular shoulder (122) are rounded. 7. The shutter according to claim 1, characterized in that the shell element (150) covers only the first ledge (128) and the transition between the first (128) and second (134) ledges of the neck for drinking. 8. The shutter according to claim 1, characterized in that the shell element (150) extends essentially over the entire outer part of the neck of the drink and repeats its contour. 9. The shutter according to claim 1, characterized in that the inner part of the neck for drinking is also made concessive, and the inner diameter of the neck for drinking is increased inward under the smallest diameter of the outlet (126). 10. The shutter according to claim 9, characterized in that the inner part of the neck for drinking after the first increase in its inner diameter under the closing edge (136) of the outlet (126) passes along the entire axial length of the first ledge (128), essentially cylindrical and expands approximately at the height of the transition zone between the first (128) and second (134) ledges. 11. The shutter according to claim 3, characterized in that the inner part of the second ledge (134) extends in the form of a truncated cone under the annular groove (132), expands downward and passes at its lower end into the horizontal annular shoulder (122) of the cap (120) . 12. The shutter according to claim 3, characterized in that the lower end of the first ledge (128) of the tube holder (180) forms an annular thrust surface (130) in the inner part of the neck of the drink, which simultaneously delimits an annular groove (132) on the upper portion of the second ledge (134). 13. The shutter according to claim 1, characterized in that a drain pipe can be inserted into the inner part of the clogging element (200), which is securely fixed in the inner part of the drinking neck and the outer end of which protrudes from the outlet (126) for easier extraction fluid product. 14. The shutter according to claim 1, characterized in that the closure element (200) is made in the form of a cover and includes a head plate (210), as well as a side portion (220) passing from it, which in the closed position of the closure element (200) ) is essentially aligned with the side wall (110) of the shutter body (100). 15. The shutter according to claim 14, characterized in that a hinged lid is connected to the shutter body (100) in one piece and rotatably by means of a film hinge (290) as a sealing element (200) for opening and closing the outlet (126) shutter bodies (100). 16. The shutter according to claim 15, characterized in that the closure element (200) has a groove (260) on its opposite side of the hinge (290) to accommodate the quality guarantee element (160), the groove (260) in the closed position of the closure element ( 200) is narrowed inward, so that the quality assurance element (160) can be pressed in to open into this narrowed area. 17. The shutter according to claim 16, characterized in that the groove (260) for the quality guarantee element (160) is limited in its upper and lower zones by the nose (262) and the protrusion (264).

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