US20060086637A1

US20060086637A1 - Interior anchor structure for a vacuum preserving container

Info

Publication number: US20060086637A1
Application number: US10/969,913
Authority: US
Inventors: Hsin Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-10-22
Filing date: 2004-10-22
Publication date: 2006-04-27

Abstract

An interior anchor structure for a vacuum preservation container has a closed and resilient pouch filled with gas located therein. When the preservation container holds a preserving article and is vacuumized, the resilient pouch inflates because of the interior pressure of the preservation container decreases. The elasticity and flexibility of the resilient pouch may be deformed to squeeze and hold the preserving article securely in a still manner without shaking and damaging.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an interior anchor structure for a vacuum preserving container and particularly to an interior anchor structure for holding an article in a preserving container through a closed and deformable resilient pouch filled with gas and inflatable due to air pressure variation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Damp-resistant, mold-resistant and corrosion-proof techniques are commonly used in people's daily life. Refer to FIG. 1 for a simple and safe technique now being widely used. It is a vacuum preserving container 1 that has a vacuum apparatus 2 to withdraw air from a housing compartment in the preserving container 1 and reduce the air pressure of the housing compartment to hold articles in a vacuum environment. The relative humidity in the vacuum preserving container 1 is lower, therefore the articles may be stored for a long period of time without exposing to moisture and molds and may be free from corrosion.
The conventional technique mentioned above has been widely used for preserving foods, musical instruments, electronic devices, optical equipment, and other articles needed to be protected from damping. While the conventional technique mentioned above can protect articles from being damaged by damping, mold infliction or corrosion, the articles held in the preserving container 1 might hit the interior of the preserving container 1 when the container is moved by users and result in damage. To remedy this problem, some preserving container 1 has a pliable padding matching the article to be held embedded in the container as a lining to reduce the possible impact when the preserving container 1 is moving. It still cannot fully overcome the problem. Moreover, when the article and the padding are fitted tightly with a too small gap or no gap, the article is difficult to be removed from the container, and the article might be damaged if it is removed forcefully. The damage of the preserving article caused by shaking still cannot be totally eliminated. Hence there is room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the primary object of the invention is to provide an anchor structure to prevent articles held in a preserving container from being damaged by shaking.
Another object of the invention is to provide an anchor structure adaptable to a preserving article of any shape.
The preserving container according to the invention includes a plurality of closed and resilient pouches filled with gas in the interior, a lid and a chest. The chest has a housing compartment. The lid can cover and close the chest tightly. The preserving container further has a vacuum apparatus to vacuumize the housing compartment. The housing compartment can hold preserving articles. According to Boyle's law, when a fixed amount of gas at a constant temperature, its volume and pressure form an inverse ratio, indicated by an equation of PV=K (where P is the pressure, V is the volume and K is a constant). Hence when the vacuum apparatus starts vacuumizing, the volume of the resilient pouch grows gradually as the pressure of the housing compartment decreases. Hence the resilient pouch can squeeze and hold the article to prevent the article from shaking and damaging.
The resilient pouch is made from an elastic material and is flexible, and may be deformed according to the shape of the preserving article, thus can hold and anchor different shapes of preserving articles.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional preserving container.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3A is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3B is a cross section taken on line 3B-3B in FIG. 3A.
FIG. 3C is a schematic view of FIG. 3B in a vacuum condition.
FIG. 4A is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4B is a schematic view of the resilient pouch arrangement of the third embodiment.
FIG. 5A is a schematic view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5B is a schematic view of the fourth embodiment in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 2 for a first embodiment of the present invention. A preservation container 10 includes a chest 11 and a lid 12 that may be coupled to form a housing compartment 13. The preservation container 10 further has a vacuum apparatus (not shown in the drawing) to vacuumize the housing compartment 13 through a suction vent 15. The preservation container 10 also has a gas release valve (not shown in the drawing) to release the vacuum condition of the housing compartment 13 through the suction vent 15. The dimension of the housing compartment. 13 is larger than the preserving article to be housed and formed in a shape matching the preserving article.
Take a violin as an example of the preserving article to be held. A housing space for holding the violin is reserved in the housing compartment 13. The housing compartment 13 has an inner wall lined with a closed and resilient pouch 20 filled with gas and formed in an annular fashion around the housing compartment 13. Once the violin is held in the housing compartment 13, and the housing compartment 13 is vacuumized, according to Boyle's law, the resilient pouch 20 is inflated to squeeze the violin and deformed according to the shape of the violin. Thus the resilient pouch 20 presses the violin in various directions without creating damage, and the violin is securely held in the housing compartment 13 without shaking and damaging even if the preservation container 10 is moved. When the vacuum condition of the housing compartment 13 is released, the resilient pouch 20 deflates, and user can easily remove the violin from the housing compartment 13.
Refer to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C for a second embodiment of the invention. It also has a vacuum apparatus (not shown in the drawings), a suction vent 15 and a release valve (not shown in the drawings). It is constructed largely like the first embodiment, and the dimension of the housing compartment 13 is larger than the preserving article to be housed and formed in a shape matching the preserving article. The resilient pouch 20 is held in a hollow space 32 of an anchor board 31. The anchor board 31 is substantially flat and has an opening 33 on the surface communicating with the hollow space 32 so that a portion of the resilient pouch 20 may be extended above the opening 33. The anchor board 31 is lined on the peripheral side of the housing compartment 13 with the opening 33 directing towards the preserving article. According to Boyle's law, when the housing compartment 13 is vacuumized, the resilient pouch 20 gradually inflates (from what is shown in FIG. 3B to FIG. 3C), and expands in the direction from the periphery of the housing compartment 13 towards the center thereof. Take the violin as an example for the preserving article. The violin held in the housing compartment 13 may be squeezed by the inflated resilient pouch 20 in a still manner without shaking.
Refer to FIGS. 4A and 4B for a third embodiment of the invention. It also has a vacuum apparatus (not shown in the drawings), a suction vent 15 and a release valve (not shown in the drawings). It has a housing compartment 13 larger than the preserving article to be held and formed in a shape not necessary matching the preserving article. The resilient pouches 20 are formed in a cylindrical shape distributed on the entire housing compartment 13. The unnecessary resilient pouches 20 are removed to hold the preserving article. The drawings show a violin as the preserving article. Users can change the configuration of the resilient pouches 20 according to the preserving article. After the violin has been held in the housing compartment 13 and the housing compartment 13 is vacuumized, the resilient pouches 20 inflate to squeeze and hold the violin securely in a still manner without shaking.
Refer to FIGS. 5A and 5B for a fourth embodiment of the invention. It also has a vacuum apparatus (not shown in the drawings), a suction vent 15 and a release valve (not shown in the drawings). It has a housing compartment 13 larger than the preserving article to be held and formed in a shape not necessary matching the preserving article. The resilient pouch 20 is held in a hollow space 32 of an anchor board 31 which is substantially flat. The anchor board 31 has an opening 33 on the surface communicating with the hollow space 32 to enable a portion of the resilient pouch 20 to extend above the opening 33 (as shown in FIG. 3B).
The anchor board 31 is distributed on the entire bottom of the housing compartment 13 with the opening 33 directing upwards. A portion of the anchor board 31 may be removed according to the requirement for holding the preserving article. In this embodiment the preserving article is a violin to serve as an example. In practice, users can configure by themselves according to the requirement of different preserving articles. Referring to FIG. 5B, when the housing compartment 13 is vacuumized, the resilient pouch 20 in the housing compartment 13 inflates gradually to squeeze and hold the preserving article such as the violin held therein securely without moving. FIG. 5B shows the chest 11 and the lid 12 are in an open condition to facilitate discussion. In practice, they are closed when in use for vacuumizing of the housing compartment 13.
In the embodiments set forth above, the resilient pouch 20 is made from rubber or the like, preferably Thermoplastic Ployurethane (TPU). TPU is an environment-friendly material without toxicity. It also is an elastic polymer resistant to wearing, stretching, and low temperature without cracking. Hence the resilient pouch 20 of the invention can hold the preserving article securely in the preservation container 10 in a still manner without damaging, and is adaptable to different shapes of preserving articles.

Claims

1. An interior anchor structure for a vacuum preservation container for holding a preserving article, comprising a chest and a lid coupling together to form a housing compartment, a vacuum apparatus to vacuumize the housing compartment and a release valve to release the vacuum condition of the housing compartment;

wherein the housing compartment is formed in a size larger than the preserving article and a shape matching the preserving article, and contains a closed and resilient pouch filled with gas and formed in an annular fashion around the housing compartment for holding the preserving article such that when the housing compartment is vacuumized the resilient pouch inflates to squeeze and hold the preserving article in a still manner without moving.

2. The interior anchor structure for a vacuum preservation container of claim 1, wherein the resilient pouch is made from elastic rubber.

3. The interior anchor structure for a vacuum preservation container of claim 2, wherein the rubber is Thermoplastic Ployurethane (TPU).

4. The interior anchor structure for a vacuum preservation container of claim 1, wherein the resilient pouch is held in a hollow space of an anchor board which is substantially flat and has an opening on the surface communicating with the hollow space to allow a portion of the resilient pouch to extend upwards through the opening, the anchor board being lined on the peripheral side of the housing compartment, the opening being directed towards the preserving article such that when the housing compartment is vacuumized the resilient pouch inflates to squeeze and hold the preserving article in a still manner without moving.

5. The interior anchor structure for a vacuum preservation container of claim 1, wherein the housing compartment is formed in a shape not matching the preserving article, the resilient pouch being formed in cylindrical and distributed in the entire housing compartment and removable to hold the preserving article such that when the housing compartment is vacuumized the resilient pouch inflates to squeeze and hold the preserving article in a still manner without moving.

6. The interior anchor structure for a vacuum preservation container of claim 1, wherein the housing compartment is formed in a shape not matching the preserving article, the resilient pouch being contained in a hollow space of an anchor board which is substantially flat and has an opening on the surface communicating with the hollow space to allow a portion of the resilient pouch to extend above the opening, the anchor board being located and distributed on the entire bottom of the housing compartment and having the opening directing upwards and being removable to hold the preserving article such that when the housing compartment is vacuumized the resilient pouch inflates to squeeze and hold the preserving article in a still manner without moving.