US3058610A

US3058610A - Vacuum flasks

Info

Publication number: US3058610A
Application number: US854407A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leslie-Smith Laurance
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1959-11-20
Filing date: 1959-11-20
Publication date: 1962-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 1979-10-16

Description

Oct. 16, 1962 LESLIE-SMITH 3,058,610

VACUUM FLASKS Filed Nov. 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 jii FIG]

A aura/me Les/[e Sm/f/z 6' 7 7' GENE Y5 Oct. 16, 1962 L. LESLIE-SMITH I 5 1 VACUUM FLASKS Filed Nov. 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS - INVENTOE' Laura/ice Les [6 Jmi/fi United States Patent 3,058,610 VACUUM FLASKS Laurance Leslie-Smith, Grosvenor Gardens House, Grosvenor Gardens, London SW. 1, England Filed Nov. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 854,407 6 Claims. (Cl. 215-13) The present invention relates to vacuum flasks and more particularly to a construction of vacuum flask in which a pouring element is interposed between the canister normally made of metal and the vacuum bottle.

This pouring element serves not only to provide a pouring lip for the contents of the flask but also serves to hold the upper end of the vacuum botle in and spaced from the casing so as to protect it from shock and to locate it properly for the insertion of a suitable stopper or bung.

A pouring lip member is described and claimed in the specification of my copending application Number 706,321.

In the pouring lip as described in the aforesaid specification the pouring lip member engages the bottle at two places, namely around the lip of the bottle by means of a skirt which engages the inside of the lip, and also by a lower member which depends from the inside of the pouring lip member in the form of a skirt which is sufliciently flexible to allow slight movement of the bottle in the easing and also closely to engage the bottle all around its outer wall to provide a liquid seal in spite of the irregularities in shape normally found in vacuum bottles.

An object of the invention is to provide an alternative or further seal at this point and according to the present invention a seal between the pouring lip member and the vacuum bottle, which seal also serves to hold the bottle in spaced relationship with the casing, comprises an annular member which is separate from the pouring lip member and which engages around the neck or other portion of the bottle on the inner face and on its outer face engages the pouring lip member.

A simple form of the invention comprises a ring of suitable section made of resilient material which embraces the neck of the bottle closely and which when the pouring lip member is in position also engages the pouring lip member at all points around its inner face and at the same time permits the bottle a lateral adjustment inside the canister by virtue of its resiliency. The ring may for example be made of rubber or other elastic material which is compressed between the bottle and the inside face of the pouring lip member.

However in one form of the invention the annular sealing member has its inner and outer face formed on limbs which are interconnected either directly or by means of a web-like member, as for example in an H section.

Alternatively, the annular sealing member may itself be made of a substantially non-deformable material, for example a polyamide, but the construction of the annular member may be such that it is flexible. Thus an annular flared skirt of a polyamide may be formed, the inner periphery of which engages the neck of the bottle and the outer periphery of which engages the inside face of the pouring lip member. This flared skirt may if desired be of U section so that when the bottle is in position the U section tends to close by being squeezed between the pouring lip member and the neck of the bottle and so forms a seal preventing any liquid leaking past the joint between the pouring lip member and the mouth of the bottle penetrating into the body of the canister. The U-shaped skirt may be positioned either so that the U is the right way up or is inverted.

The invention will now be described With reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a side elevation of a vacuum flask 3,658,610 Patented Oct. 16, 1962 "ice part broken away showing one construction in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 shows a section similar to the broken part of FIGURE 1 of an alternative form of the invention;

FIGURE 3 shows yet another form;

FIGURE 4 shows a further form;

FIGURE 5 shows yet another form; and

FIGURE 6 shows yet another form.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a vacuum flask comprises a canister 1 having a separate screw in shoulder 2 which engages a pouring lip member 3 which serves by means to be described to hold and to locate the upper end of the bottle 4 in position in the canister.

The pouring lip member 3 may be provided with screw means 5 for engaging a screw stopper 6 which carries a depending bung 7 for sealing the mouth of the bottle 4. The pouring lip member 3 has an inwardly and downwardly directed skirt portion 8 which engages the inside of the lip of the mouth of the flask 4. In addition to this seal there is, in accordance with this invention, provided a secondary seal which takes the form of a separate annular sealing member 9 which surrounds the neck of the bottle 4 and engages the inside face of the pouring lip member 3. In the form shown in FIGURE 1 the sealing member 9 comprises an annular member of inverted U section and made of a plastic material such for example as polyethylene or a polyamide which has the ability to deform and to close around the neck of the bottle 4 and also to press against the inside face of the pouring lip member 3 to form a liquid tight seal and to prevent any contents of the flask which leak between the skirt 8 and the lip of the bottle 4 from penetrating into the body of the canister 1.

In order to locate the sealing member 9 the inside of the pouring lip member 3 is provided with a shoulder 10 against which the lower edge of the member 9 is located. Furthermore the inner curvature of the pouring lip member 3 can match the curvature of the member 9.

FIGURE 2 shows an alternative form of sealing member 9 which in this form has the cross section of the letter M. The leg of the M, which engages the inner face of the pouring lip member 3, lies in a recess 11 formed between the shoulder 10 and the shoulder of the pouring lip member 3. When in the form of the letter M the member 9 is able to open and close concertina fashion to provide a good seal between the flask bottle 4 and the pouring lip member 3. In addition the leg of the member bearing against the bottle 4 is permitted to adjust itself angularly to that of the outside face of the bottle.

In the form shown in FIGURE 3 the sealing member 9 takes the form of the letter N with the cross member joining the right hand leg somewhat above the bottom of that leg. Here again the member 9 fits into a recess between the shoulder 10 on the inside of the pouring lip member 3 and the upper shoulder of that member. This illustration shows the leg of the member bearing against the bottle 4 angulated to accommodate itself against the edge of the bottle 4.

In the construction shown in FIGURE 3 the pouring lip member is not provided with an upwardly projecting and annular extension to take a screw stopper, as is shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, but is smoothed off to finish somewhat above the flask bottle and an ordinary bung is employed to close the flask.

FIGURE 4 shows the sealing member 9 having a V- Shaped section. The upper end of the leg engaging the pouring lip member 3 is provided with a projecting rib 12 of circular section which engages in a groove 13 of similar section formed in the pouring lip member 3. If desired this groove 13 may extend beyond the half circle so that the rib 12 can be snapped into position by deforming the rib which conveniently is made of a resilient material, for example polyethylene. Alternatively the pouring lip member 3 may be made of resilient material or if desired both members may be made of resilient material.

FIGURE 5 shows a further form of the invention in which the sealing member 9 serves as the seal between the pouring lip member 3 and the flask bottle 4. The pouring lip member 3 is provided with an inverted groove 14 so as to form with the inner shoulder 15 a wedged shaped skirt depending around the shoulder 15. Into the groove 14 fits a corresponding shaped rib 16 on the sealing member 9 which in turn is provided with a groove 17 into which fits the skirt formed on the shoulder 15. The sealing member 9, formed of a plastic which is either resilient in itself or is shaped so that the member itself is deformable, is formed to embrace the lip 18 of the bottle 4 so as to fit snugly both on the inside by means of the depending skirt 19 and on the outside by the depending skirt 20. Conveniently the member 9 is made so that the

skirts

19 and 20 are forced apart when the lip of the bottle 4 is pressed into the recess formed between them.

In addition to this member a secondary seal may be provided lower down the neck of the bottle by means of a second sealing member 9 in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 6 shows an alternative construction of member 9 to that shown in FIGURE 5. In this case the pouring lip member 3 is provided with a substantially right angle internal shoulder 21 and the sealing member 9 is provided with a correspondingly shaped rebate 22, the depending

skirts

19 and 20 operating in the manner described with reference to FIGURE 5.

The pouring lip members described with reference to the accompanying drawings can be shaped so as to accommodate either a screw stopper, an ordinary push-in bung or any other form of closure, such for example as a snapon closure.

Furthermore the pouring lip member may be formed integrally with the shoulder of the canister instead of being a member separate from the normal metal shoulder and in this case the combined shoulder and pouring lip member is preferably formed of a plastic.

What I claim is:

1. A vacuum flask assembly comprising a vacuum flask bottle having a neck portion terminating in a circumferential lip providing an open mouth, a canister enclosing said bottle and engaging at its upper end a pouring lip member surrounding the neck of the bottle, a downwardly and inwardly directed skirt portion of the pouring lip member sealingly engaging the inside of the lip of the mouth of the bottle, and a separate annular member independent of the pouring lip member and removably supported thereby and having an inner periphery and an outer periphery, and means resiliently connecting the said inner and outer peripheries, the said inner periphery sealingly engaging around the neck of the bottle and the said outer periphery sealingly engaging an inner surface of the pouring lip member.

2. A vacuum flask assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the annular member comprises spaced interconnected limbs and outwardly opposing surfaces on said limbs providing the said inner and outer peripheries of the annular member.

3. A vacuum flask assembly as claimed in claim 2 further including a shoulder formed on said inner surface of the pouring lip member for engaging the annular member to locate the annular member with respect to the pouring lip member.

4. A vacuum flask assembly as claimed in claim 3 and including a further shoulder on said inner surface of the pouring lip member and axially spaced from said first mentioned shoulder to form therewith an annular recess for receiving the said outer face of the annular member.

5. A vacuum flask assembly as claimed in claim 2 and including an annular groove on said inner surface of the pouring lip member and an annular projection on said outer face of the annular member for engaging in the said groove.

6. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which the means includes an annular member separate from said pouring lip member for providing the seal between the pouring lip member and the inside of the lip of the mouth of the bottle, and the seal between the pouring lip member and the outside of the neck of the bottle, the said annular member having a first depending skirt portion sealingly engaging the inside of the lip of the mouth of the bottle, a second depending skirt portion spaced from the first skirt portion and sealingly engaging the outside of the neck of the bottle, and means engaging the annular member with an inner surface of the pouring lip member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,817,452 Bramming Dec. 24, 1957 2,830,722 Darmstadt Apr. 15, 1958 2,963,187 Bramming Dec. 6, 1960 2,969,887 Darmstadt Jan. 31, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 480,943 Germany Nov. 30, 1926 242,967 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1946