WO2003068036A1

WO2003068036A1 - A liquid container with suction spout

Info

Publication number: WO2003068036A1
Application number: PCT/SE2003/000232
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tomas Nygren; Per Eriksson
Original assignee: Baby Björn Ab
Priority date: 2002-02-12
Filing date: 2003-02-12
Publication date: 2003-08-21
Also published as: SE0200397D0; AU2003211791A1; SE0200397L

Abstract

A liquid container having a lid which includes a suction spout (4) that houses a valve unit (34, 37) which is biased into a closed state and which is opened by applying subpressure through a liquid outflow line that opens into the spout, wherein a chamber to which the subpressure is applied has an outwardly flexible membrane which converts the subpressure to a valve opening actuating force. The valve unit (68) is releasably fitted in the spout shell such as to divide the shell into two spaces, of which a first space is open towards the container and includes the valve top. The valve unit includes a wall element on which there is releasably fitted an elastomeric element that forms the subpressure chamber and the valve.

Description

A LIQUID CONTAINER WITH SUCTION SPOUT

The present invention relates to a liquid container of the kind defined in the preamble of Claim 1.

Thus, the invention relates to a liquid container of the type that includes a suction spout which projects out from the container to form a mouthpiece, said suction spout including a channel through which liquid flows out from the container interior. The channel includes a valve, which is normally closed to prevent liquid from flowing freely from the container through the spout.

In the case of a liquid container of this kind known in practice, the valve is adapted to be opened in the outflow direction of the channel in response to suction applied to the outflow end of the spout through the aid of the user's mouth, wherewith the pressure difference created across the valve causes the valve to open against its closing bias.

Such liquid containers find general use. However, despite having particularly favourable properties with respect to small children or infants who wish to drink from the container in the absence of adult control, such children are not always able to avoid spilling liquid from the container or even wish to do so.

In the case of these known liquid containers, the valve may be considered to include a valve head or valve top which can move towards and away from a valve seat and which is biased thereagamst. A corresponding solution in the form of a so-called duckbill valve is also known to the art. A duckbill valve can be described as a conical rubber membrane which screens-off said channel and which includes at its top an axial slit which faces the outflow direction of the liquid. Although duckbill valves are considered to have a very low thiOughfiow resistance, they have, basically, the same limitation as a valve top, namely that the greatest subpressure that a small child is able to apply through the suction spout defines, in combination with the throughflow area of the valve, the closing ability of the valve against the liquid pressure upstream of the valve.

In the case of mugs of the kind described, it may be so that the child shakes the liquid- filled mug, possibly turn the mug upside down, hammer the inverted mug against the table, or throw the lidded mug onto the floor. This causes the liquid in the mug to accelerate, wherewith the dynamic forces generated by the liquid are able to open the valve momentarily against its bias, so that liquid will spill out through the spout. One problem in this respect is that the valve bias towards the closed state of the valve cannot be increased, since the child is then unable to open the valve by suction.

Prior publications DE-C-291504, U.S. 5,079,013, FR-2767117 and WO 00/49920, for example, teach a valve device which minimises the subpressure created when the user places his/her mouth against the container spout opening, such as to open a valve in the liquid outflow channel, said valve otherwise being biased in its closed state by a relatively high biasing force. These known valve devices include, inter alia, coil springs and plungers which are displaceable in cylindrical barrels. These known devices are difficult to keep clean, which is a necessary criterion when the container shall be used in conjunction with foodstuffs. Cleaning of the individual components of the device is difficult to achieve, because of the configuration and size of these components. Because the valve device cannot be readily cleaned effectively in its assembled state, the fact that the device is difficult to assemble and dismantle for cleaning purposes is a primary drawback in this regard.

WO 95/10965 teaches a valve device of the kind defined in the preamble of Claim 1, wherein the valve closing spring has the form of a pleated bellows-like structure that carries the movable elements of the valve, and that also forms a deformable wall in a container. The user is able to create a suction force with the aid of its mouth, via an opening in the top region of the spout and a suction line connecting therewith. The suction line, however, is separate from the liquid outflow line of the liquid container. Although both lines open out at the container spout, they are mutually spaced from one another.

Moreover, the bellows-like elements are small and cannot be readily accessed for cleaning purposes. These elements are also difficult to assemble and dismantle.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a device which, because it is comprised of simple and robust components that are easy to clean and easy to assemble and dismantle respectively, enable the device to be cleaned effectively in a simple and comfortable fashion, for instance by washing the same in a typical dishwashing machine. Another object in this regard is to provide a construction with which the mouth-applied subpressure for manoeuvring the valve of the liquid outflow line can be applied through said liquid outflow line via its opening into the spout, wherewith the construction shall be of a design in which the valve is biased into its closed state with a relatively high force, and in which a force converter enables the liquid outflow valve to be opened with a relatively small subpressure.

These objects are achieved, either totally or partially, by means of the invention.

The invention is defined in the accompanying independent Claim 1.

Further embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying dependent Claims.

The invention thus relates to a liquid container that has a container lid which carries a suction spout, wherein a liquid outflow line extends through the spout, wherein the spout is formed by a generally conical shell that defines a space in the spout interior, wherein there is included in the liquid outflow line a valve which is biased into a closed state and which includes a valve top and a valve seat, wherein there is included a chamber which has a deformable wall that biases the valve top into engagement with the valve seat, and wherein the valve is adapted to open when a user applies to the suction spout, with his/her mouth, a subpressure that is forwarded to said chamber. The aforesaid wall is a membrane that can bend out. The subpressure chamber is comprised of a longitudinal section of the liquid outflow line in the outflow direction downstream of the valve, so that the membrane defomiing subpressure can be applied through the opening of the liquid outflow line on the spout. A valve assembly is removably mounted in the interior space of the spout shell, so as to divide the same into two parts, of which one part of said space is open to the interior of the container and includes the valve top, and the other part of said space includes the subpressure chamber.

The valve assembly is formed to include a wall element that has a liquid throughflow opening and an elastomeric element that is removably mounted on the wall element. The elastomeric element is conveniently arranged to sealingly screen a gap between the edge of the wall element and the inner surface of the spout shell. The elastomeric element, or rubber-like element, will conveniently also include the membrane and, together with the wall element, delimit the subpressure chamber. The elastomeric element will also conveniently include the valve top, and the membrane is preferably adapted to carry the valve top through the medium of a stem that extends through an opening in the wall element. The valve seat co-acting with the valve top is arranged on the wall element in said one space part, and the valve top is also conveniently comprised of an elastomeric material.

The liquid container can be cleaned by removing the lid and drawing the lid spout from the valve assembly, which is then dismantled by pulling the elastomeric element free from the wall element. The liquid container components can then be washed in a dishwasher, or by hand, the surfaces of said components being easy to reach and easy to clean. Assembly of the liquid container to an operative state can also be readily achieved. The elastomeric element is fitted to the wall element with a simple hand movement such as to form the valve assembly, which is then fitted into the spout shell on the lid and secured thereto, whereafter the lid is fitted to the container after having filled said container with an appropriate liquid.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a child's mug fitted with a lid that carries a suction spout.

Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken on the line II-II in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates a variant of the subject of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates a variant of the subject of Fig. 3, in which a valve element is releasably clamped in a practical embodiment of a spout on a mug lid.

Figs. 5a and 5b are views of a partition wall included in a valve construction that can be readily fitted to and dismantled from a simple lid spout. Figs. 6a and 6b are mutually opposite perspective views of a membrane element that can be releasably fitted to the partition wall according to Figs. 5a, 5b to form said valve element.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a variant constructed of elements according to Figs. 6a, 6b, said view corresponding to the view of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line VIII- VIII in Fig. 7.

Shown in Fig. 1 is a mug 2 that includes a lid 3 which carries a suction spout 4. The free end of the spout is shown to include an opening 5. The lid 3 includes an opening 31. Located between the openings 5 and 31 are two channel sections 32, 33 which are mutually separated by a valve 34. The valve 34 includes a seat 35 and a valve top 36 co-acting with said seat. The valve top 36 is shown, schematically, to be biased against the seat 35 by a spring 37. The valve top is com ected, via a stem, to a central part 51 of a membrane 50, whose peripheral edge surface 32 is fastened in an opening in a partition wall. Located on one side of this partition wall is a space, which communicates with the ambient atmosphere, via an opening 39 in the outer wall of the spout. Located on the other side of the membrane is a chamber 134, which communicates with the channel section 33 via an opening 133. When the channel section 33 is subjected to subpressure, the membrane 50 will bend out in a direction normal to its plane and therewith move the valve top 36 away from the valve seat 35 against the action of the spring 37, so as to open the valve 34. It will be understood that the membrane 50 can be given an area, which is much greater than the free throughflow area of the valve. The membrane 50 and the fact that the subpressure on the suction spout 4 can be applied to one side of the membrane, and that the other side of the membrane is preferably in contact with the ambient atmosphere forms a force converter which is utilised to influence the valve 34 when the valve is open. It will also be understood that the force converter constitutes a drive element which exerts a displacement force on the valve 34 in response to a given subpressure in the channel section 33, said displacement force being greater than the valve opening force that can be established by the drop in pressure across the actual valve 34. Since the subpressure applied by a user with his/her mouth on the spout 5 is the limiting factor, the valve 34 can still be biased to a closed state with a spring force that is greater than the force that can be developed by the user with the aid of the pressure difference across the valve 34, since the force converter is adapted to actuate the valve 34 to its open state with a force that is dependent on the area of the membrane at the limit value concerned with respect to the subpressure in the spout 5. This enables the valve bias (37) to a closed state to be chosen sufficiently high to enable the valve 34 to keep the channels 32, 33 closed even in the case of high dynamic forces of liquid that tends to flow from the interior of the mug against the valve 34.

It will be evident from the construction illustration in Fig. 2 that the pneumatic force amplifier, or force converter, can be coupled to a known valve construction 34. The drive stem 40 of the valve top can extend through the valve opening 38, but will, of course, have a substantially smaller cross-sectional area than the opening since the valve has only one single opening 38.

Fig. 3 illustrates that the valve 34 that can be opened by the force converter can be turned in opposite directions, so as to be self-sealing with respect to liquid that tends to flow out of the mug and therewith impinge on the valve top or corresponding valve element, so that the valve will be driven to its closed state by the pressure of the liquid, i.e. a liquid overpressure on that side of the valve that faces towards the mug interior. It may be beneficial to allow the valve to be biased into a closed state also in this particular embodiment, since the liquid that flows back from the valve 34 to the interior of the mug 2 would be able to open the valve, and because dynamic forces would be able to open the valve, and because dynamic forces would be able to act on the movable part of the valve and accelerate said part to a valve opened state.

It will be seen that the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3 is particularly favourable from a structural aspect, since the membrane 50 may be exposed directly to the section 33 of the suction line and thus able to form a part of the wall of said line section 33.

The actual lid spout 4 may have the form of a generally conical and flattened extension or widening at the edge of the lid 3, this extension or widening forming a correspondingly shaped shell which has the suction opening 5 located at the top of the shell and which is open to the underside of the lid around the whole of its base, as evident from Fig. 4 which can be considered to show a section taken along the line II-II in Fig. 1. As evident from Fig. 5, one end portion of a partition wall according to Figs. 6a, 6b can have a configuration corresponding to that illustrated in respect of the spout 4 in Fig. 1, wherein the partition wall carries an elastomeric element 64 which lies above the wall edge in that part that is received in the spout shell for sealing said shell against said inner wall. The wall 60 has an opening 38, which is surrounded by the valve seat 31. The elastomeric element has an integrated membrane 50 which includes a stem 40 that carries a valve top 36 made of rubber-like material. The rubber-like element 64 is releasably fitted to the partition wall 60 to enable it to be loosened or removed from the wall 60 for cleaning purposes and then refitted. Because the valve top 36 has a rubber-like resilience, it can be drawn out of and pressed in through the valve opening 35. The elastomeric element 64 also seals against the inner wall of the spout shell and the wall 60 carrying said element 64.

The insert 68 illustrated in Fig. 4 can be pressed into the spout shell 4 and retained therein by factional contact of the elastomeric element with the inner wall surface of the spout 4. A snap-latch member is provided for keeping the insert in place. This latching member snaps into a hole 61. The wall 60 is extended to form a handgrip (61), which facilitates withdrawal and insertion of the insert or unit 68.

Shape binding connections are provided between the wall 60 and the elastomeric element for holding said wall and said element together, wherein this binding connection can be cancelled out by greatly deforming the elastomeric element elastically, normally manually.

Figs. 5a, 5b illustrate respectively opposite sides of the substantially rigid wall 60, and Figs. 6a, 6b illustrate respective opposite sides of the elastomeric element co-acting with said wall.

As will be evident from Figs. 7, 8, the latching member includes a projection 71, which is preferably carried by a resilient, tongue 64 carried by a wall extension 61. The lid carries on its inner surface a wall 72 that extends generally at right angles to the container bottom, which is positioned to lie adjacent the wall extension 61. The lid wall 72 includes the hole 7 that receives the projection 71. The elastomeric element provides a spring effect which enables the wall element 60, 61 to be moved to enable the projection 71 to be inserted into and removed from the hole 73. The tongue 64 amplifies the freedom of movement of the projection 71. As will be seen, the free end of the projection 71 is bevelled, to facilitate dismantling of the valve unit. It will also be seen from Figs. 7, 8 that the wall opening includes an anchoring opening 77 which receives a waisted portion 66 of the elastomeric element, which extends between its part that includes the membrane 50, and an end part 68 whose free end is preferably slightly smaller than the size of the opening 77, to permit easy insertion, but which has bordering on the waist 66 a part which is significantly larger than the opening 77, so as to hold the elastomeric element firmly to the wall element. As mentioned, the rubber-like element is an elastomeric element and can be formed from an appropriate elastomer, such as silicon rubber, for instance. The stem 61 of the rubber-like element connecting the valve top 36 to the central region of the membrane 50 will preferably be sufficiently rigid to enable the stem to be easily pressed manually through the wall opening 38 (with the valve top leading). The valve top 36 is thus made sufficiently flexible to enable it to be inserted through the opening 38 when fitting the rubber- like element to the wall element and removing said rubber-like element from said wall element respectively.

The spout shell 4 will conveniently have a conical shape in a direction towards its tip, and may also be conveniently flattened in a plane that extends axially to the mug, wherewith the valve unit 68 and therewith its wall element 60 will shield the spout shell transversely to the direction in which it is flattened. As will be evident from Figs. 7 and 8, the rubberlike element has an edge flange which grips over the edge of the wall element 60. It will also be seen that the rubber-like element includes a channel 69 which is directed towards the opening 5 in the spout 4 and extends into the subpressure chamber defined by the rubber-like element and the wall element.

It will also be seen that the rubber-like element seals against the spout shell around the outside of the membrane 50, in the region of the ventilation opening 39 of said shell, so as to maintain atmospheric pressure on the outside of the membrane 50.

Claims

1. A liquid container (2) that has a lid (3) which carries a suction spout (4), wherein a liquid outflow line (32, 33) extends through the spout (4), wherein the spout is comprised of a generally conical shell which defines a space internally of the spout, wherein there is included a valve (34, 37) which is biased into a closed state and which includes a valve top (36) and a valve seat (35) in the liquid outflow line, wherein there is also included a chamber that has an elastically deformable wall which biases the valve top into engagement with the valve seat, wherein the valve (34, 37) is adapted to be opened in response to subpressure applied by a user with his/her mouth against the suction spout (4), characterised in that said wall part is a membrane (50) that can bend out; in that the subpressure chamber is comprised of a longitudinal section of the liquid outflow line (32, 33) located downstream of the valve (34, 37) in the liquid outflow direction of said line, wherewith the membrane deforming subpressure can be applied through the discharge opening of the liquid outflow line on the spout (4); in that the valve unit (68) is releasably fitted in the internal space of the spout shell such as to divide said space into first and second parts, of which one is open to the container interior and includes the valve top (36) and the other of which includes the subpressure chamber.

2. A liquid container according to Claim 1, characterised in that the valve unit (68) includes a wall element (60) that has a liquid throughflow opening (58) and an elastomeric element (64) which is releasably fitted to the wall element (60); in that the elastomeric element (64) includes the membrane (50) and, together with said wall element, delimits the subpressure chamber; in that the elastomeric element (64) carries the valve top (36) via a stem (40) that extends through an opening (38) in the wall element (60), wherein the valve top seat (35) is disposed on the wall element (60) in said one space part.

3. A liquid container according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the membrane (50) is spaced from the adjacent surface of the spout shell, in that the spout shell has a tlirough-penetrating opening (39) for ventilation of the second part of said space; and in that the elastomeric element seals around the membrane periphery against the spout shell.

4. A liquid container according to any one of Claims 1-3, characterised in that the elastomeric element includes an edge portion (64) that extends around the edge portion of the spout received in the wall element such as to seal said wall element against the inner surface of the spout shell; and in that the edge portion of the elastomeric element is connected to and carries the membrane (50) in spaced relationship with the surface of the wall element.

5. A liquid container according to any one of Claims 1-4, characterised in that said stem and said valve top are formed integrally with the elastomeric element.

6. A liquid container according to any one of Claims 1-5, characterised by a latching member (71, 73) for releasably securing the valve unit in said spout.

7. A liquid container according to any one of Claims 1-6, characterised in that the wall element (60) has an extension (61) which forms a spout handle for the valve unit.

8. A liquid container according to any one of Claims 1-7, characterised in that the elastomeric element includes a cup-shaped cavity whose edge seals against the wall element to form said subpressure chamber.

9. A liquid container according to any one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the wall element (60) has an opening (77); and in that the elastomeric element has an edge part (67) which is connected to said element through the medium of a waist portion (66) that extends tlirough an opening (77) in the wall element (60, 61) for releasably securing the elastomeric element to the wall element (60, 61).