US20020170874A1

US20020170874A1 - Easy-open lid assembly for a bottle

Info

Publication number: US20020170874A1
Application number: US09/855,503
Authority: US
Inventors: Shui-Mu Hou
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-05-16
Filing date: 2001-05-16
Publication date: 2002-11-21

Abstract

An easy-open lid assembly for a bottle has a body connected to the bottle, a socket centrally defined in the body, a nipple received in the socket, a straw connected to the nipple and extending into the bottle, a first spring disposed around the nipple, a lid hinged to the body, and a pushbutton. The lid is able to be closed for convenient transportation, or a user is able to push the pushbutton to open the lid and the nipple will rise out of the socket automatically for the user to easily access the beverage in the bottle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a lid assembly for a bottle, and more particularly to a easy-open lid assembly for a bottle.

2. Description of Related Art

With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a conventional lid assembly for a bottle disclosed is shown and the lid assembly includes a body ( 60) and a lid (70) hinged to the body (60).

The body ( 60) is connected to a bottle (80) and has a socket (601) centrally defined in the body (60). A nipple (61) with a bottom end connected to a straw (65) is received in the socket (601), and the straw (65) extends into the bottle (80) through an opening defined in a bottom surface of the socket (601). A spring (62) is disposed around the straw (65) and abuts the nipple (61) such that when the lid (70) is at an open position, the nipple (61) will be pushed out of the socket (601) automatically for easy access by a user. The lid (70) can be lowered to engagingly mate with the body (60) whereby the nipple (61) is pushed down into the socket (601) and the spring (62) is compressed. Thus, the nipple (61) is hygienically covered when not in use, and the nipple (61) is also sealed by an inner surface of the lid (70) such that liquid content of the bottle (80) cannot leak if the bottle (80) is not stored upright. The lid (70) can be maintained in the lowered position due to clipping of a hook (64) formed on a top surface of the body (60) and a flange (72) correspondingly formed on an edge of the lid (70).

Although the lid assembly previously mentioned can fulfill needs for convenient use and transportation when adapted onto a beverage bottle, shortcomings still arise from the clipping between the hook ( 64) and the flange (72). That is, if the hook (64) and the flange (72) are tightly engaged, the user can not easily raise the lid (70) to drink the beverage inside the bottle. Furthermore, if the hook (64) and the flange (72) are loosely engaged, the lid (70) may open undesirably during transportation, thereby leading to possible leakage, loss of the beverage when the user is very thirsty, possible staining of materials etc.

A further shortcoming of the cited art is that while travelling a user may wish to minimize the volume of baggage, but the bottle ( 80) takes up a lot of space. However, if the bottle is discarded the drinking straw is exposed to contamination and damage.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an easy-open lid assembly for a bottle to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is to provide an easy-open lid assembly for a bottle which has a body, a retractable nipple and a lid. The nipple is protruded from the body for convenient use when the lid is open, and retracted inside for good portability and hygiene when the lid is closed whereby the opening and the closing of the lid can be easily controlled using a pushbutton.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a compact housing for a drinking straw of the easy-open lid assembly whereby the lid assembly without a bottle attached thereto can be conveniently and hygienically transported.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an easy-open lid assembly for a bottle in accordance with the present invention; [0012]
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the lid assembly with a lid closed and a nipple retracted; [0013]
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the lid assembly with the lid opened and the nipple raised; [0014]
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another preferred embodiment of the lid assembly connected with a compact housing; [0015]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional lid assembly; and [0016]
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional lid assembly.[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an easy-open lid assembly for a bottle in accordance with the present invention includes a body ([0018] 10) connected to a bottle (50), a nipple (20) connected with a straw (22), a lid (30) hinged to the body (10), and a pushbutton (40) received in the body (10).
The body ([0019] 10) has a socket (11) centrally defined in a top surface of the body (10). The socket (11) is so configured to allow the nipple (20) to be received inside. A cap (13) is detachable disposed on top of the socket (11) and has a top opening (131) defined in the cap (13). The top opening (131) has a configuration to allow a top end of the nipple (20) to be extendable therethrough. A slot (14) configured to slidably receive the pushbutton (40) is defined in a side periphery of the body (10). The slot (14) also has a key-way slot (141) defined in a top periphery defining the slot (14), and a pair of guiding slots (142) defined in opposed portions of a side periphery defining the slot (14).
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the nipple ([0020] 20) received in the socket (11) is connected and communicated with the straw (22). The straw (22) extends through a hole defined in a bottom surface of the socket (11) and into the bottle (50). The nipple (20) has an annular protrusion (21) formed on the nipple (20), whereby the nipple (20) is divided into upper and lower portions separated by the protrusion (21). The annular protrusion (21) abuts a circumference defining the top opening (131) and thus keeps the nipple (20) from escaping the socket (11). A first spring (23) is disposed around the lower portion of the nipple (20) and has a top end that abuts the annular protrusion (21) and a bottom end that abuts the bottom surface of the socket (11) in order to provide an upward resilience to the nipple (20). In a preferred embodiment, a gasket (24) is sandwiched between the bottom end of the first spring (23) and the bottom surface of the socket (11) to provide a liquid-tight seal between the lower portion of the nipple (20) and the hole of the socket (11).
Referring to FIG. 1, the lid ([0021] 30) is shaped substantially as a semi-sphere and hinged to a side of body (10). The lid (30) has a sealing pad (31) centrally mounted on an inside face of the lid (30) to provide a fluid-tight seal to the nipple (20), and a flange (32) is inwardly formed on an edge of the lid (30).
The pushbutton ([0022] 40) has a hook (41) formed on a top of the pushbutton (40) to mate with the flange (32) of the lid (30). A pair of resilient barbs (43) is formed on two sides of the pushbutton (40) to correspond to the guiding slots (142) and each resilient barb (43) has a pair of separating slits (44) defined alone a longitudinal boundary of the resilient flange (43). The separating slits (44) longitudinally separate the resilient flanges (43) from the pushbutton (40) thus the resilient barbs (43) have horizontal resilience.
When assembling the pushbutton ([0023] 40) onto the body (10), the resilient barbs (43) are trapped in the corresponding guiding slots (142) and the hook (41) upwardly protrudes from the key-way (141). A second spring (42) is disposed in the slot (14) to be sandwiched between an end surface defining the slot (14) and the pushbutton (40) in order to provide an outward resilience for the pushbutton (40).
With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the lid ([0024] 30) can be either closed or open relative to the body (10). During times when access to a drink in the bottle is not required the lid (30) is closed and the spring (23) is in a compressed state such that the nipple (20) is mostly received in the socket (11) with the top of the nipple (20) sealingly abutted on the sealing pad (31). The lid (30) can be maintained closed due to the engagement of the flange (32) and the hook (41). To open the lid (30), the pushbutton (40) is pushed towards the end surface of the slot (14) by a user, and the hook (41) slides toward the body (10) in the key-way (142), thus the flange (32) no longer engages the hook (41) and the lid (30) consequently open. Furthermore, the top portion of the nipple (20) is pushed out of the socket (11) for access by a user.
With reference to FIG. 4, another preferred embodiment is shown. The lid assembly is connected to a compact housing ([0025] 55) with the straw (22) enclosed by the housing (55) which provides a convenient way to protect the straw (22) from damage and contamination while travelling for example. That is, when the consumer wants to use the lid assembly, the housing (55) is removed and the lid assembly is engaged with a commercially available drink bottle. By doing this, the user can conveniently and hygienically consume beverages whenever required yet travel conveniently. From the above description, it is noted that the invention has the following advantages:
1. convenience. The lid assembly for the bottle can provide a convenient way to either drink the beverage in the bottle. ease of use. The lid is easily opened by the pushing of the pushbutton. [0026]
3. hygiene. The lid and the compact housing protect consumers from illness as the drinking straw and nipple are kept clean. [0027]
4. safety. The secure locking of the lid prevents spillage which would otherwise spoil clothing, deprive the consumer of drink when it is most needed. [0028]
5. versatility. The provision of the compact housing enables convenient and hygienic transportation of the lid assembly. [0029]
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. [0030]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An easy-open lid assembly for a bottle, the lid assembly comprising:

a body adapted to be connected to the bottle and having a socket centrally defined in the body, a slot defined in a side of the body with at least one guiding slot defined in a periphery defining the slot, a key-way defined in a boundary portion of a top surface of the body to communicate with the slot;

a cap detachably disposed on the socket with a top opening defined in the cap;

a nipple received in the socket and the nipple having a configuration to be able to extend through the top opening, the nipple having an annular protrusion formed on the nipple to abut the socket and prevent escape of the nipple from the socket;

a lid hinged to the body and the lid having a flange formed on an edge of the lid;

a straw connected to the nipple and extendable into the bottle;

a first spring disposed around the straw and sandwiched between the annular protrusion and a bottom surface defining the socket to provide an upward resilience to the nipple;

a pushbutton with a configuration to be received in the slot of the body, the pushbutton having a hook to mate the flange of the lid and at least one resilient barb corresponding to the guiding slot, whereby the pushbutton is received in slot with the at least one barb received in the at least one guiding slot and the hook slidingly received in the sliding slot; and

a second spring disposed in the slot of the body and sandwiched between the pushbutton and the body to provide an outward resilience to the pushbutton;

whereby the lid is closed and maintain closed due to engagement of the hook and the flange, and the lid is opened by pushing the pushbutton to release the flange from the hook such that the nipple is pushed outwardly from the socket by the first spring.

2. The lid assembly for a bottle as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sealing pad is centrally formed on an inside face of the lid to provide a liquid-tight seal of the nipple when the lid is closed.

3. The lid assembly for a bottle as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one slit is defined along each of the resilient barbs to provide resilience to the resilient barbs.

4. The lid assembly for a bottle as claimed in claim 3, wherein the bottle is replaced with a compact housing to prevent contamination of the straw when not in use.