MXPA99006359A - Drink or other liquid container with unfolding spout - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a drink or other liquid container comprising a surface (13) provided with a separable cap (14). Beneath the separable cap (14), the container (10) comprises a spout (18) which unfolds outwards when the cap is separated from the container. The unfolding spout advantageously consists of a flexible tubular piece which folds back on itself under the cap.

Description

CONTAINER OF DRINKS OR ANOTHER LIQUID WITH PEAK FILLER DUMP DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to beverage containers or other liquid, and more particularly to containers such as cans, provided with a separable sealing capsule. Nowadays, when a consumer wants to drink from the bottle after having removed the capsule, it is usually necessary to bring the lips against the outer surface of the container. However, this external surface is habitually contaminated by dirt and contaminants of all types that result from storage and various handling during conditioning, transport and storage of containers. In distribution networks too, containers are often handled by different people. In the refrigerators of the great surfaces of supermarkets, for example, the containers are manipulated by a great number of people, mainly to appreciate the state of cooling of the same ones. In addition, containers are often placed on the ground and thus are within reach of animals or can come to contact with chemicals, garbage, fats, oils, etc ... All this makes the containers of beverages currently on the market, they are in a state of doubtful hygiene. On the other hand, it is not uncommon that when a consumer drinks the container itself, especially a child, it hurts the lips or the tongue. In addition, the beverage is scattered many times on the upper face of the container or on the flange that most often has the lid of the container. A container that eliminates this pollution problem, is already known from the publication EP-A-0744355. The container described in this publication comprises a lid provided with a separable capsule and an inner base forming a collapsible tubular part towards the outside of the lid when the separable capsule is separated from the lid. When the lid of that container is closed, the tubular part is sunken inside that container, below the inner base. Therefore, the tubular part is at least partially recessed in the liquid contained in the container or a non-deleterious part of the interior volume of the container can not contain the liquid. This container also has the drawback that, during the filling process of the containers, the lids that must be placed on the containers of this type can not be filled on the common crimping machines at the time of bottling. Therefore, those machines can not be used to produce such beverage containers. US-A-4 407 425 discloses a container lid, comprising a tubular piece bent under the separable and expandable capsule to the outside when the capsule is separated from the lid. The tubular piece is housed in a housing provided under a central protrusion projecting on the upper surface of the lid. The manufacture of such a cap with the protrusion in question requires several manipulations and welds which prevent the use of the pressing machines that exist. Therefore, the manufacture of this lid is expensive. On the one hand, the protrusion prevents the containers provided with a cover of this type from being stackable and placed in the automatic dispensers for beverage cans. Finally, the protrusion presents the danger of injuring the consumer in the hands and scratching it. The invention has for its object an improved container that remedies the aforementioned drawbacks. A container according to the invention comprises an inner base disposed below the lid provided with a detachable capsule; the inner base comprises a tubular piece that is folded under the separable capsule and is received in a housing formed in the inner base; the tubular part is arranged to be able to deploy upwards through the opening left in the lid when the separable capsule is separated from the lid. The inner base can be made in a standardized way and can easily be inserted under the lid of any container at the time of filling. The concept of the inner base has the advantage of not modifying the customary external dimensions of the containers, which allows them to always be able to place them inside the common automatic dispensers and in refrigerators. It is also interesting to note that a container according to the invention can use a lid that is simple to manufacture and of low price.

The features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the description below, which is made referring to the accompanying drawings. In these drawings: Figure 1 is a sectional view of a container according to the invention, with a sealing cap placed on the lid; Figure 2 is a top view of the container illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 3 illustrates the container of figure 1, with the sealing cap detached from the lid; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the container illustrated in Figure 3. By way of example, in Figure 1 there is depicted a canister having a body 10 with its side wall 11 and its bottom 12, and a lid 13 provided with a separable sealing capsule 14, which is best seen in Figure 2. On the outer face of the capsule 14, as is customary, a pull ring is fitted to allow the capsule to be separated from the lid 13. This Ring is not represented in the drawings. Underneath the cover 13, an inner base 15 fixed on its periphery is arranged on the edge of the body 10 and extends almost parallel to the detachable capsule 14. The inner base 15 comprises a first part 15a of general annular shape fixed on its contour to the side wall 11 of the body 10 of the container. The inner base also comprises a second part 15b extending almost parallel to the cover 13 and which is fixed on its circumference to the inner edge of the annular part 15a. On the upper surface of this second part, a housing 16 is formed and the bottom of that housing is perforated with a hole 17 on the contour of which a first end of a tubular part 18 having a second open free end is fixed. When the sealing capsule 14 closes the container as shown in Figure 1, the tubular part 18 is folded flat on itself and lodged in the housing 16 and is maintained in the retracted state by means of the detachable capsule 14 of the lid. The assembly of the parts 15a and 15b and of the tubular piece 18 is placed on the container at the moment of sealing it, by any usual procedure, after the container has been filled with its contents. When the consumer detaches the capsule 14 that seals the container and protects the tubular part 18 folded down below the capsule, the tubular piece is released and unfolds outwards as shown in figures 3 and 4 so as to form a pouring spout that can serve as a bottleneck. When deployed, the tubular piece establishes an open passage for the contents of the container and allows the consumer to drink the contents of the can simply by taking the tubular free end between their lips. While separating the capsule 14 from the lid 13, the consumer can hold the tube with the finger until the capsule is completely separated from the lid. When it is folded under the capsule 14, the tubular part 18 is protected from any external contamination and therefore remains of a food quality and cleanliness. Since then, it can be taken in the mouth by the consumer with all the recommended hygienic conditions. Furthermore, when it is deployed, the tubular piece is free of drink and does not spread around the lid of the container because, when folded back in its housing 16, the tubular piece remains always protected by the liquid contained in the container. At the junction of the tubular part 18 and the flat part 15b of the inner base, a small bulge is advantageously provided as illustrated in Figure 4. That bulge extends over at least a part of the length of the joint, turned towards the center of the inner base 15, and serves to increase the tightness of the tubular piece in the retracted position. Of course, the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and described in the foregoing is an exemplary embodiment that serves to illustrate the invention. This applies to various types of containers such as boxes, cans, containers "tetrabrik", bottles for liquids and various products (pharmaceutical, chemical, etc ...). On the other hand, various modifications and variants to the invention can be provided by the man of the trade, without thereby departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (3)

1. CLAIMS 1.- Container for drink or other liquid, comprising a body with a side wall and a bottom, a lid provided with a detachable capsule and an inner base carrying a collapsible tubular piece towards the outside of the lid when the separable capsule it is separated from the cover, characterized in that the inner base comprises a first annular part fixed to the body of the container, a second part fixed to the first annular part and extending practically parallel to the cover; that second part has a protruding outer edge defining a housing for receiving the tubular piece; the bottom of the housing is perforated with a hole; the above-mentioned tubular part has a first end fixed on the contour of the hole and has a second open free end; the tubular piece is folded flat on itself in the aforementioned housing and the tubular piece is deployed from its retracted state to an extended state when the detachable capsule is separated from the lid in order to establish an open passage to allow the consumer to drink the content of the container through the tubular piece deployed.
2. 2. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the connection of the tubular part 18 and the second part of the inner base has a bulge over at least a part of its length.
3. 3. Internal base insertable under the lid of a container, comprising a body and a lid provided with a separable capsule, characterized in that it comprises a first annular part, a second part fixed on its periphery to the first annular part and in which is formed a housing whose bottom is perforated, and a tubular piece having a first end fixed on the contour of the hole and having a second free end open to form a peak; The aforementioned tubular part is designed so that it can be retracted in a plane inside the aforementioned housing and can be deployed to take an extended position that establishes an open passage through the tubular part.