CLOSING DEVICE FOR A BEVERAGE CONTAINER

Abstract

The invention relates to a closing device for a beverage container, comprising a closing body and a closing lid, said closing lid being mounted such that it can rotate, relative to the closing body, between a flow state and a sealed state. A liquid channel of the closing body is released in the flow state and blocked in the sealed state. A guide device is arranged between the closing lid and the closing body. The guide device has two preferred positions, which define the sealed state and the flow state. The rotatable mount between the closing lid and the closing body is in the form of a threaded mount.

Claims

1. A closing device for a beverage container, having a closing body and a closing lid, wherein the closing lid is mounted so as to be rotatable in relation to the closing body between a flow state and a sealing state, wherein a liquid passage of the closing body is free in the flow state and is closed in the sealing state, having a guide device between the closing lid and the closing body, wherein the guide device comprises two preferred positions with which the sealing state and the flow state are defined, wherein the rotatable mounting between the closing lid and the closing body is in the form of a threaded mounting, wherein the thread pitch is dimensioned in such a manner that the guide device is disengaged axially by an angle of rotation of not more than 360°.

2. The closing device of claim 1, wherein the reaching of a preferred position or the leaving of a preferred position can be identified by tactile means.

3. The closing device of claim 1, wherein the guide device is in the form of a sliding guide in which a guide element of the closing lid slides along a guide element of the closing body on an actuation path between the sealing state and the flow state.

4. The closing device of claim 1, wherein the first preferred position is adjacent to a guide stop which can be overcome, or in that the second preferred position is adjacent to an end stop.

5. The closing device of claim 1, wherein a first guide element is in the form of a guide surface, wherein the guide surface is a circumferential surface and is bounded in one or more angular sections by in each case two circles which are concentric to an axis of rotation of the closing lid.

6. The closing device of claim 5, wherein the first preferred position or the second preferred position are defined by a set-back section of the guide surface.

7. The closing device of claim 5, wherein the guide device comprises a guide body interacting with the guide surface.

8. The closing device of claim 7, wherein the guide body comprises a sliding surface which can be in contact with a guide surface, which is flat or is curved concentrically to an axis of rotation of the closing lid, via a first subsection of the sliding surface, wherein the distance between the sliding surface and the guide surface is increased continuously in the direction of rotation in a second subsection of the sliding surface, and wherein the sliding surface can be in contact with a guide stop via the second subsection.

9. (canceled)

10. The closing device of claim 1, wherein a sealing element of the closing lid is spaced apart axially from an air passage of the closing body in the flow state, or a sealing element of the closing lid is spaced apart axially from the liquid passage in the flow state.

11. The closing device of claim 1, wherein the closing lid is completely separable from the closing body.

12. The closing device of claim 1, wherein the liquid passage or the air passage open into an end surface which is oriented perpendicular to an axis of rotation of the closing lid, and in that the closing lid has a sealing element fitting to the end surface.

13. The closing device of claim 12, wherein the end surface is arranged radially outside the guide device.

14. The closing device of claim 12, wherein the guide element of the closing body is set back in the axial direction in relation to the end surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The invention will be described by way of example below using an advantageous embodiment with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a closing body according to the invention in a perspective view from above;

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a closing body according to the invention in a perspective view from below;

[0033] FIG. 3 shows the closing body from FIG. 1 in a view from above;

[0034] FIG. 4 shows the closing lid from FIG. 2 in a view from below;

[0035] FIG. 5 shows the closing body from FIG. 1 in a perspective illustration from below;

[0036] FIG. 6 shows the closing lid from FIG. 2 in a perspective illustration from above.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] A closing body 14 shown in FIG. 1 can be connected at its lower side via a sealing flange 27 to a lower part (not shown) of a beverage container. The outer wall 28 of the closing body can end flush with the outer wall of the beverage container. In the center of the closing body 14 there is an internal thread 30 which fits to an external thread 31 on the lower side of a closing lid 15 (FIG. 2).

[0038] The upper side of the closing body 14 has a flat end surface 26, wherein the end surface 26 is delimited outward by the outer wall 28 and inward by a central depression. The end surface 26 runs perpendicular to an axis of rotation 29 of the mounting between closing body 14 and closing lid 15 (FIG. 2) and has two openings which correspond to the mouths of a liquid passage 16 and of an air passage 25.

[0039] A guide surface 18 which runs perpendicular to the end surface 26 and which is concentric to the axis of rotation 29 is formed in the central depression. A convex curvature of the guide surface 18 with a low height and with gentle flanks defines a guide stop 19. A convex curvature of the guide surface 18 with a greater height and with an angular profile defines an end stop 20. Two concave curvatures define a first preferred position 21 and a second preferred position 35 of the guide surface 18 in the form of set-back sections. An actuation path of the guide device extends between the first preferred position 21 and the second preferred position 35.

[0040] FIG. 2 shows a closing lid 15 which can be connected to the closing body 14 via a threaded mounting 30, 31. In the flow state, a cutout 32 of the closing lid 15 lies above the liquid passage 16 of the closing body 14. The guide body 17 is then in contact with a set-back section 21 of the guide surface 18 via the first section 22 of the sliding surface and can be simultaneously in contact with the guide stop 19 via a second subsection 23; rotation of the closing lid 15 in the direction of the guide stop 19 brings the subsection 22 of the sliding surface into contact with the guide stop 19 and braces the guide body radially in the direction of the axis of rotation 29, causing locally increased rotation resistance.

[0041] During the transition from the first preferred position 21 or the second preferred position 35 to the actuation path, slightly increased rotation resistance has to be overcome. The slightly increased rotation resistance is smaller than the rotation resistance which has to be overcome when overcoming the guide stop 19. The distance of the guide surface 18 from the axis of rotation 29 can be dimensioned outside the actuation path in such a manner that the bracing of the guide element 17 and the associated rotation resistance are smaller than within the actuation path.

[0042] FIG. 3 shows a top view of the upper side of the closing body 14. The closing device can be brought from the sealing state into the flow state by a quarter rotation of the closing lid 15 counterclockwise relative to the closing body 14. The cutout 32 of the closing lid 15 then lies above the end surface 26 in the left half of the figure; the sealing element 24 lies above the mouths of the liquid passage 16 and of the air passage 25; the guide body 17 of the closing lid 15 is in contact with a set-back section 21 of the guide surface 18 via the first subsection 22 of the sliding surface and can butt laterally against the end stop 20.

[0043] The top view of the lower side of the closing lid 15 in FIG. 4 clarifies the position of the subsections 22, 23 of the sliding surface on the guide body 17. The sliding surface lies on that side of the guide body 17 which faces away from the axis of rotation 29 and is similar in profile to an upside down Y. The profile spans the sliding surface with a perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.

[0044] The lower side of the closing body 14 that faces the beverage container is shown in FIG. 5. The closing body 14 is delimited by the sealing flange 27 and the outer wall 28; the rear mouth of the liquid passage 16 and the rear side 37 of the guide surface 18 and the socket 36 of the internal thread 30 can be seen in the interior. The inner surfaces to the lower side of the closing body 14 are regularly wetted with liquid during use of the closing body 14 on a beverage container. In order to reduce the accumulation of impurities and discolorations, the inner surfaces can be polished smooth.

[0045] In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the upper side of the closing lid 15 is provided with grips 33 in order to facilitate the rotation in relation to the closing body 14.