Closure cap for attaching to a liquid container

Abstract

The invention relates to a closure cap for attaching to a liquid container, wherein the closure cap comprises a spout opening (11) and a receiving element (8), which together with the closure cap forms a common receiving volume for receiving at least one dispensing body, and the closure cap can be opened, thus forming an entrance (2) to the receiving volume (20) in order to enable the introduction of the at least one dispensing body into the receiving volume, wherein the receiving element (8) is permeable to a liquid in order to allow the at least one dispensing body to come into contact with the liquid, wherein a closure element (1) connected to the closure cap is provided, by means of which the entrance (2) can be sealed in a liquid-tight manner. In order to prevent the entrance of liquid into the receiving volume when no drinking process occurs, a mouthpiece (7) formed as a hollow body is arranged in the spout opening (11), which mouthpiece seals the receiving element (8) in a liquid-tight manner in a closed position and opens the receiving element (8) in an open position, so that liquid can flow through the receiving element (8), the receiving volume (20) and the mouthpiece (7).

Claims

1. A closure cap for attaching to a liquid container, wherein the closure cap comprises a spout opening and a receiving volume for receiving at least one dispensing body, wherein the receiving volume comprises a receiving element, wherein the closure cap can be opened, thus forming an entrance to the receiving volume in order to enable introduction of the at least one dispensing body into the receiving volume or a removal of said dispensing body from the receiving volume, wherein the receiving element is permeable to a liquid in order to allow the at least one dispensing body to come into contact with the liquid, wherein a closure element connected to the closure cap is provided and via the closure element the entrance can be sealed in a liquid-tight manner or released, wherein a mouthpiece formed as a hollow body is arranged in the spout opening and seals the receiving element in a liquid-tight manner in a closed position, so that no liquid can flow through the receiving element into the receiving volume, and wherein the mouthpiece opens the receiving element in an open position, so that liquid can flow through the receiving element, the receiving volume, and the mouthpiece.

2. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece has a first side facing the receiving element and is sealed on the first side, so that in a closed state of the mouthpiece no liquid can reach the mouthpiece through the receiving element, wherein the mouthpiece comprises a protruding section protruding into the receiving volume, wherein the protruding section comprises at least one opening, and wherein through the at least one opening of the protruding section the liquid can flow from the receiving volume into the mouthpiece.

3. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece is displaceable along a sliding axis relative to the receiving element.

4. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein a baffle plate is provided in the receiving volume and surrounds the mouthpiece at least in part, wherein the mouthpiece comprises an opening, wherein via the opening of the mouthpiece liquid can reach the mouthpiece from the receiving volume when the mouthpiece is situated in the open position, and wherein the baffle plate is located closer to the receiving element than to the opening of the mouthpiece.

5. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the mouthpiece is arranged at an edge of the receiving volume.

6. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the receiving element is formed as a flat surface.

7. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the closure element is formed as a part of a jacket surface of the closure cap, and wherein the closure element seals the entrance in an operating position.

8. The closure cap according to claim 1, comprising an extendable storage element for the dispensing body, wherein the extendable storage element corresponds to the entrance and the receiving volume and is introduced through the entrance into the receiving volume and can be placed on the receiving element.

9. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the closure element is formed as a slide displaceable along a jacket surface of the closure cap.

10. The closure cap according to claim 9, wherein the slide is displaceable in relation to the closure cap by using at least one profile rail.

11. The closure cap according to claim 9, wherein the slide surrounds an entire circumference of the closure cap.

12. The closure cap according to claim 11, wherein the slide is formed as a cylinder jacket.

13. The closure cap according to claim 9, further comprising sealing edges, wherein the slide latches in a closed state into the sealing edges, and wherein the sealing edges extend normally to a sliding axis of the slide.

14. The closure cap according to claim 9, further comprising sealing edges, wherein the slide is made of an elastic material so that the slide can be slid over the sealing edges, but seals the entrance in a liquid-tight manner after latching onto the sealing edges.

15. The closure cap according to claim 9, wherein a sliding axis of the slide and a sliding axis of the mouthpiece extend in parallel.

16. The closure cap according to claim 1, wherein the closure element can be screwed together via a thread with a base part of the closure cap.

17. The closure cap according to claim 16, wherein the closure element comprises the spout opening with the mouthpiece, while the base part comprises the receiving element.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be explained in closer detail by reference to embodiments. The drawings are exemplary and are used to explain the inventive concept, but shall not limit or reproduce the same with finality, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an axonometric view of a closure cap in accordance with the invention with an open closure element (open entrance) which is formed as a slide;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a top view of the closure cap of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows an axonometric view of the closure cap of FIG. 1 with closed closure elements (closed entrance);

(5) FIG. 4 shows a side view of the closure cap of FIG. 1 with an open closure element (open entrance);

(6) FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the closure cap of FIG. 1 along the line of intersection A-A in FIG. 2 with open closure element (open entrance) and open mouthpiece;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a sectional view according to FIG. 5 with a closed closure element (closed entrance) and closed mouthpiece;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a sectional view according to FIGS. 5 and 6 with closed closure element (closed entrance) and open mouthpiece;

(9) FIG. 8 shows the detail B of FIG. 5 comprising the sealing edge;

(10) FIG. 9 shows an axonometric view of a closure cap in accordance with the invention with a closure element that can be screwed on (closed entrance);

(11) FIG. 10 shows a sectional view of the closure cap of FIG. 9 along the line of intersection A-A in FIG. 12 with open mouthpiece;

(12) FIG. 11 shows a sectional view of the closure cap of FIG. 9 along the line of intersection A-A in FIG. 12 with closed mouthpiece;

(13) FIG. 12 shows a top view of the closure cap of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(14) FIG. 1 shows a closure cap with an open closure element 1 (open entrance 2), namely a slide. The slide 1 is displaceable along the jacket surface 3 of the closure cap, namely from the illustrated opened position to the open position. It is formed as an annular element, more precisely substantially as a cylinder jacket, and thus surrounds the entire closure cap. It is at least so elastic that it can be slid over the sealing edges 4, but seals the entrance 2 in a liquid-tight manner after latching onto the sealing edges 4. The slide is provided with pretension against radial deformation through the elasticity and the annular configuration, which pretension allows the liquid-tight closure of the entrance 2. FIG. 1 only shows the bottom sealing edge 4, which extends normally to the longitudinal axis 5 in the circumferential direction of the jacket surface 3 at the edge of the entrance 2. The upper sealing edge 4, which also extends normally to the longitudinal axis 5 in the circumferential direction of the jacket surface 3 at the edge of the entrance 2, is covered by the slide 1.

(15) Profile rails 6 are provided on the inner side of the slide 1 for guiding the slide 1 in the direction of the sliding axis which extends parallel to the longitudinal axis 5 of the closure cap, which profile rails interact with counterparts (not shown) on the exterior side of the jacket surface 3 of the closure cap. The profile rails are therefore parallel to the longitudinal axis 5.

(16) The closure cap 1 is provided with a mouthpiece 7, which is shown in FIG. 1 in the open position. In this position, the closure cap is open for a liquid which is accommodated in a bottle to which the closure cap is fixed with its bottom side so as to allow the user to drink from the bottle. By downwardly displacing the mouthpiece 7 parallel to the longitudinal axis 5, the mouthpiece 7 can be brought from the open to a closed position (see FIG. 6). The receiving element 8, which is formed in this case as a flat liquid-tight surface, comprises an opening 9 which can be sealed by the bottom side of the mouthpiece 7, so that no liquid can reach the receiving volume 20 through the receiving element 8 (see FIG. 6).

(17) The receiving element 8 makes contact with the inside wall of the closure cap at least in all points of a circular orbit.

(18) A dispensing body (such as a tablet) can be positioned on the receiving element 8. The closure cap comprises an entrance 2 in order to introduce the at least one dispensing body into the receiving volume 20, or to enable said dispensing body to be removed from the receiving volume 20.

(19) A baffle plate 14 is provided so that liquid flowing from a bottle does not reach the mouthpiece 7 directly through the opening 9, which baffle plate surrounds the mouthpiece 7 at least in part so that liquid entering through the opening 9 needs to flow around said baffle plate 14 and thus through the receiving volume 20 where the dispensing body is located. In this case, the baffle plate 14 reaches approximately to the middle (up to the longitudinal axis 5) of the closure cap and ends in a straight edge 16 which corresponds to the diameter of the receiving volume 20.

(20) The baffle plate 14 is formed in this case normally to the mouthpiece. It is flat and impermeable to liquid. It could also be considered however to provide the baffle plate 14 partly with breakthroughs so that a portion of the liquid also flows through the baffle plate 14. This will be especially useful when the baffle plate 14 covers a major part of the cross-section (normally to the longitudinal axis 5) of the closure cap or the receiving volume 20, because in this case the portion of a dispensing body situated on the baffle plate 14 can be supplied directly from below with liquid.

(21) The slide 1 has a surface structure which is provided in this case in form of elevated rings 12, in order to provide better actuation of the slide 1.

(22) FIG. 2 shows that the mouthpiece 7 is arranged entirely at the edge of the closure cap. This produces the greatest possible contiguous receiving volume for a dispensing body. The mouthpiece 7 can principally also be located at a different place, e.g. closer to the longitudinal axis 5, and especially it could be concentric to the longitudinal axis 5.

(23) In FIG. 3, both the slide 1 is in the closed position and thus closes the entrance 2, as also the mouthpiece 7.

(24) FIG. 4 shows a side view of the closure cap of FIG. 1 with an open slide 1. Two lateral openings 15 can be recognized in the mouthpiece 7, through which liquid reaches the mouthpiece 7 from the receiving volume 20. Said openings 15 should generally be as far away as possible from the edge 16 of the baffle plate 14 so that the liquid flows through the receiving volume to the greatest possible extent before it enters the mouthpiece 7. The guide 17 in the bottom region of the mouthpiece 7 can also be recognized, which guide can be arranged integrally with the baffle plate 14 (see FIGS. 5 to 7).

(25) FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the closure cap of FIG. 1 along the line of intersection A-A in FIG. 2 with open slide 1 and open mouthpiece 7. The closure cap is provided at its bottom end with a thread 13, between the edge 18 of the closure cap and the receiving element 8, with which it can be screwed onto a bottle.

(26) The sliding axis of the slide 1 and the sliding axis of the mouthpiece 7 extend in parallel with respect to each other and parallel to the longitudinal axis 5 of the closure cap (see FIG. 1.

(27) The receiving volume 20 (also see FIG. 6) has a substantially cylindrical shape. It is formed by the receiving element 8, the jacket of the closure cap (of which the jacket surface 3 is shown), the slide 1 and a cover surface 10 which is connected to the jacket of the closure cap in a liquid-tight manner. The cover surface 10 is liquid-tight apart from the spout opening 11. The cover surface 10 is shown here as a flat layer and further forms a guide 19, which in this case is substantially cylindrical and surrounds the mouthpiece 7 in its upper region.

(28) The receiving element 8 is situated on the side of the closure cap facing the thread 13, while the cover surface 10 is situated on the side of the closure cap facing the mouthpiece 7.

(29) In order to prevent excessive upward sliding of the slide 1, a projection could be provided on the bottom side of the slide 1 which upon reaching the uppermost (open) position of the slide 1 is retained by a respective element of the closure cap.

(30) The mouthpiece 7 is substantially formed as a hollow cylinder which is downwardly sealed towards the receiving element 8, so that no liquid can directly reach the interior of the mouthpiece 7 in the longitudinal direction of the closure cap, irrespective of whether the mouthpiece is in the open or closed position. The bottom side of the mouthpiece 7 is further formed in such a way that in the closed position it closes the opening 9 (which is the only one in this case) in the receiving element. The bottom side of the mouthpiece 7 has a smaller diameter in this embodiment than the remainder of the mouthpiece. In the open position of the mouthpiece 7 according to FIG. 5, the bottom end of the mouthpiece 7 is situated at the same height as the bottom side of the baffle plate 14.

(31) The state shown in FIG. 5 is set when a new dispensing body is placed on the receiving element 8 through the entrance 2 or a (partly) consumed body is to be removed from there.

(32) FIG. 6 shows the same sectional view as FIG. 5, but both the mouthpiece 7 and the slide 1 are in the closed position in FIG. 6. This state of the closure cap is set when the bottle, on which the closure cap is fastened, is transported and no liquid should reach the dispensing body situated in the receiving volume 20.

(33) FIG. 7 shows the same sectional view as FIG. 5, but the mouthpiece 7 is in the open position in FIG. 7, whereas the slide 1 is closed. This state of the closure cap is set when the user drinks from the bottle to which the closure cap is fastened. The liquid would then exit upwardly from the drinking opening 22 of the mouthpiece 7.

(34) FIG. 8 shows the detail B of FIG. 5, namely the formation of the bottom sealing edge 4. The sealing edge 4 which is shown here firstly protrudes radially beyond the adjoining jacket surface 3, and secondly protrudes beyond the upper side of the receiving element 8, and thirdly comprises a depression 21 in relation to the upper side of the receiving element 8 situated on the inside. The upper sealing edge 4 can be formed in an analogous manner, but protrudes in this case beyond the bottom side of the cover surface 10. In the closed state, the slide 1 latches onto the two sealing edges 4 which extend normally to the sliding axis of the slide 1. The slide 1 can comprise respective depressions into which the sealing edges 4 engage.

(35) The jacket of the closure cap (with its jacket surface 3), the receiving element 8, the cover plate 10 and the baffle plate 14 are formed integrally in the illustrated embodiment, e.g. made of plastic, and can be produced by means of injection molding.

(36) It would principally be possible in the illustrated embodiment that the dispensing body is not placed directly through the entrance 2 in the receiving volume 20, but in a removable (e.g. extendable) storage element (similar to a drawer), which is introduced through the entrance 12 into the receiving volume 20 and can also be removed therefrom again. The storage element would come to lie on the receiving element 8. The storage element should obviously be permeable to liquid, e.g. it should have a lattice-like structure at least in part.

(37) It would obviously principally be possible to modify all closure caps shown in PCT/EP2013/071276 in such a way that the relevant mouthpiece can be inserted. In this case, the receiving element should only be permeable to liquid especially in locations where the mouthpiece in accordance with the invention can seal the receiving element. In addition, the cover surfaces in accordance with the invention should optionally take the place of the retaining elements.

(38) FIGS. 9 to 12 show an alternative embodiment of the closure element 23, which can be screwed together with a base part 24 of the closure cap by means of a thread. For this purpose, the closure element 23 comprises a thread 26 on its inner side, while the base part 24 comprises a thread 27 for the closure element 23 on its exterior side. The closure elements 23 is cap-shaped, in that it is formed integrally as a cylinder jacket with a cover surface 10 and a spout opening 11 in the cover surface 10, while the base part 24 has the shape of a cylinder jacket. The base part 24 can be screwed together with the liquid container via the thread 13.

(39) The closure elements 23 carries in the spout opening 11 the mouthpiece 7, while the base part 24 contains the receiving element 8, which is provided in this case in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the closure cap between the thread 13 and the thread 27.

(40) A lid 25 is connected to the closure element 23 via a link, with which the mouthpiece 7 can be covered in so far it protrudes outwardly in the closed state from the closure element 23. The lid 25 can represent a constant extension of the jacket surface 3 in the closed state, i.e. adjoin the exterior surface of the closure element 23. The exterior surface of the closure element 23 converges continuously into the exterior surface of the base part 24, i.e. the closure element 23 and the base part 24 have the same outside diameter at their point of contact.

(41) The mouthpiece 7 is shown in FIG. 10 in the open position. In this position, the closure cap is permeable to a liquid which is accommodated in a bottle, to which the closure cap is fastened with its bottom side, in order to allow the user to drink from the bottle. The mouthpiece 7 can be brought from the open to a closed position by displacing the mouthpiece 7 downwardly parallel to the longitudinal axis 5 (see FIG. 11). The receiving element 8, which is formed in this case as a flat liquid-tight surface, comprises an opening 9 which can be sealed by the bottom side of the mouthpiece 7, so that no liquid can reach the receiving volume 20 through the receiving element 8.

(42) The receiving element 8 makes contact with the inner wall of the closure cap at least in all points of a circular orbit. A dispensing body (e.g. a tablet) can be placed on the receiving element 8. The closure cap comprises an entrance 2 in order to introduce the at least one dispensing body into the receiving volume 20 or to enable the removal thereof from the receiving volume 20. The entrance 2 is formed by the upper opening of the base part 24, i.e. by the end region of the base part 24 facing away from the thread 13, which in this case is a circular opening.

(43) The mouthpiece 7 is arranged centrally in this case, but it could also be arranged at the edge of the closure cap, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 8. The mouthpiece 7 is provided with two openings 15, as otherwise similar to FIGS. 1 to 8. The guide 17 is integrally formed however in the bottom region of the mouthpiece 7 with the closure elements 23 in FIGS. 9 to 12. A baffle plate 14 could also be provided again in the region of the guide 17, especially integrally with the guide 17. It could be formed adjacent to the guide 17 in the manner of a circular ring and normally to the longitudinal axis 5.

(44) The receiving volume 20 again substantially has a cylindrical shape. It is formed by the receiving element 8, the jacket of the base part and the cover surface 10, which is a component of the integral closure element 23. The cover surface 10 is liquid-tight, apart from the spout opening 11. The cover surface 10 is formed here as a flat layer and further forms a guide 19, which is substantially cylindrical in this case and which surrounds the mouthpiece 7 in its upper region.

(45) Drinking can be carried out in the state of the closure cap in FIG. 10, but in the state of the closure cap in FIG. 11 the closure cap is sealed in a liquid-tight manner.

(46) In order to insert a dispensing body into the closure cap or remove it therefrom, the closure elements 23 must be screwed off the base part 24, so that the receiving volume 20 is now accessible due to the now missing cover surface 10. The closure cap can be screwed onto a liquid container by means of the thread 13.

(47) In order to ensure that the closure element 23 is not lost when being screwed off the base part 24, it can be additionally fixed to the base part 24 by means of a band for example.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(48) 1 Closure element (slide) 2 Entrance 3 Jacket surface of the closure cap 4 Sealing edge 5 Longitudinal axis of the closure cap 6 Profile rail 7 Mouthpiece 8 Receiving element 9 Opening in the receiving element 10 Cover surface 11 Spout opening 12 Ring 13 Thread 14 Baffle plate 15 Opening of the mouthpiece 7 16 Edge of the baffle plate 14 17 Guide in the bottom region of the mouthpiece 7 18 Edge of the closure cap 19 Guide in the upper region of the mouthpiece 7 20 Receiving volume 21 Depression in the sealing edge 4 22 Drinking opening of the mouthpiece 7 23 Closure element (can be screwed on) 24 Base part of the closure cap 25 Lid 26 Thread of the closure element 23 27 Thread for the closure element 23