Patent Application
20110198352
1. Field of the Disclosure
This invention relates to a carafe for holding a beverage, and more particularly to a carafe, which includes an inlet opening providing a 360 degree pouring capability.
2. Related Art
Some containers include screwed on caps or stoppers and require that a set of channels align when the stopper is rotated some degree of a turn permitting liquid to flow from the container. The difficulty with such an arrangement is that it may be difficult to properly align the channels in order to allow an adequate flow of liquid.
In one aspect, a carafe is provided including a carafe body; and a cap coupled to the carafe body. The cap includes an outer lid having an inner wall defining a pouring space surrounded by a continuous peripheral rim; and a removable cap removably mated to the outer lid. The carafe body is movable between a non-pouring position where a liquid is contained within the carafe body and a pouring position where liquid is allowed to flow from within the carafe body into the pouring space. The liquid may be poured out from the pouring space in any direction over any portion of the continuous peripheral rim of the outer lid.
In another aspect, a carafe is provided including a carafe body; and a cap coupled to the carafe body. The cap includes an outer lid having an inner wall defining a pouring space surrounded by a continuous peripheral rim; and a removable cap removably mated to the outer lid. The carafe body is movable between a non-pouring position where a liquid is contained within the carafe body and a first pouring position where the carafe body is tilted in a first direction and the liquid is allowed to flow out from the pouring space over a first portion of the peripheral rim. The carafe is also moveable from between the first pouring position and a second pouring position where the carafe body is tilted in a second direction from the first direction and the liquid is allowed to flow out from the pouring space over a second portion of the peripheral rim.
This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of this disclosure may be understood quickly. A more complete understanding of the disclosure can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description of the various embodiments thereof in connection with the attached drawings.
The foregoing features and other features of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings of an illustrated embodiment. In the drawings, the same components have the same reference numerals. The illustrated embodiment is intended to illustrate, but not to limit the disclosure. The drawings include the following Figures:
The carafe body 102 is shaped to include a tapered neck 106 that extends down from a top end 108 of the carafe body 102 towards a base end 110 of the carafe body 102. The tapered neck 106 provides a necked down region that because of its shape facilitates grasping of the carafe body 102 by the human hand and eliminates the need for using a separate handle. In one embodiment, the tapered neck 106 is formed in a region at approximately the top third (⅓) of the carafe body 102. Beneficially, since the carafe body 102 may be grasped from any side and from any direction, the carafe body 102 may be easily tilted from a non-pouring position into any direction, and from between any tilted direction to another tilted direction, while pouring in given tilted direction.
The cap 104 is coupled or secured on to the top end 108 of the carafe body 102 by threading the cap 104 onto the carafe body 102. In other embodiments, the cap 104 may be snapped on to the top end 108 of the carafe body 102 or the cap 104 may be press fit onto the top end 108, each of these mechanisms for securing the cap 104 onto the carafe body 102 being well known in the art. In one embodiment, a liquid sealing gasket 201 (
The removable cap 204 includes a bottom side 212 defining a seating surface 214 and a cylindrical member 216 extending therefrom. The cylindrical member 216 includes external male threads 218, which are used to removably mate the removable cap 204 to the outer lid 206 as described below.
The outer lid 206 includes an outer wall 220 and an inner wall 222. In one embodiment, the inner and outer walls have a taper which widens from a small diameter end 227a to a large diameter end 227b as the outer lid 204 extends away from the top end 108 of the carafe body 102. The tapered shaped of the inner wall 222 of the outer lid 204 creates a cup-like configuration that further defines a pouring space 223. A peripheral rim 225 extends completely around the large diameter end 227b of the tapered outer lid 204 surrounding the pouring space 223. The peripheral rim 225 creates a 360 degree continuous spout on the outer lid 204, such that any fluid that is allowed to enter into the pouring space 223 may be poured out of the pouring space 223 over any part of the continuous spout, that is over any part of the peripheral rim 225, in any direction that the carafe 100 has been tilted.
As shown in the top plan view of the outer lid 206 with the removable cap 204 removed as in
In one embodiment, the primary opening 304 may be circled by a plurality of secondary openings 306. The secondary openings 306 may be of uniform shape and dimension or, alternatively, the secondary openings 306 may have varied shapes and dimensions. In one embodiment, the secondary openings 306 are shaped and sized in order to allow the highest amount of fluid flow possible therethrough given the overall size constraints imposed by the size of the outer lid 206.
Positioning the secondary openings 306 about the circumference of the primary opening 304 ensures that when the removable cap 204 is secured onto the outer lid 206, the seating surface 214 on the bottom side 212 of the removable cap 204 is seated down over and seals the secondary openings 306. In one embodiment, a gasket 226, such as an o-ring is provided for providing a sealing relationship between the removable cap 204 and the outer lid 206. The gasket 226 closes the interface between the seating surface 214 and the outer lid 206 creating a hermetic seal when the removable cap 204 is seated down and completely threaded into the threads 308 in the primary opening 224.
When the removable cap 204 is being unscrewed an open space is created between the seating surface 214 and the secondary openings 306 on the reinforcing structure 302. The open space provides a passageway allowing a flow liquid to pass through the secondary openings 306 from the carafe body 102 and into the pouring space 223 defined by the inner wall 222 of the outer lid 206. Advantageously, since the secondary openings 306 extend around the primary opening 304, when the carafe is tilted so as to pour fluids therefrom, the secondary openings 304 positioned on the high side allow air to enter into the carafe body 102 while the secondary openings 306 on the opposite lower side allow the liquid to flow from the carafe body 102. However, regardless of which direction the carafe body 102 is tilted, the liquid may flow in that direction over the peripheral rim 225.
In one embodiment, a channel may be formed into the external male threads 218 of the cylindrical member 216 such that when the removable cap 204 is being unscrewed from the primary opening 304, a flow of liquid may pass through the channel from the carafe body 102 and into the pouring space 223.
Referring now to
To pour the liquid out from the carafe body 102, the removable cap 204 is grasped by the finger grip 202 and made to turn to begin to unscrew the removable cap from the primary opening 304. While unscrewing the removable cap 204, the open space is created between the seating surface 214 and the seal 226 on the bottom side 212 of the removable cap 204 and the secondary openings 306. Since there is no external handle, the carafe body 102 may be grasped any place along the entire length of the carafe body 102. However, it is presumed that users of the carafe 100 grasp the carafe body 102 along the tapered neck 106, as this region may fit more comfortably into the human hand. The carafe 100 may be tilted in any direction to begin the flow of liquid from within the container body 102 through at least the secondary openings 306 and into the pouring space 223. Because the outer lid 206 has a peripheral rim 225 that extends completely around the pouring space to create a 360 degree continuous spout, the liquid may be made to pour out freely over any portion of the peripheral rim 225 and in any direction that the user desires.
Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific embodiments, these embodiments are illustrative only and not limiting. Many other applications and embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent in light of this disclosure and the following claims.
