Patent Application
20090095766
This invention relates to a method in which a lid on a container with liquid will open upon inverting the container.
The water cooler is a common fixture seen in offices, homes and most work environments.
They are free standing and are supplied from large containers filled with water. The containers must be up-ended so that the neck points downward then the container can be positioned in the water cooler reservoir.
Handling the containers and positioning them on the water cooler is no easy task. First, you remove the lid, then in most cases the trick is to place your hand over the mouth of the container and spill as little water as possible.
Placing a hand over the mouth of the container can create a hygiene problem, and also contributes to the awkwardness of lifting the large containers. Such containers may contain a large quantity of water in the region of about 5 gallons.
The present invention addresses these problems.
It would be desirable and beneficial health wise to be able to install a large container filled with liquid without having to touch the mouth of the container at all. This problem has been addressed and illustrated in many U.S. patents. Samples of these patents are listed on page 2.
Many of the patented solutions are mechanical and involve various inserts and lid piercing devises to allow the liquid to flow.
Smith patent: U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,313 March 1986-Baker patent: U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,188 October 1987.-Deruntz patent: U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,236 July 1989 Harrison patent: U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,995 July 1994.-Adolf patent: U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,180 August 1994. Montgomery patent: U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,336 April 1996-Rundle patent: U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,322 Oct 1996 Battenhausen patent: U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,264 June 1998-Lown patent: U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,754 July 2006
The present invention in a novel arrangement and combination of parts addresses the troublesome method of removing the lid and placing a hand over the mouth of a container.
The present invention also addresses the problem of hygiene.
The invention answers these problems by having a lid on a container open when inverted, leaving both hands free to lift and position the container. This is accomplished by using the weight and pressure of liquid in the container to open the lid when the container is inverted.
One embodiment may have liquid-soluble adhesive on the underside of the lid.
Ideally in the adhesive is an antibacterial agent to help control bacteria that may lodge in the vessel. The antibacterial agent becomes active when the liquid in the container dissolves the adhesive. The embodiment does not need the liquid-soluble adhesive for the invention to work properly. When the container is inverted, the weight and pressure of the contained liquid is sufficient to open the lid. One preferred example is to combine liquid pressure and liquid soluble-adhesive with an antibacterial agent for hygiene reasons.
An example of one preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in
The liquid 6 in container 4 shown in
Lid or lid top 8 and hinge 10 consist of a material that can be repeatedly bent without fracturing (type of plastic, etc.). Hinge 10 would have means to permit lid top 8 to swing open. The means can be a simple scoring or indentation on the bottom or top of hinge 10, or other mechanical means such as a pin and holes for the pin to act as a pivot point that allow hinge 10 to open. One skilled in the art would realize that there are numerous ways to connect hinge 10 to lid top 8. The object being to have lid top 8 a slip fit on container 4 that when inverted the weight and pressure of the liquid will cause lid top 8 to open. In this embodiment the lid has upper section 12 and lower section 14 horizontally connected to each other and container 4. It is possible to eliminate lower section 14 and have pull-tab 16 part of upper section 12 and lid top 8 and not effect the outcome (illustrated in
Either way the connection can be glue, adhesive or a type of heat seal. The stronger seal would be more suitable for the section with the pull-tab. The stronger seal can be any known seal used today on containers that have a pull-tab.
In
The upper section or lip 12 is part of lid top 8 and opens in concert with lid top 8. Also part of lid top 8 is hinge 10 and piece 22 fixed to container 4. Piece 22 anchors lid top 8 in position when opened.
The lid shown in
The neck 26 of bottle 4 shows approximately where anchor piece 22 and hinge 10 would be if the container had a neck.
Piece 22 is not the only way to anchor lid top 8, to illustrate as an example of another embodiment, a ring around the container neck connected to the lid would serve the same purpose as piece 22.
Illustrated in
For hygiene reasons the liquid-soluble adhesive 24 can contain an antibacterial agent that becomes active when the liquid-soluble adhesive dissolves. The antibacterial agent can be either non-residue producing or residue-producing. The invention would work without the liquid-soluble adhesive 24 or the antibacterial agent, but having it would help the hygiene of the units or vessels that hold the bottles or containers.
In
In use the container 4 would be approximately filled with liquid 6.
Upon pulling pull-tab 16 and removing lower section 14. Then inverting container 4, the weight of liquid 6 would put pressure on lid top 8. The liquid pressure would overcome the easy fit of lid top 8 and dissolve the liquid-soluble or water-soluble adhesive 24 in a few seconds. As lid top 8 loosens the weight of liquid 6 causes lid top 8 to open.
With lid top 8 opened liquid 6 flows freely from the container.
The unsanitary method of placing a hand over the mouth of the container is no longer necessary and spillage is no longer a problem.
In handling and transport, the containers can receive rough treatment and there is a possibility that liquid-soluble adhesive 24 will loosen. However, lid top 8 will stay sealed and in place as long as pull-tab 16 is not removed.
The present invention and the hands-free lid opening make placing the container on the vessel much easier. With both hands free to lift the container it becomes a much safer and sanitary procedure.
An additional advantage is the invention only requires a redesign of the lid.
The containers may carry liquids other then water, including beverages. Carrying other liquids might mean the liquid-soluble adhesive would have to be changed to suit the type of liquid in the container.
There are many companies, both American and foreign, that manufacture adhesives and liquid-soluble adhesives. Companies like Kayaku of Japan and American companies like 3-M, Dupont and Elmer's glue.
An alternate example of a preferred embodiment is illustrated in
In
With upper section 12 removed and container 4 inverted liquid pressure will cause lid top 8 to open.
An additional lid embodiment is illustrated in
Lid top 8 is part of upper section 12 that overlaps lower section 30 connected to container 4. Two pins 28 are fixed to lid top 8. The two pins 28 pass through lower section 30 and are a fit that enables the two pins 28 to move freely in lower section 30. The two pins 28 have a stop 32 on one end to limit the downward movement.
As illustrated in
Although the description above contains many specifics, these should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention but merely as providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. For example, the lid top 8 can have other shapes such as oval, triangular, square, rectangular etc. depending on the container.
The liquid-soluble adhesive 24 can cover a whole range of glues and adhesives.
The hinge 10 on lid top 8 need not open as illustrated, it could be a double hinge or no hinge at all similar to
The essence of the invention is a container having a lid that opens when inverted by the weight and pressure of the contained liquid.
Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
