Patent Application
20120240775
The present invention relates to a locking structure of an infusion barrel for a beverage making device, and more particularly, to a dual-locking structure for connecting the barrel and the cover.
A conventional beverage making device uses pressurized water and steam to stir the water level to shorten the time required for making beverage so that the pressure in the barrel is significant. If the locking structure is too weak, the pressure may open the cover suddenly and cause dangerous results. Taiwan Patent Publish No. M319010 discloses a barrel, a cover and a locking unit, wherein the barrel has a protrusion on the front end thereof and a pivotal portion is formed on the rear end of the barrel. The cover is located on the barrel and has a pivotal member. A first pin extends through the pivotal member and the pivotal portion to pivotably connect the barrel and the cover. The locking unit is fixed to the front end of the cover by a locking member which is pivotably connected with a lever by a second pin. The lever is connected with a slide piece by a third pin. A locking rod is located on a side of the lever so as to be in contact with the underside of the protrusion of the cover. A handle is fixed to the underside of lever.
By operation of the handle to pivot the lever to engage the barrel and the cover, but it requires significant force. When opening the cover, the user has to pivot the cover backward by using the handle. However, the beverage is hot and steam is in the barrel so that when the cover is opened, the steam releases and may burn the user's hand.
The present invention intends to provide a locking structure for connecting the cover to the barrel so as to improve the drawback of the conventional beverage making device.
The present invention relates to a locking structure of an infusion barrel for a beverage making device, and comprises a barrel having a protrusion portion and a first pivotal portion. The protrusion portion has a shaft which is pivotably connected with a locking member and a first resilient member. The first resilient member has a first end and a second end, wherein the first end is fixed to the protrusion portion and the second end contacts the locking member. A cover is located on the barrel and has a protrusion and a second pivotal portion. An axle extends through the second pivotal portion and the first pivotal portion of the barrel to pivotably connect the cover to the barrel. The axle has at least one second resilient member which has a third end and a fourth end, wherein the third end is fixed to the barrel and the fourth end contacts the cover. The protrusion has an engaging member located corresponding to the locking member of the barrel.
The locking member has a first inclined surface and the engaging member has a second inclined surface which is located corresponding to the first inclined surface.
The shaft of the protrusion portion extends from the protrusion portion and two pins extend from two sides of the protrusion of the cover. The two pins are pivotably connected with a hooking member which has two hooks located corresponding to the shaft of the protrusion portion and engaged with the shaft.
The protrusion portion has two slots which communicate the shaft. The two hooks of the hooking member are inserted into the slots and hooked to the shaft.
The locking member has a first inclined surface and the engaging member has a second inclined surface which is located corresponding to the first inclined surface. When the user pushes the cover, the second inclined surface is engaged with the first inclined surface to connect the cover to the barrel. The operation is completed without too much force. The first resilient member returns the locking member so that the user can operate the cover by one hand.
The cover has a locking member which is hooked to the shaft of the protrusion portion of the barrel so as to prevent the cover from disengaging from the engaging member by unintentionally touching the locking member.
The axle has the second resilient member mounted thereto which is biased between the barrel and the cover, so that when the cover is closed, the second resilient member is in compressed status. When the cover is opened, the second resilient member automatically opens the cover.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to
The cover 2 is located on the barrel 1 and has a protrusion 21 and a second pivotal portion 22. An axle 3 extends through the second pivotal portion 22 and the first pivotal portion 12 of the barrel 1 to pivotably connect the barrel 1 to the cover 2. The protrusion 21 has an engaging member 23 located corresponding to the locking member 14 of the barrel 1. The engaging member 23 has a second inclined surface 231 which is located corresponding to the first inclined surface 141 of the locking member 14. Two pins 211 extend from two sides of the protrusion 21 of the cover 2. The two pins 211 are pivotably connected with a hooking member 24 which has two hooks 241. The protrusion portion 11 has two slots 111 which communicate the shaft 13. The two hooks 241 of the hooking member 24 are inserted into the slots 111 and hooked to the shaft 13.
The axle 3 has at least one second resilient member 4 which has a third end 41 and a fourth end 42. The third end 41 is fixed to the barrel 1 and the fourth end 42 contacts the cover 2.
When in operation, as shown in
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While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
