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The disclosure relates to spout devices and more particularly pertains to a new spout device for pouring a fluid from a bottle without spillage.
The prior art relates to spout devices including a variety of spouts that have mechanized means of controlling fluid flow from a bottle, generally involving a fluid valve of various designs. The prior art further discloses a variety of spouts that have an air inlet that can be covered by a user's finger for inhibiting fluid from pouring from the spout. The prior art also discloses a variety of spouts that include a trigger, that actuates a plunger, for opening and closing the spout for pouring. In no instance does the prior art disclose a flap, coupled to a trigger, for regulating the flow of fluid through a spout.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a spout that is attachable to a bottle to pour a fluid contained in the bottle. A trigger is movably integrated into the spout that can be depressed by a user and the trigger is biased into an up-depressed position. A disk is coupled to the trigger such that the disk is positioned within the spout. The disk closes the spout when the trigger is not depressed to inhibit the fluid from pouring outwardly through the spout. Conversely, the disk opens the spout when the trigger is depressed to facilitate the liquid to pour from the spout.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The inside surface 24 has a threaded portion 34 that is located adjacent to the bottom end 18 thereby facilitating the threaded portion 34 to threadably engage threads on the bottle 14 for retaining the spout 12 on the bottle 14. The outer wall 22 curves away from the longitudinal centerline of the spout 12 at a location that is positioned adjacent to the top end 20. In this way the top end 20 is directed laterally away from the longitudinal centerline of the spout 12 to enhance pouring the fluid 16 into a desired container or the like. The outer wall 22 tapers inwardly between a middle 36 of the outer wall 22 and the top end 20.
The inside surface 24 has a ledge 38 extending into an interior of the spout 12, and the ledge 38 is centrally positioned between the top end 20 and the bottom end 18. The outer wall 22 has an air hole 40 extending therethrough to pass air into the spout 12 when the spout 12 is pouring fluid 16. The air hole 40 is positioned between the ledge 38 and the flared portion 28 of the outer wall 22. The outer wall 22 has a trigger slot 42 extending therethrough and the trigger slot 42 is positioned adjacent to the flared portion 28 of the outer wall 22. The trigger slot 42 is positioned on an opposite side of the outer wall 22 with respect to the air hole 40.
A gasket 44 is positioned within the spout 12 and the gasket 44 is positioned against the bounding surface 32 of the flared portion 28 of the outer wall 22 of the spout 12. In this way the gasket 44 will compress against the top end 30 of the bottle 14 when the spout 12 is threaded onto the bottle 14. Additionally, the gasket 44 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material, including but not being limited to rubber or silicone, to form a fluid impermeable seal with the top end 30 of the bottle 14 thereby inhibiting fluid 16 from leaking outwardly through the bottom end 18 of the spout 12.
A trigger 46 is movably integrated into the spout 12 and the trigger 46 can be depressed by a user. The trigger 46 has a forward surface 48, a rearward surface 50 and an upper end 52 extending therebetween. The upper end 52 pivotally engages the outer wall 22 of the spout 12 having the trigger 46 being positioned in the trigger slot 42. The forward surface 48 is exposed with respect to the outer wall 22 to be engaged by the user for depressing the trigger 46 into the trigger slot 42. The rearward surface 50 is positioned inside the spout 12 and the trigger 46 is biased into an up-depressed position.
A disk 54 is coupled to the trigger 46 such that the disk 54 is positioned within the spout 12. The disk 54 closes the spout 12 when the trigger 46 is not depressed to inhibit the fluid 16 from pouring outwardly through the spout 12. The disk 54 opens the spout 12 when the trigger 46 is depressed to facilitate the fluid 16 to pour from the spout 12. The disk 54 has bottom surface 56 and a perimeter edge 58, and the perimeter edge 58 is coupled to the upper end 52 of the trigger 46. The perimeter edge 58 engages the inside surface 24 of the outer wall 22 of the spout 12. Additionally, the disk 54 is oriented such the bottom surface 56 lies on a plane that is oriented at an obtuse angle with respect to the rearward surface 50 of the trigger 46. In this way the weight of the disk 54 biases the trigger 46 into the un-depressed position.
The bottom surface 56 of the disk 54 rests on the ledge 38 on the inside surface 24 of the outer wall 22 of the spout 12 when the trigger 46 is in the un-depressed position. In this way the disk 54 inhibits the fluid 16 from passing beyond the disk 54. The bottom surface 56 of the disk 54 is displaced from the ledge 38 having the disk 54 angling upwardly toward the top end 20 of the spout 12 when the trigger 46 is depressed. In this way the disk 54 facilitates the fluid 16 to pass by the disk 54 to be poured from the spout 12.
A trigger guard 57 is provided and the trigger guard 57 is coupled to the spout 12. The trigger guard 57 extends over the trigger 46 to inhibit the trigger 46 from being inadvertently depressed. The trigger guard 57 has a primary end 59 and a secondary end 60, and the trigger guard 57 is curved between the primary end 59 and the secondary end 60. Moreover, each of the primary end 59 and the secondary end 60 is coupled to the outer wall 22 of the spout 12 having the trigger guard 57 being aligned with the trigger 46.
In use, the bottom end 18 of the spout 12 is threaded onto the top end 20 of the bottle 14 to facilitate the spout 12 to pour the fluid 16 in the bottle 14. The trigger 46 is depressed to facilitate the fluid 16 to pour from the spout 12. Additionally, the fluid 16 ceases pouring from the spout 12 when the trigger 46 is released. In this way the volume of fluid 16 that is poured from the spout 12 can be precisely controlled without spillage, as commonly occurs when one resorts to tipping the bottle 14 upwardly to stop pouring the fluid 16. In this way oil, for example, can be poured into an oil fill tube on an internal combustion engine without fear of spilling the oil or overfilling the internal combustion engine with oil.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
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Number | Date | Country |
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WO2006007418 | Jan 2006 | WO |