Spout assembly for thin-film liquid container

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6783024
  • Patent Number
    6,783,024
  • Date Filed
    Monday, November 4, 2002
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 31, 2004
    19 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Moy; Joseph Man-Fu
    Agents
    • Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus P.A.
Abstract
The present invention relates to a spout assembly for thin-film containers having an upper side end, a lower side end, a right side end, a left side end and a rounded corner side end comprising a fixing support fixed to the rounded corner side end, a spout portion extended from the fixing support to the outside of the container, a cap coupled with the spout portion, and a fluid guide member extended from the fixing suport to the lower side end of the container.
Description




TECHNICAL FIELD




The present invention relates to a spout assembly, and more particularly, to a spout assembly for thin-film liquid container.




BACKGROUND ART




Generally, containers using a pouch, or the like are not provided with a spout. As the user cuts the corner of the container, the user can drink the beverage through the cutting corner.




But, it is not convenient to draw thebeverage of the container because the cutting corner is easily shrunk and closed by an outer air pressure.




Therefore, a thin-film container having a spout is disclosed in a prior art so as to easily draw or dispense the beverage of the thin-film container.

FIG. 12

shows a thin-film container having a spout assembly according to the prior art.




Referring to

FIG. 12

, the container C is provided with an upper end portion, a lower end portion, a right side portion and a left side portion. Further, the container C is provided at its corner with an inclined portion


11


. The spout assembly


1


is fixed to a sealed surface of the inclined portion


11


.




The spout assembly


1


comprises a fixing support


100


fixed to the sealed surface, a fluid guide member


13


vertically extended from the sealed surface to the interior of the container, and a spout portion(not shown) vertically extended from the sealed surface to the exterior of the container and coupled with a cap


200


. That is, the spout portion and the fluid guide member


13


are formed along the longitudinal axis line X.




Therefore, the bottom end of the fluid guide member


13


is faced with the right side portion of the container along the axis line X. In this case, the liquid beverage of the container below the horizontal line L is not easily dispensed from the container owing to the shrink of the container C.




DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION




Therefore, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problem. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a spout assembly for thin-film containers and a thin-film container having a spout assembly that the user can easily and entirely sucks the beverage of the container.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a construction of a cap and a spout portion easily opening the spout assembly.




Further, it is still another object of the present invention to provide a spout assembly preventing the pollution of the spout portion.




To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a spout assembly for thin-film containers having an upper side end, a lower side end, a right side end, a left side end and a rounded corner side end comprising a fixing support fixed to the rounded corner side end, a spout portion extended from the fixing support to the outside of the container, a cap coupled with the spout portion; and a fluid guide member extended from the fixing support to the lower side end of the container.




The rounded corner side end is tilted at a predetermined angle from the lower side end of the container, the fixing support is paralleled with the rounded corner side end, and the fluid guide member includes a first guide portion that is extended from the rounded corner side end and whose axis line intersects the right and left side ends and a second guide portion that is curved from the first guide portion at a predetermined angle and intersects the lower side end of the container.




The section of the fluid guide member is shaped of “+”, or the fluid guide member is shaped of a straw.




The container is further provided with a cover member that covers the spout portion and the cap for preventing their pollution and is connected to the rounded corner side end where a cutting line is interposed.




The spout portion is integrally formed and coupled with the cap whereby the cap can be easily separated from the spout portion by one-touch manner.




The cap is formed at its bottom surface with a protrusion inserted into the interior of the spout portion so that the spout portion can be sealed again.




The spout portion has an elliptic section and the cap has a rectangular section so that the thickness of the spout assembly can be reduced.




The rounded corner side end has a horizontal corner end and a vertical corner end, the fixing support is fixed to the horizontal corner end and the fluid guide member is extended from the fixing support to the lower side end of the container.




The cap is provided with a wing knob for easily removing the cap from the spout portion.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS




The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention:





FIG. 1

is a front view a thin-film container having a spout assembly in a first embodiment according to the present invention,





FIG. 2

is a front view a spout assembly of a first embodiment according to the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view taken along line III—III of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view taken along line IV—IV of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 5

is a front view of a spout assembly of the second embodiment according to the present invention;





FIG. 6

is a front view of a thin-film container having a spout assembly of the third embodiment according to the present invention;





FIG. 7

is a sectional view of a spout assembly of the third embodiment according to the present invention;





FIG. 8

is a plane view of a spout assembly of the third embodiment according to the present invention;





FIG. 9

is a front view of a thin-film container having a spout assembly of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention;





FIG. 10

is a front view of a thin-film container having a spout assembly of the fifth embodiment according to the present invention;





FIG. 11

is a perspective view of a spout assembly of the sixth embodiment according to the present invention; and





FIG. 12

is a front view of a thin-film container having a spout assembly of the prior art.











BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION




A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.





FIGS. 1

to


4


show a thin-film container having a spout assembly of the first embodiment of the present invention.




Referring to

FIG. 1

, the thin-film container C has an upper side end


3


, a lower side end


5


, a right side end


9


, a left side end


7


and a rounded corner side end


11


.




A spout assembly


1




a


of the first embodiment according to the present invention is fixed to the rounded corner side end


11


of the container C. As shown in

FIG. 2

, the spout assembly


1




a


comprises a fixing support


100


fixed to the rounded corner side end


11


, a spout portion


101


extended from the fixing support


100


to the outside of the container C and formed with a screw thread


102


, and a fluid guide member


103


extended from the fixing support


100


to the lower side end of the container C. The fixing support


100


and the spout portion


101


is formed with an outflow hole


105


communicated with the fluid guide member


103


along an axis line X tilted at a predetermined angle with a vertical axis line Y of the container C.




The fluid guide member


103


includes a first guide portion


103




a


that is extended from the fixing support


100


along the axis line X, and a second guide portion


103




b


that is extended from the first guide portion


103




a


to the lower side end portion at a predetermined angle and intersects the lower side end


5


of the container C and faced with the lower side end


5


of the container C at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis line X.




The section of the fluid guide member


103


, as shown in

FIG. 3

, is shaped of “+”.




In this state, when opening a cap


200


threaded with the spout portion


101


, a cutting line


201


is cut and a skirt


202


is removed from the cap


200


.




At this point, when sucking the beverage through the spout portion


101


, the container is shrunk and a first fluid guide hole


104




a


shown in

FIG. 3

is formed with the second fluid guide portion


103




a


and the container. Further, as shown in

FIG. 4

, a second fluid guide hole


104




b


that communicates with the first fluid guide hole


104




a


is formed under the second fluid guide portion


103




a


. As a result, the beverage of the container C can be entirely dispensed through the first and second fluid guide holes


104




a


and


104




b


and the outflow hole


105


.





FIG. 5

shows a spout assembly of the second embodiment according to the present invention.




In the second embodiment, the spout assembly


1




b


is provided with a fluid guide member


103


′ shaped of a straw. The fluid guide member


103


′ is formed with a pleated bending portion


108


, a first fluid guide portion


103


′ and a second fluid guide portion


13




b


′. A guide member fixing support


106


for fixing the fluid guide member


103


′ is formed under the fixing support


100


.





FIGS. 6

to


8


show a spout assembly of the third embodiment according to the present invention.




A spout assembly


1




c


is provided with first and second fluid guide portions


303




a


and


303




b


of a fluid guide member


303


and has a rectangular section.




The container C is further provided with a cover


300


that covers the spout portion


301


and the cap


300


for preventing their pollution and is connected to the rounded corner side end where a cutting line is interposed




Further, as shown in

FIG. 7

, the spout portion


301


is integrally formed and coupled with the cap


300


whereby the cap


300


can be easily separated from the spout portion


301


by one-touch manner. The cap


300


is formed at its bottom surface with a protrusion


305


inserted into the interior of the spout portion


301


so that the spout portion


301


can be sealed again.




Referring to

FIG. 8

, the spout portion


301


has an elliptic section and the cap


300


has a rectangular section so that the thickness of the spout assembly


1




c


can be reduced and save space.





FIG. 9

shows a thin-film container having a spout assembly of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention.




In this embodiment, the construction of a spout portion


401


and a cap is similar that of the third embodiment. The spout portion


401


is upwardly extended from the fixing support


100


coupled to an inclined portion of the rounded corner side end, and a fluid guide member


400


is downwardly extended from the fixing support


100


.





FIG. 10

shows a thin-film container having a spout assembly of the fifth embodiment according to the present invention.




In this embodiment, the spout assembly


1




e


is designed that the corner side end is composed of a horizontal end


11




a


and a vertical end


11




b


. The fixing support


100


is fixed to the horizontal end


11




a.







FIG. 11

shows a spout assembly of the sixth embodiment according to the present invention.




A spout assembly


1




f


is provided with a spout portion


601


upwardly protruded from a fixing support


2


and the fluid guide member


500


including a first guide portion


500




a


that is upwardly extended from the fixing support


2


and a second guide portion


500




b


that is curved from the first guide portion


500




a


at a predetermined angle and faces the lower side end of the container. The fluid guide member


500


is shaped of a side-open straw. A cap


604


is provided with a wing knob


605


for easily removing the cap


604


from the spout portion


601


. The cap


604


is provided with a first seal portion


602


and a second seal portion


607


.




While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and referred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A spout assembly for thin-film containers having an upper side end, a lower side end, a left side end and a rounded corner side end comprising:a fixing support fixed to the rounded corner side end; a spout portion extended from the fixing support to the outside of the container; a cap coupled with the spout portion; and a fluid guide member extended from the fixing support to the lower side end of the container, wherein the rounded corner side end is tilted at a predetermined angle from the lower side end of the container, the fixing support is paralleled with the rounded corner side end, and the fluid guide member comprises a first guide portion that is extended from the rounded corner side end and whose axis line intersects the right and left side ends and a second guide portion that is curved from the first guide portion at a predetermined angle and intersects the lower side end of the container.
  • 2. A spout assembly for thin-film containers as claimed in claim 1, wherein a section of the fluid guide member is shaped of “+”.
  • 3. A spout assembly for thin-film containers as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spout portion is formed at its outer circumference with a screw thread and the cap is formed at its inner circumference with a screw thread to be coupled with the screw thread of the spout portion.
Priority Claims (3)
Number Date Country Kind
10-2000-0024507 May 2000 KR
10-2000-0041770 Jul 2000 KR
10-2000-0042275 Jul 2000 KR
PCT Information
Filing Document Filing Date Country Kind
PCT/KR01/00740 WO 00
Publishing Document Publishing Date Country Kind
WO01/98167 12/27/2001 WO A
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
4448316 Hiroshige May 1984 A
4669124 Kimura May 1987 A
4718778 Ichikawa Jan 1988 A
4852762 Chou-Sheng Aug 1989 A
5065909 Pino et al. Nov 1991 A
5520304 Lin May 1996 A