The present invention relates generally to a storage container, and more particularly to a vacuum storage container.
A storage container is adapted to contain food for preventing the food from external dust and bacteria in order to preserve the food for a longer period of time. The conventional storage container includes a container body and a lid. After put the lid onto the container body, the food in the container body is separated from an outside.
Recently, there are several kinds of vacuum storage containers on the market. The vacuum storage container further includes a valve and a valve plug disposed on the lid, wherein air in the container body could be evacuated through the valve to the outside by installing and using a vacuum pump onto the lid, and then the valve plug plugs into the valve to keep an interior space of the vacuum storage container at negative pressure. The food could be preserved for a longer time by reducing air in the interior space.
A conventional valve plug is integrally formed as a monolithic unit and is made of silicone, and a top portion of the valve plug exposed outside is flat. When a user needs to release vacuum in the storage container, the user needs to pick the flat top portion of the valve plug with the user's fingertip to open the valve. However, it's not easy to apply a force, especially, when the top portion of the valve plug of the vacuum storage container is wet or moist, the fingertip of the user is relatively easy to slip off from the valve plug, so that it's hard to open the valve.
As a result, the conventional vacuum storage container still has room for improvement.
In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a vacuum storage container including a valve plug that could be easily pushed by a user.
The present invention provides a vacuum storage container including a container body and a lid, wherein the container body has a top opening. The lid includes a lid body and a valve plug, and the lid body is detachably engaged with the container body to cover the top opening. The lid body has a perforation. The valve plug comprises a plug body and a poked member. The plug body is disposed in the perforation for closing or opening the perforation; the poked member is disposed on a top of the plug body.
With the aforementioned design, by disposing the poked member on the plug body, the user could easily push the valve plug to release vacuum and to remove the lid, improving convenience of using the vacuum storage container.
The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which
As illustrated in
The container body 10 has a storage space 10a and a top opening 10b which communicates with the storage space 10a. Two opposite sides of the container body 10 extend in opposite directions to form two locking projections 12.
The lid 20 includes a lid body 22 and a valve plug 26, wherein the lid body 22 is detachably engaged upon the container body 10 to cover the top opening 10b. Two locking members 40 are respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the lid body 22 locking members, and are adapted to be engaged with the two locking projections 12 of the container body 10, so that the lid 20 is firmly engaged with the container body 10 and seals a peripheral edge of the top opening 10b. In the current embodiment, an airtight strip 23 could be diposed on a peripheral edge of the lid body 22 to abut against a peripheral edge of the top opening 10b of the container body 10 in order to enhance air tightness. In practice, the lid body 22 could directly abut against the peripheral edge of the top opening 10b of the container body 10 as well.
The lid body 22 has a perforation 222, and the storage space 10a of the container body 10 communicates with an outside via the perforation 222. In the current embodiment, the lid body 22 has a cavity 224 which is recessed from a top surface 22a of the lid body 22, wherein the perforation 222 is disposed inside the cavity 224. The lid body 22 has an internal surface 22b facing the storage space 10a of the container body 10, and has a protruding ring 24 extending in a direction away from the internal surface 22b and encircling the perforation 222. An outer surface 242 of the protruding ring 24 has a plurality of protruding ribs 246 which are arranged around a circumference of the outer surface 242 and extends in an axial direction of the protruding ring 24, wherein a portion of each of the protruding ribs 246 extends to the internal surface 22b.
The valve plug 26 includes a plug body 28 and a poked member 30, wherein the plug body 28 is disposed in the perforation 222 and is adapted to close or to open the perforation 222. The poked member 30 is disposed on a top of the plug body 28, so that a user could poke the poked member 30 to incline the plug body 28 to open the perforation 222 without disengaging from the perforation 222. In the current embodiment, the plug body 28 is made of silicone, and a material of the poked member 30 could be a stiffer material than the silicone, such as plastic. The plug body 28 includes a first protruding portion 282, a second protruding portion 284, and a connecting portion 286 connected between the first protruding portion 282 and the second protruding portion 284. The first protruding portion 282 is located outside a top edge of the perforation 222, and a top surface 282a of the first protruding portion 282 forms a top surface of the plug body 28. The connecting portion 286 passes through the perforation 222, and the second protruding portion 284 is located outside a bottom edge of the perforation 222. An outer diameter of the second protruding portion 284 is smaller than an outer diameter of the first protruding portion 282. An axial length of the connecting portion 286 is greater than a depth of the perforation 222.
The poked member 30 is detachably engaged with the top of the plug body 28. In the current embodiment, the top of the plug body 28 has an engaging groove 288, and the poked member 30 includes an engaging segment 32 and an extending segment 34, wherein the engaging segment 32 could be inserted into and be engaged with the engaging groove 288; the extending segment 34 is located above the engaging segment 32 and is adapted to be poked by the user. More specifically, the poked member 30 is located in the cavity 224 of the lid body 22, and a top edge of the extending segment 34 of the poked member 30 is lower than a top edge of the cavity 224. The engaging groove 288 includes a first groove section 288a and a second groove section 288b which communicates with the first groove section 288a, wherein the first groove section 288a is formed by recessing into the top surface of the plug body 28 and is located above the second groove section 288b. A width of the first groove section 288a is smaller than a width of the second groove section 288b. The engaging segment 32 of the poked member 30 includes a head portion 322 and a neck portion 324, wherein when the poked member 30 is engaged with the plug body 28, the head portion 322 is located in the second groove section 288b, and the neck portion 324 is located in the first groove section 288a. The plug body 28 is made of silicone and is flexible, so that the head portion 322 could be wedged into the second groove section 288b via the first groove section 288a to be restricted in the second groove section 288b.
In the current embodiment, the poked member 30 further includes a protruding flange 36 which is connected between the engaging segment 32 and the extending segment 34, wherein a bottom surface of the protruding flange 36 faces the top surface 282a of the first protruding portion 282, and the diameter of the first protruding portion 282 is greater than an outer diameter of the protruding flange 36. Preferably, the bottom surface of the protruding flange 36 is abutted against the top surface 282a of the protruding portion 282 of the plug body 28. The extending segment 34 is board-shaped and is located at a center portion of the protruding flange 36. The extending segment 34 is extended upward from the protruding flange 36 in a first axial direction Z, and a height of the extending segment 34 is greater than a thickness of the first protruding portion 282. In the current embodiment, the first axial direction Z is an axial direction of the engaging segment 32. The extending segment 34 has two side surfaces 342 in a second axial direction X which is perpendicular to the first axial direction Z, wherein the two side surfaces 342 face opposite directions. In the current embodiment, a distance between the two side surfaces is increased gradually from top down in the first axial direction Z. The protruding flange 36 has two top surfaces 362 respectively connected to the two side surfaces 342. Each of the two top surfaces 362 tilts downward in a direction away from one of the two side surfaces 342. An angle 0 between each of the two top surfaces 362 and one of the two side surfaces 342 is between 90 to 105 degrees. In the current embodiment the angel 0 is 100 degrees.
Moreover, the lid 20 further includes an inner cap 42 which fits around the protruding ring 24, wherein an inner surface 422 of the inner cap 42 abuts against the plurality of protruding ribs 246, thereby to form a gap G between the inner surface 422 of the inner cap 42 and the outer surface 242 of the protruding ring 24 and between the inner surface 422 of the inner cap 42 and the internal surface 22b of the lid body 22, so that air could flow through.
Referring to
Referring to
In conclusion, through the poked member 30 disposed on the plug body 28, the user could easily push the valve plug 26 to release vacuum and to remove the lid 20, so that convenience is enhanced.
It must be pointed out that the embodiment described above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.