CONTAINER CLOSURE

The present invention relates to a bottle cap comprising: an insertion part configured to be fitted into the inner circumference of the slider for blocking the inner circumference of the slider; a sealing ring configured to be extended at a lateral side of a lower end of the insertion part for sealing the lower end of the slider; an extension pipe configured to be extended to the lower side of the sealing ring and having at least one shrinkage inducing groove cut lengthwise on the extension pipe such that a diameter of the extension pipe is decreased by an outside pressing force; and a hook protruding from the outer side of the extension pipe in an outward direction from the extension pipe so as to be engaged with the bottom surface of a locking protrusion on the inner circumferential side of the end portion of the inner cap.

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Description
TECHNICAL FIELD

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a bottle cap, and more particularly, to a bottle cap comprising a storage member having an inner cap coupled to the bottle; and an opening member, which represents an upper cap, coupled to the storage member and having a slider serving as an additive storage container, having the storage member engaged with the opening member in a state having a lower end of the slider blocked by a bottom cap that is fixed to a locking protrusion at a lower end of the inner .cap while in use so as to add the additive of the slider to the inside the bottle, wherein the bottom cap configured to block the slider is provided in a tube shape having a closed upper portion so as to be fixedly coupled to the locking protrusion of the inner cap through a sealing ring and a hook that are formed at a sidewall of the bottom cap, and the hook has a shrinkage inducing groove, for facilitating the initial assembly, to decrease an outside diameter of the bottom cap while making contact with the locking protrusion to facilitate the overall assembly process, and thus the fixing force of the hook prevents the bottom cap from being separated from the inner cap so that the security In use of the bottle cap is maximized.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a bottle cap, and more particularly, to a bottle cap, which comprises a storage member; representing a lower cap, having a discharge port disposed at a lateral side of a lower end of a tube shaped inner cap that is available to be placed at an inside the mouth of the bottle; an opening member having a slider, serving as an additive container and configured to be guided into an inner circumference of the inner cap; and a bottom cap configured to block the lower end of the slider and is able to be separated from the slider when the upper cap is detached.

The bottom cap comprises:

an insertion part configured to be fitted into an inner circumferential end of the slider 536 for blocking an inner circumference of the slider;

a sealing ring configured to be extended at a lateral side of an end portion of the insertion part for sealing the lower end of the slider; and

a stopping bar provided at an edge of an upper end of the insertion part while slantingly protruding in a radial outward direction of the insertion part, thereby preventing the bottom cap from reused.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a bottle cap has been developed so as to have a storage function beyond the basic function of a cap. An example of the bottle cap as such is disclosed in PCT laid open pamphlet (WO2005/051775). FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the technical configuration of the bottle cap, FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view illustrating the process of assembling the bottle cap, FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view illustrating the assembled state of the bottle cap, FIG. 4 is a cross sectional illustrating the process of adding the additive, and FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view illustrating the bottle cap dissembled after the additive is added.

The bottle cap mainly includes a bottle body 510 having an injection port 511 provided at an outer periphery with a male screw 512, a storage member 520 detachably inserted inside the injection port 511, and an opening member 530 configured to be available to be screwed to the storage member 520 and, when rotated for unscrewing, to be separate the cap to discharge the additive, and further separate the storage member 520 from the injection port 511 while being interfered with by the storage member 520 at a predetermined position.

The storage member 520 includes an end portion plate 522, a main cap 524 and an inner cap 526 that are integrally formed with one another. The end portion plate 522 is provided at an opening end of the injection port 511 while having a cylindrical shape. The main cap 524 is axially extended from an outer periphery of the end portion plate 522 and provided with a female screw 524a screwed to the injection port 511. The inner cap 526 is axially extended from an inner periphery of the end portion plate 522 and provided to be inserted into the injection port 522 so as to enable axial movement. A locking protrusion 526b is formed at a lower end of the inner cap 526 while protruding into an inner side of a radial direction of the inner cap 526. A discharge port 526a is provided at an inner side of the locking protrusion 526b. A male screw 524b is formed at an outer periphery of the main cap 524, and a stopper 522a is integrally formed with the periphery of the end portion plate 522 while being radially extended to prevent the separation of the opening member 530, which is to be described later.

The opening member 530 includes an end plate 532, an upper cap 534 and a slider 536 integrally formed with one another. The end plate 532 is provided in the form of a disk. The upper cap 534 is axially extended from the outer side of the end plate 532 and has a female screw 534a screwed to the male screw 524b of the main cap 524. The slider 536 is axially extended from the end plate 532 so as to be inserted into the inner cap 526 while being spaced apart from the upper cap 534.

The slider 536 is provided at a lower end with a cap 540 coupled thereto so as to closely seal the inside the slider 536. The cap 540 is integrally formed at a lower end with a hook 544 that forms a locking step 542 that is engaged with the locking protrusion 526b. In addition, the cap 540 is formed at an upper end with a seal protrusion 546 that is fittingly coupled to a seal groove 536b formed at a lower end of the slider 536.

In order to use the bottle cap, first, the opening member 530 is turned upside down from the initial state illustrated in FIG. 2, and is filled with liquid or powdery additive (a1) in the slider 536 that is exposed to the upper side. Thereafter, while the cap 540 is being coupled such that the seal groove 536b is coupled to the seal protrusion 546, the opening member 530 is turned upside down again and is coupled to the storage member 520 as shown in FIG. 2. Finally, the hook 544 is engaged with the locking protrusion 526b and fixed as illustrated in FIG. 3, thereby completing the assembly. In this case, the cap 540, which is tapered at its front end thereof, smoothly passes through the locking protrusion 526b and then engaged at the locking step 542, thereby securing the coupling of the cap 540. In this state, if the opening member 530 is rotated, the opening member 530 ascends due to the interaction between the male screw 512 and the female screw 524a. In this case, the movement of the cap 540 is restricted due to the locking protrusion 526b, so the slider 536 is separated from the cap 540 as illustrated in FIG. 4 and the additive is inputted through the discharge port 526a into the bottom body 510. As the opening member 530 is further rotated, the female screw 534a is engaged with the stopper 522a, and thus the rotating force of the opening member 530 is transmitted to the storage member 520. Accordingly, the storage member 520, as the female screw 524a of the main cap 512 rotates with respect to the male screw 512 of the injection port 511, is separated from the injection port 511 together with the opening member 530 as illustrated in FIG. 5.

Such a coupling structure enables easy coupling, and provides superior sealing. However, since the coupling state is maintained by an inner circumferential portion of the inner cap inserted into the inside the bottle, the shape of the cap may be deformed by any thermal treatment during distribution or pasteurization. The deformation may cause the opening member 530 to be separated from the inner cap 526 together with the additive when a user opens with bottle by detaching the opening member 530.

In addition, since the cap is coupled to the lower end of the slider 536 by forcedly coupling the locking protrusion 526b, which is formed at an inner side end of the inner cap 526, to the hook 544 of the cap, the inner cap 526 may be cracked. The crack may cause the cap to be pulled out and become stuck in the throat of a user when the user intakes the additive.

Another example of the bottle cap illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6C is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent (No. 2006-44691) and Korean Patent Application 10-2008-0036319, in which the bottle cap comprises:

a storage member 520 provided with an inner cap 526 inserted into the mouth of a bottle body 510, wherein the inner cap 526 has a cap 540 provided at the bottom thereof and has a discharge port 526a provided at a lower end of an inner side thereof; and

an opening member 530 provided with a slider 536, which is coupled to the storage member 520 from the upper side to the inner circumference of the inner cap 526 and serving to seal the cap 540 at the lower end thereof while accommodating the additive, and an upper cap 534 that is coaxially screwed into the slider 536 to the outer circumferential end of the injection port 511 of the bottle body 510. In order to use the bottom cap, first, the slider 536 of the opening member 530 is open to an upper side, and the additive (a1) is filled in the slider 536. Thereafter, the storage member 520 shown in FIG. 6B is turned upside down (see the dotted line in FIG. 5), and then the storage member 520 is coupled such that the cap 540 blocks the end portion of the slider 536 as shown in the solid line in FIG. 6D.

In this state, by turning the assembly of the opening member 530 and the storage member 520 upside down, the additive is added to the bottle body 510, and completes a capping on the injection port 511 of the bottle body 510. In the use of the bottle cap, the upper cap 534 is rotated to be unscrewed, the sealing of the slider 536 and the cap 540 is released, and the additive (a1) is discharged inside the bottle body 510 through the discharge port 526a such that a user can intake the content having the additive. Similarly, the opening member 530 and the storage member 520 are separated together from the bottle body 510. The same reference numerals will be assigned to elements identical in FIGS. 1 to 5, and the description of the same elements will be omitted.

However, in such a technology, the storage member 520 and the opening member 530 may be separated together from the bottom body 510. In this case, the bottom cap may be reused by separating the storage member 520 from the opening member 530, adding new additive to the opening member 530, coupling the opening member 530 to the storage member 520, and finally coupling the assembly of the opening member 530 and the storage member 520 to the mouth of the bottom body 510.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a bottle cap comprising: a storage member having an inner cap coupled to the bottle; and an opening member, which represents an upper cap, coupled to the storage member and having a slider serving as an additive storage container, having the storage member assembled with the opening member in a state of having a lower to end of the slider blocked by a bottom cap that is fixed to a locking protrusion at a lower end of the inner cap while in use so as to add the additive of the slider to the inside the bottle.

wherein the bottom cap configured to block the slider is provided in the form of a tube having a closed upper portion and is provided at a sidewall thereof with a sealing ring and a hook fixedly coupled to the locking protrusion of the inner cap, and wherein the hook has a shrinkage inducing groove, for facilitating the initial assembly, to decrease the outside diameter of the bottom cap while making contact with the locking protrusion to facilitate the overall assembly process, and the fixing force of the hook prevents the bottom cap from being separated from the inner cap so that the security of the bottle cap is maximized.

The present invention provides a bottom cap, in which the coupling between the bottom cap and the inner cap is achieved at a lateral side of an extension pipe of the bottom cap without using a hook engagement at the upper side and lower side of the bottom cap, so that the bottom cap is available in the form of a tub and thus material cost is reduced, in addition, the insertion part is provided at an outer side of a lower end thereof with a sealing ring that performs a sealing while enabling an upper side coupling to the locking protrusion, thereby achieving a tube-type bottom cap with an enhanced sealing performance and coupling force.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a bottom cap, in which an insertion part fitted to the inner circumferential end of a slider so as to block the inner circumferential end is provided at an edge of an upper end thereof with a stopping bar, which slantingly protruding in a radial outward direction of the insertion part. Accordingly, coupling of the bottom cap is achieved by a pressing force, but once the bottom cap is separated from the slider, the re-coupling of the bottom cap is impossible, thereby preventing the bottom cap from being reused.

Technical Solution

In one embodiment, a bottle cap comprises: a storage member, representing a lower cap, coupled to the mouth of a bottle, having a tube shaped inner cap placed inside the mouth of the bottle, and having a discharge port disposed at a lateral side of the lower end of the inner cap; an opening member, representing an upper cap, provided with a slider configured so as to be guided into the inner circumference of the inner cap and serving as an additive container ; and a bottom cap configured to block a lower end of the slider and is available to be fixed to the lower end of the inner cap when the upper cap is detached, wherein the bottom cap comprises:

an insertion part configured to be fitted into an inner circumferential of the slider for blocking the inner circumference;

a sealing ring configured to be extended at a lateral side of a lower end of the insertion part for sealing the lower end of the slider; and

an extension pipe configured to be extended to a lower side of the sealing ring and having at least one shrinkage inducing groove that is cut lengthwise on the extension pipe such that the diameter of the extension pipe is decreased by an outside pressing force; and

a hook protruding at the outer side of the extension pipe in a radial outward direction so as to be engaged with the bottom surface of a locking protrusion on the inner circumference side of the lower end of the inner cap.

In another embodiment, a bottle cap comprises: a storage member, representing a lower cap, having a discharge port disposed at a side of the lower end of a tube shaped inner cap that is placed inside the mouth of a bottle; an opening member provided with a slider configured to be guided into the inner circumference of the inner cap and serving as a container; and a bottom cap configured to block the lower end of the slider and is able to be separated from the slider when the upper cap is detached, wherein the bottom cap comprises:

an insertion part configured to be fitted into an inner circumferential end of the slider for blocking the inner circumference of the slider;

a sealing ring configured to be extended at a lateral side of an end portion of the insertion part for sealing the lower end of the slider; and

a stopping bar provided at the edge of the upper end of the insertion part while slantingly protruding in a radial outward direction of the insertion part.

Advantageous Effects

In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, a storage member of a bottle cap having an inner cap is assembled with an opening member, representing an upper cap, coupled to the storage member and having a slider serving as an additive storage container in a state having the lower end of the slider blocked by a bottom cap, wherein when the bottle cap is used, the bottom cap is fixed to a locking protrusion at a lower end of the inner cap such that the additive is added to the inside the slider,

wherein the bottom cap configured to block the slider is provided in a tube shape having a closed upper portion so as to be fixedly coupled to the locking protrusion of the inner cap through a sealing ring and a hook that are formed at a sidewall of the bottom cap, and where the hook has a shrinkage inducing groove for facilitating the initial assembly, to decrease an outside diameter of the bottom cap while making contact with the locking protrusion to facilitate the overall assembly process, and thus the fixing force of the hook prevents the bottom cap from being separated from the inner cap so that security in the use of the bottle cap is maximized.

Accordingly, even though two locking protrusions are set vertically on the inner cap one above the other, and two hooks corresponding to the two locking protrusions are formed at a portion of the bottom cap, a shrinkage inducing groove serves to decrease the diameter and thus a double hook effect is enabled and safety is maximized.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, a bottom cap is provided, in which the coupling between the bottom cap and the inner cap is achieved at a lateral side of an extension pipe of the bottom cap without using a hook engagement at the upper side and lower side of the bottom cap, so that the bottom cap is available to be formed in the form of a tub and thus material cost is reduced, in addition, the insertion part is provided at an outer side of a lower end thereof with a sealing ring that performs a sealing while enabling an upper side coupling to the locking protrusion, thereby achieving a tube-type bottom cap with an enhanced sealing performance and coupling force.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, a bottom cap comprises: an insertion part fitted to an inner circumferential end of a slider to block the inner circumferential end;

a sealing ring configured to be extended at a lateral side of the end portion of the insertion part for sealing the lower end of the slider; and

a stopping bar provided at an edge of the upper end of the insertion part while slantingly protruding at radial outward direction of the, wherein in the case of a coupling of the bottom cap, the bottom cap is coupled to the slider as the stopping bar is pressed by a pusher arm, and after being used, the stopping bar restores the original shape while increasing the inside diameter, so that the bottom cap is prevented from being reused.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the conventional bottle cap;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view illustrating the process of assembling the bottle cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view illustrating the assembled state of the bottle cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional illustrating the state of use of the bottle cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view illustrating the bottle cap in a state of dissembling an opening member and a storage member from a bottle body as an integral body;

FIG. 6A is a cross sectional view illustrating the assembled state of a conventional bottle cap;

FIG. 6B is a perspective view illustrating a storage member of the bottle cap of FIG. 6A;

FIG. 6C is a cross section view illustrating the process of putting an additive to an opening member of the bottle cap of FIG. 6A;

FIG. 6D is a view illustrating the state of coupling the storage member to the opening member filled with the additive;

FIG. 7A is a cross sectional view illustrating use of the bottle cap according to an example of the present invention;

FIG. 7B is an enlarged cross sectional view illustrating an example of a bottom cap shown in FIG. 7A;

FIG. 7C is an enlarged cross sectional view illustrating another example of the bottom cap shown in FIG. 7A;

FIG. 7D is an enlarged perspective view illustrating another example of the bottom cap shown in FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view illustrating use of a bottle cap according to another example of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross section illustrating a principal part of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10A is a cross sectional view illustrating putting an additive into the opening member of the present invention;

FIG. 10B is a cross section view illustrating a state of having a slider blocked using a bottom cap after adding the additive to the bottle cap of FIG. 10A;

FIG. 10C is a cross sectional view illustrating the state of coupling the storage member to the opening member that is blocked by the bottom cap;

FIG. 10D is a cross sectional view illustrating the bottom cap coupled to a locking protrusion of the storage member;

FIG. 10E is a cross sectional view illustrating a state of putting in of an additive by rotating the opening member;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating an example of the storage member according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating the opening member according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a semi-exploded cross sectional view illustrating the assembled state of the bottle cap according to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is an assembled perspective view illustrating the bottle cap according to the present invention;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged cross sectional view illustrating the bottom cap of a bottle cap according to another example of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a cross sectional view illustrating the bottom cap of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view illustrating the bottom cap of FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a cross sectional view illustrating the state of use of the bottle cap using the bottom cap of FIG. 15;

FIG. 19 is a view illustrating a bottle cap according to another example of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a cross sectional view illustrating the assembled state of the bottle cap of FIG. 19; and

FIG. 21 is a perspective view illustrating a storage member shown in FIG. 20.

 BEST MODE FOR INVENTION

As disclosed in claim 1, a bottle cap according to an example of the present invention comprises: a storage member, which represents a lower cap, having a discharge port disposed at a lateral side of the lower end of a tube shaped inner cap that is placed inside the mouth of a bottle; an opening member, which represents an upper cap, provided with a slider configured to be guided into the inner circumference of the inner cap and serving as an additive container; and a bottom cap configured to block the lower end of the slider and can be separated from the slider when the upper cap is detached, wherein the bottom cap comprises:

an insertion part 556 configured to be fitted into the inner circumferential end of the slider 536 for blocking the inner circumference of the slider;

a sealing ring 551 configured to be extended at one side of the end portion of the insertion part 556 for sealing the lower end of the slider; and

an extension pipe 557 configured to be extended to a lower side of the sealing ring 551 and having at least one shrinkage inducing groove 554 cut lengthwise on the extension pipe 557 such that the diameter of the extension pipe 557 is decreased by an outside pressing force; and

a hook 553 protruding at an outer side of the extension pipe 557 in an outward direction of the extension pipe 557 so as to be engaged with the bottom surface of a locking protrusion 526b that extends from an inner circumference side of the end portion of the inner cap 526 toward the center of the inner cap 526. As disclosed in claim 8, a bottle cap according to another example of the present invention comprises: a storage member, which represents a lower cap, having a discharge port disposed at a lateral side of a lower end of a tube shaped inner cap that is available to be placed at inside the mouth of a bottle; an opening member, which represents an upper cap, provided with a slider configured to be guided into the inner circumference of the inner cap and serving as an additive container; and a bottom cap configured to block a lower end of the slider and can be separated from the slider when the upper cap is detached, wherein the bottom cap comprises:

an insertion part configured to be fitted into an inner circumferential end of the slider 536 for blocking the inner circumference of the slider;

a sealing ring 551 configured to be extended at a lateral side of an end portion of the insertion part for sealing the lower end of the slider; and

a stopping bar 600 provided at an edge of an upper end of the insertion part 556 while slantingly protruding in a radial outward direction of the insertion part 556.

Mode for Invention

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, one example of the bottom cap 550 includes the insertion part 556 configured to be fitted into the inner circumference of the slider 536 for blocking the inner circumference of the slider 536;

the sealing ring 551 extended at a lateral side of the lower end of the insertion part 556 for sealing the lower end of the slider 536; and

the extension pipe 557 extended to the lower side of the sealing ring 551 and having at least one shrinkage inducing groove 554 cut lengthwise on the extension pipe 557 such that a diameter of the extension pipe 557 is decreased; and

the hook 553 protruding from the outer side of the extension pipe 557 in a radial outward direction of the extension pipe 557 so as to be engaged with the bottom surface of the locking protrusion 526b which protrudes from the inner circumference side of the lower end of the inner cap 526.

A sealing groove 552 in a predetermined depth is formed at a portion between the upper surface of the sealing ring 551 and the insertion part 556, and a sealing protrusion wheel 536a configured to be fittedly coupled to the sealing groove 552 is formed at a lower end portion of the slider 536 corresponding to the sealing groove for coupling.

FIG. 7C illustrates another example of the present invention. Different from FIG. 7B, a subsidiary locking protrusion 526c is added at a lower side of the locking protrusion 526b of the inner cap 526 as illustrated in conjunction with FIGS. 8 and 9.

A subsidiary hook 555 is formed on a portion of the extension pipe 557 corresponding to the subsidiary locking protrusion 526c so as to be engaged with the subsidiary locking protrusion 526c and thus increase the fixing force.

The bottom cap 550 shown in FIG. 7B operates as illustrated in FIG. 7A while in use. Meanwhile, the bottom cap 550 shown in FIG. 7C operates as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9 while in use.

That is, when the bottom cap 550 is used as illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7D, and FIGS. 10A to 10E, for an initial coupling, the slider 536 is turned upside down as shown in FIG. 10A and is filled with the additive (al) selected among a liquid type additive, the powder type additive or a granular type additive, and then the slider 536 is blocked using the bottom cap 550 as shown in FIG. 10b. Thereafter, the insertion part 556 of the bottom cap 550, as the curved part 556a passes through the inner circumference of the lower end of the inner cap 526, is press fitted to the inner circumference of the slider 536. At the same time of the press fitting of the insertion part 556, the sealing protrusion wheel 536a of the lower end portion of the slider 536 is fitted into the sealing groove 552 of the sealing ring 551, thereby maximizing the sealing performance.

Therafter, the opening member 530 is turned upside down, and is coupled to the storage member 530 by being pressed in the longitudinal direction of the inside diameter of the inner cap 526 of the storage member 530. In this case, as the bottom cap 550 is directed downward, the hook 553 of the bottom cap 550 resists the downward movement while making contact with the upper surface of the locking protrusion 526b first. However, the shrinkage inducing groove 554 formed on the extension pipe 557, which is extended at the lower end of the bottom cap 550, reduces the outside diameter of a portion of the extension pipe 557 corresponding to the hook 553 and thus the bottom cap 550 passes through the inside diameter of the locking protrusion 526b. In this regard, even if the hook 553 is formed at the outside diameter of the extension pipe 557, the outside diameter of the extension pipe 557 is reduced to be smaller than the inside diameter of the locking protrusion 526b for coupling, thereby enabling the assembly operation without cracking the inner cap 526.

The bottle cap is capped onto a general bottle and shipped in a state having the opening member 520 assembled to the bottom cap 550, and when a user uses the bottle cap, the opening member 530 is detached from the storage member 520 coupled to the bottle body 510 as shown in FIGS. 7A, 8 and 10E, so that the additive in the slider 536 is added to the inside the bottle body 512 by passing through the discharge port 526a. When the opening member 530 is detached as such, the bottom cap 550, the locking protrusion 526b is coupled at a portion formed between the sealing ring 551 and the hook 553. Accordingly, if the bottom cap is unscrewed by rotating the opening member 530 through the male screw 524b of the extension pipe 527, the opening member 530 moves upward to be separated from the bottom cap 550 fixed to the lower end of the slider 536, so that the additive in the slider 536 is added to the inside the bottle body. In this case, since the bottom cap 550 is provided at the outside periphery thereof with the sealing ring 551 and the hook 553, and the locking protrusion 526b is mounted to the space formed between the sealing ring 551 and the hook 553. Accordingly, in a coupling state, the outside diameter of the hook 553 is not reduced, so that a strong fixing force is maintained while preventing the separation of the bottom cap 550, thereby enabling a user to intake the contents of the bottle.

FIG. 7C illustrates the extension pipe 557 having two hooks 553 and 555 formed thereon, and the inner cap 526 having two locking protrusions 526b and 526c formed thereon, providing a double engaging effect to prevent separation of the bottom cap.

Such a double engagement maximizes safety while providing the same effect as above. Accordingly, the description of the double engagement effect will be omitted.

In this case, the protruding length of the subsidiary locking protrusion 526c is longer than the protruding length of the locking protrusion 526b, and the subsidiary hook 555 is shorter than the hook 553. As the subsidiary hook 555, which is disposed at the lower side of the hook 553 and is shorter than the hook 553, passes through the locking protrusion 526b and the subsidiary locking protrusion 526c in order, the initial coupling is achieved. In addition, when coupling, the subsidiary hook 555 is subject to the shirking force caused by the shrinkage inducing groove 554, so that a reduction in the outside diameter thereof is enabled.

However, when the bottle cap having been coupled is separated for use, such a double engagement maintains the bottom cap 550 at the coupling state while preventing the separation of the bottom cap. Accordingly, when a user intakes the content by separating the opening member 530, the bottom cap is prevented from being separated together with the content, thereby maximizing safety. According to the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 11, 12 and 14, a bridge 528 having a predetermined depth is provided at a lower side of the locking protrusion 526b, which is formed at the inner side wall of the inner cap 526 of the storage member 520, and the bridge 528 has a bridge rib 529 forming a predetermined depth, thereby preventing the bottom cap 550 is prevented from falling into the body of the bottle. According to the present invention illustrated in FIG. 7D, a friction reducing surface 553a is formed at a portion of the hook 553 corresponding to both sides of the shrinkage inducing groove 554, so that the reduction in diameter is easily performed when the extension 557 is pressed.

According to another example of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 15 to 20, a stopping bar 600 is provided at an edge of an upper end of the insertion part 556 while slantingly protruding upward in a way so that the end of the stopping bar is extended beyond the outside diameter of the insertion part 556.

Referring to FIG. 19, the stopping bar 600 is pushed in the direction of the inside diameter by a pusher arm 610, which is configured to push while serving as a thong, thereby enabling natural coupling to the slider and thus achieving smooth capping.

When the bottle cap, after capping for shipping, is separated and used, if a user detaches the upper cap 534 from the opening member 530, the stopping bar 600 is spread by an elastic restoring force as shown in FIG. 18, so that the slider 536 is basically inhibited from be coupled again, thereby preventing the bottle cap from being reused.

Industrial Applicability

A bottom cap configured to block the slider is provided in the form of a tube having a closed upper portion and is fixedly coupled to the locking protrusion of the inner cap through a sealing ring and a hook formed at the sidewall of the bottom cap, the hook has a shrinkage inducing groove, for facilitating the initial assembly, to decrease the outside diameter of the bottom cap while making contact with the locking protrusion to facilitate the overall assembly process, and the fixing force of the hook prevents the bottom cap from being separated from the inner cap so that the security in the use of the bottle cap is maximized.

Even if two locking protrusions are formed vertically on the inner cap one above the other, and two hooks corresponding to the two locking protrusions are formed at a portion of the bottom cap, a shrinkage inducing groove serves to decrease the diameter and thus a double hook effect is enabled and safety is maximized.

A bottom cap is provided in a tube shape so as to reduce the material needed, and thus the manufacturing cost is reduced. In addition, the insertion part is provided at an outer side of a lower end thereof with a sealing ring that performs sealing while enabling upper side coupling to the locking protrusion, thereby achieving a tube-type bottom cap with an enhanced sealing performance and coupling force.

An insertion part is provided at an edge of the upper end thereof with a stopping bar, which slantingly protruding in a radial outward direction of the insertion part. Accordingly, in the case of coupling, the stopping bar is coupled to the slider while being pressed by a pusher arm, and after being used, restores the original shape by increasing the inside diameter, so that the bottom cap is prevented from being reused.

Claims

1. A bottle cap comprising: a storage member, which represents a lower cap, having a discharge port disposed at a lateral side of a lower end of a tube shaped inner cap that is available to be placed inside a mouth of a bottle; an opening member, which represents an upper cap, provided with a slider configured to be guided into an inner circumference of the inner cap and serving as an additive container; and a bottom cap configured to block a lower end of the slider and is able to be separated from the slider when the upper cap is detached, wherein the bottom cap comprises:

an insertion part 556 configured to be fitted into an inner circumferential end of the slider 536 for blocking an inner circumference of the slider 536;
a sealing ring 551 configured to be extended at a lateral side of an end portion of the insertion part 556 for sealing the lower end of the slider 536; and
an extension pipe 557 configured to be extended to a lower side of the sealing ring 551 and having at least one shrinkage inducing groove 554 cut lengthwise on the extension pipe 557 such that a diameter of the extension pipe 557 is decreased by an outside pressing force; and
a hook 553 protruding at an outer side of the extension pipe 557 in a radial outward direction of the extension pipe 557 so as to be engaged with a bottom surface of a locking protrusion 526b that is protruded at an inner circumference side of an end portion of the inner cap 526 toward a center portion of the inner cap 526.

2. The bottle cap of claim 1, further comprising:

a subsidiary locking protrusion 526c formed at a lower side of the locking protrusion 526b of the inner cap 526; and
a subsidiary hook 555 formed on the extension pipe 557 so as to increase the fixing force while being engaged with the subsidiary locking protrusion 526c.

3. The bottle cap of claim 2, wherein a protrusion length of the subsidiary locking protrusion 526c is longer than a protrusion length of the locking protrusion 526b, and a protrusion length of the hook 553 is longer than a protrusion length of the subsidiary hook 555.

4. The bottle cap of claim 1 or 2, wherein the insertion part 556 is provided at an upper end of an outer circumferential side thereof with a curved part 556a that is press-fitted to an inner circumference of the lower end of the slider 536.

5. The bottle cap of claim 4, wherein an upper surface of the insertion part 556 forms a protruding slope part 556b that protrudes upwards to guide the discharge of additive sideways.

6. The bottle cap of claim 1 or 2, wherein a sealing groove 552 with a predetermined depth is formed at a portion between an upper surface of the sealing ring 551 and the insertion part 556, and a sealing protrusion wheel 536a configured to be fittedly coupled to the sealing groove 552 is formed at a lower end portion of the slider 536 corresponding to the sealing groove for coupling.

7. The bottle cap of claim 1 or 2, wherein the end portion of the inner cap 526 is provided with a bridge 528 configured to prevent the bottom cap 550 from moving downward into a body of the bottle when the bottom cap 550 fixed to the locking protrusion 526 is separated from the inner cap 526.

8. A bottle cap comprising a storage member, which represents a lower cap, having a discharge port disposed at a lateral side of a lower end of a tube shaped inner cap that is available to be placed inside a mouth of a bottle, an opening member, which represents an upper cap, provided with a slider configured to be guided into an inner circumference of the inner cap and serving as an additive container, and a bottom cap configured to block a lower end of the slider and is available to be separated from the slider when the upper cap is detached, wherein the bottom cap comprises:

an insertion part 556 configured to be fitted into an inner circumferential end of the slider 536 for blocking the inner circumference of the slider 536;
a sealing ring 551 configured to be extended at a lateral side of an end portion of the insertion part 556 for sealing the lower end of the slider 536; and
a stopping bar 600 provided at an edge of an upper end of the insertion part 556 while slantingly protruding in a radial outward direction of the insertion part 556.

9. The bottle cap of claim 8, further comprising:

an extension pipe 557 configured to be extended to a lower side of the sealing ring 551 and having at least one shrinkage inducing groove 554 cut lengthwise on the extension pipe 557 such that a diameter of the extension pipe 557 is decreased by an outside pressing force; and
a hook 553 protruding from an outer side of the extension pipe 557 in a radial outward direction of the extension pipe 557 so as to be engaged with a bottom surface of a locking protrusion 526b that protrudes from an inner circumference side of an end portion of the inner cap 526 toward a center portion of the inner cap 526.

10. The bottle cap of claim 9, wherein the end portion of the inner cap 526 is provided with a bridge 528 to prevent the bottom cap 550 from moving downward into a body of the bottle when the bottom cap 550 fixed to the locking protrusion 526 is separated from the inner cap 526.

Patent History
Publication number: 20130112646
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 21, 2011
Publication Date: May 9, 2013
Inventor: Young Kook Cho (Marietta, GA)
Application Number: 13/261,566
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: With Structure For Removably Holding An Article Or Material (215/227)
International Classification: B65D 51/28 (20060101);