US20130062353A1

US20130062353A1 - Multi-Compartment Container

Info

Publication number: US20130062353A1
Application number: US13/270,313
Authority: US
Inventors: David Tong
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-09-09
Filing date: 2011-10-11
Publication date: 2013-03-14
Also published as: TW201311513A

Abstract

A multi-compartment container including a vessel body, an elastic ring, a lid, and a sealer is disclosed. The vessel body has an opening. The elastic ring is coupled with an inner peripheral surface of the vessel body and has a through hole extending axially. The lid detachably couples with the vessel body to cover the opening, with the lid having a holding member. The sealer has a connecting end and a plug end, with the connecting end coupling with the holding member of the lid, and with the plug end being capable of abutting against the elastic ring to seal the through hole or disengaging from the elastic ring.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a multi-compartment container and, more particularly, to a multi-compartment container able to separately store different kinds of materials and for the various materials to mix before use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, an invention of a Taiwan patent with patent number M364680 and entitled as “Bottle with detachable partition” is shown, which regards to a bottle 9 including a waisted body 91, a partition 92, a holding member 93 and a lid 94. An engaging ring 912 is formed at an upper edge of a waist part 911 of the waisted body 91. A separating body 921 of the partition 92 can tightly fit the waist part 911 of the waisted body 91, so as to separate an inner space of the waisted body 91 into an upper part and a lower part for separately receiving two different liquids. A shaft 922 of the partition 92 is inserted into and engaged with a holding groove 931 of the holding member 93, while a head portion 932 of the holding member 93 is firmly coupled with the lid 94. Accordingly, in use, while the lid 94 is removed from and reveals an opening 913 of the waisted body 91, the partition 92 and the holding member 93 are pulled as well as the separating body 921 originally fitting the waist part 911 and the engaging ring 912 is lifted upwards. Therefore, the partition 92 can be pulled out of the waisted body 91 via the opening 913 for the liquids in the upper and lower parts to mix.
In the above operation, an external force to pull the partition 92 out of the waisted body 91 should be large to overcome the friction between the waist part 911 and the separating body 921 since the separating body 921 has to be firmly coupled with the waist part 911 by tight fitness for actually separating the upper and lower parts of the waisted body 91 and preventing the separate liquids from mixing. However, none of the couplings between the holding member 93 and the lid 94 or between the partition 92 and the holding member 93 is performed with an anti-departure member, so that the separating body 921 may be still held by the waist part 911 but the holding member 93 is departed from the partition 92 or the lid 94 when a user pulls the lid 94.
Furthermore, an upper rim of the separating body 921 is coupled in the engaging ring 912 to prevent the separating body 921 from totally falling into the lower part of waisted body 91. However, if sizes of the separating body 921 and engaging ring 912 can not perfectly match with each other, leakage between the upper and lower parts of the waisted body 91 may exist. Accordingly, the waisted body 91 and the separating body 921 have to be manufactured with small tolerance, and thus manufacture costs thereof are high. In light of this, it is desired to improve the conventional multi-compartment container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore the primary objective of this invention to provide a multi-compartment container having a sealer capable of tightly abutting against an elastic ring to surely separate different materials in the multi-compartment container and easily departing from the elastic ring when a lid is pulled away.
Another objective of this invention is providing a multi-compartment container with an elastic ring capable of enhancing assembly compactness of the multi-compartment container, so that tolerances of manufactured elements of the multi-compartment container can be eased.
Still another objective of this invention is providing a multi-compartment container having elements that are easy to be changed in size for the multi-compartment container to have various shapes.
The invention discloses a multi-compartment container including a vessel body, an elastic ring, a lid, and a sealer. The vessel body has an opening. The elastic ring is coupled with an inner peripheral surface of the vessel body and has a through hole extending axially. The lid detachably couples with the vessel body to cover the opening, with the lid having a holding member. The sealer has a connecting end and a plug end, with the connecting end coupling with the holding member of the lid, and with the plug end being capable of abutting against the elastic ring to seal the through hole or disengaging from the elastic ring.
The invention further discloses that a largest radial width of the plug end is smaller than an outer diameter of the elastic ring.
The invention further discloses that a largest radial width of the plug end equals an outer diameter of the elastic ring.
The invention further discloses that a support portion is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the vessel body and supports the elastic ring.
The invention further discloses that an upper section of the vessel body between the opening and the support portion has an identical cross section.
The invention further discloses that a cross section of an upper section of the vessel body between the opening and the support portion is gradually decreased from the opening to the support portion.
The invention further discloses that an inclined face forms a top of the elastic ring, with the inclined face being in a funnel shape centered on a center line of the through hole.
The invention further discloses that the sealer comprises a shaft and a blocker, the blocker is connected with one end of the shaft to serve as the plug end, and the other end of the shaft serves as the connecting end.
The invention further discloses that a peripheral wall of the blocker tapers toward a bottom of the blocker.
The invention further discloses that a top of the blocker tapers toward the connecting end.
The invention further discloses that the holding member has a plurality of spaced protrusions arranged in a circular route, with each protrusion having a hook at a free end thereof, and with each hook bent toward a center of the circular route.
The invention further discloses that the holding member of the lid has a thread and the connecting end of the sealer also has a thread corresponding to the thread of the holding member.
The invention further discloses that a bottom surface of the elastic ring has an inclined face in a funnel shape centered on the center line of the through hole.
The invention further discloses that a support portion is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the vessel body and supports the elastic ring, and an outer edge of the inclined face of the bottom surface of the elastic ring smoothly connects with an inner edge of the support portion of the vessel body.
The invention further discloses that a distance between an inner edge of the inclined face and the center line of the through hole is smaller than another distance between an inner edge of the inclined face and the center line to form a stop face on an inner peripheral surface of the elastic ring.
The invention further discloses that a plurality of annular ribs is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the elastic ring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinafter and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a conventional multi-compartment container.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective and exploded view of a multi-compartment container according to a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the multi-compartment container of the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the multi-compartment container of the first embodiment of the invention when a lid is pulled.

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of an alternative example of the multi-compartment container of the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a multi-compartment container of a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of the multi-compartment container of the second embodiment of the invention when a lid is pulled.

In the various figures of the drawings, the same numerals designate the same or similar parts. Furthermore, when the term “first,” “second,” “upper,” “lower,” “top,” “bottom,” and similar terms are used hereinafter, it should be understood that these terms refer only to the structure shown in the drawings as it would appear to a person viewing the drawings, and are utilized only to facilitate describing the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 2 shows a perspective and exploded view of a multi-compartment container according to a first embodiment of the invention, while FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view thereof. The multi-compartment container includes a vessel body 1, an elastic ring 2, a lid 3 and a sealer 4. The elastic ring 2 is arranged in the vessel body 1. An end of the sealer 4 abuts against the elastic ring 2 in a waterproof way to separate an inner room 11 of the vessel body 1 into a first compartment 11 a and a second compartment 11 b. Another end of the sealer 4 couples with the lid 3 for the sealer 4 to abut against or depart from the elastic ring 2 when the sealer 4 is moved along with the lid 3.
The vessel body 1 further has an opening 12 in communication with the inner room 11, while a first coupling portion 13 is arranged adjacent to the opening 12 for the lid 3 to couple with. Specifically, the first coupling portion 13 is a thread formed on the outer peripheral surface of the vessel body 1.
The elastic ring 2 is coupled with the inner peripheral surface of the vessel body 1, wherein the coupling between the elastic ring 2 and the vessel body 1 can be implemented by adhesive or a support portion 14 that is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the vessel body 1 and supports the elastic ring 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Therefore, an upper section 1 a of the vessel body 1 on one side of the support portion 14 and a lower section 1 b of the vessel body 1 on another side of the support portion 14 are defined, with the first compartment 11 a being formed in the upper section 1 a and the second compartment 11 b being formed in the lower section 1 b. Particularly, a cross section of the upper section 1 a can be larger than, equal to or smaller than a cross section of the lower section 1 b. In this embodiment, the cross section of the upper section 1 a is smaller than that of the lower section 1 b, with the support portion 14 arranged between the upper and lower sections 1 a, 1 b and protruding from the inner peripheral surface of the vessel body 1 in a ring shape.
The elastic ring 2 has a through hole 21 extending axially and a plurality of annular ribs 25 formed on an outer peripheral surface of the elastic ring 2 in this embodiment, wherein a maximum outer radius of the elastic ring 2 can be slightly larger than a caliber of the upper section 1 a of the vessel body 1, so that the elastic ring 2 can be tightly coupled within the upper section 1 a of the vessel body 1 and radially pressed by an inner face of the upper section 1 a inwards, with a bottom of the elastic ring 2 resting on the support portion 14. Furthermore, there may be an inclined face 22 forming the top of the elastic ring 2, with the inclined face 22 preferably in a funnel shape centered on a center line of the through hole 21 for fluid guiding and for the sealer 4 to abut against.
The lid 3 has a second coupling portion 31 to engage with the first coupling portion 13 of the vessel body 1. Specifically, the second coupling portion 31 is a thread formed on an inner peripheral surface of the lid 3 and faces the first coupling portion 13 when the first coupling portion 13 is also a thread, so that the lid 3 can couple with the vessel body 1 and seal the opening 12 thereof. Furthermore, the lid 3 can have a holding member 32, which is arranged on a surface of the lid 3 facing the first compartment 11 a in this embodiment, for holding the sealer 4. Particularly, the holding member 32 may include a plurality of spaced protrusions 321 arranged in a circular route, with each protrusion 321 having a hook 322 at a free end thereof, and with each hook 322 bent toward a center of the circular route.
The sealer 4 has a connecting end and a plug end. In this embodiment, the sealer 4 is implemented by a shaft 41 and a blocker 42, wherein the blocker 42 is connected with one end of the shaft 41 to serve as the plug end and the other end of the shaft 41 serves as the connecting end for coupling with the holding member 32 of the lid 3. Specifically, when the holding member 32 includes the protrusions 321 and the hooks 322, the connecting end of the sealer 4 has an enlarged portion 411 for the hooks 322 of the protrusions 321 to engage with, so that the sealer 4 is firmly held by the lid 3 without disengagement.
It is preferable that a largest radial width of the blocker 42 is smaller than an outer diameter of the elastic ring 2, and the blocker 42 is integrally formed with the shaft 41. Besides, in correspondence with the inclined face 22 of the elastic ring 2, a peripheral wall of the blocker 42 tapers to a bottom of the blocker 42 in order to abut against the inclined face 22 in a waterproof way. Preferably, the top of the blocker 42, which connects with the shaft 41, tapers toward the connecting end to enhance fluid guiding.
Referring to FIG. 3 again, in assembling of the present invention, the opening 12 of the vessel body 1 faces upwards initially, so that a first material “S1” can be poured into the second compartment 11 b of the vessel body 1 via the opening 12. The elastic ring 2 is then inserted into the upper section 1 a of the vessel body 1 and supported by the support portion 14. After the elastic ring 2 is settled, the sealer 4 is then inserted into the first compartment 11 a of the inner room 11 for the blocker 42 to seal the through hole 21 of the elastic ring 2, so as to keep the first material S1 in the second compartment 11 b. A second material “S2” is then poured into the first compartment 11 a before the lid 3 is finally coupled with the vessel body 1 to seal the opening 12. Through the holding member 32 engaging with the connecting end of the sealer 4, the blocker 42 can tightly abut against the elastic ring 2 and firmly seal the through hole 21 as long as the lid 3 is not moved.
In the assembly of this multi-compartment container, through the inclined face 22 and the tapered peripheral wall of the blocker 42, not only the blocker 42 can firmly abut against the elastic ring 2, but also the axial pressure provided by the lid 3 can press the elastic ring 2 to extend in radial directions so as to enhance the combination strength between the outer peripheral surface of the elastic ring 2 and the inner face of the upper section 1 a of the vessel body 1. Therefore, the first and second compartments 11 a, 11 b can be surely separated by the elastic ring 2 and the sealer 4 as long as the axial pressure exists, and the blocker 42 may be easily released from the elastic ring 2 once the axial pressure is removed.
Specifically, when being rotated to move downwards and to couple with the vessel body 1, the lid 3 can couple with the shaft 41 of the sealer 4 through the holding member 32 as well as press the block 42 through the shaft 41.
Referring to FIG. 4, when it is desired to mix the first material “S1” and the second material “S2,” the user has only to rotate and pull the lid 3 for the sealer 4 to disengage from the elastic ring 2, so that the second material “S2” originally kept in the first compartment 11 a can flow into the second compartment 11 b via the through hole 21 to mix with the first material “S1.”
Since the largest radial width of the blocker 42 is smaller than the outer diameter of the elastic ring 2 in this embodiment, the second material “S2” in the first compartment 11 a can bypass the blocker 42 via a gap between the blocker 42 and the inner face of the upper section 1 a without being spilt out of the inner room 11 through the opening 12. Furthermore, with the tapered top of the blocker 42, most of the second material “S2” can flow along the top of the blocker 42 to the outer edge thereof.
Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows a cross-sectional view of an alternative example of the first embodiment. In this example, a bottom surface of the elastic ring 2, which partially abuts against the support portion 14, has an inclined face 23 also in a funnel shape centered on the center line of the through hole 21. Preferably, an outer edge of the inclined face 23 connects with an inner edge of the support portion 14 smoothly, while a distance between an inner edge of the inclined face 23 and the center line of the through hole 21 is smaller than that between an inner edge of the inclined face 22 and the center line, so as to form a stop face 231 on an inner peripheral surface of the elastic ring 2 defining the through hole 21. With the stop face 231, the inserted sealer 4 can be stopped once the blocker 42 is rested on the stop face 231, and thus the sealer 4 is prevented from falling into the second compartment 11 b. Furthermore, while the peripheral wall of the blocker 42 is straight, there can be a plurality of annular ribs 24 on the inner peripheral surface of the elastic ring 2 to provide an enhanced sealing effect between the elastic ring 2 and the blocker 42.
In use, because the inclined face 23 smoothly connecting with a bottom face of the support portion 14 can easily guide a mixed liquid of the first and second materials “S1, S2” to flow out of the second compartment 11 b, a residual amount of the mixed liquid that cannot be easily poured out of the inner room 11 is small.
Referring to FIG. 6, a cross-sectional view of a multi-compartment container according to a second embodiment of the invention is shown, and this multi-compartment container includes a vessel body 5, an elastic ring 6, a sealer 7 and the lid 3.
In this embodiment, the vessel body 5 has an inner room 51 and an opening 52 in communication with the inner room 51, while a first coupling portion 53 is arranged adjacent to the opening 52 for the lid 3 to couple with. Similarly, there can be a support portion 54 formed on an inner peripheral surface of the vessel body 5 for supporting the elastic ring 6. Therefore, an upper section 5 a of the vessel body 5 on one side of the support portion 54 and a lower section 5 b of the vessel body 5 on another side of the support portion 54 are defined, with the upper section 5 a defining a first compartment 51 a and the lower section 5 b defining a second compartment 51 b. In this embodiment, a cross section of the upper section 5 a is larger than that of the lower section 5 b, with the cross section of the upper section 5 a is gradually decreased from the opening 52 to the support portion 54 in straight inclined from or curve form.
The elastic ring 6 has a through hole 61 extending axially and a plurality of annular ribs 63 formed on an outer peripheral surface of the elastic ring 6 in this embodiment, wherein a maximum outer radius of the elastic ring 6 can be slightly larger than a caliber of the upper section 5 a of the vessel body 5, so that the elastic ring 6 can be tightly coupled within the upper section 5 a of the vessel body 5 and radially pressed by an inner face of the upper section 5 a inwards, with a bottom of the elastic ring 6 resting on the support portion 54. Furthermore, there may be an inclined face 62 forming the top of the elastic ring 6, with the inclined face 62 in a funnel shape centered on a center line of the through hole 61, and with an outer edge of the inclined face 62 smoothly connecting with an lower part of the upper section 5 a.
The sealer 7 has a connecting end and a plug end. In this embodiment, the sealer 7 is implemented by a shaft 71 and a blocker 72, wherein the blocker 72 is connected with one end of the shaft 71 to serve as the plug end and the other end of the shaft 71 serves as the connecting end for coupling with the holding member 32 of the lid 3, with a largest radial width of the blocker 72 being smaller than or equal to an outer diameter of the elastic ring 6.
In this embodiment, the holding member 32 of the lid 3 holds the connecting end of the sealer 7 by threads, such as forming an inner thread on the holding member 32 and an outer thread on the connecting end of the sealer 7 to engage with each other.
In the same way, when it is desired to mix a first material “S1” received in the second compartment 51 b and a second material “S2” received in the first compartment 51 a, the user has only to pull the lid 3 for the sealer 7 to disengage from the elastic ring 6, so that the second material “S2” kept in the first compartment 51 a can flow into the second compartment 51 b via the through hole 61 of the elastic ring 6 to mix with the first material “S1.” In this embodiment, since the cross section of the upper section 5 a is gradually decreased from the opening 52 to the support portion 54, there is still a gap formed between the blocker 72 and an inner face of the upper section 5 a when the sealer 7 is pulled for disengaging the blocker 72 from the elastic ring 6 even if the largest radial width of the blocker 72 equals the outer diameter of the elastic ring 6.
In sum, the multi-compartment container of the present invention provides a structure with the sealer 4 or 7 capable of tightly abutting against the elastic ring 2 or 6 to surely separate the first and second materials “S1, S2” and easily departing from the elastic ring 2 or 6 for the first and second materials “S1, S2” to mix with each other when the lid 3 is pulled away, which is actually an enhanced container in convenience of operation.
Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to its presently preferable embodiment, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi-compartment container, comprising:

a vessel body having an opening;

an elastic ring coupled with an inner peripheral surface of the vessel body and having a through hole extending axially;

a lid detachably coupling with the vessel body to cover the opening, with the lid having a holding member; and

a sealer having a connecting end and a plug end, with the connecting end coupling with the holding member of the lid, and with the plug end being capable of abutting against the elastic ring to seal the through hole or disengaging from the elastic ring.

2. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 1, wherein a largest radial width of the plug end is smaller than an outer diameter of the elastic ring.

3. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 1, wherein a largest radial width of the plug end equals an outer diameter of the elastic ring.

4. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 2, wherein a support portion is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the vessel body and supports the elastic ring.

5. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 4, wherein an upper section of the vessel body between the opening and the support portion has an identical cross section.

6. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 4, wherein a cross section of an upper section of the vessel body between the opening and the support portion is gradually decreased from the opening to the support portion.

7. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 5, wherein an inclined face forms a top of the elastic ring, with the inclined face being in a funnel shape centered on a center line of the through hole.

8. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 7, wherein the sealer comprises a shaft and a blocker, the blocker is connected with one end of the shaft to serve as the plug end, and the other end of the shaft serves as the connecting end.

9. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 8, wherein a peripheral wall of the blocker tapers toward a bottom of the blocker.

10. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 9, wherein a top of the blocker tapers toward the connecting end.

11. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding member has a plurality of spaced protrusions arranged in a circular route, with each protrusion having a hook at a free end thereof, and with each hook bent toward a center of the circular route.

12. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding member of the lid has a thread and the connecting end of the sealer also has a thread corresponding to the thread of the holding member.

13. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 7, wherein a bottom surface of the elastic ring has an inclined face in a funnel shape centered on the center line of the through hole.

14. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 13, wherein a support portion is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the vessel body and supports the elastic ring, and an outer edge of the inclined face of the bottom surface of the elastic ring smoothly connects with an inner edge of the support portion of the vessel body.

15. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 14, wherein a distance between an inner edge of the inclined face and the center line of the through hole is smaller than another distance between an inner edge of the inclined face and the center line to form a stop face on an inner peripheral surface of the elastic ring.

16. The multi-compartment container as claimed in claim 15, wherein a plurality of annular ribs is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the elastic ring.