Abstract:
A thermos flask comprises a container, which has an opening on a top side, at which opening a lid is retained, which closes the opening in a closing position and can be at least partially moved by means of an actuating element in order to partially open the opening in order to pour out liquid. The lid has an upper part fastened to the container and a lower part pivotably retained on the upper part.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a U.S. National Stage Application of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2015/055757, filed Mar. 19, 2015, which claims benefit of German Patent Application No. 20 2014 101 351.2, filed Mar. 24, 2014. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a thermos flask, comprising a container having an opening on the upper side, on which a lid is held, the lid closing the opening when in a closed position and being able to be at least partially moved by means of an actuation element in order to partially release said opening such that liquid can be poured out. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    DE 199 07 195 discloses a thermos flask, in which a container is sealed with a lid. The lid is pivotably mounted via a tilting edge and an actuating lever in order to produce a pouring opening. As a result of a closing spring arranged between the actuating lever and the handle, the lid is pretensioned into a closed position. By pivoting the entire lid it may occur that when the lid is dropped it is inadvertently pivoted to an open position and liquid can escape from the container. Furthermore, the lid can inadvertently be opened and closed by striking against objects. Furthermore, the mounting of the lid is complex, which is held on the flask handle via additional connecting elements. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The present invention is therefore based on the object of providing a thermos flask which allows improved handling. 
         [0005]    The above and other objects are achieved by a thermos flask which, in one embodiment, comprises a container including an upper side having an opening; a lid held on the upper side, the lid comprising an upper part fixed to the container and a bottom part pivotably held on the upper part, the lid being operable to close the opening when in a closed position; and an actuation element arranged to at least partially move the lid to partially release the opening such that liquid can be poured out of the container. 
         [0006]    Therefore, in accordance with the invention, the thermos flask comprises a lid having an upper part fixed to the container and a bottom part which is pivotably held on the upper part. The user can thus move the lid to a closed or open position by pivoting the bottom part without the bottom part being inadvertently actuatable because the upper part protects the path of movement of the bottom part which can be moved via the actuation element. 
         [0007]    The bottom part may be pretensioned to a closed position. A spring can be provided between the upper part and the bottom part, especially a helical spring, which allows easy mounting and operation. 
         [0008]    For an especially compact configuration with few components, the actuation element may be formed in an integral manner with the bottom part, so that only few components are required. 
         [0009]    In order to limit the movement of the bottom part relative to the upper part, limit stops may be provided so that incorrect operation can securely be prevented. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, only one single annular seal is provided in the region of the opening of the container, which seal provides sealing between an insulating body and a flask housing on the one hand and sealing with the lid on the other hand. The sealing in relation to the lid can occur on the bottom part, which rests completely on the seal in a closed position. A downwardly protruding edge can further be provided on the bottom part, which edge slides along the seal during pivoting of the bottom part and thus ensures sealing of the bottom part in relation to the seal in a lateral region. A recess can be provided on the bottom part merely in the region of a spout for pouring out liquid, so that the liquid is poured out in a purposeful manner on the recess and leakage flows can be prevented. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The invention will be explained below in closer detail by reference to an embodiment shown in the enclosed drawings, wherein: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  shows a view of a coffee machine with a thermos flask in accordance with the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the thermos flask with removed lid; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  shows a sectional view through the thermos flask with closed lid; 
           [0015]      FIGS. 4A and 4B  show two sectional views of the thermos flask in different positions; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows a sectional view through the lid of the thermos flask in the region of a detent mechanism; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  shows a sectional view through the removed lid; 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  shows an exploded view of the lid; 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  shows a perspective exploded view of the lid from below, and 
           [0020]      FIG. 9  shows a sectional view through the upper portion of the lid. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]    A coffee machine  1  comprises a housing  2 , on which a base plate  3  is provided, on which a thermos flask with a container  4  and a lid  6  is deposited. A protruding handle  5  is provided on the container  4  in order to remove the thermos flask from the coffee machine  1  or to insert it into the machine. A receiver  9  for a filter paper insert with ground coffee is provided above the lid  6 , so that water can flow from above at an outlet  8  via a valve  7  into the container  4 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 2  shows the thermos flask with the removed lid  6 . The container  4  comprises a cylindrical open  10  at the upper end, which is surrounded by an annular edge  12 . A protruding spout  11  is formed on the edge  12 , which is arranged on the side opposite the handle  5 . Recesses  13  are formed on opposite sides of the edge  12 , on which an inwardly protruding detent projection  14  protrudes in the upper region. 
         [0023]    The lid  6  comprises an upper part  20 , which can be latched onto the container  4 . Detents in a form of spring webs  22  on opposite sides of the lid come into engagement with the detent projections  14  when inserting the lid  6  from above in order to lock the upper part  20  of the lid  6  onto the container. An actuation element  31  is further provided on the lid  6 , by means of which the opening  10  can be opened for pouring out liquid. On the side opposite the actuation element  31 , a depression  21  is provided on the upper part  20  which is substantially circular in the top view, the depression being arranged in the region of the spout  11 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 3  shows the container  4  in a sectional view. The container  4  comprises an insulating glass body  16 , in which an interior space  15  is provided for accommodating a liquid. A flask housing  17  is arranged around the insulating glass body  16 , wherein the flask housing  17  is positioned spaced from the insulating glass body  16 . The insulating glass body  16  comprises an upper opening  10 , wherein a seal  40  is provided on the edge around the opening  10  between the insulating glass body  16  and the flask housing  17 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 3  further shows that a height-movable valve  7  is provided on the lid  6  in the middle, the valve engaging through the upper part  20  and being held on a bottom part  30  of the lid  6 . The upper part  20  comprises an asymmetric opening for the valve  7 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 4A  shows the lid  6  in detail in the closed position. The intermediate space between the insulating glass body  16  and the flask housing  17  is sealed by means of a seal  40 , which comprises an inwardly protruding sealing lip  41 . The seal  40  rests on an upper edge of the insulating glass body  16  and is upwardly pressed by a bulge  43  on the flask housing  17  against the edge of the insulating glass body  16 . Furthermore, the seal  40  is supported to the outside by a web  42  on the flask housing  17 . 
         [0027]    The seal  40  not only seals the region between the insulating glass body  16  and the flask housing  17 , but also the region opposite the lid  6  via the sealing lip  41 . For this purpose, the sealing lip  41  presses against a side wall  32  of the bottom part  30  of the lid  6 . The sealing lip  41  is shown in this illustration in a non-deformed manner. It actually rests on the paraboloid surface of the side wall  32 . The side wall  32  is formed in an annular manner and can taper downwardly in the manner of a truncated cone or a parabola. The bottom part  30  is substantially formed in a cup-shaped manner and comprises an inner opening through which the valve  7  is guided. 
         [0028]    In the closed position, the container  4  can be filled via the valve  7 , wherein the valve  7  is formed in a substantially mushroom-head-shaped manner and comprises an upper arched surface  70 , from which the liquid can run off and can meet an inwardly or downwardly inclined, trough-shaped receiver  51  of the upper part  20 . If the thermos flask is inserted into the coffee machine  1 , a projection comprising an outlet  8  presses against the valve  7  in order to press the valve slightly in the downward direction. The valve  7  is thus opened and an inlet channel  71  in a valve body  72  is arranged beneath the outlet  8  so that freshly brewed coffee is able to flow downwardly through the channel  71 . The valve body  72  is formed with a holder  73  in the bottom region, on which an annular seal  74  is provided. The seal  74  rests with its upper side on a downwardly facing edge  36  of the bottom part  30 . If the valve  7  is in the closed position, no coffee can flow into the container  4  or escape from the valve  7 . 
         [0029]    The valve body  72  is pretensioned in this process in the closed position. A spring  75  is provided for this purpose, which spring is supported on a step  39  on the bottom part  30  on the one hand and on a stop of the valve body  72  on the other hand. The seal  74  is thus pressed by means of the spring  75  to the closed position. 
         [0030]    Furthermore, a second spring  80  is provided, by means of which the bottom part  30  is pressed away from the upper part  20 . Both springs  75  and  80  are formed as helical springs. 
         [0031]    The bottom part  30  is rotatably mounted on the upper part  20 , adjacent to the actuation element  31 . The actuation element  31 , which is formed integrally with the bottom part  30 , can be pressed downwardly, wherein a respective receiver  18  is provided for this purpose on the handle  5 , which receiver permits a movement of the actuation element  31  in the downward direction. 
         [0032]      FIG. 4B  shows the bottom part  30  that has been pivoted relative to the upper part  20 , in that the actuation element  31  has been pressed downwardly. The bottom part  30  is thus pivoted upwardly on the side opposite the handle  5 , through which the side wall  32  is partly lifted off from the sealing lip  41 . This allows a liquid to be poured out via the spout  11 , as indicated by the arrow. 
         [0033]    If the actuation element  31  is now released, the spring  80  presses the bottom part  30  back to the closed position, on which the side wall  32  rests on the sealing lip  41 . The pivoting motion of the bottom part  30  is limited in this process by an outwardly protruding stop  33 , which comes to lie on a holder  23  on a side wall  24  of the upper part  20 . 
         [0034]    The lid  6  is shown in  FIG. 5  in a sectional view through detents. The detents are formed as flexible spring webs  22 , wherein a spring web  22  is respectively formed in an integral manner with the upper part  20  on opposite sides. Each spring web  22  comprises an outwardly directed detent projection  25 , which engages behind the detent projection  14  on the recess  13  of the flask housing  17 . An actuating section  26  is formed above the detent projection  14  on the spring web  22 , which actuating section protrudes outwardly and can be gripped easily by a user because the actuating section  26  is arranged via a handle gap spaced from the detent projection  14 . The user can easily press the spring web  22  to the inside because the spring web  22  is arranged with a gap  27  from a side wall  28  of the upper part  20 , and the side wall  28  is connected via a U-shaped deflecting portion  29  to the spring web  22 . The user can thus compress the two spring webs  22  with one hand and remove the lid  6  upwardly from the container  4 , which simplifies handling. 
         [0035]    In order to mount the lid  6  on the container  4 , it is mounted from above on the container  4 , wherein respective guides are provided on the edge  12  in order to facilitate positioning of the lid  6 . When the lid  6  is placed on the container  4 , one or more guides on the edge  12  press the lid  6  in the forward direction. In this process, ribs  46  on the upper part  20  are pushed beneath corresponding recesses  19  in the pouring edge ( FIG. 2 ). The ribs  46  then lie in the recess  19  and beneath an edge of the pouring edge, so that a movement of the upper part  20  in the upward direction is prevented. Since the ribs  46  are only very short, they do not obstruct any removal of the lid  6  after the unlocking of the spring webs  22  from the container  4 . Instead of the two ribs  46  it is also possible to provide only one rib  46  or more than two ribs. 
         [0036]    The lid  6  is then inserted from above onto the opening  10  until the detent projections  25  on the spring webs  22  are latched behind the detent projections  14 . In this position, the sealing lips  41  of the seal  40  rest on the side walls  32  of the bottom part  30  and provide the necessary sealing. 
         [0037]      FIG. 6  shows the lid  6  with the valve  7  in the open position. The valve  7  is pressed slightly downwardly against the force of the spring  75  by a projection (not shown), so that the valve  7  has moved away in the downward direction from the edges  36 , so that a liquid can flow through the intermediate space between the valve  7  and the edges  36  into the container  4 . If a small amount of liquid should flow from the valve  7  on the arched surface  7  onto the trough-shaped receiver  51  of the upper part  20 , the liquid reaches a receiver between two upwardly protruding annular walls  34  and  35  via a downwardly directed nozzle  52  on the trough-shaped receiver  51 , on whose base region inner openings are provided so that the liquid can flow to the inside within the edge  36 . The openings are thus arranged above the seal  74 , so that the liquid, when the valve  7  is open, can now flow into the container  4 . The valve  7  can then be closed when removing the thermos flask from the coffee machine  1  in that the spring  75  presses the valve body  72  in the upward direction, so that the seal  74  rests on the edge  36  in a sealing manner and thus seals the upwardly disposed region. 
         [0038]    The bottom part  30  is not arranged in a horizontally flat manner in the downwardly directed region, but comprises an edge  37  which extends obliquely to the outside from the side of the actuation element  31  to the side of the depression  21 . The edge  37  is provided in the region of the spout  11  with a recess  38  so that the liquid, when pivoting the bottom part  30  relative to the upper part  20 , flows through the recess  38  into the spout  11  in a purposeful manner while the edge  37  rests on the sealing lip  41  and a seal is provided in this region. It is thus prevented that liquid can flow out laterally on the lid  6 . A small section  45  is further provided in the bottom region of the edge  37 . The small lateral section  45  ensures that during pouring, when liquid leaves the container  4 , the air can flow back into the container  4 . The section  45  is arranged in such a way that it lies beneath the sealing line of the seal  40  when the lid is closed and the bottom part  30  is in the closed position. In the closed position of the bottom part  30 , the seal  40  rests on the edge  37 . The lid  6  is thus tightly sealed and a temperature loss is avoided. If the bottom part  30  is pivoted to an opening position, the recess  38  and the section  45  move beyond the sealing line of the seal  40  and release the path to the spout  11  and the section  45  as the venting opening. It is also possible to provide several small sections  45  for the subsequent flow of air when pouring on the edge  37 . 
         [0039]    The lid is shown in an exploded view in  FIG. 7 . The valve  7  passes through the upper part  20  with a part of the valve body, wherein the upper part  20  can releasably be latched onto the container  4 . A bearing receiver  55  is formed on the upper part  20  on opposite sides, into which a bearing pin  50  of the bottom part  30  engages. The bearing pin  50  is arranged eccentrically on the side of the actuation element  31  and allows pivoting of the bottom part  30  about a horizontal axis relative to the upper part  20 . The spring  18  is provided in order to pretension the bottom part  30  in the closed position. The spring  75  is further supported on the bottom part  30  in order to also pretension the valve  7  in the closed position. 
         [0040]      FIG. 8  shows the lid  6  in a perspective exploded view, in which the bearing recesses  55  can be recognised on the upper part  20 . The illustration further shows that the side wall  24  is provided on the upper part  20  adjacent to the depression  21 , on which an inwardly protruding holder  23  is arranged, which prevents that the bottom part  30  can be pivoted further in the downward direction. The stop  33  is provided for this purpose on the bottom part  30 . The recess  38  is further provided on the bottom part  30  on the nearly annular edge  37 , by means of which the liquid can then reach the spout  11 . The lid  6  consists of only six parts and can therefore be produced and mounted in an especially effective manner. 
         [0041]      FIG. 9  shows a sectional view through the upper part  20  of the lid  6 , in which the spring webs  22  are shown in closer detail. The spring webs  22  can be compressed on the actuating section  26  by a user in order to release latching on the container  4  and to remove the lid  6  in the upward direction. The bottom part  30  is held on the top part  20 . 
         [0042]    The upper part  20  and the bottom part  30  can be produced integrally from plastic, and the valve  7  can also be made of plastic. 
         [0043]    Two detents in form of spring webs  22  are provided in the illustrated embodiment, which spring webs are integrally formed on opposite sides of the upper part  20 . It is obviously also possible to provide other detents  22  or only one detent or more than two detents. The container  4  can be a thermos flask  17  made of plastic or metal, and the container  4  can also comprise only one wall instead of a double-wall design which is insulated for example. 
       LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
       [0000]    
       
           1  Coffee machine 
           2  Housing 
           3  Base plate 
           4  Container 
           5  Handle 
           6  Lid 
           7  Valve 
           8  Outlet 
           9  Receiver 
           10  Opening 
           11  Spout 
           12  Edge 
           13  Recess 
           14  Detent projection 
           15  Interior space 
           16  Insulating glass body 
           17  Flask housing 
           18  Receiver 
           19  Recess 
           20  Upper part 
           21  Depression 
           22  Spring web 
           23  Holder 
           24  Side wall 
           25  Detent projection 
           26  Actuating section 
           27  Gap 
           28  Side wall 
           29  Deflecting portion 
           30  Bottom part 
           31  Actuation element 
           32  Side wall 
           33  Limit stop 
           34  Wall 
           35  Wall 
           36  Edge 
           37  Edge 
           38  Recess 
           39  Step 
           40  Seal 
           41  Sealing lip 
           42  Web 
           43  Bulge 
           45  Section 
           46  Rib 
           50  Bearing pin 
           51  Receiver 
           52  Nozzle 
           55  Bearing receiver 
           70  Surface 
           71  Channel 
           72  Valve body 
           73  Holder 
           74  Seal 
           75  Spring 
           80  Spring