Patent Publication Number: US-2005127076-A1

Title: Container for aerated beverages

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      There are in existence a number of containers for containing aerated beverages, e.g. carbonated beverages, such as soft drinks and aerated mineral waters, or beverages containing oxygen or oxygen-producing contents, such as some alcohol-based beverages. There are cups made of paper with a releasable lid for covering the opening end of the cup. A drinking straw may be inserted through an opening of the lid into the interior of the cup, thus allowing a user to drink the content in the cup in the usual manner. A shortcoming associated with this arrangement is that if the content is an aerated beverage, the carbon dioxide or oxygen in or generated by the aerated beverage will gradually escape into the atmosphere, thus adversely affecting the taste and quality of the beverage.  
      Other arrangements have been proposed for solving such a problem, and particularly for allowing storage of aerated beverages over a relatively long period of time while retaining the carbon dioxide or oxygen in the beverages. Such include the use of cans and bottles. However, such containers are not readily reusable, in the sense that a user cannot pour an aerated beverage into an opened can or bottle and still be able to maintain the carbon dioxide or oxygen in the beverage.  
      It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a container in which the aforesaid shortcomings are mitigated, or at least to provide a useful alternative to the public.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      According to the present invention, there is provided a container including a cover member and a body member with a cavity adapted to contain an aerated beverage, wherein said body member and said cover member are releasably engageable with each other in an air-tight manner, and wherein when said body member and said cover member are engaged with each other, at least a part of said cover member extends into said cavity of said body member to increase the air pressure in said cavity above atmospheric pressure. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is an exploded side view of a beverage container according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a further exploded view of the beverage container shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a top perspective view of a cover of the beverage container shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the cover shown in  FIG. 3 ;  
       FIG. 5  is a side view of the cover shown in  FIG. 3 ;  
       FIG. 6  is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a body of the beverage container shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  show engagement between the cover and the body of the beverage container shown in  FIG. 1 ; and  
       FIG. 8  is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the beverage container shown in  FIG. 1 , with the cover engaged with the body. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      An exploded side view of a beverage container according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 , generally designated as  10 . The container  10  is made up of two parts, namely a cover  12  made of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer (ABS) and a body  14  made of polypropylene (PP) or ABS. The body  14  is in the general shape of a top-open cup with an internal cavity for containing aerated beverages, such as soft drinks and aerated mineral waters.  
      As shown more clearly in  FIG. 2 , the cover  12  has a lower circular recess  16  around which is tightly provided a silicon O-ring  18 . A pull-tab  20  made of a resilient synthetic rubber, e.g. styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer (SBS), is secured to the cover  12  by an ABS retainer  22 , in a manner to be discussed further below.  
      As can be seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the pull-tab  20  is attached at one end with the cover  12  via the retainer  22 , which allows the pull-tab  20  to rotate about the longitudinal axis of the retainer  22 , which is also parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cover  12 . At another end of the pull-tab  20  is provided a male part  24  snap-fittable with an opening  26  of the cover  12  in an air-tight manner. Adjacent to the opening  26  is a spout  28 . When the cover  12  is engaged with the body  14 , the male part  24  may be engaged with and thus close the opening  26  for keeping the cavity of the body  14  in an air-tight condition. In use, a user may insert his/her finger into a hole  30  (see  FIG. 2 ) to pull on the pull-tab  20  so as to disengage the male part  24  from the opening  26 . The content in the body  14  may thus be poured out of the body  14  through the opening  26 , and subsequently via the spout  28  for consumption.  
      As shown clearly in  FIG. 5 , along a peripheral wall  32  of the cover  12  extend two diametrically disposed pins  34 , which serve the purpose of engaging the cover  12  with the body, in a manner to be discussed below.  
      A longitudinal sectional view of the body  14  is shown in  FIG. 6 . Two channels  40  (of which only one is shown in  FIG. 6 ) are provided at two diametrically opposed positions adjacent to the upper periphery of the body  14 . The channel  40  is wide enough to allow one of the pins  34  to pass along. It can be seen that the channel  40  extends downwardly from the upper periphery of the body  14 , and turns 90° in a generally horizontal direction. The channel  40  thus has two portions which are joined with, and perpendicular to, each other.  
      Turning now to  FIGS. 7A and 7B , such show how the cover  12  and the body  14  may be releasably engageable with each other. As shown in  FIG. 7A , the cover  12  is moved towards the body  14  until the pins  34  are received into the respective channel  40  in the body  14 . The cover  12  is then swiveled relative to the body  14  so as to move the pins  34  along the turned portion of the respective channel  40 , to the position as shown in  FIG. 7B . In this configuration, the cover  12  cannot be detached from the body  14  unless the cover  12  is swiveled in the opposite direction until the cover  12  and the body  14  are in the relative position as shown in  FIG. 7A . Such an arrangement is important in achieving the purpose now sought in the present invention.  
       FIG. 8  shows the cover  12  and the body  14  of the container  10  engaged with each other and containing an aerated beverage  50 . In conventional containers, the carbon dioxide in the aerated beverage  50  would escape into the space  52  between the cover  12  and the body  14 , even if the cover and the body of the conventional container is fitted with each other in an air-tight manner. In the container  10  according to the present invention, however, as a lower portion of the cover  12  extends into the cavity of the body  14 , and as the O-ring  18  performs a sealing function between the cover  12  and the body  14 , such prevents air or gas from escaping from the cavity of the container  10  to the outside environment, the air pressure in the space  52  will be raised above the atmospheric pressure. Such an elevated pressure will hinder the escape of carbon dioxide or oxygen from the aerated beverage  50  into the space  52  in the container  10 , thus assisting in keeping the taste and quality of the aerated beverage.  
      When the cover  12  is pushed into the body  14  for engagement, the cover  12  acts against the air pressure in the body  14 . The pin-and-channel engagement arrangement discussed above thus prevents the cover  12  and the body  14  from accidental disengagement, e.g. by action of the raised air pressure in the cavity  52 . As mentioned above, a user may consume the aerated beverage  50  in the container  10  by disengaging the male part  24  from the opening  26 .  
      It can be seen that such is a neat and tidy arrangement, allowing the taste and quality of aerated beverages to be maintained over a long period of time, and is both user friendly and environmentally friendly.  
      It should be understood that the above only illustrates an example whereby the present invention may be carried out, and that various modifications and/or alterations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention. It should also be understood that various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described here in the context of a single embodiment, may be provided separately or in any appropriate sub-combinations.