Patent Publication Number: US-2023137802-A1

Title: Cover and water container using same

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     This disclosure relates to the field of water containers, in particular to a cover and a water container using the same. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In daily life, water containers such as drinking cups and thermos cups have become commonly used products in people’s lives. The water container includes a cover and a container body for containing water or beverages. Users can drink water or other beverages in the water container at any time according to their needs when they are at home, at work, or when they go out. 
     However, these current water containers have some problems: the cover of the water container and the container body are mostly fastened together by means of threads. Once the user wants to drink water, the user has to hold the container body with one hand and unscrew the cover with the other hand, and then the user opens the cover to drink the water in the container body. After drinking the water, the user also has to screw the cover onto the container body with the cooperation of two hands. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the prior art, a first technical problem to be solved by this disclosure is to provide a cover capable of being opened or closed by users with one hand. 
     A second technical problem to be solved by this disclosure is to provide a water container using the cover. 
     A technical solution adopted in this disclosure to solve the first technical problem is: a cover, comprising: 
     a cover base;   an upper cover hinged to the cover base, the upper cover having a first snap portion;   a bracket located on the cover base;   a pressing ring hinged to the bracket, the pressing ring having a snap-fit portion for snapping the upper cover; and   a button pivotally arranged on the cover base in a lever manner, the button having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end of the button having a second snap portion in snap fit with the first snap portion of the upper cover;   wherein the pressing ring is connected to the cover base by a reset elastic member, and when the pressing ring is turned relative to the bracket and pushes against the lower end of the button, a pushing force is applied to the lower end of the button to disengage the second snap portion from the first snap portion.   

     As an improved implementation, in the cover, one end of the reset elastic member is connected to the bracket directly or indirectly, and the other end of the reset elastic member is connected to the pressing ring. 
     As an implementation of the reset elastic member, further improvedly, in the cover, the reset elastic member is configured as a torsion spring. 
     Further, the cover also comprises a pivot shaft passing through the bracket, and the pivot shaft passes through two opposite sides of the pressing ring, and the torsion spring is fitted over the pivot shaft. 
     As another implementation of the reset elastic member, further improvedly, in the cover, the reset elastic member is configured as an elastic material component. For example, the elastic material component here may be an elastic rubber component, such as a rubber ring. 
     As an arrangement mode of the above-mentioned snap-fit portion, improvedly, in the cover, the snap-fit portion is located at the upper end of the pressing ring. 
     Further improvedly, in the cover, the first snap portion comprises: 
     a first step matched with the snap-fit portion of the pressing ring to achieve a snap fit; and   a second step, located under the first step and snap-fitted with the second snap portion of the button.   

     In order to make the upper cover achieve snap fit with the pressing ring and the button more smoothly, and further improvedly, in the cover, a first guide surface is arranged at a position where the first snap portion of the upper cover is in snap fit with the pressing ring, and/or a second guide surface is arranged at a position where the first snap portion of the upper cover is in snap fit with the button. 
     A technical solution adopted by this disclosure to solve the second technical problem is: a water container, comprising a container body using the cover described in any one of the above. 
     Compared with the prior art, this disclosure has the following advantages: 
     Firstly, according to this disclosure, based on the existing cover structure with a pressing ring, a snap fit structure between the cover and the pressing ring and a snap fit structure between the cover and the button are added and the button is arranged on the bracket of the cover in a lever manner, so that the button can be disengaged from the cover under the pushing force of the overturned pressing ring. In this way, the user can easily operate the overturn of the pressing ring with one hand to disengage the pressing ring from the upper cover and disengage the button from the upper cover, and then the cover is completely opened. After the pressing ring and the button return to their original positions, the user can turn the upper cover with one hand again, and then the cover can be easily closed. In this way, users can open and +close the cover with one hand conveniently. 
     Secondly, since corresponding guide surfaces are respectively arranged at the position where the first snap portion of the upper cover is in snap fit with the pressing ring and the position where the first snap portion of the upper cover is in snap fit with the button, the upper cover can be snap-fitted with the pressing ring and the button respectively more smoothly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic structural diagram of a cover according to Embodiment 1 of this disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram of the cover shown in  FIG.  1    in another perspective; 
         FIG.  3    is an exploded view of the cover shown in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic structural diagram of an upper cover; 
         FIG.  5    is a sectional view of the cover shown in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic diagram of the cover shown in  FIG.  1    when the pressing ring is disengaged from the upper cover; 
         FIG.  7    is a schematic diagram of the cover shown in  FIG.  1    when the button is initially opened; 
         FIG.  8    is a schematic diagram of the cover shown in  FIG.  1    when the upper cover is opened; 
         FIG.  9    is a schematic diagram of the cover shown in  FIG.  1    after the pressing ring and the button return to their original positions; 
         FIG.  10    is a schematic diagram of the cover shown in  FIG.  1    when the upper cover is initially closed; and 
         FIG.  11    is a schematic structural diagram of a water container according to Embodiment 2. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     This disclosure is described below in further detail with reference to accompanying drawings and an embodiment. 
     Embodiment 1 
     This embodiment provides a cover, in particular, it can be used in cooperation with a water container body such as a cup. Referring to  FIGS.  1  to  5   , the cover of this embodiment comprises a cover base  11 , an upper cover  12 , a bracket  13 , a pressing ring  14  and a button  15 . 
     The cover base  11  has a first shaft hole  110  and a water outlet  111 . The upper cover  12  has a first snap portion  121  and a water blocking member  12  for blocking the water outlet  111 . The end of the upper cover  12  has a pair of second shaft holes  120  corresponding to each other, and the second shaft holes  120  and the first shaft hole  110  of the cover base  11  are arranged corresponding to each other. The upper cover  12  is hinged to the cover base  11 . Specifically, the hinged connection between the upper cover  12  and the cover base  11  is achieved through a pivot shaft  17 ′ with a torsion spring  161 ′ fitted over the outside passing through the first shaft hole  110  and the second shaft holes  120 . 
     The bracket  13  is located on the cover base  11  and provided with a set of first rotating shaft holes  130  arranged opposite to each other. The pressing ring  14  has two second rotating shaft holes  140  and a snap-fit portion  141  for snapping the upper cover  12 , the snap-fit portion  141  is located at the upper end of the pressing ring  14 , the two second shaft holes  140  are located on two opposite sides of the pressing ring  14 , and the pressing ring  14  is hinged to the bracket  13  through a pivot shaft  17  passing through the second pivot hole  140  and the first pivot hole  130 ; a torsion spring  161  serving as a reset elastic member is fitted over the outer side of the pivot shaft  17 , one end of the torsion spring  161  is connected to the pressing ring  14 , and the other end of the torsion spring  161  is connected to the bracket  13  directly or indirectly. 
     The button  15  has an upper end  151 , a lower end  152  and a fulcrum (not shown in the figures) between the upper end  151  and the lower end  152 . The upper end  151  of the button  15  has a second snap portion  153  that is snap-fitted with the first snap portion  121  of the upper cover  12 , and an elastic contact member  150  is formed on the lower end  152 . The elastic contact member  150  can be made of an elastic silicone material; wherein the button  15  is arranged on the cover base  11  in a lever manner through the cooperation between the fulcrum and the cover base  11 . 
     When the pressing ring  14  is turned relative to the bracket  13  and pushes against the lower end  152  of the button  15 , a pushing force is applied to the lower end  152  of the button  15  to disengage the second snap portion  153  from the first snap portion  121 . 
     That is to say, the user can turn the pressing ring  14  with one hand, and the snap-fit portion  141  of the pressing ring  14  is disengaged from the upper cover  12  first, and then continues to turn the pressing ring  14  so that the pressing ring  14  pushes against the lower end  152  of the button  15 . The torsion spring  161  will be compressed and deformed due to the movement of the pressing ring  14 . Since the button  15  is arranged on the cover base  11  in a lever manner, the elastic contact member  150  on the lower end  152  will push against the cover base  11 , and the elastic contact member  150  is also compressed and deformed. Due to the existence of the above-mentioned fulcrum, the upper end  151  of the button  15  moves in a direction opposite to the lower end  152  (i.e., away from the cover base  11 ), so that the second snap portion  153  of the upper end  151  is disengaged from the first snap portion  121  of the upper cover  12 , and then the entire upper cover  12  is completely opened.  FIGS.  6 ,  7  and  8    respectively show the case where the upper cover is disengaged from the pressing ring, the case where the button is disengaged from the upper cover, and the case where the upper cover is fully opened. Since both the torsion spring  161  and the elastic contact member  150  have been compressed and deformed, after the overturning force applied to the pressing ring  14  is removed, the torsion spring  161  will be reset under the action of the elastic resilience, and the elastic contact member  150  will also produce a reset movement until the upper end of the pressing ring  14  and the button  15  return to their original positions again, as shown in  FIG.  9    for details. Certainly, the user can perform a reverse operation on the cover with the upper cover opened with one hand, and then the upper cover  12  can close the cover base  11 , thus finishing the single-handed cover closing operation for the cover. 
     In order to realize the snap fit between the upper cover and the pressing ring and between the upper cover and the button respectively, as shown in  FIGS.  3  to  5   , in this embodiment, the first snap portion  121  of the upper cover  12  comprises a first step  1211  and a second step  1212 , and the second step  1212  is located below the first step  1211 . The first step  1211  here is matched with the snap-fit portion  141  of the pressing ring  14  for a snap fit to achieve the snap fit between the upper cover  12  and the pressing ring  14 . The second step  1212  is snap-fitted with the second snap portion  153  of the button  15  to achieve the snap fit between the upper cover  12  and the button  15 . 
     In the process of closing the upper cover, in order to facilitate the upper cover to be able to achieve a snap fit with the pressing ring and the button respectively, referring to  FIGS.  3 ,  4 ,  8  and  9   , in this embodiment, a first guide surface  181  is arranged at the position where the first snap portion  121  comes into contact with the snap-fit portion  141  of the pressing ring  14 , and a second guide surface  181  is arranged at the position where the first snap portion  121  comes into contact with the second snap portion  153  of the button  15 . For example, the first guide surface  181  may be formed on the first snap portion  121 , or may be formed on the snap-fit portion  141  of the pressing ring  14 . Certainly, the second guide surface  181  may be formed on the first snap portion  121 , or may be formed on the second snap portion  153  of the button  15 . By arranging the first guide surface  181 , the upper cover  12  can be snap-fitted with the pressing ring  14  more smoothly. 
     This embodiment further provides a water container, specifically comprising a water container body  2  and the cover  1 , the cover  1  and the water container body  2  being fastened and assembled together in a detachable manner. 
     Embodiment 2 
     Different from the cover in Embodiment 1, as shown in  FIG.  11   , the reset elastic member in this embodiment is an elastic material component  162 , specifically an elastic rubber ring, that is, one end of the elastic material component  162  is connected to the bracket  13  directly or indirectly, and the other end of the elastic material component  162  is connected to the pressing ring  14 . 
     This embodiment also provides a water container, specifically comprising a water container body  2  and the cover  1 , the cover  1  and the water container body  2  being fastened and assembled together in a detachable manner.