Patent Publication Number: US-2007119809-A1

Title: Mouthpiece assembly for water bottles

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a mouthpiece assembly for water bottles and includes two covers which pivotably enclose the mouthpiece and the covers are easily opened and closed.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      A conventional water bottle or bag for outdoor use generally includes a container with a connection means connected thereto and a hose is connected to the connection means. A mouthpiece assembly is connected to the other end of the hose and generally includes connection member which is fixedly connected to the water bottle and includes a passage defined therethrough. A seal rod is fixedly located in the passage and located above a top of the connection member and an outlet is defined between the seal rod and the inner periphery of the passage. A mouthpiece is sliably mounted on the connection member and has a through hole defined therethrough, the inner diameter of the through hole is sized such that the seal rod can be snugly engaged with the through hole such that the outlet is sealed. When the mouthpiece is pulled away from the connection member, the seal rod is disengaged from the through hole so that the water can flow through the outlet. After having the water, the mouthpiece is pushed back to its original position and the seal rod is engaged with the through hole again. There are some recessed grooves and notches are formed even when the mouthpiece is pushed back and dust is easily stocked in the grooves and notches. In order to prevent the mouthpiece from being contaminated by dust, a cover is used to mount on the mouthpiece and the cover is connected to the hose by a strip. However, the user has to pull the cover off and then to pull the mouthpiece to access the water. It often requires two hands to complete the steps and this takes too much time and is not satisfied by the users.  
      The present invention intends to provide a mouthpiece assembly for water bottles wherein the mouthpiece is enclosed by two covers form lateral directions and the two cover can be easily pivoted outward by pulling two operation plates in one direction and inwardly by pushing the two operation plates in the other direction.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a mouthpiece assembly for a water bottle and the mouthpiece assembly includes a base having an insertion tube which is located between two locking members on the base. Each of the two locking members has an engaging recess defined in a side thereof. A movable part has a mounting tube in which the insertion tube is inserted. A seal rod is located in the mounting tube which is removably inserted in the insertion tube so as to seal the insertion tube. A plurality of outlets are defined between the seal rod and the inner periphery of the mounting tube. A connection portion extends from the insertion tube and a mouthpiece is mounted on the connection portion. Two insertion holes are defined on two first opposite sides of the movable part and each insertion hole has two notches defined in an inside thereof. Two locking holes and a through hole are defined in an outside of each insertion hole.  
      Two covers are located outside of the mouthpiece and enclose the mouthpiece. Each cover has two lugs on a lower end thereof and each lug has a elongate slot. A pivot is connected to each of the two covers and the two lugs of each cover are inserted into the two insertion holes respectively. The two pivots are respectively engaged with the two engaging recesses of the two locking members.  
      Two operation plates each have a positioning ridge on an upper portion and a lower portion of a side thereof and two protrusions extend from a mediate portion of each operation plate. The positioning ridges of each operation plate are engaged with the locking holes and the protrusions of each operation plate extend through the elongate slots and are engaged with the notches.  
      The primary object of the present invention is to provide a mouthpiece assembly for water bottles wherein the mouthpiece is protected by two covers and the covers and the outlets are opened simultaneously by pulling two operation plates.  
      The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view to show the mouthpiece assembly of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view of the mouthpiece assembly of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view to show the mouthpiece assembly of the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a side cross sectional view of the mouthpiece assembly of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  shows the two covers are opened;  
       FIG. 6  shows the two covers are completely opened;  
       FIG. 7  shows the positions of the protrusions of the operation plates in the elongate slots of the lugs of the covers;  
       FIG. 8  shows the stops on the movable part are in contact with the contact members of the two covers, and  
       FIG. 9  shows the locking protrusions on the locking members are engaged with the ribs on the movable part. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to FIGS.  1  to  4 , the mouthpiece assembly for water bottles of the present invention comprises a base  2  having a flange  22  connected thereto and an insertion tube  23  extending from a top of the flange  22  and a connection tube  21  extends from an underside of the flange  22 . The connection tube  21  is to be connected with a hose (not shown) which is connected to the water bottle (not shown). Two locking members  221  extend from the top of the flange  22  and the insertion tube  23  is located between the two locking members  221 . Each of the two locking members  221  has an engaging recess  2211  defined in a side thereof. The two locking members  221  each have a locking protrusion  2212  on an upper portion of each of the engaging recesses  2211 .  
      A movable part  3  has a mounting tube  31  in which the insertion tube  23  is inserted. A seal rod  311  is located in the mounting tube  31  and extends downward as shown in  FIG. 2  from a top of the mounting tube  31 . The seal rod  311  is removably inserted in the insertion tube  23  so as to seal the insertion tube  23 . The insertion tube  23  has a groove  231  defined in an outer periphery thereof and a seal  6  is engaged with the groove  231  to prevent from leakage between the mounting tube  31  and the insertion tube  23 . A plurality of outlets  312  are defined between the seal rod  311  and the inner periphery of the mounting tube  31 . A connection portion  32  extends from the insertion tube  23  and a mouthpiece  1  with a slit defined through a distal end thereof is mounted on the connection portion  32 . The mouthpiece  1  has a plurality of reinforcement flanges  11  on an outer periphery thereof so as to increase the structural strength when connected with the connection portion  32 . Two insertion holes  33  defined on two first opposite sides of the movable par  3  and each insertion hole  33  has two notches  331  defined in an inside thereof. Two locking holes  332  and a through hole  333  are defined in an outside of each insertion hole  33 .  
      Two covers  4  are located outside of the mouthpiece  1  and enclose the mouthpiece  1 . Each cover  4  has two lugs  41  on a lower end thereof and each lug  41  has an elongate slot  413  defined therethrough. A pivot  412  is connected to each of the two covers  4  and the two lugs  41  of each cover  4  are inserted into the two insertion holes  33  respectively. The two pivots  412  are respectively engaged with the two engaging recesses  2211  of the two locking members  221  so that the two covers  4  can be pivoted outward about the pivots  412 . Each of the two covers  4  has an engaging lip  42  on one side and an engaging groove  43  in the other side, so that when the two covers  4  are matched with each other, the engaging lips  42  are engaged with the engaging grooves  43  corresponding thereto as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
      Two operation plates  5  each have a positioning ridge  52  on an upper portion and a lower portion of a side thereof. Two protrusions  51  extend from a mediate portion of each operation plate  5 . The positioning ridges  51  of each operation plate  5  are engaged with the locking holes  332  and the protrusions  51  of each operation plate  5  extend through the elongate slots  413  and engaged with the notches  331 . Therefore, the two operation plates  5  are fixedly connected to the movable part  3 . The movable part  3  has two stops  34  on two second opposite sides thereof and the two lugs  41  each have a contact member  411  which is in contact with the stop  34  corresponding thereto when the two covers  4  are opened as shown in  FIG. 8 . The movable part  3  has two ribs  35  on two second opposite sides thereof and the locking protrusions  2212  are engaged with the ribs  35  when the two covers  4  are in closed positions as shown in  FIG. 9 .  
      Referring to FIGS.  5  to  9 , when the user wants to have water via the mouthpiece  1 , he or she uses two fingers to lift the two operation plates  5  upward, the two covers  4  are then pivoted outward about the two pivots  412 , and the two protrusions  51  of the two operation plates  5  are then moved along the elongate slots  413  of the two lugs  41  of the covers  4  till the two covers  4  are completely in their open positions as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . Simultaneously, the upward movement of the two operation plates  5  moves the movable part  3  upward, the seal rod  311  is disengaged from the insertion tube  23 , so that the user can have the water through the outlets  312  and the slit  12 . In the meanwhile, the engagement of the stops  34  and the contact members  411  avoids the two covers  4  from overly pivoted. The two covers  4  can be positioned in their open positions by engaging the locking protrusions  221  with lower edges of the ribs  35 .  
      The two covers  4  can be easily pivoted inward to their close positions simply by pulling the two operation plates  5  downward, or directly pushing the two covers  4  toward each other.  
      While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.