Patent Publication Number: US-2009223995-A1

Title: Seasoning powder container

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a seasoning powder container, more particularly one, which allows one to easily control the amount of seasoning powder that is dispensed from the container per unit of time, and which can prevent seasoning powder therein from sticking together. 
     2. Brief Description of the Prior Art 
     Various seasonings play an important roll in the cuisines. Soybean sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper powder, and chili powder are among the popular seasonings. 
     Shown in  FIG. 4  is an ordinary container for seasonings in powder form, which has a containing body  6 , and a lid  7  joined on a top of the containing body  6 . The lid  7  has several holes  71  thereon so that seasoning powder can be dispensed through the holes  71  when the container is held up side down. 
     The above seasoning powder container is found to have the following drawbacks: 
     1. The seasoning powder can be subjected to moisture in the air, and therefore will stick together to form large lumps incapable of falling through the holes of the lid after a certain length of time. 
     2. Too much seasoning powder can come out of the container through the holes of the lid suddenly when one tilts or inverts the container to dispense seasoning powder. 
     3. The holes of the lid have a fixed size therefore the user can&#39;t control the amount of seasoning powder that is dispensed through the holes every time he tilts or inverts the container. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a main object of the present invention to provide a seasoning powder container to overcome the above problems. 
     A seasoning powder container according to an embodiment of the present invention consists of a containing body, a moving rod component in the body, a base joined on a lower end of the body, and a pressing member, which is positioned on a top of the body and joined to the moving rod component, and is biased upwards with a compressible elastic element. The base has a tapering dispensing hole. The moving rod component has a large bottom portion, which has substantially the same diameter as the smallest portion of the dispensing hole, and usually blocks the dispensing hole, and which will move out of the dispensing hole so as to allow seasoning powder to fall through the dispensing hole when the,pressing member is depressed. Therefore, one can control the amount of seasoning powder that is dispensed from the container per unit of time by means of changing the magnitude of the depressing force that he is exerting on the pressing member. Furthermore, the moving rod component has a stirring spring positioned therearound, which will move together with the moving rod component to prevent seasoning powder in the containing body from sticking together to form large particles. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a seasoning powder container in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the present invention, 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the present invention in use, and 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view of the prior art. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a preferred embodiment of a seasoning powder container of the present invention consists of a containing body  1 , a moving rod component  2 , a base  3 , a compressible elastic element  4 , and a pressing member  5 . 
     The containing body  1  has first and second hollow holding portions  11  and  12 , and a through hole  13  formed between and communicating with both the first and the second hollow holding portions  11  and  12 ; the first holding portion  11  is used to hold seasoning powder. The first hollow holding portion  11  has an opening on a lower end, and has threads  14  on an inner side of a lower portion thereof. The compressible elastic element  4  is held in the second hollow holding portion  12  of the containing body  1 . 
     The moving rod component  2  is passed through the compressible elastic element  4 , the first holding portion  11 , the through hole  13 , and the second holding portion  12  of the containing body  1 . The moving rod component  2  has two stopping pieces  21  thereon, which are under the through hole  13  in the first hollow holding portion  11  of the containing body  1 , and can&#39;t pass through the through hole  13 . The stopping pieces  21  divide the moving rod component  2  into first and section portion. The moving rod component  2  has first and second connecting elements  22  and  23  joined on the first portion, which is under the stopping pieces  21 . A stirring spring  24  is positioned around the moving rod component  2 , between the first and the second connecting elements  22  and  23 . The second portion of the moving rod component  2  is received in the second holding portion  12  of the containing body  1 , and has threads  14  thereon. 
     The base  3  has threads  31  on an outer circumferential portion thereof, and is joined to the containing body  1  with the threads  31  engaging the threads  14 . The base  3  has a tapering dispensing hole  32  therein, and the smallest portion of the dispensing hole  32  has substantially the same diameter as the first connecting element  22  joined on the moving rod component  2 . 
     The pressing member  5  has a holding room  51  with an opening facing downwards, and a screw hole  52  in the holding room  51 . The pressing member  5  is joined on the second portion of the moving rod component  2  with the screw hole  52  engaging the threads  25 , and with one end of the compressible elastic element  4  being received in the holding room  51 . Therefore, the compressible elastic element  4  will move the pressing member  5  back to a usual higher position as soon as the user lets go of the pressing member  5  after having depressed the pressing member  5 . 
     In assembly, referring to  FIG. 2 , the moving rod component  2  is passed through the first holding portion  11 , the through hole  13  and the second holding portion  12  of the containing body  1  from the second portion thereof. And, the compressible elastic element  4  is positioned around the second portion of the moving rod component  2 . Next, the pressing member  5  is threadedly joined to the second portion of the moving rod component  2 , and the base  3  is threadedly joined to the lower portion of the first holding portion  11  of the containing body  1 . 
     The first connecting element  22  of the moving rod component  2  will usually be received in the dispensing hole  32  to block the base  3  if the pressing member  5  isn&#39;t depressed; thus, seasoning powder can&#39;t be passed out of the containing body  1  through the dispensing hole  32 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , when the pressing member  5  is depressed with the elastic element  4  being compressed, the moving rod component  2  will move down, and in turn the first connecting element  22  will be moved out of the dispensing hole  32  to no longer block the base  3 ; thus, seasoning powder will fall out through the dispensing hole  32 . At the same time, the stirring spring  24  around the moving rod component  2  will stir seasoning contained in the containing body so as to prevent the seasoning powder from sticking together to form large particles. 
     The elastic element  4  will force the pressing member  5  and the moving rod component  2  to move back to the original position as soon as the user lets go of the pressing member  5  after having depressed the pressing member  5 . In addition, the size of the aperture between the first connecting element  22  and the base  3  depends on the distance between the first connecting element  22  and the dispensing hole  32 ; the aperture will become larger when the distance between the first connecting element  22  and the dispensing hole  32  increases. Therefore, the user can control the amount of seasoning powder dispensed per unit of time by means of changing the amount of the depressing force on the pressing member  5 ; relatively small amount of seasoning will fall out of the containing body  1  per unit of time if the user depresses the pressing member  5  only a short distance. 
     From the above description, it can be seen that the present invention has the following advantages: 
     1. One is allowed to control the amount of seasoning powder that is dispensed from the container per unit of time by means of changing the magnitude of the depressing force that he is exerting on the pressing member. Therefore, the present invention is convenient to use. 
     2. When the pressing member is being operated, the stirring spring will move up and down together with the moving rod component to stir seasoning powder in the container. Therefore, the seasoning powder won&#39;t stick together to form large lumps after having been held in the container for a certain length of time.