Patent Publication Number: US-11383911-B2

Title: Liquid containing assembly

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a liquid containing assembly, and more particularly to a liquid containing assembly applied to a supplementary package. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Plastic containers such as PET bottles for containing drinking including water, Coke or juice, or plastic bottles for containing daily-life liquid such as shampoo, shower gel or laundry detergent, have been widely used by modern people for daily life. However, most of these PET bottles or plastic bottles are discarded only used one time, which causes great damage to the environment. 
     Some suppliers of daily necessities introduce supplemental packages. The suppliers hope that consumers may purchase the supplemental packages and pour the liquid in the supplemental packages into an empty plastic container to make full use of the plastic container. 
     However, the motivation for a customer buying supplemental packages is that he or she has empty plastic containers at home, which is not a strong purchasing motivation for an ordinary customer. Furthermore, the purchasing motivation of customers may be further lowered when they pour the liquid in a supplemental package into an empty plastic container and discover that some liquid is inevitably remained in the supplemental package, thereby failing to make full use of the liquid. 
     Thus, the current supplemental packages have limited effect for reducing plastic containers, but it is an urgent task to effectively reduce the damage of plastic containers to the global environment. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a liquid containing assembly, which is used to replace current plastic containers and has features including easy operation, high durability and good stability. 
     The present invention provides a liquid containing assembly, which includes a clamping device, a supplementary package and a positioning mechanism. The clamping device includes a first surrounding body and a second surrounding body rotatably connected to the first surrounding body. A clamping space is formed when the first surrounding body is closed to the second surrounding body. The supplementary package includes an accommodating body configured to accommodate liquid and an open tube connected to the accommodating body. The positioning mechanism includes a first positioning portion, a second positioning portion, at least one third positioning portion and at least one fourth positioning portion. The first positioning portion is disposed on a portion of the accommodating body of the supplementary package adjacent to the open tube. The second positioning portion corresponds to the first positioning portion and is disposed at least on one of the first surrounding body and the second surrounding body. The at least one third positioning portion is disposed on the accommodating body of the supplementary package. The at least one third positioning portion is away from the open tube relative to the first positioning portion. The at least one fourth positioning portion corresponds to the at least one third positioning portion and is disposed at least on one of the first surrounding body and the second surrounding body. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the first positioning portion is annular to surround the accommodating body. The second positioning portion includes two plates disposed spaced apart from each other. The first positioning portion is positioned between the two plates. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, a surface of the first positioning portion has a jagged structure. The second positioning portion further includes a jagged plate disposed between the two plates and corresponding to the jagged structure of the first positioning portion. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one third positioning portion is sheet-shaped and connected to a bottom of the accommodating body. The at least one fourth positioning portion includes a first block and a second block. A gap corresponding to the at least one third positioning portion is formed between the first block and the second block. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, both of the first block and the second block of the at least one fourth positioning portion have an inclined surface. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the positioning mechanism includes two third positioning portions disposed opposite to each other and two fourth positioning portions respectively disposed on the first surrounding body and the second surrounding body. The positioning mechanism further includes two reinforcing ribs. Two ends of each of the reinforcing ribs are respectively connected to the two third positioning portions, and the two reinforcing ribs cross each other. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the first surrounding body has a first top edge. The second surrounding body has a second top edge. The first top edge is jointed to the second top edge to form an opening to expose the open tube of the supplementary package when the first surrounding body is closed to the second surrounding body. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the first surrounding body includes a first side wall and a first bottom wall connected to the first side wall. The second surrounding body includes a second side wall and a second bottom wall connected to the second side wall. Rotation of the first surrounding body relative to the second surrounding body closes the first side wall to the second side wall and closes the first bottom wall to the second bottom wall. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the first side wall includes a first fastening portion. The second side wall includes a second fastening portion corresponding to the first fastening portion. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the first fastening portion is a convex portion, and the second fastening portion is an opening. 
     The operation of the liquid containing assembly of the embodiments of the present invention is quite convenient. A user may directly place the supplementary package into the open clamping device, move the supplementary package to a right position by the guidance of the positioning mechanism, and then simply close the clamping device. As such, the user can directly use the liquid in the supplementary package without having to pour it into another container to fully use the liquid in the supplementary package. In addition, since the upper and lower portions of the supplementary package are supported by the positioning mechanism, the weight of the supplementary package can be dispersed throughout the entire clamping device, thereby preventing the clamping device from being easily damaged due to long-term uneven force. In addition, since being supported by the clamping device, the supplementary package may maintain its shape to allow the entered air to replace the lost liquid even when a part of the liquid is poured from the supplementary package, thereby preventing the supplementary package from being compressed and difficult of access the remaining liquid. In addition, the positioning mechanism allows the supplementary package to be stably clamped in the clamping device, so that the user can carry it with him or her. 
     Form above, it can be seen that, the liquid containing assembly of the embodiment of the present invention can replace most of the current plastic containers used for liquid. As such, the output of plastic products can be greatly reduced and thereby greatly contributing to the environment of the earth. 
     Other objectives, features and advantages of the invention will be further understood from the further technological features disclosed by the embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic exploded view of a liquid containing assembly of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 1B  is a schematic assembly view of a liquid containing assembly of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 1C  is a schematic view of a bottom of a supplementary package of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 1D  is a schematic perspective view of a liquid containing assembly of an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 1E  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first positioning portion positioned at a second positioning portion of an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed. 
       FIG. 1A  is a schematic exploded view of a liquid containing assembly of an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1B  is a schematic assembly view of a liquid containing assembly of an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1C  is a schematic view of a bottom of a supplementary package of an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1D  is a schematic perspective view of a liquid containing assembly of an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1E  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first positioning portion positioned at a second positioning portion of an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to  FIGS. 1A to 1E , a liquid containing assembly  100  of the embodiment includes a clamping device  110 , a supplementary package  120  and a positioning mechanism  130 . The supplementary package  120  includes an accommodating body  121  configured to accommodate liquid and an open tube  122  connected to the accommodating body  121 . The open tube  122  may have tread for connecting a cap (not shown) or a pressure head (not shown). 
     The clamping device  110  includes a first surrounding body  111  and a second surrounding body  112  rotatably connected to the first surrounding body  111 . The first surrounding body  111  can be closed to the second surrounding body  112  to form a clamping space S to accommodate the supplementary package  120 . The first surrounding body  111  has a first top edge  113 , and the second surrounding body  112  has a second top edge  114 . The first top edge  113  is jointed to the second top edge  114  to form an opening to expose the open tube  122  of the supplementary package  120  when the first surrounding body  111  is closed to the second surrounding body  112 . 
     The positioning mechanism  130  may include a first positioning portion  131 , at least one second positioning portion  132 , at least one third positioning portion  133  and at least one fourth positioning portion  134 . Specifically, the first positioning portion  131  is disposed on a portion of the accommodating body  121  of the supplementary package  120  adjacent to the open tube  122 . The second positioning portion  132  is corresponding to the first positioning portion  131  and disposed at least on one of the first surrounding body  111  and the second surrounding body  112 . The third positioning portion  133  is disposed on the accommodating body  121  of the supplementary package  120  and away from the open tube  122  relative to the first positioning portion  131 . The fourth positioning portion  134  is corresponding to the third positioning portion  133  and disposed at least on one of the first surrounding body  111  and the second surrounding body  112 . In the present embodiment, both of the first surrounding body  111  and the second surrounding body  112  have the second positioning portion  132  and the fourth positioning portion  134 , but the invention is not limited thereto. 
     In the present embodiment, the first positioning portion  131  is annular to surround the accommodating body  121 . The second positioning portion  132  includes a plate  1321  and a plate  1322  spaced apart from the plate  1321 . The first positioning portion  131  can be positioned between the plate  1321  and plate  1322 . The first positioning portion  131  is illustrated as two sections in  FIG. 1A  for corresponding to the second positioning portions  132  respectively on the first surrounding body  111  and the second surrounding body  132 , but the invention is not limited thereto. The first positioning portion  131  can be also a full ring or a partial ring. A surface of the first positioning portion  131  has a jagged structure  1311 , and the second positioning portion  132  further includes a jagged plate  1323  disposed between the plate  1321  and the plate  1322 . The jagged plate  1323  corresponds to the jagged structure  1311  of the first positioning portion  131 . The first positioning portion  131  can be positioned to the second positioning portion  132  when the supplementary package  120  is placed on the first surrounding body  111  or the second surrounding body  112 , so that the supplementary package  120  can be positioned to the clamping device  110  in the Z-axis direction in  FIG. 1A . The jagged structure  1311  of the first positioning portion  131  can be meshed with the jagged plate  1323  of the second positioning portion  132 , thereby inhibiting the supplementary package  120  to rotate relative to the clamping device  110 , but the invention is not limited thereto. In other non-illustrative embodiments, the rotation positioning between the first positioning portion  131  and the second positioning portion  132  can be also achieved by non-skid surfaces. 
     In the present embodiment, the third positioning portion  133  is sheet-shaped and is connected to the bottom of the accommodating body  121 . The fourth positioning portion  134  includes a first block  1341  and a second block  1342 . A gap G 1  corresponding to the third positioning portion  133  is formed between the first block  1341  and the second block  1342 . The first block  141  and the second block  1342  of the fourth positioning portion  134  respectively have an inclined surface  1344  and an inclined surface  1345 , so that the third positioning portion  133  can slide into the gap G 1  along the inclined surfaces  1344 ,  1345 . In the positioning mechanism  130 , both of the first surrounding body  111  and the second surrounding body  112  are provided with the fourth positioning portion  134 , and correspondingly there are two third positioning portions  133  opposite to each other on the bottom of the accommodating body  121 . As shown in  FIG. 1C , the positioning mechanism  130  can further include two reinforcing ribs  135 . Each of the reinforcing ribs  135  has two ends respectively connected to the two third positioning portions  133 , and the two reinforcing ribs  135  cross each other on the bottom of the accommodating body  121 . The positioning of the supplementary package  120  relative to the clamping device  110  in the Z-axis direction can be further enhanced by the positioning between the third positioning portion  133  and the fourth positioning portion  134 . 
     In the present embodiment, the first surrounding body  111  can include a first fastening portion  116 , and the second surrounding body  112  can include a second fastening portion  117  corresponding to the first fastening portion  116 . As shown in  FIG. 1A , the first fastening portion  116  can be a convex portion, and the second fastening portion  117  can be an opening. The first surrounding body  111  and the second surrounding body  112  closed to each other can be also fixed to each other when the first fastening portion  116  is embedded into the second fastening portion  117 , but the invention is not limited thereto. In other non-illustrative embodiments, the fastening between the first fastening portion  116  and the second fastening portion  117  can be replaced by other connecting means such as the connection of Velcro tape or a connection of a sliding block with a sliding slot. Even in other embodiments, an elastic member can be disposed at a rotational connection between the first surrounding body  111  and the second surrounding body  112 . As such, the first surrounding body  111  can be automatically opened from or closed to the second surrounding body  112  when the first surrounding body  111  and the second surrounding body  112  are relatively rotated to a fixed angle. The supplementary package  120  and the clamping device  110  are also positioned in various directions of the plane perpendicular to the Z-axis direction in  FIG. 1A  (the horizontal direction when the liquid containing assembly  100  is upright) when the first surrounding body  111  is closed to the second surrounding body  112 . 
     In the present embodiment, the first surrounding body  111  includes a first side wall  1111  and a first bottom wall  1112  connected to the first side wall  1111 . The second surrounding body  112  includes a second side wall  1121  and a second bottom wall  1122  connected to the second side wall  1121 . The rotation of the first surrounding body  111  relative to the second surrounding body  112  closes the first side wall  1111  to the second side wall  1122  and closes the first bottom wall  1112  to the second bottom wall  1122 , so as to form the clamping space S. A plate can be formed after the first bottom wall  1112  is closed to the second bottom wall  1122 , so that the liquid containing assembly  100  can be upright. 
     If the liquid containing assembly  100  of the present embodiment completely replaces the current plastic containers, a user may only need to prepare a plurality of different sized clamping devices  110 , and the supplier can turn to manufacture products, such as daily necessities including shampoo, shower gel or laundry detergent, or drinking including tea, soda or mineral water, in the form of the supplementary package  120 . Plastic waste can be largely reduced due to the volume of the supplementary package  120  is much smaller than that of a plastic container having the same capacity. In addition, compared with the conventional plastic containers, the supplementary package  120  is more suitable for being made of a decomposable green material, thereby further reducing the impact on the environment. 
     The operation of the liquid containing assembly of the embodiments of the present invention is quite convenient. A user may directly place the supplementary package into the open clamping device, move the supplementary package to a right position by the guidance of the positioning mechanism, and then simply close the clamping device. As such, the user can directly use the liquid in the supplementary package without having to pour it into another container to fully use the liquid in the supplementary package. In addition, since the upper and lower portions of the supplementary package are supported by the positioning mechanism, the weight of the supplementary package can be dispersed throughout the entire clamping device, thereby preventing the clamping device from being easily damaged due to long-term uneven force. In addition, since being supported by the clamping device, the supplementary package may maintain its shape to allow the entered air to replace the lost liquid even when a part of the liquid is poured from the supplementary package, thereby preventing the supplementary package from being compressed and difficult of access the remaining liquid. In addition, the positioning mechanism allows the supplementary package to be stably clamped in the clamping device, so that the user can carry it with him or her. 
     Form above, it can be seen that, the liquid containing assembly of the embodiment of the present invention can replace most of the current plastic containers used for liquid. As such, the output of plastic products can be greatly reduced and thereby greatly contributing to the environment of the earth. 
     While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.