Patent Publication Number: US-2004045969-A1

Title: Sealing container

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to a container and, more particularly, to a sealing container, which forces air out of the container body when sealed, keeping the container body in a tightly enclosed status.  
       [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art  
       [0004]FIG. 1 shows a sealing container constructed according to the prior art. This structure of sealing container comprises a cylindrical container body  1 , and a sealing cap  4  adapted to seal the container body  1 . The container body  1  has inside annular flanges  3  extended around the inside wall near the front opening  2 . The sealing cap  4  has a cylindrical plug portion  5  for fitting into the front opening  2  of the container body  1 . When the plug portion  5  inserted into the front opening  2  of the container body  1 , a friction force is produced between the inside annular flanges  3  and the periphery of the plug portion  5 , and therefore the sealing cap  4  is secured to the front opening  2  of the container body  1 . In order to prevent permanent deformation of the front part of the container body  1  around the front opening  2 , the height of the inside annular flanges  3  is limited to a certain range. However, this limitation affects the tightness of the engagement between the plug portion  5  of the sealing cap  4  and the inside wall of the container body  1 .  
       [0005]FIG. 2 shows another structure of sealing container according to the prior art. According to this design, the container body  1 ′ has an annular retaining groove  6  extended around the inside wall near the front opening  2 ′; the sealing cap  4 ′ has an annular retaining flange  7  extended around the periphery of the cylindrical plug portion thereof and adapted to engage the annular retaining groove  6  of the container body  1 ′. This structure of sealing container is still not satisfactory in function. Because the outer diameter of the annular retaining flange  7  is greater than the inner diameter of the container body  1 ′ around the front opening  2 ′, the periphery of the front opening  2 ′ of the container body  1 ′ will be deformed upon insertion of the sealing cap  4 ′ into the front opening  2 ′ of the container body  1 ′. Further, in case the annular retaining flange  7  fits the annular retaining groove  6  very tightly, much air pressure will be produced when plugging the sealing cap  4 ′ into the front opening  2 ′ of the container body  1 ′, thereby causing the sealing cap  4 ′ not easy to be positioned in the front opening  2 ′ of the container body  1 ′. However, if the annular retaining flange  7  does not fit the annular retaining groove  6  perfectly, the sealing cap  4 ′ will be unable to seal the container body  1 ′ in an airtight status.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006] The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a sealing container, which can easily be sealed to keep the container body in an airtight status. To achieve this and other objects and according to one aspect of the present invention, the sealing container comprises a container body with an opening, and a sealing cap adapted to seal the opening of the container body. The container body has a plurality of tapered retaining blocks protruded from the inside wall near the front opening. The sealing cap has a disk-like knob, a hollow cylindrical plug axially extended from the center of one side of the disk-like knob and filled with a desiccant for fitting into the opening of the container body, and an annular retaining flange extended around the periphery of the cylindrical plug for engaging the tapered retaining blocks of the container body and forcing air out of the container body after insertion of the cylindrical plug into the opening of the container body. According to another aspect of the present invention, the cylindrical plug of the sealing cap has a hollow structure filled with a desiccant. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0007]FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing a sealing container constructed according to the prior art.  
     [0008]FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing showing another structure of sealing container according to the prior art.  
     [0009]FIG. 3 is an exploded view, partially cutaway, of a sealing container according to the present invention.  
     [0010]FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the present invention before sealing of the sealing cap.  
     [0011]FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but showing the sealing cap sealed. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0012] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, an enclosed container is shown comprised of a container body  10  and a sealing cap  20  adapted to seal the container body  10 .  
     [0013] The container body  10  has a holding chamber  11  adapted to hold things, an opening  12  for the access to the holding chamber  11 , and a plurality of tapered retaining blocks  13  protruded from the inside wall and equiangularly spaced around the opening  12 . Each tapered retaining block  13  has a transversely extended and smoothly arched middle convex portion  131  on the middle, a sloping guide surface portion  132  and a sloping retaining surface portion  133  respectively extended from the middle convex portion  131  toward the inside wall of the container body  10  at two sides.  
     [0014] The sealing cap  20  comprises a disk-like knob  21 , a cylindrical plug  22  of diameter slightly smaller than the opening  12  of the container body  10  axially extended from the center of one side of the disk-like knob  21 , an annular retaining flange  23  extended around the periphery of the cylindrical plug  22 . The annular retaining flange  23  has a smoothly curved ridge  231  extended on the middle around the periphery of the cylindrical plug  22 , a tapered guide surface portion  232  and a retaining surface portion  233  respectively extended from the smoothly curved ridge  231  toward the periphery of the cylindrical plug  22  at two sides.  
     [0015] Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 4 again, when the cylindrical plug  22  of the sealing cap  20  inserted into the opening  12  of the container body  10 , the smoothly curved ridge  231  of the sealing cap  20  is moved over the inside wall of the container body  10  toward the tapered retaining blocks  13  to compress the air inside the container body  10  and to force the air out of the container body  10 . When the smoothly curved ridge  231  of the sealing cap  20  passed over the tapered retaining blocks  13  of the container body  10 , the retaining surface portion  233  of the sealing cap  20  is forced into engagement with the sloping retaining surface portion  133  of the container body  10 .  
     [0016] Because the maximum outer diameter of the annular retaining flange  23  is slightly greater than the inner diameter of the container body  10  around the opening  12 , the container body  10  must be springy. According to the present invention, the container body  10  is injection-molded from elastic plastics.  
     [0017] Further, the cylindrical plug  22  can be made hollow filled with a desiccant (silica gel, caustic lime, or the like).  
     [0018] A prototype of sealing container has been constructed with the features of FIGS.  3 ˜ 5 . The sealing container functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.  
     [0019] Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.