Patent Publication Number: US-9834344-B2

Title: Wet wipe sealing cap structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to sealing technology and more particularly, to a wet wipe sealing cap structure. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In order to reduce escape of water vapor, commercial wet wipe packs generally provide a re-sealable sealing tag for sealing the opening. In service, the user needs to open the re-sealable sealing tag from the opening, and then to seal the re-sealable sealing tag to the bag again after pick up of one piece of wet wipe from the bag. However, because the re-sealable sealing tag is a flexible material and the bag is also flexible and the shape of the bag is highly changeable, the re-sealable sealing tag can be not well sealed to the surface of the bag due to surface irregularities, and thus, this design can simply provide a dustproof effect without achieving an airtight sealing effect. Further, because the opening of the bag for the access of the fingers to the storage wet wipes has a large size, a large area of the storage wet wipes will be kept in direct contact with the outside air when the user opens the re-sealable sealing tag, causing escape of water vapor out of the inside of the bag into the outside open air. Further, after several times of use, the re-sealable sealing tag will be contaminated with water, dust or hairs, weakening or loosening its stickiness to further lose its adhesive effect. 
     In order to solve the aforesaid problem, Taiwan Patent Number 535555 teaches a technique of adhering a buckle cap member around an opening of a cover. Because of needing to cover the whole re-sealable sealing tag, this design cannot achieve satisfactory airtight sealing effects and can simply provide a dustproof function. This technique avoids loosening of the airtight sealing effect due to loosening of the stickiness of the re-sealable sealing tag, however, when taking one piece of wet wipe, a large area of the opening of the bag is kept in direct contact with external air, enabling water vapor to escape out of the bag into the outside open space. Thus, a certain amount of water vapor will escape out of the bag upon each use, and the storage wet wipes will become dry quickly. 
     Taiwan Patent I 461335, issued to the present inventor, discloses a wet wipe sealing cap structure consisting of cap combination, an upper positioning member and a lower positioning member. By means of these three components, the wet wipe sealing cap structure provides a good sealing effect, preventing water vapor from escaping out of the bag or box and maintaining wettability of the storage wet wipes. In application, the wet wipe sealing cap structure needs to be assembled with the box, however, the thickness of the box brings trouble on the assembly process. Further, if the leading piece of wet wipe falls to the inside of the box, the leading piece of wet wipe cannot be set back in position without disassembling the wet wipe sealing cap structure. Thus, this design of wet wipe sealing cap structure is still not convenient in use. It still has room for improvement on airtight sealing arrangement. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a wet wipe sealing cap structure, which facilitates the assembly process. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a wet wipe sealing cap structure, which achieves excellent airtight sealing effects to prevent quick escape of water vapor out of the container into the outside open air. 
     To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, a wet wipe sealing cap structure comprises a base ring, a claw plate and a cover device. The base ring comprises a circular upright wall, an annular shoulder horizontally and outwardly extended from a bottom edge of the circular upright wall, an outer locating unit located at an outer perimeter of the circular upright wall, and an inner locating unit located at an inner perimeter of the circular upright wall. The claw plate comprises an outer race, a plurality of claws radially inwardly extended from the outer race toward the center of the claw plate and equally spaced from one another, and a claw plate engagement unit located at the periphery of the outer race and detachably engageable with the inner locating unit to secure the claw plate to the inside of the base ring. The cover device comprises a cap detachably capped on the circular upright wall and positioned between the outer locating unit and the annular shoulder, a collar and a flexible member connected between the cap and the collar. The cap comprises a circular cover plate, a cover wall perpendicularly extended around the border edge of the cover plate, and a cover engagement unit located at an inner surface of the cover wall. The cap is detachably downwardly capped on the topmost edge of the circular upright wall with the cover plate facing upwards and the cover wall facing downwards to force the cover engagement unit into friction engagement with the outer locating unit. The cap further comprises an annular inner wall downwardly extended from a bottom surface of the cover plate, and a bottom slope of a predetermined height located at a bottom part of the annular inner wall. The base ring further comprises a top slope of a predetermined height located at a top part of the circular upright wall and matching the bottom slope of the cap. When capping the cap onto the base ring, the bottom slope of the annular inner wall is abutted against the top slope of the circular upright wall. 
     Thus, the present invention facilitates the assembly of the wet wipe sealing cap structure. When compared to the prior art design, the invention facilitates the assembly process. Subject to abutment between the bottom slope and the top slope, the invention achieves excellent airtight sealing effects to prevent escape of water vapor out of the container into the outside open air. 
     Other advantages and features of the present invention will be fully understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference signs denote like components of structure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a wet wipe sealing cap structure in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic exploded view of the present invention, illustrating the base ring and the cover device assembled before mounting of the claw plate in the base ring. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates the base ring, claw plate and cover device of the wet wipe sealing cap structure assembled before capping of the cap onto the circular upright wall of the base ring. 
         FIG. 4  corresponds to  FIG. 3 , illustrating the cap capped on the circular upright wall of the base ring. 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is similar to  FIG. 5 , illustrating the cap disconnected from the base ring. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic drawing illustrating an application example of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic drawing illustrating another application example of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-6 , a wet wipe sealing cap structure  10  in accordance with the present invention is shown. The wet wipe sealing cap structure  10  comprises a base ring  11 , a claw plate  21  and a cover device  31 . 
     The base ring  11  comprises a circular upright wall  12 , an annular shoulder  14  horizontally and outwardly extended from a bottom edge of the circular upright wall  12 , an outer locating unit  121  located at an outer perimeter of the circular upright wall  12 , and an inner locating unit  122  located at an inner perimeter of the circular upright wall  12 . In this embodiment, the outer locating unit  121  consists of a plurality of sloping ribs that are formed integral with and equiangularly spaced around the outer perimeter of the circular upright wall  12 ; the inner locating unit  122  consists of a plurality of sloping ribs formed integral with and equiangularly spaced around the inner perimeter of the circular upright wall  12 . 
     The claw plate  21  comprises an outer race  22 , a plurality of claws  24  radially inwardly extended from the outer race  22  toward the center thereof and equally spaced from one another, a claw plate engagement unit  222  located at the periphery of the outer race  22  and detachably engageable with the inner locating unit  122  to secure the claw plate  21  to the inside of the base ring  11 . In this embodiment, the claw plate engagement unit  222  consists of a plurality of sloping ribs that are formed integral with and equiangularly spaced around the periphery of the outer race  22  of the claw plate  21 . 
     The cover device  31  comprises a cap  32  detachably capped on the circular upright wall  12  and positioned between the outer locating unit  121  and the annular shoulder  14 , a collar  34 , and a flexible member  36  connected between the cap  32  and the collar  34 . The cap  32  comprises a circular cover plate  321 , a cover wall  322  perpendicularly extended around the border edge of the cover plate  321 , a cover engagement unit  323  located at an inner surface of the cover wall  322 . The cap  32  is detachably downwardly capped on the topmost edge of the circular upright wall  12  with the cover plate  321  facing upwards and the cover wall  322  facing downwards to force the cover engagement unit  323  into friction engagement with the outer locating unit  121 . In this embodiment, the cap  32 , the collar  34  and the flexible member  36  are integrally formed in one piece; the cover engagement unit  323  consists of a plurality of sloping ribs that are formed integral with and equiangularly spaced around the inner surface of the cover wall  322 ; the collar  34  is fastened to the circular upright wall  12  through a rotary motion. Further, in this embodiment, the inner diameter of the collar  34  is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the circular upright wall  12  so that the collar  34  can be accurately coupled to the circular upright wall  12 ; further, the inner diameter of the collar  34  is smaller than the outer diameter defined by the sloping rids of the outer locating unit  121 , and thus, when coupling the collar  34  to the circular upright wall  12 , the collar  34  can be forced downwardly over the outer locating unit  121  and positioned between the outer locating unit  121  and the annular shoulder  14  and then stopped by the outer locating unit  121  from falling out of the circular upright wall  12  subject to the design that the outer diameter defined by the sloping rids of the outer locating unit  121  is larger than the inner diameter of the collar  34 . 
     The cap  32  further comprises an annular inner wall  325  downwardly extended from a bottom surface of the cover plate  321 , and a bottom slope  326  located at a bottom part of the annular inner wall  325  and having a predetermined height. Further, a top slope  126  is located at a top part of the circular upright wall  12  and having a predetermined height matching the bottom slope  326  of the cap  32 . When capping the cap  32  onto the base ring  11 , the bottom slope  326  of the annular inner wall  325  is abutted against the top slope  126  of the circular upright wall  12 . In this embodiment, the bottom slope  326  of the annular inner wall  325  is disposed at an outer side of the annular inner wall  325 ; the top slope  126  of the circular upright wall  12  is disposed at an inner side of the circular upright wall  12 ; the inner diameter of the annular inner wall  325  is smaller than the inner diameter of the circular upright wall  12 . 
     After description of the architecture of the present preferred embodiment, the application of the wet wipe sealing cap structure  10  is outlined hereinafter. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-7 , before using the present invention, install the base ring  11  in a container  91  that accommodates therein interfolded wet wipes (wet towels, or moist towelettes)  99 . The container  91  can be a flexible bag or hard box. In this embodiment, the container  91  is a hard box. In application, the bottom surface of the annular shoulder  14  of the base ring  11  can be affixed to the surface of the container  91  around the opening (not shown) of the container  91  with an adhesive. Thereafter, pull a part of the leading piece of wet wipe  99  out of the container  91  and enable this leading piece of wet wipe  99  to be secured in place by the claws  24  of the claw plate  21 , and then attach the claw plate  21  to the base ring  11  to force the claw plate engagement unit  222  into friction engagement with the inner locating unit  122 , and then couple the collar  34  to the circular upright wall  12  between the annular shoulder  14  and the outer locating unit  121 . In the assembly process, the user can apply a pressure to the collar  34  to move the collar  34  over the outer locating unit  121 . Subject to the matching design between the sloping ribs of the inner locating unit  122  and the sloping ribs of the claw plate engagement unit  222 , the claw plate  21  can be positively secured to the inside of the base ring  11  through a rotary motion. At final, cap the cap  32  onto the circular upright wall  12  of the base ring  11 . Subject to the matching design between the sloping ribs of the outer locating unit  121  and the sloping ribs of the cover engagement unit  323 , the cap  32  can be positively secured to the circular upright wall  12  through a rotary motion. At the same time, the wet wipe  99  in the claw plate  21  is kept in the space between the cap  32  and the base ring  11  and secured in place by the claw plate  21 , and, the bottom slope  326  of the cap  32  is stopped against the top slope  126  of the circular upright wall  12  to achieve excellent airtight sealing effects, preventing quick escape of water vapor from the wet wipe  99  in the claw plate  21  and the other wet wipes  99  in the container  91  into the outside open air. 
     When a user is going to pick up the leading piece of wet wipe  99  for application, rotate the cap  32  relative to the base ring  11  to unlock the cap  32  and then open the cap  32  from the base ring  11 , and then pull the wet wipe  99  out of the claw plate  21 , at this time, the succeeding piece of wet wipe  99  will be carried into the claw plate  21  and secured in place by the claws  24 , at this time, the seizing force of the claws  24  is sufficient to achieve separation between this succeeding piece of wet wipe  99  in the claw plate  21  and the previous piece of wet wipe  99  that has been taken by the user. At final, the user can put the cap  32  back onto the base ring  11  and then fasten it tight, finishing the use. 
     Thus, as explained above, the present invention facilitates the assembly of the wet wipe sealing cap structure. After adhered the base ring  11  to the container  91  around the opening of the container  91 , the claw plate  21  and the cover device  31  can be directly coupled to the claw plate  21 . When compared to the prior art design, the invention facilitates the assembly process. 
     Further, subject to abutment between the bottom slope  326  and the top slope  126 , the invention achieves excellent airtight sealing effects to prevent escape of water vapor out of the container  91  into the outside open air. 
     It&#39;s worth mentioning that in the present preferred embodiment, the design of the bottom slope  326  of the annular inner wall  325  at an outer side relative to the annular inner wall  325  and the top slope  126  of the circular upright wall  12  at an inner side relative to the circular upright wall  12  is simply an example to constitute an airtight sealing structure but not intended for use to limit the scope and spirit of the present invention. In actual application, this airtight sealing structure can be modified as: the bottom slope  326  of the annular inner wall  325  is disposed at an inner side relative to the annular inner wall  325 , and, the top slope  126  of the circular upright wall  12  is disposed at an outer side relative to the circular upright wall  12 . After adjustment of the inner diameter of the circular upright wall  12  of the base ring  11  and the inner diameter of the annular inner wall  325  of the cap  32 , the bottom slope  326  can be abutted against the top slope  126  to achieve same airtight sealing effects. 
     Further, the relationship between the cap  32  and the circular upright wall  12  can be so designed that: when capping the cap  32  onto the base ring  11 , the topmost edge of the circular upright wall  12  is stopped against a bottom surface of the cover plate  321 . This design is as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Thus, when the topmost edge of the circular upright wall  12  is stopped against the bottom surface of the cover plate  321 , an airtight sealing effect is achieved to prevent quick escape of water vapor from the inside of the container  91  into the outside open air. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , the base ring  11 ′ can be integrally formed with the outside wall of the container  91 ′ in one piece, for example, the annular shoulder  14 ′ and the container  91 ′ can be made from a plastic material by injection molding. Because the e base ring  11 ′ and the container  91 ′ are made in integrity, it is difficult to point out the border, and therefore the location of the annular shoulder  14 ′ is expressed by dotted lines. According to this design, it is not necessary to affix the base ring  11 ′ to the container  91 ′, bringing more convenience. 
     Although particular embodiments of the invention have 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.