Patent Publication Number: US-11027900-B2

Title: Cap closing structure for sealed container

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The technical field relates to a sealed container technique, in particular, to a cap closing structure for a sealed container. 
     Description of Related Art 
     A sealed container typically includes a container and a cap for covering onto an opening of the container in an airtight manner. The cap can be detachably covered onto the container. To achieve an airtight sealing of the opening of the container, the bottom edge of the cap is typically installed with a ring gasket in order to allow the gasket to be stacked at the opening of the container in an airtight manner in order to achieve the sealing effect. Since such type of sealing container is likely to be infiltrated by liquid or powder such that the gasket can be dirty or dirt can be accumulated at the gap thereof, and the situation of growing of molds or contamination to food inside the container may even occur, consequently, it requires frequent removal and cleaning. In addition, the gasket and the ring slot needs to be dried before re-assembly for use again, which is extremely inconvenient to users. 
     To improve the aforementioned drawbacks in prior art, industrial manufacturers have developed a sealing container cap equipped with a handle and an elastic element in the market. Such type of sealing container is to perform pressing operation on the handle and to utilize the elastic reaction force of the elastic element to perform compressive deformation of the gasket in order to achieve the sealing effect. Nevertheless, such type of sealing container often suffers from the problems of unevenly exerted force and inclination during the process of use thereof, such that the sealing effect is reduced. 
     In view of above, the inventor seeks to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the currently existing technology after years of research and development along with the utilization of academic theories, which is also the objective of the development of the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An objective of the present invention is to provide a cap closing structure for a sealed container, utilizing a latch member formed directly on the lower cover. Consequently, the overall structure is simplified, actuation is stable, and the sealing effect is excellent. 
     To achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention provides a cap closing structure for a sealed container, used for attaching onto the container, comprising an upper cover, a lower cover, an elastic element and a handle member. The upper cover comprises a top plate and a circumferential bracket extended from the top plate. The top plate includes a through hole formed thereon, and the circumferential bracket includes a retaining slanted surface formed thereon. The lower cover is arranged underneath the upper cover. The lower cover comprises a base plate and a sealing ring connected to the base plate. The base plate includes a latch member extended to penetrate into the through hole. The latch member includes a guiding structure formed thereon, and the sealing ring includes one end formed at another side of the retaining slanted surface. The elastic element is mounted onto an outer perimeter of the latch member and elastically clamped between the top plate and the bottom plate. The handle member comprises a dial lever and an arm extended from the dial lever, the arm connected to a shaft, and the shaft is configured to operably move inside the guiding structure, thereby allowing the sealing ring to be tightly sealed between the retaining slanted surface and the container. 
     The present invention further includes the following effects. By configuring the circumferential wall to surround the outer perimeter of the latch member, the stability of the lower cover during the up/down movement can be increased. With a plurality of ribs formed between the outer perimeter of the lower mounting ring and the base plate, the structural strength can be further enhanced. In addition, by forming the lower cover and the handle member as an integral piece respectively, the time required for component assembly can be reduced. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective exploded view of a cap closing structure of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the inner portion of the upper cover of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective exploded view of the cap closing structure and the container of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an assembly outer appearance view of the cap closing structure and the container of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is an assembly cross sectional view of the cap closing structure and the container of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view showing a state of use of the cap closing structure and the container of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is another cross-sectional view of the cap closing structure and the container of the present invention viewed from another angle; and 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective outer appearance view of a lower cover according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following provides a detailed technical content of the present invention along with the accompanied drawings. However, the accompanied drawings are provided for reference and illustrative purpose only such that they shall not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 5 . The present invention provides a cap closing structure for a sealed container, used for attaching onto the container  8 . The cap closing structure  1  mainly comprises an upper cover  10 , a lower cover  20 , an elastic element  25  and a handle member  30 . 
     According to an exemplary embodiment, the upper cover  10  is of a rectangular shape; however, it is not limited to such shape only, and it can be made of a plastic material, such as PP. The upper cover  10  mainly comprises a top plate  11  and a circumferential bracket  12  extended from the top plate  11 . The center location of the top plate  11  includes a through hole  111  formed thereon and a circumferential wall  112  extended from a perimeter of the through hole  111 . The bottom edge of the circumferential bracket  12  includes a retaining slanted surface  121 . 
     In addition, an upper mounting ring  13  is arranged between the circumferential wall  112  and the circumferential bracket  12  and extends from the top plate  11 . The central location of each edge plate of the upper mounting  13  includes an elastic hook  131  formed thereon. In addition, a separation distance D 1  between the upper mounting ring  13  and the circumferential bracket  12  is smaller than a separation distance D 2  between the upper mounting ring  13  and the central line of the top plate  11 . 
     The lower cover  20  is arranged underneath the upper cover  10 , and its shape generally corresponds to the upper cover  10 . The lower cover  20  can be made of a plastic material, such as ABS. The lower cover  20  comprises a base plate  21  and a sealing ring  22  connected to the base plate  21 . The base plate  21  and the sealing  22  can be integrally formed as one single piece via the injection molding formation method. The center location of the base plate  21  includes a latch member  211  extended therefrom to penetrate into the aforementioned through hole  111 , and the outer perimeter of the latch member  211  is surrounded by the circumferential wall  112 ; consequently, the stability of the lower cover  20  during the upward/downward movement can be increased. The latch member  211  includes a guiding structure  212 . In an exemplary embodiment, the guiding structure  212  mainly comprises a first channel  213 , a second channel  214 , and a curved channel  217  fluidly connected to the first channel  213  and the second channel  214 . The first channel  213 , the second channel  214 , and the curved channel  217  extend into the latch member  211 . However, the present invention is not limited to such configuration only. 
     The sealing ring  22  is made of a silicon material and is generally of a rectangular ring shape, which mainly comprises a connecting section  221  and a compressive deformation section  222  extended from the connecting section  221 . The connecting section  221  is attached firmly onto the perimeter of the base plate  21 . The compressive deformation section  222  extends toward a direction of the upper cover  10  and is formed at an outer side of the aforementioned retaining slanted surface  121 . 
     The base plate  21  includes a lower mounting ring  23  formed at a location corresponding to the aforementioned upper mounting ring  13 , and a locking slot  231  is formed at a central location of each edge plate of the lower mounting ring  23 . The lower mounting ring  23  is mounted onto the aforementioned upper mounting ring  13  with each other. Each elastic hook  131  is able to move upward/downward inside each locking slot  231 . In addition, a plurality of ribs  24  are formed between the outer perimeter of the lower mounting ring  23  and the base plate  21  in order to increase the structural strength. 
     The elastic unit  25  can be a torsion spring, which can be mounted at the outer perimeter of the aforementioned latch member  211  and can also be elastically clamped between the top plate  11  and the base plate  21 . 
     The handle member  30  can be made of a plastic material, such as POM, and it mainly comprises a dial lever  31  and two arms  32  extended from the dial lever  21 . Each arm  32  and the dial lever  31  can be integrally formed as one single piece via the injection molding formation method. Each arm  32  includes a shaft  321  connected thereto respectively, and each shaft  321  is received inside the aforementioned guiding structure  212 . Similarly, the shaft  321  can be designed as a single shaft crossing each arm  32  directly. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 5  to  FIG. 7 . The cap closing structure  1  of the present invention is used for attaching onto a container  8 . The top portion of the container  8  is formed of an opening  81 . The cap closing structure  1  is closed onto the opening  81  correspondingly. During the assembly, the dial lever  31  is at a vertical position, and the bottom surface of each arm  32  is in contact with the outer surface of the top plate  11 . With the elastic element  25  being elastically clamped between the inner surface of the top plate  11  and the base plate  21 , at this time, the shaft  321  is located at the top portion of the second channel  214 . Under the elastic force exerted by the elastic element  25 , the lower cover  20  is pushed to move toward a direction away from the upper cover  10 , and each elastic hook  131  is still locked inside the locking slot  231  without any movement. At this time, the top edge of the compressive deformation section  222  of the sealing ring  22  is located underneath the retaining slanted surface  121  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ). 
     During the operation, the dial lever  31  is dialed to rotate toward the horizontal direction, and the shaft  321  is rotated at the top portion of the second channel  214 . The side surface of each arm  32  contacts with the outer surface of the top plate  11  (i.e. the distance between the side surface of the arm  32  and the shaft  321  being greater than the distance between the bottom surface of the arm  32  to the shaft  321  is utilized; in other words, a height difference is formed in the aforementioned relationship), and at this time, the lower cover  20  moves toward the direction of the upper cover  10 . Since the circumferential wall  112  is mounted to surround the outer perimeter of the latch member  211 , the lower cover  20  is able to be guided to move stably. In addition, the compressive deformation section  222  of the sealing ring  22  is then tightly sealed between the retaining slanted surface  12  and the inner wall of the container  8 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 8 . In addition to the aforementioned exemplary embodiments, the lower cover of the present invention can also be configured differently as described in the following. In another exemplary embodiment, the guiding structure  212 A of the latch member  211 A of the lower cover  20 A mainly comprises a pair of first guiding channels  215  and a second guiding channel  216  fluidly connected to each one of the first guiding channels  215 . In addition, each shaft  321  of the aforementioned each arm  32  is arranged corresponding to each one of the first guiding channels  215  and each one of the second guiding channels  216 . Consequently, it is able to achieve effects equivalent to those of the aforementioned exemplary embodiment. 
     In view of the above, the cap sealing structure for a sealed container of the present invention is able to achieve the expected objectives and to overcome the drawbacks of prior arts. The above describes the preferable and feasible exemplary embodiments of the present invention for illustrative purposes only, which shall not be treated as limitations of the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the claims of the present invention shall be considered to be within the scope of the claim of the present invention.