Patent Publication Number: US-2021163206-A1

Title: Vacuum storage container

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Technical Field 
     The present invention relates generally to a storage container, and more particularly to a vacuum storage container. 
     Description of Related Art 
     A storage container is adapted to contain food for preventing the food from external dust and bacteria in order to preserve the food for a longer period of time. The conventional storage container includes a container body and a lid. After put the lid onto the container body, the food in the container body is separated from an outside. 
     Recently, there are several kinds of vacuum storage containers on the market. The vacuum storage container further includes a valve and a valve plug disposed on the lid, wherein air in the container body could be evacuated through the valve to the outside by installing and using a vacuum pump onto the lid, and then the valve plug plugs into the valve to keep an interior space of the vacuum storage container at negative pressure. The food could be preserved for a longer time by reducing air in the interior space. 
     A conventional valve plug is integrally formed as a monolithic unit and is made of silicone, and a top portion of the valve plug exposed outside is flat. When a user needs to release vacuum in the storage container, the user needs to pick the flat top portion of the valve plug with the user&#39;s fingertip to open the valve. However, it&#39;s not easy to apply a force, especially, when the top portion of the valve plug of the vacuum storage container is wet or moist, the fingertip of the user is relatively easy to slip off from the valve plug, so that it&#39;s hard to open the valve. 
     As a result, the conventional vacuum storage container still has room for improvement. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a vacuum storage container including a valve plug that could be easily pushed by a user. 
     The present invention provides a vacuum storage container including a container body and a lid, wherein the container body has a top opening. The lid includes a lid body and a valve plug, and the lid body is detachably engaged with the container body to cover the top opening. The lid body has a perforation. The valve plug comprises a plug body and a poked member. The plug body is disposed in the perforation for closing or opening the perforation; the poked member is disposed on a top of the plug body. 
     With the aforementioned design, by disposing the poked member on the plug body, the user could easily push the valve plug to release vacuum and to remove the lid, improving convenience of using the vacuum storage container. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective diagram, showing the vacuum storage container of an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded diagram of the vacuum storage container of said embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded diagram, showing the valve plug of said embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective diagram, showing the lid of said embodiment from the bottom side view; 
         FIG. 5  is a top view, showing the vacuum storage container of said embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view taken along the  6 - 6  line in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional view taken along the  7 - 7  line in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view, showing the vacuum pump is installed on the vacuum storage container of said embodiment; and 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic diagram, showing the plug body inclines when the poked member is pushed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 9 , a vacuum storage container  100  of an embodiment according to the present invention includes a container body  10  and a lid  20 . 
     The container body  10  has a storage space  10   a  and a top opening  10   b  which communicates with the storage space  10   a.  Two opposite sides of the container body  10  extend in opposite directions to form two locking projections  12 . 
     The lid  20  includes a lid body  22  and a valve plug  26 , wherein the lid body  22  is detachably engaged upon the container body  10  to cover the top opening  10   b.  Two locking members  40  are respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the lid body  22  locking members, and are adapted to be engaged with the two locking projections  12  of the container body  10 , so that the lid  20  is firmly engaged with the container body  10  and seals a peripheral edge of the top opening  10   b.  In the current embodiment, an airtight strip  23  could be diposed on a peripheral edge of the lid body  22  to abut against a peripheral edge of the top opening  10   b  of the container body  10  in order to enhance air tightness. In practice, the lid body  22  could directly abut against the peripheral edge of the top opening  10   b  of the container body  10  as well. 
     The lid body  22  has a perforation  222 , and the storage space  10   a  of the container body  10  communicates with an outside via the perforation  222 . In the current embodiment, the lid body  22  has a cavity  224  which is recessed from a top surface  22   a  of the lid body  22 , wherein the perforation  222  is disposed inside the cavity  224 . The lid body  22  has an internal surface  22   b  facing the storage space  10   a  of the container body  10 , and has a protruding ring  24  extending in a direction away from the internal surface  22   b  and encircling the perforation  222 . An outer surface  242  of the protruding ring  24  has a plurality of protruding ribs  246  which are arranged around a circumference of the outer surface  242  and extends in an axial direction of the protruding ring  24 , wherein a portion of each of the protruding ribs  246  extends to the internal surface  22   b.    
     The valve plug  26  includes a plug body  28  and a poked member  30 , wherein the plug body  28  is disposed in the perforation  222  and is adapted to close or to open the perforation  222 . The poked member  30  is disposed on a top of the plug body  28 , so that a user could poke the poked member  30  to incline the plug body  28  to open the perforation  222  without disengaging from the perforation  222 . In the current embodiment, the plug body  28  is made of silicone, and a material of the poked member  30  could be a stiffer material than the silicone, such as plastic. The plug body  28  includes a first protruding portion  282 , a second protruding portion  284 , and a connecting portion  286  connected between the first protruding portion  282  and the second protruding portion  284 . The first protruding portion  282  is located outside a top edge of the perforation  222 , and a top surface  282   a  of the first protruding portion  282  forms a top surface of the plug body  28 . The connecting portion  286  passes through the perforation  222 , and the second protruding portion  284  is located outside a bottom edge of the perforation  222 . An outer diameter of the second protruding portion  284  is smaller than an outer diameter of the first protruding portion  282 . An axial length of the connecting portion  286  is greater than a depth of the perforation  222 . 
     The poked member  30  is detachably engaged with the top of the plug body  28 . In the current embodiment, the top of the plug body  28  has an engaging groove  288 , and the poked member  30  includes an engaging segment  32  and an extending segment  34 , wherein the engaging segment  32  could be inserted into and be engaged with the engaging groove  288 ; the extending segment  34  is located above the engaging segment  32  and is adapted to be poked by the user. More specifically, the poked member  30  is located in the cavity  224  of the lid body  22 , and a top edge of the extending segment  34  of the poked member  30  is lower than a top edge of the cavity  224 . The engaging groove  288  includes a first groove section  288   a  and a second groove section  288   b  which communicates with the first groove section  288   a,  wherein the first groove section  288   a  is formed by recessing into the top surface of the plug body  28  and is located above the second groove section  288   b . A width of the first groove section  288   a  is smaller than a width of the second groove section  288   b.  The engaging segment  32  of the poked member  30  includes a head portion  322  and a neck portion  324 , wherein when the poked member  30  is engaged with the plug body  28 , the head portion  322  is located in the second groove section  288   b,  and the neck portion  324  is located in the first groove section  288   a.  The plug body  28  is made of silicone and is flexible, so that the head portion  322  could be wedged into the second groove section  288   b  via the first groove section  288   a  to be restricted in the second groove section  288   b.    
     In the current embodiment, the poked member  30  further includes a protruding flange  36  which is connected between the engaging segment  32  and the extending segment  34 , wherein a bottom surface of the protruding flange  36  faces the top surface  282   a  of the first protruding portion  282 , and the diameter of the first protruding portion  282  is greater than an outer diameter of the protruding flange  36 . Preferably, the bottom surface of the protruding flange  36  is abutted against the top surface  282   a  of the protruding portion  282  of the plug body  28 . The extending segment  34  is board-shaped and is located at a center portion of the protruding flange  36 . The extending segment  34  is extended upward from the protruding flange  36  in a first axial direction Z, and a height of the extending segment  34  is greater than a thickness of the first protruding portion  282 . In the current embodiment, the first axial direction Z is an axial direction of the engaging segment  32 . The extending segment  34  has two side surfaces  342  in a second axial direction X which is perpendicular to the first axial direction Z, wherein the two side surfaces  342  face opposite directions. In the current embodiment, a distance between the two side surfaces is increased gradually from top down in the first axial direction Z. The protruding flange  36  has two top surfaces  362  respectively connected to the two side surfaces  342 . Each of the two top surfaces  362  tilts downward in a direction away from one of the two side surfaces  342 . An angle  0  between each of the two top surfaces  362  and one of the two side surfaces  342  is between 90 to 105 degrees. In the current embodiment the angel 0 is 100 degrees. 
     Moreover, the lid  20  further includes an inner cap  42  which fits around the protruding ring  24 , wherein an inner surface  422  of the inner cap  42  abuts against the plurality of protruding ribs  246 , thereby to form a gap G between the inner surface  422  of the inner cap  42  and the outer surface  242  of the protruding ring  24  and between the inner surface  422  of the inner cap  42  and the internal surface  22   b  of the lid body  22 , so that air could flow through. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , the user could install an air pump  200  on a top of the lid  20  for discharging air in the storage space  10   a  of the container body  10  through the perforation  222  of the container body  10  to make it vacuum. When the storage space  10   a  of the container body  10  is at negative pressure, the plug body  28  is pressed by an atmospheric pressure to be moved downward to close the perforation  222  (as shown in  FIG. 7 ). A top edge of the poked member  30  is lower than the top edge of the cavity  224  of the lid body  22 , so that it could avoid the user touching the poked member  30  carelessly to release vacuum. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , when the user wants to release vacuum, the user could simply push one of the two side surfaces  342  of the extending segment  34  of the poked member  30  to shift the plug body  28 , thereby to allow air in the outside to enter into the storage space  10   a  of the container body  10 . 
     In conclusion, through the poked member  30  disposed on the plug body  28 , the user could easily push the valve plug  26  to release vacuum and to remove the lid  20 , so that convenience is enhanced. 
     It must be pointed out that the embodiment described above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.