Cap device for mixing different kinds of substances separately kept therein within a container

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention is related to a cap of a container. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cap device capable of simultaneously mixing different kinds of substances separately kept therein with other substances in the container, and providing users with the mixture just prior to use as necessary.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] At present, of the disposable containers circulated and sold in a market, each contains and keeps only a single kind of substance therein.

[0005] If a substance as a composition is kept in the container, it can easily change the composition, color, or efficiency, and even produce floating matter and deposit with passage of time.

[0006] Since the prior art container typically keeps only one kind of substance therein, there is an inconvenience in that the users must perform the numerous processes for mixing different substances together, thereby requiring much resources such as labor and materials for the containers.

[0007] In the pharmaceutical, beverage, scientific, and other relevant industries, when two or more substances require mixing in predetermined amounts for creation of a desired solution, the substances are usually kept in separate containers and mixed together into a single container as necessary. The mixing procedure can be time consuming as it may require measuring or it may be messy as there may be some spilling or cleaning necessary during and after the cleaning process. It is also known that mixtures of substances in a solution can change the composition, color, or efficiency of the ingredients and solution with passage of time. For instance, in the chemical industry, mixture of compounds can create a solution having certain desired reactive properties; however, the desired reactive efficiency of the product can diminish with the passage of time. Also, in the beverage industry, many flavored drinks are comprised of a mixture of substances. With passage of time in storage, these flavored drinks can loose their freshness, taste, and appearance. In addition, with prolonged storage, undesirable precipitation of compounds may even begin to appear in these flavored drinks. Often, in many nutritional drink solutions, the efficacy of the nutrition in such a drink may be lost with passage of time after mixture of key ingredients.

[0008] Therefore, there is a need for a means installed in a container capable of separately keeping one or more kinds of additives and mixing the additives just prior to use through simply rotating the cap at opening.

[0009] Accordingly, in order to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art containers, it is an object of the present invention to provide a container having a cap device which separately keeps one or more substances therein for quick mixture with the contents in the container just prior to use as necessary.

[0010] In order to achieve the object, the cap device of the present invention includes: a cap member 50 connected to a threaded outer surface of a neck portion of a container body 13; an additive containing member 100 formed as a predetermined shape to contain an additive and removeably connected to one side of the cap member 50; a cylinder member 54 formed within the cap device 50 as an integrated body having a space on an upper side of the cylinder member 54 such that the cylinder member 54 connects to the additive containing member 100; a plurality of fan-shaped throughholes 124a radial-directionally formed within a predetermined interval therebetween on the bottom surface of the cylinder member 54; a valve plate 122 having a plurality of second throughholes 124b corresponding in position to the plurality of throughholes 124a of the cylinder member so that the valve plate 122 selectively opens or closes the plurality of throughholes 124a of the cylinder member 54; and an opening and closing means installed and formed around the cylinder member 54, cap member 50 and neck portion of the container body 13 so that the valve plate 122 opens and closes the plurality of throughholes 124a of the cylinder member 54 as the valve plate 122 is rotated and selectively fitted to the plurality of first throughholes 124a and second throughholes 124b.

[0011] The cap device of the container as constructed above opens the plurality of throughholes 124a of the cylinder member 54 when the cap member 50 is moved up from the container body 13 by operation of the opening and closing means. The valve plate 122 is constructed and arranged so that operation of the opening and closing means causes rotation of the valve plate 122 causing alignment of the plurality of first and second throughholes 124a, 124b. When the first and second throughholes 124a, 124b are in alignment, the additives can flow therethrough and into the container body 13. Therefore, the additives can be mixed with the solution in the container body 13 according to the predetermined quantity stored in the cap device.

[0012] The opening and closing means includes the following: a first fixing protrusion formed on a upper surface of one side of the valve plate 122; an opening and closing member 80 having a lever unit Sb of a predetermined length erected so as to fix an end of the lever unit to the first fixing protrusion, and a pinion unit P which is integrated on an upper end of the lever unit Sb and which is installed on an inner wall surface of the cylinder member 54 so as to rotate thereto; a rack member R aligned through a hole extending through a wall of the cylinder member 80 and having an end in a state connected to the pinion unit P of the opening and closing member 80, wherein an opposed end of the rack member R is in contact with an inner surface of the cap member 50; and a second fixing protrusion formed on an inner wall surface of the neck portion of the container body 13 as a shape protruded thereon, so as to fix the opposed end of the rack member R.

[0013] In an alternative, the opening and closing means includes the following: a shaft member rotatably connected to the upper and lower ends of the cylinder member under a state that the shaft member penetrated to a central part of the valve plate is fixedly connected to the valve plate; a passive gear fixedly installed to the upper part of the shaft member; a prime gear rotatably installed to a predetermined position of the wall of the cylinder member in a state that the passive gear is connected thereto; and a partial gear part formed on the inner wall surface of the neck portion of the container body so as to connect to the prime gear.

[0014] In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the cap device is fixed to the neck portion of the container body 13 such that the protrusion 123 extended from the outer circumference of the upper end is fixed to another protrusion N of the inner surface of the neck portion of the container body 13; an additive containing member including additives is connected to an upper side of the first cap member; a fixed side cam barrel 42 fixedly installed by a plurality of rims 123 extended from the outer circumferential end thereof, wherein the fixed side cam barrel 42 is formed to have a plurality of throughholes H penetrated to the inner side and to seal its one lower end as a cone shape; a rotated side cam barrel 40 including a cam protrusion Ca formed at the circumferential surface such that the rotated side cam barrel 40 is slidably moved in a cam hole C of the fixed side cam barrel 42, and a partition wall W to allocate a space therein; and a second cap member 50 fixedly connected to the upper end of the rotated side cam barrel 40 and screwed to the neck portion of the container body 13.

[0015] The cap device constructed in the alternative embodiment is operated as below. When cap member 50 is moved up from the container body by the rotation, the rotated side cam barrel 40 together with the cap member 50 is moved up from the fixed side cam barrel 42. Then, the plurality of throughholes H of the fixed side cam barrel 42 are open and, at same time, the additives separately stored in the inner space of the rotated side cam barrel 40 divided by the partition wall W are flowed out through the throughholes H. Therefore, the additives can be quantitatively mixed with the solution stored in the container body.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cap device of a container according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] FIG. 2a is a cross sectional side view explaining a combining state of the cap device of the container, and its operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] FIG. 2b is a cross sectional top view explaining a combining state of the cap device of the container and its operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a cap device of a container according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side view explaining a combining state of the cap device of the container and its operation according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a cap device of a container according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] FIG. 6 is a separate cross sectional view showing a cap device of the container according to the third embodiment of the present invention; and

[0023] FIG. 7a and FIG. 7b are assembled cross sectional views explaining a combining state of the cap device of a container and its operation according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] The embodiments of the present invention will be described according to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] As shown in FIGS. 1, 2a and 2b, the cap device of a container according to a first embodiment of the present invention, includes: a cap member 50 connected to a threaded outer surface of a neck portion of a container body 13; an additive containing member 100 formed in a predetermined shape to contain the additive substances and removeably connected to one side of the cap member 50; a cylinder member 54 formed within the cap device 50 as an integrated body; a valve plate 122 having a plurality of second throughholes 124b selectively opening or closing a plurality of first throughholes 124a of the cylinder member 54; and an opening and closing means rotating the valve plate 122 for opening and closing the plurality of first throughholes 124a.

[0026] Namely, the cylinder member 54 formed within the cap device 50 as an integrated body has a space on an upper side of the cylinder member 54 such that the cylinder member 54 connects to the additive containing member 100, and the plurality of first throughholes 124a are fan-shaped and radial-directionally formed on the lower side of the cylinder member 54 within a predetermined interval between each throughholes 124a.

[0027] The valve plate 122 is tightly and foldedly installed to an upper side of a lower end of the cylinder member 54 and rotates at its position. The valve plate 122 is formed having a plurality of second throughholes 124b extending therethrough and capable of alignment with a corresponding first throughhole 124a in a predetermined position of the valve plate 122. As such, the valve plate 122 selectively opens or closes the plurality of first throughholes 124a of the cylinder member 54 relative to its position.

[0028] Here, the cap device further includes the opening and closing means installed and formed around the cylinder 54, the cap member 50 and the neck portion of the container body 13, so that the valve plate 122 may open and close the plurality of first throughholes 124a of the cylinder 54 through selection rotation thereof.

[0029] The cap device of the container as constructed above opens the plurality of first throughholes 124a of the cylinder member 54 as the second throughholes 124b of the valve plate 122 is fitted for alignment with the plurality of first throughholes 124a by the rotation of the valve plate 122 through operation of the opening and closing means when the cap member 50 is moved up from the container body 13 by its rotation.

[0030] Then the additives are flowed into the container body 13 through the first and second throughholes 124a, 124b which were opened instantly in operation. Therefore, the additives stored in the cap device can be quantitatively mixed with the solution in the container body 13.

[0031] Meanwhile, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 2b, the opening and closing means includes a fixing protrusion Sa formed on an upper surface of one side of the valve plate 122. Therefore, the lower end of the opening and closing member 80 is operated in the manner of a fixing operation, and the opening and closing means pushes the fixing protrusion Sa and rotates the valve plate 122 based on the operation of the fixing protrusion Sa.

[0032] Here, the opening and closing member 80 includes a lever unit Sb with a predetermined length protruded. The opening and closing member 80 further includes a pinion unit P which is integrated on an upper end of the lever unit Sb and which is installed on an inner wall surface of the cylinder member 54 so as to rotate thereto.

[0033] Also, a rack member R connected to the pinion unit P of the opening and closing member 80 is moveably aligned to a hole penetrated through the wall of the cylinder member 54. Here, the end of the rack member R contacts the inner surface of the cap member 50.

[0034] Also, there is another fixing protrusion Sc formed on an inner wall surface of the neck portion of the container body 13 as a shape protruded therefrom, so as to fix the end of the rack member R.

[0035] The opening and closing means constructed above is operated as below. When the cap member 50 is rotated to move up from the container body 13, the rack member R is pushed toward its length direction towards the fixing protrusion Sc of the inner wall surface of the neck portion of the container body 13. As the rack member R presses against the fixing protrusion Sc, the pinion unit P of the opening and closing member 80 is rotated thereto, and at the same time the lever unit Sb is moved. When the lever unit Sb is moved, the end of the lever unit Sb pushes the fixing protrusion Sa of the valve plate 122. Accordingly, as the valve plate 122 is rotated in this fashion, the plurality of first and second throughholes 124a, 124b become aligned.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a cap device of a container according to a second embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side view explaining a combining state of the cap device of the container and its operation according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the opening and closing means is implemented to include a shaft member Sd, a passive gear G1 and a prime gear G2, and a partial gear unit G3.

[0038] Namely, in order to be rotated, the opening and closing means is hingeably connected to the upper and lower ends of the cylinder member 54 under a state that the shaft member Sd penetrated to a central part of the valve plate 122 is fixedly connected to the valve plate 122. The passive gear G1 is fixedly installed to the upper side of the shaft member Sd. The prime gear G2 connected to the passive gear G1 is rotatably installed to a predetermined position of the wall of the cylinder member 54. The partial gear part G3 formed on the inner wall surface of the neck portion of the container body 13 is connected to the prime gear G2.

[0039] The opening and closing means constructed above opens the plurality of first throughholes 124a through alignment with the second throughholes 124b when the cap member 50 is moved up from the container body 13 by the rotation. As the rotation of the cap member moves the cap member 50 away from the container body 13, the prime gear G2 connected to the partial gear part G3 in the inner wall surface of neck portion of the container body 13 is rotated, and then the passive gear G1, the shaft member Sd and the valve plate 122 are rotated by the rotating force of the prime gear G3.

[0040] FIG. 5 is a separate perspective view showing a cap device of a container according to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a separate cross sectional view showing the cap device of a container according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7a and FIG. 7b are assembled cross sectional views explaining a combining state of the cap device of the container and its operation according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] As shown in the drawings, the cap device is implemented to include a fixed side cam barrel 42, a rotated side cam barrel 40, and a cap member 50.

[0042] Here, the cap device is provided so that the fixed side cam barrel 42 is fixed to the neck portion of the container body 13 such that the protrusion 123 extended from the outer circumference of the upper end is fixed to another protrusion N of the inner surface of the neck portion of the container body 13.

[0043] The fixed cam barrel 42 has a plurality of throughholes H which are extended through the inner side, and the lower end is sealed with a cone shaped inwardly protruding bottom surface.

[0044] The rotated side cam barrel 40 includes a cam protrusion Ca formed at the circumferential surface such that the rotated side cam barrel 40 is slidably moved in a cam hole C of the fixed side cam barrel 42. Also, the rotated side cam barrel 40 has a partition wall W formed therein to allocate the predetermined number of spaces therein.

[0045] The cap member 50 is fixedly connected to the upper end of the rotated side cam barrel 40 and is screwed to the neck portion of the container body.

[0046] The cap device constructed above is operated as below. When cap member 50 is moved up from the container body by the rotation, the rotated side cam barrel 40 together with the cap member 50 is moved up from the fixed side cam barrel 42. Then, the plurality of throughholes H of the fixed side cam barrel 42 become open, and at same time the additives separately stored in the inner spaces of the rotated side cam barrel 40 divided by the partition wall W are flowed out through the throughholes H. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b, the additives can be quantitatively mixed with the solution stored in the container body.

[0047] Also, the spaces of the rotated side cam barrel 40 divided by the partition wall W may be further implemented to have an air hole H on a predetermined position such that air pressure between the outside and the inner space is adjusted as an external air flows into the inner space when the additives are flowing out therefrom, thereby smoothly flowing out the additives from the fixed side cam barrel 42.

[0048] The cap device of the container explained according to the present invention can separately keep two or more substances within predetermined size spaces, and thus provide the users with mixtures easily and readily just prior to use. Namely, when the cap device is rotated in a predetermined direction such as counterclockwise, the substances separately kept in the cap device are qualitatively discharged into the solution stored in the container body.

[0049] Therefore, if mixing, it is convenient to mix an undiluted solution extracted from fruit with an alcohol drink, such as vodka, or to mix hairdye with a solution. Further the user can see a process sight when the substances are mixed in the container.

[0050] Moreover, it can provide freshness with the users when mixing a beverage, and maximum efficacy when mixing a pharmaceutical mixture, since the mixture is promptly made just prior to use.

[0051] Also, it provides a convenience from being easily and fast treated, a lower cost from using a single container, a safety from separate keeping, a reliability from quantitatively mixing, which are possible as the corresponding substances are kept in a container and in a cap device coupling to the container.

[0052] While embodiments of the present invention have bee described and illustrated for purposes of clarity and example, it should be understood that many changes, substitutions and modifications to the described embodiment will be apparent to those having skill in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention which is defined by the claims which will follow.