Closure apparatus for a drinking container

European).

The invention relates to a beverage container closing device.

There are now many nutrients that are taken, especially before or during sports. They are mainly intended to improve efficiency or provide important nutrients. These nutrients usually consist of an aqueous drinking solution and solid or powdered nutrient that are taken in when mixed together in a container. In particular, in the case of isotonic dietary supplements, there are already ready isotonic beverages in which powdered isotonic dietary supplements are added to the aqueous solution from the beverage manufacturer, and which can be consumed as a ready beverage from the beverage container provided.

Often, beverages prepared in this way lose their taste and efficiency after mixing, so that one or more dietary supplements need to be added to the solution shortly before consumption. For this purpose, dietary supplements are usually supplied in powder form or in solid form in the form of soluble tablets and are mixed by hand with drinking or mineral water. In the case of sports activities or in the place of sports games, this is particularly bothersome and requires a separate container with drinking water, a container with dietary supplements and a separate container for mixing and drinking the prepared drink.

From DE 103 41 112 A1, a container with a separate reservoir is already known, through which an already prepared amount of dietary supplements can be added immediately before consumption to the aqueous solution. For this purpose, a main container for receiving the first substance is provided, consisting of a standing bottle and a side mantle surrounding it, having in its upper part a container opening. A lid with an integrated storage container is attached to the container opening for hermetic sealing, which can be partially inserted via the external thread of the bottle neck onto the main container. The reservoir consists of fixed spare parts, showing a cylindrical shell and closing lid; it is closed at the bottom with an airtight film. In the tray, you can store solid dietary supplements, in powder or gas form as a second substance. An additional pressure part was additionally applied to the lid, having at the bottom a fragment cutting through the film from above, and thus supplying the second substance to the first substance of the main container, which, after mixing with it, form a ready drink. These types of foil-separated receiving chambers or containers are generally designed for single use and are difficult to reseal so that they are not reusable. But also in the case of one-time use, the remnants of the film can get into the drink so that the mixture should be subjected to a cleansing sieve and poured into a separate container.

Other closing devices are known from US 2004/0007481 and WO2006 / 052827.

The invention will therefore create a closing device for the beverage container, thanks to which mixed dietary supplements and a drink will be added directly before consumption, easy to use and through which no contaminants will get into the finished drink.

This task is solved by the invention given in the patent claim. Extensions and preferred examples of versions of the invention are given in the claims.

The invention has the advantage that, by means of a closure with an integrated receiving chamber, additional food supplements can also be used to prepare non-solid drink mixes at any time and in any place and then be easily consumed from the beverage container. This can be accomplished simply by means of an easy-to-use shifting process, without significant effort when breaking partitions or partitions.

This type of closure also has the advantage that it consists of only a few easy-to-manufacture parts that can be produced in a cheap way, also in the form of plastic injection molds in series production. For this purpose, only the bottle of the container and the closure are needed, and more preferably the free closure space also creates a chamber for receiving dietary supplements, which through the addition hole in the lower part when moved automatically causes emptying inside the drinking container, and thus initiates mixing.

An advantage of the invention is that no dividing substance is violated so that the receiving chamber can be refilled in each case and thus reused by the user. With the help of the sliding closure, the beverage container can be quickly disassembled into several parts by completely unscrewing them, which can then be easily cleaned before reuse.

In the particular version of the beverage container according to the invention, at the upper closure there is a closed mouthpiece at the same time, through which the beverage can be drunk immediately after mixing without further action, and which can be used to refill with dietary supplements. The advantage is that it comes to both dietary supplements in the form of powder, liquid or soluble solids, which can be dispensed in almost any amount.

The invention will be discussed in detail based on the embodiment shown in the sketch.

The sketch shows the closure of a beverage container. The closure consists essentially of an upper closure element 1 and an axially sliding cover 2 and a receiving chamber 3 mounted between them, the lower cover 2 being connected to the actuator 4, through which the cover 2 is shifted axially from the outside by the actuating element 5.

The closing device is provided to close the beverage bottle in the neck of the bottle and at the same time to ensure the supply of dietary supplements l from the integrated receiving chamber 3. To this end, the closing device comprises between the upper closing element 1 and the lower cover 2 the receiving chamber 3, which consists of an internal nozzle tubular 6. The receiving chamber 3 is hermetically closed by means of the upper closing element and the bottom cover 2.

Coaxially at the inner stub 6, an outer stub 7 is still attached, connected by means of an upper 8 and lower ring 9 to the inner stub 6. Between the two pipe stubs 6, 7 there is an annular space 10 in which the actuation device 4 for axial sliding of the lower lid is located 2.

The actuator 4 comprises a sliding ring 11 guided in the free space 10, connected by means of four connecting rods as connecting elements to the bottom cover 2. A compression spring 13 is mounted around at least one of the connecting rods 12, which axially presses the sliding ring 11 when not in motion to top so that the bottom cover 2 tightly adheres to the bottom ring 9 and thereby closes the receiving chamber 3. The lower cover 2, shaped as a flat round disk, has a conical structure in the upward direction. For better sealing, a sealing element 14 is still attached to the adhesive surface of the bottom cover 2. The sealing element 14 is made of a flavor-neutral plastic sealing material, which is e.g. a rubber ring or plastic ring.

An actuating element 5 closed by force is connected to the sliding ring 11 or at least one of the connecting rods 12 guided through an axial cut-out in the outer pipe 7 outwards. The actuating element 5 is preferably in the form of a radially broken, flat sliding handle for manual axial displacement of the sliding ring 11 fixed in the free space 10, through which the receiving chamber 3 is released into the inner port of the beverage container. The actuator 4 can be made as a plastic injection molded part, welded during assembly or assembled from individual parts. The actuator 5 can be made as a lever arm which rests by means of a joint on the sliding ring 11 and can be moved axially. The actuating element 5 can also be made as a radial pivoting lever, which is in contact with a curved slitting element, thereby shifting the spring-based sliding ring 11 axially.

The actuator 5 is preferably guided by one or two slide fixing ribs securing the actuator 4 in one or more open positions. For better assembly, the outer stub 7 may also consist of two parts which, after assembly of the actuator 4, are latched or bolted together. All parts are made of plastics, which can be made as plastic injection moldings in an easy and cheap way.

To connect the closing device to the beverage container, a connecting ring 16, showing an internal thread, screwed onto the external thread of the beverage bottle, is attached to the outer stub 7. The connecting ring 16 can also be made inside as a concave ring, latched onto the convex round edge of the beverage container. However, at the outer stub 7, at least in the lower part, an external thread can also be placed, which is screwed to the beverage container with an internal thread.

To close the receiving chamber 3 in the upper part, an internal stub 6 at least 5 mm above the upper ring 8 is led out and fitted with an external thread 19 or annular strip or ring groove. An upper closing element 1 screwed or latched in order to hermetically close the receiving chamber 3 was formed on the external thread 19 by means of an internal thread, ring bar or ring groove. The upper closing element 1 is in the form of a lid preferably as a round cover with a central spline opening or mouthpiece 17. The upper connecting element 1 is shaped as a closed mouthpiece 17 through which the contents of the bottle can be directly consumed. A closing cap is provided for closing, which is snapped around the round edge on the mouthpiece 17.

In the assembled, unstirred condition, the bottom cover 2 adheres tightly by means of at least one compression spring 13 to the bottom ring 9, and thus closes the receiving chamber 3 inside the bottle, filled with an aqueous solution to which the dietary supplement from the receiving chamber 3 is to be mixed. For this purpose, the dietary supplement in the prescribed amount is previously delivered by the open upper closing element 1 to the receiving chamber, which can be closed again. If desired, the actuator 5 will be moved downwards axially against the spring force of the compression spring, such that the bottom cover 2 slides axially downwards by means of the actuator. As a result, the bottom cover 2 opens the receiving chamber 3 by means of the annular gap 18 as the addition hole through which the dietary supplement is dispensed into the drink and then mixed with it. When the annular gap 18 is open, you can drink the mixed beverage through the receiving chamber 3 and the open mouthpiece. A version of the closing device can also be produced in which a thin mouthpiece in the form of a tube 17 sealed to the bottom cover 2 will be led into the interior of the beverage container. Then it will also be possible to consume the drink with the mouthpiece 17 and the receiving chamber closed 3.