Cup with a valve for drinking juice

Abstract

A drinking vessel with a cup having a hollow inner body and an open end, a removable cap for sealingly closing the open end, an outer surface with a spout and an air vent, and an inner surface with a tubular outlet passage and a tubular inlet passage. The cup further contains a one piece flow control valve made of an elastomeric material. The flow control valve contains an inlet valve and an outlet valve joined together by a connector bar. The outlet valve of parabolic configuration has a reinforcing ring and a partition wall, held in place by two jutting out walls that are part of the connector bar. The inlet valve has a tubular edge sitting on two wing-like projections holding a membrane with a slit. The tubular edge is integral with the connector bar and the two wing-like projections, with outlet and inlet valves fitting into the outlet and inlet passages, respectively.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention relates to closed drinking vessels, preferably in the shape of a cup with a screw-on lid having a fluid dispensing valve that prevents fluids from flowing out unless properly used. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART [0002] Drinking cups for young children have been in the market for many years, and are well known in the art. A variety of cups with valves are currently available commercially, providing a solution to the problem of children spilling their drink by dropping the cup, turning it upside down or shaking it. These valves work only by allowing the liquid to flow out when the cup is squeezed or when a person drinks by sucking from the spout. The cups may have one or two valves, one for allowing the liquids to flow out of the cup, and another one for allowing air to flow in. As liquid is sucked from the vessel creating a low-pressure condition within the vessel, this low-pressure condition draws external air through the second passagewa...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a drinking vessel with an improved valve mechanism that will not get blocked when used for drinking juices containing pulp, blended fruit or other liquids with suspended particles.

[0006] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a valve mechanism that prevents liquids from flowing out of the cup unless the user sucks upon the spout, creating a lower external pressure than the pressure inside the drinking vessel.

[0007] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a fluid dispensing valve, a cup and a cap that are easy to clean and simple to assemble.

Problems solved by technology

However, due to their design, the current valves don't work properly when used for drinking juices having pulp, blended fruit or other liquids with suspended particles in them.

The suspended particles in the liquid affect the correct working of the valve by partially or totally blocking the mechanism, and therefore, not allowing the liquids to flow out.

Another disadvantage of the prior art is that they are difficult to clean or take a long time to do so.

Valves such as those proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,079,013, 6,250,503 and 6,321,931 contain enclosed parts or angles difficult to reach which make the cleaning process much more complicated.

In addition the number of parts involved makes such valves difficult to manufacture, requiring a lot of manipulation to be assembled.

Images