초록 ▼

A vented closure for a liquid container which will not freely pour includes a cap hinged at one side and movable between open and closed positions relative to a base collar. In an open position, a primary fluid passageway extends through a shaped mouthpiece which is elongated and tapered to conform

A vented closure for a liquid container which will not freely pour includes a cap hinged at one side and movable between open and closed positions relative to a base collar. In an open position, a primary fluid passageway extends through a shaped mouthpiece which is elongated and tapered to conform to a user's mouth. One or more air vents of small size are located in a protected floor of the base collar at positions spaced within predetermined ranges of offsets from the dispensing opening so as to convey liquid into contact with the air vents in a manner to self-seal the air vents by surface tension of the liquid until an unbalance force is present. The cap and collar mate along an offset diagonal edge, and a grip area for the user's thumb or finger is offset from a center line. The offsets cause the cap to flip open with additional clearance and without obstructing a user's nose.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A vented closure for allowing a user to repeatedly drink liquid from a container, comprising: a base collar engagable with the container and having an upright mouthpiece with an outlet aperture to dispense the liquid from the container, the collar including at least one vent

What is claimed is: 1. A vented closure for allowing a user to repeatedly drink liquid from a container, comprising: a base collar engagable with the container and having an upright mouthpiece with an outlet aperture to dispense the liquid from the container, the collar including at least one vent aperture of a small size, a primary fluid passageway extending from the outlet aperture and through the base collar to an interior of the container for conveying the liquid to the outlet aperture, a secondary fluid passageway at least partly separate from the primary fluid passageway and extending from the vent aperture to the interior of the container for conveying venting air into the interior of the container, a cap having a closed position which partly covers the collar and blocks at least the outlet aperture to prevent dispensing of the liquid, a hinge or pivot movably connecting the collar and cap to allow the cap to move about one side of the collar to an open position along an axis which intersects the hinge or pivot and away from the mouthpiece, the collar including a wall located generally opposite the one side which extends upwardly to mate with an edge of the cap when in the closed position, the wall including an offset portion forming a grip area for a user's thumb or finger to move against and flip open the cap to move about the axis to the one side, the grip area being located at an offset angle from the axis which intersects the hinge or pivot, whereby an opening force from the user's thumb or finger is offset from the axis which intersects the hinge or pivot. 2. The vented closure of claim 1 wherein the offset angle is an acute angle less than 90 degrees from the axis which intersects the hinge or pivot to thereby flip the cap open at an acute angle to the grip area. 3. The vented closure of claim 2 wherein the offset angle is from about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees from the axis which intersects the hinge or pivot. 4. The vented closure of claim 1 wherein the wall of the collar forms a curved portion around at least part of the mouthpiece, the cap has a curved portion which mates against the curved portion of the collar wall when the cap is closed, and the grip area for the user's thumb or finger is recessed inwardly from at least one of the curved portions to thereby avoid protrusions outwardly of the curved portions. 5. The vented closure of claim 1 wherein the wall extends above the hinge or pivot and the hinge or pivot is offset at a lower position than the wall, and the cap is movable about the hinge or pivot to a position which is partly lower than the base collar when the cap is fully open. 6. The vented closure of claim 1 wherein said vent aperture is located on the collar at a distance away from the outlet aperture and seals the vent aperture by surface tension of the liquid while the cap is open to thereby block the vent aperture unless an unbalance force is present. 7. A vented closure for allowing a user to repeatedly drink liquid from a container, comprising: a base collar engagable with the container and having an upright mouthpiece with an outlet aperture to dispense the liquid from the container, the collar including at least one vent aperture of a small size, a primary fluid passageway extending from the outlet aperture and through the base collar to an interior of the container for conveying the liquid to the outlet aperture, a secondary fluid passageway at least partly separate from the primary fluid passageway and extending from the vent aperture to the interior of the container for conveying venting air into the interior of the container, a cap having a closed position which partly covers the collar and blocks at least the outlet aperture to prevent dispensing of the liquid, a hinge or pivot movably connecting the collar and cap to allow the cap to move about one side of the collar to an open position away from the mouthpiece, the collar including a collar wall located generally opposite the one side which extends upwardly and higher than at the hinge or pivot to mate with an edge of the cap when in the closed position, the collar wall including an angled edge which extends downwardly toward the one side, the edge of the cap having an angled edge which mates with the collar wall angled edge when the cap is closed, whereby the angled edges allow the cap to flip open further away from the mouthpiece. 8. The vented closure of claim 7 wherein said vent aperture is located through a floor portion of the collar in a region adjacent to the collar wall, and the collar wall extends above and covers a portion of the vent aperture to avoid blocking contact with the user's mouth when drinking from the mouthpiece. 9. The vented closure of claim 7 wherein the collar wall includes a recessed grip area for a user's thumb or finger to move against the cap and flip open the cap about the hinge or pivot. 10. A vented closure for allowing a user to repeatedly drink liquid from a container, comprising: a base collar engagable with the container and having an upright mouthpiece of a generally oval shape and having an outlet aperture to dispense the liquid from the container, the collar including at least one vent aperture of a small size, a primary fluid passageway extending from the outlet aperture and through the base collar to an interior of the container for conveying the liquid to the outlet aperture, a secondary fluid passageway at least partly separate from the primary fluid passageway and extending from the vent aperture to the interior of the container for conveying venting air into the interior of the container, a cap having a closed position which partly covers the collar and blocks at least the outlet aperture to prevent dispensing of the liquid, a hinge or pivot movably connecting the collar and the cap to allow the cap to move about one side of the collar to an open position away from the mouthpiece, the generally oval shape of the mouthpiece being elongated along a major axis with a pair of opposite wide sides, the mouthpiece major axis intersecting the hinge or pivot so that the cap when in the open position extents to one side of the mouthpiece and along the mouthpiece major axis. 11. The vented closure of claim 10 wherein the closure includes a grip area for a user's thumb or finger to move against the cap and flip open the cap, the grip area being offset at an acute angle from the mouthpiece major axis. 12. The vented closure of claim 10 wherein the mouthpiece is formed of a hollow tube which extends downwardly to define the primary fluid passageway, the tube includes a diverter wall which at least partly separates the primary fluid passageway from the secondary fluid passageway so that vent air passing through the vent aperture and into the container has reduced intermixing with liquid in the primary fluid passageway. 13. The vented closure of claim 12 wherein the primary fluid passageway extends through a central region of the collar and the secondary fluid passageway is asymmetrically formed and defined by a space between the base collar and the divider. 14. The vented closure of claim 12 wherein a barrier surface is located in the secondary fluid passageway to create a circuitous air path for vent air bubbles being conveyed through the secondary fluid passageway. 15. The vented closure of claim 14 wherein the barrier surface includes a floating ring captured within the secondary fluid passageway and located to force vent air to flow around the ring to thereby create a circuitous air path. 16. The vented closure of claim 14 wherein the barrier surface includes a plurality of ribs which are spaced along and extend into the secondary fluid passageway so as to form portions of non-straight paths for vent air in the secondary fluid passageway. 17. The vented closure of claim 10 wherein the mouthpiece extends upwardly from a floor member, and said vent aperture extends through the floor member and is located to one side of the elongated mouthpiece major axis to allow vent air bubbles to enter into the secondary fluid passageway. 18. The vented closure of claim 17 wherein the collar includes a wall which extends above said vent aperture and is located to block the user's lips from covering the vent aperture when the user's lips contact the wide sides of the mouthpiece. 19. A vented closure for allowing a user to repeatedly drink liquid from a container, comprising: a base collar engagable with the container and having an upright mouthpiece with an outlet aperture to dispense the liquid from the container, the collar including at least one vent aperture of a small size, a primary fluid passageway extending from the outlet aperture and through the base collar to an interior of the container for conveying the liquid to the outlet aperture, a secondary fluid passageway and extending from the vent aperture to the interior of the container for conveying venting air into the interior of the container, a cap having a closed position which partly covers the collar and blocks at least the outlet aperture to prevent dispensing of the liquid, a hinge or pivot movably connecting the collar and the cap to allow the cap to move about one side of the collar to an open position away from the mouthpiece, the collar having a wall which extends above the vent aperture and located to form a protective barrier above the vent aperture whereby the vent aperture remains open while liquid is dispensed from the mouthpiece. 20. The vented closure of claim 19 wherein the wall adjacent the vent aperture is higher than the collar portion adjacent the hinge or pivot, and the cap includes an angled edge which mates with the wall of the collar when the cap is closed. 21. The vented closure of claim 19 wherein the wall near the vent aperture includes a recessed grip area for a user's thumb or finger to move against the cap and flip open the cap about the one side. 22. The vented closure of claim 21 wherein the hinge or pivot defines an axis for flipping open the cap along a center line normal to the axis, and the recessed grip area being spaced from the center line and located at an acute angle from the center line. 23. The vented closure of claim 19 wherein the mouthpiece has a generally elongated and oval shape with a pair of opposite generally wide sides. 24. The vented closure of claim 23 wherein the mouthpiece is elongated along a major mouthpiece axis, and the closure includes a grip area for a user's thumb or finger to move against the cap and flip open the cap, the grip area being offset at an angle from the major mouthpiece axis. 25. The vented closure of claim 19 wherein the cap includes extending posts which mate with and block the vent aperture when the cap is closed. 26. A vented closure for allowing a user to repeatedly drink liquid from a container, comprising: a base collar engagable with the container and having an upright mouthpiece formed by a hollow tube having an outlet aperture to dispense liquid from the container and extending through the base collar to at least partly form a primary liquid passageway for conveying liquid from an interior of the container to the outlet aperture, at least one vent aperture of a small size, and a secondary fluid passageway at least partly separate from the primary fluid passageway and extending from the vent aperture to the interior of the container for conveying venting air into the interior of the container, a cap having a closed position which partly covers the collar and blocks at least the outlet aperture to prevent dispensing of the liquid, the cap being movable about an axis at one side of the collar to an open position away from the mouthpiece, the base collar further includes a floating ring captured within the secondary fluid passageway and located to force the venting air to flow around the ring to thereby create a circuitous air path for the venting air. 27. The vented closure of claim 26 wherein the base collar includes a plurality of posts which extend above a floor forming the secondary fluid passageway, and the floating ring is partly supported by the plurality of posts and is movable away from the posts. 28. The vented closure of claim 26 wherein the base collar includes a rib extending into the secondary fluid passageway and the floating ring can abut the rib and is movable away from the rib. 29. The vented closure of claim 26 wherein the hollow tube includes a diverter wall which at least partly separates the primary fluid passageway from the secondary fluid passageway, the small size of the vent aperture causing air bubbles to flow through the hollow tube, and the diverter wall at least partly diverting the air bubbles away from the primary fluid passageway to reduce intermixing of air bubbles with liquid flowing through the primary fluid passageway.