Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CONTROLLING MECHANISM OF BEVERAGE INFUSION
CONTAINER
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to a controlling mechanism
of beverage infusion container. By the controlling mechanism, a
user can from outer side of the container control the
communication between two divisions of the interior of the
container.
Figs. 5 and 6 show a conventional tea infusion cup. The tea
infusion cup is equipped with two covers 77a, 77b. A partitioning
board 71 is disposed in the tea infusion cup to divide the interior of
the cup into a first division 78 and a second division 79. The
partitioning board 71 is formed with a central draining hole 711.
A mesh rack 72 is disposed above the partitioning board 71.
A filtering mesh is paved over the mesh rack 72. The center of the
mesh rack 72 has an upward extending tube 73 in which a pull rod
74 is fitted. The top end of the pull rod 74 extends out of the tube
73 and is formed with a holding section 741. The bottom end of
the pull rod 74 downward extends out of the tube 73 and is fitted
with a spring 75. A valve body 76 is connected with the bottom
end of the pull rod 74. In normal state, the valve body 76 is pushed
downward by the spring 75 to block the draining hole 711.
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In use, a user can place the tea into the first division 78 and
infuse the tea with hot water. The cover 77a is then closed to keep
the water in the first division 78 having a necessary temperature.
After a period of time of infusion, the user needs to turn open the
cover 77a and pinch the holding section 741 to pull up the pull rod
74. At this time, a locating plate 742 of the pull rod 74 is separated
from a locating slot 731 of top end of the tube 73. Then the pull rod
74 can be turned to locate the locating plate 742 in a locating
notch 732. At this time, the valve body 76 is moved upward to
unblock the draining hole 7'11. Under such circumstance, the tea in
the first division 78 is permitted to flow through the draining hole
711 into the second division 79. Then, the user can turn the pull
rod 74 to make the valve body 76 again block the draining hole
711. Thereafter, the cover 77a is closed and the cup 7 is turned
upside down. Then, the other cover 77b is opened for drinking the
made tea.
When the tea is soaked in the hot water with the cover 77a
closed, the tea will expand and stretch. Under such circumstance,
the holding section 741 of the pull rod 74 will be surrounded by the
hot tea. When the user turns open the cover 77a to pinch the
holding section 741 for pulling up the pull rod 74, the user's fingers
are easy to be burnt by the hot tea or hot tea water. Moreover,
when pinching the holding section 741 with fingers, the fingers
often touch the tea water. This is unsanitary. Therefore, it is
necessary to improve the above structure in which the pull rod 74
is used to control blocking/unblocking of the valve body 76.
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Fig. 7 shows a coffee infusion container. The bottom of the
main body 81 of the container is formed with a draining hole 82.
The blocking/unblocking of the draining hole 82 is controlled by a
controlling mechanism. The controlling mechanism includes a
press rod 83, a link 84 and a steel ball 85 fixed at a rear end of the
link 84. In normal state, the steel ball 85 will drop down due to
gravity to block the draining hole 82. When the press rod 83 is
pressed down, the steel ball 85 is driven and lifted by the link 84 to
unblock the draining hole 82.
A switch member 88 is disposed at a pivoted section of the
cover 87 pivotally connected with a handle 86 of the container. A
leaf spring 89 abuts against and controls the switch member 88.
The cover 87 is formed with a through hole 87'1 corresponding to a
rear end of the switch member 88. The rear end of the switch
member 88 passes through the through hole 871 and is adapted
to contact with the top end of the press rod 83. When the switch
member 88 is pressed downward and locked by the leaf spring 89
as shown in Fig. 8, the rear end of the switch member 88 will
press down the press rod 83 to unblock the draining hole 82.
The above controlling mechanism can be applied to the
double-opening tea infusion cup of Fig. 5 to avoid burn of a user.
However, when turning the cup upside down for drinking the tea,
the steel ball will drop down due to gravity to again unblock the
draining hole. Under such circumstance, the tea water will flow
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back to the first division or even leak out through the gap between
the cover 77a and the container.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to
provide a controlling mechanism of beverage infusion container.
The controlling mechanism includes a controlling member passed
through the circumferential wall of the container. One end of the
controlling member extends out of the circumferential wall and is
provided with a controlling section. The other end of the controlling
member is linked with a valve body positioned at the draining hole
of the partitioning board. The valve body is controllable by the
controlling section on outer side of the container to block or
unblock the draining hole.
l~
The present invention can be best understood through the
following description and accompanying drawings wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a perspective assembled view of the present
invention;
Fig. 2a is a perspective exploded view of the present
invention;
Fig. 2b shows the block body of the mesh rack of the present
invention;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the present invention;
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Fig. 4a shows that the rotary button is turned to make the
press block press down the link;
Fig. 4b shows that the rotary button is turned to lift the valve
body so as to unblock the draining hole;
Fig. 4c shows that the rotary button is turned to make the
press block no more press down the link;
Fig. 4d shows that the spring presses the valve body to block
the draining hole;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a conventional tea infusion cup;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the top end of the tube
and the top end of the pull rod of the conventional tea infusion of
Fig. 5;
Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional coffee infusion
container; and
Fig. 8 is a sectional view according to Fig. 7, showing the
use of the conventional coffee infusion container.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Please refer to Figs. 1 to 4 which show the controlling
mechanism of beverage infusion container of the present invention.
The container 1 includes a circumferential wall 10 and has an
upper opening 11 a and a lower opening 11 b. An upper cover 12
and a lower cover 13 are respectively screwed on the upper and
lower openings.
A partitioning board 14 is transversely disposed in the
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container 1 to divide the interior of the container into an upper first
division 15 and a lower second division 116. The center of the
partitioning board 14 is formed with a draining hole 141
communicating the first and second divisions 15, 16 with each
other. A communicating tube 142 is formed on the partitioning
board 14 and extends into the first division 15. The communicating
tube 142 is formed with a tunnel 143 communicating the first
division 15 with the second division 16.
A mesh rack 17 is disposed in the first division 15 to cover
the partitioning board 14. A filtering mesh 171 is paved over the
mesh rack 17. The center of the mesh rack 17 is formed with an
upward extending ventilating tube 172 corresponding to the
draining hole 141.
A section of the circumferential wall 10 between the
partitioning board 14 and the mesh rack 17 is formed with a
through hole 101 communicating with the first division 15. A
controlling member of the controlling mechanism 2 is fitted through
the through hole 101. In this embodiment, the controlling member
is a rod 21. A washer 102 is disposed between the rod 21 and the
wall of the through hole 101, whereby the rod 21 is watertight fitted
in the through hole 101. One end of the rod 21 extending out of
the circumferential wall 10 is provided with a controlling section. In
this embodiment, the controlling section is a rotary button 22. The
other end of the rod 21 opposite to the rotary button 22 has a
radially projecting press block 23. A section of the press block 23
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distal from the rod 21 is formed with a notch 231.
The partitioning board 14 is formed with a support block 144
near the press block 23. The support block 144 is formed with a
notch 146 in which a link 24 is supported. One end 241 of the link
24 abuts against the press block 23. The other end 242 of the link
24 extends to a valve body 25 disposed at the draining hole 141.
The valve body 25 is formed with a socket 251 in which the other
end 242 of the link 24 is inserted. A spring 26 is fitted in a large
diameter section 173 of the ventilating tube 172 of the mesh rack
17 and positioned on the valve body 25. In normal state, the spring
26 downward pushes the valve body 25 to block the draining hole
141. When turning the rotary button 22, the press block 23 is
rotated to press dawn tire link 24. The link 24 drives and lifts the
valve body 25 to unblock the draining hole 141.
The partitioning board 14 is formed with multiple abutting
plates 145 extending into the first division 15. The abutting plates
145 are arranged corresponding to the profile of the valve body 25
to restrict the moving path of the valve body 25.
The mesh rack 17 is formed with a block body 18 near the
controlling mechanism 2. The block body 19 has a hollow section
181 radially passing through the mesh rack 17 and open to lower
side. The hollow section 181 and the support block 144 are up and
down opposite to each other. The hollow section 191 has a wider
section 182 on one side near the draining hole 141 of the
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partitioning board. The wider section 182 is adapted to
accommodate the support block 144 therein. One side of the
hollow section 181 near the circumferential wall 10 is formed with
a narrower section 183. The link 24 is fitted in the narrower section
183.
In use, the tea is placed into the first division 15 and infused
with hot water. Then the upper cover 11 a is closed to keep the
water temperature in the first division 15. After a period of time of
infusion, the rotary button 22 is turned to make the press block 23
rotate and press down the link 24. When the notch 231 is aimed at
the end 241 of the link 24, the link 24 is engaged with and located
in the notch 231 as shown in Fig. 4a. At this time, the link 24 is
supported in the notch 146 of the support block 144 thereunder so
that the other end 242 of the link 24 inserted in the valve body 25
is moved upward to lift the valve body 25 to unblock the draining
hole 141 as shown in Fig. 4b. Under such circumstance, the tea
water in the first division 15 will flow through the draining hole 141
down into the second division 15.
When it is desired to block the draining hole 141 with the
valve body 25, the rotary button 22 is turned to rotate the notch
231 of the press block 23 up to a position opposite to the link 24
as shown in Fig. 4c. At this time, the spring 26 pushes down the
valve body 25. Under restriction of the abutting plates 145, the
valve body 25 is moved downward to block the draining hole 141
as shown in Fig. 4d.
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Then, the container 1 is turned upside down and the lower
cover 13 is screwed open for drinking the tea water in the second
division 16.
According to the above arrangement, after the hot water is
poured into the container and the tea is infused with the hot water,
the upper cover 12 can be right away closed to seal the first
division 15. When it is desired to unblock the draining hole 141, a
user only needs to turn the rotary button 22 on outer side of the
circumferential wall 10 of the container 1 to unblock the draining
hole 141. In this procedure, it is unnecessary to open the upper
cover 12 so that the user's hand will not contact with the tea water.
Therefore, the sanitation is ensured and the user's hand is
protected from being burnt by the hot tea.
Furthermore, when turning the container 1 upside down, the
valve body 25 is pushed by the spring 26 so that the valve body 25
will not drop down and the draining hole 141 is kept blocked by the
valve body 25. Therefore, the tea water will not flow back into the
first division 15 and leak out.
The above embodiment is only used to illustrate the present
invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many
modifications of the above embodiment can be made without
departing from the spirit of the present invention.
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