Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02583958 2007-04-03
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AN ADDITIVE CARRYING CARTRIDGE FOR MIXING THE ADDITIVE WITH THE
CONTENT OF A CONTAINER
Field and Object of the Invention
The invention is within the field of dispensing or mixing devices of several
substances, the final mixture being contained in a container, and more
specifically, it
relates to an additive carrying cartridge for mixing the additive with the
content of a
container.
State of the Art
Different systems and devices are currently known for mixing substances of a
different nature, such as for example, when a solid state product is intended
to be
mixed with the liquid content of a container.
There are currently a great number of liquid containing containers having
stoppers inside of which the substance to be mixed is comprised, said stoppers
having
closing sheets at their lower base made of easily breakable materials.
There is a great variety of systems for mixing both components. For example,
the stopper may have an inner sharp element such that when the stopper is
rotated
with respect to the mouth of the container said element cuts the closing sheet
causing
the substance to be mixed, contained inside it, to fall inside the container
and
producing the mixture, such system can be observed for example in Spanish
patent
application ES 2007538 and in the Spanish utility model application ES
0280124.
In the cited devices, the stopper has a double function, the primary function
is to
close the container and the secondary function is to act as a container for
the
substance to be mixed, therefore, the stopper is intimately joined to the
container being
dependent on the same, which is dangerous because during the transportation of
the
container, the substance to be mixed which is inside the stopper may
accidentally and
undesirably be mixed with the content of the container.
On the other hand, stoppers of the type described and known up to date require
complicated mechanisms for achieving the breaking of the closing sheet of the
same
when the substances are going to be mixed, requiring cutting and duplicating
elements
of the inner partitions of the stopper to achieve the cutting of the sheet.
In other occasions, it is the mouth itself of the container that has a seal or
closing sheet which is broken by the rotating effect of the stopper on said
mouth.
Therefore, the manufacturing process of said stoppers is laborious and mostly
expensive given the complex inner configuration of said stoppers.
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Due to all this, the need to provide a cartridge that is totally independent
of the
container containing the substance to be mixed has been detected, that is, the
cartridge can be used in commercial containers such as, for example, mineral
water
bottles, and that does not need to incorporate special stoppers for achieving
the
mixture of the substances contained in the stopper with the content of the
container.
On the other hand, a cartridge has been designed that does not need inner
elements for the breaking of the sheet or seal thereof, but it is the
substance itself
contained in the cartridge that causes the breaking of the closing seal or
sheet of the
same, so that due to the simplicity of its constitution, it is easy to
manufacture and of a
lower cost.
This objective is achieved by means of the invention as it is defined in claim
1,
and preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent
claims.
Description of the Invention
The present invention relates to an additive carrying cartridge for mixing the
additive with the content of a container comprising an additive containing
body of a
substantially cylindrical shape with a smaller diameter than the diameter of
the mouth
of the container, having a closed upper base and an open lower base, the lower
base
of the containing body being sealed by a sheet (seal) of breakable material
and said
containing body having two portions, a first portion and a second portion.
In a first aspect, the invention will have a perimetrical rib in the central
part of
the containing body, the diameter of which is greater than the diameter of the
mouth of
the container, the cartridge being supported on the container through said
rib, the
containing body being divided into a first portion and a second portion, the
first portion
having a plurality of broken sections joined to each other defining a bellows
for varying
the height of said first portion with respect to the mouth of the container,
said upper
base moving between an extended initial position and a withdrawn final
position.
In turn, the additive will occupy a volume inside the containing body defining
a
level the distance D of which, measured from the lower base of the second
portion, is
greater than the distance E between said lower base and the upper base of the
first
portion in its withdrawn final position.
In this way, and thanks to the described configuration, the cartridge will be
arranged on the mouth of the container, the second portion of the cartridge
being
introduced inside the container due to the fact that the cartridge is
supported on the
edge of the mouth of the container through the rib, which prevents the
cartridge from
being totally introduced inside the container.
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Subsequently and because of a slight pressure on the upper base of the
cartridge, thanks to the bellows defined in the first portion, the additive
contained inside
the cartridge will be pushed against the sheet of breakable material, causing
the same
to break and the additive to fall inside the container and producing the
mixture of said
additive and the content of the container. This is achieved because the volume
occupied by said additive is greater than the volume contained inside the
cartridge,
when the upper base is in its withdrawn final position.
Therefore, a cartridge which is independent of the container and applicable to
any liquid containing container currently marketed is obtained, the
constitution of which
is simple and of a low cost.
In another aspect of the invention, the additive can be in solid state in the
form
of a plurality of cylindrical-shaped elements, located one after the other,
the element
nearest to the seal of breakable material being sharp or pointed for
facilitating the
breaking of the seal in the necessary cases.
In this way, the sheet or seal is ripped more easily and by applying a smaller
pressure for achieving the mixture.
In turn, the transition area between the rib of the container and the second
portion of the same can have a peripheral bevel. In this way, introducing and
supporting the cartridge on the mouth of the container is facilitated.
Description of the Drawings
A series of drawings will be described below which aid in understanding the
invention better and are expressly related to embodiments of said invention
presented
as illustrating and non-limiting examples thereof.
Figure 1 represents a sectional view of the cartridge according to the object
of
the present invention, said cartridge being in its initial state, that is, it
has not been
used yet.
Figure 2 represents a sectional view of the cartridge, located on the mouth of
the container once it has been used.
Description of an Embodiment of the Invention
As can be observed in Figures 1 and 2, the additive carrying cartridge for
mixing
the additive with the content of a container object of the present invention
comprises a
substantially cylindrical additive containing body (1) having a closed upper
base (2) and
an open lower base (3) which is closed by a sheet (4) of breakable material.
The containing body (1) has a smaller diameter than the inner diameter of the
mouth of the container (10) on which the container will be arranged.
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The containing body (1) has a ring-shaped perimetrical rib (5) dividing the
same
into a first portion (6) and a second portion (7), the diameter of said
perimetrical rib (5)
being greater than the inner diameter of the mouth (11) of the container and
said rib
being the support point of the cartridge in the mouth of the container (10).
The first portion (6) has a bellows structure formed by a plurality of
adjacent
broken sections, said structure enabling the movement of the upper base (2)
with
respect to the perimetrical rib (5) and therefore, with respect to the border
of the mouth
(11) of container (10). Therefore, when a certain pressure is applied on the
upper base
(2) and because the container is normally supported in a fixed surface, said
upper base
(2) can be moved from an extended initial position (Figure 1) to a withdrawn
final
position (Figure 2), in which the mentioned bellows is fully folded.
The additive (8) is provided inside containing body (1); in this particular
case,
the additive is in solid state and is materialized as a plurality of
cylindrical shaped
elements in the form of pellets, tablets, lozenges and the like. One of said
elements (9),
specifically the one nearest to the sheet of breakable material, can be sharp
with the
purpose of facilitating the breaking of the same and can have any other shape
as long
as said shape facilitates the ripping of the sheet (4). Anyway, the additive
can be a
powder or granulated in any size and it can even be in a liquid form, as long
as the
breaking coefficient of the sheet (4) is less than the necessary pressure
applied on the
upper base (2), which depends directly on the volume of the additive (8) and
the
physical properties of the same, such as density.
The volume occupied by the additive (8) is such that the distance D between
the same and the position of the lower base measured in a vertical direction
is greater
than the distance E between the lower base and the upper base in the withdrawn
final
position, likewise measured in a vertical direction. In this way, when a
certain pressure
is applied on the upper base (2), there is a moment when the volume inside the
containing body (1) is reduced to the volume initially occupied by the
additive (8),
therefore, if pressure is continued to be applied on the upper base (2), the
additive (8)
will tend to push the sheet of breakable material (4) causing said sheet to
break and
releasing, at that moment, the content of the containing body (1) inside the
container
(10); this moment has been depicted in Figure 2.
