[0001] The present invention relates to a plug for bottles, particularly thermally insulating
bottles ("thermoses"), intended to allow the immediate use for practical applications
of the content of the bottle, drawing directly from said bottle.
[0002] Known containers made of glass or other material, mostly Dewar vessel-like with double
walls, constitute, by virtue of their thermal insulation properties, a means having
multiple applications for the preservation of liquids or semiliquids, mostly food
products, at the desired temperature, which can be higher or lower than room temperature.
[0003] Due to this property of theirs, they are particularly adapted, among other things,
for the preservation and transport at the desired temperature of milk or of other
liquid food products, both in child welfare and in the practice of sports. However,
for these uses, such as in particular in the abovementioned cases of bottle feeding
of babies or of the ingestion of liquids on the part of sportsmen or athletes in action,
and in general in all those cases in which the liquid must be dispensed at a constant
temperature in particular conditions of position and movement, and/or with time-spread
dispensing, the thermally insulating container is not suitable for direct use, but
requires the transfer of the content into an adapted container (baby-bottle, canteen
with aspiration tube, etc.). This clearly constitutes a considerable disadvantage,
since it forces one to transport two containers instead of one and to perform a transfer
operation mostly in difficult conditions, introduces an undesired transmission of
heat due to said transfer, and furthermore does not allow to maintain the thermal
insulation during use, especially if the same is spread in time.
[0004] The use is also known of a thermally insulating container whereto a special ring
is applied to allow it to be used as a baby-bottle. However, this ring cannot be applied
to an ordinary thermos, but requires a specifically shaped container to accommodate
it. Moreover, said known ring does not allow to ensure the thermal insulation of an
ordinary plug of a thermos bottle, and therefore causes undesired heat dispersions
before use.
[0005] The aim of the present invention is to eliminate the above described disadvantages,
allowing the use of an ordinary thermos bottle and of the related thermally insulating
plug for the preservation of the full thermal insulation of the content up to the
moment in which the immediate practical use of said content is required.
[0006] This aim is achieved, according to the invention, by means of a plug characterized
in that its lower part is interchangeable in its external configuration with the plug
of an ordinary thermally insulating bottle (thermos), in that said plug is axially
perforated, and in that it is provided, in its upper region, with means for the liquid-tight
fixing of and elastomeric element for the dispensing of the content of the thermally
insulating bottle.
[0007] The invention will become apparent from the following description of a plug for thermally
insulating bottles, according to the present invention, with reference to the figures
of the accompanying drawings, wherein:
figure 1 is a view of a plug for thermally insulating bottles according to the present
invention;
figure 2 is a view of a plug according to the prior art for thermally insulating bottles,
with which the plug shown in figure 1 is interchangeable.
[0008] From the above described figures, it is apparent that the plug according to the present
invention is constituted by a lower part (1, figure 1) interchangeable in its external
configuration with the known plug (1ʹ, figure 2) of an ordinary thermally insulating
bottle (thermos), and is furthermore provided with an upper extension (2) wh
ich is threaded and is external with respect to the bottle, with a domed ring with
internal thread, adapted to cover said upper extension and to be screwed thereon,
the plug (1), its upper extension (2) and the ring (3) being axially perforated coaxially
to the longitudinal axis (4) of the plug, and a known elastomeric dispensing element
(5) (which can be constituted by a latex teat 5 with a flange 6 as shown in figure
1 or by a similarly flanged aspiration tube), said dispensing element 5 being inserted
and locked between the upper extension 2 of the stopper and the domed ring 3 by means
of the mutual screwing of said two parts, so as to protrude with its upper part through
the opening 7 of the ring 3, the flange 6 of the dispensing element constituting a
sealing gasket for the liquid contained in the bottle.
1. Plug for bottles, particularly for thermally insulating bottles (thermoses), characterized
in that its lower part (1) is interchangeable in its external configuration with the
plug (1ʹ) of an ordinary thermally insulating bottle (thermos), in that said plug
is axially perforated, and in that it is provided, in its upper region, with means
(2, 3) for the liquid-tight fixing (6) of an elastomeric element (5) for the dispensing
of the content of the thermally insulating bottle.
2. Plug according to claim 1, characterized in that it is provided with an upper extension
(2) external with respect to the bottle, with a domed ring (3) adapted to cover said
upper extension and lockable thereon by virtue of coupling means, the plug (1), the
upper extension (2) and the ring (3) being perforated coaxially with respect to the
longitudinal axis (4) of the plug, an elastomeric dispensing element (5) provided
with a lower flange (6) being lockingly inserted between the extension (2) and the
perforated dome (3) when said two parts are in coupling position.
3. Plug, interchangeable on any threaded shoulder, in particular on thermos bottles,
said plug being provided, at its center, with a threaded extension whereon can be
threaded a ring, from which the liquid contained in the bottle can be drawn, through
teats, tubes or other means.
