Top-fill hummingbird feeder with a cork-type top sealing member
AssigneeWoodstream Corporation
InventorsRobert T. Cruz, Marko Konstantin Lubic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A top-fill hummingbird feeder has a generally upstanding liquid container with a large opening at its top end that is closed and sealed by a removable top or cap. The cap has a two-part construction including an outer shell and an inner sealing member. The inner sealing member includes a sealing element in the form of a vertically elongated, reinforced sealing ring that is received within the top of the container with a friction fit to automatically form a cork-type seal when the outer shell is threaded onto the container. Unthreading of the outer shell pulls the sealing ring out of engagement with the container to remove the cap.
Claims20
In combination, a hummingbird feeder and a cap, the combination comprising:
- a top-fill hummingbird feeder having a liquid container with an opening at an upper end thereof for filling and cleaning of said container;
- and,
- a removable cap for said hummingbird feeder, said removable cap including an outer shell and an inner sealing member, said outer shell configured to engage with an outer surface of said liquid container upper end, said outer shell formed as an annular ring having a central opening;
- and said inner sealing member having a central portion that fits within said outer shell central opening and a rim portion including an upper surface that abuts against a lower surface of said outer shell when said inner sealing member is assembled with said outer shell, said inner sealing member further including a vertically elongated sealing element that frictionally engages with an inner surface of said liquid container upper end to form an airtight seal with said upper end opening when said cap is placed on said container, said vertically elongated sealing element extending downwardly and having a lower portion that is tapered toward a bottom tip.
A hummingbird feeder comprising:
- a liquid container having an externally threaded upper end with a top end opening and a bottom end opening;
- a removable two-part cap for sealing the top end opening;
- a feeding basin in communication with said bottom end opening and having at least one feeding port in liquid flow communication with a fluid holding area inside said basin, said feeding port being accessible to hummingbirds;
- and
- said cap including an outer shell and a separate inner sealing member that is rotatably movable with respect to said outer shell when said inner sealing member is in a coupled configuration with said outer shell, said inner sealing member having a vertically elongated sealing element that extends downwardly and is frictionally received within said container and said outer shell fitting over said upper end of said container, said outer shell having internal threads configured to engage with said threaded upper end to secure said cap onto said container upper end with said downwardly extending vertically elongated sealing element of said inner sealing member tapering toward a bottom tip and forming a cork-type seal against an inner surface of said container upper end when said feeder is assembled for use.
A method of securing a two-part cap to a top-fill hummingbird feeder comprising the steps of:
- providing a hummingbird feeder having a liquid container with an externally threaded upper end adjacent a top end opening;
- providing a cap including an outer shell and a separate inner sealing member that is rotatably movable with respect to said outer shell when said inner sealing member is in a coupled configuration with said outer shell, said inner sealing member having a vertically elongated sealing member that tapers toward a bottom tip and said outer shell having internal threads;
- placing the two-part cap into a coupled configuration;
- bringing the cap into abutment with the upper end of the container where said vertically elongated sealing member begins to enter the top end opening;
- and
- rotating the outer shell relative to the container to engage the internal threads of said outer shell with the external threads on said container upper end to secure the cap to said container, said step of rotating being continued until the cap is fully tightened to both increase a degree of threaded engagement between the cap and the container and to concurrently push the vertically elongated sealing member downwardly into the top end opening with frictional engagement against an inner surface of said container so that said sealing member forms a cork-type seal against said container inner surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.