1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cap and, more particularly, to a cap for a container.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, the cap of any conventional container is always completely separated from its container once the container is opened. For that reason, it is easy for the separated cap to be dropped, accidentally disposed of, and/or misplaced/lost. Moreover, the separated cap when dropped can easily become soiled by coming in to contact with the ground or other uncontrolled surfaces resulting in the cap becoming no longer reusable. Furthermore, the discarded or misplaced/lost separated caps are able to and will pollute the environment and cause additional environmental problems. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, the industry has developed a few caps that will remain connected to their containers while their containers are in an open state. These few caps are thereby prevented from being separated from their containers, dropped, accidentally discarded, misplaced/lost, soiled by contact with the ground or other uncontrolled surfaces or able to pollute the environment or cause additional environmental problems.
Nonetheless, the currently existing caps with the above-mentioned functions usually require much more complex designs. Specifically, these designs normally involve the need of more than one component or structure; for example, besides a main body structure for the caps, the designs also necessitate a complicated connecting structure to connect the caps to their containers once the containers have been opened. Furthermore, the designs also necessitate a barrier structure to prevent the caps, while in an open state, from interfering with the opening of their containers and also insuring that the caps remain in an open state when so desired by the user. Additionally, the complicated connecting structures necessitate some difficult physical manipulation by the user to return the caps to a closed sealed state. In order to manufacture caps with these structures, the materials and the numbers of components used are increased to beyond the industry and market standards. The manufacturing process of these caps also requires several levels of production utilizing multiple pieces of manufacturing equipment (machines) to create the complicated connecting structures. Accordingly, not only the cost of material increases but also the overhead costs of manufacturing equipment and man hours involved are increased as well. The cost and inefficiency of the manufacturing process of these caps is quite high and above the market and industry requirements.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a cap with the above-mentioned functions by using a simpler design and structure with the use of less material, fewer pieces of manufacturing equipment and fewer man hours to create a much more environmentally friendly, simply manufactured, high production efficient, and much lower cost cap.