JP7624709B2 - Container with cap and method for assembling same - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a container with a cap and a method for assembling the container.

A known type of capped container has a cylindrical body with a mouth formed at the top end, an inner stopper that is attached to the mouth, and an overcap that opens downwards and covers the inner stopper and the periphery of the mouth of the body. The inner stopper and overcap are integrated with a screw-fitting structure, and the inner stopper and overcap are attached to the body by screwing this integrated assembly into the body.

However, at this time, the stopper is sealed while covered by the overcap, so the state of the stopper cannot be seen from the outside. Therefore, when the overcap is attached to the body, it is not possible to visually check whether the stopper is also securely attached to the mouth of the body.

To address this issue, in Patent Document 1, a guide wall is formed below the portion of the inner plug that would normally be attached to the mouth of the body, and when the inner plug is attached to the body, this guide wall is centered relative to the body, ensuring that the inner plug is securely attached to the mouth.

JP 2020-104886 A

However, the guide wall portion of the inner stopper does not function as a stopper, but can be said to be a separate centering member that has been forcibly integrated with the inner stopper. This creates the problem that the structure for attaching the inner stopper and overcap to the container becomes that much more complicated.

The present invention aims to solve these problems and provide a simple structure that allows the inner plug to be securely attached to the mouth of a body in a cylindrical body with a mouth formed at the top end, an inner plug that is attached to the mouth, and an overcap that opens downwards and covers the inner plug and the periphery of the mouth of the body.

To achieve this object, the capped container of the present invention comprises:
A container with a cap, comprising a cylindrical body having a mouth at an upper end, an inner plug attached to the mouth, and an overcap that opens downward and covers the inner plug and the periphery of the mouth of the body,
A flange is formed on the outer periphery of the body at a position lower than the opening end of the mouth portion,
a shoulder portion is formed in the body at a position below the flange portion, the shoulder portion being formed in a conical shape expanding downward and having an outer diameter at a lower end of the conical shape larger than an outer diameter of the flange portion;
The overcap has a top wall, a cylindrical bottom wall, and a protrusion protruding radially inward from the bottom wall,
the overcap is attached to the body with the protrusion guided by the flange and the lower end guided by the shoulder,
a second gap between an outer circumferential end of a lower end of the shoulder portion of the body and an inner circumferential end of the lower end of the overcap is smaller than a first gap between an outer circumferential end of the flange portion and an inner circumferential end of the protrusion portion;
a second distance, which is a distance between a lower end of the protrusion and the lower end of the overcap in an axial direction of the body, is smaller than a first distance, which is a distance between the flange portion and a lower end of the shoulder portion in an axial direction of the body;
The inner plug is integrated with the overcap in a centered state, and is attached to the mouth of the body with the gap between the body and the overcap forming a second gap .

Furthermore, according to the capped container of the present invention, it is preferable that the protrusions are in the form of ribs formed at multiple positions spaced apart along the circumferential direction of the bottom wall.

The method for assembling a capped container of the present invention includes the steps of:
When attaching an inner plug to a cylindrical body having a mouth at its upper end, and an overcap that opens downward and covers the periphery of the inner plug and the mouth of the body,
The body has a flange formed on the outer periphery at a position lower than the opening end of the mouth, a shoulder formed at a position lower than the flange, the shoulder formed in a conical shape expanding downward, and the outer diameter of the lower end of the conical shape is made larger than the outer diameter of the flange,
The overcap is integrated with the inside plug in a centered state, and has a top wall, a cylindrical bottom wall, and a protruding portion protruding radially inward from the bottom wall.
a first gap, which is a gap between an outer circumferential end of the lower end of the shoulder portion of the body and an inner circumferential end of the lower end of the overcap, is smaller than a first gap, which is a gap between an outer circumferential end of the flange portion of the body and an inner circumferential end of the protrusion portion of the overcap;
a first distance, which is a distance between the flange portion and a lower end of the shoulder portion in an axial direction of the body, and a second distance, which is a distance between a lower end of the protrusion portion and the lower end of the overcap, in an axial direction of the overcap, is smaller than a first distance, which is a distance between the flange portion and a lower end of the shoulder portion in an axial direction of the body ;
The overcap is placed on the body from above, and at that time,
With the first gap formed, the protrusion of the overcap is guided by the flange to be in a centered state, and with the second gap formed, the lower end is aligned along the shoulder of the body to be in a centered state guided by the shoulder ,
The overcap and the inner plug are attached to the body.

According to the method for assembling a capped container of the present invention, it is preferable to use an overcap in which the protrusions are in the form of ribs formed at multiple positions spaced apart along the circumferential direction of the bottom wall.

According to the present invention, the overcap is attached to the body with the portion above its lower end guided by the flange in a centered state, and the lower end is aligned with the shoulder of the body in a centered state guided by this shoulder, so that it is reliably centered with respect to the body. Therefore, the inner plug, which is integrated with the overcap in a centered state, is also attached to the body in a centered state with respect to the body, so that this inner plug can be reliably attached to the mouth of the body. In other words, according to the present invention, the overcap is centered with the body at two positions, top and bottom, so that reliable centering is possible, and therefore the inner plug is also reliably centered with respect to the body, so that the inner plug can be reliably attached to the mouth of the body with a simple structure.

1 is an overall view of a capped container according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part in FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the overcap shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 13 shows the overcap and stopper during assembly to the body. 5 shows the next stage of FIG. 4 in which the overcap and the stopper are being assembled to the body.

1 to 3 show a capped container according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, 11 denotes the body of the container, which is cylindrically formed by molding a synthetic resin or the like. The body 11 has a mouth 12 formed at its upper end. The mouth 12 is formed to have a smaller diameter than the other parts of the body 11. A flange 14 is integrally formed on the outer periphery of the mouth 12, i.e., on the outer periphery of the body 11 at a position slightly below the upper end edge 13 of the mouth 12. A cone-shaped shoulder 15 that spreads downward is provided at a position below the flange 14. In other words, the narrow-diameter mouth 12 is configured to be continuous with the part of the body 11 below it via the shoulder 15. 16 denotes a wall of the body 11. The cross-sectional structure of the shoulder 15 will be explained. This shoulder 15 is continuous with the mouth 12 and the lower part of the body 11 via upper and lower curved parts 17, 17. A reinforcing rib 20 that protrudes radially outward is formed around the entire circumference of the body 11 below the shoulder 15.

An inner plug 18 and an overcap 19 are attached to the body 11. The inner plug 18 and the overcap 19 are also molded from synthetic resin or the like.

The inner plug 18 has an annular groove 21 that opens downward at its lower end, and the mouth 12 of the body 11 fits tightly into this annular groove 21, allowing the inner plug 18 to be fixedly attached to the body 11. A release member 22 is provided in the center of the inner plug 18 when it is attached to the body 11 and before it is opened. This release member 22 is connected to the spout tube 24 of the inner plug 18 via a weakened portion 23. An external thread 25 is formed on the outer periphery of the inner plug 18, and an internal thread 26 of the overcap 19 is screwed onto this external thread 25, so that the inner plug 18 and the overcap 19 are integrated in a centered state.

The release member 22 is provided with a cylindrical portion 27, which is fitted into an annular groove 28 of the overcap 19. Although detailed illustration is omitted, uneven portions are formed on the inner and outer circumferences of the cylindrical portion 27, and when the cylindrical portion 27 is fitted into the annular groove 28 of the overcap 19, the uneven portion of the cylindrical portion 27 meshes with another uneven portion formed in the annular groove 28 of the overcap 19, so that the overcap 19 and the release member 22 held by the overcap 19 can rotate together.

The overcap 19 is provided with an annular wall portion 31, and when the overcap 19 is screwed onto the inner plug 18 using the outer threads 25 and inner threads 26, this annular wall portion 31 fits into the opening at the top end of the dispensing tube 24 of the inner plug 18, so that the dispensing tube 24 is sealed by the overcap 19.

The flange 14 of the body 11 is formed integrally with the outer periphery of the body 11 at a position below the upper opening of the mouth 12, more specifically, at a position below the portion of the body 11 where the inner plug 18 is attached.

The overcap 19 is formed with a downward opening and a top wall 33 and a cylindrical bottom wall 34 that are integrally formed. The bottom wall 34 is configured so that when the overcap 19 is attached to the body 11, its lower end 35 fits externally into the cylindrical portion 36 of the body 11 that is below the shoulder 15 and above the rib 20 of the body 11 without a large radial gap. The bottom wall 34 of the overcap 19 has a protruding portion 37 that protrudes radially inward at a position other than the lower end 35, i.e., at a position above the lower end 35, in the form of a rib with the vertical direction as the longitudinal direction. The protruding height of the protruding portion 37 is set to a height such that when the overcap 19 is attached to the body 11 or when it is attached, a large gap does not form between the protruding end and the radial tip of the flange portion 14 of the body 11.

As a result, the overcap 19 and the inner plug 18 are attached to the body 11 in a centered state due to the interaction between the flange 14 and the protruding portion 37 of the overcap 19, and due to the interaction between the cylindrical portion 36 below the shoulder 15 of the body 11 and the lower end portion 35 of the bottom wall 34.

For this reason, the overcap 19 is reliably centered relative to the body 11, and as a result, the inner plug 18, which is integrated into the overcap 19 in a centered state as described above, is also attached to the body 11 in a centered state relative to the body 11, so that the inner plug 18 can be reliably attached to the mouth 12 of the body 11.

Next, the procedure for mounting the cap will be described. In this process, the body 11 is supported by the retainer 40 that contacts the rib 20 from below, and the overcap 19 and the inner plug 18, which are integrated in a centered state, are then plugged from above downwards to cover the mouth 12 of the body 11. Then, although not shown, the lower end 35 of the overcap 19 is first fitted onto the flange 14 of the body 11. At this time, as can be seen from Figures 1 and 2, a predetermined amount of radial gap is formed between the lower end 35 and the flange 14. For this reason, the overcap 19 cannot be said to be centered by the flange 14, but rather the lower end 35 is roughly aligned radially with the flange 32, i.e., the position is corrected with respect to the body 11.

When the overcap 19 and the inner plug 18 are moved downward from this state, as shown in FIG. 4, the lower end of the protrusion 37 is guided to the flange 14 before the inner plug 18 has reached the mouth 12. This causes the flange 14 and the protrusion 37 to be centered, and the overcap 19 is centered with respect to the body 11 at the position of the lower end of the protrusion 37. At the same time, the inner plug 18 is centered with respect to the mouth 12 of the body 11 at the centering level. In detail, this centering causes the annular groove 21 of the inner plug 18 to be centered with respect to the mouth 12. In this case, for example, when the outer diameter of the body 11 is about 40 mm, it is preferable that the gap S1 between the outer peripheral end of the flange 14 and the radially inward tip of the protrusion 37 be about 0.5 mm.

When the overcap 19 and the inner plug 18 are moved further downward from this state, the annular groove 21 of the inner plug 18 approaches the upper edge 13 of the mouth 12 of the body 11 as shown in Figure 5, and the lower end 35 of the overcap 19 is guided by the shoulder 15 of the body 11 and becomes centered with respect to the body 11. In this case, when the outer diameter of the body 11 is about 40 mm as described above, it is preferable that the gap S2 between the lower end of the shoulder 15, i.e., the outer peripheral end of the upper end of the cylindrical part of the body, and the inner peripheral end of the lower end of the overcap 19 is about 0.2 mm. At the same time, the protrusion 37 of the overcap is guided by the flange 14 as described above, and the protrusion 37 is centered with respect to the flange 14. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the position where the lower end 35 of the overcap 19 is centered with respect to the body 11 and the position where the protruding portion 37 of the overcap is centered with respect to the flange portion 14 are spaced apart in the height direction, so that the overcap 19 is centered with respect to the body 11 at two points spaced apart by a distance D in the height direction, i.e., in the axial direction of the body 11 and the overcap 19, thereby achieving a reliable centering state. As described above, this distance D is preferably 10 mm or more when the outer diameter of the body 11 is about 40 mm. At this time, the inner plug 18 is also reliably centered with respect to the mouth portion 12 of the body 11.

Therefore, when the overcap 19 and the inner plug 18 are further moved downward from the state shown in FIG. 5, the inner plug 18 is placed over the mouth 12 of the body 11 in such a manner that the upper end 13 of the mouth 12 of the body 11 enters the annular groove 21 of the inner plug 18. At this time, since the inner plug 18 is also reliably centered with respect to the mouth 12 of the body 11 as described above, the inner plug 18 can be properly attached to the mouth 12 of the body 11 without fail, even though the inner plug 18 and the mouth 12 of the body 11 cannot be seen from the outside because they are covered by the overcap 19. Moreover, the inner plug 18 can be reliably attached to the mouth 12 of the body 11 with only a very simple configuration in which the flange 14 is formed on the body 11 and the protrusion 37 is formed on the overcap 19, without using a mechanism with a complex structure.

When the overcap 19 is rotated in the opening direction after the inner plug 18 and the overcap 19 are attached to the body 11, the outer thread 25 of the inner plug 18 and the inner thread 26 of the overcap 19 rotate relatively because the inner plug 18 is attached to the body 11 in a tightly fastened state. Then, as described above, the release member 22 is held by the overcap 19 and rotates together with it, which breaks the weakened portion 23, and as a result, an opening is formed in the dispensing tube 24 of the inner plug 18. At that time, the release member 22 is housed in the overcap 19. Thereafter, the overcap 19 can be unscrewed from the inner plug 18 to dispense the contents of the body 11 of the container to the outside. After dispensing, the overcap 19 is screwed back onto the inner plug 18, so that the annular wall portion 31 fits into the opening at the top end of the dispensing tube 24, and the dispensing tube 24 is sealed and closed by the overcap 19.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 Body 12 Mouth 14 Brim 15 Shoulder 18 Inner plug 19 Overcap 35 Lower end 37 Protruding portion

Claims (4)

A container with a cap, comprising a cylindrical body having a mouth at an upper end, an inner plug attached to the mouth, and an overcap that opens downward and covers the inner plug and the periphery of the mouth of the body,
A flange is formed on the outer periphery of the body at a position lower than the opening end of the mouth portion,
a shoulder portion is formed in the body at a position below the flange portion, the shoulder portion being formed in a conical shape expanding downward and having an outer diameter at a lower end of the conical shape larger than an outer diameter of the flange portion;
The overcap has a top wall, a cylindrical bottom wall, and a protrusion protruding radially inward from the bottom wall,
the overcap is attached to the body with the protrusion guided by the flange and the lower end guided by the shoulder,
a second gap between an outer circumferential end of a lower end of the shoulder portion of the body and an inner circumferential end of the lower end of the overcap is smaller than a first gap between an outer circumferential end of the flange portion and an inner circumferential end of the protrusion portion;
a second distance, which is a distance between a lower end of the protrusion and the lower end of the overcap in an axial direction of the body, is smaller than a first distance, which is a distance between the flange portion and a lower end of the shoulder portion in an axial direction of the body;
A container with a cap, characterized in that the inside stopper is integrated with the overcap in a centered state, and is attached to the mouth of the body with a gap between the body and the overcap forming a second gap . 2. The capped container according to claim 1 , wherein the protrusion is in the form of a rib formed at a plurality of positions spaced apart from each other along the circumferential direction of the bottom wall. When attaching an inner plug to a cylindrical body having a mouth at its upper end, and an overcap that opens downward and covers the periphery of the inner plug and the mouth of the body,
The body has a flange formed on the outer periphery at a position lower than the opening end of the mouth, a shoulder formed at a position lower than the flange, the shoulder formed in a conical shape expanding downward, and the outer diameter of the lower end of the conical shape is made larger than the outer diameter of the flange,
The overcap is integrated with the inside plug in a centered state, and has a top wall, a cylindrical bottom wall, and a protruding portion protruding radially inward from the bottom wall.
a first gap, which is a gap between an outer circumferential end of the lower end of the shoulder portion of the body and an inner circumferential end of the lower end of the overcap, is smaller than a first gap, which is a gap between an outer circumferential end of the flange portion of the body and an inner circumferential end of the protrusion portion of the overcap;
a first distance, which is a distance between the flange portion and a lower end of the shoulder portion in an axial direction of the body, and a second distance, which is a distance between a lower end of the protrusion portion and the lower end of the overcap, in an axial direction of the overcap, is smaller than a first distance, which is a distance between the flange portion and a lower end of the shoulder portion in an axial direction of the body ;
The overcap is placed on the body from above, and at that time,
With the first gap formed, the protrusion of the overcap is guided by the flange to be in a centered state, and with the second gap formed, the lower end is aligned along the shoulder of the body to be in a centered state guided by the shoulder ,
A method for assembling a capped container, comprising the steps of attaching the overcap and the inner plug to the body. The method for assembling a capped container according to claim 3 , characterized in that the overcap has a protrusion in the form of a rib formed at a plurality of positions spaced apart along the circumferential direction of the bottom wall.

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