JP7627480B2 - cap - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cap .

A cap is attached to a container that contains a liquid or other content, allowing the liquid to pass when it is needed, and sealing off the liquid when it is not needed. Of course, the cap needs to adequately seal off the liquid even before it is used for the first time. For this reason, the cap is required to have high sealing properties.

To improve the sealing performance of the cap, particularly before the cap is used for the first time, it is effective to seal the spout formed in the lid body of the cap with an inner plug. However, sealing the spout with an inner plug increases the number of parts by the amount of the inner plug.

In response to this, a cap has been proposed in the past that allows the inner plug to be separated from the lid body (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This cap 1 is sold as a container with a lid (attached to the container), and then a user who purchases this container with a lid separates the inner plug (separation part 4) from the lid body (fitting part 5) by rotating the top lid 3. This makes the separation easy and reliable.

International Publication No. 2007/126062

In the cap 1 described in Patent Document 1, the inner plug (separation part 4) is separated from the lid body (fitting part 5) by the inner plug (separation part 4) being pressed against a protrusion 409 that descends together with the top lid 3 as the top lid 3 rotates. This protrusion 409 is formed below the top plate (upper end wall 403b) of the top lid 3, making it structurally weak; however, the load is small and no problem occurs when the top lid 3 is rotated by hand by the user.

However, if the top lid 3 is rotated by a machine, there is a risk that the structurally fragile protrusion 409 may be damaged. For this reason, the cap 1 described in Patent Document 1 relies on the user to manually turn the top lid 3 in order to rotate the top lid 3, i.e., to separate the inner plug (separation part 4) from the lid body (fitting part 5) and seal the spout with the inner plug (separation part 4), which places a burden on the user.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to provide a cap that can reduce the burden on a user in sealing a spout with an inner plug.

In order to solve the above problems, a cap according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a lid body having a spout formed therein and attached to a container;
An upper cover that is screwed onto the cover body;
and an inner plug separated from the spout of the lid body,
the edge of the spout and/or the inner plug have a broken weakened line;
The top cover is
A top plate for holding an inner plug separated from the spout;
A skirt formed on the outer periphery of the top plate;
a contact portion and an inner peripheral screw portion formed on the inner side of the skirt,
The inner plug is sandwiched inside the skirt and in contact with the top plate, so that the inner plug is held by the top plate,
A space is formed between the abutting portion of the upper lid and the inner plug,
The lid body has an outer peripheral screw portion,
With the inner plug separated from the spout held on the top plate, the inner peripheral threaded portion of the top lid is threadedly engaged with the outer peripheral threaded portion of the lid body.

According to the above-mentioned cap , the top plate and/or abutment portion of the upper lid that presses against the inner stopper is structurally stable, so there is no need to rely on the user to make the top plate and/or abutment portion press against the inner stopper to separate it from the lid body, thereby reducing the burden on the user in sealing the spout with the inner stopper.

FIG. 2 is a right side cross-sectional view showing a front view of a spout according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a right-side cross-sectional view showing a side view of a spout body of the spout. FIG. 4 is a right side cross-sectional view showing a front view of an upper cover of the spout. FIG. 11 is a right-side cross-sectional view as viewed from the front, illustrating a separation step in a method of using the spout. FIG. 2 is a right-side cross-sectional view showing a front view of the spout being used according to a method of using the spout.

The following describes a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention and a method of using the cap. Note that the following describes a spout as an example of the cap.

First, the spout will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. Next, a method of using the spout will be described with reference to Figures 1, 4 and 5.
[Spout]

Figure 1 is a right-side cross-sectional view showing the spout 1 as seen from the front. As will be described in detail later, the spout 1 comprises a spout body 2 and a top cover 3, Figure 2 is a right-side cross-sectional view showing the side view of the spout body 2, and Figure 3 is a right-side cross-sectional view showing the top cover 3 as seen from the front. Although not shown, the spout 1 or the spout is attached to a pouch, which is an example of a container.

As shown in FIG. 1, the spout 1 comprises a spout body 2 (an example of a lid body) that is attached to the pouch, and a top lid 3 that screws onto the spout body 2. The spout body 2 is formed with a spout outlet 20 that pours the contents (liquid, powder, viscous material, etc.) stored in the pouch out of the pouch. The spout 1 further comprises an inner plug 29 that closes the spout outlet 20 on the inside of the top lid 3. The inner plug 29 is connected to the edge of the spout outlet 20 by a weakened line 28.

1 and 2, the spout body 2 has, in order from the side closest to the spout 20, a shoulder 21, an outer peripheral screw portion 22 into which the top lid 3 is screwed, an outer protruding portion 23 that exerts a tamper-evident tracking function (hereinafter referred to as a TE function), and a welding portion 24 that is welded to the pouch. The outer peripheral screw portion 22 moves the top lid 3 toward the welding portion 24 when the top lid 3 is fastened. The outer protruding portion 23 is shaped to gradually expand in diameter from the spout 20 side toward the welding portion 24 side, but to rapidly expand in diameter from the welding portion 24 side toward the spout 20 side. The weakened line 28 that connects the edge of the spout 20 in the spout body 2 to the inner plug 29 is a portion that breaks when the inner plug 29 is pressed toward the welding portion 24 side. For this reason, the weakened line 28 is a thin-walled score section all around, or a bridge shape with intermittent gaps.

As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, the top cover 3 has a top plate 30 located at the farthest position from the welded portion 24, and a skirt 31 continuing from the outer periphery of the top plate 30. The skirt 31 has, in order from the side closest to the top plate 30, an abutment portion 39 that can abut the inner plug 29, an inner peripheral screw portion 32 that screws into the outer peripheral screw portion 22 of the spout body 2, and an inner folded portion 33 that exerts the TE function. As shown in Fig. 1, the abutment portion 39 does not abut the inner plug 29 in the case of the spout 1, but is in a position where it abuts the inner plug 29 when the top cover 3 is tightened. In particular, the abutment portion 39 is provided on the skirt 31, not on the top plate 30, so that the structure is stable. The inner peripheral screw portion 32 moves the top cover 3 toward the welded portion 24 by screwing with the outer peripheral screw portion 22 when the top cover 3 is tightened. The inner folded portion 33 is a portion folded inward from the end of the skirt 31 on the welding portion 24 side toward the top plate 30. Therefore, when the inner folded portion 33 moves from the spout 20 side toward the welding portion 24 side, it climbs over the outer protruding portion 23 of the spout body 2, which gradually expands in diameter, but when it moves from the welding portion 24 side toward the spout 20 side, it gets caught by the outer protruding portion 23 of the spout body 2, which rapidly expands in diameter. When the top cover 3 is rotated so as to move further toward the spout 20 side while the inner folded portion 33 is caught on the outer protruding portion 23, it is torn off so as to be separated from the other portions of the top cover 3. That is, the TE function is exerted by this tearing. As shown in FIG. 3, the skirt 31 may have a weakened portion 35 as a portion to be torn off as the TE function. The skirt 31 may have a knurled outer periphery so that the top lid 3 can be easily rotated by hand to tighten and to open the top lid 3. The top lid 3 has the same shape whether it is in a tightened state or a tightened state.
[Method of manufacturing spout]

Next, we will explain the manufacturing method of the spout 1.

First, the two components that make up the spout 1 are molded. One of the two components is the spout body 2 shown in FIG. 2 and the inner plug 29 connected to the spout outlet 20 of the spout body 2 by a weakened line 28, and the other is the top lid 3 that screws onto the spout body 2 shown in FIG. 3. For example, if the spout 1 is made of resin, injection molding is used for the molding. Then, the top lid 3 is placed on the spout body 2 to which the inner plug 29 is connected, and the top lid 3 is tightened until the abutment portion 39 of the top lid 3 comes into contact with the inner plug 29, thereby manufacturing the spout 1 shown in FIG. 1.

The spout 1 may be in a state where the welded portion 24 of the spout body 2 is attached to the pouch, or in a state where the welded portion 24 is not yet attached to the pouch.

In this way, with the spout 1, the top plate 30 and/or the abutment portion 39 of the top lid 3 that presses against the inner plug 29 is structurally stable, so there is no need to rely on the user to have the top plate 30 and/or the abutment portion 39 press against the inner plug 29 to separate it from the spout body 2, and as a result, the burden on the user in sealing the spout outlet 20 with the inner plug 29 can be reduced.

So far, the description has been given of a spout 1, but this is not limited to this and any cap may be used. In the case of a cap, the above description should be interpreted such that the pouch is replaced with a container and the spout body 2 is replaced with a lid body.

In addition, the spout 1 has been described as having the top lid 3 screwed in until just before the abutment portion 39 of the top lid 3 comes into contact with the inner plug 29, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the spout 1 may have the top lid 3 slightly screwed in (the inner peripheral screw portion 32 is slightly screwed into the outer peripheral screw portion 22), the top lid 3 is simply placed on the spout body 2 but is not screwed in (the inner peripheral screw portion 32 is not screwed into the outer peripheral screw portion 22), or the top lid 3 is not placed on the spout body 2 at all.
[How to use the spout]

The following describes how to use the spout 1 shown in Figure 1, with reference to Figures 4 and 5.

Figure 4 is a right-side cross-sectional view in front view illustrating the state after the inner plug 29 has been separated from the edge of the spout 20 in the spout body 2 that constitutes the spout 1. Figure 5 is a right-side cross-sectional view in front view illustrating the state in which the inner plug 29 separated from the spout 20 is held on the top plate 30 of the top lid 3 (i.e., the spout 1 in the state after it has been used).

First, the method of using the spout 1 includes a separation step in which the top plate 30 and/or the abutment portion 39 of the top cover 3 presses the inner plug 29, thereby breaking the weakened line 28 connecting the edge of the spout 20 and the inner plug 29, and separating the inner plug 29 from the spout 20. Specifically, from the spout 1 in a state in which the top cover 3 is placed on the spout body 2 and slightly tightened as shown in FIG. 1, the top cover 3 is moved toward the welded portion 24 side (pouch side) by further tightening the top cover 3 as shown in FIG. The abutment portion 39 of the top cover 3 moving toward the welded portion 24 presses the inner plug 29, thereby breaking the weakened line 28 (see FIG. 1) formed on the edge of the spout 20. The top plate 30 may press the inner plug 29 instead of the abutment portion 39, or the abutment portion 39 and the top plate 30 may press the inner plug 29. Through the separation process, a portion of the inner plug 29 enters the spout 20, sealing the spout 20.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the method of using the spout 1 further includes a holding step of holding the inner plug 29 separated from the spout outlet 20 on the top plate 30 of the top cover 3. In this holding step, after the separation step, the top cover 3 is further tightened to make the abutment portion 39 climb over the inner plug 29 and move the abutment portion 39 until it comes into contact with the shoulder portion 21 of the spout body 2. As a result, the top plate 30 of the top cover 3 comes into contact with the inner plug 29, and the inner plug 29 is held by the top plate 30. Meanwhile, the inner folded portion 33 of the top cover 3 climbs over the outer protrusion 23 of the spout body 2 and is in a state immediately before being caught by the outer protrusion 23. In this way, the spout 1 shown in FIG. 1 is in a state after use, as shown in FIG. 5. Note that when the inner plug 29 is held by the top plate 30, a space is formed between the abutment portion 39 of the top cover 3 and the inner plug 29.

When opening the spout 1 in the used state shown in FIG. 5, the top lid 3 is rotated in the opposite direction to the tightening, so that the inner fold 33 catches on the outer protrusion 23 and the inner fold 33 is torn off so as to separate from the rest of the top lid 3. The outer peripheral threaded portion 22 and the inner peripheral threaded portion 32, the shoulder portion 21 and the abutment portion 39 are designed so that the rotation of the top lid 3 required to tear off from the state shown in FIG. 5 is 550° to 570°. Of course, it is also designed so that when the top lid 3 is further rotated after the tearing, the abutment portion 39 will pull the inner plug 29 away from the spout 20 (unsealing the spout 20).

In this way, according to the method of using the spout 1, the top plate 30 and/or the abutment portion 39 of the top lid 3 that presses against the inner plug 29 is structurally stable, so there is no need to rely on the user for the separation process, and as a result, the burden on the user can be reduced.

Furthermore, by tightening the top lid 3, the separation process and the holding process are carried out continuously, further simplifying the use of the spout 1.

In addition, because a space is formed between the abutment portion 39 of the spout 1 after use and the inner plug 29, even if the spout 1 after use receives an impact on the top lid 3 due to being dropped, the impact is unlikely to be transmitted to the inner plug 29, so the sealing of the spout 20 can be stably maintained.

In the above embodiment, the shape of the abutment portion 39 was not described in detail, but it is preferable that the abutment portion 39 be a continuous annular shape around the entire circumference. By having the abutment portion 39 be a continuous annular shape around the entire circumference, the pressure applied from the abutment portion 39 to the inner plug 29 to break the weakened line 28, and the pressure applied from the abutment portion 39 to the inner plug 29 to pull the inner plug 29 away from the spout 20 (to release the seal of the spout 20) are uniform around the entire circumference.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the shape of the inner plug 29 was not described in detail, but as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable that the portion of the inner plug 29 that protrudes from the spout 20 is rounded on the top plate 30 side and has a corner on the welded portion 24 side. This shape makes it easier for the abutment portion 39 moving toward the welded portion 24 side to climb over the inner plug 29 when the spout 1 is used, and makes it easier for the abutment portion 39 moving toward the top plate 30 side to pull the inner plug 29 away from the spout 20 (to release the seal of the spout 20) when the top lid 3 is opened.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned embodiment is illustrative in all respects and is not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims, not by the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. Among the cap and the method of using the cap described in the above-mentioned embodiment, the configurations other than those described as the first and second inventions in the "Means for solving the problem" are optional and may be deleted or modified as appropriate.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 spout 2 spout body 3 top lid 20 spout 21 shoulder 22 outer peripheral screwed portion 23 inner protruding portion 24 welded portion 28 weakened line 29 inner plug 30 top plate 31 skirt 32 inner peripheral screwed portion 33 inner folded portion 35 weakened portion 36 knurling 39 abutment portion

Claims (1)

A lid body having a spout formed therein and attached to the container;
An upper cover that is screwed onto the cover body;
and an inner plug separated from the spout of the lid body,
the edge of the spout and/or the inner plug have a broken weakened line;
The top cover is
A top plate for holding an inner plug separated from the spout;
A skirt formed on the outer periphery of the top plate;
a contact portion and an inner peripheral screw portion formed on the inner side of the skirt,
The inner plug is sandwiched inside the skirt and in contact with the top plate, so that the inner plug is held by the top plate,
A space is formed between the abutting portion of the upper lid and the inner plug,
The lid body has an outer peripheral screw portion,
A cap characterized in that, with the inner plug separated from the spout being held on a top plate, the inner peripheral threaded portion of the top lid and the outer peripheral threaded portion of the lid body are threadedly engaged with each other.

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