JP7645038B2 - Tube container - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tube container, and in particular to a tube container having a gas barrier layer.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a tube container comprising a tube body having a nozzle and a cap that is screwed onto the nozzle of the tube body.
Also known is a tube container in which a gas barrier layer that blocks oxygen and other substances contained in the air is laminated onto the tube body by blow molding in order to maintain the quality of the contents (see Patent Document 1).

Furthermore, in this type of tube container, it is common to seal the opening of the nozzle by removably attaching an aluminum seal to the opening of the nozzle of the tube container, but when starting to use the container, it is necessary to grab the tab of the aluminum seal and peel it off, which is troublesome.
To solve this problem, a tube container is known in which a small protrusion is attached to the tab of an aluminum seal attached to the opening surface of the nozzle of the tube container to make it easier to grip (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2008-179387 A JP 2001-63741 A

However, in the tube container described in Patent Document 1, although the gas barrier layer is laminated up to the cylindrical part where the cap is screwed, the gas barrier layer is not laminated on the nozzle (discharge port) from which the contents are discharged, and there is a problem with the gas barrier properties when the container is unopened.

In addition, although the aluminum seal of the tube container described in Patent Document 2 is easier to grasp than that of conventional tube containers, there is still a problem in that the effort required to peel the aluminum seal off the nozzle when opening the tube container remains.

The present invention aims to solve the above problems and provide a tube container with gas barrier properties, in which a gas barrier layer is formed on the tube body up to the discharge outlet of the nozzle.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a tube container comprising a tube body having a mouth portion and a cap screwed onto the mouth portion of the tube body, wherein the tube body comprises a discharge outlet opening at the top of the mouth portion, a removal portion connected to the inner periphery of the discharge outlet via a breakable thin-walled weakened portion , a shoulder portion formed from the lower end of the mouth portion, and a body portion suspended from the lower end of the shoulder portion , wherein the removal portion comprises a bottom wall to which the thin-walled weakened portion is connected, a cylindrical wall erected from the bottom wall, and a top wall connected from the upper end of the cylindrical wall and provided with a gate for injecting synthetic resin when molding the tube body, and the tube body is integrally molded by co-injection molding from a gate provided in the top wall of the removal portion so that a gas barrier layer containing a gas barrier resin is an inner layer relative to a base layer containing a base resin , and the gas barrier layer is formed from the removal portion to the body portion .

In one embodiment of the tube container, the cap has a top wall and a cutting tube portion hanging down from the top wall and engaging with the removal portion, and when the cap is opened from the mouth portion of the tube body, the cutting tube portion rotates the removal portion to break the thin-walled weakened portion, and then the removal portion moves from the tube body to the cutting tube portion of the cap to open the discharge outlet. The tube body has a discharge tube standing up from the discharge outlet, and the removal portion has a first interlocking portion formed on the outer periphery, and the cutting tube portion has a seal portion that seals the discharge tube on the outer periphery when the cap is closed, and a second interlocking portion formed on the inner periphery and interlocks with the first interlocking portion. The cap is attached to the mouth portion of the tube body by tapping when set.

By adopting the above-mentioned configuration, the tube container of the present invention can be well manufactured to have gas barrier properties, in which a gas barrier layer made of a gas barrier resin is layered on the base resin from the removed portion to the barrel portion of the tube body.
Furthermore, in the tube container of the present invention, the cap is set on the tube body, and when the tube container is used for the first time, the discharge port of the tube body can be easily opened by simply turning the cap to open it.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing a state in which a tube container is set in an embodiment of the present invention. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a tube body in an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a top view and FIG. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a cap in an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing a state before capping of a tube container in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing an opened state of the tube container in the embodiment of the present invention.

Next, a specific embodiment of the tube container of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings showing the example.

In FIG. 1, A is a synthetic resin tube body having a nozzle 1, and B is a synthetic resin cap that is screwed onto the nozzle 1 of the tube body A. The tube body A and the cap B together form a tube container.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the tube body A is composed of a cylindrical nozzle 1 with a discharge port 2 formed at the top, a shoulder 3 formed into a cone shape by gradually expanding in diameter from the lower end of the nozzle 1, and a cylindrical elastically compressible body 4 suspended from the lower end of the shoulder 3. Although not shown, the lower end of the body 4 serves as a filling port, which can be sealed to form the bottom and store the contents.

The nozzle tube portion 1 has a male screw 5 screwed around its outer circumference, which seals off the discharge port 2 formed at the top end, and is provided with a ring-shaped partition wall 6 that receives a receiving jig T (described later) when setting the cap B, and a discharge tube 7 is erected around the discharge port 2.

A removal portion 10 that closes the discharge port 2 is provided adjacent to the inner peripheral side of the discharge tube 7 via a breakable thin-walled weakened portion 8 formed in the partition wall 6 .
The removal section 10 is composed of an annular bottom wall 11 having a thin-walled weakened section 8 connected to its outer periphery, a cylindrical tubular wall 12 standing upright from the inner edge of the bottom wall 11, and a top wall 13 connected to the upper end of the tubular wall 12 and provided with a gate G for injecting synthetic resin when the tube body A is molded.

On the outer periphery of the cylindrical wall 12, two alignment recesses 14 are arranged at equal intervals on the circumference at the upper part, which constitute the first interlocking portion that interlocks with the alignment protrusion 25 of the cap B described later, and a first engagement protrusion 15 is protruded in an annular shape at the lower part.
Furthermore, stoppers 16 are provided on the outer periphery of the discharge tube 7 on the upper surface of the partition wall 6 at two positions in the circumferential direction.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the tube body A of this embodiment is manufactured by co-injection molding such that a gas barrier layer D containing a gas barrier resin is an inner layer relative to a base layer containing a base resin of the tube body A, and an adhesive resin is blended into the base resin of the base material layer, an adhesive resin is blended into the gas barrier resin of the gas barrier layer D, or an adhesive resin is blended into both the base resin and the gas barrier resin.
In this embodiment, a gas barrier layer D is formed on the inner surface of the nozzle portion 1, shoulder portion 3, body portion 4, partition wall 6, thin-walled weakened portion 8, and removed portion 10 of the tube body A.
Incidentally, the discharge tube 7 of the tube body A does not have a gas barrier layer D formed thereon.

As the base resin for the base layer of the tube body A, a known resin such as a polyolefin resin, such as polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE), is used.
As the gas barrier resin for the gas barrier layer D, known gas barrier resins such as ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), polyamide (PA), MX nylon (MXD6, etc.) and the like are used depending on the purpose of the gas barrier.
Among these, ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH) is preferred in terms of its barrier properties against oxygen and barrier properties against flavors and aromas.

Here, examples of blending the base resin that forms the base layer and the gas barrier resin that forms the gas barrier layer are shown below.
<Base layer><Gas barrier layer>
LLDPE (Linear low density polyethylene) EVOH + LLDPE
LLDPE+EVOH EVOH
LLDPE + adhesive resin EVOH
LLDPE EVOH + adhesive resin LLDPE MXD6 + LLDPE
The blending ratio at which the thin weakened portion 8 becomes rupturable varies depending on the base resin of the base layer and the gas barrier resin of the gas barrier layer D. LDPE (low density polyethylene) may be used as the base resin of the base layer.

As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the cap B has a cylindrical outer tube wall 20 with an outer diameter approximately the same as the outer diameter of the shoulder portion 3 of the tube body A, and a top wall 21 that closes the upper inner circumference of the outer tube wall 20. On the inner surface of the top wall 21, from the inside, there are vertically extending, in order from the inside, a cutting tube portion 22 whose inner circumference engages with the outer circumference of the removal portion 10 of the tube body A when the cap is closed and whose outer circumference abuts against the inner circumference of the discharge tube 7, a middle tube portion 23 whose tip abuts against the stopper 16, and a threaded tube portion 24 whose inner circumference screws into the outer circumference of the mouth tube portion 1.

On the inner circumference of the cutting tube portion 22, two alignment protrusions 25 are arranged at equal intervals on the circumference at the upper part, which constitute a second interlocking portion that engages with the alignment recess 14 of the removal portion 10 of the tube body A when capping, and performs alignment, and a second engagement protrusion 26 is formed at the lower end part, which engages with the first engagement protrusion 15 of the removal portion 10.
Further, a seal portion is formed on the outer periphery of the cutting tube portion 22 so as to abut against the inner periphery of the discharge tube 7 and seal the discharge port 2 .

A female thread 27 is formed on the lower part of the inner circumference of the threaded cylindrical portion 24, and is adapted to be screwed into the male thread 5 of the nozzle portion 1 when the lid is closed.
In this embodiment, two alignment recesses 14 and two alignment protrusions 25 are provided, but the number of alignment recesses 14 and alignment protrusions 25 is not important as long as they engage with each other, align with each other, and rotate together when the lid is opened.

Next, the manner of use and the effects of this embodiment will be described.
The tube container of this embodiment can be manufactured by coinjection molding such that a gas barrier layer D made of a gas barrier resin is layered on the inner surface of a base material layer which is the base resin of the tube body A.
In the co-injection molding of the tube body A in this embodiment, a predetermined time after the base resin is first injected alone, the gas barrier resin is injected simultaneously with the base resin for a predetermined time, and then the base resin is injected alone for a predetermined time, thereby completing the molding of the tube body A.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2( b ), a gate G is provided in the center of the top wall 13 of the removal section 10, and the base resin and gas barrier resin are injected and poured into the tube body A through the removal section 10 and the thin-walled weakened section 8 to be molded.
In this embodiment, the tube body A is integrally molded from the nozzle portion 1 to the body portion 4 by coinjection molding.

In the tube body A of this embodiment, the top wall 13 of the removal section 10 has a certain height (distance), so that the flow of the injected synthetic resin can be stabilized.
Therefore, the tube body A can be manufactured as a laminated tube with stable quality by co-injection molding from gate G so that the gas barrier layer D made of gas barrier resin is layered inside the base material layer which is the base resin.

Next, when setting the cap B on the tube body A, as shown in FIG. 4, the receiving jig T is inserted from below the barrel 4 of the molded tube body A, so that the outer peripheral surface of the receiving jig T contacts the inner peripheral surface of the nozzle 1 and the upper surface of the receiving jig T abuts against the lower surface of the partition 6, thereby fixing the tube body A.

The cap B is placed from above the tube body A on which the receiving jig T is set, and then aligned so that the alignment recess 14 of the cylindrical wall 12 of the removal section 10 and the alignment protrusion 25 of the cutting cylindrical section 22 of the cap B engage with each other, and then the cap is capped.
When the cap B descends relative to the tube body A, the female thread 27 of the threaded tubular portion 24 of the cap B climbs over the male thread 5 of the mouth tubular portion 1 of the tube body A, and the second engaging protrusion 26 of the cutting tubular portion 22 climbs over the tubular wall 12 of the removal portion 10 and descends.
Even if the removal portion 10 is pushed downward during capping, the tube body A is fixed by the receiving jig T, so that the thin-walled weakened portion 8 can be prevented from breaking.

Finally, as shown in Figure 1, the alignment protrusion 25 of the cutting tube portion 22 of cap B engages with the alignment recess 14 of the cylindrical wall 12 of the removal portion 10, and the lower end of the middle tube portion 23 abuts against the stopper 16 on the upper surface of the partition wall 6, thereby stopping the descent of cap B.
When the capping is completed, the second engagement protrusion 26 on the inner circumference of the cutting tube portion 22 of the cap B engages with the first engagement protrusion 15 on the tubular wall 12 of the removal section 10, and the female thread 27 on the inner circumference of the threaded tube portion 24 screws into the male thread 5 of the mouth tube portion 1 of the tube body A, and the cap B is attached to the tube body A.

To open the tube body A shown in FIG. 1, the cap B is rotated in the opening direction relative to the tube body A. The alignment protrusion 25 of the cap B engages with the alignment recess 14 of the removal part 10, causing the removal part 10 to rotate together with the cap B relative to the tube body A.

When the removed portion 10 rotates, a twist occurs in the thin-walled weakened portion 8 connecting the removed portion 10 to the partition wall 6, causing the thin-walled weakened portion 8 to break.
As the cap B is opened, as shown in Figure 5, the removal portion 10, in which the thin-walled weakened portion 8 has been broken, engages with the second engaging protrusion 26 of the cutting tube portion 22 and is separated from the tube body A while being transferred to the cap B, so that the discharge port 2 of the mouth tube portion 1 of the tube body A is easily opened, and the contents can be used through the discharge tube 7.

When closing the tube container again, the cap B with the removal portion 10 moved is screwed onto the mouth 1 of the tube body A to close the tube container.
When the cap B is closed, the seal portion on the outer periphery of the cutting tube portion 22 of the cap B abuts against and adheres tightly to the inner periphery of the discharge tube 7 of the tube body A, thereby sealing the inside of the tube body A.

The tube container of the present invention can be successfully manufactured as a tube container having gas barrier properties in which a gas barrier layer of a gas barrier resin is layered on the base resin from the tube body to the discharge outlet of the nozzle, and the discharge outlet of the tube body can be easily opened by simply setting the cap on the tube body and turning the cap to open it when using it for the first time, so that the quality of the contents can be maintained and the contents can be used easily and quickly, making it widely usable as a tube container.

A Tube body B Cap D Gas barrier layer G Gate T Receiving jig 1 Nozzle 2 Discharge port 3 Shoulder 4 Body 5 Male thread 6 Partition 7 Discharge tube 8 Thinned and weakened portion 10 Removed portion 11 Bottom wall 12 Cylindrical wall 13 Top wall 14 Alignment recess (first engagement portion)
15 First engagement protrusion 16 Stopper 20 Outer cylinder wall 21 Top wall 22 Cutting cylinder portion 23 Middle cylinder portion 24 Threaded cylinder portion 25 Alignment protrusion (second engagement portion)
26 Second engagement protrusion 27 Female thread

Claims (4)

A tube container comprising a tube body having a nozzle and a cap screwed onto the nozzle of the tube body,
The tube body includes a discharge port that opens at an upper portion of the nozzle portion, a removal portion that is connected to the inner periphery of the discharge port via a breakable thin-walled weakened portion , a shoulder portion that is formed from the lower end of the nozzle portion, and a body portion that is suspended from the lower end of the shoulder portion .
the removal section includes a bottom wall to which the thin-walled weakened section is connected, a cylindrical wall erected from the bottom wall, and a top wall connected to an upper end of the cylindrical wall and provided with a gate for injecting synthetic resin when molding the tube body;
The tube body is integrally molded by co-injection molding from a gate provided on the top wall of the removal section so that a gas barrier layer containing a gas barrier resin is the inner layer of a base material layer containing a base resin, and the gas barrier layer is formed from the removal section to the body section . The cap includes a top wall and a cutting tube portion depending from the top wall and adapted to engage the removal portion;
2. The tube container according to claim 1, wherein, when the cap is opened from the mouth of the tube body, the cutting tube portion rotates the removing portion to break the thin-walled weakened portion, and then the removing portion is moved from the tube body to the cutting tube portion of the cap to open the discharge port. The tube body includes a discharge tube extending from the discharge port.
The removal portion includes a first meshing portion formed on an outer periphery thereof,
3. The tube container according to claim 2, wherein the cutting tube portion has a seal portion that seals the discharge tube on its outer periphery when the lid is closed, and a second interlocking portion formed on its inner periphery and interlocking with the first interlocking portion. 4. The tube container according to claim 1 , wherein the cap is attached to the mouth of the tube body by plugging when the tube body is set .

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