JP7718982B2 - Granular material storage container - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a granular material storage container for storing granular materials such as tablets and capsules.

For example, in the case of sweets and medicines, solid granules, generally called tablets or tablets, formed into a specific shape by compression molding or other methods, are in circulation. Capsule-shaped granules containing liquid medicine are also widely used.

Conventionally, granular material storage containers for storing such granular materials include bottle-shaped containers with wide openings and caps that are attached to the openings of the containers. Also known is a container with a top cover that has an access opening attached to the opening, as shown in Patent Document 1.

Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. 6-12381

When removing granular material from a wide-mouthed container, the container is tilted so that the opening faces downward, and the material is dispensed into the palm of the hand. However, depending on the angle at which the container is tilted, more granular material than intended may be dispensed, requiring the removed material to be returned to the container, which is time-consuming. Furthermore, since fingers and other objects come into contact with the granular material removed from the container, this is not considered hygienic.

The container in Patent Document 1 also uses a shield plate located just before the outlet to narrow the path through which the granular material passes, preventing a large amount of granular material from coming out at once when the container is tilted. However, even with this container, the fixed amount of granular material is not always discharged. Furthermore, because the shield plate reduces the number of granular materials discharged at one time, the number of steps required to discharge the granular material increases as the number of granular materials to be removed increases, making the removal process more time-consuming.

The present invention was made in light of these issues, and aims to provide a granular material storage container that allows a predetermined number of granular materials to be easily dispensed.

The present invention is a granular material storage container having a storage space for storing granular material and an inner tube with a communication port that leads to the storage space , the communication port being defined by a container that radially penetrates the inner tube , a peripheral wall that is inserted into the inside of the inner tube, and a bottom wall that connects to the lower part of the peripheral wall, and a measuring space that is located below the lower end of the communication port , a granular material inlet that penetrates the peripheral wall in the radial direction and connects the storage space and the measuring space in the radial direction via the communication port, and a granular material outlet that is provided at the upper part of the peripheral wall and leads to the measuring space, and the bottom wall is inclined so that the edge on one side that faces the edge on the one side that connects to the peripheral wall is positioned below the edge on the other side.
The present invention also provides a granular material storage container comprising: a container having a storage space for storing granular material and an inner tube provided with a communication port leading to the storage space; a measuring space partitioned by a peripheral wall inserted inside the inner tube and a bottom wall connected to the lower part of the peripheral wall; a granular material inlet penetrating the peripheral wall and connecting the storage space to the measuring space via the communication port; and a measuring member having a granular material outlet provided at the upper part of the peripheral wall and leading to the measuring space, wherein the bottom wall is inclined so that one edge portion thereof opposite to the one edge portion connected to the peripheral wall is positioned below the other edge portion; the measuring member is held rotatably relative to the container around the axis of the inner tube; and the inner tube is provided with a plurality of communication ports, and the lower end portion of one communication port is positioned lower than the lower end portions of the other communication ports.

The measuring member is held rotatably around the axis of the inner cylinder relative to the container,
It is preferable that a plurality of communication ports are provided in the inner cylinder, and the lower end of one of the communication ports is located lower than the lower ends of the other communication ports.

It is preferable to provide a rotational position restricting means between the container and the measuring member that restricts rotation of the measuring member relative to the container at positions where the granular material inlet communicates with each of the multiple communication ports.

It is preferable that the measuring member has a protrusion provided on the upper part of the peripheral wall on the side facing the granular material inlet.

It is preferable to provide a cap that covers the particulate discharge outlet and is attached to the measuring member or the container.

The granular material storage container of the present invention defines a measuring space in the measuring member by a peripheral wall and a bottom wall. This measuring space is connected to the storage space of the container via a communication port in the inner tube of the container and a granular material inlet port in the peripheral wall. The bottom wall is inclined so that one edge connected to the peripheral wall is positioned below the other edge. For example, when granular material is moved from the storage space to the inside of the peripheral wall by tilting the container or turning it upside down, the granular material inside the peripheral wall slides downward due to the inclined bottom wall when the container is turned upright. Therefore, of the granular material introduced inside the peripheral wall, any that are higher than the communication port and the granular material inlet port at the connection point between the communication port and the granular material inlet port slide down from the communication port and the granular material inlet port into the storage space, leaving only the required number of granular material remaining in the measuring space. Therefore, by tilting the container again, a predetermined number of granular objects that fit into the measuring space can be removed from the granular object discharge port.

As described above, the granular material storage container of the present invention allows only the specified number of granular materials that have been moved to the measuring space to be removed, eliminating the need to return the removed granular materials to the container as in the past. Furthermore, as described above, the process of removing the granular materials is as simple as tilting the container to a tilted position, returning it to an upright position, and then tilting it again to a tilted position, so it is not time-consuming.

Regarding one embodiment of a granular material storage container according to the present invention, (a) is a cross-sectional view from the side, (b) is a side view, (c) is a partially enlarged view of the X1 portion, (d) is a cross-sectional view along A-A, (e) is a partially enlarged view of the X2 portion, (f) is a cross-sectional view along B-B, and (g) is a cross-sectional view along C-C. 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of removing granular material from the granular material container shown in FIG. 1 when one granular material fits in the measuring space. 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation of removing granular material from the granular material container shown in FIG. 1 when two granular material pieces fit in the measuring space.

One embodiment of a granular material storage container according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the vertical direction refers to the direction along the illustrated axis O (the axis of the inner cylinder 3g, described below). The radial direction refers to the direction perpendicular to axis O within a plane perpendicular to axis O, and the circumferential direction refers to the direction circumferentially around axis O within this plane.

As shown in Figure 1, the granular material storage container 1 of this embodiment is composed of a container body 2, a stopper 3, a measuring member 4, and a cap 5. As shown in the figure, the container body 2, stopper 3, measuring member 4, and cap 5 are shaped around an axis O. The granular material storage container 1 of this embodiment is relatively small and is intended for portable use. In this embodiment, the "container" of the present invention is composed of the container body 2 and the stopper 3.

The container body 2 has a disk-shaped bottom 2a and a cylindrical body 2b connected to the outer edge of the bottom 2a. A storage space S for storing granular material R is defined inside the bottom 2a and body 2b. A cylindrical mouth 2c with a smaller diameter than the body 2b is integrally connected to the upper end of the body 2b. A male-threaded container-side threaded portion 2d is provided on the outer periphery of the mouth 2c. Furthermore, two container-side anti-rotation protrusions 2e are provided circumferentially spaced apart on the outer periphery of the mouth 2c below the container-side threaded portion 2d, as shown in Figures 1(e) and (f).

The stopper 3 includes an outer tube 3a that surrounds the mouth 2c and has a cylindrical shape with an upper portion smaller in diameter than the lower portion, and a lower end that protrudes radially outward. The inner surface of the outer tube 3a is provided with a stopper-side threaded portion 3b that is female-threaded and engages with the container-side threaded portion 2d. Also, as shown in Figures 1(e) and 1(f), the inner surface of the outer tube 3a is provided below the stopper-side threaded portion 3b. When the stopper 3 is rotated in a direction that tightens the stopper-side threaded portion 3b against the container-side threaded portion 2d, the stopper-side anti-rotation protrusion 3c enters between the two container-side anti-rotation protrusions 2e at the end of the threading, thereby preventing the stopper 3 from rotating relative to the container body 2. In this embodiment, the set of anti-rotation means, consisting of the two container-side anti-rotation protrusions 2e and the stopper-side anti-rotation protrusion 3c, is also provided at a position rotated 180° around the axis O. However, the anti-rotation means is not limited to this and may also use a ratchet structure, for example.

As shown in Figure 1(e), the outer peripheral surface of the outer tube 3a is provided with outward claws 3d that protrude radially outward. Furthermore, as shown in Figures 1(c) and 1(d), two plug-side protrusions 3e are provided circumferentially spaced apart on the outer peripheral surface of the outer tube 3a above the outward claws 3d.

The upper end of the outer cylinder 3a is provided with a connecting portion 3f, which extends radially inward, then downward, and then again radially inward. The inner edge of the connecting portion 3f is provided with a conical inner cylinder 3g that extends downward and tapers in diameter. The inner cylinder 3g is provided with a communication port that penetrates radially through it. In this embodiment, a total of two communication ports are provided, located 180° apart around the axis O. Here, the communication port located to the left of the axis O in Figures 1(a) and (g) is referred to as the first communication port 3h, and the one located to the right is referred to as the second communication port 3j. As shown, the lower end (first lower end 3k) of the first communication port 3h is located below the lower end (second lower end 3m) of the second communication port 3j.

The measuring member 4 surrounds the outer cylinder 3a and has a cylindrical outer wall 4a with a smaller diameter at the top than at the bottom. As shown in Figure 1(e), the inner surface of the outer wall 4a is provided with inward claws 4b that protrude radially inward and engage with the outward claws 3d. Furthermore, as shown in Figures 1(c) and 1(d), the inner surface of the outer wall 4a is provided above the inward claws 4b with measuring member-side protrusions 4c that protrude radially inward.

The outer peripheral surface of the outer wall 4a is provided with a male threaded measuring member side thread portion 4d. In this embodiment, the measuring member side thread portion 4d is a double-start thread.

A top wall 4e extending radially inward is provided at the upper end of the outer peripheral wall 4a. A conical cylindrical peripheral wall 4f is provided at the inner edge of the top wall 4e, extending downward along the inner peripheral surface of the inner cylinder 3g so as to taper in diameter. A single granular material inlet 4g is provided radially penetrating the peripheral wall 4f. The upper end of the peripheral wall 4f (the connection between the peripheral wall 4f and the top wall 4e) is provided with a granular material outlet 4h that opens upward and through which granular material R is discharged, as described below. Furthermore, a protrusion 4j protruding upward is provided at the upper end of the peripheral wall 4f on the side facing the granular material inlet 4g (the side rotated 180° around the axis O from the granular material inlet 4g).

A bottom wall 4k is provided at the lower end of the peripheral wall 4f, connecting to the peripheral wall 4f. The bottom wall 4k is inclined so that the edge on the opposite side (the side rotated 180° around axis O relative to the protrusion 4j) is positioned below the edge on one side connecting to the peripheral wall 4f (the edge on the side where the protrusion 4j is located in Figure 1(a)).

When the metering member 4 is attached to the plug 3 as shown in the figure, the inward claws 4b engage with the outward claws 3d, preventing it from slipping out of the plug 3. Furthermore, when the metering member 4 is attached to the plug 3, it can be rotated around the axis O relative to the plug 3. When the metering member 4 is rotated relative to the plug 3, the metering member protrusion 4c fits between the two plug protrusions 3e, as shown in FIG. 1(d), restricting the rotation of the metering member 4 relative to the plug 3. The metering member protrusion 4c can overcome the plug protrusion 3e, allowing the metering member 4 to be rotated from the position shown in FIG. 1(d). In this embodiment, the set of rotational position restricting means, consisting of the two plug protrusions 3e and the metering member protrusion 4c, is also located at a position rotated 180° around the axis O. Furthermore, the position where the measuring member side protrusion 4c fits between the two stopper side protrusions 3e is the position where the granular material inlet 4g and the first communication port 3h communicate, or the position where the granular material inlet 4g and the second communication port 3j communicate.

The space defined by the peripheral wall 4f and bottom wall 4k and located below the lower end (first lower end 3k in Figure 1(a)) of the first communication port 3h or second communication port 3j that communicates with the granular material inlet 4g is referred to as the measuring space K. In this embodiment, when the granular material inlet 4g and first communication port 3h communicate as shown in Figure 1(a), the measuring space K can accommodate one granular material R. As shown in Figure 1(b), the outer wall 4a is provided with a mark (measuring member side mark 4m), which in this embodiment is shown as a downward arrow, and the outer cylinder 3a is provided with a single circular mark (main body side mark 3n) that indicates the number of granular materials R accommodated in the measuring space K. As will be described later, when the measuring member 4 is rotated 180 degrees from the state shown in Figure 1(a) so that the granular material inlet 4g and the second communication port 3j are connected, two granular materials R can be accommodated in the measuring space K. In addition, the main body side mark 3n is also provided at a position rotated 180 degrees around the axis O from this single circular mark, and two circular marks are provided at this position.

The cap 5 has a cap outer wall 5a that surrounds the upper part of the outer wall 4a. A female-threaded cap thread portion 5b is provided on the inner surface of the cap outer wall 5a. The cap thread portion 5b screws into the measuring member thread portion 4d, and the cap 5 is attached to the measuring member 4 by rotating the cap 5 in a direction that tightens the cap thread portion 5b relative to the measuring member thread portion 4d. The upper end of the cap outer wall 5a is provided with a disk-shaped top wall 5c that extends radially inward and covers the granular material discharge port 4h. The underside of the top wall 5c is provided with an annular sealing protrusion 5d that contacts the inner surface of the peripheral wall 4f when the cap 5 is attached to the measuring member 4, sealing off the inside of the peripheral wall 4f.

To remove granular material R from the granular material storage container 1 configured as described above, the granular material storage container 1 is shifted from the upright position shown in Figure 1(a) to an inverted position (or tilted position) as shown in Figure 2(a). This causes the granular material R in the storage space S to fall under its own weight toward the top wall 5c, and then pass through the first communication port 3h and the granular material inlet port 4g to be introduced inside the peripheral wall 4f.

Then, as shown in Figure 2(b), the granular material storage container 1 is shifted to an upright position. Here, the bottom wall 4k is lower on the side where the first communication port 3h is located than on the side where the second communication port 3j is located. In other words, the granular material R that has moved inside the peripheral wall 4f attempts to slide down along the inclined bottom wall 4k, and of the granular material R introduced into the peripheral wall 4f, the granular material R located above the first lower end 3k passes through the granular material inlet 4g and the first communication port 3h and falls into the storage space S. In other words, only one granular material R remains in the weighing space K.

Then, the cap 5 is removed by rotating it in a direction that releases the threaded engagement between the metering member-side thread portion 4d and the cap-side thread portion 5b. In this embodiment, the metering member-side thread portion 4d and the cap-side thread portion 5b are double-threaded, allowing the cap 5 to be removed with a small amount of rotation. When removing the cap 5, it is preferable to hold down the metering member 4 with your fingers to prevent it from rotating with the cap 5. However, in this embodiment, the metering member-side protrusion 4c fits between the two stopper-side protrusions 3e, and the metering member 4 is lightly prevented from rotating relative to the stopper 3. Therefore, the cap 5 can be removed without holding down the metering member 4 with your fingers.

Then, using the protrusion 4j as a guide, the granular material storage container 1 is tilted so that the side with the protrusion 4j is positioned downward, as shown in Figure 2(c). This allows one granular material R contained in the measuring space K to be removed from the granular material discharge outlet 4h.

The granular material storage container 1 of this embodiment is also capable of dispensing two granular materials R. In this case, the measuring member 4 is rotated 180° from the state shown in Figure 1 to connect the granular material inlet 4g and the second communication port 3j. As mentioned above, the main body side mark 3n shown in Figure 1(b) is provided as two circular marks at a position rotated 180° relative to the outer cylinder 3a. In other words, when the measuring member 4 is rotated 180°, the downward arrow of the measuring member side mark 4m is pointed toward the two circular marks, visually indicating that two granular materials R can be dispensed.

Then, the granular material storage container 1 is shifted from its upright position to an inverted position as shown in Figure 3(a). This causes the granular material R in the storage space S to fall toward the top wall 5c, pass through the second communication port 3j and the granular material inlet port 4g, and be introduced inside the peripheral wall 4f.

After that, when the granular material storage container 1 is shifted to an upright position as shown in Figure 3(b), of the granular material R introduced into the peripheral wall 4f, the granular material R located above the second lower end 3m passes through the granular material inlet 4g and the second communication port 3j and falls into the storage space S. The height of the second lower end 3m is set so that two granular materials R can be stored in the weighing space K defined by the peripheral wall 4f and the bottom wall 4k below the second lower end 3m. In other words, in the state shown in Figure 3(b), only two granular materials R remain in the weighing space K.

Then, by tilting the granular material storage container 1 so that the side with the protrusion 4j is positioned downward as shown in Figure 3(c), the two granular materials R contained in the measuring space K can be removed from the granular material discharge outlet 4h.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this specific embodiment, and unless otherwise specified in the above description, various modifications and variations are possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims. Furthermore, the effects of the above embodiment are merely examples of the effects that can be obtained from the present invention, and do not mean that the effects of the present invention are limited to the above-mentioned effects.

For example, in this embodiment, the weighing space K is sized to accommodate one or two granular objects R, and is configured so that the number of granular objects R dispensed can be changed by rotating the weighing member 4, but this switching function does not have to be provided. The number of granular objects R dispensed in the weighing space K can be changed by appropriately selecting the height of the first lower end 3k and second lower end 3m and the inner diameter of the peripheral wall 4f. In this embodiment, the first and second communication ports 3h and 3j are located 180 degrees around the axis O, allowing the number of granular objects R dispensed to be changed in two ways. However, it is also possible to change the number of granular objects R dispensed in three ways by, for example, providing three communication ports located 120 degrees around the axis O.

In this embodiment, the "container" is comprised of two components, the container body 2 and the stopper 3. However, they may be combined into a single component, or may be comprised of three or more components. In this embodiment, the rotational position control means is comprised of two stopper-side protrusions 3e and two measuring member-side protrusions 4c. However, other configurations (e.g., a configuration in which a portion of the outer peripheral surface of the outer tube 3a is recessed radially inward to form a recess into which the measuring member-side protrusion 4c fits, or a configuration in which a portion of the inner peripheral surface of the outer wall 4a is recessed radially outward to form a recess into which the stopper-side protrusion 3e fits) may also be employed. Furthermore, the cap 5 is not limited to being attached to the measuring member 4 by a screw mechanism; it may be attached by an undercut, or it may be connected to the measuring member 4 by a hinge and swing relative to the measuring member 4. When using a hinge, it is preferable to position the hinge facing the side with the protrusion 4j so that the side with the protrusion 4j is positioned downward when removing the granular material R.

1: Granular material storage container 2: Container body (container)
2a: bottom portion 2b: body portion 2c: mouth portion 2d: container-side threaded portion 2e: container-side anti-rotation protrusion 3: plug (container)
3a: outer tube 3b: plug-side threaded portion 3c: plug-side anti-rotation protrusion 3d: outward claw-shaped portion 3e: plug-side protrusion (rotation position restricting means)
3f: Connection part 3g: Inner cylinder 3h: First communication port (communication port)
3j: Second communication port (communication port)
3k: First lower end 3m: Second lower end 3n: Main body side mark 4: Measuring member 4a: Outer peripheral wall 4b: Inward claw-shaped portion 4c: Measuring member side protrusion (rotational position regulating means)
4d: Measuring member side threaded portion 4e: Top wall 4f: Peripheral wall 4g: Granular material inlet 4h: Granular material outlet 4j: Protrusion 4k: Bottom wall 4m: Measuring member side mark 5: Cap 5a: Cap outer peripheral wall 5b: Cap side threaded portion 5c: Top wall 5d: Seal protrusion K: Measuring space O: Axis R: Granular material S: Storage space

Claims (6)

a container having a storage space for storing granular material and an inner cylinder provided with a communication port communicating with the storage space , the communication port radially penetrating the inner cylinder ;
a measuring member having a measuring space defined by a peripheral wall inserted into the inner cylinder and a bottom wall connected to a lower part of the peripheral wall and located below a lower end of the communication port, a granular material inlet penetrating the peripheral wall in the radial direction and communicating the storage space with the measuring space in the radial direction via the communication port, and a granular material outlet provided in an upper part of the peripheral wall and communicating with the measuring space,
The bottom wall is inclined such that the edge on one side, which is connected to the peripheral wall, is positioned below the edge on the other side, which is opposed to the edge on the one side. The measuring member is held rotatably around the axis of the inner cylinder relative to the container,
2. The granular material storage container according to claim 1, wherein the inner cylinder is provided with a plurality of communication openings, and a lower end of one of the communication openings is located lower than lower ends of the other communication openings. A granular material storage container as described in claim 2, further comprising a rotational position restricting means disposed between the container and the measuring member, which restricts rotation of the measuring member relative to the container at positions where the granular material inlet communicates with each of the plurality of communication ports. a container having a storage space for storing granular material and an inner cylinder provided with a communication port communicating with the storage space;
a measuring member having a measuring space defined by a peripheral wall inserted inside the inner cylinder and a bottom wall connected to a lower part of the peripheral wall, a granular material inlet penetrating the peripheral wall and communicating the storage space with the measuring space via the communication port, and a granular material outlet provided in an upper part of the peripheral wall and communicating with the measuring space,
the bottom wall is inclined such that an edge portion on one side, which is connected to the peripheral wall, and an edge portion on the other side, which is opposed to the edge portion on the one side, is positioned below the edge portion on the one side ,
The measuring member is held rotatably around the axis of the inner cylinder relative to the container,
A granular material storage container , wherein the inner cylinder is provided with a plurality of communication ports, and the lower end of one of the communication ports is located lower than the lower ends of the other communication ports . The granular material container according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the measuring member has a protrusion provided on an upper portion of the peripheral wall on a side facing the granular material inlet. The granular material container according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , further comprising a cap attached to the measuring member or the container to cover the granular material discharge outlet.