JP7725320B2 - Pour tool - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a spout that can prevent weakened parts from breaking due to impact from a drop or water hammer.

When using a widely used pouring tool such as a cap or spout attached to a container for storing liquids such as seasonings, first the top lid is removed from the pouring tool body, and then the pull ring formed on the pouring tool body is pulled up, breaking the weakened portion that defines the intended opening, which is then removed to form the pouring opening.
However, if the container is accidentally dropped on its top lid while in an inverted position, the impact of the fall may apply an external force to the top lid, causing the weakened portion to break. Furthermore, not only when the container is in an inverted position, but also when it is dropped on its bottom while upright, the weakened portion may break due to a water hammer caused by the contents suddenly impacting the intended opening portion from the underside of the cap body.

Patent No. 4330187

To solve this problem, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a hinge cap with an arc-shaped protrusion formed on the top cover. In this hinge cap, the arc-shaped protrusion is located outside the cylindrical protrusion when the top cover is closed. Therefore, when an external force is applied to the cap, the arc-shaped protrusion abuts against the upper surface of the top plate, preventing breakage of the score.
However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, if the contents collide suddenly from the underside of the cap body against the intended opening portion due to a water hammer, it is structurally impossible for the arc-shaped protrusion to support the pressure acting on the intended opening portion because the arc-shaped protrusion is located outside the cylindrical protrusion, and there is a risk that the weakened portion will break.

Furthermore, the applicant's previous application (Patent Application No. 2021-030240) describes a hinge cap in which a protrusion is formed at the intended opening portion, the tip of which is fixed to the top cover, making it possible to reduce the initial opening force. However, with this type of configuration, the structure is prone to stress concentration in the weakened portion in the event of a drop or other impact, posing a problem of the weakened portion being prone to fracture.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a spout that effectively prevents the weakened portion from breaking due to external forces acting on the top lid when it is dropped and also effectively prevents the weakened portion from breaking due to the contents striking the intended opening portion from the underside of the cap body when water hammer occurs.

According to the present invention, a pouring tool is provided which comprises a main body comprising at least a top plate portion, the top plate portion having a partition wall having an intended opening portion defined by a weakened portion, and a pouring nozzle surrounding the partition wall, and an upper lid which covers the top plate portion of the main body and which comprises a top surface and a skirt portion hanging down from the periphery of the top surface, the inner surface of the top surface having a sealing tubular portion extending in the axial direction,
a rib having an axial length that is positioned within the pouring nozzle in a closed state and at least a tip of which is in contact with or close to the intended opening portion is formed on the top surface of the upper lid on the inner side of the sealing cylindrical portion ;
The spout is characterized in that the tip of the rib intersects with the weakened portion and contacts or is close to both the intended opening portion of the partition and the outside of the intended opening portion .

In the spout of the present invention.
1. The rib is composed of a plurality of ribs;
2. The main body and the top cover are connected by a hinge, and a protrusion extending in the axial direction is formed on the side of the main body opposite the hinge of the intended opening portion, and the tip of the protrusion is fixed to the inner top surface of the top cover when the top cover is in a closed state.
3. The tip of the protrusion is fixed to the top cover by welding to the inner surface of the top surface of the top cover;
4. The shape of the intended opening portion has a shape in which the distance between the pouring direction and the direction perpendicular to the pouring direction decreases as the portion moves in the pouring direction, and the tip angle at the end portion on the pouring direction side is an acute angle;
5. It is a hinge cap.
is preferred.

In the spout of the present invention, a rib is formed on the top surface of the lid, inside the sealing tube, that is located within the spout nozzle in the closed state and has an axial length such that at least its tip contacts or is close to the intended opening portion. Therefore, when the container is dropped upside down, the weakened portion is effectively prevented from breaking due to an external force acting on the lid from the impact of the drop, and the weakened portion is also effectively prevented from breaking due to the contents hitting the intended opening portion when a water hammer occurs.
In other words, when the container is dropped upside down, the external force acting on the top lid is transmitted to the top plate, but because the rib is formed inside the sealing tube, the external force is supported by the partition wall and the weakened portion does not break. Furthermore, when a water hammer occurs, pressure caused by the collision of the contents from below the cap body acts on the partition wall having the intended opening portion, but because the rib is in contact with or close to the intended opening portion, the rib supports the intended opening portion against the pressure from the contents, preventing the weakened portion from breaking.

In addition, in this invention, the ribs support the partition wall having the intended opening portion against external forces, etc., so even if the intended opening portion is formed relatively thin, unintended rupture of the weakened portion can be effectively prevented, improving openability. Furthermore, the total amount of material making up the partition wall can be reduced, making it possible to reduce costs.

This is a diagram to explain the state before the top lid and cap body are fixed to each other in an example where the spout of the present invention is a hinge cap, (A) is a top view, (B) is a side cross-sectional view, and (C) is a bottom view. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing a state in which the top cover is fixed to the cap body in the hinge cap shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the hinge cap shown in FIG. 2 in a completely opened state. FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the hinge cap shown in FIG. 2 at the moment when an external force is applied from diagonally above the hinge side of the upper cover. FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the hinge cap shown in FIG. 2 at the moment when an external force is applied from an obliquely upward direction on the flange side of the upper cover. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the position of a rib on the cap body side in the hinge cap shown in FIG. 1 in a state before the top cover and the cap body are fixed together. FIG. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other embodiments of the rib and the position of the rib on the cap body side when the spout of the present invention is a hinged cap. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing other embodiments of the rib and the position of the rib on the cap body side when the spout of the present invention is a hinged cap.

A case in which the spout of the present invention is a hinged cap will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 to 8 comprises a cap body 1 and an upper cover 3 hingedly connected to the cap body 1 (the hinge connection portion is indicated by 2). The cap body 1 comprises at least a top plate portion 11, which is formed with a partition wall 42 having an intended opening portion 14 defined by a weakened portion 15, and a dispensing nozzle 16 surrounding the partition wall 42.

In the illustrated example, as is clear from Fig. 1(B), an inner ring 13 is formed on the inner surface of the top plate portion 11, extending downward at a distance from the cylindrical side wall 12. The container opening is fitted into the space between this inner ring 13 and the cylindrical side wall 12, and the cap body 1 is attached to the container opening (not shown).
1(A), the partition wall 42 has an intended opening portion 14, which serves as an opening for taking out the contents, formed integrally with the partition wall 42 via an endless weakened portion 15. By tearing the weakened portion 15 and peeling off the intended opening portion 14, the intended opening portion 14 becomes a pouring opening (shown as A in FIG. 3). The intended opening portion 14 will be described later.

A dispensing nozzle 16 is formed on the upper surface of the partition 42 so as to surround the partition 42, and the contents taken out through the dispensing opening A formed in the partition 42 are guided along this dispensing nozzle 16. This dispensing nozzle 16 is formed with a low profile on the side of the hinge connection part 2 with the top lid 3. A low circumferential protrusion 17 is formed outside the dispensing nozzle 16 to hold the top lid 3 in place.
The cylindrical side wall 12 of the cap body 1 is divided into an inner wall 12a and an outer wall 12b by an arc-shaped slit 18 extending downward from the upper end, forming a double-wall structure in which the inner wall 12a and the outer wall 12b are connected at the lower end via a circumferential score 19. This double-wall structure is formed so that the cap body 1 can be easily removed from the container opening after the liquid in the container has been poured out.

On the other hand, the top cover 3 is hinged to the upper end portion of the cylindrical side wall 12 (the outer wall 12b formed by the slit 18) of the cap body 1. As can be seen from Figure 1, this hinge connection portion 2 is formed from a wide band portion 2a in the center and narrow band portions 2b, 2b on both sides in the circumferential direction.
Although not shown, an axial score extending from the upper end to the lower end or its vicinity is formed on the outer wall 12b near the hinge connection portion 2. As a result, when the top cover 3 is opened and pulled downward, the axial score is torn and the outer wall 12b is broken. Next, by forcing the top cover 3 counterclockwise (as viewed from the top view of FIG. 1(A)), the circumferential score 19 is broken, allowing the cap body 1 to be easily removed from the container opening. The means for removing such a hinge cap from the container opening is known per se, and is described in detail, for example, in JP 2018-058622 A.

The top lid 3 is formed of a top surface 31 and a skirt portion 32 extending from the periphery of the top surface 31. A sealing tubular portion 33 is formed on the inner surface of the top surface 31. As a result, as shown in Figure 2, when the top lid 3 is rotated and closed around the hinge connection portion 2 as an axis, the sealing tubular portion 33 comes into close contact with the inner surface of the pouring nozzle 16, and this close contact ensures sealing after the intended opening portion 14 is peeled off to form the pouring opening A.
In addition, a recess 34 is formed in the lower part of the inner surface of the skirt portion 32 of the top cover 3, and the upper end of the aforementioned circumferential protrusion 17 engages with this recess 34, thereby stably holding the closed top cover 3.
Furthermore, a flange 35 for opening is provided on the outer surface of the lower end of the skirt portion of the top cover 3, on the side opposite the hinge connection portion 2, and the top cover 3 can be easily opened by hooking this flange 35 with a finger and lifting the top cover 3 upward.
A wall portion 36 capable of accommodating the tip of a protrusion 20 formed in a planned opening portion of the cap body 1, which will be described later, is formed on the top surface 31 of the top cover 3. The wall portion 36 will be described later.

A protrusion 20 extending in the cap axial direction is formed at a position opposite to the hinge of the intended opening portion 14 of the partition 42 of the cap body (the pouring direction side), and the tip 20a of this protrusion 20 is fixed to the inner surface of the top surface 31 of the top lid 3 when the top lid 3 is in the closed state, as is clear from Figure 2.
The protrusion 20 has a hollow truncated cone shape, with a step 20b formed at the tip 20a. As is clear from Figure 2, the outer surface of the tip 20a is in close proximity to (or abuts against) the inner circumferential surface of a wall 36 of the top cover 3, which will be described later, and the upper surface of the tip 20a abuts against the inner surface of the top surface 31 of the top cover 3, so that the tip 20a is housed in a recess 37 defined by the wall 36. In the specific example shown in the figure, small protrusions 38 are further formed within the recess 37 of the top cover 3. The formation of these small protrusions 38 increases the welding surface area when welding the tip 20a to the upper surface, enabling stronger welding.

It is preferable that the protrusion 20 has a hollow truncated cone shape. This prevents a decrease in dimensional stability due to sink marks in the resin during molding. An annular ridge (not shown) may also be formed on the hollow inner surface of the protrusion 20 at approximately the midpoint of its axial height. When molding the cap, a pin is inserted into the hollow portion of the protrusion. If the pin is removed while the protrusion is still in close contact with the pin, the weakened portion may break. However, the presence of the annular ridge effectively prevents such breakage of the weakened portion.

An important feature of the present invention is that a rib 41 is formed inside the sealing tube portion 33 on the top surface of the upper lid 3, which is located within the dispensing nozzle 16 when the cap is closed, and has an axial length such that its tip contacts or is close to the intended opening portion 14.
Close proximity means that under normal circumstances, the tip of the rib 41 and the intended opening portion 14 are slightly spaced apart and do not come into contact, but in the event of a drop impact or water hammer, the tip of the rib 41 and the intended opening portion 14 are in contact with each other.
When the container is dropped in an inverted state and receives an impact, the force acts on the intended opening portion 14 from the top lid 3 through the protrusion 20, the tip of which is fixed to the top lid, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. Here, as the top lid is deformed by the external force, the tip of the rib 41 comes into contact with the partition wall 42 having the intended opening portion 14. In this way, the rib 41 withstands the external force, effectively preventing the weakened portion 15 from breaking.

In addition to the inverted state, if the container bottom is dropped while upright, a water hammer occurs, causing the contents to crash from the underside of the cap body into the partition wall 42 with the intended opening portion 14, exerting pressure on the partition wall 42. The pressure causes the partition wall 42 to deform, causing the rib 41 to come into contact with the partition wall 42 with the intended opening portion. Thus, the rib 41 withstands the pressure of the water hammer, effectively preventing the weakened portion 15 from breaking.

The position of the rib 41 may be formed anywhere as long as it is on the circumferential inside of the sealing cylindrical portion 33, but if the tip of the rib 41 is located only outside the intended opening portion 14 (circumferential outside of the weakened portion 15), it is possible to prevent the weakened portion 15 from breaking due to the external force of the upper cover caused by the impact of a fall, and if the rib 41 is located only on the intended opening portion 14 (circumferential inside of the weakened portion 15), it is possible to prevent the weakened portion 15 from breaking due to the pressure caused by a water hammer.
From the viewpoint of suppressing fracture of the weakened portion 15 from both the external force due to the impact of a drop and the pressure due to a water hammer, it is preferable that the tip of the rib 41 intersect with and contact or be close to the weakened portion 15. Furthermore, when the rib 41 is formed from a plurality of ribs, as long as each rib is formed in contact with or close to both the inner and outer circumferential sides of the intended opening portion 14, the same effect can be achieved even if the tip of the rib 41 does not intersect with the weakened portion 15.

Furthermore, in the present invention, it is possible to form the partition 42 relatively thin. In other words, because the rib 41 prevents the weakened portion from breaking, the partition 42 can be made thinner, which is expected to improve openability, while also reducing the amount of material used and keeping costs down.

The rib 41 is not limited to the curved shape shown in the figure, and can take on a variety of shapes. The rib 41 may also be made up of multiple ribs, but it is preferable that the shape does not buckle due to external forces or water hammer. For example, it may be U-shaped as shown in Figure 6, or a U-shape formed by multiple ribs as shown in Figure 7, or a V-shape as shown in Figure 8. In Figures 6 to 8, the position of the rib on the cap body side when closed is indicated by a dotted line.

Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the top plate portion 11 has a recessed portion 51 consisting of a flexible annular vertical wall 52 and a partition wall 42 that extends axially downward from the inner portion of the base of the dispensing nozzle.

When the container is dropped in an inverted state and receives an impact, an external force acts from the upper lid 3 on the top plate portion 11 having the intended opening portion 14. At this time, the flexible annular vertical wall 52 bends radially as shown in Figures 4 and 5. Thus, the annular vertical wall 52 absorbs the external force, effectively preventing the weakened portion 15 from breaking.
Furthermore, when the container bottom is dropped and impacted not only in the inverted state but also in the upright state, a water hammer occurs, and the contents suddenly collide from the underside of the cap body with the partition wall 42 having the intended opening portion 14, exerting pressure on the partition wall 42. At this time, the flexible annular vertical wall 52 bends radially, just as when the container is dropped in the inverted state. Thus, the annular vertical wall 52 absorbs the pressure, effectively preventing the weakened portion 15 from breaking.
The combination of the impact absorbing effect of the annular vertical wall 52 and the effect of the rib 41 further enhances the effect of suppressing breakage of the weakened portion.

From the viewpoint of shock absorption, the partition wall 42 is preferably formed at a position lower than half the axial length of the annular vertical wall 52. This is because the presence of a certain or greater length of the annular vertical wall 52 in the axial length above the partition wall 42 ensures that shock can be absorbed reliably. Note that the attached drawings show a case in which the partition wall 42 is located at the lowest position in the axial length of the annular vertical wall 52.
The weakened portion 15 is preferably formed at a distance from the inner surface of the annular vertical wall 52. If the weakened portion 15 is located near the base of the annular vertical wall 52 and the partition wall 42, there is a risk that the weakened portion 15 will break when the annular vertical wall 52 bends radially to absorb an impact.

In the dispensing device of the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, the top lid 3 is molded in an open state, and then the top lid 3 is closed and the tip 20a of the protrusion 20 is housed in the recess 37 in the wall 36 of the top lid 3, and heated by means such as high-frequency induction heating, so that the tip 20a of the protrusion 20 and the inner top surface of the top lid 3 are fixed to each other in the dispensing direction (Figure 2).
In this way, by fixing the tip 20a of the protrusion 20 to the recess 37 in the wall portion 36, the protrusion 20 is stably fixed to the top lid 3, making it easier to form an opening without the protrusion 20 falling off when the top lid 3 is opened, and even if resin powder is generated when welding the tip of the protrusion to the top lid, the resin powder will not enter the cap.

When opening the cap, the top cover 3 is rotated from the closed state shown in Figure 2 around the hinge connection part 2 as an axis, causing the weakened part 15 to start breaking from the pouring direction side of the intended opening part 14, and by further rotating the top cover 3, the intended opening part 14 is completely peeled off from the partition wall 42 together with the top cover 3, the intended opening part 14 is opened, and a pouring opening A is formed (Figure 3).
When the top lid 3 is resealed to the cap body 1 from the open state shown in Figure 3, the intended opening portion 14 returns to the same position as before opening. This makes it possible to prevent the contents from leaking into the cap from the pouring opening A. Furthermore, this characteristic provides the effect that the contents do not remain inside the cap even when the container is shaken to mix the contents.

As shown in the figure, in the dispensing device of the present invention, the intended opening portion 14 formed on the cap body has a shape in which the distance from the direction perpendicular to the pouring direction decreases as it moves in the pouring direction, and it is preferable that the tip angle at the end on the pouring direction side is an acute angle. This makes it possible to concentrate stress at the end on the pouring direction side where the protrusion 20 is formed during initial opening, and allows the weakened portion 15 to break smoothly. Furthermore, the acute angle at the end on the pouring direction side makes it easy to adjust the amount of content dispensed.

Furthermore, as shown in the specific example in the figure, it is preferable that the hinge-side end also has a generally teardrop shape in which the vertical distance decreases toward the hinge-side end, which allows the intended opening portion 14 to be smoothly removed from the partition wall 42 and effectively prevents the contents from spilling out.
The shape of the intended opening portion can be various shapes, including, but not limited to, the roughly teardrop shape shown in the figure, roughly hexagonal shape (see, for example, Patent No. 4500626 [Figure 2]), roughly spindle shape, roughly four-leaf shape, roughly three-leaf shape, diamond shape, etc.

The spout of the present invention is not limited to the hinged cap described above, but may be a hinged cap with a pull ring, a screw cap, or a spout. The spout of the present invention can also be applied to the opening of a spout for a paper container, as shown in JP-A-2000-326972. In this case, the cap body 1 does not have a cylindrical side wall 12.
The above configurations also have the same advantageous effect of preventing the weakened portion from breaking when subjected to external forces or pressures on the intended opening portion due to the impact of being dropped upside down or water hammer from the contents.

The spout of the present invention can be manufactured by integrally forming the top lid and the cap body by injection molding or the like with the top lid open as shown in Fig. 1, then closing the top lid and fixing the protruding portion to the intended opening portion. Furthermore, by making the protruding portion into a hollow truncated cone shape, it is easy to integrally mold the top lid and the cap body.
The top lid and the cap body can be molded as a single unit and the material can be any material as long as the protrusion can be fixed to the top lid. However, since it is preferable to weld them by high-frequency heating or heat sealing, it is preferable that they be made of a heat-meltable thermoplastic resin.
As such a thermoplastic resin, an olefin resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene can be suitably used.

1 Cap body, 2 Hinge connection portion, 3 Upper lid, 11 Top plate portion, 12 Cylindrical side wall, 13 Inner ring, 14 Opening portion, 15 Weakened portion, 16 Spout nozzle, 17 Circumferential convex portion, 18 Arc-shaped slit, 19 Circumferential score, 20 Protruding portion, 31 Top surface , 32 Skirt portion, 33 Sealing cylindrical portion, 34 Recessed portion, 35 Flange portion, 36 Wall portion, 37 Recessed portion, 38 Small protrusion, 41 Rib, 42 Partition wall, 51 Depressed portion, 52 Annular vertical wall

Claims (6)

A pouring tool comprising: a main body comprising at least a top plate portion, the top plate portion having a partition wall having an intended opening portion defined by a weakened portion, and a pouring nozzle surrounding the partition wall; and an upper lid covering the top plate portion of the main body, the upper lid comprising a top surface and a skirt portion hanging down from the periphery of the top surface, the inner surface of the top surface having a sealing tubular portion extending in the axial direction,
a rib having an axial length that is positioned within the pouring nozzle in a closed state and at least a tip of which is in contact with or close to the intended opening portion is formed on the top surface of the upper lid on the inner side of the sealing cylindrical portion ;
A spouting tool characterized in that the tip of the rib intersects with the weakened portion and contacts or is close to both the intended opening portion of the partition and the outside of the intended opening portion . 2. The spout according to claim 1 , wherein the rib is made up of a plurality of ribs. The main body and the top lid are hingedly connected, and a protrusion extending in the axial direction is formed on the opposite side of the hinge of the intended opening portion of the main body, and the tip of the protrusion is fixed to the inner top surface of the top lid when the top lid is closed. 4. The spout according to claim 3 , wherein the tip of the protrusion is fixed to the top lid by welding to the inner surface of the top surface of the top lid. The shape of the opening portion has a shape in which the distance between the pouring direction and the direction perpendicular to the pouring direction decreases as it goes in the pouring direction, and the tip angle at the pouring direction end is an acute angle. The spout according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , which is a hinged cap.