JP7754672B2 - 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 comprising a main body consisting of at least a top plate portion and a pouring nozzle formed on the top plate portion, a top surface and a skirt portion hanging down from the periphery of the top surface, and a sealing cylindrical portion extending in the axial direction formed on the inner surface of the top surface, and an upper lid covering the top plate portion of the main body,
The main body and the upper cover are hingedly connected to each other,
the main body top plate portion has a recessed portion consisting of a flexible annular vertical wall extending axially downward from an inner portion of a base of the pouring nozzle and a bottom portion, and an opening portion defined by a weakened portion is formed at the bottom of the recessed portion ,
A spout is provided, characterized in that a protrusion extending in the axial direction is formed at a position opposite the hinge of the intended opening portion, and the tip of the protrusion is fixed to the inner top surface of the top lid when the top lid is in a closed state .

In the spout of the present invention ,
1. The bottom portion is formed at a position lower than half the axial length of the annular vertical wall,
2. The weakened portion is formed at a distance from the inner surface of the annular vertical wall.
3. The tip of the protrusion is fixed to the upper lid by welding to the inner surface of the upper lid;
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, the top plate of the main body has a recessed portion consisting of a flexible annular vertical wall extending axially downward from the inside of the base of the spout and a bottom, and an opening portion defined by a weakened portion is formed at the bottom of the recessed 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 top lid due to the impact of the drop, and the weakened portion is also effectively prevented from breaking due to the contents hitting the 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 the annular vertical wall flexes to absorb the external force, preventing the weakened portion from breaking. Furthermore, when a water hammer occurs, the pressure caused by the collision of the contents acts on the bottom portion having the opening from below the cap body, but the annular vertical wall flexes to absorb the pressure, preventing the weakened portion from breaking.

In addition, with this invention, the annular vertical wall flexes in response to external forces, etc., to relieve pressure. This effectively prevents unintended rupture of weakened sections even when the intended opening section is formed relatively thin, improving ease of opening. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the amount of material used to construct the bottom section, thereby reducing 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.

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 5 comprises a cap body 1 and an upper lid 3 hingedly connected to the cap body 1 (the hinged portion is indicated by 2). The cap body 1 comprises at least a top plate portion 11 and a dispensing nozzle 16 formed on the top plate portion. The top plate portion 11 has a recessed portion 51 consisting of an annular vertical wall 52 and a bottom portion 53.

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), an opening 14, which serves as an opening for removing the contents, is formed integrally with the bottom 53 of the recess 51 via an endless weakened portion 15. By tearing the weakened portion 15 and peeling off the opening 14, the opening 14 becomes a pouring opening (shown as A in FIG. 3). The opening 14 will be described later.

A pouring nozzle 16 is formed on the upper surface of the recessed portion 51 so as to surround the recessed portion 51, and the contents taken out through an opening A formed in the bottom portion 53 of the recessed portion 51 are guided along this pouring nozzle 16. This pouring nozzle 16 is formed with a low profile on the side of the hinge connection portion 2 with the top lid 3. A low circumferential protrusion 17 is formed outside the pouring 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 plate portion 31 and a skirt portion 32 extending from the periphery of the top plate portion 31. A sealing tubular portion 33 is formed on the inner surface of the top plate portion 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 plate portion 31 of the upper lid 3. The wall portion 36 will be described later.

A protrusion 20 extending in the axial direction of the cap is formed at a position opposite to the hinge of the intended opening portion 14 of the bottom 53 of the cap body (on the pouring direction side), and the tip 20a of this protrusion 20 is fixed to the inner surface of the top plate portion 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 plate 31 of the top cover 3, so that the tip 20a is accommodated 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 the top plate portion 11 has a recessed portion 51 consisting of a flexible annular vertical wall 52 and a bottom portion 53 that extends axially downward from the inside 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 subjected to a drop impact 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 bottom 53 having the intended opening portion 14, exerting pressure on the bottom 53. At this time, the flexible annular vertical wall 52 bends radially, just as when the container is dropped in an inverted state. Thus, the annular vertical wall 52 absorbs the external force, effectively preventing the weakened portion 15 from breaking.

From the viewpoint of shock absorption, the bottom 53 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 bottom 53 ensures that shock can be absorbed reliably. Note that the figure shows a case in which the bottom 53 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 bottom portion 53, there is a risk that the weakened portion 15 will break when the annular vertical wall 52 bends radially to absorb an impact.

Furthermore, with the present invention, it is possible to form the bottom portion 53 relatively thin. In other words, the bending of the annular vertical wall 52 prevents unintended fracture of the weakened portion, making it possible to make the bottom portion 53 thinner, which is expected to improve openability, while also reducing the amount of material used and keeping costs down.

Furthermore, in the specific example shown in the figure, a rib 41 is formed on the top surface of the top lid 3, inside the sealing tube portion 33, and is positioned within the dispensing nozzle 16 in the closed state, with an axial length such that at least its tip contacts or is close to the intended opening portion 14. Even if the container is dropped in an inverted state, this effectively prevents the weakened portion 15 from breaking due to external forces acting on the top lid 3 from the impact of the fall, and also effectively prevents the weakened portion 15 from breaking due to the contents striking the intended opening portion 14 from the underside of the cap body due to water hammer. The combination of these effects of the rib 41 and the impact-absorbing effect of the annular vertical wall 52 further enhances the effect of preventing the weakened portion from breaking.

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, so that the protrusion 20 does not fall off when the top lid 3 is opened, making it easy to form an opening, and even if resin powder is generated when welding the tip of the protrusion to the top lid 3, 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 2, causing the weakened portion 15 to begin breaking from the pouring direction side of the intended opening portion 14. As the top cover 3 continues to rotate, the intended opening portion 14 is completely peeled off from the bottom portion 53 together with the top cover 3, opening the intended opening portion 14 and forming a pouring opening A (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 dispensing opening A. Furthermore, due to this characteristic, the contents do not remain inside the cap even when the container is shaken to mix them.

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 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 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 end also has a generally teardrop shape in which the vertical distance decreases as it approaches the hinge end, which makes it possible to smoothly remove the intended opening portion 14 from the bottom portion 53 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. Top cover, 11. Top plate portion, 12. Cylindrical side wall, 13. Inner ring, 14. Opening portion, 15. Weakened portion, 16. Dispensing nozzle, 17. Circumferential convex portion, 18. Slit, 19. Circumferential score, 20. Protrusion, 31. Top plate portion, 32. Skirt portion, 33. Sealing cylindrical portion, 34. Recess, 35. Flange portion, 36. Wall portion, 37. Recess, 38. Small protrusion, 41. Rib, 51. Depression portion, 52. Annular vertical wall, 53. Bottom portion

Claims (6)

A pouring tool comprising: a main body consisting of at least a top plate portion and a pouring nozzle formed on the top plate portion; 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 being formed with a sealing cylindrical portion extending in the axial direction.
The main body and the upper cover are hingedly connected to each other,
the main body top plate portion has a recessed portion consisting of a flexible annular vertical wall extending axially downward from an inner portion of a base of the pouring nozzle and a bottom portion, and an opening portion defined by a weakened portion is formed at the bottom of the recessed portion ,
A spouting device characterized in that a protrusion extending in the axial direction is formed at a position opposite the hinge of the intended opening portion, and the tip of the protrusion is fixed to the inner top surface of the top lid when the top lid is in a closed state . The spout described in claim 1, wherein the bottom is formed at a position lower than half the axial length of the annular vertical wall. A spout according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the weakened portion is formed at a distance from the inner surface of the annular vertical wall. 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 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.