JP7793479B2 - Hinge cap - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a hinge cap consisting of a cap body that is attached to the mouth of a container body and a top lid that is connected to the cap body via a hinge. In particular, the invention relates to a hinge cap that allows for good liquid drainage when pouring the contents, and prevents any liquid from remaining in the pouring tube after pouring.

A hinge cap attached to a container body is provided with a removable partition wall that closes the spout before use, and when in use, the partition wall is removed to open the cap, and the container body is tilted. When the liquid contents are poured out from the spout of the cap body, the liquid contents are usually guided in the pouring direction by a pouring tube that stands upright around the spout.
At this time, the liquid may drip onto the outside of the dispensing tube, causing problems such as dirtying the inside of the hinge cap, making it unsanitary, and unsightly.

For this reason, a known unpluggable hinged cap has a drip prevention fin that protrudes diagonally inward over a specified arc on the upper inner periphery of the lid engagement part on the side opposite the hinge, and the drip prevention fin recovers the contents that drip in the direction of the dispensing tube during dispensing into the container body (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-116126

With the hinge cap described in Patent Document 1 above, even if the liquid drips out of the dispensing tube when the container body is tilted after uncorking, the drip prevention fins can collect the liquid inside the container body. However, due to poor drainage, the liquid drips outward, and depending on the viscosity of the dripping liquid, there is a risk that it may stick to the outside of the cap body.

The present invention aims to solve the above problems by providing a hinge cap that allows the liquid to drain easily when pouring out, prevents dripping onto the outside of the pouring tube, leaves no liquid inside the pouring tube, and maintains a tight seal when closed.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a hinge cap comprising a cap body that is attached to the mouth of a container body and an upper lid that is attached to the cap body via a hinge, wherein the cap body has a pouring tube that pours the content liquid from the container body to the outside, the pouring tube has a sealing surface step that is reduced in diameter at the lower inner circumference, and a liquid-repellent lip surface that curves outward from above the sealing surface step and is liquid-repellent treated, the upper lid has a top wall and a sealing tube that hangs down from the back surface of the top wall and seals the pouring tube, and the sealing tube has a sealing portion at the lower outer circumference that is in close contact with the sealing surface step of the pouring tube, and a guide rib that guides the closing of the sealing tube within a predetermined range on the hinge side when the lid is closed .

As an embodiment of the hinge cap, the guide rib is configured to have a notch whose diameter is reduced from the outer peripheral surface of the sealing cylinder, the dispensing cylinder is configured to have a tip that ends facing upward, and the upper lid is configured to have a liquid-repellent surface on the inside of the sealing cylinder on the underside of the top wall and on the inner peripheral surface of the sealing cylinder.

By adopting the above-described configuration, the hinge cap of the present invention allows for good drainage when pouring out the contents, and no contents remain in the pouring tube of the cap body after pouring, preventing contamination of the inside of the pouring tube and ensuring a reliable seal when the lid is closed.

1 is a side cross-sectional view showing a closed state of a container equipped with a hinge cap according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the hinge cap of the embodiment of the present invention in an open state, in which FIG. 1A is a top view and FIG. 1B is a side cross-sectional view. 1 is a side cross-sectional view showing a state in which the hinge cap according to the embodiment of the present invention is closed.

Next, the hinge cap of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings by way of examples.
In the following description, the upward direction in FIG. 1 is referred to as "upper", the downward direction as "lower", the leftward direction as "pouring side", and the rightward direction as "hinge side".

In FIG. 1, A denotes a cap body that is attached to the mouth 1 of a container body D, and B denotes an upper lid that is attached to the cap body A via a hinge C.
The container body D has a mouth portion 1 at the top, and an engaging ridge 2 that protrudes annularly is provided on the outer periphery of the mouth portion 1 for attaching the cap body A.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the cap body A comprises an attachment portion 5 that is attached to the mouth portion 1 of the container body D, a ring-shaped upper wall 6 that extends inward from the attachment portion 5, a dispensing tube 7 that stands upright from the inner edge of the upper wall 6, and a partition portion 8 that is connected to the lower inner periphery of the dispensing tube 7.

The mounting portion 5 comprises an inner tube wall 9 whose outer periphery fits onto the inner periphery of the mouth portion 1 of the container body D and whose lower end is connected to the upper wall 6; a base wall 10 connected to the upper end of the outer periphery of the inner tube wall 9 and whose lower surface abuts the upper surface of the mouth portion 1; an outer tube wall 11 connected to the outer edge of the base wall 10 and whose inner periphery fits onto the outer periphery of the mouth portion 1; and an outer peripheral wall 12 connected to the outer periphery of the outer tube wall 11 at a distance and having a hinge C connected to a predetermined location at the upper end of the outer periphery.

A lid engaging portion 13 is provided on the upper portion of the base wall 10 to engage with the upper lid B to close the lid, and a mating ridge 14 is provided on the lower end of the inner periphery of the outer cylindrical wall 11.
The lower ends of the outer tube wall 11 and the outer peripheral wall 12 are connected via a connecting portion 15 formed in a predetermined range on the pouring side (opposite the hinge C) and multiple breakable weakening pieces 16 arranged at intervals in other ranges.

The lid engaging portion 13 has a lid engaging projection 17 at the upper end of its outer periphery that projects outward.
When the attachment portion 5 is plugged, it fits into the mouth portion 1 of the container body D, and the mouth portion 1 is clamped between the outer periphery of the inner tube wall 9, the lower surface of the base wall 10, and the inner periphery of the outer tube wall 11, and the lower part of the engaging protrusion 2 of the mouth portion 1 engages with the upper part of the engaging protrusion 14 of the outer tube wall 11, so that the cap body A is attached to the mouth portion 1 of the container body D.

The dispensing tube 7 is high on the dispensing side and low on the hinge C side so as not to interfere with the opening and closing of the sealing tube 32 of the top lid B, which uses the hinge C as a fulcrum when the lid is closed. The entire top end, especially the tip 7a on the dispensing side, is curved outward and points upward to ensure smooth drainage during dispensing.

A sealing surface step 20 is provided around the lower inner periphery of the injection tube 7, and its diameter narrows inward from the top surface of the partition wall 8 to a predetermined height. Above the sealing surface step 20, a liquid-repellent lip surface 21 is provided, which curves outward toward the tip (including the tip 7a) and has a surface that has been treated with a liquid-repellent coating to enhance the water-repellent effect.
The water-repellent effect is obtained by forming a fine uneven structure on the surface, and the method of formation is not particularly limited. The fine uneven structure having the water-repellent effect may be formed by transferring the surface shape of the mold used in injection molding, by insert molding using a water-repellent film as an insert material, by coating, or by vapor deposition. In particular, the vapor deposition formation method easily imparts the water-repellent effect to the liquid-repellent lower surface 37 and the liquid-repellent inner surface 38 of the upper cover B, which will be described later, in addition to the liquid-repellent lip surface 21 of the pouring tube 7.

The partition wall 8 is provided with a breakable weakened section 25, which, when broken, defines a removable section 26 that communicates with the interior of the container body D and forms a pouring outlet. A pull ring 28 is connected to the hinge C side of the removable section 26 via a support post 27.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the upper lid B comprises a top wall 30, a side wall 31 hanging down from the periphery of the top wall 30, and a sealing tube 32 hanging down from the underside of the top wall 30 and inserted into the inner periphery of the dispensing tube 7 of the cap body A to seal it. A hinge C is connected to a predetermined location at the lower end of the outer periphery of the side wall 31, and a knob portion 33 is formed on the opposite dispensing side.
A lid-closing recess 34 is provided at the lower inner end of the side wall 31 to engage with the upper surface and outer periphery of the lid engaging portion 13 of the cap body A and the lid engaging protrusion 17 when the lid is closed, thereby maintaining the lid closed.

The sealing tube 32 has a sealing portion 35 formed around the entire circumference at the lower outer end, which comes into tight contact with the sealing surface step 20 of the dispensing tube 7 of the cap body A when the lid is closed, and a guide rib 36 is vertically disposed on the inner circumference to guide the movement of the sealing tube 32 within a predetermined range on the hinge C side when the lid is closed, as shown in Figure 2(a).
The guide rib 36 has an inner surface 36 a continuing from the inner peripheral surface of the sealing cylinder 32 , and a notch 36 b whose diameter is reduced from the outer peripheral surface of the sealing cylinder 32 .

The inside of the sealing tube 32 on the underside of the top wall 30, the inner peripheral surface of the sealing tube 32, and the inner surface 36a of the guide rib 36 are liquid-repellent lower surface 37 and liquid-repellent inner peripheral surface 38, which have been treated with a liquid-repellent coating to enhance the water-repellent effect of the surface.

Next, the manner of use and the effects of this embodiment will be described.
As shown in Figure 2, the hinge cap of this embodiment is formed by integrally molding the cap body A and the top cover B in an open state via a hinge C, and then rotating the top cover B in the closing direction over the cap body A using the hinge C as a fulcrum to close the cap.

As shown in Figure 3, when the upper lid B is closed, the guide rib 36 formed in a predetermined range on the hinge C side of the sealing cylinder 32 is first inserted into the inside of the sealing surface step portion 20 without abutting the liquid-repellent lip surface portion 21 on the inner circumference of the dispensing cylinder 7 of the cap body A and the hinge C side of the sealing surface step portion 20 when the sealing cylinder 32 begins to move around the hinge C as the center of rotation.
Thereafter, the seal portion 35 at the lower outer periphery of the sealing tube 32 slides against the inner periphery of the seal surface step 20 without abutting against the liquid-repellent lip surface portion 21 on the inner periphery of the dispensing tube 7, and finally, the closing lid recess 34 on the side wall 31 of the upper lid B engages with the upper surface of the lid engagement portion 13 of the cap body A and the outer periphery and lid engagement protrusion 17 to maintain the closed state, and the seal portion 35 at the lower outer periphery of the sealing tube 32 of the upper lid B comes into tight contact with the seal surface step 20 on the inner periphery of the dispensing tube 7 of the cap body A, sealing the inside.

With the hinge cap of this embodiment, even if the position of the top lid B relative to the cap body A shifts toward the hinge C due to deformation of the hinge C while the top lid B is closed, the sealing barrel 32 is guided downward while the notch 36b of the guide rib 36 slides against the upper end of the seal surface step 20, and the lower outer edge of the sealing barrel 32 on the hinge C side is not at risk of coming into contact with the liquid-repellent lip surface 21 of the dispensing barrel 7, so the liquid-repellent lip surface 21 of the dispensing barrel 7 will not be damaged and the water-repellent effect will not be reduced.

As such, the dispensing tube 7 has a seal surface step 20 formed on the lower inner circumference. If the sealing tube 32 were not provided with a guide rib 36, the lower end of the sealing tube 32 would make strong sliding contact with the seal surface step 20, causing the dispensing-side sealing tube 32 to deform significantly radially outward and potentially come into contact with the liquid-repellent lip surface 21 of the dispensing tube 7. However, the guide rib 36 is guided into the seal surface step 20 by the cutout 36b, and then the lower end of the sealing tube 32 slides against the seal surface step 20, preventing the dispensing-side sealing tube 32 from deforming significantly radially outward.

The hinge cap in the closed state is attached to the mouth 1 of the container body D as shown in FIG.
In the stoppering process, the annular groove formed between the inner tube wall 9, base wall 10 and outer tube wall 11 of the cap body A is placed against the mouth 1 of the container body D, and when a pressing force is applied from above the top lid B, the mating protrusion 14 of the outer tube wall 11 first overcomes the engaging protrusion 2 of the mouth 1 and fits into it, and the mouth 1 is clamped by the annular groove and the hinge cap is attached.

When using a container equipped with the hinge cap of this embodiment, the user places their fingers on the knob 33 and lifts it, using the hinge C as a fulcrum to open the top lid B. Then, the pull ring 28 connected to the removable portion 26 defined in the partition wall 8 of the cap body A is pulled upward, and the removable portion 26 is pulled up via the support 27, breaking the thin-walled weakened portion 25 and separating the removable portion 26 from the partition wall 8, removing the cap and opening the spout.

If the liquid content filled in the container body D is a dressing or the like that is to be stirred by shaking the container body D before use, the removal part 26 is separated from the partition part 8 to open the pouring outlet, then the top lid B is closed and the container body D is shaken, and then the top lid B is opened again and the container body D is tilted to pour out the liquid content by guiding it along the inner surface of the pouring tube 7 of the cap body A.
In the hinge cap of this embodiment, the inside of the sealing tube 32 on the underside of the top wall 30 of the upper lid B and the inner surface of the sealing tube 32 are made of a liquid-repellent lower surface portion 37 and a liquid-repellent inner surface portion 38.Therefore, even if the liquid contents adhere to the inside of the sealing tube 32 of the upper lid B by closing the upper lid B and shaking the container body D, the high water-repellent effect means that the liquid contents will immediately flow down and be collected into the container body D through the spout of the partition portion 8, and the liquid contents will not remain inside the sealing tube 32 of the upper lid B and will not stick.

When the container body D is tilted toward the dispensing side and the liquid contents are dispensed, the liquid contents coming out of the dispensing outlet are guided by the seal surface step 20 of the dispensing tube 7 of the cap body A, rectified by the liquid-repellent lip surface 21, and dispensed from the tip 7a.
In this case, the liquid-repellent lip surface portion 21 has a high water-repellent effect, allowing the content liquid to be poured out smoothly and with good drainage.

After the content liquid has been poured out, when the container body D is returned to its upright position, the outflow of the content liquid from inside the pouring tube 7 is stopped and the content liquid is returned to the pouring outlet, and the remaining liquid clinging to the upper end (including the tip 7a) of the pouring tube 7 flows quickly downward along the highly water-repellent liquid-repellent lip surface 21, which gives rise to a flow downward momentum on the sealing surface step 20, and the liquid flows down without remaining on the sealing surface step 20 itself and is returned to the pouring outlet.
In addition, the tip of the dispensing tube 7 is curved outward over the entire circumference and is formed so that the tip ends facing upward, so that the liquid content does not pool and flows down smoothly.

In the hinge cap of this embodiment, when the upper lid B is closed after the contents have been poured out, no liquid remains inside the pouring tube 7 of the cap body A and no liquid sticks, so when the lid is closed, there is good adhesion between the sealing tube 32 of the upper lid B and the sealing surface step 20 of the pouring tube 7.
Since the seal part 35 of the sealing cylinder 32 of the upper lid B does not come into contact with the liquid-repellent lip surface part 21, the liquid-repellent lip surface part 21 is not damaged, and it is possible to prevent the sealing cylinder 32 from coming into contact with the liquid-repellent lip surface part 21 and creating a gap due to the uneven shape of the surface, which would result in failure to seal.

Furthermore, the hinge cap of this embodiment can be separated from the container body D and disposed of separately after the liquid content in the container body D has been used.
First, when the upper lid B is opened and pulled upward, the weakened piece 16 connecting the outer tube wall 11 and the outer peripheral wall 12 of the cap body A breaks, and the hinge C side of the outer peripheral wall 12 is pulled away from the outer tube wall 11, and when the upper lid B continues to be pulled further, the outer tube wall 11 can be easily removed from the mouth 1 of the container body D by curling up from the part connected to the unbreakable connecting part 15.

The hinge cap of the present invention has good liquid drainage when pouring the contents, and no liquid remains in the pouring tube of the cap body after pouring, so it does not soil the inside of the pouring tube and maintains a reliable seal when closed. This makes it suitable for a wide range of uses as a hinge cap for containers that require a hygienic environment, and is particularly suitable as a hinge cap for containers filled with liquid foods such as cooking oil and liquid seasonings.

A Cap body B Top lid C Hinge D Container body 1 Mouth portion 2 Engaging ridge 5 Mounting portion 6 Top wall 7 Dispensing tube 7a Tip portion 8 Partition portion 9 Inner tube wall 10 Base wall 11 Outer tube wall 12 Outer peripheral wall 13 Lid engaging portion 14 Fitting ridge 15 Connecting portion 16 Weakened piece 17 Lid engaging ridge 20 Sealing surface step portion 21 Liquid-repellent lip surface portion 25 Thin-walled weakened portion 26 Removable portion 27 Support 28 Pull ring 30 Top wall 31 Side peripheral wall 32 Sealing tube 33 Knob portion 34 Lid closing recess 35 Sealing portion 36 Guide rib 36a Inner surface 36b Cutout portion 37 Liquid-repellent lower surface portion 38 Liquid-repellent inner peripheral surface portion

Claims (5)

A hinge cap comprising a cap body attached to the mouth of a container body and a top lid attached to the cap body via a hinge,
The cap body has a pouring tube for pouring the liquid content from the container body to the outside,
The injection tube has a sealing surface step portion whose diameter is reduced at the bottom of the inner circumference, and a liquid-repellent lip surface portion that is curved outward from above the sealing surface step portion and has been treated to be liquid-repellent;
The upper lid has a top wall and a sealing tube that hangs down from the back surface of the top wall and seals the pouring tube,
The hinge cap is characterized in that the sealing cylinder has a sealing portion at the lower outer periphery that is in close contact with the sealing surface step portion of the pouring cylinder, and a guide rib that guides the closing of the sealing cylinder within a predetermined range on the hinge side when the lid is closed . 2. The hinge cap according to claim 1, wherein the guide rib has a notch whose diameter is reduced from the outer circumferential surface of the sealing cylinder . 3. The hinge cap according to claim 1 , wherein the dispensing tube is formed so that the tip thereof ends upward . 3. The hinge cap according to claim 1 , wherein the upper cover has a liquid-repellent surface on the inside of the sealing cylinder on the lower surface of the top wall and on the inner peripheral surface of the sealing cylinder . 4. The hinge cap according to claim 3 , wherein the upper cover has a liquid-repellent surface on the inside of the sealing cylinder on the lower surface of the top wall and on the inner peripheral surface of the sealing cylinder.