Cap

Abstract

To provide a cap that can be formed using a smaller amount of resin than conventional caps and that provides a good feeling of use when opening and closing the cap.SOLUTION: In a cap 51A according to the present invention, which includes top portion 10 having top surface 11 and a tubular portion extending downward from the periphery of top portion 10, the tubular portion includes upper portion 21 continuing to the top portion, and lower portion 22 located below upper portion 21 and having a larger outer diameter than upper portion 21. A plurality of knurls 53, 54 extending in the vertical direction over the upper part and the lower part are provided so as to project from the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder part. The knurls 53 and 54 located in the upper portion 21 cover 75% or more of the outer circumferential surface of the upper portion 21, and the maximum distance along the outer circumferential surface between adjacent knurls is 2.9 mm or less.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cap, and more particularly to a cap produced by resin molding. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Caps having an integral internal thread are conventionally known as sealing means that can be screwed onto the mouth of a container to close the mouth and then rotated in an opening direction to remove from the mouth. When the container is used for refilling purposes, the opening may have a small diameter to facilitate the operation of pouring out a small amount.

[0003] For such caps, a device has been proposed in which knurling is provided around the tubular portion of the cap so that the closed opening can be easily opened with the fingers (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-199280 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In order to reduce the environmental impact of resin molded products, there is a demand for them to be formed using as little resin as possible without sacrificing performance.At the same time, a good user experience when opening and closing caps is also an important factor. The inventors have conducted extensive research to achieve both of these goals and have completed the present invention.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a cap that can be formed using a smaller amount of resin than conventional caps and that provides a good feel when opening and closing the cap. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention is a cap comprising a top portion having a top surface and a tubular portion extending downward from the periphery of the top portion. In this cap, the cylindrical portion includes an upper portion that is continuous with the top portion, and a lower portion that is located below the upper portion and has a larger outer diameter than the upper portion. The cap is provided with a plurality of knurls extending in the vertical direction from the top to the bottom and protruding from the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion. The knurling located on the upper portion covers 75% or more of the outer peripheral surface of the upper portion, and the maximum distance along the outer peripheral surface between adjacent knurlings is 2.9 mm or less.

[0008] Another cap according to the present invention is a cap including a top portion having a top surface and a tubular portion extending downward from the periphery of the top portion. In this cap, the cylindrical portion includes an upper portion connected to the top portion and a lower portion located below the upper portion and having a larger outer diameter than the upper portion. Furthermore, a knurling extending vertically from the upper portion to the lower portion is provided protruding from the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion. The height of the upper surface of the knurling is lower at the upper part than at the lower part, and the amount of protrusion from the outer circumferential surface is greater at the upper part than at the lower part. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The cap according to the present invention can be formed using a smaller amount of resin than conventional caps, and provides a good feel when opening and closing the cap. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a cap according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a prototype cap. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a cap according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the cap. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a perspective view showing a cap 1 according to this embodiment. The cap 1 is made of resin such as synthetic resin, and is threadedly fitted onto the mouth of a container (not shown) to seal the container, and can be removed from the mouth by turning it in the opposite direction to when it was attached.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the cap 1 includes a top portion 10 including a top surface 11 and a periphery of the top portion 10. The cap has a cylindrical portion 20 that extends downward and forms an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface. The diameter of the cylindrical portion 20 gradually increases as it moves away from the top portion, so that the cap has a generally truncated cone-like outer shape that is open on the bottom.

[0013] Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cap 1. Since the external shape of the cap 1 is roughly symmetrical, Fig. 2 shows only half of it in the left-right direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the cylindrical portion 20 has an upper portion 21 that is continuous with the top portion 10, and a lower portion 22 that is located below the upper portion 21 and farther from the top portion 10 than the upper portion 21. The upper portion 21 and the lower portion 22 each have a slightly enlarged diameter, but the diameter is greatly enlarged at the boundary between the upper portion 21 and the lower portion 22, resulting in a step 23 at the boundary between the upper portion 21 and the lower portion 22. A thread 22a is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lower portion 22 for threaded engagement with the opening portion. In the cap 1, by forming the threads 22a only on the lower part 22, it is possible to set the diameter of the upper part 21 small without being restricted by thread fitting, which makes it easier to reduce the amount of resin required to form the cap 1.

[0014] A plurality of knurlings extending in the vertical direction are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tubular portion 20. The knurlings come into contact with the fingers of the user holding the cap 1, preventing the fingers from spinning freely relative to the tubular portion 20, contributing to smooth opening and closing of the cap 1.

[0015] 1 and 2, the cap 1 of this embodiment has two types of knurling. The first knurling 31 extends continuously from the lower portion 22 to the upper portion 21, and the second knurling 32 is provided only within the range of the lower portion 22. The first knurling 31 and the second knurling 32 are alternately and equally spaced around the circumference of the tubular portion 20.

[0016] 3, the inventors first produced a prototype 100 by designing the upper surface 31a of the first knurling 31 (the outermost surface in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical portion 20) to be continuous between the upper portion 21 and the lower portion 22. As a result, the amount of protrusion of the first knurling 31 from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion becomes larger in the upper portion 21, which has a smaller outer diameter, than in the lower portion 22, and this was intended to increase the effect of suppressing the above-mentioned free rotation.

[0017] However, in a sensory test using prototype 100, while the desired effect of suppressing freewheeling was observed, many people commented that their fingers felt pain when opening and closing the device. Based on this, the inventors analyzed the opening and closing movements of many monitors and found that many of the monitors gripped the upper part 21 or a position close to the upper part 21 of the tube part 20 tighter than the inventors had expected. In other words, it was found that gripping the upper part 21 tightly caused the protruding portion of the first knurling 31 to dig strongly into the user's fingers, and rotating the device in this state caused pain.

[0018] A simple solution to this problem would be to increase the outer diameter of the upper portion 21, but this would increase the amount of resin required to form the cap 1, which is not desirable from the perspective of reducing the amount of resin. Furthermore, reducing the outer diameter of the lower portion 22 is also difficult from the perspective of providing the tubular portion 20 with a certain level of strength required for thread engagement while forming the threads 22a.

[0019] Therefore, the inventors tried to make the upper surface of the first knurling 31 not continuous at the same height from the lower part 22 to the upper part 21, as shown in Figure 2, so that the protruding length Pt1 at the upper part is greater than the protruding length Pt2 at the lower part, and the upper surface of the upper part is lower than the upper surface of the lower part.As a result, they succeeded in sufficiently suppressing the occurrence of pain while maintaining the effect of suppressing free rotation. The height of the upper surface of the first knurling 31 in the upper part 21 gradually decreases from the central region when the upper part 21 is divided into three equal parts in the vertical direction toward the upper side, and this configuration also contributes to suppressing the occurrence of pain.

[0020] The inventors produced many prototypes with variously modified shapes of the first knurling and conducted sensory tests, and as a result, the following points became clear. If the protrusion of the first knurling 31 at the top is 0.5 mm or more, the effect of preventing free rotation is good. If the difference in the protrusion amount between the upper and lower parts of the first knurling 31 is 2.0 mm or less, the user is less likely to feel pain. Regarding the second point, it is thought that if the difference in the amount of protrusion between the upper and lower parts is too large, the step between the upper and lower parts is likely to hit the finger hard. Therefore, while the amount of protrusion at the upper and lower parts of the first knurling 31 can be set as appropriate, the effect can be optimized by setting it while taking the above into consideration.

[0021] The cap 1 according to this embodiment, with the above-described configuration, reduces the amount of resin required for production while ensuring that fingers do not slip when opening and closing. Furthermore, pain caused by operation of the fingers is suppressed, and the feel of use is also good.

[0022] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. In the following description, components common to those already described will be assigned the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted.

[0023] In the first embodiment described above, by reducing the amount of protrusion of the knurling at the upper part, it was possible to reduce the amount of resin used and achieve a good usability. On the other hand, having the knurling protrude sufficiently at the upper part is highly effective in suppressing free rotation. Therefore, the inventors have conducted extensive research into a configuration that can achieve a good usability without reducing the amount of protrusion of the knurling on the upper part, and have arrived at the aspect of this embodiment.

[0024] 4 shows the cylindrical portion 20 of the cap 51 according to this embodiment. Similar to the first embodiment, the cylindrical portion has an upper portion 21 and a lower portion 22, and the outer diameter of the upper portion 21 is smaller than the outer diameter of the lower portion 22. The knurling in this embodiment is only knurling 52 that continues from the lower part 22 to the upper part 21, and 16 of them are arranged at equal intervals around the circumference of the tubular part 20. Therefore, the number of knurlings provided on the upper part 21 is greater than in the first embodiment, and the intervals between the knurlings are smaller than in the first embodiment. Based on the results of the sensory test described above, the inventors speculated that shortening the intervals between the knurlings would make it more difficult for the user's fingers to get between the knurlings, thereby reducing the likelihood of the knurling digging in. As a result of repeatedly producing and evaluating many prototypes, they found that by satisfying the following conditions, the user would feel less pain even if the upper and lower surfaces of the knurlings were at the same height. The knurling must cover at least 75% of the outer surface of the upper part 21. The distance between the knurls along the outer periphery of the upper portion 21 is 2.9 mm or less, and more preferably 1.7 mm or less. In this embodiment, based on the above findings, the dimensions of the knurling 52 are set so that the knurling 52 covers 85% or more of the outer peripheral surface of the upper portion, and the distance between the knurlings is 2.81 mm.

[0025] 5 shows the tubular portion 20 of a cap 51A according to a modified example of this embodiment. The cap 51A is provided with two types of knurling: knurling 53 and knurling 54. The knurling 53 and knurling 54 are both continuous from the lower portion 22 to the upper portion 21, and the height of the upper surface is the same at the upper and lower portions, but the width (dimension in the circumferential direction of the tubular portion) is different, with the width of the knurling 54 being narrower than the width of the knurling 53. In the cap 51A, eight knurlings 53 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the tubular portion 20, and three knurlings 54 are arranged at equal intervals between adjacent knurlings 53. In other words, 24 knurlings 54 are arranged. In cap 51A, knurling 53 and 54 cover 78% or more of the outer peripheral surface of upper portion 21, and the distance between knurlings is 1.33 mm between knurlings 53 and 1.6 mm between knurlings 53 and 54. Sensory tests using prototypes showed that cap 51A was less slippery than cap 51 and easier to rotate.

[0026] In this embodiment as well, the height of the upper surfaces of the knurling 52, 53, 54 in the upper portion 21 gradually decreases from the central region toward the upper side when the upper portion 21 is divided into three equal parts in the vertical direction.

[0027] In this embodiment, it has been found that if the knurling sufficiently protrudes from the outer circumferential surfaces of the upper portion 21 and the lower portion 22, the fingers are less likely to spin freely on the cap, making it easier to rotate. Whether or not the knurling sufficiently protrudes from the outer circumferential surfaces is determined by the ratio of the sum of the areas of the outer circumferential surfaces of the upper portion 21 and the lower portion 22 without the knurling to the sum of the surface area of ​​the entire knurling. In measurements of prototypes by the inventors, the above ratio was 85.3% for cap 51 and 124.1% for cap 51A. Considering the difference in the sensory test, it was considered that this ratio should preferably be 80% or more, and more preferably be 120% or more.

[0028] As described above, with the cap according to this embodiment, even if the protrusion of the knurling on the top is set to a relatively high amount, the user is less likely to feel pain in their fingers when operating the cap, and the freewheeling of the fingers during rotation can be more effectively suppressed.

[0029] In this embodiment, the number of types of knurling and the number of each type are not limited to the above example and can be set appropriately within a range that satisfies the above-mentioned points. Furthermore, the multiple knurlings do not necessarily need to be arranged at equal intervals, and may be arranged at uneven intervals as long as the maximum distance between the knurlings satisfies the above-mentioned points.

[0030] Although each embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and configuration changes and combinations within the scope that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention are also included. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1, 51, 51A Cap 10 Heaven 11 Top 20 Cylinder part 21 Upper 22 Lower 31 First knurling (knurling) 52, 53, 54 Knurling

Claims

1. A cap comprising a top portion having a top surface and a tubular portion extending downward from a periphery of the top portion, the cylindrical portion includes an upper portion connected to the top portion, and a lower portion located below the upper portion and having a larger outer diameter than the upper portion, a plurality of knurls extending in the up-down direction from the upper and lower parts are provided protruding from the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical part; The knurling located at the top is Covering 75% or more of the outer peripheral surface of the upper portion, The maximum distance between adjacent knurls along the outer circumferential surface is 2.9 mm or less. cap.

2. The knurling located at the top is The upper portion covers 75% to 80% of the outer peripheral surface thereof, The maximum distance between adjacent knurls along the outer circumferential surface is 1.7 mm or less. The cap of claim 1 .

3. the sum of the surface areas of the knurling is 80% or more of the sum of the areas of the outer peripheral surfaces of the upper and lower portions in a state in which the knurling is not present; The cap of claim 1 .

4. The height of the upper surface of the knurling in the upper portion gradually decreases from a central region when the upper portion is divided into three equal parts in the height direction toward the upper portion. The cap of claim 1 .

5. A cap comprising a top portion having a top surface and a tubular portion extending downward from a periphery of the top portion, the cylindrical portion includes an upper portion connected to the top portion, and a lower portion located below the upper portion and having a larger outer diameter than the upper portion, a knurling extending in the up-down direction from the upper portion to the lower portion is provided protruding from the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion; The knurling is The height of the upper surface is lower at the upper part than at the lower part, The amount of protrusion from the outer circumferential surface is greater in the upper portion than in the lower portion. cap.

6. a difference between the protrusion amount at the upper portion of the knurling and the protrusion amount at the lower portion of the knurling being 2.0 mm or less; The cap according to claim 5.

7. The height of the upper surface of the knurling in the upper portion gradually decreases upward from a central region when the upper portion is divided into three equal parts in a height direction. The cap according to claim 5.

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