Synthetic resin spout

Abstract

To provide a new synthetic resin spout which prevents inner surfaces of a container from adhering each other to block a content in the container during suction, and can surely and sufficiently crush the content to be suck to an appropriate size.SOLUTION: An auxiliary cylinder 8 penetrating in an axial direction is arranged below a main cylinder 4 whose outer peripheral surface of a lower end is welded to an inner surface of a mouth part of a container, and an inner rib 56 extending in a radial direction is provided inside the auxiliary cylinder 8.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a synthetic resin spout (pouring outlet) that can be suitably applied to a bag-like container made of a synthetic resin film, known as a pouch. [Background technology]

[0002] Recently, jelly drinks and ice creams have been sold in pouches made of synthetic resin film. These pouches have a spout at the opening, and the user holds the top of the spout in their mouth and sucks, creating a negative pressure inside the container, to drink the contents.

[0003] As an example of such a spout, Patent Document 1 below discloses a synthetic resin spout that includes a tube that penetrates in the axial direction and a cross rib that extends in the axial direction and is connected to the tube via a connecting piece that extends downward from the bottom surface of the tube. A welding-facing surface that faces the inner surface of the mouth of a container and is welded to the outer circumferential surface is defined on the outer circumferential surface of the lower end of the tube. The cross rib prevents the inner surfaces of the container from sticking together and blocking the contents inside the container when a negative pressure is applied inside the container and the inner surfaces of the container approach each other. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-185746 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Incidentally, when the contents are, for example, jelly drinks, the preferred texture varies depending on the taste and properties of the contents, so it is necessary to appropriately adjust the size (graininess) of the contents to be consumed. However, with the spout shown in Patent Document 1, the cross ribs act on the lumpy contents and can cut them out, but they cannot break them into sufficiently small pieces. This is because the cross shape makes it impossible to separate part of the mass. Just to be clear, the above problem is not limited to when the contents are jelly drinks, but can also occur with ice cream, other beverages, liquid seasonings, etc.

[0006] The present invention was made in consideration of the above facts, and its main technical objective is to provide a new and improved synthetic resin spout that prevents the inner surfaces of the container from coming into close contact with each other during drinking, thereby preventing the contents from becoming blocked inside the container, and that can reliably and satisfactorily break up the contents to be drunk into appropriate sizes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] After extensive research, the inventors discovered that the above-mentioned main technical problem could be solved by placing an auxiliary tube that penetrates axially below a main tube whose outer surface at the lower end is welded to the inner surface of the mouth of the container, and by providing an inner rib that extends radially inside the auxiliary tube.

[0008] That is, according to the present invention, as a synthetic resin spout that solves the above-mentioned main technical problem, a synthetic resin spout that is disposed at the opening of a bag-shaped container, a main cylinder and an auxiliary cylinder connected to the main cylinder via a connecting piece extending downward from the bottom surface of the main cylinder, the main cylinder and the auxiliary cylinder having a common central axis and penetrating each other in the axial direction, and an opening opening perpendicular to the axial direction is formed between the main cylinder and the auxiliary cylinder; a welding facing surface that faces the inner surface of the mouth of the container and is welded to the outer surface of the lower end of the main cylinder, while the outer surface of the auxiliary cylinder is not welded to the inner surface of the mouth of the container, The synthetic resin spout is characterized in that an inner rib extending in the radial direction is provided on the inside of the auxiliary cylinder.

[0009] Preferably, the inner rib is disposed at the upper end of the auxiliary cylinder. The inner rib is suitably cross-shaped or I-shaped. A longitudinal rib extending in the axial direction is preferably formed on the outer peripheral surface of the auxiliary cylinder below the opposing welding surface and at a circumferential position different from that of the connecting piece. In this case, the circumferential position at which the longitudinal rib is formed preferably corresponds to the circumferential position at which the inner rib is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the auxiliary cylinder. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the synthetic resin spout of the present invention, even when a negative pressure is applied to the container in which the spout is installed and the inner surfaces of the container are partially in close contact with each other, the contents of the container can be discharged through the opening formed between the main and auxiliary tubes, which opens perpendicular to the axial direction. Furthermore, when a negative pressure is applied to the container, the contents passing through the inside of the auxiliary tube are first separated from the clumps by the inlet edge of the auxiliary tube, and then further crushed by the internal ribs provided on the inside of the auxiliary tube. Because the inlet edge of the auxiliary tube is annular, the contents are reliably separated from the clumps. The size of the crushed contents can be appropriately adjusted by appropriately changing the number and thickness of the internal ribs. The internal ribs are provided on the inside of the auxiliary tube, and the outer peripheral shape of the internal ribs is determined only by a relatively simple mold core (inner core), so this modification can be easily achieved. Therefore, the synthetic resin spout of the present invention prevents the inner surfaces of the container from coming into close contact with each other during drinking, which would otherwise cause the contents to become blocked inside the container, and also ensures that the contents to be drunk are crushed into appropriate sizes with sufficient reliability. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of a synthetic resin spout constructed in accordance with the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the spout shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 3]FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the spout shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a side view of the spout shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 5] 2 is a cross-sectional view of the spout shown in FIG. 1 taken along line VV. [Figure 6] 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the cross section of the spout shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line VI-VI. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the spout shown in FIG. 1 with a cap attached. [Figure 8] 10 is a bottom view of another embodiment of a synthetic resin spout constructed in accordance with the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings showing preferred embodiments of a spout constructed according to the present invention.

[0013] 1 to 6, a spout constructed according to the present invention, generally designated by the numeral 2, is injection-molded as a single unit from a suitable synthetic resin such as soft polyethylene. Spout 2 includes a main cylinder 4 and an auxiliary cylinder 8 connected to main cylinder 4 via a connecting piece 6 extending downward from the underside of main cylinder 4. Main cylinder 4 and auxiliary cylinder 8 share a common central axis and extend axially therethrough, with an opening 10 formed between main cylinder 4 and auxiliary cylinder 8 that opens perpendicular to the axial direction.

[0014] The main barrel 4 has a cylindrical shape overall, although the outer diameter of its upper end is slightly reduced. A male thread 12 is formed on the upper portion of the outer surface of the main barrel 4. The male thread 12 has a non-male thread portion 14 that extends linearly in the axial direction. A ring-shaped axial locking rib 16 is formed below the male thread rib 12. The axial locking rib 16 is frustoconical, with an upper surface 18 whose outer diameter increases downward and a lower surface 20 that extends substantially horizontally. A ring-shaped rib 22 is formed below the axial locking rib 16 and extends substantially horizontally. As can be clearly seen from FIG. 5 , the outer diameter of the main barrel 4 between the axial locking rib 16 and the ring-shaped rib 22 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the remaining portions of the main barrel 4. Four circumferential locking projections 24 are connected to the upper surface of the ring-shaped rib 22 and the outer surface of the main barrel 4 at equal angular intervals in the circumferential direction. As can be seen by referring to the enlarged view of portion X in Figure 2, the circumferential locking projection 24 has a generally right-angled triangular shape in plan view, and includes a flank surface 26 that slopes radially outward in the clockwise direction from the outer circumferential surface of the main barrel 4, and a locking surface 28 that extends radially (and therefore perpendicular to the circumferential direction) from the radially outer end of the flank surface 26 toward the outer circumferential surface of the main barrel 4. Below the annular ridge 22, generally rectangular flat plates 30 and 32 that extend substantially horizontally are arranged at an interval in the axial direction. A plurality of beams 34 are arranged in an H-shape between the two flat plates 30 and 32, connected to and reinforcing the outer circumferential surface of the main barrel 4.

[0015] Continuing the explanation of the main tube 4, the portion of the main tube 4 below the flat plate 32 is designated as the lower end portion and is designated by the number 36. The outer peripheral surface of the lower end portion 36 defines a welding-facing surface 38 that is to be welded to the inner surface of the mouth of a container, which will be described later. As shown in FIG. 3 , in the illustrated embodiment, the lower end portion 36 includes a cylindrical main portion 40 and an additional portion 42, which is a locally enlarged portion of the outer diameter of the main portion 40. Two additional portions 42 are provided, one on each side of the diameter of the main portion 40. An edge 44 of the additional portion 42 extends linearly in the axial direction, and the welding-facing surface 38 is defined by the portion of the lower end portion 36 excluding the edge 44 of the additional portion 42. Three horizontal ribs 46 extending substantially horizontally are formed at equal intervals in the axial direction in the vertical middle portion of the welding-facing surface 38.

[0016] In the illustrated embodiment, the connecting pieces 6 extend downward from the lower surfaces of the two additional portions 42, and in Fig. 1, the opening 10 is formed between the two connecting pieces 6. The connecting piece 6 is also thin plate-shaped, and on both sides thereof, reinforcing ribs 48 are formed that extend downward from the lower surfaces of the additional portions 42 (and therefore the main cylinder 4).

[0017] The auxiliary barrel 8 has an overall cylindrical shape, and the connecting piece 6 is connected to the upper end surface and outer peripheral surface of the auxiliary barrel 8. The outer diameter of the auxiliary barrel 8 is approximately the same as the outer diameter of the main portion 40, which is a part of the lower end 36 of the main barrel 4. On the outer peripheral surface of the auxiliary barrel 8, a longitudinal rib 50 extending in the axial direction is formed below the welding opposing surface 38 defined on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end 36 of the main barrel 4 and at a different circumferential position from the connecting piece 6. As shown in FIG. 3 , in the illustrated embodiment, two longitudinal ribs 50 are formed, one at the circumferential center of each of the two connecting pieces 6 located on both diametrical sides. The longitudinal rib 50 extends from the upper end to the lower end of the auxiliary barrel 8, and a U-shaped groove 52 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the auxiliary barrel 8, surrounding both sides and the lower side of the longitudinal rib 50. If desired, the longitudinal rib 50 and groove 52 may extend linearly from the upper end to the lower end of the auxiliary barrel 8, or the groove 52 may be omitted. As shown in FIG. 4 , the outer surface of the longitudinal rib 50 extends substantially vertically downward from the upper end, and then extends downward at an inward incline. As shown in FIG. 6 , the outer edge of the upper end surface of the longitudinal rib 50 is preferably located outward from the outer peripheral edge of the lower end of the main tube 4 and inward from the outer peripheral edge of the transverse rib 46. As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , a radially extending inner rib 56 is provided on the inside of the auxiliary tube 8. In the illustrated embodiment, the inner rib 56 is cross-shaped, and as can be understood by referring to FIG. 5 , the inner rib 56 is located at the upper end of the auxiliary tube 8. If desired, the inner rib 56 may be I-shaped, as shown in FIG. 8 . The circumferential position at which the inner rib 56 is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the auxiliary tube 8 preferably corresponds to the circumferential position at which the longitudinal rib 50 is formed. In the illustrated embodiment, as clearly shown in FIG. 3 , a longitudinal rib 50 is provided on each side of one side of the cross-shaped inner rib 56. The inner rib 56 is defined only by a mold core (inner core) (not shown) whose outer peripheral surface shape is relatively simple.

[0018] Figure 7 shows the spout 2 together with a synthetic resin lid 100 that is attached to it. The lid 100 includes a top wall 102 and a cylindrical skirt wall 104 that hangs downward from the outer periphery of the top wall 102. A cylindrical seal piece 106 that hangs downward is provided on the underside of the top wall 102. Three ridges 108 extending in the circumferential direction are provided on the outer periphery of the underside of the top wall 102 that is outside the seal piece 106 and on the upper end of the inner surface of the skirt wall 104. When the lid 100 is attached to the spout 2, the outer surface of the seal piece 106 comes into close contact with the inner periphery of the main cylinder 4, and the three ridges 108 support the top surface of the main cylinder 4 and the upper end of the outer periphery, thereby sealing the mouth of the spout 2. A breakable line 110 extending continuously in the circumferential direction is formed from the axial middle to the lower part of the skirt wall 104, and the skirt wall 104 is divided into a skirt main portion 112 above the breakable line 110 and a tamper-evident hem portion 114 below the breakable line 110. An internal thread 116 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the skirt main portion 112 to threadably mate with the external thread 12 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the main tube 4 of the spout 2. Axial extending concave-convex strips 118 are alternately arranged in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the skirt main portion 112, and these concave-convex strips 118 form well-known knurls. An axial lockable protrusion (not shown) and a circumferential lockable protrusion 120 protruding radially inward are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the tamper-evident hem portion 114. The axially locked projection and the circumferentially locked projection 120 are well-known structures that function as described below, and therefore detailed description of their shapes will be omitted.

[0019] When such a lid 100 is attached to the spout 2, the lid 100 is rotated clockwise relative to the spout 2 as viewed from above while fitted onto the main tube 4 of the spout 2. When this is done, the female thread 116 and the male thread 12 thread together, causing the lid 100 to descend relative to the spout 2. At this time, the axial locking projections (not shown) of the lid 100 move downward while being guided radially outward along the upper surfaces 18 of the axial locking protrusions 16 formed on the spout 2, and then elastically climb over the axial locking protrusions 16, while the circumferential locking projections 120 of the lid 100 move circumferentially (clockwise as viewed from above) while being guided radially outward along the relief surfaces 26 of the circumferential locking protrusions 24 formed on the spout 2, and then elastically climb over the circumferential locking protrusions 24. Then, the lower surface of the top wall 102 comes into contact with the top surface of the main tube 4 of the spout 2, thereby stopping the descent.

[0020] When opening the opening of the spout 2, the lid 100 is rotated counterclockwise relative to the spout 2 as viewed from above. When this is done, the female thread 116 and the male thread 12 thread together, causing the lid 100 to rise relative to the spout 2. When the lid 100 has risen to a certain extent relative to the spout 2, an axial locking projection and a circumferential locking projection 120 (not shown) formed on the inner peripheral surface of the tamper-evident bottom portion 114 of the lid 100 respectively lock with the lower surface 20 of the axial locking ridge 16 and the locking surface 28 of the circumferential locking projection 24 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the main cylinder 4 of the spout 2. When the lid 100 is further rotated relative to the spout 2 from this state, the skirt main portion 112 can rise and rotate relative to the spout 2, but the tamper-evident hem portion 114 cannot rise or rotate relative to the spout 2, so stress is concentrated on the breakable line 110 defined between the skirt main portion 112 and the tamper-evident hem portion 114, causing the breakable line 110 to break. After the breakable line 110 is broken, the skirt main portion 112 continues to rise and rotate relative to the spout 2 and is removed from the spout 2, and thus can be sucked from the upper end of the opening of the main tube 4 of the spout 2. Meanwhile, the tamper-evident hem portion 114, which has separated from the skirt main portion 112, drops relative to the spout 2 and is held by the annular ridge 22.

[0021] As shown by the two-dot chain line in Fig. 1 , the spout 2 described above is inserted into the opening of a pouch P filled with contents, with the lower end 36 of the main cylinder 4 and the portion below it. Then, with a welding surface 38 defined on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end 36 of the main cylinder 4 facing the inner surface of the pouch P within the opening of the pouch P, the outer surface of the pouch P corresponding to the welding surface 38 is heated with a required heat welding machine, thereby welding the inner surface of the pouch P to the welding surface 38. When this welding is performed, the horizontal ribs 46 formed on the welding surface 38 are melted. The outer surface of the auxiliary cylinder 8 also faces the inner surface of the pouch P, but the outer surface of the pouch P corresponding to the outer surface of the auxiliary cylinder 8 is not heated with the required heat welding machine, and the outer surface of the auxiliary cylinder 8 is not welded to the inner surface of the pouch P. Thus, the spout 2 is fixed to the mouth of the pouch P, and the mouth of the pouch P is sealed.

[0022] When the user drinks the contents of pouch P, he or she applies a suction to the upper end of spout 2 with the mouth, creating a negative pressure inside pouch P. This causes the contents contained in pouch P to pass through the inside of spout 2 and be expelled from its upper end.

[0023] In a spout constructed according to the present invention, even if a negative pressure is applied to a pouch P (container) in which the spout is installed, causing the inner surfaces of the pouch P to partially adhere to each other, the contents of the container can be discharged through the opening 10, which opens perpendicular to the axial direction, formed between the main tube 4 and the auxiliary tube 8. Furthermore, when a negative pressure is applied to the pouch P, the contents passing through the inside of the auxiliary tube 8 are first separated from the clumps by the entrance edge of the auxiliary tube 8 and then further crushed by the inner ribs 56 provided on the inside of the auxiliary tube 8. Because the entrance edge of the auxiliary tube 8 is annular, the contents are reliably separated from the clumps. The size of the crushed contents can be adjusted by appropriately changing the number and thickness of the inner ribs 56. When the inner ribs 56 are I-shaped as shown in FIG. 8, the size of the crushed contents is larger than when they are cross-shaped. In other words, larger granularity is obtained. The inner rib 56 is provided on the inside of the auxiliary cylinder 8, and the inner rib 56 is determined only by a mold core (inner core) (not shown) whose outer peripheral shape is relatively simple, so the above-mentioned modification can be easily implemented. Therefore, the synthetic resin spout of the present invention prevents the inner surfaces of the pouch P from coming into close contact with each other during inhalation and occlusion of the contents inside the pouch P, and also ensures that the contents to be inhaled and sipped can be crushed into appropriate sizes. In the illustrated embodiment, the inner rib 56 is located at the upper end of the auxiliary cylinder 8, so that the contents are crushed stably into uniform sizes. If the inner rib 56 were located at the lower end of the auxiliary cylinder 8, the contents crushed by the inner rib 56 would come into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the auxiliary cylinder 8 as they moved inside the auxiliary cylinder 8, further reducing the size of the contents, which could result in the contents becoming unstable.

[0024] Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, auxiliary cylinder 8 has axially extending vertical ribs 50 formed on its outer peripheral surface below welded opposing surface 38 defined on the outer peripheral surface of lower end 36 of main cylinder 4 and at a different circumferential position from connecting piece 6 connecting main cylinder 4 and auxiliary cylinder 8. As a result, even if a negative pressure is created inside pouch P (container) and the inner surface of pouch P (container) comes into close contact with the outer surface of auxiliary cylinder 8, gaps are formed between the inner surface of pouch P (container) and the outer surface of auxiliary cylinder 8 on both sides of vertical ribs 50, preventing opening 10 from being blocked by the inner surface of pouch P (container). This allows the contents to be more reliably drawn through opening 10, as shown by the arrows in Fig. 1. At this time, the contents entering main cylinder 4 from opening 10 pass through the gaps formed between the inner surface of pouch P (container) and the outer surface of auxiliary cylinder 8, and are therefore broken into sufficiently small pieces. Furthermore, when inhaling the contents of pouch P, the user may attempt to squeeze pouch P while sucking on the upper end of spout 2 with their mouth. The force applied by the user to pouch P in an attempt to squeeze pouch P acts on auxiliary tube 8, with or without passing through the contents, and tends to deform it radially inward. This force acts concentratedly on longitudinal rib 50, more specifically, on its upper end, which protrudes most radially outward. However, in the illustrated embodiment, the upper end of auxiliary tube 8 is reinforced by inner rib 56 disposed at the upper end, thereby minimizing deformation of the upper end of auxiliary tube 8 due to this force. If the circumferential position at which longitudinal rib 50 is formed corresponds to the circumferential position at which inner rib 56 is connected to the inner circumferential surface of auxiliary tube 8, deformation of the upper end of auxiliary tube 8 due to this force is further prevented.

[0025] Although the pouch constructed according to the present invention has been described above in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, both ends of the inner rib 56 are connected to the inner circumferential surface of the auxiliary tube 8, but only one end of the inner rib 56 may be connected to the inner circumferential surface of the auxiliary tube 8. Furthermore, multiple inner ribs 56 may be arranged at intervals in the axial direction. The shape of the inner rib may be arbitrary. [Explanation of symbols]

[0026] 2: Spout 4: Main cylinder 6: Connecting piece 8: Auxiliary tube 10: Opening 36: Lower end (of main tube) 38: Welding opposing surface 56: Inner rib

Claims

1. A synthetic resin spout disposed at the mouth of a bag-shaped container, a main cylinder and an auxiliary cylinder connected to the main cylinder via a connecting piece extending downward from the bottom surface of the main cylinder, the main cylinder and the auxiliary cylinder having a common central axis and penetrating each other in the axial direction, and an opening opening perpendicular to the axial direction is formed between the main cylinder and the auxiliary cylinder; a welding facing surface that faces the inner surface of the mouth of the container and is welded to the outer surface of the lower end of the main cylinder, while the outer surface of the auxiliary cylinder is not welded to the inner surface of the mouth of the container, The synthetic resin spout is characterized in that an inner rib extending in the radial direction is provided on the inside of the auxiliary cylinder.

2. 2. The synthetic resin spout according to claim 1, wherein the inner rib is disposed at an upper end of the auxiliary cylinder.

3. 2. The synthetic resin spout according to claim 1, wherein the inner rib is cross-shaped or I-shaped.

4. 2. The synthetic resin spout according to claim 1, wherein a vertical rib extending in the axial direction is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the auxiliary cylinder below the opposing welding surface and at a circumferential position different from that of the connecting piece.

5. 5. The synthetic resin spout according to claim 4, wherein the circumferential position at which the vertical rib is formed corresponds to the circumferential position at which the inner rib is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the auxiliary cylinder.

Images