Discharge container

Abstract

To create a discharge container capable of suppressing discharge failure by removing air mixed in a content to reduce the occurrence of air entrainment.SOLUTION: The apparatus comprises a bottomed cylindrical container body (10) for containing a content (P), a container lid (20) having a mouth tube section (23) and closing the container body (10), a discharger (30) for sucking up and discharging the content (P), a pipe (60) for sucking up the content (P), and a pressing member (40) which descends as the content (P) decreases, wherein the pressing member (40) has a sliding body (41) provided so as to be movable in the axial direction along the pipe (60), and a pressing plate (42) provided horizontally on the sliding body (41) and arranged on the content (P). An energizing member 50 capable of pressing down the content P by the pressing plate material 42 is suspended from the mouth cylindrical part 23.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a dispensing container for high-viscosity liquids. [Background technology]

[0002] As prior art, there is known a discharge container equipped with a discharger (pump) comprising an attachment cap fitted to the mouth of the container body, a cylinder and pipe hanging down from the bottom end of the attachment cap into the container body, and a discharge head arranged above the attachment cap so as to be movable up and down while being biased upward; by moving the discharge head up and down, the contents in the container body are sucked up and discharged from the nozzle of the discharge head; and a pressure plate member is positioned on the top surface (liquid level) of the contents in the container body, and the pressure plate member descends as the height of the top surface decreases, so that the contents in the container body are sucked up from the lower end opening of the pipe (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-183283 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when the contents are relatively viscous and poorly fluid, such as emulsion or shampoo, or especially conditioner or treatment, air may get mixed into the contents (air entrapment) when the dispenser (pump) is removed from the opening and the contents are refilled. When this air gets into the dispenser, the discharge pressure decreases, resulting in poor discharge and the risk of the contents not being able to be discharged to the end.

[0005] The present invention aims to solve the problems of the conventional technology described above by creating a dispensing container that can suppress dispensing defects by eliminating air that has become mixed in the contents and reducing the occurrence of air entrapment. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Among the means for solving the above problems, the first means of the present invention is: A dispensing container comprising: a cylindrical container body with a bottom for accommodating contents; a container lid having a nozzle for closing the container body; a dispenser for sucking up and discharging the contents; a pipe for sucking up the contents; and a presser member that descends as the contents decrease, the pressing member has a slider that is provided axially movably along the pipe, and a pressing plate that is provided horizontally to the slider and placed on the contents, The container is characterized in that a biasing member is suspended from the nozzle portion to enable the pressing plate member to press down the contents. In the first aspect of the present invention, the pressing plate receives the biasing force of the biasing member and forcibly presses down the contents, thereby making it possible to remove air that has been mixed in the contents.

[0007] The second means of the present invention is the same as the first means, except that the biasing member is formed to have a fixed tubular portion that is inserted onto the pipe and attached to the nozzle portion, a movable tubular portion that is similarly inserted onto the pipe and abuts against the sliding body so as to be able to be pressed down, and an elastic deformation portion that connects the fixed tubular portion and the movable tubular portion. The above means can impart a biasing force to the pressing plate material.

[0008] A third aspect of the present invention is the second aspect, further comprising the addition that the elastically deforming portion is formed of a U-shaped leaf spring. A fourth aspect of the present invention is the second aspect, further comprising the addition that the elastically deforming portion is formed of a bellows-shaped leaf spring. In the third and fourth aspects, the elastically deforming portion can have a specific configuration. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] In the present invention, it is possible to remove air that has become mixed into the contents when refilling, etc., thereby suppressing poor discharge caused by air entrapment and reducing the amount of remaining contents. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a dispensing container for high-viscosity liquid, showing a state immediately before being pressed down, according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the discharge container for high-viscosity liquid, showing the state immediately after being pressed. [Figure 3] 1A to 1C show a first embodiment of a biasing member, in which (a) is a plan view, (b) is a front view, and (c) is a side view. [Figure 4] 5A and 5B show a second embodiment of the urging member, in which (a) is a front view of the urging member before deformation, and (b) is a front view of the urging member after deformation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a discharge container for high-viscosity liquids showing the state just before it is pressed down, as an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the discharge container for high-viscosity liquids showing the state just after it is pressed down; Figure 3 shows a first embodiment of a urging member, where Figure 3(a) is a plan view, Figure 3(b) is a front view, and Figure 3(c) is a side view. In the following, the direction along the container axis O will be referred to as the axial direction, the vertical direction, or the height direction, the direction perpendicular to the container axis O will be referred to as the radial direction, and the direction circumferentially around the container axis O will be referred to as the circumferential direction.

[0012] First, the configuration of the discharge container will be described. The discharge container 1 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is used as a container for discharging liquid contents P having a relatively high viscosity (high-viscosity fluid) such as emulsion, shampoo, and especially conditioner or treatment. Such a dispensing container 1 is composed of a bottomed cylindrical container body 10 that contains the contents P, a container lid body 20 that closes the container body 10, a dispenser (pump) 30 that sucks up the contents P and dispenses them, a pressing member 40 that presses down the upper surface (liquid surface) P1 of the contents P, a biasing member 50 that biases the pressing member 40 downward, and a pipe 60 that sucks up the contents P.

[0013] The container body 10 is a cylindrical member with a bottom, which is formed by a substantially circular bottom wall 11 and a cylindrical side wall 12 which is connected to the outer peripheral edge of the bottom wall 11 and has an open end 13 formed around the upper part of the side wall 12.

[0014] The container lid 20 has a peripheral wall 21, a shoulder 22 connected to the upper part of the peripheral wall 21 in a reduced diameter manner, and a nozzle 23 erected in the center of the shoulder 22, and the peripheral wall 21 is attached to the open end 13 of the container body 10. A screw mechanism is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the open end 13 and the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 21, and the container lid 20 is attached to the open end 13 in a detachable manner.

[0015] The dispenser 30 has a conventionally known configuration, and in the illustrated example, comprises a stem 31 that is erected in an upwardly biased state so that it can move downward freely, a cap 32 through whose center the stem 31 is inserted so that it can move up and down freely and that is attached to the nozzle portion 23 of the container lid body 20, a piston 33 that is connected to the stem 31, and a cylinder 34 into which the piston 33 is fitted so that it can slide up and down freely.

[0016] Furthermore, the dispenser 30 has a push-down head 36 having a discharge nozzle 36a for discharging the contents P and attached to the upper end of the stem 31, a piston guide 37 attached to the lower part of the stem 31 and arranged so as to be movable up and down within the cylinder 34, a valve member 38 arranged in a part of the cylinder 34 located below the piston guide 37 and for opening and closing the lower end opening of the cylinder 34, and a coil spring C for biasing the piston guide 37 upward.

[0017] The cylinder 34 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a flange portion 34a that protrudes radially outward is formed around the entire circumference at the top of the cylinder 34, and the flange portion 34a is arranged together with a packing on the upper opening edge of the nozzle portion 23 of the container lid 20. The cylinder 34 is formed with an introduction hole 34b that connects the inside of the nozzle portion 23 of the container lid 20 with the inside of the cylinder 34. A suction pipe 60 is fitted onto the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder 34 and extends in a long cylindrical shape from a position near the lower end of the nozzle portion 23 to a position near the bottom wall 11 of the container body 10.

[0018] The cap 32 comprises an attachment tube 32a screwed onto the mouth tube portion 23 of the container lid body 20, a regulating tube 32b screwed onto which the push-down head 36 located at the lower end position is screwed and which regulates the upward movement of the stem 31 located at the lower end position and the push-down head 36, and a sealing tube 32c which is slidably fitted into the cylinder 34 and is provided with a blocking tube portion 32d which blocks the introduction hole 34b of the cylinder 34 when the push-down head 36 is located at the lower end position.

[0019] The valve member 38 is a check valve that keeps the lower end opening of the cylinder 34 closed when the cylinder 34 is pressurized, and opens the lower end opening of the cylinder 34 when the cylinder 34 is depressurized. This prevents the contents P in the cylinder 34 from returning to the container body 10 from the lower end opening of the cylinder 34 when the cylinder 34 is pressurized, and allows the contents P in the container body 10 to flow into the cylinder 34 from the lower end opening of the cylinder 34 when the cylinder 34 is depressurized.

[0020] The pressing member 40 is composed of a short cylindrical sliding body 41 that is fitted onto the outer peripheral surface of the pipe 60 and is slidable in the axial direction, and a pressing plate 42 that is shaped like a record with a central through-hole 42a and is horizontally attached to the outer surface of the lower end of the sliding body 41. The outer peripheral edge of the pressing plate 42 is disposed adjacent to the inner peripheral surface 12A of the container body 10 with a predetermined gap therebetween. The pressing plate 42 is configured to be movable in the axial direction together with the sliding body 41 between an upper position A indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2 and a lower position B indicated by a dashed line. An annular protrusion 62 that prevents the sliding body 41 from slipping out is protruded from the outer peripheral surface of the lower end of the pipe 60.

[0021] 3, the biasing member 50 shown in the first embodiment is integrally formed with an upper fixed cylinder portion 51 attached to the nozzle cylinder portion 23, upper and lower movable cylinder portions 52 provided in contact with the upper end of the sliding body 41 so as to be able to be pressed down, and a pair of elastic deformation portions 53 made of U-shaped leaf springs arranged symmetrically about the axis and connecting an upper connecting portion 53a provided on the fixed cylinder portion 51 side and a lower connecting portion 53b provided on the movable cylinder portion 52 side. The biasing member 50 can be contracted by bringing the upper connecting portion 53a and the lower connecting portion 53b of the elastic deformation portion 53 closer to each other in the vertical direction, and can be expanded (expanded and contracted) by moving them apart.

[0022] The biasing member 50 is suspended inside the container body 10 with the fixed tubular portion 51 disposed on the inner circumferential surface of the nozzle 23 and the movable tubular portion 52 and the elastic deformation portion 53 fitted onto the outer circumferential surface of the upper part of the pipe 60. In this state, the fixed tubular portion 51 of the biasing member 50 is fixed to the nozzle 23, and the movable tubular portion 52 is movable in the vertical direction and can come into contact with the upper end of the slider 41 fitted onto the lower part of the pipe 60.

[0023] Next, the effects of the discharge container having the above-described configuration will be described. In the discharge container 1, with the container lid 20 unscrewed from the open end 13, the contents P are filled into the storage section 14 of the container body 10 from the open end 13. Immediately after filling, the contents P, which are made of a highly viscous fluid, have air pockets E formed therein due to air being mixed in. After filling, the discharge container 1 is assembled by screwing the container lid 20, to which the dispenser 30, the pressing member 40, the biasing member 50, and the pipe 60 are attached, onto the open end 13 of the container body 10. As shown in Fig. 1, at the time of assembly (immediately before being pressed down), the elastic deformation portion 53 of the biasing member 50 is in a contracted deformation state in which the gap between the upper connecting portion 53a and the lower connecting portion 53b is narrowed.

[0024] When the open end 13 of the container body 10 is closed with the container lid 20, the pressing plate 42 constituting the pressing member 40 is positioned on the upper surface P1 of the contents P inside the container body 10. Next, the elastically deforming portion 53 of the pressing member 50, which had been contracted, restores its original shape (expands), generating a pressing force, so that the lower connecting portion 53b is moved downward away from the upper connecting portion 53a, which is the fixed side, as the base end. At this time, the pressing plate 42 forcibly presses (depresses) the upper surface P1 of the contents P downward toward the bottom wall 11.

[0025] As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the internal pressure of the contents P increases within the container body 10, eliminating gaps that existed in various places, and eliminating air pockets E that were mixed in the contents P by crushing them or by floating the air pockets E and allowing them to escape from the top surface P1 into the storage section 14 above.

[0026] When the pressing head 36 is pressed down and moved downward together with the stem 31 and piston guide 37, the piston 33 and valve member 38 are actuated, and the contents P in the cylinder 34 flow into the stem 31 and are discharged from the tip of the discharge nozzle 36a. Furthermore, when the depression of the push-down head 36 is released, the upward biasing force of the coil spring C causes the piston guide 37, piston 33, stem 31, and push-down head 36 to move upward and return to their original position, causing the contents P in the container body 10 to flow into the cylinder 34. During this process, the pressure inside the cylinder 34 is reduced, causing the valve member 38 to open the lower end opening of the cylinder 34, and the contents P in the container body 10 to flow into the cylinder 34 through the lower end opening 61 of the pipe 60.

[0027] When the contents P are discharged from the discharge nozzle 36a, the presser plate 42 descends together with the upper surface P1 within the container body 10 as the contents P decrease, but the biasing member 50 continues to press down on the upper surface P1 until the elastic deformation portion 53 reaches its maximum extension, at the latter half of use. This makes it possible to prevent air pockets E from forming at least while the pressure continues. This makes it possible to prevent poor discharge caused by air in the contents P entering the dispenser 30 via the pipe 60 (air entrapment prevention), and reduces the remaining amount of contents P.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the urging member 50, where (a) is a front view of the urging member before deformation, and (b) is a front view of the urging member after deformation. 4, in the second embodiment, the elastic deformation portion 53 constituting the biasing member 50 is configured by arranging a pair of bellows-shaped (also called zigzag-shaped) leaf springs axially symmetrically between the fixed cylindrical portion 51 and the movable cylindrical portion 52, and the other configurations are the same as those described above. Note that the elastic deformation portion 53 on the back side is omitted in FIG. 4. Even with the configuration of the urging member 50 shown in the second embodiment, as with the urging member 50 of the first embodiment, the pressure plate material 42 continues to press down on the upper surface P1 of the contents P, thereby making it possible to eliminate air pockets E mixed in the contents P, and therefore the contents P can be ejected to the end.

[0029] The configuration and effects of the present invention have been described above in accordance with the examples, but the present invention is not limited to the above examples. For example, in the above embodiment, the urging member 50 is described as having a pair (two) of elastic deformation portions 53 arranged axially symmetrically between the fixed cylindrical portion 51 and the movable cylindrical portion 52, but it may also be configured such that three or more elastic deformation portions 53 are arranged evenly in the circumferential direction.

[0030] In the above embodiment, the elastic deformation portion 53 is described as being U-shaped or bellows-shaped, but other configurations are also possible, for example, in which the fixed cylindrical portion 51 and the movable cylindrical portion 52 are connected by a coil spring that can be inserted into the pipe 60. The coil spring may be formed integrally with the fixed cylindrical portion 51 and the movable cylindrical portion 52, or may be formed as a separate member. [Industrial Applicability]

[0031] The present invention can be used in a wider range of applications in the field of dispensing containers for high-viscosity liquids. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 1:Discharge container 10: Container body 11: Bottom wall 12: Side wall 12A: Inner surface 13:Open end 14: Storage section 20: Container lid 21: Surrounding wall 22:Shoulder 23: Mouth part 30: Discharger (pump) 31: Stem 32: Cap 32a: Mounting tube 32b: Regulation tube 32c: Seal tube 32d: Closed cylinder part 33: Piston 34: Cylinder 34a: Flange part 34b:Introduction hole 36: Pressing head 36a: Discharge nozzle 37: Piston guide 38: Valve member 40: Pressing member 41: Slider 42: Pressing plate material 42a: Through hole 50: biasing member 51: Fixed cylinder part 52: Movable cylinder part 53: Elastic deformation part 53a: Upper connection part 53b: Lower connection part 60: Pipe 61: Bottom opening 62: Annular convex part A: Upper position B: Bottom position C: Coil spring E: Air pocket O: Container axis P:Contents P1:Top surface

Claims

1. A dispensing container (1) comprising: a cylindrical container body (10) with a bottom for accommodating contents (P); a container lid (20) having a nozzle (23) for closing the container body (10); a dispenser (30) for sucking up and discharging the contents (P); a pipe (60) for sucking up the contents (P); and a presser member (40) that descends as the contents (P) decrease, The pressing member (40) has a slider (41) provided so as to be movable in the axial direction along the pipe (60), and a pressing plate (42) provided horizontally on the slider (41) and placed on the contents (P), A dispensing container characterized in that a biasing member (50) that enables the pressing plate material (42) to press down the contents (P) is suspended from the nozzle portion (23).

2. 2. A discharge container according to claim 1, wherein the urging member (50) is formed to have a fixed tubular portion (51) that is fitted onto the pipe (60) and attached to the nozzle tubular portion (23), a movable tubular portion (52) that is also fitted onto the pipe (60) and abuts against the sliding body (41) so as to be capable of being pushed down, and an elastic deformation portion (53) that connects the fixed tubular portion (51) and the movable tubular portion (52).

3. 3. A discharge container according to claim 2, wherein the elastically deforming portion (53) is formed of a U-shaped leaf spring.

4. 3. A discharge container according to claim 2, wherein the elastically deforming portion (53) is formed of a bellows-shaped leaf spring.

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