cap

Abstract

To provide a cap capable of preventing fingers from accidentally coming into contact with a liquid draining part of a pouring tube when the flange is pushed up with the fingers to open the cap. [Solution] A cap (1) having a dispensing tube (8) provided on a cap body (7) and a lid (9) for opening and closing the dispensing tube (8), wherein the dispensing tube (8) has a drainer (27) at its tip, the lid (9) is connected to the cap body (7) via a hinge (29), a flange (54) is provided on the lid (9), and a reinforcing member (56) is provided on the outer periphery of the cap body (7), the drainer (27), the flange (54) and the reinforcing member (56) are each positioned on the opposite side of the hinge (29) in the radial direction (13), and when the cap is closed, the flange (54) protrudes outward beyond the outer end of the reinforcing member (56) in the radial direction (13), and the reinforcing member (56) faces the underside of the flange (54) when the cap is closed, and has a receiving surface (58) that receives the flange (54) from below, and a guide surface (59) that guides a finger (62) hooked onto the flange (54) outward in the radial direction (13).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a hinged cap. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, this type of cap has a base that can be attached to the bottle mouth, a dispensing tube attached to the base, and an upper lid that opens and closes the dispensing tube, as described in Patent Document 1 below, for example.

[0003] The dispensing tube has a dispensing guide portion (a drainer portion) at its tip that is folded back radially outward. The top lid is connected to the base via a hinge. The top lid is provided with a tab (a flange) that protrudes radially outward. When the cap is closed, the tab protrudes radially outward beyond the outer circumferential surface of the base.

[0004] According to this, when opening the top lid of a closed cap, the user can, for example, hook the tip of their thumb on the tab and push up the tab with their thumb, causing the top lid to rotate in the opening direction around the hinge, thereby opening the cap.

[0005] Then, by tilting the container from the upright position, the liquid (contents) inside the container is poured out from the tip opening of the pouring tube. After pouring, by returning the container to the upright position, the liquid is guided by the pouring guide and returns to the inside of the tip opening of the pouring tube. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2020-196486 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, with the conventional cap described above, when opening the cap, the thumb may accidentally come into contact with the pouring guide of the pouring tube while the top cover is being rotated in the opening direction. If the thumb comes into contact with the pouring guide in this way, as shown by the arrow in Figure 11, liquid 102 (contents: see the imaginary line in Figure 11) remaining on the surface (outer surface) of the pouring guide 101 or the liquid (contents) adhering to the thumb may flow around to the back side (inner periphery) of the pouring guide 101 (see the solid line in Figure 11).

[0008] If such leakage of the liquid 102 occurs, the next time the liquid (contents) is dispensed from the dispensing tube 103, the liquid 102 (contents) dispensed from the dispensing tube 103 may run along the liquid 102 (see the solid line in Figure 11) that has leaked around to the back side of the dispensing guide part 101 (liquid drainer) during the previous dispensing, and drip down the outer circumferential surface of the dispensing tube 103 as shown in Figure 12. If such liquid dripping occurs, there is a problem that the liquid drainage property deteriorates. An object of the present invention is to provide a cap that can prevent fingers from accidentally touching the drainer of a pouring tube when the flange is pushed up with the fingers to open the cap. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cap having a cap body that can be attached to a container, a pouring tube provided in the cap body, and a lid that opens and closes the pouring tube, The dispensing tube has a drainer at the tip that is folded back radially outward, The lid is connected to the cap body via a hinge so as to be rotatable in the opening and closing directions, The lid is provided with a flange that protrudes outward in the radial direction, A reinforcing member protruding radially outward is provided on the outer periphery of the cap body, the drainer, the flange, and the reinforcing member are each disposed on a radially opposite side of the hinge, When the plug is closed, the flange projects outward beyond the outer end of the reinforcing member in the radial direction, The reinforcing member has a receiving surface that faces the underside of the flange when the cap is closed and receives the flange from below, and a guide surface that guides the fingers hooked on the flange radially outward.

[0010] According to this, when opening the lid of a closed cap, the user hooks the tip of their finger on the flange and pushes the flange in the opening direction with their finger, causing the lid to rotate in the opening direction around the hinge, and the cap is opened.

[0011] When the finger is pushed in the opening direction of the flange, the finger is guided radially outward along the guide surface of the reinforcing member, moving away from the drainer of the dispensing tube. This increases the distance between the finger and the drainer, preventing the finger from accidentally coming into contact with the drainer of the dispensing tube when the finger is pushed in the opening direction to open the cap.

[0012] According to the cap of the present invention, the guide surface is preferably inclined radially outwardly toward the upper portion.

[0013] With this, when the flange is pushed in the opening direction with a finger, the inclined guide surface can reliably guide the finger outward in the radial direction.

[0014] According to the cap of the present invention, it is preferable that the area in the circumferential direction of the cap body where the reinforcing member is formed is equal to or larger than the area in the circumferential direction of the lid where the flange is formed.

[0015] According to this, when the cap is attached to the container, the cap is attached to the container with the lid in a closed state (stoppered state). During stoppering, the downward external force applied to the lid is sufficiently received by the receiving surface of the reinforcing member via the flange, preventing deformation of the lid.

[0016] According to the cap of the present invention, it is preferable that the center of the pouring tube is eccentric toward the hinge side with respect to the center of the cap body.

[0017] This moves the drainer of the dispensing tube away from the hinge and away from the path of rotation of the flange when the lid is rotated in the opening direction, thereby increasing the distance between the finger and the drainer, and as a result, preventing the finger from accidentally coming into contact with the drainer of the dispensing tube when pushing the flange in the opening direction to open the cap.

[0018] According to the cap of the present invention, a sealing member is provided on the inside of the lid, When the cap is closed, the sealing member is inserted into the dispensing cylinder from the tip opening of the dispensing cylinder and comes into tight contact with the inner circumference of the dispensing cylinder over the entire circumference, It is preferable that the center of the seal member is offset toward the hinge side relative to the center of the lid.

[0019] With this, when the lid is closed, the sealing member comes into tight contact with the entire inner periphery of the pouring tube, thereby sealing the gap between the pouring tube and the lid. [Effects of the Invention]

[0020] As described above, according to the present invention, when the flange is pushed in the opening direction with a finger to open the cap, the finger can be prevented from accidentally coming into contact with the drainer portion of the pouring cylinder. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cap according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a closed state with the lid. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a view taken along the arrow XX in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the cap in the open state with the lid open. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cap in the opened state. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a view taken along the arrow XX in FIG. 3. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a view taken along the arrow YY in FIG. 3. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the cap in the closed state. [Figure 8]FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the cap, showing how the lid is opened from the closed state. [Figure 9] 10 is a cross-sectional view of the cap in the state of being opened. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a cap according to a reference example of the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a pouring guide portion of a pouring tube of a conventional cap, showing how liquid flows around. [Figure 12] 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the pouring guide portion of the pouring tube of the cap in the same embodiment, showing the state of dripping liquid. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0023] As shown in Figures 1 to 6, the cap 1 has a cap body 7 that can be attached to the mouth 3 of a container 2 (for example, a plastic bottle), a dispensing tube 8 provided on the cap body 7, and a lid 9 that opens and closes the dispensing tube 8. In Figure 1, the cap body 7 is directly attached to the mouth 3 of the container 2, but it may also be configured to be indirectly attached to the mouth 3 via an inner plug or the like.

[0024] The direction of the first axis 11 passing through the center P1 of the cap body 7 is defined as the vertical direction 12, the direction perpendicular to the first axis 11 is defined as the radial direction 13, and the circumferential direction centered on the first axis 11 is defined as the circumferential direction 14. The lid 9 is connected to the cap body 7 via a hinge 29 so as to be rotatable in opening and closing directions 30 and 31 .

[0025] The cap body 7 has a top wall 17 arranged to face the tip surface of the mouth portion 3 of the container 2 from above, a cylindrical outer tube 18 extending downward from the outer peripheral edge of the top wall 17, a cylindrical inner tube 19 extending downward from the top wall 17 inside the outer tube 18, an annular locking member 20 extending upward from the top wall 17, and a detachable detachment member 21.

[0026] A groove 23 is formed around the entire circumference between the outer tube 18 and the inner tube 19. The groove 23 is closed at the top by the top wall 17 and is open at the bottom. As shown in Figure 1, when the mouth 3 of the container 2 is inserted into the groove 23 from below, the outer tube 18 fits onto the outer periphery of the mouth 3 and the inner tube 19 fits onto the inner periphery of the mouth 3, thereby attaching the cap body 7 to the container 2. The locking member 20 has a locking projection 24 formed at its tip end, which projects outward in the radial direction 13 .

[0027] The dispensing tube 8 is formed radially inward from the locking member 20 in the radial direction 13, and has a cylindrical tube body 26 standing upward on the top wall 17, and a liquid draining portion 27 provided at the tip of the tube body 26.

[0028] A step portion 34 is formed at the tip opening 33 of the dispensing tube 8 such that the side closer to the hinge 29 in the radial direction 13 is one step lower than the side farther from the hinge 29 .

[0029] The drainer 27 is located on the opposite side of the hinge 29 in the radial direction 13, i.e., excluding the step 34, and as shown in Figure 7, it curves outward in the radial direction 13 from the tip of the tube body 26 and then folds back downward.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3, the height H from the base of the dispensing tube 8 to the drainer 27 is set to, for example, 8.2 mm, but is not limited to 8.2 mm and may be less than 8.2 mm.

[0031] The center P2 of the dispensing cylinder 8 is eccentric to the side closer to the hinge 29 (an example of the hinge side) relative to the center P1 of the cap body 7. In other words, the second axis 36 passing through the center P2 of the dispensing cylinder 8 is eccentric to the side closer to the hinge 29 relative to the first axis 11 of the cap body 7.

[0032] The center P1 of the cap body 7 is the center based on the outer diameter of the outer cylinder 18 of the cap body 7. The center P2 of the dispensing cylinder 8 is the center based on the outer diameter of the cylinder body 26 of the dispensing cylinder 8.

[0033] The eccentricity D1 between the first axis 11 of the cap body 7 and the second axis 36 of the dispensing tube 8 is set to, for example, 2 mm, but is not limited to 2 mm. Furthermore, the distance D2 between the outer periphery of the outer tube 18 of the cap body 7 on the opposite side from the hinge 29 (the side farther from the hinge 29) and the liquid drainer 27 of the dispensing tube 8 is set to, for example, 4.7 mm, but is not limited to 4.7 mm and may be set to 4.7 mm or more.

[0034] The detachment member 21 has a detachment wall 39 surrounded by a breakable weakened portion 38, a support 40 erected on the detachment wall 39, and a pull ring 41 provided at the tip of the support 40. The detachment wall 39 is connected to the inner periphery of the inner tube 19 via the weakened portion 38, and is disposed at the bottom inside the dispensing tube 8.

[0035] The lid 9 has a circular lid plate 44 , a cylindrical skirt 45 provided on the outer periphery of the lid plate 44 , and a cylindrical seal member 46 provided inside the skirt 45 .

[0036] 1 and 7, when the cap is closed, the sealing member 46 is inserted into the dispensing cylinder 8 from the tip opening 33 of the dispensing cylinder 8 and comes into close contact with the entire inner circumference of the cylinder body 26. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the center P3 of the sealing member 46 is eccentric to the side closer to the hinge 29 (an example of the hinge side) with respect to the center P4 of the lid 9.

[0037] That is, a third axis 49 passing through a center P3 of the seal member 46 is eccentric to the side closer to the hinge 29 with respect to a fourth axis 50 passing through a center P4 of the lid 9. The center P3 of the seal member 46 is the center based on the outer diameter (or inner diameter) of the seal member 46, and the center P4 of the lid 9 is the center based on the outer diameter (or inner diameter) of the skirt 45. The amount of eccentricity D4 between the third axis 49 and the fourth axis 50 is the same as the amount of eccentricity D1 between the first axis 11 and the second axis 36.

[0038] As shown in Fig. 3, a locking recess 52 recessed radially outward is formed on the inner periphery of the skirt 45. As shown in Fig. 1, when the cap 1 is closed, the locking projection 24 of the cap body 7 fits into the locking recess 52 of the lid 9 to prevent the lid 9 from opening accidentally.

[0039] A flange 54 is provided on the outer periphery of the skirt 45, protruding outward in the radial direction of the lid 9. The flange 54 is located on the opposite side of the lid 9 from the hinge 29 in the radial direction (a location away from the hinge 29 in the radial direction of the lid 9). A protrusion 55 is formed on the outer edge of the flange 54, protruding downward when the lid 9 is in the closed state.

[0040] A reinforcing member 56 that protrudes outward in the radial direction 13 is provided on the outer periphery of the outer tube 18 of the cap body 7. The reinforcing member 56 is disposed on the opposite side of the hinge 29 in the radial direction 13 (a location away from the hinge 29 in the radial direction 13).

[0041] 1 and 7, when the cap is closed, the flange 54 protrudes outward beyond the outer end of the reinforcing member 56 in the radial direction 13. The protrusion dimension L from the outer end of the reinforcing member 56 to the outer end of the flange 54 in the radial direction 13 is set to, for example, 3 mm, but is not limited to 3 mm and may be set to 3 mm or more.

[0042] 1 and 3, reinforcing member 56 has a cross-sectional shape that is a substantial right-angled triangle in a cross section that includes first and second axis centers 11 and 36. Furthermore, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7, reinforcing member 56 is disposed so as to face the underside of flange 54 when the cap is closed, and has receiving surface 58 that receives flange 54 from below, and guide surface 59 that guides a finger (see thumb 62 in Fig. 8) hooked on flange 54 outward in radial direction 13.

[0043] The guide surface 59 is inclined outward in the radial direction 13 as it approaches the upper part. As shown in Figures 2 and 5, the formation area R1 of the reinforcing member 56 in the circumferential direction 14 of the cap body 7 is set to be wider than the formation area R2 of the flange 54 in the circumferential direction of the lid 9.

[0044] The forming range R1 of the reinforcing member 56 is set to a range of, for example, 180° around the first axis 11, and the forming range R2 of the flange 54 is set to a range of, for example, 90° around the fourth axis 50, but these are not limited to these 180° and 90° ranges. The operation of the above configuration will be described below.

[0045] The lid 9 of the unopened cap 1 is first rotated in the opening direction 30 to open it, and then the pull ring 41 is pulled to break the weakened portion 38, causing the detachment wall 39 to detach from the inner circumference of the inner tube 19 and penetrating the bottom of the dispensing tube 8. As a result, by tilting the container 2, the liquid (contents) in the container 2 is poured out from the tip opening 33 of the dispensing tube 8 to the outside.

[0046] Thereafter, as shown in Figure 8, when the lid 9 is rotated in the closing direction 31 to close it, the outer periphery of the tip of the sealing member 46 comes into tight contact with the inner periphery of the dispensing tube 8 all around, thereby sealing the space between the dispensing tube 8 and the lid 9.

[0047] When opening the lid 9 of the cap 1 in a closed state, as shown in Figure 8, the user, for example, hooks the tip of thumb 62 on flange 54 and pushes flange 54 up with thumb 62, causing lid 9 to rotate around hinge 29 in opening direction 30, as shown in Figure 9, and cap 1 is opened.

[0048] When opening the cap 1 in this manner, the center P2 of the dispensing tube 8 is eccentric toward the hinge 29 relative to the center P1 of the cap body 7, and therefore, as shown in Figure 9, the liquid draining portion 27 of the dispensing tube 8 moves away from the rotational trajectory 63 of the flange 54 toward the hinge 29 when the lid 9 rotates in the opening direction 30.

[0049] Furthermore, when the thumb 62 is used to push up the flange 54 as described above, the thumb 62 is guided outward in the radial direction 13 along the guide surface 59 of the reinforcing member 56, as shown in Figure 8, and therefore moves away from the drainer 27. As a result, the distance between the thumb 62 and the drainer 27 is increased.

[0050] From the above, when the flange 54 is pushed up with the thumb 62 to open the cap 1, it is possible to prevent the thumb 62 from accidentally coming into contact with the drainer 27. This makes it possible to prevent the liquid (contents) remaining on the surface of the drainer 27 from flowing around to the back side of the drainer 27, and to prevent the liquid (contents) from dripping down the outer circumferential surface of the dispensing tube 8.

[0051] When attaching the cap 1 to the container 2, the cap 1 is attached to the container 2 from above with the lid 9 closed (in a stoppered state) as shown in Fig. 1. This causes the mouth 3 of the container 2 to be inserted into the groove 23 of the cap body 7 from below, and the cap 1 is attached to the container 2.

[0052] 1 and 7, when the cap is attached, the downward external force F applied to the lid 9 is sufficiently received by the receiving surface 58 of the reinforcing member 56 via the flange 54, thereby preventing deformation of the lid 9. In particular, since the center P2 (second axis 36) of the dispensing tube 8 is eccentric to the side closer to the hinge 29 with respect to the center P1 (first axis 11) of the cap body 7, the distance D3 between the inner periphery of the locking member 20 and the outer periphery of the base portion of the dispensing tube 8 at the location opposite the hinge 29 (the side farther from the hinge 29) increases, and even if the strength of the top wall 17 at this location decreases, the downward external force F can be sufficiently received by the receiving surface 58 of the reinforcing member 56 as described above.

[0053] (Reference example) A reference example for comparison with the above-described embodiment will be described below. In the reference example, as shown in FIG. 10, no reinforcing member 56 is provided on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 18 of the cap body 7.

[0054] As a result, when the cap 1 in a closed state with the lid 9 closed is attached to the container 2 from above, the cap body 7 cannot adequately absorb the downward external force F applied to the lid 9, and there is a risk that the skirt 45 of the lid 9 on the opposite side of the hinge 29 (the side farther from the hinge 29) will be deformed outward, as shown by the imaginary line in Figure 10.

[0055] If the skirt 45 is deformed in this manner, when the cap is attached, the cover plate 44 of the cap 9 will descend diagonally downward from its normal position and collide with the drainer 27 of the dispensing tube 8, which may result in deformation of the drainer 27 and deterioration of the drainage properties.

[0056] In contrast, in the embodiment described above, as shown in Figures 1 and 7, the downward external force F that occurs when the bottle is capped can be fully absorbed by the receiving surface 58 of the reinforcing member 56, thereby preventing deformation of the skirt 45 of the lid 9 as described above.This in turn prevents deformation of the drainer portion 27 and maintains good drainage properties.

[0057] In the above embodiment, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, the formation range R1 of the reinforcing member 56 is set to be wider than the formation range R2 of the flange 54, but the formation range R1 of the reinforcing member 56 and the formation range R2 of the flange 54 may also be set to be the same size.

[0058] In the above embodiment, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, when opening the cap 1, the thumb 62 is hooked on the flange 54 to open the lid 9, but the lid 9 may also be opened by hooking a finger other than the thumb 62 on the flange 54. [Explanation of symbols]

[0059] 1 cap 2 containers 7 Cap body 8 Pour tube 9 Lid 13 Radial 14 Circumferential direction 27 Draining section 29 Hinge 30 Opening direction 31 Close direction 33 Tip opening 46 Sealing material 54 Tsuba 56 Reinforcement member 58 Receiving surface 59 Guide surface 62 Thumb (finger) P1 Center of cap body P2 Center of the dispensing cylinder P3 Center of seal material P4 Center of lid R1 Reinforcement member formation range R2 Tsuba formation range

Claims

1. A cap having a cap body that can be attached to a container, a pouring tube provided on the cap body, and a lid that opens and closes the pouring tube, The dispensing tube has a drainer at the tip that is folded back radially outward, The lid is connected to the cap body via a hinge so as to be rotatable in the opening and closing directions, The lid is provided with a flange that protrudes outward in the radial direction, A reinforcing member protruding radially outward is provided on the outer periphery of the cap body, the drainer, the flange, and the reinforcing member are each disposed on a radially opposite side of the hinge, When the plug is closed, the flange projects outward beyond the outer end of the reinforcing member in the radial direction, The reinforcing member faces the underside of the flange when the cap is closed, and has a receiving surface that receives the flange from below, and a guide surface that guides the fingers hooked on the flange radially outward.

2. 2. The cap according to claim 1, wherein the guide surface is inclined radially outwardly toward the upper portion.

3. 2. The cap according to claim 1, wherein the area in the circumferential direction of the cap body where the reinforcing member is formed is equal to or larger than the area in the circumferential direction of the lid where the flange is formed.

4. 2. The cap according to claim 1, wherein the center of the dispensing tube is offset toward the hinge with respect to the center of the cap body.

5. A seal member is provided on the inside of the lid, When the cap is closed, the sealing member is inserted into the dispensing cylinder from the tip opening of the dispensing cylinder and comes into tight contact with the inner circumference of the dispensing cylinder over the entire circumference, 5. The cap according to claim 4, wherein the center of the sealing member is offset toward the hinge with respect to the center of the lid.

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