Hinge cap

Abstract

To provide a hinge cap that can be made lighter and does not allow shower water to get inside the cap.SOLUTION: In a hinge cap that is constituted by a cap body that is fitted to a mouth part of a container body and an upper lid that is connected to the cap body through a hinge. The cap body has a mounting part that is mounted on the mouth part of the container body. The mounting part includes: a lid engaging part that engages with the upper lid when the lid is closed on an upper part, and an outer cylinder that is vertically hung from the outer peripheral side of the lid engaging part. The upper lid includes: a top wall that forms a top surface; a side peripheral wall that is suspended from a periphery edge of the top wall; and an engaging cylinder that is suspended from a lower surface of the top wall and is engaged with the lid engaging part of the cap body, wherein a space between the side peripheral wall and the engaging cylinder when the lid is closed is formed, and at least one rib part is formed inside the engaging cylinder.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a hinge cap comprising a cap body attached to the mouth of a container body and an upper lid connected by a hinge so as to be openable and closable. In particular, the present invention relates to a hinge cap that can be lightened without buckling and prevents shower water from being sucked into the cap.

Background Art

[0002] In a hinge cap for filling a container with a content liquid heated for sterilization, after filling the content liquid and attaching the hinge cap to the container mouth, it has been conventionally practiced to wash and cool the container with shower water from the outside of the container.

[0003] When showering with cold water to cool the filled liquid, since the air inside the upper lid is warmed by the heat of the content liquid, the air inside the upper lid is cooled, and the internal pressure inside the upper lid decreases. As a result, a pressure difference is generated between the inside of the upper lid and the atmospheric pressure, and shower water is sucked into the upper lid through the gap, which has been a problem in terms of hygiene management. Therefore, there has been conventionally known a hinge cap that can ensure a reliable seal even when a stopper is placed on the mouth of the container so that shower water does not enter the cap during shower cooling. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The hinge cap described in Patent Document 1 is such that when the upper lid is closed on the cap body and the cap body is fitted and fixed to the mouth of the container, the outer wall (15) tilts slightly inward, and the arcuate surface (15b) of the outer wall (15) and the inclined surface (26a) of the annular tongue piece (26) of the seal ring (25) are in pressure contact, so that shower water does not enter the cap. However, in the hinge cap described in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to completely suppress the absorption of shower water into the cap. Also, the locked projection (24) on the side wall (22) of the upper lid (20) engages with the locking projection (15a) on the outer wall (15) of the cap body (10). Since the side wall (22) is difficult to deform, there is a problem that it is difficult to open the lid. In addition, when reducing the weight of the hinge cap, it is done in a shape with a thinner wall thickness on the appearance. In such a case, there are problems such as buckling during capping of the hinge cap or variations in the fitting force of the upper lid, and furthermore, it also affects the absorption of shower water.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and particularly, to provide a hinge cap that can prevent buckling of the hinge cap and completely prevent the absorption of shower water even when the weight of the hinge cap is reduced.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides, as a hinge cap, a hinge cap comprising a cap body attached to the mouth of a container body and an upper lid connected to the cap body via a hinge. The cap body has a mounting portion for mounting on the mouth of the container body. The mounting portion includes a lid engaging portion that engages with the upper lid when closed at the upper part, and an outer cylinder vertically provided from the outer peripheral side of the lid engaging portion. The upper lid has a top wall forming a top surface, a side peripheral wall vertically provided from the periphery of the top wall, and an engaging cylinder vertically provided from the lower surface of the top wall and engaging with the lid engaging portion of the cap body. There is a space between the side peripheral wall and the engaging cylinder when the lid is closed, and at least one rib portion is formed inside the engaging cylinder. 、The outer cylinder is provided with a through hole that communicates with the space between the side peripheral wall and the engaging cylinder from the upper surface and leads to the outside air. A configuration characterized by this is adopted.

[0008] As a specific embodiment of the hinge cap, the lid engaging portion of the cap body is characterized in that a locking ridge protrudes from the outer periphery, and an engaging ridge that engages with the locking ridge when the lid is closed is provided at the lower inner periphery of the engaging cylinder of the upper lid. The rib portion of the engaging cylinder is characterized in that a tapered portion is formed at the lower end, the lid engaging portion is characterized in that an arcuate surface is formed on the upper surface, and the tapered portion and the arcuate surface are close to or lightly contact each other when the lid is closed. When the lid is closed, A configuration characterized in that the contact end point of the contact surface formed by the lower end of the side peripheral wall and the upper end of the outer cylinder of the cap body and the engagement start point of the engagement surface between the engagement cylinder and the lid engagement portion are at a separated position. Also, when the lid is closed, a configuration is adopted in which the engagement start point of the engagement surface between the engagement cylinder and the lid engagement portion is at a higher position than the contact end point of the contact surface formed by the lower end of the side peripheral wall and the upper end of the outer cylinder of the cap body.

Advantages of the Invention

[0009] The hinge cap of the present invention separates the engaging cylinder for engaging the side peripheral wall of the upper lid and the cap body, and provides a space, thereby enabling the cap to be lightened and facilitating lid opening. By providing a rib portion inside the engaging cylinder, buckling of the upper lid can be prevented. Also, it can completely prevent the absorption of shower water into the cap.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Next, the hinge cap of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments.

Embodiment

[0012] In FIG. 1, A is a cap body, B is an upper lid integrally connected to the cap body A via a hinge C, and D is a container body. As shown in FIG. 1, the container body D has a mouth portion 1, and a fitting ridge 2 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the mouth portion 1.

[0013] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 2, the cap body A includes a mounting portion 3 mounted on the mouth portion 1 of the container body D, a base wall 4 extending inward from the mounting portion 3, a pouring cylinder 5 erected from the edge end of the base wall 4, and a partition wall 6 connected to the lower end of the inner periphery of the pouring cylinder 5. In order to facilitate pouring of the content liquid, in this embodiment, the pouring cylinder 5 is formed with a lip portion 5a that expands in a trumpet shape at the upper part. The mounting portion 3 is composed of an annular lid engaging portion 8 that engages with an engaging cylinder 32 of the upper lid B described later, an inner cylinder 9 vertically provided from the inner peripheral side of the lid engaging portion 8, and an outer cylinder 10 vertically provided from the outer peripheral side of the lid engaging portion 8. The lid engaging portion 8 is formed with a locking ridge 8a on the outer periphery and an arcuate surface 8b on the upper surface. The outer cylinder 10 is provided with an engaging protrusion 11 that engages with the fitting ridge 2 of the mouth portion 1 of the container body D at the lower part of the inner periphery. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2(a), a through hole 21 that communicates with the space a between the side peripheral wall 31 and the engaging cylinder 32 of the upper lid B described later and leads to the outside air is drilled from the upper surface of the outer cylinder 10.

[0014] The partition wall 6 is provided with a removal portion 13 defined by a thin-wall weakening portion 12 that opens the pouring outlet, and a pull ring 14 for unplugging is provided on the upper surface of the removal portion 13. The pull ring 14 is composed of a support column portion 15 erected at the end on the hinge C side and a ring portion 16 connected from the upper end of the support column portion 15. In this embodiment, the upper lid B is made smaller and lighter. To accommodate the pull ring 14 within the upper lid B, the central portion of the partition wall 6 has a structure where it is recessed. However, the partition wall 6 may be planar as long as the pull ring 14 can be accommodated within the upper lid B.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 2(a), in the vicinity of either the left or right side of the hinge C of the outer cylinder 10, a substantially V-shaped outer peripheral cutout portion 17 is cut from above on the outer peripheral surface, leaving a thin-walled bottom wall at the lower end. Although not shown, an inner peripheral cutout portion is engraved in the longitudinal direction at a position corresponding to the outer peripheral cutout portion 17 of the engaging protrusion 11, forming a longitudinal tear line.

[0016] On the hinge C side of the outer peripheral cutout portion 17, a slit groove 18 is recessed from above so as to extend in the circumferential direction starting from a position separating the thin-walled portion at the upper part on the inner peripheral side of the end face 17a. In this embodiment, it extends over approximately 345° starting from the end face 17a. Also, with the starting point of the slit groove 18 adjacent to the longitudinal tear line as the tear start point, a thin-walled connecting portion 20 that connects between the outer cylinder 10 and the lid engaging portion 8 is provided on the inner peripheral side of the bottom surface 19 of the slit groove 18. The circumferential tear line is formed to extend in an arc shape, enabling tearing up to the non-breakable connecting portion at the end point. In this embodiment, out of all the slit grooves 18, approximately 300° forms a circumferential tear line having the thin-walled connecting portion 20, and the remaining approximately 45° forms a shallow slit groove 18 without the thin-walled connecting portion 20. Also, in this embodiment, the slit groove 18 communicates with a through hole 21 that leads to the outside air, allowing the water accumulated in the slit groove 18 to be drained. Note that the separation mechanism based on the above longitudinal tear line and circumferential tear line is not essential. In that case, only the through hole 21 that leads to the outside air is formed from the upper surface of the outer cylinder 10. Alternatively, a slit groove 18 of any depth may be provided, and a through hole 21 may be provided below the slit groove 18.

[0017] The upper cover B is rotatably attached to the upper end of the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 10 of the cap body A via a hinge C, and includes a top wall 30 provided on the top plate portion and a side peripheral wall 31 vertically provided from the outer peripheral edge of the top wall 30. In order to engage with the lid engaging portion 8 of the cap body A, an engaging cylinder 32 is vertically provided from the lower surface of the top wall 30, and the space a in the gap between the side peripheral wall 31 and the engaging cylinder 32 communicates with the slit groove 18 provided in the outer cylinder 10. An engaging ridge 33 for engaging with the locking ridge 8a of the lid engaging portion 8 is provided at the lower inner periphery of the engaging cylinder 32.

[0018] In this embodiment, the side peripheral wall 31 and the engaging cylinder 32 are thin for weight reduction of the hinge cap. When plugging or the like, the engaging cylinder 32 expands and deforms outward, making the hinge cap prone to buckling. Therefore, a plurality of rib portions 34 are intermittently provided inside the engaging cylinder 32 to prevent buckling. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2(a), eight rib portions 34 are provided at equal intervals on the inner circumference of the engaging cylinder 32. The lower ends thereof are formed with tapered portions 35 so as to be close to or lightly contact the arcuate surface 8b on the upper surface of the lid engaging portion 8. The tapered portions 35 can prevent the expansion of the engaging cylinder 32.

[0019] As shown in Fig. 1, when the lid is closed, the lower end of the side peripheral wall 31 of the upper cover B and the upper end of the outer cylinder 10 of the cap body A have a contact surface, but this contact surface is not completely in contact and has a slight gap. Shower water is sucked in from the outer peripheral side and reaches the inner peripheral side by surface tension, but the surface tension is cut off by the space a communicating with the slit groove 18, and the sucked shower water can be blocked. Also, taking the inner reaching point of the contact surface between the lower end of the side peripheral wall 31 and the upper end of the outer cylinder 10 as the contact end point b, and the starting point of the engaging surface where the engaging ridge 33 of the engaging cylinder 32 and the locking ridge 8a of the lid engaging portion 8 contact as the engaging starting point c, since the engaging starting point c is above the contact end point b, even when the suction is strong, it will not reach the engaging surface of the engaging ridge 33 and the locking ridge 8a.

[0020] Further, a sealing cylinder 36 is vertically provided so as to contact the inner peripheral surface of the pouring cylinder 5 from the lower surface of the top wall 30. In this embodiment, since the pouring cylinder 5 and the lip portion 5a are made thin for weight reduction, a sealing cylinder 37 is vertically provided so as to contact or be close to the lip portion 5a of the pouring cylinder 5, preventing the pouring cylinder 5 and the lip portion 5a from falling outward. Note that the sealing cylinder 37 may not be provided. Further, a grip portion 38 is protruding on the lower outer periphery of the side peripheral wall 31 on the side opposite to the hinge C. In this embodiment, in order to reduce the weight of the hinge cap, a thin portion 39 is provided on the top wall 30 in a strip shape from the hinge C side to the side opposite to the hinge C so as not to affect the function as a hinge cap.

[0021] Next, the usage mode and the effects of this embodiment will be described. The hinge cap of this embodiment is first manufactured in an open lid state as shown in FIG. 2, and then attached to the container body D after being in a closed lid state. To make it in the closed lid state, hold the grip portion 38 of the upper lid B with a finger, rotate it with the hinge C as a fulcrum, and press the upper surface of the upper lid B to close the lid. At this time, the engaging ridge 33 of the engaging cylinder 32 easily gets over the locking ridge 8a of the lid engaging portion 8 and engages with it. Also, the tapered portion 35 at the lower end of the rib portion 34 of the engaging cylinder 32 is close to or gently contacts the arcuate surface 8b on the upper surface of the lid engaging portion 8. The outer peripheral surface of the sealing cylinder 36 of the upper lid B contacts the inner peripheral surface of the pouring cylinder 5 to seal, and the lip portion 5a of the pouring cylinder 5 also contacts or is close to the sealing cylinder 37 of the upper lid B.

[0022] Next, the hinge cap in the closed lid state is applied to the mouth portion 1 of the container body D filled with the heat-sterilized content liquid, and it is attached by pressing from above and plugging, resulting in the state shown in FIG. 1. When plugging, since the upper lid B is strongly pressed, the engaging cylinder 32 becomes in a state where it is easy to deform while expanding outward. However, the deformation is suppressed by the rib portion 34, and the tapered portion 35 at the tip of the rib portion 34 comes into pressure contact with the arcuate surface 8b on the upper surface of the lid engaging portion 8. Thus, the outward expansion of the engaging cylinder 32 is suppressed, and buckling of the hinge cap can be prevented. Thereafter, it is washed and cooled with shower water from the outside of the container.

[0023] In the embodiment of the present invention, since a space a communicating with the through hole 21 is provided between the side peripheral wall 31 of the upper lid B and the engaging cylinder 32, even if shower water intrudes into an extremely narrow gap on the contact surface between the side peripheral wall 31 of the upper lid B and the outer cylinder 10 of the cap body A due to capillary action, the capillary action is cut off by the space a communicating with the through hole 21, and the shower water does not intrude to the engaging surface between the engaging cylinder 32 of the upper lid B and the lid engaging portion 8 of the cap body A. Also, even when the inside of the cap is in a depressurized state due to cooling by shower water, the shower water sucked in from the contact surface between the side peripheral wall 31 and the outer cylinder 10 is blocked by the space a communicating with the through hole 21. Further, since the through hole 21 communicates with the outside air, the suction force of the shower water is weakened, and suction of the shower water to the engaging surface between the engaging cylinder 32 of the upper lid B and the lid engaging portion 8 of the cap body A can be prevented. In this embodiment, further, since the engaging start point c of the engaging surface between the engaging cylinder 32 and the lid engaging portion 8 is at a higher position than the contact end point b of the contact surface between the lower end of the side peripheral wall 31 of the upper lid B and the upper end of the outer cylinder 10 of the cap body A, the effect of preventing suction of shower water is enhanced. Note that it is only necessary that there is a separation between the contact end point b of the contact surface between the side peripheral wall 31 and the outer cylinder 10 and the engaging start point c of the engaging surface between the engaging cylinder 32 and the lid engaging portion 8. In that case, it is not necessary to make the position of the engaging start point c higher than the contact end point b.

[0024] In Patent Document 1 mentioned above, although there is a space between the side wall (22) and the seal ring (25), the shower water is sucked up to the upper surface of the outer wall (15) by capillary action based on reduced pressure. Furthermore, along the upper surface of the outer wall (15), the engagement surface between the outer wall (15) and the seal ring (25) sucks in the shower water by capillary action, so it is difficult to completely prevent the suction of shower water into the cap.

[0025] To use the container with the hinge cap of this embodiment, pull up the knob portion 38 of the upper lid B to open the lid. When grasping and pulling up the pull ring 14, breakage starts from the thin - walled weakened portion 12 near the support portion 15. When the thin - walled weakened portion 12 is completely broken, the removal portion 13 is separated from the partition wall 6, and the opening forms a spout.

[0026] The hinge cap of this embodiment has a thin - walled side peripheral wall 31 for weight reduction. Also, since it is not engaged with the cap body A, by grasping the knob portion 38 and pulling directly, the engagement between the engagement cylinder 32 and the lid engagement portion 8 is easily disengaged, and it is easy to open the lid.

[0027] If the container body D with the opened spout is tilted, the content liquid filled in the container body D is guided to the pouring cylinder 5 through the spout and can be poured out at the required location. After use, by rotating the upper lid B to engage the engaging ridge 33 of the engagement cylinder 32 with the locking ridge 8a of the lid engagement portion 8, it returns to the closed state again. At this time, the outer peripheral surface of the sealing cylinder 36 abuts against the inner peripheral surface of the pouring cylinder 5 to seal the inside of the container.

[0028] The hinge cap of this embodiment can be separated from the container body D and discarded after use. When opening the hinge cap and grasping the upper lid B with a finger and pulling it outward, the connecting portion of the outer cylinder 10 with the hinge C is pulled and deformed, and the longitudinal tear line is broken. When further pulling the upper lid B, the thin - walled connecting portion 20 forming the circumferential tear line starts to break. As the breakage of the thin - walled connecting portion 20 progresses, the upper lid B separates from the cap body A. When the break is completed at the end of the thin-walled connecting part 20 and the upper lid B is further pulled, the fitting between the cap body A and the mouth part 1 of the container body D is disengaged, and the hinge cap and the container body D can be separated and discarded.

[0029] The hinge cap of this embodiment is attached to the mouth part 1 of the container body D by capping, but it can also be attached by screwing instead of capping. Also, it may be possible to remove the stopper by other various methods in addition to pulling out the stopper by the pull ring 14. Furthermore, the hinge cap of this embodiment is particularly useful as a lightweight hinge cap, but it can also be used as a normal hinge cap.

Industrial Applicability

[0030] The hinge cap of the present invention can be lightweight, and even if it is a lightweight hinge cap, it will not buckle. Also, when it is attached to a container filled with heated content liquid and cooled with shower water, even if the inside of the cap is in a decompressed state, the shower water will not be sucked into the cap, so hygiene management is easy and it is suitable for application to food containers.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0031] A Cap body B Upper lid C Hinge D Container body a Space b Contact end point c Engagement start point 1 Mouth part 2 Fitting ridge 3 Mounting part 4 Base wall 5 Pouring cylinder 5a Lip part 6 Partition 8 Lid engagement part 8a Locking ridge 8b Arc-shaped surface 9 Inner cylinder 10 Outer cylinder 11 Engagement protrusion 12 Thin-wall weakening part 13 Removal part 14 Pull ring 15 Support part 16 Ring part 17 Outer peripheral notch part 17a End face 18 Slit groove 19 Bottom face 20 Thin-wall connection part 21 Through hole 30 Top wall 31 Side peripheral wall 32 Engagement cylinder 33 Engagement rib 34 Rib part 35 Taper part 36 Sealing cylinder 37 Sealing cylinder 38 Knob part 39 Thin-wall part

Claims

1. In a hinge cap comprising a cap body attached to the mouth of a container body and an upper lid connected to the cap body via a hinge, the cap body has a mounting portion for mounting on the mouth of the container body, the mounting portion includes a lid engaging portion that engages with the upper lid when the lid is closed at the upper part, and an outer cylinder vertically provided from the outer peripheral side of the lid engaging portion, the upper lid has a top wall forming a top surface, a side peripheral wall vertically provided from the periphery of the top wall, and an engaging cylinder vertically provided from the lower surface of the top wall and engaging with the lid engaging portion of the cap body, a space is provided between the side peripheral wall and the engaging cylinder when the lid is closed, at least one rib portion is formed inside the engaging cylinder, and a through hole communicating with the space between the side peripheral wall and the engaging cylinder from the upper surface and leading to the outside air is formed in the outer cylinder. The hinge cap is characterized by this.

2. The hinge cap according to claim 1, wherein the lid engaging portion of the cap body has a locking protrusion projecting from the outer periphery, and an engaging protrusion that engages with the locking protrusion when the lid is closed is provided at the lower inner periphery of the engaging cylinder of the upper lid.

3. The hinge cap according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rib portion of the engaging cylinder has a tapered portion formed at the lower end, the lid engaging portion has an arcuate surface formed on the upper surface, and the tapered portion and the arcuate surface are close to or lightly contact each other when the lid is closed.

4. The hinge cap according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that when the lid is closed, the contact end point of the contact surface formed by the lower end of the side peripheral wall and the upper end of the outer cylinder of the cap body and the engagement start point of the engagement surface between the engaging cylinder and the lid engaging portion are at positions separated from each other.

5. The hinge cap according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that when the lid is closed, the engagement start point of the engagement surface between the engaging cylinder and the lid engaging portion is at a position higher than the contact end point of the contact surface formed by the lower end of the side peripheral wall and the upper end of the outer cylinder of the cap body.

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