Cap

Abstract

To provide a cap which enables reduction of a force necessary for opening and an opening operation to be easily executed by one operation.SOLUTION: A cap body 3 has a cap engagement 17 projected toward a radial inner side of the cap body 3. The cap engagement 17 has a retainer reinforcement 18 engaged with a mouth lock 25 of a mouth 2 of a container in an axial direction of the container to retain the cap body 3 and set at a position opposed to a hinge 4 in the radial direction of the cap body 3, and opening promotion parts 19 on both sides of the retainer reinforcement 18 in a peripheral direction of the cap body 3. In the retainer reinforcement 18, a projection amount toward a radial inner side of the cap engagement 17 increases, and the cap engagement 17 and the mouth lock 25 are firmly engaged with each other to suppress separation of the cap body 3. In the opening promotion parts 19, weakened parts 28 are provided on an inner peripheral surface of a body 7 so as to cross the cap engagement 17 in an axial direction of the cap body 3, and separation of the cap body 3 is promoted through breakage of the weakened parts 28.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cap to be attached to a container, and pertains to a technology that contributes to the separate collection of caps.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there is a cap of this type, for example, as described in Patent Document 1. This is a synthetic resin cap having an outer cylinder portion that engages with the container mouth portion, and a first weakening line is provided at a position where the outer cylinder portions face each other. The cap is engaged with the container mouth portion by the engagement between the protrusion provided on the inner peripheral wall of the outer cylinder portion of the cap and the protrusion provided on the outer wall of the container mouth portion.

[0003] When removing the cap after using up the contents, when removing the cap, the outer lid is lifted or the lower end of the outer cylinder portion is pried open to tear the first weakening line, and the outer cylinder portion is removed from the container (bottle) mouth portion.

[0004] Also, there is one described in Patent Document 2. This includes a cap body that is fitted and fixed to the container mouth portion, and an upper lid that is detachably attached to the cap body. On the cap body, a locking protrusion is formed in the lower part of the inner surface of the cylindrical side wall, and the locking protrusion is located over the entire circumferential direction and protrudes inward. This locking protrusion engages with the outer surface of the container mouth portion, and the cap body is fitted and fixed to the container mouth portion.

[0005] A slit is provided along the circumferential direction in the middle part of the thickness width of the cylindrical side wall, and a pair of detachment weakening lines extend downward from the upper end at an appropriate interval. The locking protrusion is set such that the protruding height in the detachment region sandwiched by the detachment weakening lines is higher than the protruding height of the locking protrusion located outside the detachment region.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

[0007] As described above, when a cap is screwed onto the mouth of a container for attachment, a structure in which the protrusion on the cap side and the protrusion on the container side engage with each other in the direction of the container axis to prevent removal is common. And when removing the cap for separate collection, a method is generally used in which a weakened portion provided on the cap is broken, and the engagement between the protrusion on the cap side and the protrusion on the container side is relaxed to detach the cap from the mouth of the container.

[0008] However, as described in Patent Document 1, when removing the cap, in a structure in which the outer lid is lifted or the lower end of the outer cylindrical portion is pried open to tear the first weakened line and remove the outer cylindrical portion from the mouth of the container (bottle), the ease of detaching the cap cannot be realized, and force is required to unscrew the cap.

[0009] Also, as described in Patent Document 2, when the cylindrical side wall of the cap is made into a double structure with a slit, and detachment weakening lines (scores) are provided on the inner wall and the outer wall of the cylindrical side wall respectively, and the inner wall is broken after the outer wall is broken to facilitate the detachment of the cap body from the mouth of the container, it is necessary to prevent the cap from slipping off. For this reason, the protruding height of the portion of the locking protrusion in the detachment region sandwiched by the detachment weakening lines is set higher than the protruding height of the portion of the locking protrusion located outside the detachment region. However, this structure requires more force when unscrewing the cap.

[0010] The present invention solves the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a cap that reduces the force required for unscrewing and enables the unscrewing operation to be easily performed in one operation. MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS

[0011] In order to achieve the above object, the cap according to the present invention has a cap body to be attached to the mouth portion of a container and an upper lid portion integrated with the cap body via a hinge. The cap body has a cap engaging portion that protrudes radially inward of the cap body and forms an annular shape along the circumferential direction on the inner circumferential surface of the main body portion that surrounds the mouth portion of the container around the axis of the container. The cap engaging portion engages with an outer circumferential surface of the mouth portion of the container to form an annular mouth locking portion along the circumferential direction, and engages in the axial direction of the container axis to prevent the cap body from coming off, and has a retaining reinforcement portion at a position facing the hinge in the radial direction of the cap body. On both sides of the retaining reinforcement portion in the circumferential direction of the cap body, there are plug removal promoting portions. In the retaining reinforcement portion, the protruding amount directed radially inward of the cap engaging portion increases, and the cap engaging portion and the mouth locking portion engage deeply to suppress the detachment of the cap body. In the plug removal promoting portion, the main body portion has a weakening portion that crosses the cap engaging portion in the axial direction of the cap body on the inner circumferential surface, and the detachment of the cap body is promoted by the breakage of the weakening portion, which is characterized in that.

[0012] In the cap according to the present invention, in the plug removal promoting portion, the cap engaging portions on both sides of the weakening portion in the circumferential direction of the cap body have a reduced protruding amount directed radially inward, and the engagement between the cap engaging portion and the mouth locking portion is shallow, which is characterized in that.

[0013] In the cap according to the present invention, the plug removal promoting portions on both sides are located at positions equidistant from the retaining reinforcement portion in the circumferential direction of the cap body and symmetric with respect to the axis of the cap body, which is characterized in that.

[0014] In the cap according to the present invention, the hinge has a breaking strength greater than the breaking strength of the weakening portion, which is characterized in that.

Advantages of the Invention

[0015] According to the cap according to the present invention as described above, when the upper lid portion is lifted at the time of unplugging and a pulling force is applied to the cap body on the hinge side of the cap body, the anti-loosening reinforcement portion suppresses the detachment of the cap on the side facing the hinge in the radial direction of the cap body. For this reason, a pulling force acts on one side of the cap in the radial direction of the cap, and a force for retaining the cap acts on the other side. In the plug-unplugging promotion portion where both actions reach, the force applied to the hinge side of the cap body acts intensively on the weakened portion of the plug-unplugging promotion portion, promoting the breakage of the weakened portion. Due to the breakage of the weakened portion, the ease of detachment of the cap body is realized, the force required for unplugging is reduced, and the unplugging operation can be easily performed in one operation.

[0016] Further, since the plug-unplugging promotion portions on both sides are at positions equidistant from the anti-loosening reinforcement portion in the circumferential direction of the cap body and at positions symmetric about the axis of the cap body, the above-described action of promoting plug-unplugging and the ease of detachment can be realized more reliably.

[0017] Moreover, since the hinge has a breaking strength greater than the breaking strength of the weakened portion, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of a situation where the plug-unplugging operation becomes impossible due to the breakage of the hinge.

[0018] Furthermore, in the plug-unplugging promotion portion, the protruding amount directed radially inward of the cap engaging portion decreases, and the engagement between the cap engaging portion and the mouth locking portion is shallow. Therefore, the load applied to the weakened portion during capping of the cap becomes small, and breakage of the weakened portion can be prevented.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] Hereinafter, embodiments of the cap according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. In FIGS. 1 to 6, the cap 1 has a cap body 3 to be attached to the mouth portion 2 of the container, and an upper lid portion 6 integrated with the cap body 3 via a hinge 4 and a band hinge 5.

[0021] The cap body 3 has a main body portion 7 surrounding the mouth portion 2 of the container around the axis of the container, and a top surface portion 8 covering the opening of the mouth portion 2. The top surface portion 8 has a cylindrical discharge portion 9, and the discharge portion 9 has a discharge hole 10 communicating the inside and outside of the cap body 3. Further, the top surface portion 8 has an inner fitting portion 11 formed in an annular shape around the axis of the cap body 3, and the inner fitting portion 11 is provided with a main body engaging portion 12 that extends radially outward of the cap body 3 along the opening edge.

[0022] The upper lid portion 6 has a lid locking portion 6a that fits into the main body engaging portion 12 inside, and a flange portion 13 that extends radially outward of the upper lid portion 6 on the outer peripheral surface. The flange portion 13 is located at a portion facing the hinge 4 in the radial direction of the upper lid portion 6. Further, the upper lid portion 6 has a plug body 14 inserted into the discharge hole 10 of the discharge portion 9 on the inner surface, and an annular seal portion 15 that fits externally to the opening edge 9a of the discharge portion 9 around the plug body 14.

[0023] The cap body 3 has a finger-hooking recess 16 on the outer peripheral surface at a position corresponding to the flange portion 13 of the upper lid portion 6, and has a cap engaging portion 17, a retaining reinforcement portion 18, a plug-pulling promotion portion 19, and a plug-pulling start end portion 20 on the inner peripheral surface.

[0024] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cap engaging portion 17 is formed by an undercut formed on the inner peripheral surface of the main body portion 7 of the cap body 3 and is annular along the circumferential direction. The cap engaging portion 17 has a gently inclined surface that continues from the opening end surface 21 of the cap body 3 and forms a guiding surface 22 during plugging. Following the guiding surface 22, it has a top portion 23 that protrudes radially inward of the cap body 3, and an acute inclined surface that continues to the inner end of the cap body 3 via the top portion 23 forms an engaging surface 24.

[0025] The mouth portion 2 of the container has an annular mouth portion locking portion 25 formed along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface, and the cap engaging portion 17 engages with the mouth portion locking portion 25 in the axial direction of the container to prevent the cap body 3 from coming off. The mouth portion locking portion 25 extends outward in the radial direction of the mouth portion 2 of the container, and the portion of the mouth portion 2 following the mouth portion locking portion 25 is constricted.

[0026] The cap body 3 has an internal seal cylinder 26 parallel to the inner peripheral surface of the main body portion 7, and has a fitting groove 27 for fitting the mouth portion 2 of the container between the internal seal cylinder 26 and the inner peripheral surface of the cap body 3. The internal seal cylinder 26 is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the container, and the inner peripheral surface of the cap body 3 is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the container.

[0027] The plug-pulling start end portion 20 is at a position corresponding to the hinge 4 and the band hinge 5 of the cap body 3. At the plug-pulling start end portion 20, the cap engaging portion 17 is formed into a normal undercut, the protruding amount of the cap engaging portion 17 directed radially inward of the cap body 3 forms a reference value, and the cap engaging portion 17 and the mouth portion locking portion 25 engage with each other to hold the cap body 3 on the mouth portion 2 of the container.

[0028] The anti-disengagement strengthening portion 18 is located at a position facing the hinge 4 in the radial direction of the cap body 3. In the anti-disengagement strengthening portion 18, the cap engaging portion 17 is formed as a big undercut, the guide surface 22 of the cap engaging portion 17 has a large inclination angle, and the protruding amount toward the inner side in the radial direction of the cap body 3 increases. Here, it increases by a = 0.1 mm compared to the reference value of the normal undercut. The cap engaging portion 17 and the mouth engaging portion 25 engage deeply to suppress the detachment of the cap body 3.

[0029] The plug removal promoting portion 19 is located on both sides of the anti-disengagement strengthening portion 18 in the circumferential direction of the cap body 3, at a position equidistant from the anti-disengagement strengthening portion 18 in the circumferential direction of the cap body 3, and at a position symmetric about the axis of the cap body 3. Here, the plug removal promoting portion 19 is located in the middle in the radial direction of the cap body 3. However, the plug removal promoting portion 19 may be closer to the side of the plug removal start end portion 20 than the middle position in the radial direction of the cap body 3, or may be closer to the side of the anti-disengagement strengthening portion 18.

[0030] In the plug removal promoting portion 19, the weakening portion 28 provided on the inner peripheral surface of the main body portion 7 extends in the axial direction of the cap body 3 from the opening end surface 21 of the cap body 3 and crosses the cap engaging portion 17, has a predetermined depth on the outer side in the radial direction of the main body portion 7, and has a predetermined width in the circumferential direction of the main body portion 7. The breakage of this weakening portion 28 promotes the detachment of the cap body 3.

[0031] The cap engaging portions 17 on both sides of the weakening portion 28 in the circumferential direction of the cap body 3 are formed as mini undercuts, and the guide surface 22 forms a gentle slope with a small inclination angle close to the inner peripheral surface of the main body portion 7.

[0032] In the plug removal promoting portion 19, the protruding amount of the cap engaging portion 17 toward the inner side in the radial direction of the cap body 3 decreases. Here, it decreases by b = 0.3 mm compared to the reference value of the normal undercut. The engagement between the cap engaging portion 17 and the mouth engaging portion 25 is shallow, and the breakage of the weakening portion 28 is suppressed when the cap 1 is plugged.

[0033] The engaging surfaces 24 of the normal undercut, big undercut, and mini undercut of the cap engaging portion 17 are formed at the same angle with respect to the inner surface of the main body portion 7. The formation range of each undercut is such that, around the axis of the cap body 3, the normal undercut is the largest, followed by the mini undercut, and the big undercut is the smallest. The degree of assembly of the cap 1 with respect to the mouth locking portion 25 of the mouth portion 2 of the container is determined by the ratio of the formation range of each undercut. If the formation range of the big undercut is too wide, the capping strength becomes too high and capping cannot be properly performed, resulting in problems such as breakage of the weakening portion 28.

[0034] In the present embodiment, a normal undercut exists between the big undercut and the mini undercut, and the amount of protrusion of the cap engaging portion 17 toward the inner side in the radial direction of the cap body 3 changes stepwise. It is also possible to directly change the amount of protrusion of the cap engaging portion 17 from the big undercut to the mini undercut.

[0035] The hinge 4 and the band hinge 5 have a breaking strength greater than the breaking strength of the weakening portion 28, and further have an R shape in the thickness width direction at the base, which is the connection portion with the upper lid portion 6 and the cap body 3, to increase the strength against tensile force. Here, the strength of the hinge 4 and the band hinge 5 is ensured by setting the breaking strength of the weakening portion 28 to 30 - 50 N·cm.

[0036] As described above, according to the cap 1 according to the present invention, in the uncapping promotion portion 19, the amount of protrusion of the cap engaging portion 17 toward the inner side in the radial direction decreases, and the engagement between the cap engaging portion 17 and the mouth locking portion 25 is shallow. Therefore, the deformation of the main body portion 7 that occurs when capping the cap 1, that is, the expansion outward in the radial direction and the extension in the circumferential direction, is alleviated, the load applied to the weakening portion 28 when capping the cap 1 is reduced, and breakage of the weakening portion can be prevented.

[0037] When removing the plug, lift the upper lid portion 6 and apply an upward force to the cap body 3 via the hinge 4 and the band hinge 5. At this time, on the side of the cap body 3 that faces the hinge 4 in the radial direction, the cap engaging portion 17 and the mouth engaging portion 25 deeply engage with each other in the anti-loosening reinforcement portion 18 to suppress the detachment of the cap body 3.

[0038] Therefore, an upward pulling force acts on one side of the cap 1 in the radial direction of the cap 1, and a force to hold the cap 1 acts on the other side. In the plug removal promoting portion where both actions reach, the force applied to the side of the hinge 4 of the cap body 3 intensively acts on the weakening portion 28 of the plug removal promoting portion 19, promoting the breakage of the weakening portion 28. Due to the breakage of the weakening portion 28, the ease of detachment of the cap body 3 is realized, the force required for plug removal is reduced, and the plug removal operation can be easily performed in one operation. This effect ensures that the weakening portion 28 is surely broken when the cap body 3 comes out of the mouth portion 2 of the container due to acts such as mischief, so that tamper evidence can be ensured.

[0039] Also, since the plug removal promoting portions 19 on both sides are at positions equidistant from the anti-loosening reinforcement portion 18 in the circumferential direction of the cap body 3 and are symmetric with respect to the axis of the cap body 3, the above-described action of promoting plug removal and the ease of detachment can be more surely realized.

[0040] Moreover, since the hinge 4 and the band hinge 5 have a breaking strength greater than that of the weakening portion 28, it is possible to avoid a situation where the plug removal operation becomes impossible due to the breakage of the hinge and the band hinge 5.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0041] 1 Cap 2 Mouth portion of the container 3 Cap body 4 Hinge 5 Band hinge 6 Upper lid portion 6a Lid engaging portion 7 Main body portion 8 Top surface portion 9 Discharge portion 9a Opening edge 10 ejection hole 11 inner fitting part 12 main body engaging part 13 flange part 14 plug body 15 seal part 16 concave part 17 cap engaging part 18 anti - removal strengthening part 19 plug - removing promoting part 20 plug - removing start part 21 opening end face 22 guide surface 23 top part 24 engaging surface 25 mouth - part locking part 26 internal seal cylinder 27 fitting groove 28 weakening part

Claims

1. It has a cap body attached to the mouth of the container and an upper lid portion integrated with the cap body via a hinge. The cap body has a cap engaging portion that protrudes radially inward of the cap body on the inner peripheral surface of the main body portion that surrounds the mouth of the container around the axis of the container and forms an annular shape along the circumferential direction. The cap engaging portion engages with an outer peripheral surface of the mouth of the container to form an annular mouth locking portion along the circumferential direction, and engages in the axial direction of the container to prevent the cap body from coming off. The cap body has a retaining reinforcement portion at a position facing the hinge in the radial direction of the cap body, and has plug removal promoting portions on both sides of the retaining reinforcement portion in the circumferential direction of the cap body. In the retaining reinforcement portion, the protruding amount directed radially inward of the cap engaging portion increases, and the cap engaging portion and the mouth locking portion engage deeply to suppress the detachment of the cap body. In the plug removal promoting portion, the main body portion has a weakening portion that crosses the cap engaging portion in the axial direction of the cap body on the inner peripheral surface. The cap is characterized in that the detachment of the cap body is promoted by the breakage of the weakening portion.

2. In the plug removal promoting portion, the cap engaging portions in the two side regions of the weakening portion in the circumferential direction of the cap body have a reduced protruding amount directed radially inward, and the engagement between the cap engaging portion and the mouth locking portion is shallow. The cap according to claim 1, characterized in that.

3. The plug removal promoting portions on both sides are located at positions equidistant from the retaining reinforcement portion in the circumferential direction of the cap body and symmetric with respect to the axis of the cap body. The cap according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that.

4. The hinge has a breaking strength greater than the breaking strength of the weakening portion. The cap according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that.

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