Hinge cap

Abstract

To provide a hinge cap capable of easily maintaining an opened small lid at a predetermined position.SOLUTION: A hinge cap comprises a cap body attached to a mouth part of a container body and a small lid connected to the cap body via a hinge, and the small lid has an inner ring fitted into the mouth part when the small lid is closed, and when the small lid is opened, a part of the inner ring on the hinge side rides on the mouth part to maintain the small lid at a predetermined position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a hinge cap used for packaging containers.

Background Art

[0002] Various openable and closable packaging containers provided with a hinge cap at the mouth portion have been widely used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problem to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In a hinge cap as described in Patent Document 1, the opened upper lid cannot be maintained at a fixed position. Therefore, for example, when taking out a viscous content, the upper lid may get in the way, resulting in poor usability.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hinge cap capable of maintaining an opened small lid at a predetermined position.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] A hinge cap according to the present invention includes: a cap body attached to a mouth portion of a container body; and a small lid connected to the cap body via a hinge, wherein the small lid has an inner ring fitted into the mouth portion when the cap is closed, The inner ring is the base portion of the inner ring and has a first portion having a first outer diameter, a second portion having a second outer diameter smaller than the first outer diameter, and a third portion connecting the first and second portions and decreasing in outer diameter toward the second portion. When the small lid is closed, the outer surfaces of the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion are in contact with the inner surface of the opening. when the small lid is in an open state, a part of the inner ring on the hinge side rides on the mouth portion, so that the small lid is maintained at a predetermined position.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, a hinge cap capable of maintaining an open small lid in a predetermined position can be provided. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] A schematic cross-sectional view showing the hinge cap according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] A schematic cross-sectional view showing a hinge cap according to the second embodiment. [Figure 3] A cross-sectional view showing an example of a hinge structure applicable to a hinge cap according to the second embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] (First Embodiment) Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a hinge cap according to the first embodiment. In the drawing, the dashed line represents the central axis Ax of the hinge cap.

[0010] The hinge cap 10 is a component that allows the opening of a container to be opened and closed. The opening to which the hinge cap 10 is attached may be the opening of a bottle container such as a PET bottle or glass bottle, or it may be a spout provided on a bottle container, paper container, pouch, or tube container. In the following, an example will be described in which the opening to which the hinge cap 10 is attached is a spout.

[0011] Prior to describing the hinge cap 10, the spout 31 will be described. The spout 31 has a cylindrical portion 32, a flange portion 33 connected to one end of the cylindrical portion 32, a fitting portion 36 provided at the other end of the cylindrical portion 32 and protruding outward from the other part of the cylindrical portion 32, and a pair of protrusions 34 and 35 provided on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 32. The protrusion 34 preferably has an inclined surface on its upper surface or is chamfered so that the undercut 27 of the hinge cap 10 can easily overcome when the hinge cap 10 is set into the spout 31 by plugging. The protrusion 35 is provided on the flange portion 33 side of the protrusion 34, with a gap between it and the protrusion 34 corresponding to the thickness of the undercut 27. The outer diameter of the protrusion 35 is set to be larger than that of the protrusion 34, and the protrusion 35 has the role of positioning the hinge cap 10. The spout 31 may include components for maintaining an airtight seal inside the container when unopened, such as a partition that closes the cylindrical portion 32 and means for cutting and removing the partition. The spout 31 is preferably made of polyethylene or a block copolymer of polypropylene.

[0012] Referring to Figure 1(a), the hinge cap 10 comprises a cap body 1 that is attached to the mouth of a container and a small lid 3 that is connected to the cap body 1 via a hinge 2. The hinge cap 10 is integrally molded from resin. Suitable materials for the hinge cap 10 according to this embodiment are low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), or blends thereof. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) may be blended in order to improve the rigidity of the cap body 1, hinge 2, and small lid 3. In this embodiment, the hinge 2 is formed in a flat plate shape without folds. The outer surface of the hinge 2 is formed as a flat surface, which contributes to reducing the release resistance during injection molding.

[0013] The cap body 1 has a cylindrical tubular portion 26 and an undercut 27 provided on the inner circumferential surface of the tubular portion 26 that can be fitted between the protrusions 34 and 35 of the spout 31.

[0014] The small cover 3 has a flat plate portion 22, a finger rest portion 7 protruding outward from the portion of the flat plate portion 22 opposite to the hinge 2, a cylindrical peripheral wall portion 23 connected to the outer peripheral edge of the flat plate portion 22, an undercut 24 provided on the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion 23 that can be fitted into the fitting portion 36 of the spout 31, an annular inner ring 21 connected to the inner surface of the flat plate portion 22, and an annular contact ring 25 protruding from the portion of the inner surface of the flat plate portion 22 between the peripheral wall portion 23 and the inner ring 21.

[0015] The inner ring 21 is configured such that the length of the portion on the hinge 2 side (the length in the central axis direction of the inner ring 21) is longer than the other portions. Therefore, when the small lid 3 is rotated around the hinge axis to open it, a portion of the inner ring 21 on the hinge 2 side rides up onto the open end of the spout 31, as shown in Figure 1(b). Since the hinge 2 in this embodiment is a plate shape without folds, when the small lid 3 is opened, the hinge 2 bends, and an elastic force (rebound force) is generated in the hinge 2. Due to the elastic force of the hinge 2, the small lid 3 is biased in the closing direction (counterclockwise in Figure 1(b)) around the rotation axis of the hinge 2. Therefore, the small lid 3 is maintained by the elastic force of the hinge 2 in a position rotated approximately 90° from the closed state around the hinge as the center of rotation (the position shown in Figure 1(b)).

[0016] Thus, with the hinge cap 10, the small lid 3 can be kept in a predetermined position simply by opening it. Therefore, the hinge cap 10 according to this embodiment is easy to use because the opened small lid 3 does not get in the way and the contents can be easily removed. It is particularly suitable as a packaging container for liquids that do not drain well or for viscous contents.

[0017] When closing the small lid 3, the small lid 3 held at the position shown in Fig. 1(b) is manually moved in the closing direction. As a result, a part of the inner ring 21 riding on the open end of the spout 31 climbs over the spout, is inserted into the spout 31, and fits into the cylindrical portion 32 of the spout 31 as shown in Fig. 1(a). Further, as shown in Fig. 1(a), when the small lid 3 is placed in the closed state, the undercut 24 of the small lid 3 fits into the fitting portion 36 of the spout 31, and the small lid 3 is locked. In the closed state, the inner ring 21 fits into the cylindrical portion 32 of the spout 31, and the contact ring 25 is in close contact with the upper end surface of the fitting portion 36, so excellent sealing performance is achieved.

[0018] Further, in the present embodiment, a step is provided between the root side portion (the portion on the flat plate portion 22 side) and the tip side portion of the inner ring 21, and the outer diameter on the tip side is smaller than that on the root side portion of the inner ring 21. More specifically, the inner ring 21 has a first portion connected to the flat plate portion 22 and having a first outer diameter, a second portion having a second outer diameter smaller than the first outer diameter, and a third portion (tapered portion) that connects the first portion and the second portion and has an outer diameter decreasing toward the second portion. The portion of the inner ring 21 on the hinge 2 side is formed longer than other portions, and is inserted deep into the spout 31. When the tip side portion of the inner ring 21 is made thinner than the root side portion as in the present embodiment, interference between the inner peripheral portion of the open end of the spout 31 and the tip side portion of the inner ring 21 can be avoided when closing the small lid 3, making the closing operation of the small lid 3 easier.

[0019] (Second Embodiment) Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a hinge cap according to a second embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the structure of a hinge applicable to the hinge cap according to the second embodiment.

[0020] The basic configuration of the hinge cap 20 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the hinge cap 10 according to the first embodiment, and comprises a cap body 1 to be attached to the mouth of a container body, and a small lid 3 connected to the cap body 1 via a hinge 2. The following description focuses on the differences between the present embodiment and the first embodiment.

[0021] Unlike the first embodiment, the hinge 2 according to the present embodiment has a fold formed of a thin-walled portion or the like at an intermediate portion, and the small lid 3 is rotatable around this fold as an axis. The structure of the bendable hinge 2 is not particularly limited, and for example, a cross-sectional shape having a thin-walled portion as shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b) can be employed. The left side surface in Fig. 3 corresponds to the outer surface of the hinge cap 20. The outer surface of the hinge 2 is formed as a flat surface, which contributes to reducing mold release resistance during injection molding. On the outer surfaces of the small lid 3 and the cap body 1, a projection 28 and a fitting portion 29 are provided aligned in the direction of the central axis Ax of the hinge cap 20 with the hinge 2 as the center.

[0022] In the hinge cap 20 according to the present embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2(b), the small lid 3 is rotatable around the axis (fold) of the hinge 2 from the closed state to a position rotated by 180° or more. When the small lid 3 is opened to the maximum position, as shown in Fig. 2(b), the projection 28 on the outer surface of the small lid 3 fits into the fitting portion 29 on the outer surface of the cap body 1, and the small lid 3 is maintained in the fully opened position.

[0023] When closing the small lid 3, since the portion of the inner ring 21 on the hinge 2 side rides onto the open end of the spout 31, the inner ring 21 can be easily inserted into the cylindrical portion 32 of the spout 31. In the case of a configuration that can be opened from the closed state to a position rotated 180° or more as in the present embodiment, if the length of the inner ring 21 is short, it is expected that the hinge-side portion of the inner ring 21 will interfere with the open end of the spout 31 and cannot climb over it smoothly when closing the small lid 3. In the present embodiment, the long portion of the inner ring 21 on the hinge 2 side functions as a guide that guides the inner ring 21 into the cylindrical portion 32 of the spout 31, so that the closing operation of the small lid 3 is easy.

[0024] In this embodiment, polypropylene is preferably used as the material for the hinge cap 20, and more preferably a random copolymer of polypropylene is preferred in view of the flexibility of the hinge 2.

[0025] The hinge cap according to the second embodiment described above is as follows:

[0026] A cap body that is attached to the mouth of the container body, A small lid connected to the main body of the cap via a hinge, The projection provided on the aforementioned small lid, The cap body is provided with a fitting portion into which the projection can be fitted, A hinge cap in which the projection engages with the fitting portion when the small lid is opened by rotating 180° or more around the hinge.

[0027] (Other variations, etc.) In the embodiments described above, a hinged cap that can be attached to the opening by pressing it in was explained as an example, but the hinged cap may also be attached to the opening by screwing it in. In this case, the cap body of the hinged cap should be provided with a female thread that can be screwed into the male thread provided on the opening of the container body. [Industrial applicability]

[0028] The present invention can be used as a hinge cap for packaging containers having an opening. The hinge cap according to the present invention can be suitably used for packaging containers that contain powdered, granular, solid, or semi-solid contents such as food, hair care products, and hand care products. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0029] 1 Cap body 2 hinges 3 small lid 10 Hinge caps 20 Hinge caps 21 Inner Ring 31 Spout

Claims

1. A cap body that is attached to the mouth of the container body, It comprises a small lid connected to the main cap body via a hinge, The small lid has an inner ring that fits into the opening when the cap is closed. The inner ring is the base portion of the inner ring and has a first portion having a first outer diameter, a second portion having a second outer diameter smaller than the first outer diameter, and a third portion connecting the first portion and the second portion, with the outer diameter decreasing toward the second portion. In the closed state of the small lid, the outer circumferential surfaces of the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion are in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the opening. A hinge cap in which, when the small lid is opened, a part of the inner ring on the hinge side rides up onto the opening, thereby maintaining the small lid in a predetermined position.

2. The hinge cap according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the inner ring on the hinge side is longer than the other portion.

3. The hinge cap according to claim 1, wherein the small lid is maintained in the predetermined position by the elastic force of the hinge.

4. The hinge cap according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined position is a position rotated approximately 90° from the closed state around the axis of rotation of the hinge.

5. The hinge cap according to claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the hinge is flat.

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