Refill container

Abstract

To provide a refill container which can prompt normal use in a state where it is fitted to an outer container.SOLUTION: A refill container 1 having a storage space S for storing a content and used by being fitted to an outer container comprises: a container body 2 including a body 2a having the storage space S, an upper opening 2c communicated with the storage space S, and a mouth 2b connected to the body 2a; a sealing sheet 3 that covers the upper opening 2c and seals the storage space S; and a refill cap 4 detachably fixed to the container body 2 from above the sealing sheet 3. The refill cap 4 has a cap opening 4d above the upper opening 2c.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a refill container that is used by being replaced in an outer container. [Background Art]

[0002] Conventionally, for example, containers that accommodate creamy or gel-like contents (such as cosmetics) are known, which include an inner container for accommodating the contents and an outer container that detachably holds the inner container (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In this type of container, the inner container is used as a refill container. After the contents are used up, the original inner container is removed from the outer container, and a new inner container is replaced into the outer container. That is, according to such a replacement container, the outer container can be reused, which is excellent in terms of resource saving and the like. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2021-172426 [Summary of the Invention] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention]

[0005] As mentioned above, refill containers are designed to be attached to the outer container, but it is possible to remove the contents even when the refill container is not attached to the outer container. Therefore, there is a risk that the refill container may be used alone by reusing the refill cap that sealed the refill container. However, if the refill container is thin-walled or has a hemispherical bottom and is unstable, there is a risk that the refill container may break during storage or use, or that the container may tip over and spill its contents. In addition, using a refill container alone is not recommended because it is prone to tilting because it is not held in place by the outer container (in normal use, the center of gravity is lowered by the weight of the outer container, but when the refill container is used alone, the center of gravity is higher than in normal use and it is prone to tilting), making it difficult to keep it stable.

[0006] In view of these points, the present invention aims to provide a refill container that can encourage proper use when attached to the outer container. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention is a refill container having a storage space for containing contents and used by replacing the outer container, A container body comprising a main body having the aforementioned storage space, and a mouth having an upper opening that leads to the storage space and is connected to the main body, A sealing sheet that covers the upper opening and is fixed to the opening, sealing the storage space, The container comprises a refill cap that is detachably attached to the container body from above the sealing sheet, The sealing sheet is not fixed to the refill cap. The refill cap has a cap opening above the upper opening. death, The outer edge of the cap opening is located radially inward from the inner edge of the mouth above the upper opening. It is a refillable container.

[0008] Preferably, the refill cap has a top wall portion positioned above the opening, and on the lower surface of the top wall portion, a protrusion projecting downward is provided directly above the upper end surface of the opening. 。

[0009] The sealing sheet has a tab that protrudes radially outward from the opening when it is covering the upper opening. It is preferable to have a gap between the container body to which the refill cap is attached and the refill cap, in which the tab portion can fit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The refill container of the present invention has a sealing sheet that covers the upper opening and seals the storage space, thus preventing contact between the contents and the outside air before it is attached to the outer container and maintaining the quality of the contents. Furthermore, since it is equipped with a refill cap that can be detachably attached to the container body from above the sealing sheet, it is possible to prevent the problem of accidentally removing the sealing sheet. In addition, since the refill cap has a cap opening, the storage space cannot be sealed even if the refill cap is reused, thus encouraging the proper use by attaching it to the outer container. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This is a partially enlarged half-cross-sectional view in a side view of one embodiment of a refill container according to the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the refill container according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification, the vertical direction refers to the direction along the axis O shown in the drawings. The radial direction refers to the direction perpendicular to the axis O in a plane perpendicular to the axis O, and the circumferential direction refers to the direction of rotation around the axis O in this plane.

[0013] Figure 1 shows a refill container 1, which is one embodiment of the refill container according to the present invention. The refill container 1 of this embodiment consists of a container body 2, a sealing sheet 3, and a refill cap 4.

[0014] The container body 2 comprises a bottomed cylindrical body portion 2a centered on axis O, and a cylindrical mouth portion 2b connected to the body portion 2a and having an opening at the top. Inside the body portion 2a, a storage space S is provided for containing contents such as cream, gel, or liquid. Here, the opening at the mouth portion 2b is referred to as the upper opening 2c.

[0015] A male threaded portion 2d is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the opening portion 2b. The male threaded portion 2d is for removably holding the refill cap 4. Alternatively, the refill cap 4 may be removably held using a configuration other than the male threaded portion 2d. One example of such a configuration is an undercut that removably engages with the refill cap 4.

[0016] The sealing sheet 3 is a single-layer or multi-layer sheet using, for example, a metal sheet (an aluminum sheet as an example) or a synthetic resin sheet. The sealing sheet 3 of the present embodiment includes a circular portion 3a that covers the entire upper end surfaces of the upper opening 2c and the mouth portion 2b, and a knob portion 3b that protrudes radially outward from the circular portion 3a. The outer edge of the circular portion 3a of the sealing sheet 3 is peelably fixed to the upper end surface of the mouth portion 2b by, for example, ultrasonic welding, heat welding, adhesion, or the like. It is preferable that the material constituting the sealing sheet 3 is a material that does not easily break even when a finger or the like is pressed against the circular portion 3a fixed to the upper end surface of the mouth portion 2b. Further, the sealing sheet 3 is not limited to one fixed to the mouth portion 2b, and may be placed on the upper end surface of the mouth portion 2b. Even in this case, the accommodation space S is sealed by the refill cap 4 being held by the aforementioned male screw portion 2d or the like. The sealing sheet 3 that is not fixed to the mouth portion 2b may be configured only by the aforementioned circular portion 3a, or may be formed in a cup shape having a peripheral wall portion provided on the outer edge of the circular portion 3a. The peripheral wall portion is not limited to one extending over the entire circumference of the outer edge of the circular portion 3a, and may be provided intermittently in the circumferential direction.

[0017] The refill cap 4 includes a top wall portion 4a that is generally disc-shaped around the axis O, and a peripheral wall portion 4b connected to the outer edge of the top wall portion 4a. The inner diameter of the peripheral wall portion 4b is larger than the outer diameter of the mouth portion 2b. A female screw portion 4c screwed to the male screw portion 2d is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion 4b.

[0018] Further, a cap opening 4d penetrating through the top wall portion 4a is provided therein. In the present embodiment, one cap opening 4d is provided in the top wall portion 4a. The shape of the cap opening 4d in the present embodiment is a circular through hole centered on the axis O, and as illustrated, the outer edge 4e of the cap opening 4d is located radially inward of the inner edge 2e of the mouth portion 2b.

[0019] Note that the cap opening 4d only needs to penetrate the top wall portion 4a, and the number and shape thereof may be set arbitrarily. That is, the cap openings 4d may be a plurality of circular (or polygonal) through-holes penetrating the top wall portion 4a, or may be configured such that one through-hole as in the present embodiment is provided, and one or a plurality of ribs are provided inside the through-hole to form a plurality of through-holes, or may be a combination of these.

[0020] On the lower surface of the top wall portion 4a, directly above the upper end surface of the mouth portion 2b, an annular convex portion 4f protruding downward is provided. By providing this convex portion 4f, when the male screw portion 2d and the female screw portion 4c are screwed together, the sealing sheet 3 can be strongly pressed against the upper end surface of the mouth portion 2b via the convex portion 4f.

[0021] Furthermore, in a state where the male screw portion 2d and the female screw portion 4c are screwed together and the refill cap 4 is attached to the mouth portion 2b, a gap G is provided between the outer peripheral surface at the upper part of the mouth portion 2b and the inner peripheral surface at the upper part of the peripheral wall portion 4b. As illustrated, the tab portion 3b of the sealing sheet 3 fixed to the mouth portion 2b can be accommodated in this gap G.

[0022] The refill container 1 having such a configuration is distributed after contents are accommodated in the accommodation space S, the sealing sheet 3 is fixed to the mouth portion 2b, and the refill cap 4 is attached to the mouth portion 2b from above the sealing sheet 3. That is, since the refill cap 4 is provided above the sealing sheet 3, the problem of unintentionally peeling off the sealing sheet 3 can be prevented. Particularly in the present embodiment, the tab portion 3b of the sealing sheet 3 is surrounded by the outer edge portion of the top wall portion 4a and the peripheral wall portion 4b, so that the tab portion 3b cannot be directly grasped with a finger, and thus the sealing sheet 3 is not inadvertently peeled off.

[0023] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the outer edge 4e of the cap opening 4d is located radially inward from the inner edge 2e of the mouth portion 2b. In other words, since the portion to which the sealing sheet 3 is fixed is not directly exposed to the outside, fingers or other objects cannot come into contact with the portion to which the sealing sheet 3 is fixed from the outside of the cap opening 4d, thus more reliably preventing the problem of unintentionally peeling off the sealing sheet 3.

[0024] Furthermore, the protrusion 4f firmly presses the sealing sheet 3 against the upper surface of the opening 2b when the refill cap 4 is attached to the opening 2b, thereby preventing the sealing sheet 3 from peeling off and ensuring a more reliable seal of the storage space S.

[0025] Furthermore, since the tab 3b fits into the gap G when the refill cap 4 is attached to the opening 2b, it effectively prevents the tab 3b from becoming twisted or kinked when removing the refill cap 4 from the opening 2b. In other words, there is no need to straighten out any twists or kinks in the tab 3b when peeling off the sealing sheet 3, making it very easy to use.

[0026] When attaching the refill container 1 to the outer container (not shown), you may first attach the refill container 1 to the outer container (not shown), then remove the refill cap 4 and peel off the sealing sheet 3, or you may peel off the sealing sheet 3 first and then attach the refill container 1 to the outer container.

[0027] Incidentally, if one attempts to use the refill container 1 independently without attaching it to the outer container, even if the refill cap 4 is attached to the opening 2b after removing the sealing sheet 3, the refill cap 4 has a cap opening 4d, so the storage space S remains exposed to the outside. In other words, even if one attempts to reuse the refill cap 4, the storage space S cannot be sealed, thus encouraging the proper use of attaching the refill container 1 to the outer container and sealing it with the outer container's cap.

[0028] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and unless otherwise specifically limited in the above description, various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the spirit of the present invention as described in the claims. For example, the configurations of the embodiments described above can be added or deleted as appropriate, and the configuration of one embodiment can be provided in other embodiments. Furthermore, the effects in the embodiments described above are merely illustrative of the effects that may arise from the present invention, and do not mean that the effects of the present invention are limited to the effects described above.

[0029] For example, in this embodiment, it was visually clear that the storage space S would not be sealed even if the refill cap 4 was to be reused because a relatively large diameter cap opening 4d was provided. However, the cap opening 4d may be small in diameter. Also, the refill container 1 of this embodiment may be distributed as is, but if the entire refill container 1, or only the attached refill cap 4, is covered with shrink film or the like before distribution, the cap opening 4d will be covered, thus preventing the problem of the sealing sheet 3 being inadvertently pressed by a finger or the like through the cap opening 4d. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0030] 1: Refill container 2: Container body 2a: Main body 2b: Mouth 2c: Upper opening 2d: Male threaded part 2e: Inner edge 3: Sealing sheet 3a: Circular section 3b: Pinching part 4: Refill cap 4a: Ceiling wall part 4b: Peripheral wall part 4c: Female thread section 4d: Cap opening 4e: Outer edge 4f: Convex part G: Gap O: Axis line S: Containment space

Claims

1. A refill container having a storage space for holding contents, which is used by replacing the outer container, A container body comprising a main body having the aforementioned storage space, and a mouth having an upper opening that leads to the storage space and is connected to the main body, A sealing sheet that covers the upper opening and is fixed to the opening, sealing the storage space, The container comprises a refill cap that is detachably attached to the container body from above the sealing sheet, The sealing sheet is not fixed to the refill cap. The refill cap has a cap opening above the upper opening, The outer edge of the cap opening is located radially inward from the inner edge of the mouth above the upper opening of the refill container.

2. The refill cap has a top wall portion positioned above the opening, The refill container according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion projecting downward is provided on the lower surface of the top wall portion, directly above the upper end surface of the mouth portion.

3. The sealing sheet has a tab that protrudes radially outward from the opening when it is covering the upper opening. The refill container according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a gap is provided between the container body to which the refill cap is attached and the refill cap, in which the tab portion fits.

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