Nozzle, cover assembly, and packaging container

Abstract

A nozzle (10), the nozzle comprising a base (11) and an annular wall (12) extending from the base (11). The annular wall (12) defines a passage (121) allowing contents in a packaging container to flow out. The base (11) comprises a base wall (111) and a side wall, the side wall comprising a recessed portion recessed towards a central axis of the nozzle (10). A cover assembly (1) comprising the nozzle (10) as well as a packaging container comprising the cover assembly (1).

Description

Nozzle, cap assembly and packaging container Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of packaging, and in particular to a nozzle, a cover assembly comprising the nozzle, and a packaging container comprising the cover assembly. Background Art

[0002] Food packaging, particularly liquid food, often comes in a variety of forms, differing in the material and shape of the container (or packaging tube), the structure of the food packaging cap assembly, and more. In actual production, to complete a food package, the container (which can be made of a paper composite or non-paper-based material) must first be sealed to the cap assembly at one end. After the food is filled into the container using filling equipment, the container is sealed at the other end.

[0003] It should be understood that in the prior art, a mature production line is typically used to complete the above process steps. In particular, when sealing the container and the cap assembly, an assembly mechanism as shown in Figure 1 can generally be used. The assembly mechanism includes multiple rotatable forming rods, each of which is designed to cooperate with the container and the cap assembly accordingly. For example, the container and the cap assembly can be introduced onto the forming rods one after the other. After both are seated on the forming rods, high-temperature air is used to heat-activate / heat specific portions of the cap assembly and the container, so that these specific portions become molten or flowable under the high-temperature heating, thereby allowing the two to be forced together in a sealed manner under the action of pressure.

[0004] However, since the forming rod is usually made of metal material and the cap assembly is made of plastic material, the two materials have significantly different thermal expansion coefficients. Therefore, when heated by hot air, the thermal expansion degree of the cap assembly is significantly greater than that of the forming rod. Therefore, during the high-speed rotation of the forming rod, the cap assembly is very likely to be thrown off the forming rod due to the action of centrifugal force. This capping phenomenon is obviously undesirable because it will cause the subsequent filling process to fail.

[0005] Several solutions have been proposed in the prior art to address the aforementioned issues. For example, one known solution involves providing a greater number of retaining portions on the forming rod to increase the retention force of the cap assembly on the forming rod. However, this solution still fails to effectively address the issue of the cap assembly being thrown off the forming rod and also results in significant design and manufacturing costs.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an improved technical solution to overcome the above-mentioned or other shortcomings in the prior art.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The present invention is proposed based on the above background, and its purpose is to provide an improved nozzle and a cover assembly including the nozzle, so as to solve the problem of the cover assembly falling off or being thrown off the forming rod, thereby reducing the scrap rate of the packaging and saving costs.

[0009] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a nozzle is proposed, which includes a base and an annular wall extending from the base, the annular wall defining a passage for the contents in the packaging container to flow out, the base including a base wall and a side wall, the side wall including a recessed portion recessed toward the central axis of the nozzle.

[0010] As an embodiment, the side wall includes a plurality of side wall portions connected to each other, and at least one of the side wall portions is provided with one recessed portion.

[0011] As an embodiment, the recessed portion is located at the bottom of the base and has a maximum recessed depth at the bottom edge of the side wall portion, wherein the maximum recessed depth is defined as the maximum distance between the bottom edge and the straight line defined by the two end points of the bottom edge, wherein the maximum recessed depth is designed to be 0.05mm-1mm.

[0012] As an embodiment, the maximum recess depth is designed to be 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm.

[0013] As an embodiment, each side wall portion includes a bottom edge, and a bottom plane is defined by three relatively lowest points in the axial direction located on at least two bottom edges, and the end points of the bottom edges have a distance from the bottom plane, which is required to be no more than 0.4 mm.

[0014] As an embodiment, the base includes four side wall portions defining a space having a substantially square cross-section.

[0015] As an embodiment, the nozzle is formed by injection molding, and the material used for injection molding includes high-density polyethylene.

[0016] As an embodiment, the molding material of the nozzle has a shrinkage rate of 1.6% to 2.0%.

[0017] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a cap assembly is provided, comprising the above-mentioned nozzle and a cover cap capable of being engaged on an annular wall of the nozzle.

[0018] As an embodiment, the cap assembly includes a spacer portion integrally injection-molded with the nozzle, the spacer portion being disposed between the passage and a space defined by the base wall and the side wall and provided with a weakened area.

[0019] As an embodiment, the cover assembly further includes a self-opening sleeve, which is provided with a puncturing element. As the cover rotates relative to the annular wall and moves toward a first direction, the puncturing element on the self-opening sleeve will move toward a second direction opposite to the first direction to puncture the weakened area, allowing the passage to communicate with the space fluid.

[0020] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a packaging container is provided. The packaging container includes the lid assembly as described above.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the use of the nozzle and cap assembly according to the present invention not only effectively solves the problem of the cap assembly falling off or being thrown off the forming rod, but also ensures that the sealing assembly can be easily pushed away from the forming rod after the sealing connection between the cap assembly and the container is completed, so as to smoothly complete the subsequent filling process; in addition, since it does not involve complex structural design, the production and manufacturing costs are low. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily understood through the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0023] FIG1 shows an assembly mechanism known in the prior art for achieving a sealed connection between a cap assembly and a container, which includes a plurality of rotatable forming rods intended to cooperate with the container and the cap assembly;

[0024] 2a and 2b show, respectively, in perspective and half-side view, a connection seat mounted on the profiled rod shown in FIG. 1 and intended to cooperate with a cover assembly;

[0025] FIG3 shows a perspective view of a nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] FIG4 shows a bottom view of a nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0027] FIG5 shows a cover assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention in cross-section.

[0028] All drawings are only schematic and are not necessarily drawn to scale. In addition, they only show those parts necessary for explaining the present invention, and other parts are omitted or only mentioned. That is, in addition to the parts shown in the drawings, the present invention may also include other parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide those skilled in the art with a more complete understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. The following aspects, features, embodiments, and advantages are provided for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as elements or limitations of the claims unless expressly set forth in the claims. Furthermore, it should be noted that throughout this specification, identical and / or functionally identical technical features are denoted by identical or similar reference numerals.

[0030] As mentioned in the background art, the container and the cap assembly can usually be sealed together by means of an assembly mechanism 100 as shown in FIG1 , which includes a plurality of forming rods 101 that can rotate at high speed around a common rotation axis, and a connecting seat 102 (as shown in FIG2 a-2b ) that is intended to cooperate with the cap assembly accordingly is installed at the end of each forming rod 101. In order to increase the holding force between the cap assembly and the connecting seat 102 as much as possible, it is proposed in the prior art to provide a larger number of retaining portions 1021 on the connecting seat 102, which are intended to cooperate with corresponding snap-fit ​​portions 113 (see FIG5 ) on the base of the nozzle included in the cap assembly to stably hold the cap assembly on the forming rod or, more precisely, on the connecting seat 102. This solution places higher requirements on the design and manufacture of the connecting seat on the forming rod, and still cannot completely avoid the risk of the cap assembly being thrown out.

[0031] To address this issue, the present invention proposes an improved solution. Unlike existing solutions, the present invention's primary improvement involves structural improvements to the cap assembly itself. The applicant's research has revealed that this improved cap assembly (specifically, its nozzle) not only effectively addresses the issue of the cap assembly falling or being thrown off the forming rod, but also ensures that once the cap assembly is sealed to the container, the sealed assembly can be easily pushed off the forming rod, allowing for smooth completion of the subsequent filling process.

[0032] The present invention will now be described in conjunction with the specific embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 5, wherein Figures 3 and 4 illustrate a nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention in perspective and bottom views, respectively, and Figure 5 illustrates a cap assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention in cross-section. It should be understood that the packaging container according to the present invention is obtained by sealingly connecting the cap assembly 1 shown in Figure 5 and a container (not shown in the figures) together.

[0033] Specifically, referring to Figure 3, it shows a nozzle 10 according to a specific embodiment of the present invention, which includes a base 11 and an annular wall 12 extending from the base 11, wherein the annular wall 12 defines a passage 121 for the contents of the packaging container, such as food, to flow out. The base 11 is intended to be sealed and connected to a container (such as a paper-based tube formed by a sheet or a tubular member of other materials).

[0034] Specifically, base 11 includes a base wall 111 and sidewalls. The sidewalls and base wall together define a space 15 (see FIG. 4 ), which is intended to provide access to the interior volume of a container (not shown). In the specific embodiment shown in FIG. 3 , the sidewalls include four contiguous sidewall portions 112 that define space 15 having a generally square cross-section. Of course, other numbers of sidewall portions or other sidewall configurations (e.g., non-polyhedral surfaces) and correspondingly configured forming rods are also contemplated, as long as the intended functionality is achieved.

[0035] To address the problem of the cap assembly falling off the forming rod, the present invention proposes an improved nozzle 10, wherein the sidewalls of the base 11 of the nozzle 10 include recessed portions that extend toward the base's central axis. Referring specifically to Figure 4 , each sidewall portion 112 includes a recessed portion. This recessed portion is located at the bottom of the base. For clarity, the recessed direction and depth of the recessed portion at the base's bottom edge 1121 are schematically illustrated in Figure 4 using dashed lines. As shown in Figure 4 , the base's bottom edge 1121 has a maximum recess depth d, defined as the maximum distance from the bottom edge to a straight line defined by its two endpoints. This maximum recess depth allows the locking portion 113 (see Figure 5) on the bottom edge to engage more deeply or contact more closely with the bottom of the retaining portion 1021 on the connector 102, thereby increasing the retaining force between the two, thereby preventing the cap assembly from being ejected due to centrifugal forces.

[0036] The nozzle having the aforementioned recessed portion can be formed by injection molding, wherein the material used for the injection molding comprises high-density polyethylene (HPDE). The molding material of the nozzle preferably has a shrinkage rate of 1.6% to 2.0%. It should be understood that the shrinkage rate of a material is an inherent property of the material and can be measured using measurement methods or measurement equipment known in the art. This performance parameter is advantageous because, by utilizing the shrinkage properties of this material, after the nozzle is formed by injection molding this material, the nozzle will form a sidewall portion 112 having a recessed portion that is recessed toward the central axis of the base due to free shrinkage after injection molding.

[0037] It should be understood that, in terms of the specific process for forming the aforementioned recessed portion, in addition to relying on the aforementioned natural shrinkage, the maximum recessed depth of the recessed portion can also be adjusted or changed by reversely designing the nozzle mold. For example, the nozzle mold can be designed to include a protruding portion that protrudes in a direction opposite to the recessed direction of the aforementioned recessed portion. This can reduce the maximum recessed depth at the bottom edge of the nozzle obtained after natural shrinkage, and can even adjust the maximum recessed depth to near zero. However, the applicant's research has shown that nozzles obtained by molding using a normal mold (i.e., including a substantially straight sidewall portion without any reverse protruding portion) and then undergoing natural shrinkage can have satisfactory retention.

[0038] Table 1

[0039] Table 2

[0040] As shown in Table 1 above, due to the compensating effects of counter-mold 1 (with a 0.2mm reverse protrusion depth) and counter-mold 2 (with a 0.3mm reverse protrusion depth), the resulting cap assembly, after undergoing natural shrinkage, has a base that is substantially flat or very slightly recessed at its bottom edge. In this case, the retention force between the cap assembly and the connector on the forming rod is lower than that obtained by molding with a normal mold (i.e., a mold lacking any protrusions protruding in the direction opposite to the recessed portion of the base sidewall) and undergoing natural shrinkage. Consequently, the required release force is also lower (less than 2 Nm). The release force from the connector for the cap assembly molded with the normal mold is greater than 6 Nm. Table 2 details multiple cap drop tests conducted on cap assemblies molded with the "normal mold," "counter-mold 1," and "counter-mold 2." The experimental data also shows that the nozzle molded with the normal mold and subjected to natural shrinkage exhibits the best anti-cap drop performance, with a release force greater than 6 Nm and no risk of cap drop.

[0041] Continuing with Figures 4-5, the aforementioned maximum recess depth d at the bottom edge can be designed to be 0.05mm-1mm. This maximum recess depth within this range can ensure the desired retention force of the lid assembly (e.g., greater than 6Nm) to prevent any undesirable lid drop. Preferably, the maximum recess depth d is designed to be 0.2mm-0.5mm.

[0042] In addition to the above-mentioned concave phenomenon, there is also a phenomenon of upward warping at the four corners of the base of the nozzle. For the sake of clarity, the dotted line in Figure 5 schematically shows the situation where the endpoints of the bottom edge (the tip points of the corresponding corners) are warped upward. A bottom plane P is defined by three relatively lowest points in the axial direction on at least two bottom edges (as schematically shown in Figure 5). The endpoints of the bottom edges have a distance h from the bottom plane P, and the distance is required to be no more than 0.4 mm, so that the degree of warping of the base can be limited to ensure the nozzle's better anti-cover performance. It should be understood that in actual operation, in order to obtain the value of h by knowing the bottom plane, you can choose to place the entire nozzle on a horizontal plane such as a table, and measure the distance between the tip points of each corner and the table to know the value of h.

[0043] Referring back to Figure 4, a spacer portion 13 is provided on the nozzle 10 and is integrally injection-molded with the nozzle 10. The spacer portion 13 is part of the cover assembly 1 and is provided between the passage 121 defined by the annular wall 12 and the space 15 defined by the base wall and the side wall and is provided with a weakened area 131.

[0044] Figure 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the cap assembly 1 according to the present invention. To ensure sealed storage of food within the container, the cap assembly 1 further includes a cover 20, which can be threadedly engaged with the annular wall 12 of the nozzle 10, for example, to seal the container's interior volume. As a specific embodiment, the cover 20 includes a drive member 21 integrally formed therewith. The user can manually or with a tool drive the drive member 21 and the cover 20 to rotate together. The lid assembly 1 also includes a self-opening sleeve 30, which may be provided with a puncturing element 31. As the cover 20 rotates relative to the annular wall 12 and moves toward a first direction (for example, along the +z direction in Figure 3), for example, because the thread direction provided on the self-opening sleeve 30 is opposite to the thread direction on the cover, the self-opening sleeve 30 will move along a second direction opposite to the first direction (for example, along the -z direction in Figure 3) when rotating with the driving member 21, so that the puncturing element 31 can be used to puncture the weakened area 131 to allow the passage 121 to be fluidically connected to the space 15, thereby allowing the contents in the packaging container to migrate from the space 15 to the passage 121 via the damaged area, and finally be poured out through the passage 121 when the cover 20 is removed to facilitate user consumption.

[0045] In actual production, after the cap assembly and container are fabricated, an assembly mechanism with multiple rotatable forming rods is used to heat the cap assembly and a portion of the container using hot air. Subsequently, at a sealing station, pressure is applied to seal the portion of the container around the nozzle in the cap assembly and onto the nozzle base, forming a preformed packaging container ready for food filling. This preformed packaging container is then pushed to a food filling device for food filling, where the filling opening of the container is then sealed, ultimately forming a package filled with food ready for delivery to the end user.

[0046] The use of the nozzle and cap assembly according to the present invention not only effectively solves the problem of the cap assembly falling off or being thrown off the forming rod, but also ensures that the sealing assembly can be easily pushed away from the forming rod after the sealing connection between the cap assembly and the container is completed, thereby ensuring the efficiency of the preformed food packaging in the subsequent filling process, thereby greatly reducing the scrap rate of the final food packaging and saving costs.

[0047] It should be noted that the embodiments described above are intended to be exemplary only, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. By considering the contents of this specification, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention. The true scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A nozzle, the nozzle (10) comprising a base (11) and an annular wall (12) extending from the base, the annular wall defining a passage (121) for the contents in a packaging container to flow out, the base (11) comprising a base wall (111) and a side wall, characterized in that: The side wall includes a recessed portion recessed toward a central axis of the nozzle.

2. The nozzle according to claim 1, characterized in that The side wall comprises a plurality of side wall portions (112) connected to each other, and at least one of the side wall portions is provided with one recessed portion.

3. The nozzle according to claim 2, characterized in that The recessed portion is located at the bottom of the base (11) and has a maximum recessed depth (d) at the bottom edge (1121) of the side wall portion (112), wherein the maximum recessed depth is defined as the maximum distance between the bottom edge and a straight line defined by two end points of the bottom edge, wherein the maximum recessed depth is designed to be 0.05 mm-1 mm.

4. The nozzle according to claim 3, characterized in that The maximum recess depth is designed to be 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm.

5. The nozzle according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that Each side wall portion (112) includes a bottom edge (1121), and a bottom plane (P) is defined by three relatively lowest points in the axial direction located on at least two bottom edges; the end points of the bottom edges have a distance (h) from the bottom plane, and the distance is required to be no greater than 0.4 mm.

6. The nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The base (11) includes four side wall portions (112) defining a space having a substantially square cross-section.

7. The nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The nozzle (10) is formed by injection molding, and the material used for injection molding includes high-density polyethylene.

8. The nozzle according to claim 7, characterized in that The molding material of the nozzle (10) has a shrinkage rate of 1.6%-2.0%.

9. A cover assembly, characterized in that: The cap assembly (1) comprises a nozzle (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and a cover cap (20) which can be engaged on an annular wall of the nozzle.

10. The cover assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that The cap assembly (1) comprises a spacer portion (13) integrally injection-molded with the nozzle (10), the spacer portion being arranged between the passage (121) and a space (15) defined by the base wall and the side wall and provided with a weakened area (131).

11. The cover assembly according to claim 10, characterized in that The cover assembly (1) also includes a self-opening sleeve (30) provided with a puncturing element (31). As the cover (20) rotates relative to the annular wall (12) and moves in a first direction, the puncturing element (31) on the self-opening sleeve will move in a second direction opposite to the first direction to puncture the weakened area (131) and allow the passage to communicate with the space fluid.

12. A packaging container, characterized in that: The packaging container comprises a lid assembly (1) according to any one of claims 9 to 11.

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