JP7519882B2 - cap - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cap.

Various synthetic resin containers for storing liquids are known. In addition, caps with nozzles are attached to such containers, and an appropriate amount of the contents is dispensed from a narrow opening. For example, in relatively rigid bottles such as PET bottles and hard-type olefin bottles, when the bottle is crushed to expel the contents from the nozzle, and then the force applied to the bottle is removed, negative pressure is generated inside the bottle due to the bottle's restoring force. As a result, the contents at the tip of the nozzle are drawn into the bottle. In this way, the nozzle exhibits good liquid-cutting function.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the following technology for a cap that is related to a liquid cut-off function. In this cap, a discharge hole and a valve body that opens outward are provided in the center, and an air intake hole and a valve body that opens inward are provided on the periphery below the discharge hole. When the contents are discharged, they are discharged from the discharge hole in the center, and when the bottle returns to its original shape, the contents remaining in the valve are sucked in from the periphery.

Compared to bottles with relatively high rigidity, bottles with relatively low rigidity, such as soft-type olefin bottles, cannot be expected to have much liquid-draining function due to the bottle's restoring force. For this reason, efforts are being made to improve the liquid-draining function by devising the tip shape of the cap's discharge outlet and by carrying out surface treatments to increase water and oil repellency.

Utility Model Publication No. 60-146051

It would be useful if a bottle with relatively low rigidity could achieve the same liquid-cutting function as a bottle with relatively high rigidity.

The present invention aims to provide a cap with a nozzle that provides good liquid drainage regardless of the characteristics of the bottle.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the cap comprises a cap body having a nozzle configured to be attached to an opening of a bottle, and an elastic membrane having a notch disposed between the opening and the nozzle. The elastic membrane is disposed so as to form a space surrounded by the inner wall of the cap body and the elastic membrane and opening at the nozzle. The elastic membrane is configured so that when the pressure inside the bottle increases, the elastic membrane stretches and deforms to reduce the volume of the space, and an opening is formed at the notch as the elastic membrane deforms.

The present invention provides a cap with a nozzle that provides good liquid drainage.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a configuration example of a cap according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an outline of a configuration example of a cap according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating an outline of an example of the configuration of an elastic membrane according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which the cap is attached to the mouth of the bottle. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-section showing an outline of the state of the cap when the bottle is squeezed. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an outline of the state of the elastic membrane when the bottle is squeezed. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an outline of a configuration example of an elastic membrane according to a modified example.

One embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment relates to a cap with a nozzle that is attached to the mouth of a container and adjusts the amount of content poured out. Although not limited to this, the container may be a soft bottle or the like that has a relatively low rigidity and can push out the content by squeezing the container. With a soft bottle, the force required to squeeze the container is small, so that highly viscous contents can be easily squeezed out. On the other hand, a soft bottle has almost no restoring force of the container itself. Alternatively, instead of a soft bottle, the container may be a double-structure container in which a soft bag-shaped inner container is provided inside an outer container that has restoring force. The content may be any liquid, for example, high-viscosity condiments such as various sauces, ketchup, and mayonnaise, low-viscosity condiments such as soy sauce, or any liquid other than condiments, such as cosmetics and medicines.

[Cap configuration]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a configuration example of the cap 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an outline of a configuration example of the cap 1. The cap 1 includes a cap body 10. The cap body 10 is configured to be attached to a cylindrical mouth part provided with an opening of a bottle. The cap body 10 includes a cylindrical mounting part 11 that is open at the bottom so as to cover the mouth part of the bottle and has a top plate part 12 provided at the top. A screw 21 is provided on the inner wall of the mounting part 11. The cap body 10 also includes a hemispherical dome part 13 provided on the top surface of the top plate part 12 and a nozzle 14 provided at the top of the dome part 13. Although not limited thereto, the diameter of the dome part 13 may be, for example, about 5 to 40 mm, and the diameter of the nozzle 14 may be, for example, about several mm, for example, about 2 to 4 mm. The cap 1 may further include an upper lid that covers the nozzle 14. The cap 1 may be a so-called hinge cap.

In the example shown here, the diameter of the dome portion 13 is smaller than the diameter of the top plate portion 12, but this is not limited to the above. For example, the diameter of the dome portion 13 may be approximately the same as the mouth of the bottle, and the top plate portion 12 may not be provided, with the dome portion 13 being provided over the entire upper side of the attachment portion 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inside of the dome portion 13 is hollow, and its top is open through the nozzle 14. Inside the cap body 10, a disk-shaped elastic membrane 40 is provided to cover the bottom of the cavity inside the dome portion 13. The elastic membrane 40 is, for example, a silicone sheet made of silicone. In this way, a hemispherical space 30 is formed that is surrounded by the inner wall 18 of the dome portion 13 of the cap body 10 and the elastic membrane 40 and opens at the nozzle 14. A rib 22 that protrudes toward the space 30 is provided on the upper side of the inner wall 18 of the dome portion 13.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the elastic membrane 40. The elastic membrane 40 has slits 41. In this example, the elastic membrane 40 has five linear slits 41. The slits 41 are formed through the front and back of the elastic membrane 40.

The diameter of the elastic membrane 40 may be, for example, about 5 to 40 mm, and the length of the slit 41 may be, for example, about 1 to 2 mm, although this is not limited thereto. The thickness of the elastic membrane 40 may be, for example, about several hundred μm.

The material of the elastic membrane 40 is not limited to silicone, but may be other materials having elasticity. It is preferable that the material of the elastic membrane 40 has the necessary durability, such as oil resistance, depending on the contents. The material of the elastic membrane 40 may be, for example, silicone, nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), etc.

The elastic membrane 40 may be fixed inside the cap body 10 in any manner. For example, the elastic membrane 40 may be fixed to the cap body 10 by adhesive. The elastic membrane 40 may be welded to the cap body 10. The cap 1 may include a fixing member that is fixed to the cap body 10, and the elastic membrane 40 may be fixed by being sandwiched between the fixing member and the cap body 10. Alternatively, the elastic membrane 40 may be affixed to a fixing member, and the fixing member may be attached to the cap body 10 by fitting or the like.

[Cap Function]
4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the outline of the state in which the cap 1 is attached to the mouth 81 of the bottle 80. The threads 21 on the inner wall of the attachment part 11 of the cap 1 fit into the threads 83 around the mouth 81, and the cap 1 is tightened to the mouth 81. At this time, the elastic membrane 40 is positioned so as to close the opening 82 of the bottle 80.

When the contents of the bottle 80 are pushed out, the bottle 80 is, for example, turned upside down and squeezed. At this time, the pressure inside the bottle 80 increases. FIG. 5 shows a schematic longitudinal section of the cap 1 when the bottle 80 is squeezed. In FIG. 5, the notch 41 of the elastic membrane 40 is omitted. FIG. 6 is a plan view of the elastic membrane 40 at this time. When the bottle 80 is squeezed, as shown in FIG. 5, the elastic membrane 40, which has elasticity, expands and deforms, and bulges into a round shape inside the dome portion 13. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the notch 41 expands with the deformation of the elastic membrane 40, and an opening 42 is formed. The contents of the bottle 80 go out to the space 30 through the opening 42 formed in the notch 41 of the elastic membrane 40, and are pushed out to the outside through the nozzle 14.

At this time, the elastic membrane 40 expands in the space 30 inside the dome portion 13, but because the inner wall 18 of the dome portion 13 has ribs 22, particularly at the upper part, the expanded elastic membrane 40 hits the ribs 22 and does not come into contact with the inner wall 18. As a result, the elastic membrane 40 does not come into contact with the inner wall 18 of the dome portion 13 and the opening 42 of the elastic membrane 40 is not blocked. In addition, a gap remains between the inner wall 18 of the dome portion 13 and the elastic membrane 40. This gap serves as a flow path, allowing the contents to reach the nozzle 14 from the opening 42 of the elastic membrane 40.

When the force pushing the bottle 80 is reduced, the elastic force of the elastic membrane 40 causes it to return to a flat plate shape as shown in FIG. 4, and the opening 42 of the slit 41 is closed. During this process, the volume of the space 30 surrounded by the inner wall 18 of the dome portion 13 and the elastic membrane 40 increases, so the cap 1 sucks in the contents from around the nozzle 14. The amount of change in volume of the space 30 at this time is large enough that the contents remaining in and around the nozzle 14 when the contents have finished being pushed out flow into the space 30. As a result, the contents do not drip and the liquid is easily drained.

As described above, the cap 1 of this embodiment has a suck-back function that generates negative pressure by returning the bottle to its original shape, sucking in the contents around the nozzle 14. As a result, the bottle 80 to which the cap 1 is attached can exhibit good liquid drainage function regardless of the type of bottle.

This function is achieved when the elastic membrane 40 expands and deforms so as to reduce the volume of the space 30 in the dome portion 13 when the pressure inside the bottle 80 rises, and when the pressure inside the bottle 80 returns to its original shape, the elastic membrane 40 returns to its original shape. This function is achieved when the amount of volume change caused by the elastic membrane 40 is sufficiently large. This function is not achieved with a sheet or the like in which a flat membrane has a cross-shaped slit, and when the internal pressure rises, the center part is turned up to form an opening, or a sheet has parallel linear slits, and an opening is formed by the shifting of the rectangular membrane.

When the pressure on both sides of the elastic membrane 40 is balanced, the elastic membrane 40 becomes flat and the slit 41 is closed. In other words, the opening 82 is simply sealed, preventing outside air from entering the bottle 80.

In addition, when the slits 41 are closed, some of the contents remain in the space 30 inside the dome portion 13. As a result, the inside of the space 30 is prevented from drying out, and the slits 41 are prevented from becoming stuck due to drying.

[Modification]
The configuration of the slits 41 in the elastic membrane 40 is not limited to the above. For example, as shown in Fig. 7(a), the number of slits 41a in the elastic membrane 40a may be reduced, and the arrangement may be changed. As shown in Fig. 7(b), the length of the slits 41b in the elastic membrane 40b may be shortened or lengthened. Also, as shown in Fig. 7(c), the number of slits 41c in the elastic membrane 40c may be increased.

The configuration of the slit 41 in the elastic membrane 40 and the diameter of the nozzle 14 are adjusted appropriately according to the viscosity, specific gravity, and other factors of the contents of the bottle 80. For example, these are adjusted to such conditions that the contents will not come out of the nozzle 14 unless the bottle 80 is squeezed even when it is inverted, but that when the bottle 80 is squeezed, the contents are pushed out with a moderate force, and the liquid drains well when the force is removed.

In the above embodiment, the elastic membrane 40 is disposed at the open end of the bottle 80, but this is not limited thereto. For example, the diameter of the elastic membrane 40 may be smaller than the diameter of the dome portion 13, and the elastic membrane 40 may be provided inside the dome portion 13. That is, the elastic membrane 40 is disposed between the opening 82 of the bottle 80 and the nozzle 14 of the cap body 10, and may be disposed so as to form a volume 30 surrounded by the inner wall of the cap body 10 and the elastic membrane 40.

The dome portion 13 does not have to be hemispherical. The dome portion 13 may have any shape, such as a cone shape, so long as it is a raised dome shape that forms a space 30 between the dome portion 13 and the elastic membrane. The shape of the elastic membrane 40 in a pressure-balanced state does not have to be flat, and may be, for example, a curved shape. The position and shape of the nozzle 14 may also be changed as appropriate.

The present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Cap 10 Cap body 11 Mounting portion 12 Top plate portion 13 Dome portion 14 Nozzle 18 Inner wall 21 Screw 22 Rib 30 Space 40 Elastic membrane 41 Slit 42 Opening 80 Bottle 81 Mouth portion 82 Opening 83 Screw

Claims (4)

a cap body having a nozzle configured to be attached to an opening of a bottle;
an elastic membrane having a slit disposed between the opening and the nozzle;
the elastic membrane is disposed so as to form a space surrounded by an inner wall of the cap body and the elastic membrane and opening at the nozzle;
the elastic membrane is configured such that, when pressure inside the bottle increases, the elastic membrane expands and deforms to reduce the volume of the space, and an opening is formed in the slit as the elastic membrane deforms,
A rib is provided on an inner wall of the cap body that defines the space,
a flow path is formed between the inner wall of the cap body and the elastic membrane from the opening of the slit to the nozzle even when the elastic membrane is deformed.
cap. The elastic membrane has a disk shape,
The inner wall of the cap body forming the space has a dome shape so as to form the dome-shaped space above the elastic membrane.
The cap of claim 1 . The cap according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the slit is a linear slit. The cap according to claim 1 , wherein the elastic membrane is made of silicone.

Images