Patent Application
20050211579
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bottle cap which has a raw material accommodating portion for accommodating a raw material in the form of powder or liquid and opens a lower end of the raw material accommodating portion in response to an unplugging operation to discharge the raw material into a bottle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bottle cap of the type mentioned is conventionally known and disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. S44-12957 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1: particularly refer to page 1 of the specification and
Referring to FIGS. 1(A) to 4, the bottle cap shown includes a parent cap 1, a child cap 2 and a bottom lid 3 all formed by plastic molding.
The parent cap 1 includes a cap body 5 to be fitted with a mouth 50a of a bottle 50 (
A female threaded portion 5c for engaging with a male threaded portion 50b of the mouth 50a of the bottle 50 is formed on an inner circumferential face of the body portion 5b of the cap body 5, and a male threaded portion 6d is formed on an outer circumferential face of the mouth 6a of the outer tube 6. Non-slip knurls 5d for preventing a slip when the body portion 5b is to be operated so as to be unplugged with fingers are formed on an outer circumference of the body portion 5b.
The child cap 2 includes a cap body 8, and an inner tube 9 provided integrally with and in a projecting manner from a lower face of a top 8a of the cap body 8 and serving as a raw material and pressure gas filling portion (capsule). The child cap 2 further includes an enclosing ring 10 having a small material thickness and provided integrally with and in a projecting manner from the lower face of the top 8a of the cap body 8 in the proximity of an outer circumference of the inner tube 9. The inner tube 9 cooperates with a body portion 8b of the cap body 8 to form a gap therebetween but projects much longer than the body portion 8b of the cap body 8. While the inner tube 9 has a diameter a little smaller than that of the outer tube 6 so that it can be inserted into the outer tube 6 with a very small gap left therebetween, it has a length a little longer than that of the outer tube 6. The inner diameter of the inner tube 9 is uniform from the top end to the bottom end of the inner tube 9, but the outer diameter of the inner tube 9 gradually decreases from the upper end to the lower end of the inner tube 9 such that the material thickness of the inner tube 9 gradually decreases. The inner tube 9 is swollen outwardly at a lower end edge thereof so as to form a flange 9e. Further, a very small stepped portion 9c which decreases the material thickness of the inner tube 9 a little is formed on an outer circumferential face of the inner tube 9.
An annular lower circumferential edge portion 8c of the body portion 8b of the child cap 2 can be separated at a thin cut 8d formed over an entire circumference of the lower circumferential edge portion 8c from the other portion of the body portion 8b above the cut 8d. A female threaded portion 8e for engaging with the male threaded portion 6d of the mouth 6a of the outer tube 6 is formed on an inner circumferential face of the body portion 8b. If the female threaded portion 8e is screwed with the stepped portion 6c and the child cap 2 is fitted with the mouth 6a of the outer tube 6 until the annular lower circumferential edge portion 8c compulsorily passes the terminal end of the male threaded portion 6d as seen in FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B), then the mouth 6a is sealed air-tightly and liquid-tightly. At this time, the child cap 2 is fixed at the annular lower circumferential edge portion 8c thereof against rotation to the mouth 6a, and the lower end portion of the inner tube 9 projects downwardly from the lower end opening of the downwardly extending tubular portion 6b of the outer tube 6 while the very small stepped portion 9c at an intermediate portion of the outer circumferential face of the inner tube 9 and the very small 6c at an intermediate portion of the inner circumferential face of the outer tube 6 are positioned closely in an upwardly and downwardly opposed relationship to each other. Then, if the enclosing ring 10 is further force fitted into the mouth 6a of the outer tube 6, then the top 8a of the child cap 2 is brought into pressure contact with the upper end of the outer tube 6 and the enclosing ring 10 cooperates with an angular portion of the body portion 8b of the child cap 2 to sandwich the mouth 6a of the outer tube 6 from inwardly and outwardly therebetween, respectively. Non-slip knurls 8f for preventing a slip when the body portion 8b is operated to be unplugged with fingers is embossed on an outer circumferential face of the body portion 8b, and arrow marks 8g indicating an opening direction are formed as a relief on the upper face of the top 8a.
The bottom lid 3 has a push-in portion 3a having a convex upper face and a concave lower face, an annular recessed portion 3c cooperating with a circumferential edge of the push-in portion 3a to form an annular recessed groove 3b of an inverted O-shaped cross section therebetween, and a projection 3d projecting downwardly from the center of the concave lower face of the push-in portion 3a. The push-in portion 3a, annular recessed portion 3c and projection 3d are formed integrally with each other. If a lower end portion of the inner tube 9 is compulsorily fitted into the annular recessed groove 3b and the push-in portion 3a is pushed into the inner tube 9, then the bottom lid 3 seals the lower end opening of the inner tube 9, in which pressure gas (inert gas) and raw material 11 are filled as seen in
In the bottle cap having such a configuration as described above, if the child cap 2 is turned in an opening direction to move the inner tube 9 upwardly, then the upper edge of the annular recessed portion 3c of the bottom lid 3 is brought into contact with the lower end edge of the outer tube 6 to restrict further upward movement of the bottom lid 3. Consequently, the fitting between the flange 9e at the lower end of the outer tube 6 and the annular recessed portion 3c of the bottom lid 3 is released, and the bottom lid 3 drops from the inner tube 9 which further continues to further move upwardly. When the bottom lid 3 drops, the raw material 11 in the inner tube 9 spouts at a stroke together with the pressure gas. The bottom lid 3 sinks into liquid in the bottle.
However, the bottle cap described above has the following problems.
(1) Since the bottle cap includes three parts of the parent cap 1, child cap 2 and bottom lid 3 and particularly the parent cap 1 has a complicated structure, a high cost is required, and also an automatic cap mounting apparatus for automatically mounting the bottle cap on the mouth of a bottle is complicated in structure and operation.
(2) Since the parent cap 1 and the child cap 2 exhibit a state wherein they are placed one on the other at two stages on the outer side of the mouth 50a of the bottle 50, the overall height of the cap is as high as approximately twice that of an ordinary cap and also a trouble is likely to occur frequently as much.
(3) After the bottom lid 3 drops from the inner tube 9 as a result of unplugging of the child cap 2, usually the raw material 11 is drunk with only the child cap 2 removed from the parent cap 1 while the parent cap 1 remains on the mouth 50a of the bottle 50 so that the bottom lid 3 may not be drunk in error. However, even where such instructions are given, it actually has occurred that a user forcibly removes the parent cap 1 from the mouth of the bottle and holds the mouth of the bottle, from which the parent cap 1 has been removed, in the mouth thereof to drink the raw material 11, whereupon the user drinks the bottom lid 3 in error.
(4) Although it is tried to fit the swollen flange 9e at the lower end of the inner tube 9 of the child cap 2 into the annular recessed groove 3b, which has an inverted O-shaped cross section, of the annular recessed portion 3c of the bottom lid 3 to assure a high sealing property of the bottom lid 3 with respect to the lower end opening of the inner tube 9, this is not sufficient to assure the air-tightness of the outer tube 6 in which pressure gas is enclosed.
(5) Since part of the outer tube 6 of the parent cap 1, that is, the downwardly extending tubular portion 6b, remains projecting into the mouth of the bottom also after unplugging of the child cap 2 and the projecting portion disturbs flowing out of the liquid from the opening of the mouth of the bottle, the raw material 11 remains in the bottle without being drunk although the amount thereof small.
(6) The small cut 8d is formed over an entire circumference of the body portion 8b of the child cap 2 such that the upper portion of the child cap 2 with respect to the cut 8d is separated from the annular lower circumferential edge portion 8c on the lower side of the cut 8d and the annular lower circumferential edge portion 8c remains on the mouth of the bottle. However, since the separation of the upper portion and the lower portion of the body portion 8b requires considerably strong twisting force, there is the possibility that also the parent cap 1 may be turned and removed from the mouth of the bottle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle cap which can achieve similar operation to that of the conventional bottle cap described above even if the parent cap of the conventional bottle cap described hereinabove is omitted, that is, can separate, when an unplugging operation is performed, a bottom lid for a raw material accommodating portion and allow the bottom lid to be discharged into a bottle and can thereby reduce the cost and simplify the structure and operation of an automatic cap mounting apparatus for automatically mounting the bottle cap on the mouth of a bottle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bottle cap which can prevent a user from drinking a bottom lid thereof in error and eliminate part of a raw material from being left without being drunk which is caused by an outer tube of a parent cap thereof.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bottle cap wherein the sealing property of a bottom lid is enhanced and, even if pressure gas is accommodated in a raw material accommodating portion thereof, the air-tightness can be assured sufficiently.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a bottle cap wherein the no-slip effect upon an unplugging operation of a cap can be enhanced at a reduced cost with a simple structure of the cap itself.
In order to attain the objects described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a bottle cap, comprising a cap body having an outer tubular portion having a threaded portion formed on an inner circumference thereof for engaging with a threaded portion on an outer circumference of a mouth of a bottle, a ceiling portion for sealing an opening of the mouth of the bottle, and an inner tubular portion extending downwardly from the ceiling portion for being inserted into the mouth of the bottle and serving as a raw material accommodating portion in which a raw material is accommodated, and a bottom lid molded separably on the inner tubular portion for closing up a lower end of the inner tubular portion, the bottom lid having a resiliently deformable unsealing projection which is resiliently deformed, when the cap body is turned in a sealing direction to insert the inner tubular portion into the mouth of the bottle, to allow the bottom lid to be inserted into the bottle but restores, when the unsealing projection passes a throat in the bottle, an original state and is engaged with the throat, whereafter, when the cap body is turned in an unsealing direction to pull out the inner tubular portion from the throat of the bottle, the bottom lid is blocked from upward movement by the throat in the bottle and is separated, as the inner tubular portion is further moved upwardly, from the lower end of the inner tubular portion, whereupon the lower end of the inner tubular portion is opened and the raw material in the inner tubular portion is discharged into the bottle.
With the bottle cap, since it is composed of the two parts of the cap body and the bottom lid, the parent cap of the conventional bottle cap described hereinabove with reference to FIGS. 1(A) to 4 can be eliminated. Besides, since the separation of the bottom lid involved in an unsealing operation of the cap body can be performed by engaging the unsealing projection of the bottom lid with the throat in the inside of the bottle, also the structure and operation of an automatic cap mounting apparatus for automatically mounting a bottle cap on the mouth of a bottle are simplified. Further, also after the bottom lid is separated, since it is prevented from passing through the bottle mouth and going out from the bottle by the unsealing projection provided on the bottom lid itself, such a situation that the bottom lid is drunk in error by a user does not occur. Further, if the cap body is removed from the bottle mouth, then since also the inner tubular portion which serves as a raw material accommodating portion is removed integrally, such a situation that the raw material remains in the bottle without being drunk is prevented.
As a first form for the separation of the bottom lid from the lower end of the inner tubular portion of the cap body, the bottom lid and the inner tubular portion are formed as a unitary molded member with a cut formed therebetween such that, when the cap body is turned in the unsealing direction to pull out the inner tubular portion from the throat of the bottle, the bottom lid is separated at the cut from the lower end of the inner tubular portion.
With the bottle cap, since it is structured such that the bottom lid is molded integrally with the lower end of the inner tubular portion of the cap body and at least part of the bottom lid is separated from the lower end of the inner tubular portion at the cut thereof, no sealing problem occurs between the inner tubular portion and the bottom lid. Besides, the cost for molding can be reduced significantly.
As a second form for the separation of the bottom lid from the lower end of the inner tubular portion of the cap body, the bottom lid is removably molded by deposition to the lower end of the inner tubular portion using a plastic material different from that of the inner tubular portion such that, when the cap body is turned in an unsealing direction to pull out the inner tubular portion from the throat of the bottle, the bottom lid is separated at the deposited portion from the lower end of the inner tubular portion.
With the bottle cap, since the bottom lid is removably molded by deposition (different material simultaneous molding) using a plastic material different from that of the inner tubular portion of the cap body, no sealing problem occurs between the inner tubular portion and the bottom lid. Besides, the cost for molding can be reduced significantly.
In the first and second forms for the separation of the bottom lid from the lower end of the inner tubular portion of the cap body, a raw material entrance for the inner tubular portion is formed in the ceiling portion of the cap body and is closed up with an upper lid. The upper lid may be connected integrally to the ceiling portion of the cap body by a resiliently deformable hinge portion and is molded integrally with the cap body so that the bottle cap may be formed as a product of a single component. In this instance, an upper face of the upper lid may be covered with a sheet member adhered thereto together with an upper face of the ceiling portion around the upper lid.
With the bottle caps, since the raw material entrance is formed in the ceiling portion of the cap body and closed up with the upper lid, encapsulation of the raw material and pressure medium as well as free-oxygen absorber or the like into the inner tubular portion serving as a raw material accommodating portion can be performed readily, and an automatic encapsulation apparatus therefor can be simplified and manufactured at a reduced cost. Further, where the upper lid is molded integrally with the cap body in such a manner as to be connected integrally to the ceiling portion of the cap body by a resiliently deformable hinge portion, the bottle cap is formed as a product of a single component. This enhances the advantageous in terms of all of the production cost, handling of parts, automatic encapsulation of raw material and so forth. Furthermore, where the upper face of the upper lid is covered with the sheet member adhered thereto together with the upper face of the ceiling portion around the upper lid, the sealing property of the upper lid can be enhanced. Besides, since it cannot be recognized from the appearance that the upper lid is used for enclosure, unplugging of the upper lid by mischief before the contents are drunk can be prevented.
As a third form for the separation of the bottom lid from the lower end of the inner tubular portion of the cap body, the bottom lid is molded as a separate member from the inner tubular portion of the cap body and has formed on a circumferential edge thereof an annular recessed portion into which a lower end portion of the inner tubular portion can be force fitted in order to removably seal the lower end opening of the inner tubular portion such that, when the cap body is turned in an unsealing direction to pull out the inner tubular portion from the throat of the bottle, the bottom lid is blocked from upward movement by the throat in the bottle and the annular recessed portion is pulled out from the lower end of the inner tubular portion to separate the bottom lid from the inner tubular portion.
In the third form for the separation of the bottom lid from the lower end of the inner tubular portion of the cap body, in order to assure a high sealing property, a packing of a material softer than that of the annular recessed portion is formed integrally by simultaneous molding on an inner face of the annular recessed portion of the bottom lid. Preferably, the packing is embedded in the annular recessed portion in such a manner as to partly project from the inner face of the annular recessed portion.
With the bottle cap, where the packing of a soft material is provided by simultaneous molding on the inner face of the annular recessed portion of the bottom lid, when the lower end opening of the inner tubular portion is sealed with the bottom lid, since the lower end portion of the inner tubular member of the cap body is force fitted into the annular recessed portion and besides the packing is closely contacted with the lower end portion of the inner tubular portion in the annular recessed portion, the sealing property is enhanced significantly. Thus, even if pressure gas is enclosed in the inner tubular portion, the air-tightness can be assured sufficiently. Further, where the packing is embedded in the annular recessed portion, the integrity between the packing and the annular recessed portion is enhanced and also the molding property of the packing is enhanced.
The bottle cap may be configured such that a plurality of resiliently deformable unsealing projections or provided on the circumferential edge of the bottom lid and individually have a pawl-like shape or such that the reliantly deformable unsealing projection of the bottom lid has an annular shape whose outer diameter is changed by the resilient deformation. In the latter case, a large number of teeth whose projecting height decreases toward the lower end may be formed in a projection manner on an outer circumferential face of the annular unsealing projection so as to facilitate insertion of the bottom lid into the bottle.
Where a large number of teeth whose projecting height decreases toward the lower end are formed in a projection manner on the outer circumferential face of the annular unsealing projection, when the cap body is turned in the sealing direction to insert the inner tubular portion into the mouth of the bottle, the annular unsealing projection can be closed smoothly. Further, when the cap body is turned in the unsealing direction to pull out the inner tubular portion from the mouth of the bottle, the upper ends of the teeth can be engaged with the throat portion in the bottle to perform the separation of the bottom lid with certainty.
Preferably, an engaging projection is formed on the throat in the bottle for engaging with the unsealing projection of the bottom lid to block the upward movement of the bottom lid when the cap body is unsealed so that the separation of the bottom lid may be performed with certainty.
The bottle cap may be configured such that the cap body is molded from a hard plastic material, and a non-slip surface layer of a soft plastic material is formed integrally by simultaneous molding on an outer circumferential face of the outer tubular portion of the cap body. Preferably, the non-slip surface layer of the soft plastic is knurled.
Where the non-slip surface layer of a soft plastic material is formed integrally by simultaneous molding on the outer circumferential face of the outer tubular portion of the cap body molded from a hard plastic material, the non-slip effect upon an unplugging operation is high and pain to fingers can be moderated. Besides also molding is easy and the production cost can be reduced.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts or elements are denoted by like reference symbols.
FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B) are a perspective view and an axial sectional view, respectively, showing a conventional bottle cap before assembled;
FIGS. 2(A) and 2(B) are a perspective view and an axial sectional view, respectively, showing the conventional bottle cap in a somewhat assembled state;
FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) are a perspective view and an axial sectional view, respectively, showing the conventional bottle cap in a fully assembled state;
FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B) are a perspective view and an axial sectional view, respectively, showing a bottle cap according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B) are a perspective view and an axial sectional view, respectively, showing a modification to the bottle cap of the first embodiment;
FIGS. 12(A) and 12(B) are a perspective view and an axial sectional view, respectively, showing a bottle cap according to a second embodiment of the present invention in a state wherein a cap body and a bottom lid are assembled;
FIGS. 27(A) and 27(B) are a perspective view and an axial sectional view, respectively, showing another modification to the bottle cap of the first embodiment; and
Referring to FIGS. 5(A), 5(B), 6 and 7, there is shown a bottle cam according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The bottle cap shown includes two parts of a cap body A molded as a unitary member from a hard plastic material and an upper lid D in the form of a disk molded as a unitary member from a hard plastic material but separately from the cap body A. Further, as occasion demands, a sheet member E is applied to the upper lid D.
The cap body A is formed as a unitary molded member and includes an outer tube portion 51, a ceiling portion 52 having a circular raw material supplying entrance 52a, an inner tube portion 53 extending downwardly from the ceiling portion 52, and a bottom lid 54 at a lower end of the inner tube portion 53. A threaded portion 51c for engaging with a threaded portion 50b provided on an outer circumferential face of a mouth 50a of the bottle 50 is formed on an inner circumference of the outer tube portion 51. Further, a thin cut 55 is formed along an entire circumference at a lower circumferential edge portion of the outer tube portion 51 so that a portion of the outer tube portion 51 on the upper side of the cut 55 can be compulsorily separated from an annular lower circumferential edge portion 56 of the outer tube portion 51 on the lower side of the cut 55. The inner circumferential face of the lower circumferential edge portion 56 below the cut 55 is formed as an inclined face, and an annular stepped portion 51b is formed on the upper side of the inclined face. Non-slip knurls (vertical ribs) 51a for being operated by fingers to unplug the bottle cap are embossed at the upper side portion of the outer circumferential face of the outer tube portion 51 with respect to the cut 55.
The inner tube portion 53 serves as a portion (capsule) in which a raw material and pressure gas are to be filled and extends downwardly integrally from a stepped portion 52b formed along an opening circumferential edge of the raw material supplying entrance 52a of the ceiling portion 52. The inner tube portion 53 has a length sufficient to extend from within the mouth 50a into a bottle body portion 50d farther than a throat portion 50c in the bottle. An upper side portion 53a of the inner tube portion 53 has a size with which an outer circumferential face of the upper side portion 53a closely contacts with an inner circumferential face of the mouth 50a. Meanwhile, an intermediate portion 53b of the inner tube portion 53 gradually decreases in diameter downwardly until a lower side portion 53c of the inner tube portion 53 has a size with which a gap is formed between the inner circumferential face of the mouth 50a and the throat portion 50c in the bottle.
Although the bottom lid 54 is formed integrally with the inner tube portion 53 such that it closes up the lower end of the inner tube portion 53, it can be separated from the inner tube portion 53 at the bottom lid 54 formed on the outer circumferential face of the inner tube portion 53. A plurality of unsealing projections 66 each in the form of a resilient pawl are formed obliquely upwardly and generally radially integrally on the outer circumferential face of the bottom lid 54. The unsealing projections 66 function as stoppers for allowing the bottom lid 54 to separate from the inner tube portion 53 at the bottom lid 54 as hereinafter described. A projection 61 having a circular truncated conical shape is formed integrally at the center of the lower face in the form of a concave face of the bottom lid 54 such that it projects downwardly.
The upper lid D has a disk-like shape and has a stepped portion 67 formed on a circumferential edge of a lower face thereof. The upper lid D closes up the raw material supplying entrance 52a after the raw material C is supplied into the inner tube portion 53 together with pressure gas, and thereupon, the stepped portion 67 of the upper lid D and the stepped portion 52b at the opening circular edge of the raw material supplying entrance 52a are fitted with each other and the fitting portions of them are adhered to each other by a bonding agent such as for example, a hot melt adhesive. Then, a sheet member E such as, for example, a paper seal is applied to the upper lid D to cover the upper face of the upper lid D together with an upper face of the ceiling portion 52 around the sheet member E. This makes it possible to raise the sealing property between the upper lid D and the raw material supplying entrance 52a and conceal the fact that the raw material supplying entrance 52a is closed up with the upper lid D.
The raw material C to be accommodated in the inner tube portion 53 may be various kinds of powder, granules, tablets and liquid including green tea, coffee, concentrated minerals, minerals extracted from sea deep water, healthy food, drug, syrup, dairy product, alcohol, concentrated vegetable, soup raw material, vitamins, sugars, herbs and yeast. Meanwhile, the pressure gas preferably is inert gas which can maintain the quality of the raw material C in safety and may be, for example, nitrogen gas, helium gas, argon gas, carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen monoxide gas or mixture gas of them. Or, a free-oxygen absorber may be encapsulated.
In order to mount the bottle cap of the first embodiment having such a configuration as described above on the mouth 50a of the bottle 50, the bottle cap is pushed into the bottle mouth 50a with the bottom lid 54 directed downwardly until the inner tube portion 53 is inserted fully in the bottle mouth 50a, and the cap body A is turned in the sealing direction. When the bottom lid 54 is pushed into the bottle mouth 50a, since the radial unsealing projections 66 are inclined obliquely upwardly, the unsealing projections 66 are resiliently deformed into a contracted state to allow the bottle mouth 50a to be pushed in smoothly, and while the unsealing projections 66 slidably contact with the inner circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a, the inner tube portion 53 can be inserted into the bottle mouth 50a.
Thus, while the cap body A is turned in the sealing direction, the threaded portion 51c of the outer tube portion 51 thereof is screwed with the male threaded portion 50b of the bottle mouth 50a and then screwed compulsorily until the annular stepped portion 51b on the inner circumferential face of the outer tube portion 51 passes an annular projection 50e on the outer circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a. Thereupon, since the inner face of the lower circumferential edge portion 56 of the outer tube portion 51 is formed as an inclined face, the annular stepped portion 51b passes the annular projection 50e smoothly and is engaged with the flat lower face of the annular projection 50e.
On the other hand, in the bottle mouth 50a, since the inner tube portion 53 is sufficiently long to project into the bottle body portion 50d, the bottom lid 54 passes the throat portion 50c in the bottle, whereupon the unsealing projections 66 restore their open state and are engaged with the lower face of the throat portion 50c.
The bottle mouth 50a is sealed in this state with the bottle cap.
If the cap body A is turned in the unsealing direction while the bottle mouth 50a is in such a sealed state, then although the upper side portion of the outer tube portion 51 with respect to the cut 55 can move upwardly as seen in
Accordingly, since the cap body A cannot be turned unless force sufficient to compulsorily give rise to such separation is applied thereto, the sealing state can be maintained with certainty.
On the other hand, in the bottle mouth 50a, since the cap body A is turned in the unsealing direction, while the inner tube portion 53 moves upwardly while it is turned, the bottom lid 54 cannot move upwardly because the unsealing projections 66 thereof are in an open state and are held in engagement with the lower face of the throat portion 50c. Consequently, the bottom lid 54 is separated at a cut 54a from the inner tube portion 53 which is further moved upwardly, and drops as seen in
Since the dropping bottom lid 54 has an outer diameter at radial ends of the unsealing projections 66 thereof, which restore an open state thereof, than the inner diameter of the bottle mouth 50a, it does not pass the mouth 50a to go out from the bottle.
It is to be noted that the cut 54a may not be formed over an entire circumference but be formed except part of an entire circumference such that the bottom lid 54 is not separated at the portion from the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 so that the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 may open in a state wherein the bottom lid 54 extends downwardly from the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 without dropping from the same.
Now, a bottle cap according to a second embodiment of the present invention is described.
Referring to FIGS. 12(A), 12(B) and 13, the bottle cap of the second embodiment includes two parts of a cap body A molded as a unitary member from a hard plastic material and a bottom lid B molded as a separate unitary member from a hard plastic material.
The cap body A is a molded unitary member including an outer tube portion 51, a ceiling portion 52, and an inner tube portion 53 extending downwardly from the ceiling portion 52. A threaded portion 51c for engaging with a threaded portion 50b provided on an outer circumferential face of a mouth 50a of a bottle 50 such as a PET bottle shown in
The inner tube portion 53 extends downwardly integrally from a lower face of the ceiling portion 52 and has a length sufficient to extend from within the bottle mouth 50a into the bottle body portion 50d farther than a throat portion 50c in the bottom. An upper side portion 53a of the inner tube portion 53 has a size with which an outer circumferential face thereof closely contacts with an inner circumferential face of the mouth 50a. Meanwhile, a lower side portion 53c of the inner tube portion 53 has a size with which a gap is formed between the inner circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a and the throat portion 50c in the bottle. Further, a lower end edge of the inner tube portion 53 is formed as a flange 53d swollen to the outer side.
The bottom lid B is formed as a molded unitary member including a push-in portion 58 having a convex upper face and a concave lower face, an annular recessed portion 60 cooperating with a circumferential edge of the push-in portion 58 to form an annular recessed groove 59 of an inverted O-shaped cross section, a projection 61 of a circular truncated conical shape extending downwardly from the center of the concave lower face of the push-in portion 58, and an annular unsealing projection 62 projecting obliquely upwardly from an outer face of the annular recessed portion 60.
In the annular recessed portion 60 of the bottom lid B, an annular packing 63 made of a softer material than that of the annular recessed portion 60 such as, for example, silicon rubber or propylene rubber is formed integrally on the inner face of the annular recessed portion 60 by simultaneous molding with the annular recessed portion 60. The packing 63 is particularly embedded in a bottom portion of and integrated with the annular recessed portion 60 such that part thereof projects from the inner face of the annular recessed portion 60.
The annular unsealing projection 62 of the bottom lid B is provided with resiliency by a depression 64 formed at a root portion of the unsealing projection 62, that is, between the unsealing projection 62 and the annular recessed portion 60 such that it can be resiliently deformed so as to open and close with respect to the annular recessed portion 60 (expanded outwardly and contracted inwardly). In the open state which is an ordinary state, the unsealing projection 62 has an outer diameter greater than the inner diameter of the mouth 50a. A large number of teeth 65 are formed in a projecting manner in a waveform configuration in a predetermined spaced relationship from each other over an entire circumference of an outer circumferential face of the unsealing projection 62. Each of the teeth 65 has a triangular shape such that the projecting height thereof decreases toward a lower end thereof.
The bottle cap of the second embodiment having such a configuration as described above is assembled in the following manner.
As seen in
After the raw material C is supplied into the inner tube portion 53 of the cap body A together with pressure gas and the lower end opening of the inner tube portion 53 is closed up with the bottom lid B in such a manner as described above, the cap body A is inserted into the bottle mouth 50a beginning with the bottom lid B thereof to insert the inner tube portion 53 into the bottle mouth 50a and the cap body A is turned in the sealing direction. While the bottom lid B is being pushed into the bottle mouth 50a, since the large number of teeth 65 on the outer circumferential face of the unsealing projection 62 have a projecting height which decreases to the lower end thereof, while the unsealing projection 62 is pushed in smoothly, it is resiliently deformed into a contracted state (closed state), and while the teeth 65 slidably contact with the inner circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a, the inner tube portion 53 can be inserted into the bottle mouth 50a following the bottom lid B.
While the cap body A is turned in the sealing direction, the threaded portion 51c of the outer tube portion 51 thereof is brought into meshing engagement with the male threaded portion 50b of the bottle mouth 50a and then screwed with the threaded portion 50b until the inner side annular projection 57 of the outer tube portion 51 passes the annular projection 50e of the outer circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a as seen in
On the other hand, in the bottle mouth 50a, since the inner tube portion 53 has a length sufficient to project into the bottle body portion 50d, the bottom lid B passes the throat portion 50c in the bottle and the unsealing projection 62 thereof restores its open state and is engaged with the lower face of the throat portion 50c.
The bottle mouth 50a is sealed in this state.
If the cap body A is turned in the unsealing direction while the bottle mouth 50a is in such a sealed state as described above, although the portion of the outer tube portion 51 on the upper side with respect to the cut 55 can move upwardly, the lower circumferential edge portion 56 below the cut 55 cannot move upwardly because the inner side annular projection 57 thereof is held in engagement with the lower face of the annular projection 50e. Consequently, the lower circumferential edge portion 56 is separated from the upper side portion of the outer tube portion 51 at the cut 55 and remains at the position.
Accordingly, since the cap body A cannot be turned unless force sufficient to compulsorily cause such separation is applied, the sealing state of the cap body A can be maintained with certainty.
On the other hand, in the bottle mouth 50a, when the cap body A is turned in the unsealing direction, while the inner tube portion 53 moves upwardly while being turned, the bottom lid B cannot move upwardly because the unsealing projection 62 thereof is in an open state and remains in engagement with the lower face of the throat portion 50c. Consequently, the bottom lid B is separated from the inner tube portion 53 which further continues to move upwardly, and drops from the inner tube portion 53 as seen in
Since the dropping bottom lid B has an outer diameter at the unsealing projection 62 thereof, which restores an open state thereof, than the inner diameter of the bottle mouth 50a, it does not pass the bottle mouth 50a to go out from the bottle.
It is to be noted that, if a projection or rib 50f is formed on a circumferential edge of the throat portion 50c in the bottle as seen in
Further, the unsealing projection 62 may not be formed in an annular shape, but may be divided in a circumferential direction such that it includes a plurality of unsealing projections 66 each in the form of a resilient pawl as seen in
Further, while the cap body A in the second embodiment is configured such that the resilient inner side annular projection 57 having a large number of teeth 57a formed thereon is formed on a lower end circumferential edge of the outer tube portion 51, the cap body A may otherwise have such a structure as shown in
Now, a bottle cap according to a third embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS. 20 to 23.
The bottle cap of the third embodiment is composed of a single part formed as a molded unitary member made of a hard plastic material and including a cap body A and an upper lid D in the form of a disk. A sheet member E is adhered to the upper lid D as occasion demands.
The cap body A is formed as a unitary member molded together with the upper lid D by simultaneous molding and includes an outer tube portion 51, a ceiling portion 52 having a circular raw material supplying entrance 52a, an inner tube portion 53 extending downwardly from the ceiling portion 52, and a bottom lid 54 at a lower end of the inner tube portion 53 similarly as in the bottle cap of the first embodiment. A threaded portion 51c for engaging with a threaded portion 50b provided on an outer circumferential face of a bottle mouth 50a of the bottle 50 is formed on an inner circumference of the outer tube portion 51. Further, a thin cut 55 is formed along an entire circumference at a lower circumferential edge portion of the outer tube portion 51 so that a portion of the outer tube portion 51 on the upper side of the cut 55 can be compulsorily separated from an annular lower circumferential edge portion 56 of the outer tube portion 51 on the lower side of the cut 55. The inner circumferential face of the lower circumferential edge portion 56 below the cut 55 is formed as an inclined face, and an annular stepped portion 51b is formed on the outer side of the inclined face. Non-slip knurls (vertical ribs) for being operated by fingers to unseal the bottle cap are embossed at the upper side portion of the outer circumferential face of the outer tube portion 51 with respect to the cut 55.
The inner tube portion 53 extends downwardly integrally from a stepped portion 52b formed along an opening circumferential edge of the raw material supplying entrance 52a of the ceiling portion 52 similarly as in the bottle cap of the first embodiment. The inner tube portion 53 has a length sufficient to extend from within the bottle mouth 50a into the bottle body portion 50d farther than a throat portion 50c in the bottle. An upper side portion 53a of the inner tube portion 53 has a size with which an outer circumferential face of the upper side portion 53a closely contacts with an inner circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a. Meanwhile, an intermediate portion 53b of the inner tube portion 53 gradually decreases the diameter thereof downwardly until a lower side portion 53c of the inner tube portion 53 has a size with which a gap is formed between the inner circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a and the throat portion 50c in the bottle.
Although the bottom lid 54 is formed integrally with the inner tube portion 53 such that it closes up the lower end of the inner tube portion 53, it can be separated from the inner tube portion 53 at a cut 54a formed on the outer circumferential face thereof. The cut 54a is shaped to open outwardly. An annular unsealing projection 54b is formed integrally along an entire circumference of the bottom lid 54 on the lower side of the cut 54a such that the thickness thereof gradually decreases downwardly so at to form the outer circumferential face as an inclined face. The unsealing projection 54b is resiliently deformable due to the bottom lid 54 opened outwardly.
The upper lid D has a disk-like shape and has a stepped portion 67 formed on a circumferential edge of a lower face thereof similarly as in the bottle cap of the first embodiment. However, part of the ceiling portion 52 of the cap body A is formed as a hinge portion 52c as the upper lid D is formed as a molded member integrated with the cap body A through the hinge portion 52c. Since the hinge portion 52c is formed restrictively at a portion of the ceiling portion 52, it is resiliently deformable, and the upper lid D is movable to close up and open the raw material supplying entrance 52a. Also the upper lid D is used such that the stepped portion 67 thereof and the stepped portion 52b at the opening circumferential edge of the raw material supplying entrance 52a are fitted with each other and the fitting portions of them are adhered to each other by a bonding agent such as for example, a hot melt adhesive. Then, a sheet member E is applied to the upper lid D to cover the upper face of the upper lid D together with an upper face of the ceiling portion of the ceiling portion 52 around the sheet member E.
Meanwhile, an engaging projection 50g is formed integrally on an inner circumferential face of the throat portion 50c in the bottle such that the thickness thereof gradually increases downwardly so as to form the inner circumferential face of the throat portion 50c as an inclined face.
In order to mount the bottle gap of the third embodiment on the bottle mouth 50a of the bottle 50, while the cap body A is turned in the sealing direction, the threaded portion 51c of the outer tube portion 51 thereof is screwed with the male threaded portion 50b of the bottle mouth 50a and then screwed compulsorily until the annular stepped portion 51b on the inner circumferential face of the outer tube portion 51 passes the annular projection 50e on the outer circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a as seen in
At this time, in the bottle mouth 50a, the inclined face of the unsealing projection 54b on an outer circumference of the bottom lid 54 passes, at a timing near to the end of the movement of the cap body A, the inclined face of the engaging projection 50g while it slidably contacts with the inclined face of the engaging projection 50g on the inner circumference of the throat portion 50c of the bottle 50. Finally, the unsealing projection 54b of the bottom lid 54 is engaged with the engaging projection 50g on the lower side of the unsealing projection 50b and the engaging projection 50g of the throat portion 50c enters a little into the expanded mouth of the cut 54a of the bottom lid 54. When the state just described is reached, the bottle mouth 50a is sealed.
Then, if the cap body A is turned in the unsealing direction while the bottle mouth 50a is in such a sealed state, then although the upper side portion of the outer tube portion 51 with respect to the cut 55 can move upwardly, since the lower circumferential edge portion 56 on the lower side with respect to the cut 55 is held in engagement at the annular stepped portion 51b thereof with the lower face of the annular projection 50e, it cannot move upwardly similarly as in the bottle cap of the first embodiment. Consequently, the lower circumferential edge portion 56 is separated from the upper side portion of the outer tube portion 51 at the cut 55 and remains on the bottle mouth 50a.
On the other hand, in the bottle mouth 50a, when the cap body A is turned in the unsealing direction, while the inner tube portion 53 moves upwardly while being rotated, the bottom lid 54 cannot move upwardly because the unsealing projection 54b thereof is held in engagement with the lower face of the engaging projection 50g of the throat portion 50c. Consequently, the bottom lid 54 is separated at the cut 54a from the inner tube portion 53 which continues to further move upwardly, and drops from the inner tube portion 53.
Since the dropping bottom lid 54 is greater in size at the unsealing projection 54b thereof than the inner diameter of the throat portion 50c, it does not pass through the bottle mouth 50a and go out to the outside of the bottle.
It is to be noted that, also in the bottle cap of the third embodiment, the cut 54a may not be formed over an overall circumference but be formed except part of an overall circumference such that the bottom lid 54 is not separated at the portion from the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 so that the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 may open in a state wherein the bottom lid 54 extends downwardly from the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 without dropping from the same.
Now, a bottle cap according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to
Also the bottle cap of the fourth embodiment is composed of a single unitary molded part made of a hard plastic material and including a cap body A and an upper lid D in the form of a disk, and a sheet member E is adhered to the upper lid D as occasion demands.
Similarly as in the bottle cap of the third embodiment, the cap body A is formed as a unitary member molded together with the upper lid D by simultaneous molding and includes an outer tube portion 51, a ceiling portion 52 having a circular raw material supplying entrance 52a, an inner tube portion 53 extending downwardly from the ceiling portion 52, and a bottom lid 54. However, the bottom lid 54 is formed by simultaneous molding (different material simultaneous molding) from a plastic material different from that of the inner tube portion 53.
In particular, the bottom lid 54 is formed such that, when the cap body A including the upper lid D is molded, aplastic material different from that of the cap body A is cast into the same metal mold and the bottom lid 54 is deposited and molded removably at the lower end of the inner tube portion 53. A deposition face 68 of the bottom lid 54 to the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 is formed as a very finely uneven face like a mat finished face so that the bottom lid 54 can be separated readily from the deposition face 68.
Similarly as in the bottle cap of the first embodiment described hereinabove with reference to FIGS. 5(A) to 10, a plurality of unsealing projections 66 each in the form of a resilient pawl are provided integrally in a projecting manner obliquely upwardly and generally radially on an outer circumferential face of the bottom lid 54.
With the bottle cap of the forth embodiment having such a configuration as described above, similarly as in the bottle cap of the first embodiment described hereinabove, as the cap body A is turned in the sealing direction to force the bottom lid 54 into the bottle mouth 50a, the unsealing projections 66 are brought into a contracted state and slidably contact with the inner circumferential face of the bottle mouth 50a. Then, when the unsealing projections 66 pass the throat portion 50c in the bottle, they restore their original open state and are engaged with the lower face of the throat portion 50c to seal the bottle mouth 50a.
If the cap body A is turned in the unsealing direction to move the inner tube portion 53 upwardly together with the outer tube portion 51 while the bottle mouth 50a is in such a sealed state as described above, then the bottom lid 54 cannot move upwardly because the unsealing projections 66 remain in engagement with the throat portion 50c of the bottle mouth 50a. Here, since the bottom lid 54 is deposited and molded removably at the lower end of the inner tube portion 53, the bottom lid 54 is separated at the deposition face 68 at the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 from the inner tube portion 53 which continues to further move upwardly, and drops into the bottle body.
It is to the bottom lid 54 may be configured otherwise such that it is not fully separated from the lower end of the inner tube portion 53 but is separated except a portion thereof such that the lower end of the inner tubular portion 53 is open while the bottom lid 54 extends downwardly at the portion thereof from the lower end of the inner tubular portion 53.
FIGS. 27(A), 27(B) and 28 show another modification to the bottle cap of the first embodiment described hereinabove with reference to FIGS. 5(A) to 10. Referring to FIGS. 27(A) to 28, the modified bottle cap is different from that of the first embodiment only in that, although the cap body A is generally formed as a unitary molded member from a hard plastic material, a non-slip surface layer 51e having knurls 51d each in the form of a small vertical rib of a triangular cross section is formed integrally on the outer circumferential face over an entire circumference of the outer tube portion 51 of the cap body A by simultaneous molding of a soft plastic material with the outer tube portion 51 of a hard plastic material.
Such a non-slip surface layer 5le made of a soft plastic material as described above may be formed similarly on the outer circumferential face of the outer tube portion 51 in any of the bottle cap shown in FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B), that shown in FIGS. 12(A) to 16, that shown in
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-95454 | Mar 2004 | JP | national |
| 2004-232134 | Aug 2004 | JP | national |
