Patent Application
20220127048
The present invention relates to a container closure of synthetic resin, which can be applied to a container having an external thread formed on the outer periphery of its mouth-and-neck portion and an engaging jaw portion positioned below the external thread. Even after unsealing the mouth-and-neck portion of the container, the container closure is not completely separated from the mouth-and-neck portion of the container, so that the container closure is imparted with tamper evident properties.
Patent Documents 1-3 below each discloses a container closure of synthetic resin to be applied to a container that has an external thread formed on the outer periphery of its mouth-and-neck portion and an engaging jaw portion positioned below the external thread. The closure is composed of a body and a cylindrical tamper evident skirt portion. The body has a top panel wall and a cylindrical skirt wall extending perpendicularly downward from the peripheral edge of the top panel wall. On the inner periphery of the skirt wall, an internal thread to be screwed to the external thread on the mouth-and-neck portion is formed. The tamper evident skirt portion is connected to the skirt wall of the body via a plurality of breakable bridge portions disposed circumferentially with spacing, and the tamper evident skirt portion has an engaging means disposed on the inner periphery so as to engage with the engaging jaw portion. The engaging means is composed of a plurality of engaging pieces that are disposed circumferentially with spacing and extending upward and radially inward from the base end connected to the tamper evident skirt portion. Alternatively, the engaging means is composed of a single engaging piece present continuously in a circumferentially extended manner and extending upward and radially inward from the base end connected to the tamper evident skirt portion. Further, protruding pieces that protrude downward are disposed on the skirt wall of the body. On at least one of the circumferential side faces of each of the protruding pieces, an unbroken connecting piece is disposed. The unbroken connecting piece connects the skirt wall of the body and the tamper evident skirt portion, and allows the body to move to a position higher than the tamper evident skirt portion.
As mentioned above, in mounting the container closure on the mouth-and-neck portion of the container and sealing the mouth-and-neck portion, the container closure is fitted onto the mouth-and-neck portion and rotated in a closing direction so as to screw the internal thread of the container closure to the external thread of the mouth-and-neck portion. As the screwing proceeds, the container closure descends relative to the mouth-and-neck portion, and the engaging means formed at the tamper evident skirt portion passes elastically over the engaging jaw portion of the mouth-and-neck portion so as to be positioned below the mouth-and-neck portion. In unsealing the mouth-and-neck portion, the container closure is rotated in the opening direction to release the screwed external thread of the mouth-and-neck portion and the internal thread of the container closure. While the body of the container closure ascends relative to the mouth-and-neck portion along with the release of the screwing, the tamper evident skirt portion is inhibited from ascending because the engaging means engages with the engaging jaw portion of the mouth-and-neck portion, which causes stress applied to the breakable bridge portion, thereby breaking the breakable bridge portion. After the breakable bridge portion is broken, the body ascends continuously so that the body is distanced upward from the tamper evident skirt portion. Corresponding thereto, the unbroken connecting portion is deformed but it will not be broken, and the tamper evident skirt portion is still mounted on the mouth-and-neck portion. Even after the body is detached from the mouth-and-neck portion, the body is still connected to the tamper evident skirt portion via the unbroken connecting portion, and thus, the body is never separated from the mouth-and-neck portion of the container. After the body of the container closure is detached from the mouth-and-neck portion, the body of the container closure may be pivoted about a predetermined site of the unbroken connecting portion in the direction to be distanced from the mouth-and-neck portion. And when the body of the container closure is pivoted by more than a predetermined angle, the tip end of each of the protruding pieces formed on the skirt wall passes elastically over the engaging jaw portion of the mouth-and-neck portion so as to be positioned above the upper surface of the engaging jaw portion. This serves to inhibit the body from returning in the direction to approach the mouth-and-neck portion, and thus, the body is held at a position distanced from the mouth-and-neck portion to keep the mouth-and-neck portion in an unsealed state. When the tip end of the protruding piece passes elastically over the engaging jaw portion, the protruding piece is deformed elastically, and then, it restores elastically to generate a sound. Due to the sound, the consumer can recognize that the body of the container closure has been pivoted to the required opening position.
Recently, there has been a demand for light-weight packaging container from the viewpoint of environmental issues and cost reduction for materials. Similarly, there has been a demand for the container closure to be thinner and smaller in the axial direction. Under the circumstances, the present inventors have noticed from experience the following problem. A conventional container closure typically has a relatively short length in the axial direction in order to correspond to a mouth-and-neck portion that is relatively short in the axial direction (namely, the closure is relatively short in the vertical direction). When this container closure is used, the body detached from the mouth-and-neck portion for the purpose of unsealing the mouth-and-neck portion is pivoted in the direction to distance the body from the mouth-and-neck portion, whereby the tip end of the protruding piece passes elastically over the engaging jaw portion of the mouth-and-neck portion so as to be positioned above the engaging jaw portion. At this time, since the container closure is relatively short in the axial direction, the protruding length of the protruding piece is also decreased. As a result, the mutual interference between the protruding piece and the engaging jaw portion becomes excessively small, and this causes the following problems. That is, (1) there is a tendency that the tip end of the protruding piece is once positioned above the engaging jaw portion, and then, the tip end of the protruding piece accidentally returns to the position below the engaging jaw portion, so that the body may not be kept at the required opening position; and (2) the sound generated at the time the protruding piece passes elastically over the engaging jaw portion is unsatisfactory, so that the consumer sometimes cannot recognize that the body has been pivoted to the required opening position.
For solving the problems, the present invention aims to provide a novel and improved container closure. According to the present invention, once the body detached from the mouth-and-neck portion is pivoted to a required opening position, the body can be kept at the opening position with a sufficient reliability even if the container closure has a relatively short axial length. Further, when the body is pivoted to the opening position, a sound sufficiently recognizable for the consumer is generated reliably.
As a result of keen studies, the present inventors have found that the main object in the technical field can be achieved by forming an extending portion in the engaging piece. The extending portion is positioned between the engaging jaw portion of the mouth-and-neck portion and the tamper evident skirt portion at least in the angle region in which the protruding piece is present in a state where the container closure of synthetic resin is mounted on the mouth-and-neck portion.
That is, the present invention provides a container closure of synthetic resin to be applied to a container. The container has an external thread and an engaging jaw portion positioned below the external thread formed on the outer periphery of the mouth-and-neck portion. The container closure of synthetic resin comprises:
the engaging means is formed of: either a plurality of engaging pieces disposed circumferentially with spacing and extending upward and radially inward f rom the base end connected to the tamper evident skirt portion, or an annular engaging piece extending in a circumferentially continuous manner and extending upward and radially inward from the base end connected to the tamper evident skirt portion, and
protruding pieces that protrude downward are disposed at the skirt wall of the body, and unbroken connecting pieces that connect the skirt wall of the body to the tamper evident skirt portion and that allow the body to ascend relative to the tamper evident skirt portion are disposed,
wherein extending portions are formed at the engaging pieces in at least an angle region in which the protruding pieces are present, and the extending portions are to be positioned between the engaging jaw portion of the mouth-and-neck portion and the tamper evident skirt portion in a state where the container closure of synthetic resin is mounted on the mouth-and-neck portion.
Preferably, an engaging protrusion is formed on the radially inner side face of the engaging piece, and the engaging protrusion is to protrude radially inward below the engaging jaw portion in a state where the container closure of synthetic resin is mounted on the mouth-and-neck portion. Suitably, an additional extending portion is formed in a region other than the angle region in which the protruding piece is present. Desirably, the engaging means comprises a plurality of engaging pieces disposed circumferentially with spacing and extending upward and radially inward from a base end connected to the tamper evident skirt portion, and the extending portions are formed on both circumferential side faces of each of the engaging pieces. Suitably, the radially outer side face of each of the extending portions gradually protrudes radially outward when viewed from below, and then, gradually recedes radially inward when viewed from below. Further suitably, a site on the radially outer side face of each of the extending portions, which gradually protrudes radially outward when viewed from below, is arc-shaped in the longitudinal cross section, and a site that gradually recedes radially inward when viewed from below is linear in the longitudinal cross section.
The container closure of the present invention has an engaging piece having an extending portion formed in an angle region in which a protruding piece is present. The extending portion is positioned between the engaging jaw portion of the mouth-and-neck portion and the tamper evident skirt portion in a state where the container closure of synthetic resin is mounted on the mouth-and-neck portion. When the body detached from the mouth-and-neck portion is pivoted in the direction to be separated from the mouth-and-neck portion, the tip end of the protruding piece is required to pass elastically over the extending portion positioned in the radial outside together with the engaging jaw portion of the mouth-and-neck portion, and the tip end of the protruding piece is interfered by the extending portion. Even when the container closure has a relatively short axial length, the interference of the tip end of the protruding piece and the extending portion does not become considerably small. This can prevent sufficiently reliably the aforementioned problems. Specifically, the tip end of the protruding piece, which is once positioned above the engaging jaw portion, never returns accidentally to the position below the engaging jaw portion. As a result, the container closure is kept sufficiently reliably at the required opening position. Furthermore, when the protruding piece passes elastically over the extending portion, a sound recognizable for a consumer is reliably generated.
A preferred embodiment of a container closure of synthetic resin constituted in accordance with the present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the attached drawings.
The container closure of synthetic resin constituted according to the present invention will be described below with reference to
It is important for the container closure 2 constituted according to the present invention that an extending portion 26 extending from the tip end of each of the engaging pieces 24a-24i is formed at least in the region in which the below-mentioned protruding piece 34 is formed. In the illustrated embodiment, at each of the engaging pieces 24a-24i, two rectangular extending portions 26 extending from the both circumferential sides are formed. As clearly understandable with reference to
A further explanation will be made with reference to
As clearly illustrated in
The specific region indicated with the reference numeral 30 is the region in which the protruding piece 34 and the pair of unbroken connecting pieces 38a and 38b are present. In the remaining region other than the specific region 30, a plurality of breakable bridge portions 48 to connect the tamper evident skirt portion 6 to the lower end of the skirt wall 10 of the body 4 are disposed circumferentially with spacing. In the illustrated embodiment, six narrow ridges are formed circumferentially with spacing, and these ridges extend axially over the inner surface of the skirt wall. 10 and the inner surface of the tamper evident skirt portion 6. A part of each of the narrow ridges, which is positioned between the skirt wall 10 and the tamper evident skirt portion 6, forms a breakable bridge portion 48 (see
In mounting the container closure 2 on the mouth-and-neck portion 50 to seal the mouth-and-neck portion 50, the container closure 2 is fitted on the mouth-and-neck portion 50 and rotated in a closing direction (clockwise when viewed from above in
In unsealing the mouth-and-neck portion 50, the container closure 2 is rotated in the opening direction (counterclockwise when viewed from above in
After the body 4 of the container closure 2 is detached from the mouth-and-neck portion 50, the body 4 is pivoted about the middle portions 44a and 44b of the unbroken connecting pieces 38a and 38b as hinge fulcrums, away from the mouth-and-neck portion 50 (clockwise in
In a case where eating or drinking of the contents is interrupted, the body 4 held at the position shown in
The description above refers to preferred embodiments for the container closure constituted in accordance with the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments but various modification is possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. For instance, in the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the extending portions 26 are formed on the both circumferential sides of each of the engaging pieces 24a-24i. Alternatively, it is possible to form one extending portion or three or more extending portions at any suitable site(s) (e.g., the center or plural sites with circumferential spacing) of each of the engaging pieces 24a-24i. As required, it is possible to form one extending portion having a width substantially identical to the circumferential width of the engaging pieces 24a-24i. While the extending portions 26 are formed at the respective engaging pieces 24a-24i in the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawings, as required, the extending portions can be formed only at predetermined engaging pieces or some engaging pieces disposed in the angle region in which the protruding piece 34 is present. Further, in the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawings, two engaging pieces 24a and 24i are present in the angle region in which the protruding piece 34 is present. It is also possible to provide only one engaging piece in the angle region in which the protruding piece 34 is present and to form the extending portion at only the single engaging piece. In a case of an annular engaging piece that extends continuously in the circumferential direction, at least one extending portion may be formed in the angle region in which the protruding piece 34 is present. Furthermore, a plurality of extending portions may be formed circumferentially with spacing in the remaining region other than the angle region in which the protruding piece 34 is present. Alternatively, it is possible to form an annular extending portion that is present circumferentially in a continuously extended manner. Although the protruding piece 34 is composed of a single piece in the illustrated embodiment, it is possible to form the protruding piece of a plurality of pieces. Alternatively, at least one slit extending from the protruding end (lower end) to the base end (upper end) of a single piece can be formed to divide the piece into a plurality of parts. In the illustrated embodiment, two unbroken connecting pieces 38a and 38b are disposed on the circumferential both sides of the protruding piece 34. This example is not limitative but one unbroken connecting piece or at least three unbroken connecting pieces can be disposed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-025644 | Feb 2019 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2020/005069 | 2/10/2020 | WO | 00 |
