Patent Application
20050218105
This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. ยง 119 of Japan Application 2004-105467 filed Mar. 31, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a cap mechanism which automatically opens when touched once.
There has been known a cap mechanism formed by coupling a vessel body and a cover with a hinge and setting an elastic material inside the hinge so that, when the cover is closed, energy is stored in the elastic body. When a cover-opening claw based on the pushing system is operated, locking is released and the cover automatically opens due to the restoring force stored in the elastic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,360 discloses a mechanism provided by an elastic body set in and projecting from a vessel body. This elastic body is bent when the cover is closed, and when locking is released, the cover automatically opens due to the restoring force of the elastic body. However, the locking mechanism for the cover described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,360 is not clear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,216 discloses a configuration in which elastic members are placed in a vessel body as well as a hinge section of a hinge cap, and when the cover is closed, the elastic members are compressed, and when locking is released, the cover automatically opened due to the restoring force of the elastic members. In the configuration of U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,216, however, the lock mechanism between the cover and the vessel body is a conventional one, and there is not any specific contrivance.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-211615 a typical automatic operation of a cap is enabled by operating a button. However, a plate member for operation is provided on an upper surface of the cap body, and once the cap cover is opened, the plate member or the structure around the plate member is in full view, so that the appearance is not good. According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-211615, the cap body 2 has the deck panel section 10 for preventing the content from leaking in the movable section to deteriorate the smooth movement of the cap, and further most of the portion of the operating member 5 for transferring a pushing-in and opening drive force to the inside of the hinge 4 is hidden even when the cap cover 3 is opened, so that the appearance is improved and the content hardly infiltrates into the movable section of the operating member 5, so that the smoothness of the movement is not lost. With the invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-211615, however, there is not any specific contrivance for a locking mechanism for the cover.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H7-291326 improves the smoothness in an operation for opening a cap based on the so-called three-point hinge system. With this, the cover body 20 for opening and closing an outlet port is rotatably provided with the first hinge 31 in the cap body 10 having the outlet port. The substantially house shoe-shaped band plate 40 is provided between the cap body 10 and the cover body 20. The band plate 40 functions as a plate spring with one edge thereof rotatably attached via the second hinge 32 to the cap body 10 and further with the other edge of the band plate 40 rotatably attached via the third hinge 33 to the cover body 20. A hooking projection for engagement when fully closed is provided in a front edge section of the cap body as well as in a front edge section of the cover body 20, and a rotation center of the third hinge 33 when fully opened is set to be at the outer side of a virtual line C passing through a rotation center of the first hinge 31 and that of the second hinge 32.
However, also in the invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H7-291326 there is not any specific contrivance for the engagement mechanism of the cap.
Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3091998 has an object of the disclosed device to provide a self-opening hinge cap which can be produced with low cost. In the configuration, the cover is monolithically formed via the hinges 3, 3a on the cap body 1 using a molding die for injection molding. The cap body 1 and the cover 2 are coupled to each other at the positions of the hinges 3, 3a with an elastic opening member 4, and with the compressing action of this elastic opening member 4, the cover 2 is automatically opened around the hinges 3, 3a. Also the elastic opening member 4 is monolithically molded (by means of two-color injection molding) using a molding die for injection molding when the cover 2 is molded.
Also in the device of Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3091998, there is not any particular contrivance for the locking mechanism for the cap.
An object of the present invention is to provide a self-opening cap mechanism for a cap having an elastic member incorporated inside a hinge and capable of self-opening by 90 degrees or more with a restoring force of this elastic member, and with this cap mechanism, locking is carried out without fail and also the locked state can easily be released with an easy operation.
To achieve the object described above, the invention provides a self-opening cap mechanism formed with a vessel body and a cap coupled to each other with a hinge and comprising an elastic member with the base section fixed to the vessel body side and a tip thereof extending up to a corner section inside the cap. This self-opening cap mechanism is characterized in that a stopper block is formed in the vessel body side and also inside the elastic member and the elastic member is deformed to a S-shaped form due to this stopper block when the cap is closed.
A notched section is formed in the cap in the side opposite to the hinge and two engagement pieces are formed with a space therebetween inside this notched section. A circular cap-side rib is formed at a position inwardly from the engagement pieces with a small clearance therefrom.
The vessel body has a vessel-side rib formed around a port of the vessel. Two protruding engagement pieces projecting outwardly from this rib are formed. Hooks facing against the engagement pieces respectively are formed at positions outwardly from the engagement pieces. Further, a push piece with the hook side rotating around a support point thereof is provided for releasing the locked state.
The elastic member may comprise a band plate.
The present invention having the configuration as described above provides the following effects and advantages.
1. As a stopper block is formed inside the elastic member, so that deformation of this elastic member is restricted by this stopper block to an S-shaped form and then a force accumulated in this elastic body increases and a self-opening operation thereof can be performed smoothly, and the restoring force is not lost even when fatigue is generated in the elastic member.
2. The locking mechanism effects locking by holding the engagement pieces in the cap side between the protruding engagement pieces and the hooks in the vessel side, so that the locked state is secure and in addition the locked state can be released only by slightly pushing the push piece 18.
3. All of the components excluding the elastic member can monolithically molded, which enables cost reduction.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.
In the drawings:
Referring to the drawings in particular,
A vessel body 1 is linked with a hinge 3 to a cap 2 to form a monolithic body, and a base section 5 of this hinge 3 in the inner side thereof is fixed to the vessel body 1. An elastic member 4 has a tip edge section 6 extending to a corner section in the inner side of the cap 2. The elastic member 4 is attached to the vessel body 1. The reference numeral 7 indicates a stopper block provided in the vessel body 1 and formed inside the elastic member 4. When the cap 2 is closed with the stopper block 7, deformation of the elastic member 4 is restricted, and is finally deformed to a S-shaped forming an energized state.
The reference numeral 8 indicates an engagement section for the cap 2, and this engagement section 8 has a notched section 9 in the side opposed to the hinge 3. Two engagement pieces 10 and 10a are formed inside this notched section 9. Further, a cap-side rib 11 having a circular form is formed at a position inwardly (radially inwardly) from the engagement sections 10, 10a with a small clearance therefrom.
The reference numeral 12 is a push device, and this push device has the configuration in which a vessel-side rib 14 is formed around a port 13 of the vessel body 1. Two protruding engagement pieces 15, 15a are formed each extending outward from this rib 14. Hooks 16, 16a each extending inward are formed at two positions outwardly (radially outwardly) from the protruding engagement pieces 15,15a. A push piece 18 is formed at a supporting piece 17 as a center which oscillates the hooks 16, 16a in the vertical direction.
In aforementioned self-operating mechanism, when the cap is closed from the state shown in
On the other hand, in the locking mechanism, when the cap 2 is closed from the state just before the cap 2 is closed as shown in
To release locking, when the push piece 18 is pressed down as shown in
While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-105467 | Mar 2004 | JP | national |
