Claims
- 1. A tube container for receiving semifluid material, said container comprising:
- a tubular body formed of a synthetic resin material capable of being deformed by the application of exterior pressure and having elasticity for restoring said tubular body to its original shape upon removal of the exterior pressure, said tubular body being open at an upper end thereof, a lower end of said tubular body being sealed after said tubular body is filled with a semifluid material;
- a hollow neck portion formed of a synthetic resin material and adapted to be covered by a cap, said neck portion including an outlet provided at a top end thereof and a shoulder, an inner surface of said neck portion being formed with circumferentially extending grooves, and said neck portion being integrally mounted on said upper end of said tubular body at said shoulder; and
- a valve member inserted into said neck portion from said lower end of said tubular body before sealing thereof, said valve member including a side wall, a lower open end, an upper end plate, a valve sheet, a stopper means and a flange, said side wall having an outer surface tightly fitting with an inner surface of said neck portion, said outer surface having an upper end tapering inwardly from the portion of the outer surface that tightly fits with the inner surface of the neck portion and further having circumferentially extending protrusions extending into and in engagement with said grooves of said neck portion, said end plate being provided with a passage for communicating the interior of said tubular body with said outlet, said valve sheet being positioned on said end plate and being movable upwardly and downwardly between said end plate and said stopper means, said valve sheet being movable upwardly to open said passage when exterior pressure is applied to said tubular body, and said valve sheet being movable downwardly to close said passage when the pressure to said tubular body is removed, said stopper means comprising a plurality of pawls extending upwardly from an upper surface of said end plate and being circumferentially apart from each other, upper portions of said pawls defining a space of less diameter than that of said valve sheet, and said upper portions of said pawls being located adjacent to said outlet of said neck portion so as to minimize a space therebetween, and said flange being formed at a lower end of said valve member and abutting said shoulder of said neck portion.
- 2. A tube container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper portion of each said pawl includes a hook extending inwardly therefrom.
- 3. A tube container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said passage is in the form of a hole provided substantially at a center portion of said end plate.
Priority Claims (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
| 58-129269[U] |
Aug 1983 |
JPX |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 551,929 filed Nov. 15, 1983, now abandoned.
The present invention relates to a tube container for receiving semifluid material such as cosmetics, ointments, foods and the like, and more particularly to a tube container comprising a tubular body formed of a synthetic resin material having elasticity, and a neck portion formed of a synthetic resin material and having an outlet at a top end thereof.
The semifluid material may be extruded from the outlet when pressure is applied to the body. Immediately after the pressure is removed, the body formed of an elastic resin, such as olefin resin, tends to expand or be restored to its original shape due to the elasticity thereof thereby maintaining a smooth external appearance. This expansion of the body generates a suction force therein because of the reduced volume of the material in the body, which causes the material having been extruded from the outlet to return into the container together with air. Such back flow is of course undesirable since it will oxidize, harden or deteriorate the material remaining in the container. Further, the air sucked into the container makes it difficult for a user to extrude the material when desired due to an imbalance of the body with regard to the remaining material. Another disadvantage caused by the back flow is a resultant mixture of the air with the material in the container, which prevents smooth extrusion of the material by causing splattering of the mixture.
Improvements for preventing the back flow as discussed above have been proposed in which the neck portion has been modified so as to permit a sheet-like valve to be mounted directly in the neck portion itself. One such tube container has a neck portion of a diameter larger than normal, while another has a bored partition formed integrally with the neck portion.
However, such neck portions require molding dies which are different from a die used for molding neck portions of the usual type, i.e. of the type where prevention of back flow is not necessary. Preparation of the respective dies for molding the respective types of neck portions has increased costs and involved separate molding work for each type.
Futhermore, in the known structures for preventing the back flow the sheet-like valve is normally situated around the lower end of the neck portion Therefore, a relatively large space is inevitably formed between the outlet and a position where the valve is normally situated. This increases volume of the semifluid material which was once discharged from the outlet and which, after the pressure is removed, returns into that space to remain therein. Thus, a customer can not use the fresh material until substantial initial amount has been extruded from the outlet.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a tube container for receiving semifluid material which will prevent back flow of the material with air.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a tube container which permits smooth extrusion of the semifluid material.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tube container of the type set forth above which permits use of a neck portion of the usually employed type thereby reducing costs.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a tube container in which a dead space between an outlet and a body is minimized so as to reduce amount of the semifluid material to be remained therein.
A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a tube container which will not have an undesirable external appearance.
According to the present invention, a tube container for receiving semifluid material comprises a tubular body formed of a synthetic resin material capable of being deformed by the application of exterior pressure and having elasticity for restoring the body to its original shape upon removal of pressure, a hollow neck portion formed of a synthetic resin material and adapted to be covered by a cap, and a valve member. The tubular body is open at an upper end thereof and is sealed at a lower end thereof after the body is filled with the semifluid material The neck portion includes an outlet provided at a top end thereof and also includes a shoulder at which the neck portion is integrally mounted on the upper end of the tubular body. An inner surface of the neck portion is formed with circumferentially extending grooves. The valve member is inserted into the neck portion from the lower end of the body before sealing thereof and includes a side wall, a lower open end, an upper end plate, a valve sheet, a stopper means and a flange. The side wall has an outer surface tightly fitting with an inner surface of the neck portion having an inwardly tapered upper end and circumferentially extending protrusions extending into and in engagement with the grooves of the neck portion. The end plate is provided with a passage for communicating the interior of the tubular body with the outlet. Positioned on the end plate is the valve sheet which is movable upwardly and downwardly between the end plate and the stopper means. The valve sheet is moved upwardly to open the passage when exterior pressure is applied to the tubular body, and is moved downwardly to close the passage when the pressure to the tubular body is removed. The stopper means comprises a plurality of pawls extending upwardly from an upper surface of the end plate and being circumferentially apart from each other. Upper portions of the pawls define a space of less diameter than that of the valve sheet and are located adjacent to the outlet of the neck portion. The flange is formed at a lower end of the valve member and abuts the shoulder of the neck portion.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
551929 |
Nov 1983 |
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Patent Grant
4635826
