JP7635094B2 - Container with cap - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a container with a cap.

Conventionally, capped containers have been known in which a cap is attached to the mouth of the container body to seal the mouth (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-16953

In the above-mentioned capped container, in order to make it easy to see that the container body has been opened, a separation ring is connected to the cap via a breakable weakened portion (perforation), the separation ring is engaged with an engagement portion provided on the container body, and the cap is rotated toward the loosening side to break the weakened portion and separate the separation ring.
However, when the cap is reattached to the opening after opening, the cap comes into close proximity with the separation ring remaining on the container body, and it may be difficult to tell from the outside whether the container has been opened or not.

The present invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a capped container that allows easy and reliable visual confirmation of whether or not the cap is open.

(1) The capped container of the present invention comprises a bottomed, cylindrical container body having a mouth, and a cap attached to the mouth of the container body, the cap comprising an inner cap removably screwed onto the mouth, an outer cap screwed onto the inner cap, a first restricting portion that allows the outer cap to move over the inner cap to the loosening side and restricts the outer cap from moving over the inner cap to the tightening side in the opposite direction, and a second restricting portion that restricts the outer cap from rotating over the inner cap to the loosening side after moving over the first restricting portion.

According to the capped container of the present invention, when the cap is rotated toward the loosening side relative to the mouth of the container body when opening, the outer cap first rotates toward the loosening side relative to the inner cap and rises. When the outer cap rotates to a certain extent, it passes over the first restricting portion, and the rotation of the outer cap toward the tightening side is restricted, and the outer cap is maintained in a raised state. In addition, when it passes over the first restricting portion, the rotation of the outer cap toward the loosening side relative to the inner cap is restricted by the second restricting portion, and this time the inner cap rotates toward the loosening side in synchronization with the rotation of the outer cap, and the cap is removed from the mouth. In this way, the outer cap rises relative to the inner cap when opening, and thereafter the outer cap does not descend relative to the inner cap. Therefore, even if the cap is attached to the mouth again, the cap is deformed from its original shape, so that it is easy and reliable to visually check whether the cap is unopened or not.

(2) The outer cap may be formed in a cylindrical shape with a top, and when the inner cap overcomes the first restricting portion, a portion of the inner cap may be exposed from the lower end of the outer cap.

In this case, a part of the inner cap (the bottom part) is exposed at the bottom end of the cylindrical outer cap, making it easy to see that the bottle has been opened. In addition, it is easy to see whether the bottle has been opened or not without significantly changing the appearance of the cap.

The capped container of the present invention allows easy and reliable visual confirmation of whether or not the container is unopened.

1 is a half cross-sectional view of a capped container in an unopened state according to one embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1. 1 is a half cross-sectional view of a capped container in an open state according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of a capped container according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in Fig. 1, the capped container 1 of this embodiment includes a bottomed cylindrical container body 2 in which the contents are stored, and a topped cylindrical cap 3 attached to the mouth 10 of the container body 2. Examples of the contents include liquids, solids, powders, granules, gels, and mixtures of these. The capped container 1 of this embodiment is suitable for contents that require the container itself to have an aesthetic appearance, such as cosmetics.

The container body 2 and the cap 3 are arranged with their respective central axes positioned on a common axis. In this embodiment, this common axis is called the container axis O, and in the axial direction along the container axis O, the cap 3 side is called the upper side, and the bottom side (not shown) of the container body 2 is called the lower side. In addition, in a plan view seen from the container axis O direction, the direction intersecting the container axis O is called the radial direction, and the direction going around the container axis O is called the circumferential direction.

The container body 2 is formed in a bottomed tubular shape having a bottom, a body, a shoulder, and a mouth 10, and for example, the body is formed in a circular shape in cross section. The shape of the container body 2 is not particularly limited, and for example, the body may be formed in an elliptical or polygonal shape in cross section, and is not limited to a specific shape. A male thread is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the mouth 10 of the container body 2, into which the cap 3 is screwed.

The cap 3 comprises an inner cap 20 having a cylindrical shape with a top attached to the mouth 10 of the container body 2, and an outer cap 30 having a cylindrical shape with a top attached to the outside of the inner cap 20. The inner cap 20 and the outer cap 30 share a common central axis and are arranged coaxially with the container axis O.

The inner cap 20 comprises an inner cap peripheral wall portion 21 that surrounds the mouth portion 10 of the container body 2 from the radial outside, an inner cap top wall portion 22 that closes the upper end opening of the inner cap peripheral wall portion 21, a sealing protrusion portion 23 that is vertically disposed on the underside of the inner cap top wall portion 22, and an inner cap tube portion 24 that is vertically disposed on the upper surface of the inner cap top wall portion 22.

A female thread is formed on the inner surface of the inner cap peripheral wall 21, which screws into the male thread formed on the mouth 10 of the container body 2. This allows the inner cap 20 to be detachably screwed onto the mouth 10 of the container body 2. The inner cap top wall 22 is formed into a disk shape, and its outer periphery is connected to the upper end of the inner cap peripheral wall 21.

The seal protrusion 23 is disposed on the underside of the inner cap top wall 22, radially inward from the inner cap peripheral wall 21. The seal protrusion 23 contacts the inner peripheral surface of the mouth 10 in the circumferential direction, sealing the inside of the mouth 10.

A second seal protrusion 25 is provided between the seal protrusion 23 on the underside of the inner cap top wall 22 and the inner cap peripheral wall 21. The second seal protrusion 25 contacts the upper opening edge of the mouth 10 and seals the upper opening edge of the mouth 10 in the circumferential direction.

The inner cap cylindrical portion 24 extends axially upward from the outer peripheral edge of the upper surface of the inner cap top wall portion 22. A first restricting portion 40 (described later) is disposed radially inside the inner cap cylindrical portion 24. A second restricting portion 50 (described later) is disposed radially outside the inner cap cylindrical portion 24.

The outer cap 30 comprises an outer cap peripheral wall portion 31 that surrounds the inner cap 20 from the radial outside, an outer cap top wall portion 32 that closes the upper end opening of the outer cap peripheral wall portion 31, and an outer cap tube portion 33 that is vertically attached from the underside of the outer cap top wall portion 32.

The inner surface of the outer cap peripheral wall portion 31 is formed with a female thread that screws into the male thread formed on the outer surface of the inner cap peripheral wall portion 21. This allows the outer cap 30 to be screwed onto the inner cap 20. The outer cap top wall portion 32 is formed in a disk shape, and its outer periphery is connected to the upper end of the inner cap peripheral wall portion 21.

The thread between the outer cap 30 and the inner cap 20 is preferably a multiple-start thread with a large lead (amount of axial movement relative to the amount of rotation) to increase the deformation of the cap 3 when it is opened. For example, the thread between the outer cap 30 and the inner cap 20 may be a double-start thread, and the thread between the inner cap 20 and the mouth portion 10 may be a single-start thread.

The outer cap tube portion 33 is suspended from the underside of the outer cap top wall portion 32 and is disposed radially inward of the inner cap tube portion 24. The outer peripheral surface of the outer cap tube portion 33 is provided with a claw portion 41 of the first restricting portion 40. The inner peripheral surface of the inner cap tube portion 24 is provided with a locking portion 42 of the first restricting portion 40.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first restricting portion 40 has a plurality of claw portions 41 and locking portions 42 (two pairs in this embodiment), and allows the outer cap 30 to move over the inner cap 20 toward the loosening side, but restricts it from moving over to the opposite tightening side. Note that in this embodiment, the loosening side refers to counterclockwise rotation about the container axis O. Also, the tightening side refers to clockwise rotation about the container axis O.

The claw portion 41 extends radially outward from the outer peripheral surface of the outer cap tube portion 33 and is curved so as to retreat toward the tightening side (clockwise) as it moves radially outward.

The locking portion 42 has a first contact surface 42a that comes into contact with the claw portion 41 when rotated toward the loosening side, and a second contact surface 42b that comes into contact with the claw portion 41 when rotated in the opposite direction toward the tightening side. The first contact surface 42a is formed at an acute angle to the tangent to the inner peripheral surface of the inner cap tubular portion 24. The second contact surface 42b is formed at a right angle to the tangent to the inner peripheral surface of the inner cap tubular portion 24.

The second restricting portion 50 has a protrusion 51 on the inner peripheral surface of the outer cap peripheral wall portion 31. The second restricting portion 50 has an abutment portion 52 on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cap cylindrical portion 24. The second restricting portion 50 has multiple protrusions 51 and abutment portions 52 (two sets in this embodiment), and restricts the rotation of the outer cap 30 relative to the inner cap 20 in the loosening direction when it has climbed over the first restricting portion 40.

The protrusion 51 protrudes radially inward from the inner peripheral surface of the outer cap peripheral wall portion 31. The abutment surface of the abutment portion 52, which comes into contact with the protrusion 51 when rotating toward the loosening side, is formed at a right angle to the tangent to the outer peripheral surface of the inner cap cylindrical portion 24. The protrusion 51 is movable in the circumferential direction in the recess 53 formed between the two abutment portions 52 on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cap cylindrical portion 24.

Next, we will explain how to open the capped container 1 configured as above.

When opening the capped container 1, the cap 3 is rotated from the state shown in Figures 1 and 2 toward the loosening side relative to the mouth 10 of the container body 2. When the cap 3 is rotated toward the loosening side, the outer cap 30 rotates toward the loosening side (counterclockwise) relative to the inner cap 20, as shown in Figure 4.

When the outer cap 30 rotates to a certain extent, the claw portion 41 of the first restricting portion 40 comes into contact with the first contact surface 42a of the locking portion 42 and overcomes the locking portion 42 to the loosening side. When the claw portion 41 overcomes the locking portion 42, the tip of the claw portion 41 comes into contact with the second contact surface 42b of the locking portion 42, and the override to the tightening side is restricted.

At the same time that the claw portion 41 passes over the locking portion 42, the convex portion 51 of the second restricting portion 50 abuts against the abutment portion 52, restricting the rotation of the outer cap 30 in the loosening direction. In other words, when the claw portion 41 passes over the locking portion 42, the outer cap 30 cannot rotate in either the loosening direction or the tightening direction relative to the inner cap 20.

Furthermore, when the cap 3 is rotated in the loosening direction, the inner cap 20 rotates in the loosening direction in unison with the rotation of the outer cap 30, so that the cap 3 comes off the mouth 10 and the container body 2 can be opened.

In this way, when the outer cap 30 rotates relative to the inner cap 20 in the loosening direction when the bottle is opened, as shown in FIG. 3, the outer cap 30 rises higher than when it is unopened, and the bottom hem 20a of the bottom end of the inner cap 20 is exposed from the bottom end of the outer cap 30. The outer cap 30 does not then descend relative to the inner cap 20, so even if the cap is attached to the mouth 10 again, the bottom hem 20a of the inner cap 20 remains exposed. Therefore, the presence or absence of the bottom hem 20a makes it easy and reliable to visually determine whether the bottle is unopened or not.

Thus, the capped container 1 according to this embodiment comprises a bottomed cylindrical container body 2 having a mouth 10, and a cap 3 attached to the mouth 10 of the container body 2. The cap 3 comprises an inner cap 20 removably screwed to the mouth 10, an outer cap 30 screwed to the inner cap 20, a first restricting portion 40 that allows the outer cap 30 to move over the inner cap 20 to the loosening side and restricts it from moving over to the opposite tightening side, and a second restricting portion 50 that restricts the rotation of the outer cap 30 to the loosening side relative to the inner cap 20 after moving over the first restricting portion 40. With this configuration, it is possible to easily and reliably visually check whether the cap is unopened.

In addition, in this embodiment, the outer cap 30 is formed in a topped cylindrical shape, and when it has climbed over the first restricting portion 40, a part of the inner cap 20 (bottom portion 20a) is exposed from the bottom end of the outer cap 30. With this configuration, the bottom portion 20a of the inner cap 20 is exposed at the bottom end of the topped cylindrical outer cap 30, making it easy to see that it has been opened. In addition, it is easy to see whether it has been opened or not without significantly changing the appearance of the cap 3. Note that if the bottom portion 20a of the inner cap 20 is a different color tone from the outer cap 30 (including differences in color, the presence or absence of gloss, etc.), visibility is further improved.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, a configuration has been described in which the first regulating part 40 is disposed radially inside the inner cap tubular part 24 and the second regulating part 50 is disposed radially outside the inner cap tubular part 24, but it is also acceptable for the first regulating part 40 to be disposed radially outside the inner cap tubular part 24 and the second regulating part 50 to be disposed radially inside the inner cap tubular part 24.

Also, for example, as a modified example, if the locking portion 42 of the first regulating portion 40 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the inner cap tubular portion 24 and the convex portion 51 is sandwiched between the abutment portion 52 and the locking portion 42, the claw portion 41 and the outer cap tubular portion 33 can be omitted.
In addition, as in this embodiment, by separating the space in which the first restricting portion 40 is disposed from the space in which the second restricting portion 50 is disposed with the inner cap tubular portion 24 in between, it is possible to secure a large space in the first restricting portion 40 to allow elastic deformation when the claw portion 41 overcomes the locking portion 42. In other words, it becomes easier for the claw portion 41 to overcome the locking portion 42.

In addition, the components in the above embodiments may be replaced with well-known components as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1...Container with cap, 2...Container body, 3...Cap, 10...Mouth, 20...Inner cap, 20a...Bottom, 21...Inner cap peripheral wall, 22...Inner cap top wall, 23...Seal protrusion, 24...Inner cap tubular part, 25...Second seal protrusion, 30...Outer cap, 31...Outer cap peripheral wall, 32...Outer cap top wall, 33...Outer cap tubular part, 40...First restricting part, 41...Claw part, 42...Latching part, 42a...First contact surface, 42b...Second contact surface, 50...Second restricting part, 51...Convex part, 52...Abutting part, 53...Concave part, O...Container axis

Claims (2)

A cylindrical container body having a bottom and a mouth portion;
A cap attached to the mouth of the container body,
The cap is
An inner cap removably screwed onto the mouth portion;
an outer cap screwed onto the inner cap;
a first restriction portion that allows the outer cap to move over the inner cap in a loosening direction and restricts the outer cap from moving over the inner cap in a tightening direction;
a second restricting portion that restricts rotation of the outer cap relative to the inner cap in a loosening direction when the outer cap has passed over the first restricting portion,
The first restricting portion is
A claw portion and
a locking portion having a first contact surface that comes into contact with the claw portion when the outer cap is rotated toward a loosening side relative to the inner cap, and a second contact surface that comes into contact with the claw portion when the outer cap is rotated toward a tightening side,
The second restricting portion is
A convex portion,
A capped container comprising: a contact portion having a contact surface that comes into contact with the convex portion when the outer cap is rotated toward the loosening side relative to the inner cap . The outer cap is formed in a cylindrical shape with a top,
2. The capped container according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the inner cap is exposed from a lower end of the outer cap when the inner cap has climbed over the first restricting portion.

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