JP7518807B2 - cap - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cap that can be used to seal the mouth of a container.

Liquid products such as beverages and seasonings (including paste-like products) are generally filled into containers such as bottles and distributed with the mouths of the bottles sealed with caps. Here, caps with pilfer-proof mechanisms are widely used to assure the end consumer that the products have never been opened during the distribution process.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-118967 (Patent Document 1) discloses a pilfer-proof cap that includes a lid body and a pilfer-proof band that is connected to the bottom end of the lid body via a breakable bridge. With this pilfer-proof cap, it is guaranteed that the product has never been opened during distribution, since the bridge has not been broken.

Furthermore, caps commonly used for wide-mouth bottles are generally known as twist caps, and twist caps equipped with a disk-shaped safety button are particularly widely available. When a liquid product is filled into a wide-mouth bottle and sterilized by heating, and then the mouth of the bottle is sealed with a twist cap equipped with a safety button, the inside of the bottle is reduced in pressure when the liquid product returns to room temperature. At this time, the difference between atmospheric pressure and the internal pressure causes the safety button to deform. When the bottle is opened in this state, the elimination of the air pressure difference releases the deformation of the safety button, which causes a sound to be heard. The production of this sound guarantees that the product has never been opened during distribution.

JP 2007-118967 A

The pill-finder-proof mechanism using a safety button is desirable for application to a wide range of containers, as it allows the user to easily feel that the container is sealed. However, depending on the material and dimensions of the cap, even if a disk-shaped safety button similar to those used in conventional twist caps is installed, no sound may be produced or the volume may be very low. This is because when the elastic modulus of the material is relatively low or the dimensions of the cap are small, the deformation of the safety button does not store enough energy to produce a sound.

Furthermore, conventional safety buttons may not produce any sound or may only produce a very low volume of sound if the air pressure difference between the inside and outside of a container is insufficient. However, depending on the type of container and liquid product, there may be a large variation in the air pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container, making it difficult to produce a liquid product under conditions that would allow conventional safety buttons to function reliably.

Therefore, there is a need to develop a cap that can produce a sufficiently loud sound even in conditions where conventional safety buttons are difficult to function.

The cap of the present invention is a metal cap having a circular top surface and a skirt portion hanging down from the top surface, and is characterized in that the top surface is provided with a spiral protrusion portion formed by shifting the upper and bottom surfaces of the top surface above the cap .

This configuration allows a sufficiently loud sound to be produced even on a cap in conditions that would make it difficult for a conventional safety button to function.

Other aspects of the present invention will be described below, however, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following aspects .

The cap of the present invention is a metal cap having a circular top surface and a skirt portion hanging down from the top surface, and is characterized in that a spiral protrusion portion is provided on the top surface and steps are formed between each of the threads of the spiral protrusion portion.

This configuration allows the protruding portion to move more easily, and the threshold pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container required to produce sound becomes relatively small, resulting in a cap that is more likely to produce sound.

The cap of the present invention is a metal cap having a circular top surface and a skirt portion depending from the top surface, wherein the top surface is provided with a spiral protrusion portion, and the protrusion portion includes a plurality of panel portions inclined both circumferentially and radially from the top surface.

This configuration allows the protruding portion to move more easily, and the threshold pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container required to produce sound becomes relatively small, resulting in a cap that is more likely to produce sound.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of exemplary and non-limiting embodiments, which are given with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cap according to an embodiment. 2 is a diagram showing a first cross-section (cross-section taken along line II-II in FIG. 1) of the cap according to the embodiment. 3 is a view showing a second cross section (cross section along line III-III in FIG. 1) of the cap according to the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a cap according to a modified example. 5 is a diagram showing a cross section (cross section taken along line VV in FIG. 4) of a cap according to a modified example.

A first embodiment of the cap according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Below, an example will be described in which the cap according to the present invention is applied to a pilfer-proof cap 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as "cap 10") used to seal the mouth of a bottle.

[Cap configuration]
The cap 10 according to this embodiment has a circular top surface 1 and a skirt portion 2 that hangs down from the top surface 1 (FIG. 1). A sealant is fitted into the inner surface of the top surface 1.
In use, the cap 10 is screwed onto a male thread formed on the mouth of the bottle. In the following description, when referring to the up-down direction (or height direction), the top surface 1 side is expressed as "upper" (or "higher"), and the direction in which the skirt portion 2 hangs down from the top surface 1 is expressed as "lower" (or "lower").

The top surface portion 1 and the skirt portion 2 are integrally formed of an aluminum material (an example of a metal). Here, the aluminum material may be pure aluminum or an aluminum alloy. On the other hand, the seal material is made of resin, and examples of the resin material used here include polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. The skirt portion 2 has a structure known as the skirt portion of this type of pill-proof cap, that is, a protrusion for easily catching on the user's fingertips, a tamper-proof ring, etc. may be provided on the outside of the skirt portion 2. In addition, a female thread portion for screwing into a male thread portion formed on the mouth of the bottle, a protrusion for sealing the mouth of the bottle, etc. may be provided on the inside of the skirt portion 2.

The top surface 1 is provided with one spiral protrusion 3. The protrusion 3 is provided in a shape in which the height gradually increases in a spiral shape from an end portion 31 located on the edge side of the top surface 1 to a central portion 32 located in the center of the top surface 1. In this embodiment, the protrusion 3 is formed in a spiral shape with three turns, and a step 33 is formed between each turn.

By forming the helical protrusion 3 on the top surface 1, there exists a combination of a first cross section, which is a vertical cross section of the top surface passing through the center 11 of the top surface 1, and a second cross section, which is another vertical cross section, in which the shapes of the first cross section and the second cross section do not match. As an example, the cross section taken along line II-II in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2 as the first cross section 12, and the cross section taken along line III-III in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 3 as the second cross section 13. Comparing FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, it can be seen that the arrangement of the parts originating from the protrusion 3 is different between the first cross section 12 and the second cross section 13, and the first cross section 12 and the second cross section 13 do not match.

〔how to use〕
A method of using the cap 10 according to this embodiment will be described. After filling a bottle with a product and heat sterilizing it, the mouth of the bottle is sealed with the cap 10 while the bottle and the product are at a temperature higher than room temperature. Here, the method of sealing the mouth of the bottle with the cap 10 can be a known sealing method using a pilfer-proof cap.

After that, when the temperature of the bottle sealed by the cap 10 drops, the internal pressure of the bottle drops. This creates an air pressure difference between the inside and outside of the bottle, and the top surface 1 is sucked inward into the bottle. Here, the top surface 1 is provided with protruding portions 3, and the height gradually increases from the end portion 31 to the center portion 32, making the top surface 1 more susceptible to deformation than if the top surface 1 were flat. Therefore, the air pressure difference between the inside and outside of the bottle makes the top surface 1 more likely to bend inward into the bottle.

When the cap 10 is opened, the air pressure difference between the inside and outside of the bottle is eliminated. At this time, a deformation occurs in which the curvature of the top surface 1 is eliminated, and a sound is generated along with this deformation. The generation of this sound ensures that the bottle was sealed before it was opened.

Other embodiments
Finally, other embodiments of the cap according to the present invention will be described. Note that the configurations disclosed in the following embodiments can be combined with the configurations disclosed in other embodiments as long as no contradiction occurs.

In each of the above embodiments, the cap has been described as having a top surface and skirt portion made of aluminum. However, the cap of the present invention may be made of any metal, and the type of metal is not particularly limited. Examples of metals that may be used to make the cap of the present invention include, but are not limited to, aluminum and steel.

In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the cap according to the present invention was applied to a pill-proof cap. However, the cap according to the present invention can be applied to other metal caps of known types, such as twist-off caps, in addition to pill-proof caps.

In the above embodiment, a configuration in which the protrusion 3 has a spiral shape with one turn and three turns has been described as an example. However, the number of turns of the spiral shape of the protrusion according to the present invention is not limited, and can be determined appropriately taking into consideration, for example, the dimensions of the top surface. However, it is preferable that the protrusion has a spiral shape with two to seven turns.

The dimensional conditions of the spiral shape of the protruding portion can also be determined appropriately, taking into consideration the dimensions of the top surface, etc. However, the height of the center of the spiral shape relative to the ends is preferably 3 mm or more and 20 mm or less. Also, the width of each circumference of the spiral shape is preferably 1 mm or more and 15 mm or less. Furthermore, it is preferable that the proportion of the area of the top surface that is occupied by the protruding portion is 25% or more and 90% or less.

In the above embodiment, a configuration in which steps 33 are formed between each circumference of the protruding portion 3 has been described as an example. However, the structure of the protruding portion according to the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, a spiral shape may be formed by combining a plurality of panel portions 34 (FIGS. 4 and 5). In this modified example, each panel portion 34 has an upwardly convex curved shape. In addition, in response to the protruding portion 3 being provided in such a manner that the height gradually increases from the end portion 31 toward the center portion 32, each panel portion 34 is inclined so that the upper side of the spiral is higher than the lower side.
Similarly, since the central portion 32 is higher than the end portion 31, each panel portion 34 is also inclined in the radial direction of the top surface portion 1. In the above embodiment, a step 33 was formed between each circumference of the protruding portion 3, and two adjacent circumferences in the radial direction were discontinuous, but in this modified example, two adjacent circumferences in the radial direction are continuous. Also, two panel portions adjacent along the spiral are continuous. As a result, the entire spiral shape of the protruding portion 3 is configured to be continuous, which makes it easier for the protruding portion 3 to move relatively smoothly and generate sound.

As for other configurations, it should be understood that the embodiments disclosed in this specification are illustrative in all respects and that the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will easily understand that appropriate modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, other embodiments that are modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention are naturally included in the scope of the present invention.

The present invention can be used, for example, in caps that seal the mouths of bottles filled with food, beverages, etc.

10: Pilfer-proof cap 1: Top surface portion 11: Center 12: First cross section 13: Second cross section 2: Skirt portion 3: Projection portion 31: End portion 32: Center portion 33: Step 34: Panel portion

Claims (3)

A metal cap having a circular top surface and a skirt portion extending downward from the top surface,
A cap in which a spiral protrusion is provided on the top surface, the top surface being offset toward the top of the cap . A metal cap having a circular top surface and a skirt portion extending downward from the top surface,
The top surface portion is provided with a spiral protrusion portion,
A cap in which steps are formed between each of the spiral projections. A metal cap having a circular top surface and a skirt portion extending downward from the top surface,
The top surface portion is provided with a spiral protrusion portion,
the protruding portion includes a plurality of panel portions arranged in a spiral;
A cap in which each of the panel portions is inclined along a spiral so that the upper side of the spiral is higher than the lower side, and the radially inner side of the top surface portion is inclined so that the radially outer side is higher.

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