WO2004063044A1

WO2004063044A1 - Cap, closing device, and beverage packed in container

Info

Publication number: WO2004063044A1
Application number: PCT/JP2004/000078
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hiroaki Tsutsumi; Fujio Iizuka; Masayoshi Shigeta
Original assignee: Alcoa Closure Systems Japan, Limited
Priority date: 2003-01-14
Filing date: 2004-01-08
Publication date: 2004-07-29
Also published as: JP2004262458A

Abstract

A cap, a closing device using the cap, and beverage packed in a container, the cap comprising a cap body having a top board part and a cylindrical part which vertically hangs from the peripheral edge of the top board part and a liner fitted into the cap body, wherein exhaust gas holes are formed in the cylindrical part along the periphery thereof, at least one length of the exhaust gas holes are 5 to 50 mm, and the outer diameter of the liner is 34.9 to 37 mm.

Description

Description Caps, closures and packaged beverages

The present invention relates to a cap for closing a container mouth, a closing device using the cap, and a packaged beverage.

This specification is based on a patent application to Japan (Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-64336), and the contents of the Japanese application are incorporated herein as a part. Ο Background technology

Conventionally, a cap for closing a container mouth has been provided with a metal cap body composed of a circular top plate and a tube hanging down from the periphery thereof, and a liner provided on the inner surface of the top plate. Things are often used.

As this type of cap, there is a cap in which a plurality of exhaust holes having a length of about 3 mm are formed at an upper portion of a cylindrical portion (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-328158).

When the cap is closed and then closed again (hereinafter referred to as “re-opening”), the internal pressure of the container may increase due to fermentation of the liquid contents. In this case, there was a problem that the cap was easily detached from the container when the cap was opened.

For this reason, there has been a demand for a technique capable of discharging the gas in the container to the outside when the internal pressure of the container increases after re-opening and reducing the internal pressure of the container. Disclosure of the invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a cap capable of obtaining a sufficient sealing property when not opened and preventing an excessive rise in the internal pressure of the container when the container is closed again after opening. , Closure devices, and bottled beverages.

The cap of the present invention is a cap comprising a top plate portion and a tubular portion hanging down from the periphery thereof. A main body, and a liner provided on an inner surface of the top plate portion, an exhaust hole extending in a circumferential direction is formed in the cylindrical portion, and at least one of the exhaust holes has a length of 5 to 5 O mm. — Has an outer diameter of 34.9 to 37 mm.

The inner surface of the liner can be formed so as to be substantially flat from the position in contact with the container mouth to the periphery.

On the inner surface of the liner, a protruding portion protruding toward the container can be formed on the peripheral side from a position where the liner contacts the container mouth.

It is preferable that the height of the protrusion is 0.5 mm or less.

The cap of the present invention includes a cap body including a top plate portion and a tubular portion hanging down from the periphery thereof, and a liner provided on the inner surface of the top plate portion, and an exhaust hole along a circumferential direction is formed in the tubular portion. At least one of the exhaust holes has a length of 5 to 50 mm, and a contact length of the liner with the outer surface of the open end of the container mouth is 1.0 mm or less. .

The cap of the present invention includes a cap body including a top plate portion and a tube portion hanging down from the periphery thereof, and a liner provided on the inner surface of the top plate portion, and an exhaust hole along a circumferential direction is formed in the tube portion. The length of at least one of the exhaust holes is 5 to 50 mm, and the length of a portion of the liner that is not in contact with the container mouth is 1. 0 mm or less.

In the cap of the present invention, the cap body may be made of metal. The cap body is preferably made of a material having a tensile strength of 20 O NZmm ² or more.

The closure device of the present invention is a closure device including a container and a cap attached to a mouth thereof, wherein the cap includes a top plate portion and a tube body hanging down from a periphery of the cap body. And a liner provided on the inner surface of the top plate portion, and an exhaust hole along the circumferential direction is formed in the cylindrical portion, and at least one of the air holes has a length of 5 to 5 O mm, and The outer diameter is 34.9 to 37 mm.

The packaged beverage of the present invention is a packaged beverage in which a beverage is filled in a closing device provided with a container and a cap attached to the mouth thereof, wherein the cap is formed from a top plate portion and a periphery thereof. A cap body consisting of a hanging cylinder, and a cap provided on the inner surface of the top plate An exhaust hole is formed in the cylindrical portion along the circumferential direction, at least one of the exhaust holes has a length of 5 to 50 mm, and an outer diameter of the liner is 34.9. 337 mm. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing an embodiment of the cap of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state before forming the cap shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of the cap shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the cap shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state before molding of another example of the cap of the present invention. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the closing device of the present invention. The closing device shown here is composed of a container 21 and a cap 1 attached to a container opening 21a. I have.

The container 21 is made of a metal such as aluminum, an aluminum alloy, or steel, and the open end 2 lb of the container mouth 2 la has an outwardly curved shape ο

The container 21 preferably has an open end 2 lb having an outer diameter of 32 to 35 mm (preferably 33 to 34 mm).

The container 21 may be made of synthetic resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or glass.

The cap 1 includes a cap body 4 composed of a circular top plate 2 and a cylindrical portion 3 hanging down from the periphery thereof, and a liner 15 provided on the inner surface of the top plate 2.

The cylindrical part 3 has a main part 8 above the horizontal score 6 by a horizontal score 6 (weakened line) and a tamper evidence ring 9 (TE ring part 9) connected to the lower end of the main part 8 by a page 7. It is divided into and.

A screw portion 10 is formed in the cylindrical portion 3 when the cap 1 is attached to the container opening 21a. The thread part 10 is formed so as to conform to the external thread 22 of the container mouth part 21a. Is done.

The lower part of the TE ring 9 is formed as a hem 11 that is curved inward along the bulging step 23 of the container opening 21 a so that it is locked to the bulging step 23 when the cap is opened. It has become.

The cap body 4 is preferably made of a metal such as aluminum, an aluminum alloy, and steel.

Material used for the cap body 4, the tensile strength (JISZ 2 2 4 1 in compliance) is ² 0 0 NZmm 2 or more (preferably ² 0 5 NZmm 2 or more) good preferable ones are.

By setting the tensile strength within the above range, the screw portion 10 is prevented from being deformed at the time of opening, and the hold force of the screw portion 10 with respect to the male screw 22 of the container opening 21 a can be increased. it can. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the cap 1 from being easily detached from the container opening 21a when the cap is opened, and it is possible to reliably prevent an accident such as a cap jump. In addition, the sealing performance when not opened can be improved.

The tensile strength is preferably at ² 5 0 NZmm 2 below.

By setting the tensile strength in the above range, the effect of reducing the internal pressure of the container when the internal pressure of the container increases after re-closing can be enhanced.

As a particularly suitable material used for the cap body 4, an aluminum alloy 515 specified by JIS can be mentioned.

The top of the cylindrical portion 3, _c exhaust hole 1 2 in which a plurality of exhaust holes 1 2 are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction is formed along the circumferential direction. The exhaust hole 12 is preferably formed above the screw portion 10.

At least one of the exhaust holes 12 has a length (peripheral length) of 5 to 50 mm

(Preferably 10 to 30 mm).

In the illustrated example, the length A of the exhaust holes 12a among the plurality of exhaust holes 12 is 5 to 50 mm (preferably 10 to 30 mm).

If the length A of the exhaust hole 12a is less than the above range, the effect of reducing the internal pressure of the container becomes insufficient when the internal pressure of the container increases after re-plugging. If the length A exceeds the above range, the sealing property will decrease when not opened.

The length A of the exhaust hole 12a is such that the internal pressure of the container 21 is 70 to 150 psi (0.48 to: L. It can be set so that the gas in the container is discharged to the outside when the pressure becomes 0 3 MP a) (gauge pressure; the same applies hereinafter).

In addition, the number of the exhaust holes 12 can be any number equal to or more than one. When a plurality of exhaust holes 12 are formed, at least one of the exhaust holes 12 may have a length A within the above range.

For the liner 5, a relatively soft synthetic resin material such as a blend of polypropylene and rubber, polyethylene, and EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer) can be used.

FIG. 2 shows an unformed cap 1a before the cap 1 is formed. In the unformed cap la, the liner 5 is flat.

The outer diameter B of the liner 5 is 34.9 to 37 mm.

By setting the outer diameter B within this range, sufficient sealing performance can be obtained when the container is not opened, and the internal pressure of the container can be prevented from excessively increasing after re-opening. Furthermore, at the time of re-closing, the liner 5 at the position corresponding to the position 5a that comes into contact with the container mouth 2la to the peripheral edge 5b makes the opening end 2lb concentric with the liner 5. Since the guide is provided smoothly, it is possible to prevent the closing torque from increasing.

If the outer diameter B is less than this range, the sealing property will decrease when not opened.

If the outer diameter B exceeds this range, when the internal pressure of the container increases after re-plugging, it becomes difficult to discharge gas in the container, and the effect of reducing the internal pressure of the container becomes insufficient.

The inner surface (lower surface) of the liner 5 is preferably formed so that the portion from the position 5a in contact with the container opening 21a to the peripheral edge 5b is substantially flat.

By forming the liner 5 of this part to be almost flat, the liner 5 of this part smoothly guides the open end 2 lb to a position concentric with the liner 15 when re-plugging. However, it is possible to prevent the closing torque from increasing.

As shown in FIG. 3, the liner 5 has a contact length with respect to the outer surface 21 c of the open end 21 b of the container mouth 21 a (the area closer to the outer surface than the top of the open end 2 lb). C is desirably 1.0 mm or less, preferably 0.3 to 1.0 mm, and more preferably 0.5 to 0.7 mm. If the contact length C is less than this range, the sealing property will be reduced when not opened. If the contact length C exceeds this range, the effect of reducing the internal pressure of the container tends to be insufficient when the internal pressure of the container increases after re-plugging.

The contact length C indicates the height of the portion where the liner 5 contacts the outer surface 21c of the container.

When the periphery 5b of the liner 5 is separated from the opening end 21b, the length D of the separated portion 5c (the portion not in contact with the container opening 21a) is 1. It is preferably 0 mm or less (preferably 0.5 mm or less).

If the length D exceeds this range, the effect of reducing the internal pressure of the container tends to be insufficient when the internal pressure of the container increases after re-plugging.

The liner 15 can be formed in the cap body 4 by the in-shell molding method, or can be formed by a method in which a pre-formed substantially sheet-shaped liner 15 is fixed to the inner surface of the top plate 2. .

Next, a method of using the cap 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. In order to fill the container 21 with the liquid content, it is possible to adopt hot filling, which is usually performed at a high temperature of 80 ° C or higher, or normal temperature aseptic filling, which is performed at room temperature using containers and caps that have been previously sterilized. it can.

Further, by enclosing nitrogen in the container 21 by supplying liquid nitrogen into the container 21 or the like, the internal pressure of the container can be increased. The pressure in the container can be set so that the pressure at normal temperature exceeds the normal pressure (for example, 0.1 to 0.3 MPa). To wash the container opening 21 a, the washing water is introduced into the cap 1 through the exhaust hole 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, when not opened, the liner 5 comes into contact with the open end 2 lb of the container mouth 2 la, and the hermeticity is maintained.

When the cap 1 attached to the container mouth 2 la is turned in the opening direction, the cap 1 rises, the liner 15 is separated from the open end 2 lb, and the sealing of the container 21 is released. In the process of opening the cap, since the skirt 11 of the TE ring 9 is locked to the bulging step 23, the main part 8 rises with rotation, while the TE ring 9 moves upward. Movement, and as a result, the bridge 7 connecting the main part 8 and the TE ring part 9 The bridge 7 is broken, and the main part 8 is separated from the TE ring part 9.

When the cap 1 is opened and then reopened, the internal pressure of the container 21 may become extremely high (for example, 0.4 MPa or more) due to fermentation of the liquid content. As shown in FIG. 4, when the pressure in the container 21 increases, an upward force is applied to the top plate 2 and the liner 5.

In the cap 1, since the length of the exhaust hole 12a is within the above range, the cylindrical portion 3 where the exhaust hole 12a is formed is easily deformed.

As a result, the cylindrical portion 3 is deformed so that the interval between the exhaust holes 12a is increased, the top plate portion 2 and the liner 15 are raised, the liner 15 is separated from the opening end 21b, and the liner 15 is moved. The gas in the container 21 is exhausted to the outside through a gap of 2 lb with the opening end.

Therefore, in the cap 1, it is possible to prevent the internal pressure of the container 21 from excessively increasing after re-opening, and to prevent the cap 1 from being detached due to the internal pressure of the container when the container is opened, that is, so-called cap flying.

Furthermore, sufficient sealing properties can be obtained when the cap is not opened.

Further, at the time of cleaning, the cleaning water is easily introduced into the inside through the exhaust holes 12a, and the cleaning effect can be enhanced.

In the closing device described above, a beverage such as a juice beverage, a tea beverage, a coffee beverage, or the like is filled in the container 21 and the cap 1 is attached to the mouth 21 a to obtain a packaged beverage filled with the beverage. Can be.

FIG. 5 shows another example of the cap of the present invention.

The cap shown here has an annular protruding portion 36 protruding toward the container (downward) on the inner surface of the liner 35, at a position closer to the container opening 21a, at a position closer to the periphery than the position 35a. This is different from the cap 1 shown in FIG.

The cross-sectional shape of the projection 36 can be substantially trapezoidal.

The protrusion height of the protrusion 36 is preferably 0.5 mm or less. If this protrusion height exceeds this range, the opening end 2 lb will come into contact with the protrusion 36 at the time of re-plugging, so that the plugging torque tends to increase. Also, when the internal pressure of the container increases after re-opening, the gas in the container becomes difficult to be discharged. (Example)

(Test Examples 1 to 6)

The cap 1 shown in FIG. 1 was produced.

In the cap 1, the length of the exhaust hole 12a, one of the 26 exhaust holes 12, was set to the value shown in Table 1, and the length of the other exhaust holes 12 was set to 3 mm. The outer diameter B of the liner 1 was 35.9 mm.

As a material of the cap body 4, an aluminum alloy 515 specified in JIS was used. The tensile strength of this material was 225 NZmm ² .

2.2 A container 21 made of an aluminum alloy, on which male screws 22 corresponding to two rounds were formed, was filled with water by hot filling, and a cap 1 was attached to the container opening 21a. The container 21 used had an open end 2 lb with an outer diameter of 33.5 mm. The cap 1 was opened once and the cap 1 was again attached to the container opening 2la by hand.

(Gas leak test)

Nitrogen gas was fed into the container 21 using PAT (proper application test Yuichi, manufactured by Alcoa), the internal pressure of the container 21 was increased, and it was confirmed whether the gas in the container was discharged to the outside.

This test was performed on 20 samples for each condition, and the number of samples from which gas in the container was discharged was examined. Table 1 shows the test results.

(table 1 )

(Numerical values indicate the number of samples for which gas emission in the container has been confirmed) (Rapid opening test)

The sample that passed the gas leak test was quickly opened, and it was examined whether the cap was detached due to the internal pressure of the container, that is, whether so-called cap flying occurred.

This test was performed on 20 samples under each condition, and the number of samples in which cap flying occurred was examined. Table 2 shows the test results.

(Table 2)

(The numerical value indicates the number of samples in which the cap jump occurred.)

(Sealing test)

For the vent hole 1 2a with a length of 3 to 6 O mm, drop the unopened closing device from a height of 30 cm and check whether the internal solution leaks due to the impact at the time of dropping. did.

As a result, no leakage of the internal solution occurred when the length of the exhaust hole 12a was 5 Omm or less, but in some cases where the length of the exhaust hole 12a exceeded 5 Omm, It was confirmed that the internal solution leaked slightly.

(Test Example 1 2)

A cap 1 similar to that of Test Example 4 was produced except that the outer diameter of the liner 15 was set to the value shown in Table 3.

Table 3 shows the results of the gas leak test. The pressure in the vessel for this test was 0.7 MPa. (Table 3)

As shown in Tables 1-3, as a result of the gas leak test, in the test example where the length of the exhaust hole 12a is 5-5 Omm and the outer diameter of the liner 5 is 34.9-37 mm However, even if the internal pressure of the container 21 increased after re-closing, the gas in the container was discharged.

Also, from the results of the sealability test, it was found that in the test examples in which the length of the exhaust hole 12a was 5 to 5 O mm, the internal solution did not leak when the cap was not opened, and good sealability was exhibited. Understand.

In other words, in the above test example, sufficient sealing performance could be obtained when the container was not opened, and the container internal pressure could be prevented from excessively increasing when the container was closed again after the container was opened c (Test Example 13 ~: L 7)

A cap 1 similar to that of Test Example 4 was made except that the strength of the material of the cap body 4 was set to the value shown in Table 4.

Table 4 shows the results of the quick opening test. The pressure in the vessel for this test was 0.7 MPa c (Table 4)

As shown in Table 4, the tensile strength of the cap body 4 should be 20 ON / mm ² or more. By this, the cap jump could be prevented beforehand.

(Test Examples 18 to 21)

As shown in FIG. 5, a cap similar to that of Test Example 4 was produced except that an annular protrusion 36 was formed on the peripheral edge of the liner 35.

Table 5 shows the results of the gas leak test. The pressure in the vessel for this test was 0.7 MPa.

(Table 5)

As shown in Table 5, in the test example in which the height of the protrusion 36 was 0.5 mm or less, even if the internal pressure of the container 21 increased after re-plugging, the gas in the container was easily discharged. Was confirmed. Industrial applications

As described above, with the cap of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the internal pressure of the container from excessively increasing after re-opening, and to prevent the cap from being detached due to the internal pressure of the container when the container is opened, so-called cap flying.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A cap body consisting of a top plate and a tube hanging down from the periphery of the cap, and a liner provided on the inner surface of the top plate,

An exhaust hole is formed in the cylindrical portion along the circumferential direction, at least one of the exhaust holes has a length of 5 to 50 mm,

A cap characterized in that the outer diameter of the liner is 34.9 to 37 mm.

2. The cap according to claim 1, wherein an inner surface of the liner is formed so as to be substantially flat from a position in contact with a container mouth to a periphery.

3. The cap according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion protruding toward the container is formed on an inner surface of the liner on a peripheral side from a position where the liner abuts on the container mouth.

4. The cap according to claim 3, wherein a height of the protrusion is 0.5 mm or less.

5. A cap body consisting of a top plate and a tube hanging down from the periphery thereof, and a liner provided on the inner surface of the top plate,

The liner is a cap having a contact length of 1.0 mm or less with respect to an outer surface of an opening end of a container mouth.

6. A cap body consisting of a top plate and a tube hanging down from the periphery thereof, and a liner provided on the inner surface of the top plate,

The cap, wherein the length of a portion not in contact with the container mouth is less than 1.0 mm on a peripheral side from a position in contact with the container mouth.

7. The cap according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the cap body is made of a metal.

8. The cap according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the cap body is made of a material having a bow I tensile strength of 20 ON / mm ² or more.