JP2003339429A - Airtight container - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an airtight container for securing high airtight performance by a sealing mechanism formed integrally with the container body or the lid made of synthetic resin, which is inexpensive and has good productivity, and which can ensure smooth opening and closing operational performance of the lid. <P>SOLUTION: This airtight container includes an annular sealing groove 7 formed integrally with the container body made of synthetic resin, a pair of elastically deformable annular ribs 10, 11 formed integrally with the synthetic resin-made lid along the annular sealing groove with space S between them, and inserted in the annular sealing groove to be opposite to a pair of mutually opposed peripheral walls 8, 9, an annular projecting part 12 which is formed integrally at the groove bottom part 7a of the annular sealing groove in its circumferential direction, to which the lower end parts 10a, 11a of the annular rib abut to elastically deform the paired annular ribs to be pressed to each peripheral wall and pressing the same toward each peripheral wall, and a slit 13 formed integrally with the annular projecting part to communicate the annular sealing grove with the space and permitting air in the annular sealing grove to flow into the space S. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is capable of ensuring high airtightness by means of a sealing mechanism integrally formed with a synthetic resin container body or lid, and therefore is inexpensive and has good productivity, and at the same time the lid The present invention relates to an airtight container capable of ensuring smooth opening / closing operability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Out of various containers such as cosmetic containers which are usually molded from synthetic resin material, there is a case in which remarkable airtightness is required due to the fact that the contents are volatile. As a structure for ensuring airtightness in this type of container, for example, an annular groove is integrally formed in either one of the container body and the lid, and the other is integrally formed with an annular protrusion fitted into the annular groove. It is known that the inner surface of the groove and the surface of the protrusion are kept in close contact with each other so that the sealing function is exerted between the container body and the lid (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-64813, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-64813). See Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-15912 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-33059).

[0003]

By the way, in the above prior arts, since the container is a molded product made of a synthetic resin material, firstly, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient airtight performance by itself. Secondly, there is a problem that if high airtightness can be obtained, this time it may hinder the opening / closing operation of the container.

More specifically, the annular groove and the annular protrusion formed integrally with the container body and lid formed of synthetic resin material are slightly deformed due to heat shrinkage or the like due to resin molding. Occurs. For this reason, it is usually difficult to closely contact the inner surface of these grooves with the projection surface without any gap, and it is unsatisfactory when high airtightness is required, not when not so much airtightness is required. Met. For such a problem, it is possible to incorporate a sealing material such as rubber, which is well known as a sealing component, as a separate component, and by doing so, a considerably high airtight performance can be secured. . However, in this case, in addition to the container main body and lid body molded of synthetic resin material, it is necessary to prepare a sealing material of a different material and perform the assembly work, which increases cost and lowers productivity. Will end up.

On the other hand, in order to secure a high sealing performance, it is sufficient that the sealing portion is closely contacted. With this arrangement, when the lid is closed, the air remaining in the container body causes the container body to be closed. Considering that the internal pressure increases and it becomes difficult to close the lid, or especially considering that the container body and the lid body are made of synthetic resin and exhibit some elasticity, the lid body that is elastically deformed when the container body is closed, etc. With the restoration of the deformation, the inside of the container main body becomes a negative pressure, which makes it difficult to open the lid, which may hinder the opening and closing.

The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and a high sealing performance can be secured by a sealing mechanism integrally formed on a synthetic resin container body or lid, and therefore, the cost and productivity are low. An object of the present invention is to provide an airtight container that is good and can ensure smooth opening / closing operability of the lid.

[0007]

The airtight container according to the present invention is an airtight container in which the inside of a synthetic resin container body is hermetically sealed by a synthetic resin lid for opening and closing the container body. An annular seal groove integrally formed on one of the container body and the lid, and an annular seal groove integrally formed on the other of the container body and the lid along the annular seal groove and between each other. A pair of elastically deformable annular ribs that are formed with a gap therebetween and that are inserted into the annular seal groove and face a pair of circumferential walls of the annular seal groove that face each other, and an annular rib that surrounds the annular bottom of the annular seal groove. Are integrally formed along the direction, and in order to elastically deform the pair of annular ribs and press-contact them with the peripheral walls, the distal end portions of these annular ribs are abutted and directed toward the respective peripheral walls. An annular pressing portion that presses, and a passage that is integrally formed in the annular pressing portion and that allows the annular seal groove and the void to communicate with each other and allows the air in the annular seal groove to flow into the void. It is characterized by having. This ensures high airtightness even with a sealing mechanism that is integrally formed on the synthetic resin container body or lid.
Therefore, the cost is low and the productivity is good, and the smooth opening / closing operability of the lid is ensured.

Further, a plurality of the passages are formed at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction of the annular pressing portion. This further facilitates the opening / closing operability of the lid.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of an airtight container according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. As an example of an airtight container, FIGS. 1 to 5 show a portable cosmetics container 1 containing a volatile cosmetic. As shown in the figure, the cosmetic container 1 is composed of a synthetic resin container body 3 having a storage part 2 for storing volatile cosmetics and a hinge 4 at one end of the container body 3. A lid body made of synthetic resin that is freely connected and opens and closes the container body 3, and is releasably engaged with the other end of the container body 3 via the hook means 5 to maintain the container body 3 in a closed state. 6 and is mainly configured by closing the container body 3 with the lid body 6 to hermetically seal the storage portion 2.

The cosmetic container 1 of this embodiment basically has an annular seal groove 7 integrally formed in either one of the container body 3 and the lid body 6, and the container body 3 and the lid body 6. A pair is integrally formed on either side along the annular seal groove 7 and with a gap S between them, and is inserted into the annular seal groove 7 and a pair of peripheral walls 8 and 9 of the annular seal groove 7 facing each other. Elastically deformable annular ribs 10 and 11 facing each other, and a groove bottom portion 7a of the annular seal groove 7.
Is integrally formed along the circumferential direction of the annular ribs 10 and 11 in order to elastically deform the pair of annular ribs 10 and 11 to press the circumferential walls 8 and 9 into contact with each other. An annular convex portion 12 as an annular pressing portion that presses these toward the peripheral walls 8 and 9, respectively, and an annular convex portion 12 are formed integrally with each other, and the annular seal groove 7 and the void S are communicated with each other to form an annular seal. A slit 13 is provided as a passage for allowing the air in the groove 7 to flow into the space S.

Explaining in accordance with the illustrated example, an annular seal groove 7 is integrally formed in the container body 3 on a peripheral side wall 14 surrounding the accommodating portion 2 along the circumferential direction thereof. Annular seal groove 7
Is formed by recessing the widthwise central portion of the peripheral side wall 14 at a considerable depth in the height direction of the container body 3, whereby a pair of outer peripheral walls facing each other in the radial direction of the container body 3 are spaced apart from each other. 8 and the inner peripheral wall 9 are formed.

On the other hand, the lid 6 has a pair of large and small outer annular ribs 1 so as to surround the housing 2 along the annular seal groove 7.
0 and the inner annular rib 11 are integrally formed. The outer annular rib 10 is formed to have a large size and is located on the outer side in the radial direction of the lid body 6, and the inner annular rib 11 is formed to have a small size and is located on the inner side in the radial direction of the lid body 6. Between the pair of annular ribs 10 and 11,
An annular space S is formed along the circumferential direction of the annular seal groove 7. Further, both of these annular ribs 10 and 11 are hung from the lid 6 toward the peripheral side wall 14 at a height that can be accommodated in the annular seal groove 7, so that the annular ribs 10 and 11 are radially extended toward the peripheral walls 8 and 9. It is formed so as to be flexible and elastically deformable. And, the pair of annular ribs 10 and 11 are both
When the container body 3 is closed by the lid 6, the container body 3 is inserted into the annular seal groove 7, whereby the outer annular rib 10 faces the outer peripheral wall 8 and the inner annular rib 11 faces the inner peripheral wall 9.

Particularly, in the annular ribs 10 and 11 of the illustrated example, the lower end portion 10 of the annular seal groove 7 near the groove bottom portion 7a.
Regarding a and 11a, the upper end portions 10b and 11b are made to have low rigidity to enhance elastic deformability and are separated from the peripheral walls 8 and 9 to sufficiently allow elastic deformation of the lower end portions 10a and 11a, and are close to the lid body 6. Regarding the peripheral walls 8 and 9
In order to make the upper end portions 10b and 11b close to the peripheral walls 8 and 9 so as to be tightly pressed by a slight elastic deformation of the upper end portions 10b and 11b, the lower end portions 10a,
11a is thin, and upper end portions 10b and 11b are formed thick. Further, the upper and lower edges of the inner and outer peripheral walls 8 and 9 of the annular seal groove 7 and the upper end portions 10b and 11 of the annular ribs 10 and 11, respectively.
A groove side taper portion 15 and a rib side taper portion 16 for guiding the insertion of the annular ribs 10 and 11 into the annular seal groove 7 are formed on the lower peripheral edge of b.

In the annular seal groove 7, an annular convex portion 12 is integrally formed on the groove bottom portion 7a so as to protrude upward from the groove bottom portion 7a and along the circumferential direction of the annular seal groove 7. In the present embodiment, the annular convex portion 12 is formed to have a substantially rectangular cross section, but the shape is not limited. In the illustrated example, voids S spread downward at the inner and outer peripheral edges of the upper end of the annular protrusion 12 at the inner peripheral edge of the lower end portion 10a of the outer annular rib 10 and the outer peripheral edge of the lower end portion 11a of the inner annular rib 11, respectively. Abutting taper portion 1 formed to open
A pressing taper portion 18 that is in contact with 7 is formed.
The height of the annular convex portion 12 is between the pair of annular ribs 10 and 11 inserted in the annular seal groove 7, especially the lower end portion 10 thereof.
It is formed with a size sandwiched by a and 11a. Further, the width of the annular convex portion 12 is formed to be larger than the width dimension of the space S between the pair of annular ribs 10 and 11.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the process of closing the container body 3 with the lid body 6, the annular ribs 10, 1 are formed.
1 is inserted into the annular seal groove 7 and the rib side taper portion 16
At the initial stage of insertion when the groove passes through the groove side taper portion 15, the contact taper portion 17 is brought into contact with the pressing taper portion 18, and then the annular ribs 10 and 11 are pressed by the pressing taper portion 18.
At the stage of starting to sandwich the annular convex portion 12 beyond the pressing taper portion 18 while being pressed to be slightly elastically deformed, the annular ribs 10 and 11 start to face the peripheral walls 8 and 9, and When the stage of the insertion end is reached, the annular convex portion 12 strongly presses the lower end portions 10a, 11a of the outer annular rib 10 and the inner annular rib 11 toward the outer peripheral wall 8 and the inner peripheral wall 9, respectively, and by this pressing action, the space S is formed. The annular ribs 10 and 11 are elastically deformed so as to widen, and their upper end portions 10b and 11b are pressed against the peripheral walls 8 and 9.

That is, the annular ribs 10 and 11 are not elastically deformed at the beginning of insertion when they do not reach the peripheral walls 8 and 9, and then gradually elastically deformed in the process of starting to face the peripheral walls 8 and 9, and the peripheral walls 8 and 9 are gradually deformed. , 9 at the final stage of insertion so that they are elastically deformed largely by the annular projection 12, so that they are smoothly inserted into the annular seal groove 7 at the beginning, and finally into the peripheral walls 8 and 9 at the end. It will be pressed tightly.

Further, slits 13 are formed on the annular projection 12 at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the slit 13 is formed by partially recessing the annular convex portion 12 in order to form a gap between the annular convex portion 12 and the annular ribs 10 and 11 that sandwich the annular convex portion 12. Body 6
With the container body 3 closed, the space S above the annular convex portion 12 and the annular seal groove 7 closed by the annular ribs 10 and 11 are communicated with each other. As a result, when the lid 6 is closed and the annular ribs 10 and 11 come into pressure contact with the peripheral walls 8 and 9,
The air remaining in the annular seal groove 7 is retained by the annular ribs 10, 1
It flows into the space S between the two. In the illustrated example, the slits 13 are provided at two positions so as to divide the annular convex portion 12 at a substantially intermediate position between the hook means 5 and the hinge 4.

The operation of the cosmetic container 1 according to the present embodiment described above will be described. When the lid 6 is closed to close the container body 3, the annular ribs 10 and 11 have the rib-side taper portion 16 thereof. Is guided into the groove side taper portion 15 and is inserted into the annular seal groove 7. Annular rib 1
Nos. 0 and 11 start contacting the contact taper portion 17 with the pressing taper portion 18 of the annular projection 12 in the process in which the rib side taper portion 16 passes through the groove side taper portion 15, and then the lid body 6 is further When closed, the upper end portion 10b of the outer annular rib 10 and the upper end portion 11b of the inner annular rib 11 start to face the outer peripheral wall 8 and the inner peripheral wall 9 of the annular seal groove 7, and
The abutting taper portion 17 starts to sandwich the annular convex portion 12 beyond the pressing taper portion 18, and slightly elastically deforms toward the peripheral walls 8 and 9 side.

When the hook means 5 is engaged and the container body 3 is completely closed by the lid body 6, the annular ribs 10 and 11 have their lower end portions 10a and 11a.
The upper end portions 10b and 11b having high rigidity are strongly pressed against the peripheral walls 8 and 9 by sandwiching 2 and strongly pressing them, whereby the lid body 6 can be smoothly closed and completely closed. In this case, high airtight sealing performance can be exhibited. At this time, since the lower end portions 10a, 11a of the annular ribs 10, 11 are formed thin and elastic deformation thereof is sufficiently allowed between the peripheral walls 8, 9, the elastic deformability of each annular rib 10, 11 is enhanced. It is possible to enhance the pressure contact action of the upper end portions 10b and 11b with respect to the peripheral walls 8 and 9, and it is possible to exhibit extremely high hermetic sealing performance.

Further, in the process of closing the lid 6, it is possible to allow the air contained in the annular seal groove 7 to flow into the space S through the slit 13, and the volume of the space S allows the volume of the container body 3 to be increased. It is possible to mitigate the increase in the internal pressure and prevent the lid 6 from being difficult to close. Moreover, when the container body 3 and the lid body 6 are made of synthetic resin and elastically deformed when the container body 3 is closed, the lid body 6 and the like that are elastically deformed are restored, and the air accumulated in the space S is annular seal groove 7. Since the internal pressure of the lid 6 can be increased to a relatively high value, the lid 6 can be smoothly opened with a light operating force. Then, when the container body 3 is opened, the engagement of the hook means 5 is released and the lid body 6 is pulled open around the hinge 4, so that the annular ribs 10 and 11 are separated from the annular convex portion 12 when the lid body 6 is detached. The elastically deformed state is restored and the pressure contact force against the peripheral walls 8 and 9 is weakened, whereby the annular seal groove 7 can be smoothly pulled out.

As described above, in the cosmetic container 1 according to the present embodiment, the annular seal groove 7, the annular ribs 10 and 11, the annular convex portion 12 and the slit 13 are integrally formed with the synthetic resin container body 3 and the lid body 6. In addition to being inexpensive and having good productivity, a smooth airtight sealing performance can be exhibited while ensuring smooth opening / closing operability of the lid 6.

6 and 7 show a modification of the above embodiment. In this modified example, instead of the slit 13 of the above-described embodiment, a large number of kerfs 19 are provided at appropriate intervals along the circumferential direction on both side surfaces of the annular convex portion 12.
The knurl 20 is formed of. The knurl 20 has a shape in which the width of the knurl 20 is partially reduced while maintaining the continuity of the annular projection 12 in the circumferential direction.
Since a gap is formed between the annular convex portion 12 and the annular convex portion 12, the slit 13 that divides the annular convex portion 12 is formed.
The rigidity can be maintained high as compared with. Even in such a modified example, the same operation and
It is of course effective. In particular, according to the knurl 20, it becomes possible to improve the air flowability between the inside of the annular seal groove 7 and the space S over the entire circumference of the annular convex portion 12, and further smooth the opening / closing operability of the lid body 6. can do.

In the above embodiment, the annular rib 1
0, 11 upper end portions 10b, 11b and lower end portion 10
In order to set the preferable rigidity for a and 11a, their wall thickness and, consequently, the side cross-sectional area were changed. In addition to this, the upper end portions 10b and 11b and the lower end portion 1 are also changed.
The rigidity is set by various known methods, such as molding 0a and 11a with synthetic resin materials having different rigidity, or forming fine grooves that give considerable flexibility to the lower end portions 10a and 11a. Of course you can. In the illustrated example, the peripheral walls 8 and 9
In the above, the case where the container is formed substantially vertically along the height direction of the container body 3 is shown. However, if necessary, the annular seal groove 7 is narrowed in the depth direction so that the distance between the peripheral walls 8 and 9 is larger than that in the upper part. You may make it incline to some extent so that it may approach in a lower part.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the annular seal groove 7 is integrally formed in the container body 3 and the annular ribs 10 and 11 are integrally formed in the lid body 6 has been described as an example.
The lid 6 may be integrally formed with the annular seal groove 7, and the container body 3 may be provided with the annular ribs 10 and 11. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the lid 6 attached to the container body 3 via the hinge 4 has been described as an example, but the lid 6 that is completely separated from the container body 3 may be used. Of course.

[0025]

In summary, in the airtight container according to the present invention, high airtightness can be ensured even with the sealing mechanism integrally formed on the synthetic resin container body or the lid, and therefore The cost is low and the productivity is good, and smooth opening / closing operability of the lid can be ensured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a cosmetics container showing a preferred embodiment of an airtight container according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the cosmetic container of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view of the cosmetic container of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state in which the annular rib of the cosmetic container of FIG. 1 is inserted into the annular seal groove.

5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a state in which the annular rib of the cosmetic container of FIG. 1 is completely inserted into the annular seal groove.

6 is an enlarged perspective sectional view of a main part showing a modified example of the cosmetic container shown in FIG.

7 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part showing a state in which the annular rib of the cosmetic container of FIG. 6 is completely inserted into the annular seal groove.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 cosmetic container 3 container body 6 lid 7 Annular seal groove 7a groove bottom 8 outer wall 9 Inner wall 10 Outer annular rib 11 Inner annular rib 10a, 11a Lower end of annular rib 12 Annular convex 13 slits 20 knurled S void

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An airtight container in which the inside of a synthetic resin container body is hermetically sealed by a synthetic resin lid that opens and closes the container body, and either one of the container body and the lid body is provided. An annular seal groove integrally formed with the container main body and the lid, and a pair of the annular seal groove is integrally formed along the annular seal groove with a gap between them. An elastically deformable annular rib that is inserted into the annular seal groove and faces the pair of peripheral walls facing each other of the annular seal groove, and integrally formed in the groove bottom of the annular seal groove along the circumferential direction thereof. In order to elastically deform the annular ribs and press-contact them with the peripheral walls, an annular pressing portion that abuts the distal end portions of the annular ribs and presses them toward the peripheral walls,
A passage that is integrally formed with the annular pressing portion and that allows the annular seal groove and the void to communicate with each other and allows the air in the annular seal groove to flow into the void. An airtight container. 2. The airtight container according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the passages are formed at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction of the annular pressing portion.