JP2013060213A - Spout - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a one-piece spout provided in a bag-shaped container and used as a tool for pouring contents and which can be sterilized and washed effectively together with the bag-shaped container by improving sterilization and washing property, without leaving a chemical or washing water in the spout.SOLUTION: The spout includes a tubular body 1 that is bonded and fixed to the bag-shaped container and has a through-hole formed inside, and a tear-off member 3 that is jointed to the upper end of the tubular body 1 via a thin-walled part and provided to close the through-hole of the tubular body 1. The tear-off member 3 includes a circular part 25 having a communicating hole 31 communicating with the through-hole of the tubular body 1 smoothly without level difference inside, and a tab part 27 extending outward from the circumference of the circular part 25. The plain cross section of the circular part 25 is an oval shape. The communicating hole 31 is extended through the circular part 25, and is closed by heat-welding the upper end part of the circular part 25.

Description

  The present invention relates to a spout that is adhesively fixed to a bag-like container and used as a pouring tool for pouring out the contents filled in the container, and a bag-like container to which the spout is attached.

  Bag-shaped containers formed of plastic film, aluminum foil, etc. have been used for various purposes since ancient times. Conventionally, many of such bag-like containers are configured to form an opening by tearing the end portion of the bag and to take out the contents through the opening. Recently, however, olefins such as polypropylene are used. Many extraction tools called spouts made of a resin are used.

The spout includes a cylindrical main body having a through hole therein, and a bag-like container is thermally welded to the outer surface of the cylindrical main body, and is filled into the bag-like container through the through-hole in the cylindrical main body. The through-hole is closed by a seal foil such as aluminum foil provided as necessary and a lid attached to the cylindrical main body. The lid is removed and the sealing foil is peeled off. Since the bag-like container provided with such a spout does not need to tear the bag-like container when the contents are poured out, it is filled not only with a container for storing beverages and seasoning liquids, but also with a chemical solution. Widely used as infusion bags or refill bottles such as shampoos.
Furthermore, in the medical field in recent years, PEG makes it easy to form a hole in the patient's abdomen for feeding nutrients to the stomach and intestines, so that nutrition is directly supplied to the stomach and intestines using a predetermined tube. Tube feeding has become widely used. The spout-equipped bag-like container can be easily connected to a tube for supplying nutrients to the stomach and intestines, and thus is effectively used for such tube feeding.

By the way, as a spout as described above, a structure in which a folding member is provided at the upper end of the cylindrical main body instead of a sealing foil or a lid provided to close a through hole formed in the cylindrical main body. What is possessed is proposed by the present applicant in Patent Document 1.
In the spout having such a structure, the break-off member includes an annular portion connected to the upper end of the cylindrical main body via a breakable thin portion (bridge portion), and extends outward from the outer periphery of the annular portion. The inside of the annular portion is formed with a communicating hole that communicates with the through hole in the cylindrical main body. Of course, the upper end of the communication hole is closed.

  That is, when the contents are poured out, the gripping part of the breaker member is held, and this is pushed down to break the thin part connecting the breaker member and the cylindrical body, thereby breaking the breaker member. Is removed from the cylindrical main body, the through hole in the cylindrical main body is opened, and the contents are poured out through the through hole.

  Such a spout is made of one piece, and a cylindrical main body and a break-off member provided for closing a through hole in the cylindrical main body are integrally formed, and a lid is provided. Compared to a certain type of spout, there are fewer components and there is an advantage that it can be manufactured by one molding.

JP 2006-341908 A

  By the way, the one-piece spout proposed in Patent Document 1 still has room for improvement in terms of sterilization and cleaning properties. That is, the spout having the above-described structure is heat-welded with two films forming a bag-like container, and is heat-welded leaving a part of the peripheral edge of the film. (Normally, the part opposite to the part on which the spout is thermally welded, and the part that will be the lower end or the bottom of the bag-like container that is finally formed) Commercially available by heat welding. In this case, prior to filling the contents of the container, a chemical solution such as hydrogen peroxide solution is introduced from the opening to sterilize the inside of the spout and the film, and then the cleaning solution is introduced to wash and remove the chemical solution. The Rukoto. However, when the one-piece spout as described above is used, the chemical solution or the washing water tends to remain inside the communication hole formed in the breakout member of the spout, and this point is improved. Is required.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the sterilization and washing performance of a one-piece spout provided in a bag-like container and used as a contents pouring tool, and to maintain the chemical solution and washing water in the spout. An object of the present invention is to provide a spout that can be effectively sterilized and washed together with the bag-like container without being generated, and a bag-like container to which the spout is attached.

According to the present invention, a cylindrical main body that is bonded and fixed to a bag-like container and has a through hole therein, and is connected to the upper end of the cylindrical main body via a thin portion and closes the through hole of the cylindrical main body. A breaker member provided so as to be able to remove the breaker member by breaking the thin portion when the contents filled in the bag-like container are poured out. In the spout where the contents are poured out through the through hole of the main body,
The break-off member is composed of an annular part having a communication hole that communicates smoothly with the through-hole of the cylindrical main body without a step, and a knob part extending outward from the outer periphery of the annular part,
The annular part has a flat cross-sectional shape formed into an ellipse,
The communication hole extends through the annular portion, and is provided with a spout that is closed by thermally welding the annular portion.

In the spout of the present invention,
(1) The annular portion has a shape in which both end portions of the elliptical long axis are thinned by thinning,
(2) A protruding portion for thermally welding the bag-like container is formed on the lower outer surface of the cylindrical main body, and the upper outer surface of the cylindrical main body is used for taking out contents from the bag-like container. A stepped portion for fitting and fixing the tube and / or a thread for fixing the tube to the screw is formed,
Is preferred.

  According to the present invention, there is also provided a bag-like container to which the spout is attached, wherein the upper end portion of the communication hole of the annular portion of the spout is closed by heat welding. A container is provided.

  In the spout of the present invention, the folding member is provided so as to close the through hole of the cylindrical main body. However, the folding member is provided inside the annular portion of the folding member and communicates with the through hole. The communicating hole is not closed at the time of molding and extends through the annular portion, and the communicating hole is smoothly connected to the through hole without a step. Therefore, when a film is thermally welded to this spout and further heat-welded leaving a part of the peripheral edge of the film to form an opening that is not thermally welded, a chemical solution or washing water is introduced from this opening. When all sterilization and cleaning are performed, the chemical solution and cleaning water are quickly discharged to the outside through the communication hole without staying in the through hole or the communication hole in the spout. Showing gender.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the annular section having the above-mentioned communication hole is formed into an elliptical cross-sectional shape. For this reason, after the sterilization and washing, the annular portion can be heat-bonded and heat-welded easily and surely to close the communication hole, and thus the cylindrical body through which the communication hole is communicated. The through hole is closed by thermal welding of the upper end portion of the annular portion of the break-off portion, and as a result, a function as a sealing material required for the break-off member (that is, a function as a lid) can be provided. it can.
For example, in the case where the flat cross section of the annular portion is not elliptical but formed in a circular shape, it is difficult to crush the annular portion by thermocompression bonding. For this reason, the communication hole is not completely closed, resulting in poor sealing. Problems are likely to occur.

  In the present invention, it is particularly preferable that the annular portion has a shape in which both end portions of the elliptical long axis in the plane cross section are thinned by thinning. By thermocompression bonding, it is possible to more easily and reliably close the communication hole leading to the through-hole that is continuous in the bag-like container, and reliably prevent the contents filled in the bag-like container from leaking. it can.

The perspective view in the suitable example of the spout of this invention. The top view of the spout of FIG. The bottom view of the spout of FIG. The figure which shows the AA side cross section in FIG.2 and FIG.3. The figure which shows the BB side cross section in FIG.2 and FIG.3. The figure which shows CC plane cross section of the spout in FIG. The enlarged view which shows the state by which the communicating hole was closed by heat welding about the front-end | tip of the annular part of the spout of FIG. The enlarged view which shows the state by which the communicating hole was closed by heat welding about the front-end | tip of the spout annular part which has a circular horizontal cross section.

  1 to 6, the spout of the present invention includes a cylindrical main body 1 and a folding member 3 provided at the upper end of the cylindrical main body 1, and the folding member 3 is broken. It is connected to the upper end of the cylindrical main body 1 through a possible thin part 5. Such a spout is made of one piece and is easily formed by integral molding of plastic such as injection molding.

  The cylindrical main body 1 has a bag-like container bonded and fixed to the outer surface thereof, and a through-hole 7 penetrating from the lower end to the upper end is formed inside the cylindrical main body 1. The container contents of the bag-like container are poured out through the through hole 7.

The cylindrical main body 1 is formed with projecting portions 11 and 11 projecting radially outward on the outer surface of the lower portion thereof. As can be understood from FIGS. 1, 3, and 6, the projecting portion 11 is formed. The lower portion has a boat-shaped flat section as a whole, and its outer surface is a smooth surface.
That is, due to the formation of the overhanging portions 11, 11, the lower outer surface of the cylindrical main body 1 is enlarged, and as shown in FIG. 6, the two films 50 constituting the bag-like container are used. , 50 are heat-sealed (heat-sealed) to this portion so that they face each other, and the peripheral portions of the films 50, 50 are further heat-welded so that the spout is joined to the bag-like container. It is supposed to be formed.

  In addition, a flange 13 is provided above the portion where the overhang portions 11, 11 are formed, spaced from the overhang portion 11. The flange 13 is formed to be larger than the protruding portion 11 below, and by using this, the spout or the bag-like container provided with the spout can be easily transported. Further, when the film 50 is thermally welded, for example, a jig or the like for holding the film 50 can be disposed between the flange 13 and the overhanging portion 11 so that the heat welding operation of the film 50 can be performed smoothly. It becomes possible.

  Further, in the example of FIG. 1, a screw engaging portion 15 is formed above the portion where the collar 13 is formed, and a fitting portion 17 is formed on the screw engaging portion 15.

  That is, the screw engaging portion 15 and the fitting portion 17 are used when the contents of the bag-like container to which the spout is attached are supplied to a living body or the like via a predetermined tube. For example, it is used when a bag-like container is applied to the medical field such as an infusion bag or tube feeding therapy.

For example, the screw engaging portion 15 has a cylindrical outer surface, and a thread is formed around the outer surface. The thread formed on the inner surface of a predetermined tube is thread-engaged with the thread. Thus, the predetermined tube can be connected to the bag-like container.
Moreover, in the fitting part 17, as a whole, the taper-shaped outer surface which the outer diameter becomes small is formed as it goes upwards from the downward | lower direction, At least 1 level | step difference surface 20 is formed in the outer surface. (In the example shown in the figure, three step surfaces 20 are formed). The step surface 20 is a step having a small diameter on the lower side and a large diameter on the upper side. When the fitting portion 17 of the cylindrical body 1 is inserted into a predetermined tube, the step surface 20 The tube can be stably held so as not to be pulled out by being caught, and since the entire outer surface has a tapered shape, the fitting portion 17 can be easily inserted into the tube. . By forming a plurality of such step surfaces 20, various tubes having different inner diameters can be fitted and fixed by the fitting portion 17 according to the number of the step surfaces 20 and the like.

  In the illustrated example, the screw engaging portion 15 and the fitting portion 17 are provided. Of course, if the tube to be connected is connected by either screw engagement or fitting fixing, Either one of the screw engaging portion 15 and the fitting portion 17 may be formed in accordance with the specification of the tube, and the container is directly connected from the through hole 7 of the cylindrical main body 1 without connecting the tube. When the contents are poured out, neither the screw engaging part 15 nor the fitting part 17 need be formed.

  The breaker 3 connected to the upper end of the cylindrical main body 1 through the thin portion 5 includes an annular portion 25 and a knob portion 27 extending outward from the outer periphery of the annular portion 25. .

  The annular portion 25 has a communication hole 31 communicating with the through hole 7 formed in the cylindrical body 1 described above. This communication hole 31 is clearly shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the annular portion 25 penetrates up and down, but in the form of the final spout attached to the bag-like container, the communication hole 31 has a structure closed at its upper end. In this state, the folding member 3 functions as a sealing material such as a lid, and leakage of the container contents from the through hole 7 and the communication hole 31 is prevented.

  The knob portion 27 includes a horizontal substrate 27a extending radially outward from the outer periphery of the annular portion 25 as a whole, and a pressing plate 27b extending vertically from both ends of the horizontal substrate 27a. 27b. That is, by touching the pressing plate 27b of the knob 27 and pushing down the knob 27 or turning the knob 27, the thin portion 5 is broken, thereby removing the breaker 3 and penetrating. The contents of the container can be poured out through the hole 7 and the communication hole 31.

  In the knob portion 27 as described above, as shown in FIG. 4, the pressing plates 27 b and 27 b extend downward from the upper outer surface of the cylindrical body 1, respectively. The lower end is connected to the outer surface of the cylindrical main body 1 through a thin connecting portion 33. Thereby, the annular portion 25 connected to the upper end of the cylindrical main body 1 via the thin portion 5 is stably held without rattling, and the thin portion 5 is broken in the process of storage, transportation and the like. The inconvenience is also effectively prevented.

  Further, the communication hole 31 formed inside the annular portion 25 communicates with the above-described through-hole 7 and penetrates the annular portion 25 and is not closed. That is, the communication hole 31 functions as a flow path for the chemical solution and the washing water in the sterilization / washing together with the through hole 7, and the chemical solution and the washing water are discharged from the upper end of the communication hole 31. The communication hole 31 will be closed later.

  In this way, sterilization / cleaning is performed by flowing a chemical solution or washing water through the through hole 7 and the communication hole 31 and discharged from the upper end of the communication hole 31. Therefore, in the present invention, the communication hole 31 is smooth without a step. It is necessary to communicate with the through hole 31. That is, if a horizontal step is formed between the communication hole 31 and the through hole 31, the chemical solution and the cleaning water are likely to remain attached to this portion, but if there is no step, the chemical solution and the cleaning water are attached. This is because the remaining can be effectively prevented.

  As can be understood from FIG. 4, for the same reason as described above, the surfaces of the communication path 31 and the through hole 7 are both formed smoothly, and a recess for forming a liquid pool is formed therein. Absent. In addition, the through hole 7 has the largest diameter in the lower part of the region where the above-described overhanging part 11 is formed, and the diameter is considerably reduced above, but there is also a step in the boundary part 7a between them. It is not formed, and this portion is a tapered surface.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the spout having the structure as described above is formed into a film 50, 50 that forms a bag-like container on the outer surface of the cylindrical main body 1 where the overhanging portion 11 is formed, as shown in FIG. 6. Are joined by thermal welding so as to face each other, and the peripheral portions of the films 50 and 50 are also thermally welded leaving a part. That is, the peripheral edges of the films 50 and 50 are thermally welded by so-called three-way sealing, and an opening (unsealed portion) is formed at the lower end opposite to the portion where the spout is fixed. In this state, a chemical solution for sterilization (for example, hydrogen peroxide solution) is introduced into the films 50 and 50 (in the bag) from this opening, and this chemical solution passes through the spout and passes through the communication hole 31 described above. To be discharged. After sterilization is performed in this way, cleaning water and / or cleaning air is similarly introduced into the films 50 and 50 from the openings, passes through the spout, and is discharged from the communication holes 31 to the outside. Thus, the sterilizing chemical solution can be completely discharged. As a sterilization / washing method, on the outer surface of the cylindrical body 1, only one surface of the films 50, 50 forming the bag-like container on one side of the portion where the overhanging portion 11 is formed is sterilized in a state of being thermally welded. -It is also possible to heat-weld the other surface of the films 50 and 50 after washing | cleaning.

  In the present invention, after the sterilization / cleaning is performed as described above, an operation of closing the communication hole 31 is performed. That is, if the communication hole 31 is open to the outside, the contents cannot be filled into the bag-like container and the contents cannot be sealed.

  In the present invention, in order to heat-weld the tip end portion of the annular portion 25 and close the communication hole 31, the horizontal section of the annular portion 25 is elliptical as shown in FIGS. Yes. That is, both the outer surface and the inner surface of the annular portion 25 are elliptical. The upper end side surface of the annular portion 25 is sandwiched between the pair of heat seal bars 40, 40 arranged in parallel with the elliptical long axes L, L ′, and the upper end side surface of the annular portion 25 is thereby heated and pressure-bonded. By welding, the communication hole 31 can be completely closed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 8, in the comparative example in which the horizontal section of the annular portion 25 is circular, when heat welding is performed by thermocompression bonding with the seal bars 40, 40, the central portion of the seal bar 40 The amount of the hot-melt resin present in is excessive, and as a result, both ends are not easily crushed, and the gap 41 is easily formed in this portion.

  However, as shown in FIG. 7, when the horizontal cross section of the annular portion 25 is elliptical, it exists along the long axis L when the heat bonding with the seal bars 40, 40 is performed. Since the amount of resin is not unevenly distributed and is almost equal, the inconvenience that both ends are not easily crushed is effectively prevented, and the communication hole 31 can be reliably closed by heat welding.

In the present invention, as shown in the enlarged portion of FIG. 2, the annular portion 25 is preferably formed such that both end portions 25 a and 25 a of the long axis L are thinned by thinning. That is, even when the annular portion 25 has an elliptical horizontal cross section, the amount of resin present in the central portion of the long axis L is slightly large, and therefore both end portions of the long axis L are slightly difficult to close. I can't deny that. However, as shown in the enlarged portion of FIG. 2, by making the both ends 25a and 25a of the long axis L thin, at the time of thermocompression bonding, this portion quickly rises in temperature and easily melts. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of a gap at both ends of the long axis L.
In this case, the degree of thin at both ends 25a of the long axis L is not particularly limited, generally, at both ends 25b of the thickness t ₁ and the short axis S at both ends 25a of the long axis L It is preferable that the thickness is reduced so that the ratio (t ₁ / t ₂ ) to the thickness t ₂ is in the range of 0.5 to 0.8. The degree of ellipse is more sure that the ratio L ′ / S ′ of the length of the major axis L (L ′) to the minor axis S (S ′) is in the range of 1.5 to 3.0. This is preferable in that the communication hole 31 can be closed.

After the upper end of the annular portion 25 is thermally welded and the communication hole 31 is closed as described above, the container contents are filled from the opening formed on the side opposite to the portion where the spout is joined. After filling the product, the opening is closed by heat welding to obtain a spouted bag-like container filled with the contents.
In such a spout-equipped bag-like container, the spout is formed of a thermoplastic resin that can be molded by injection molding or the like and can be heat-welded. Generally, the spout is joined to the film 50 that forms the bag-like container. Various olefin resins such as low-, medium-, or high-density polyethylene, linear low-density polyethylene, isotactic polypropylene, syndiotactic polypropylene, poly 1-butene, poly 4-methyl-1 -Random or block copolymer of ethylene, propylene, 1-butene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, etc., or ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene- (meth) acrylic acid copolymer , Ethylene- (meth) acrylic acid ester copolymer, ion-crosslinked olefin copolymer (io Or a polyester resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN).
Furthermore, examples of the film 50 that forms the bag-like container include olefin-based resins and polyester resins that can be heat-sealed with the spout. Further, a metal foil such as an aluminum foil in which a heat-sealable thermoplastic resin layer is formed on the joint surface with the spout can be used as the film 50.

Such a spout-equipped bag-like container, as already described, pushes down or turns the folding member 3 to be broken from the cylindrical main body 1, thereby opening the through hole 7 of the cylindrical main body 1, and this penetration The container contents are poured out through the holes 7.
In this case, the contents may be directly poured out from the through-hole 7, or various tubes are fixed to the cylindrical main body 1 by screw engagement or fitting, and the contents are poured out from the through-hole 7 through the tubes. You can also

The spout of the present invention is made of one piece, does not have a separate body such as a lid, and is easily manufactured by one-step molding, so it is advantageous in terms of cost, and is extremely excellent in sterilization and cleaning properties. ing.
A bag-like container provided with such a spout is a container for storing beverages, seasoning liquids, refill bottles such as shampoos, infusion bags filled with medicinal solutions, PEG containers used for tube feeding It is used for various purposes.

1: Cylindrical body 3: Folding member 5: Thin portion 7: Through hole 11: Overhang portion 13: Spear 25: Annular portion 27: Knob portion 31: Communication hole

Claims (4)

A cylindrical main body adhesively fixed to the bag-like container and having a through-hole inside, and connected to the upper end of the cylindrical main body via a thin portion and provided to be able to close the through-hole of the cylindrical main body. When the contents filled in the bag-like container are poured out, the thin-walled portion is broken to remove the break-off member, thereby passing through the through-hole of the cylindrical main body. In the spout where the contents are poured out,
The break-off member is composed of an annular part having a communication hole that communicates smoothly with the through-hole of the cylindrical main body without a step, and a knob part extending outward from the outer periphery of the annular part,
The annular part has a flat cross-sectional shape formed into an ellipse,
The communication hole extends through the annular part, but is closed by thermally welding the annular part.   The spout according to claim 1, wherein the annular portion has a shape in which both end portions of the elliptical long axis are thinned by thinning.   A protruding portion for thermally welding the bag-like container is formed on the lower outer surface of the cylindrical main body, and a tube used for taking out contents from the bag-like container is formed on the upper outer surface of the cylindrical main body. The spout according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a step for fitting and fixing and / or a screw for fixing the tube by screws are formed.   A bag-like container to which the spout according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is attached, wherein an upper end portion of the communication hole of the annular portion of the spout is closed by heat welding. .

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