JP2015063347A - Liquid container and liquid discharge member used in the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid container which stably discharges a predetermined amount of a liquid without orienting a discharge part of the liquid to the lower side.SOLUTION: A liquid container includes: a container body 11 capable of storing an eye lotion W; and an inside plug 12 attached to an opening part 15 of the container body 11. The inside plug 12 includes: (1) a nozzle 17 to which the eye lotion W is discharged; (2) a cylindrical liquid holding part 20 where one end side communicates with the nozzle 17 and the other end side opens to an inner part of the container body 11 and a liquid pool part 18 having multiple protruding parts 21 protruding from an inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding part 20 to the radial inner side; and (3) a cylindrical attachment part 19 which is connected with the liquid pool part 18 through an outward flange part 22 and is fixed by being press-fitted or the like in the opening part 15.

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid container and a liquid discharge member used for the liquid container.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a liquid container has been proposed that includes a container body that can store a liquid in which an opening is formed, and a discharge portion (inner plug) that discharges a predetermined amount of liquid attached to the opening. . Such a liquid container is used, for example, as an eye drop container for containing eye drops.

  Here, in many cases, when the eye drops are put, the discharge part of the eye drop container is positioned above the eyes with the face facing upward. Next, a predetermined amount (for example, one drop) of eye drops is dropped from the discharge unit by pressing the container body.

  Moreover, an eye drop container provided with a liquid reservoir provided in the vicinity of the discharge part inside the container main body has been proposed for the purpose of applying eye drops without facing up (see Patent Document 1). In the ophthalmic container proposed in Patent Document 1, the liquid reservoir has an opening formed on a side surface in a state where the container body is upright (a state where the discharge unit faces upward), and a plurality of short holes arranged in the opening. By including the fiber, the state in which the eye drops are stored in the liquid reservoir is maintained even when the eye drop container is set up.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-3645

  In the eye drop container proposed in Patent Document 1, short fibers are provided at one end (opening portion) of a liquid reservoir provided in the container to hold eye drops, and a small hole for venting air is provided at the other end (blocking portion). However, the eye drop container has not yet been commercialized.

  Therefore, the present invention, as will be described later, is a cylindrical (cylindrical or frustoconical) liquid that has one end connected to the liquid discharge hole and the other end opened to the inside of the container. It is characterized by providing a liquid reservoir having a holding part and a plurality of protruding parts protruding radially inward from the inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding part, without facing the face upward An object is to provide a liquid container capable of stably discharging a predetermined amount of liquid and a liquid discharge member used in the liquid container.

  The present invention is a liquid container comprising a container main body having an opening and capable of containing a liquid, and a liquid ejection unit attached to the opening, wherein the liquid ejection unit (1) ejects liquid. (2) a cylindrical liquid holding portion whose one end side communicates with the liquid discharge hole and the other end side opens toward the inside of the container body, and radially inward from the inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding portion. The present invention relates to a liquid container comprising: a liquid reservoir portion having a plurality of protruding portions protruding; and (3) an attachment portion to the container main body.

  Further, it is preferable that the liquid holding portion and the liquid reservoir portion are formed in a cylindrical shape or a truncated cone shape, and a plurality of pairs of the protruding portions are arranged so as to face each other.

  In addition, the inner diameter of the liquid holding portion may be gradually decreased from the other end toward the one end side, or may be gradually increased from the other end toward the one end side, for example. Good.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the volume of the liquid retained in the liquid reservoir is 20 μl to 100 μl.

  The present invention is also a liquid ejection member attached to the opening in a container capable of storing liquid having an opening, wherein (1) a liquid ejection hole for ejecting liquid, and (2) one end side of the liquid ejection A liquid reservoir having a cylindrical liquid holding portion that communicates with the hole, the other end opening toward the inside of the container, and a plurality of protruding portions that protrude radially inward from an inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding portion; and (3) It is related with a liquid discharge member provided with the attaching part to the container.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it does not face the discharge part of a liquid below, the liquid container which can discharge a predetermined amount of liquid stably, and the liquid discharge member used for this liquid container can be provided.

It is a front view of the eye drop container which shows one Embodiment of the liquid container of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the eye drop container shown in FIG. It is the XX sectional view taken on the line of FIG. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal front view of the inner stopper used in the eye drop container shown in FIG. 1, corresponding to a cross-sectional view taken along line YY in FIG. 4B. It is a bottom view of the inner stopper used for the eye drop container shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the usage method of an eye drop container. It is a vertical front view which shows the modification of an inside plug, and is a figure equivalent to the ZZ sectional view of FIG. 6B. FIG. 6B is a bottom view of the inner plug shown in FIG. 6A. It is the perspective view which fractured | ruptured a part of the inner stopper shown to FIG. 6A and 6B. It is a vertical front view which shows another modification of an inside plug.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a liquid container of the present invention and a liquid discharge member used in the liquid container will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an eye drop container 10 as a liquid container includes a container main body 11 having an opening 15, and a liquid discharge unit or a liquid discharge member attached to the opening 15 of the container main body 11. A cap 12 and a cap 13 detachable from the container body 11 are provided.

  The container body 11 includes a liquid storage portion 11a in which the eye drops (liquid) W is stored, and a cylindrical portion 11b that stands up from the liquid storage portion 11a.

  The liquid storage portion 11a includes a bottom surface portion 111, an upper surface portion 112, a pair of wide side surface portions 113a and 113b, and a pair of narrow side surface portions 114a and 114b. The upper surface portion 112 includes a cylindrical portion 11b. The lower end side (proximal end side) is open-connected. The liquid container 11a is formed in a size that can accommodate, for example, about 5 to 30 ml of eye drops W.

The cylindrical portion 11b is formed in a cylindrical shape with both upper and lower ends open. And the opening part of the lower end side is connected to the inside of the liquid accommodating part 11a mentioned above, and the opening part 15 of the upper end side (front end side) is the opening part of the container main body 11. A male screw 16a is formed on the outer peripheral surface on the upper end side of the cylindrical portion 11b.
The container body 11 described above is integrally formed of synthetic resin.

  The cap 13 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a synthetic resin, and an internal thread 16b is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cap 13 to be coupled to the external thread 16a formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 11b (see FIG. 1). .

  The inner plug 12 is attached to the opening 15 on the upper end side of the cylindrical portion 11b. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the inner plug 12 includes a nozzle (liquid ejection hole) 17, a liquid reservoir portion 18, and an attachment portion 19.

  The nozzle 17 communicates with the liquid reservoir 18 and presses the liquid storage portion 11a of the container main body 11 described above, whereby a predetermined amount of eye drops Wa (see FIG. 5) held inside the liquid reservoir 18 is obtained. It is designed to discharge.

The liquid holding portion 20 and the protruding portion 21 described above are formed inside the liquid reservoir portion 18.
In the liquid holding unit 20, a straight hole 20 a that communicates with the inside of the container body 11 and a tapered taper hole 20 b that communicates with the nozzle 17 are connected.

  A plurality of protrusions 21 are formed to protrude from the inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding part 20 to the radially inner side in the shape of vertical ribs having a triangular cross section. The protrusions 21 have a length from the lower (other) end to the upper (one) end of the liquid holding unit 20 and are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Accordingly, the first protrusion 21a having a triangular prism shape is formed in the straight hole 20a of the liquid holding part 20, and the second protrusion 21b having a triangular pyramid shape is formed in the tapered hole 20b.

  In the illustrated example, two pairs of protrusions 21 are arranged so as to face each other. And the predetermined part is provided between each opposing surfaces so that the protrusion part 21 may not mutually connect what faces mutually. Specifically, the straight hole 20a of the liquid holding part 20 is provided with a uniform gap from the lower end to the upper end, and the tapered hole 20b is provided with a gap that gradually decreases from the lower end to the upper end.

The attachment portion 19 is formed in a straight cylindrical shape and is connected to the liquid reservoir portion 18 via the outward flange portion 22. And the attaching part 19 is fixed by press-fitting etc. with respect to the opening part 15 of the upper end side of the cylindrical part 11b. At this time, the lower surface of the outward flange portion 22 is seated on the upper end surface of the tubular portion 11b.
The inner plug 12 described above is integrally formed of synthetic resin, but two or more kinds of members may be combined.

  Next, the usage method (usage procedure) of the eye drop container 10 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, the usage method shown in FIG. 5 is only an example, and various usage methods can be considered in accordance with the object of the present invention.

  First, in a state where the liquid reservoir portion 18 of the inner stopper 12 mounted on the cylindrical portion 11b of the container main body 11 faces upward, that is, in a state where the eye drop container 10 (container main body 11) is raised, the cap 13 extends from the cylindrical portion 11b. Remove (see step (I)).

  Next, the eye drop W in the container main body 11 (liquid storage part 11a) is moved into the inside of the liquid reservoir 18 in the inner plug 12 (liquid holding part 20) by tilting the eye drop container 10 (container main body 11) from the above state. Fill (see procedure (II)). At this time, the eye drops W do not flow out to the outside due to the surface tension, the diameter setting of the nozzle 17 or the like.

Next, the ophthalmic container 10 (container body 11) is returned from the above state to the original posture, that is, the standing state (see procedure (III)).
At this time, the liquid reservoir (eye drops Wa) formed inside the liquid reservoir 18 is not too far from the inner surface of the liquid holding part 20 (see FIG. 3) or the protruding part 21. A desired liquid volume (for example, 20 μl to 100 μl) is held against gravity by tension.

  Next, the front end of the inner plug 12, that is, the nozzle 17 is positioned in the vicinity of the eyes of the user of the eye drop W to be ejected, and the container body 11 (liquid storage portion 11a) is pressed. Then, the internal pressure of the container main body 11 (liquid storage part 11a) increases, and a fixed amount of eye drops Wa held in the liquid reservoir part 18 is discharged (instilled) from the nozzle 17 toward the user's eyes (procedure). (See (IV)).

  In this manner, according to the eye drop container 10 of the present embodiment, the fixed amount of eye drops Wa filled in the liquid reservoir 18 in the inner stopper 12 is resistant to gravity even if it is returned to its original state. Since it is held in the liquid holding part 20 of the reservoir part 18, the eyes of the user who is a discharge target of the fixed amount of eye drops Wa can be stably stabilized without the tip of the inner plug 12, that is, the nozzle 17 being directed downward. The liquid can be discharged (instilled) toward the head.

  Further, in the liquid reservoir portion 18 of the inner plug 12, a plurality of pairs of protruding portions 21 (two pairs in the illustrated example) are arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding portion 20 including the straight hole portion 20a and the tapered hole portion 20b. The distance from the inner surface of the liquid holding part 20 in the internal space of the liquid reservoir 18 can be made more uniform. Therefore, the surface tension (holding force) of the fixed amount of eye drops Wa is balanced in the circumferential direction, and the fixed amount of eye drops Wa is stably held in the liquid reservoir 18.

  Further, in the liquid reservoir portion 18 of the inner plug 12, the taper hole portion 20 b is provided on the downstream side of the liquid flow of the straight hole portion 20 a in the liquid holding portion 20, so that a certain amount held inside the liquid reservoir portion 18. The eye drops Wa can be discharged (instilled) more vigorously.

  Further, in the liquid reservoir portion 18 of the inner plug 12, the plurality of projecting portions 21 are formed in a vertical rib shape so as not to be continuous in the radial direction, so that the internal space of the liquid reservoir portion 18 is formed by the projecting portions 21. It can be configured without dividing into a plurality. Accordingly, the entire amount of the eye drop Wa held in the liquid reservoir 18 can be discharged. That is, in the case of having a plurality of sections, if the eye drops Wa in one section is discharged in advance, air escapes through the section, so that the eye drops Wa in the remaining sections are difficult to be discharged. Then you can avoid it.

  Next, although one Example of this invention is described, this invention is not limited to this.

  4A and 4B, a polypropylene liquid discharge portion (inner plug) is prepared, and this is put into a separately prepared polyethylene terephthalate container body (filled with 10 ml of eyedrops). Obtained. Next, this ophthalmic container was operated according to the usage procedure shown in FIG. 5, the ophthalmic solution was discharged 10 times, and the weight of the ophthalmic solution discharged each time was measured. The variation [standard deviation (SD), relative standard deviation (RSD)] was calculated.

The results are shown in Table 1.
From Table 1, since the average value of the discharge amount of the eye drop container of the present invention is 30.5 mg, it is possible to hold a normal drop amount (25 to 35 mg) of the eye drop container in the liquid reservoir, and the relative discharge amount. Since the standard deviation (RSD) was 4.8%, it was revealed that a fixed amount of ophthalmic solution can be discharged stably.

In addition, the modification of the inner stopper 12 in the said embodiment is shown to FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, and FIG.
The inner plug 12 includes a nozzle (liquid discharge hole) 17, a liquid reservoir 18, and an attachment portion 19, and the liquid reservoir 18 includes a liquid holding portion 20 and a protruding portion 21 as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The same as the inner plug 12 shown in FIG.

  The liquid holding part 20 is formed in a tapered cylindrical shape (cylindrical shape) in which one (front) end side communicates with the nozzle 17 and the other (base) end side opens toward the inside of the container body 11, and the inner diameter thereof is It gradually decreases from the other end toward the one end. The inner diameter of the other end (the inner diameter of the lower end of the liquid reservoir 18) is the same diameter (for example, 6.28 mm) as the inner diameter of the mounting portion 19 described later.

  A plurality of protrusions 21 are formed to protrude in the form of vertical ribs from the inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding part 20 to the inside in the radial direction. More specifically, the protrusion 21 is composed of four thick first protrusions 21a and eight thin second protrusions 21b. The first protrusions 21 a have a length extending from the other end to the one end of the liquid holding unit 20 and are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The second projecting portion 21b extends from the other end of the liquid holding portion 20 to one end side with a length approximately half the length of the first projecting portion 21a, and between adjacent first projecting portions 21a at a projecting height lower than the first projecting portion 21a. Two are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. That is, six pairs of protrusions 21 are arranged so as to face each other.

  The first projecting portion 21a and the second projecting portion 21b have a uniform gap from the other end to the one end of the liquid holding portion 20 so that those facing each other are not connected in the radial direction. Is provided. Therefore, the 1st protrusion part 21a and the 2nd protrusion part 21b are formed in the vertically long triangle shape by side view. The gap in the second protrusion 21b is larger than the gap in the first protrusion 21a.

  According to the inner plug 12, in addition to obtaining the same operation and effect as the inner plug 12 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B described above, the entire liquid holding portion 20 is tapered (cylindrical). ), It is possible to obtain an advantage that a predetermined amount of eye drops Wa held in the liquid reservoir 18 can be discharged (instilled) more vigorously.

Another modification of the inner plug 12 is shown in FIG.
The inner plug 12 has the same inner diameter of the liquid holding unit 20 from the container body 11 side (the other end) toward the nozzle 17 (one end) side (in the case of FIG. 8), although not shown, the liquid holding unit The inner diameter of 20 is gradually increased from the container body 11 side (the other end) toward the nozzle 17 (one end) side. Thereby, since the liquid retention of the liquid reservoir 18 can be further improved, the volume of the liquid retained in the liquid reservoir 18 can be further increased.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

For example, the inner plug 12 is mounted upward with respect to the container body 11 in the above embodiment, but may be mounted sideways by bending the straight cylindrical attachment portion 19 of the inner plug 12 or the like.
When a non-soft material such as polypropylene or polyethylene terephthalate is used for the container body 11, a certain amount of eye drops Wa is discharged from the nozzle 17 by providing a pressing bulge on the container body 11 to increase the internal pressure. It can also be made easier.
Moreover, when using the liquid container of this invention as an eye drop container, it cannot be overemphasized that an eye drop can be dripped with the discharge part of a container facing downwards like the conventional eye drop container.
In addition, although the eyedrop container 10 is described as an example of the liquid container, the present invention accommodates a drink (including nutrients) for infants and the like, and a certain amount of drink (including nutrients) for infants and the like. It can also be applied to a liquid container that is discharged into the oral cavity.

10 Eye drop container (liquid container)
11 Container body 11a Liquid container (body)
11b Tubular part (mouth neck)
12 Inner plug (liquid discharge part, liquid discharge member)
13 Cap 15 Opening 17 Nozzle (Liquid Ejection Hole)
18 Liquid reservoir 20 Liquid holding part 21 Protruding part

Claims (6)

A liquid container comprising a container body capable of containing a liquid having an opening, and a liquid ejection unit attached to the opening,
The liquid ejection part is
(1) a liquid discharge hole through which liquid is discharged;
(2) A cylindrical liquid holding portion whose one end side communicates with the liquid discharge hole and the other end side opens toward the inside of the container body, and a plurality of protrusions projecting radially inward from the inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding portion A liquid reservoir having a protrusion, and (3) an attachment to the container body,
A liquid container comprising: The liquid holding part and the liquid reservoir part are formed in a cylindrical shape or a truncated cone shape,
The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the protrusions are arranged so as to face each other.   The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter of the liquid holding portion is gradually reduced from the other end toward the one end side.   The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter of the liquid holding portion is gradually increased from the other end toward the one end side.   The liquid container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a volume of the liquid held in the liquid reservoir is 20 µl to 100 µl. A liquid ejection member attached to the opening in a container capable of containing a liquid having an opening,
(1) a liquid discharge hole through which liquid is discharged;
(2) A cylindrical liquid holding portion whose one end side communicates with the liquid discharge hole and the other end side opens toward the inside of the container, and a plurality of protrusions protruding radially inward from the inner peripheral surface of the liquid holding portion A liquid reservoir having a portion, and (3) an attachment portion to the container,
A liquid ejection member comprising:

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