JP2731758B2 - Flow control container - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container made of a relatively flexible material for accommodating a liquid such as ink, for example, and more particularly, to a flow rate adjusting container capable of adjusting an outflow amount thereof. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a material that cannot be deformed by itself (hereinafter, referred to as a rigid container), such as plastic, is used as a container for storing ink in an ink supply device provided in a printer or the like. There is. In this case, in order to allow the ink contained in the rigid container to flow out while adjusting it, it is necessary to provide an air intake mechanism at the outlet for adjusting the air inside the container while adjusting the air. On the other hand, in order to store a liquid in a container (hereinafter, referred to as a flexible container) formed of a relatively flexible material such as a synthetic resin sheet and to discharge the liquid, an outlet called a spout is used. And the liquid is caused to flow out from the outlet of the spout. Such spouts
Conventionally, various shapes are known.

[0003] The flexible container itself has a characteristic (airless flow characteristic) that a liquid such as ink does not stop after flowing out of the outlet because the flexible container itself elastically deforms.
Since the conventional spout heat-fused container does not have a mechanism for adjusting the amount of the outflow of the stored material by its own function, for example, when the spout is provided in the ink supply device as described above. There are various means such as inserting a needle into a spout in a completely sealed state, aspirating the liquid in the container through the needle, or adjusting the outflow amount through a rigid container. Have been. As described above, in the case of using the flexible container, various means are required to discharge the contents while adjusting the outflow amount, so that the range of use as the flexible container is limited.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a flow rate adjusting container capable of adjusting an outflow amount of a stored item.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a flow rate adjusting container to which a spout for discharging an object is welded. An outlet, a welding portion having a welding surface to be welded to the container, and a communication hole formed in the welding surface and communicating with the outflow port, and a surrounding portion where the communication hole is formed. The welding surface of the predetermined area is
The container is not welded to the container so as to communicate with the container of the container . Further, according to the present invention, in a flow rate adjusting container to which a spout for flowing out the content is welded, the spout includes an outlet for flowing out the content, and a welding surface to be welded to the content. A cut-out portion is formed on the welding surface, the cut-out portion being connected to the outlet and reaching the housing portion of the housing , and the housing is not welded at the position of the cut-out portion. It is characterized by having.

[0005] As described above, the unwelded portion is partially formed at the welded portion of the spout to which the container is welded, and the hole communicating with the outlet is formed at this portion. The contents leak into this unwelded portion and flow to the outlet through the hole. In other words, the contents gradually leak from the unwelded portion to the outlet, and do not flow out of the outlet at one time. In addition, by adjusting the size of the hole and / or the size of the unwelded portion, the amount of outflow from the outlet can be variously changed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow rate control container to which a spout for discharging a stored object is welded, wherein the spout comprises an outlet for discharging the stored object, A welding part provided with a welding surface to be welded to the container, and a connecting hole communicating with the outlet, the connecting surface being connected to the housing of the container. And a groove for allowing the contents accommodated in the accommodating portion of the container to flow out when a suction action is applied to the outflow port.

According to such a configuration, when a suction force is applied to the outlet of the spout and / or a pressing force is applied to the container,
The contents flow out through the groove and the outlet formed in the welding surface of the spout. This groove portion is set to such a degree that when a suction action is given to the outlet, the container is not sucked into the groove portion and sticks to the groove portion, and the container can be suctioned and discharged through the outlet. I have.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a flow rate adjusting container according to the present invention, in which (a) is a front view showing a main part of a container to which a spout is welded, (b),
(C) is sectional drawing which followed the bb line and cc line of FIG. (A), respectively.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a container made of a relatively flexible material such as a synthetic resin, for example. One sheet of a synthetic resin is folded over and the periphery thereof is welded (heat welding). ) To form the accommodating portion 1a. The weld is
In FIG. 5A, the hatched portion 1b is shown. In addition,
The overall shape, size, welding area, and the like of the container are not particularly limited. When the upper end of the sheet (container) is welded, the spout 5 is welded to the opening.

The spout 5 has an outlet 6 for letting out the contents (liquid) in the container 1a and a welding surface perpendicular to the direction in which the outlet 6 extends and to which the upper end of the sheet is welded. The welding part 7 provided with 7a is integrally formed. The spout 5 is made of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene resin, and can be integrally injection-molded with a predetermined mold.
In this case, the welding portion 7, that is, the welding surface 7a is designed in such a shape that the container to be welded here is completely sealed.

The outlet 6 of the spout 5 extends toward the housing 1a of the welded housing 1, but is formed so as not to communicate with the housing 1a. In addition, a communication hole 10 communicating with the outflow port 6 is formed in the welding surface 7a.
This communication hole 10 may be formed only on one welding surface, but in the embodiment shown in the figure, it is formed on both welding surfaces. Then, when the welding surface 7a of the spout is actually welded to the upper end portion of the container 1, the corresponding portion of the container 1 is not welded to the welding surface 7a in a predetermined area around which the communication hole 10 is formed. To This unwelded area is indicated by reference numeral 15 as a white part for easy understanding, and is connected to the housing part 1a as shown in the figure.

With the above structure, the liquid stored in the storage portion 1a leaks into the unwelded region 15 by applying a certain pressure to the storage body, flows into the communication hole 10, and flows through the communication hole 10. It reaches outlet 6. That is, the liquid stored in the storage section 1a does not flow out of the outlet 6 due to the airless flow characteristic, and can flow out of the outlet 6 when a certain pressure is applied to the container. As a result, for example, when this container is provided in an ink supply device such as a printer, it is possible to discharge the adjusted outflow amount only by providing means for applying a predetermined pressure to the container. Note that the amount of the discharged outflow can be adjusted by changing the pressing force applied to the container, but can also be adjusted by changing the diameter of the communication hole 10, the size of the unwelded region 15, or the like. it can.

FIG. 2 shows various modifications in which the amount of discharged outflow is changed. In the modification shown in (a), the unwelded area 15 around the communication hole 10 is formed in a triangular shape,
In the modification shown in (b), the unwelded area 15 around the communication hole 10 is formed in a keyhole shape. When these are compared, the portion d connected to the housing portion 1a in the unwelded region is
1, d2 satisfies d1> d2, and when the same pressing force is applied to the container 1, the configuration shown in FIG.

The amount of outflow can also be adjusted by changing the shape of the welding surface 7a of the welding portion 7. FIGS. 9C and 9D show a comparative example in which R of the welding surface 7a is changed, and the larger the numerical value of R, the larger the value of R (the welding surface 7a).
The closer the shape is to a straight line), the larger the outflow amount when the same pressing force is applied to the container 1 can be increased.

As described above, the amount of outflow from the container 1 can be determined by appropriately changing the size of the unwelded area around the communication hole 10, the size of the communication hole 10, the shape of the welding surface 7a, and the like.
It is possible to set the container in an optimal state according to the intended use.

A lid 20 is attached to the outlet 6 of the spout 5 as shown in FIG. 1 so as to prevent the contents from leaking into the flow rate adjusting container thus prepared. The lid 20 may be configured to be screwed together with, for example, a screw groove in addition to the configuration illustrated in the drawing.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views showing a second embodiment of the flow rate adjusting container according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 3A is a front view showing a main part of the container to which the spout is welded, and FIG. (E) shows the bb line, cc line, and d in FIG.
It is sectional drawing along the -d line and the ee line.

In this embodiment, the same parts as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the spout 5 of this embodiment, a flange 30 is formed so as to be orthogonal to the outlet 6 so that the container 1 to be welded can be easily positioned. The upper edge portions are positioned and welded in contact with each other. Welding part 27 having welding surface 27a of spout 5
Has a boat-shaped cross section as a whole, and an outlet 6 is formed at the center thereof. In addition, a notch 25 communicating with the outflow port 6 is formed in the lower half of the center of the welding surface 27a. In this embodiment, the notches are formed on the welding surfaces on both sides.

In this configuration, when the housing 1 is welded to the welding surface 27a in which the notch 25 is formed,
As shown in the figure, a portion corresponding to the notch 25 is an unwelded portion. In the figure, the unwelded portion is indicated by a reference numeral 25a as a white portion for easy understanding, and is in a state of communicating with the housing portion 1a. As a result, the contents accommodated in the accommodation part 1a flow to the outlet 6 through the notch 25.

In this embodiment, since the housing portion 1a is in direct communication with the outflow port 6 through the cutout portion 25, the airless flow characteristic becomes remarkable as compared with the above embodiment, and the outflow amount is large. Become. However, by configuring the notch 25 so that the unwelded portion 25a becomes smaller,
The amount of outflow can be reduced. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, by holding the unwelded portion with a finger, the sheet of the unwelded portion comes into close contact with the spout main body (the portion indicated by reference numeral 5 a in FIG. 3), so that the outflow of the stored contents is suppressed. Can be. In this case, the gap between the unwelded portion of the sheet and the spout main body can be changed by adjusting the force with which the finger is held down, and the amount of outflow from this gap can be freely adjusted.

The flow rate adjusting container of this embodiment can be used for applications in which it is not necessary to adjust the amount of outflow of the stored material to a small extent. For example, it can be applied as a refill container such as a hair wash or liquid soap. In other words, during refilling work, just hold down the unwelded part with your finger,
Since the amount of the outflow can be adjusted, the contents do not spill during the refilling operation.

Next, a third embodiment of the flow rate adjusting container according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. According to the above-described first embodiment, when a certain pressing force is applied to the flow rate adjusting container, the container can flow out through the unwelded region 15. However, depending on the type of an apparatus main body such as a printer, there is a case in which a suction force is applied to suck out a stored object instead of applying a pressing force to the flexible container. When the apparatus main body is configured as described above, in the first embodiment described above, when a suction force is applied to the outflow port 6,
The flexible container is attracted to the unwelded area 15 and sticks, so that a case in which the container cannot flow out occurs. For this reason,
The flow rate adjusting container according to this embodiment has a configuration suitable for a device that applies a suction force to flow out a stored item.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the spout welding surface 7a has a communication hole 1 communicating with the outlet 6.
0 is formed. This communication hole 10 may be formed only on one welding surface, but in the embodiment shown in the figure, it is formed on both welding surfaces. Also, the spout welding surface 7
As shown in FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (c) and 5 (d), a slit-shaped groove portion 30 for connecting the communication hole 10 and the housing portion 1a of the welded housing body is formed in a. In this case, if the width and the depth of the groove 30 are formed to be large, due to the airless flow characteristic, when the stored material flows out or when a suction force is applied to the outflow port 6, the container is easily loosened in the region of the groove. Therefore, there is a possibility that the suctioned material sticks to the wall of the groove and sticks, so that the contents cannot flow out. In this embodiment, the groove 30 is provided so that the airless flow characteristic prevents the contents from flowing out and that the suction action is given to the outlet 6.
The size of the container is set so that the contents stored in the storage part 1a of the storage body can flow out.

Such a groove 30 is formed on the welding surface 7 of the spout.
Since the flexible container is formed at the position a, the flexible container is tensioned at the groove 30, so that even if a suction action is given to the outflow port 6, the flexible container is not sucked and stuck to the groove, so that the contents can flow out. Becomes Of course, similarly to the first embodiment, even if a pressing force is applied to the container instead of the suction force or together with the suction force, the stored material can flow out through the groove 30.

In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape, the number, the width, the depth, etc. of the groove 30 connecting the communication hole 10 and the accommodating portion 1a can obtain a desired amount of outflow according to the suction force of the apparatus main body. It can be appropriately modified so as to be performed. FIG.
Among these, several modified examples of the cross-sectional shape of the groove 30 are shown, for example, a triangular cross-section as shown in (a), a semi-circular cross-section as shown in (b), and as shown in (c). It can be configured like a simple rectangular cross section or a trapezoidal cross section as shown in FIG. Of course, an unwelded region may be separately formed in the peripheral region of the formed groove as in the first embodiment.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
The flow rate adjusting container of the present invention is not limited to the printing field such as a printer, but can be used in various fields such as a medical field, a daily necessity field, and a foodstuff field. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified. For example, the shape and configuration of the entire spout and the shape of the welding portion and the welding surface on which the container is welded can be variously modified. In addition, the position, size, and size of the communication hole, notch, and groove formed on the welding surface
The number and the size of the unwelded portion can be variously modified.

[0027]

As described above, according to the flow rate adjusting container of the present invention, even if the container is formed of a relatively flexible material, the container accommodated in the container with a simple configuration can be obtained. It is possible to adjust the outflow amount of the object.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of a flow rate adjusting container according to the present invention, wherein (a) is a front view showing a main part of a container to which a spout is welded, (b) and (c). () Is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb and cc in FIG.

FIGS. 2 (a) and (b) are views showing a modified example of a non-welded portion of a welded portion of a container and a spout, and FIGS. 2 (c) and (d) are welded surfaces of a welded portion of a spout, respectively. The figure which shows the modification of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a second embodiment of the flow rate adjusting container according to the present invention, wherein (a) is a front view showing a main part of the container to which the spout is welded, and (b) to (e). ) Is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb, cc, dd, and ee in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a means for adjusting an outflow amount of a stored object in the flow rate adjusting container shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of a flow rate adjusting container according to the present invention, wherein (a) is a front view showing a main part of the container to which spout is welded, and (b) to (). (d) is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb, cc, and dd in FIG.

6 is an enlarged view of a region indicated by P in FIG. 5,
(A) thru | or (d) are figures which show the modification of the cross-sectional shape of the groove part formed in the welding surface of a spout, respectively.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing body, 1a ... Housing part, 1b ... Welding part, 5 ... Spout, 6 ... Outlet, 7 ... Welding part, 7a ... Welding surface, 10 ... Communication hole, 15 ... Unwelded area, 20 ... Lid, 25 … Notch, 2
5a: unwelded portion, 27: welded portion, 27a: welded surface. 30
... grooves.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A flow rate adjusting container to which a spout for flowing out an object is welded, wherein the spout has an outlet for discharging the object and a welding surface to be welded to the container. And a communication hole formed in the welding surface and communicating with the outflow port, and a welding surface in a predetermined area around the communication hole is formed to accommodate the communication hole and the container. Communicate with department
The flow rate adjusting container is not welded to the container. 2. A flow rate control container to which a spout for flowing out a content is welded, wherein the spout has an outlet for discharging the content and a welding surface to be welded to the content. and comprising a part, the welding surface, the outlet and the communicating together
A flow-rate adjusting container, wherein a cut-out portion is formed to reach a housing portion of the housing body, and the housing body is not welded at the position of the cut-out portion. 3. A flow rate adjusting container to which a spout for flowing out an object is welded, wherein the spout has an outlet for discharging the object and a welding surface to be welded to the container. And a communication hole communicating with the outflow port, the communication hole and a housing portion of the housing body being connected to the welding surface, and a suction action is applied to the outflow port. And a groove for allowing the contents accommodated in the accommodating portion of the container to flow out.