JP3502146B2 - cap - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cap having a lid which can be rotated by a hinge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A cap of this type is used in the actual construction of Shokai 50-1.
There are so-called three-point hinge type caps such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 26602, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 56-75158, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 56-106758 and the like.

In a three-point hinge type cap, a lid is rotatably provided on a cap body having a spout through a first hinge, and a leaf spring is provided between the cap body and the lid. ing. The leaf spring is curved and its both ends are elastically set so as to attract each other. One end of the leaf spring is rotatably attached to the cap body via the second hinge, and the other end thereof is attached via the third hinge. It is rotatably attached to the lid.

In this three-point hinge type cap, the first hinge, the second hinge and the third hinge are in a state of being located on substantially one plane during the opening operation of the lid (hereinafter, this state will be described). At this time, the distance between the second hinge and the third hinge becomes the maximum, and the leaf spring can be opened to the maximum.

Therefore, when the lid is located closer to the open side than this point, the leaf spring biases the lid in the opening direction, and when the lid is located closer to the close side than the point. ,
The leaf spring biases the lid body in the closing direction.

When the lid is opened, if the lid is moved against the elasticity of the leaf spring to exceed the speculation point, the lid will automatically open after that. If you remove your hand from the lid before crossing it, the lid will close due to the leaf spring.

[0007]

The conventional three-point hinge type cap has a poor operability because the cap cannot be reached unless the lid is opened up to about 90 degrees.

Especially, when the index finger is attached to the cap body, the thumb is put on the lid body and the opening operation is performed with one hand, the drawback becomes remarkable. If you have a handicapped person, use the lid 9
It can be difficult to open it to near 0 degrees.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cap which has a small initial opening operation by manual operation and is excellent in operability.

[0010]

The present invention adopts the following means in order to solve the above problems.

<Summary of the Invention> The cap of the present invention comprises a cap body, a lid, a leaf spring, a first hinge, and a second hinge.
A hinge and a third hinge are provided. The outline of the components of the present invention and the points thereof will be briefly described.

[Cap Main Body, Lid Body, First Hinge] The cap main body is mounted on the mouth cylinder portion of the container, and the mounting means includes a screwing means and a fitting means. The cap body has a spout. The planar shape of the cap body may be circular, elliptical, rectangular or the like, but is not limited to these shapes. Further, the cap body is generally cylindrical, but is not limited to this.

The lid is for opening and closing the spout,
It is rotatably attached to the cap body via the first hinge. Generally, the lid is
It has the same shape and dimensions as the cap body.

[Leaf Spring, Second Hinge, Third Hinge] The leaf spring is arranged between the cap body and the lid. The leaf spring is set so that both ends of the leaf spring approach each other due to its elasticity. Such a state can be achieved by bending or bending the leaf spring into, for example, a V shape or a U shape.

One end of the leaf spring is rotatably attached to the cap body via the second hinge, and the other end is rotatably attached to the lid body via the third hinge.

[Positional relationship between the first hinge, the second hinge and the third hinge] The rotation center of the second hinge is located rearward of the rotation center of the first hinge. As a result, the rotation angle of the lid body from the closed state to the thought point (the state in which the rotation centers of the first, second, and third hinges are located on substantially one plane) is 90 degrees.
Limited to below. Further, the positions of the first, second, and third hinges are set so that the amount of movement of the tip of the lid is 20 mm or less, preferably 10 mm or less when the lid is rotated from the fully closed position to the thought point. To set.

The reason for setting the amount of movement of the tip of the lid body to 20 mm or less is that the general outer diameter (outer diameter of the lid body) of this type of cap is about 10 to 60 mm, and this is opened with one hand. This is because the size that allows the tip of the lid to be easily lifted with the thumb when operated is about 20 mm.

In addition, when the center of rotation of the first hinge, the center of rotation of the second hinge, and the center of rotation of the third hinge are located on substantially one plane during the opening operation of the lid, the plane and the horizontal plane. Set the angle between and to exceed 40 degrees.

The cap body and the lid are provided with engaging portions that engage with each other when fully closed, and the timing at which the engaging portion is disengaged during the opening operation of the lid precedes the timing of the consideration point. You may allow it. The engaging portion may be composed of the spout and a projection that closes the spout.

<Raw Material of the Present Invention> The raw material of the present invention is not particularly limited, but is generally a resin. If all components are made of resin, it is possible to perform integral molding. Examples of the resin include polypropylene, polyethylene, impact-resistant polystyrene, polyester elastomer and the like.

<Dimensions of the Present Invention> In carrying out the present invention, the size is not limited, but the outer diameter of the cap is usually about 10 to 60 mm. The moving size of the lid tip from the fully closed state to the thought point is appropriately set in consideration of the age of the person who handles the cap, the size of the cap, and the like.

<Applicability of the Present Invention> The present invention can be used in the field of packaging. For example, it is suitable for a cap or the like attached to a container that stores liquids or powders of cosmetics, medicines, foods, and the like.

[0023]

[Action]

<Operation of the Present Invention> When the lid is located on the open side with respect to the imaginary point, the leaf spring biases the lid in the opening direction, and the lid automatically performs the opening operation. On the other hand, when the lid body is located closer to the closing side than the ideal point, the leaf spring biases the lid body in the closing direction, and the lid body automatically performs the closing operation.

By slightly lifting the lid from the closed state, the lid can be positioned at a thought point, so that the opening operation of the lid becomes very easy. The effect is particularly great when the opening operation is performed with one hand. It is also easy to use for people with handicap.

In addition, when the lid is opened, the center of rotation of the first hinge, the center of rotation of the second hinge, and the center of rotation of the third hinge are located on substantially the same plane, and the horizontal plane. Since the angle formed by and is set to exceed 40 degrees, it is possible to increase the height of the lid, which is effective in designing the lid.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings of FIGS. [Embodiment 1] FIGS. 1 to 4 show the cap of the first embodiment. The cap 1 is manufactured by integrally molding polypropylene, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cap 1 at the time of molding, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the same.

The cap 1 includes a cap body 10 and a lid body 20.
And have. The cap body 10 has a cylindrical shape with an outer diameter of about 30 mm, and the inner wall surface of the peripheral wall portion 11 has a threaded portion 1
2 is formed so that it can be screwed into the mouth cylinder of the container. The top plate portion 13 of the cap body 10 is provided with a spout 14, and the spout 14 is surrounded by the spout 14.
An inner tapered wall-shaped guide wall 15 stands up. A top edge portion of the top plate portion 13 is a step portion 16 which is one step lower. A recess 17 for hanging a finger is formed on the front upper portion of the peripheral wall portion 11, and a protruding portion 18 protruding rearward is formed on the rear upper portion of the peripheral wall portion 11.

The lid body 20 has a substantially cylindrical shape with a substantially the same outer diameter as the cap body 10 and a tall shape, and a cutout portion 23 extending from the peripheral wall portion 21 to the top plate portion 22 is provided at the rear portion thereof. . The lower ends (upper ends in FIG. 3) of the peripheral wall portions 21 located on both sides of the cutout portion 23 are rotatable to the rear end of the step portion 16 of the cap body 10 via a pair of first hinges 31 formed of thin hinges. It is connected. Thereby, the lid 20
Is rotatable about the first hinge 31 with respect to the cap body 10.

In addition, the cap body 10 and the lid 20 are the strip plate 4
They are also linked by 0. As shown in FIG. 3, the band plate 40 is formed to be curved in a substantially V shape at the time of molding, and one end of the band plate 40 has the protrusion of the cap body 10 through the second hinge 32 formed of a thin hinge. It is rotatably connected to the portion 18, and the other end of the strip 40 is rotatably connected to the tip of the notch 23 in the lid 20 via a third hinge 33 which is a thin hinge. The rotation center of the second hinge 32 is located diagonally below and rearward of the rotation center of the first hinge 31.

The strip plate 40 is a portion functioning as a leaf spring, and the strip plate 40 acts so as to narrow the opening angle by elasticity when the opening angle is widened. In other words, the elastic action acts to bring both ends of the strip plate 40 closer to each other.

From the top plate portion 21 of the lid 20, a cylindrical projection 24 is formed.
2, the cylindrical projection 24 is adapted to be fitted into the spout 14 and closed when the lid 20 is fully closed, as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the spout 14
And the cylindrical protrusion 24 form an engaging portion.

When the lid body 20 is fully closed, the lower surface of the peripheral wall portion 21 of the lid body 20 is the step portion 1 of the cap body 10.
6, the strip plate 40 closes the notch 23 of the lid 20.
A projection 25 for hooking a finger is provided on the front end of the lid 20.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, the arc A shown by the alternate long and short dash line is the third when the strip 40 is assumed not to be deformed.
This is a virtual locus of the hinge 33, and in this case, the circular arc A is a circular orbit centered on the rotation center of the second hinge 32. However, since the lid 20 rotates about the rotation center of the first hinge 31, the actual locus of the third hinge 33 is an arc B about the rotation center of the first hinge 31.

Therefore, the band plate 40 is elastically deformed with the rotation of the lid body 20, and the opening angle is changed.
In other words, as the lid 20 rotates, the distance between the second hinge 32 and the third hinge 33 at both ends of the strip 40 changes.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the first hinge 3
When the rotation center of 1, the rotation center of the second hinge 32, and the rotation center of the third hinge 33 are located on one plane (on the straight line C in the figure), the deformation amount of the strip plate 40 becomes maximum, and here Is a consideration. When the lid body 20 is tilted to the open side from this point, the spring force of the strip plate 40 acts on the lid body 20 in the opening direction,
If the lid body 20 is tilted closer to the closing side than the imaginary point, the lid body 20
Therefore, the spring force of the strip acts in the closing direction.

In the cap 1, the first hinge is set so that the lid 20 can be opened from the closed state and the tip of the lid 20 is lifted by about 10 mm (indicated by L in the figure) to reach the above-mentioned thought point. The positions of 31, the second hinge 32, and the third hinge 33 are set.

Since the lid 20 of the cap 1 is tall, the angle θ between the straight line C and the top plate portion 13 (that is, the horizontal plane) of the cap body 10 is about 70 degrees at the above consideration point. .

Further, in this cap, the cylindrical projection 24 and the spout 1 are provided before the lid 20 reaches the imaginary point during the opening operation.
It is set so that the fitting state with 4 is released. Therefore, in this cap 1, when the lid 20 is opened from the closed state, the cylindrical projection 24 first releases the fitting with the spout 14 and opens the spout 14. Then, the lid 20
However, after that, the lid 20 automatically opens due to the elasticity of the strip 40. At the end of the opening operation, the lid 20 is fixed to the top plate portion 13 of the cap body 10.
With an angle of 90 to 160 degrees.

In this cap 1, the lid 20 is opened from the closed state.
The opening operation is very easy because the tip of the lid body 20 needs to be raised by about 10 mm in order to perform the opening operation to reach the thought point. In particular, the opening operation with one hand, in which the index finger is attached to the peripheral wall portion 11 of the cap body 10 and the thumb is put on the protrusion 25 of the lid body 20, becomes very easy.

Further, since the lid body 20 is tall, it is suitable for designing the lid body.

[Other Embodiments] FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are, respectively, in consideration of the rotation center of the first hinge 31 and the second center.
When the angle θ formed by the straight line C passing through the rotation center of the hinge 32 and the rotation center of the third hinge 33 and the top plate portion 13 (that is, the horizontal plane) of the cap body 10 is about 50 degrees, 60 degrees, and 80 degrees. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1 in a certain case. Since the other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same mode parts and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the lid can be positioned at a thought point if the lid is slightly lifted from the closed state, the opening operation of the lid becomes very easy and the operability is improved.
In particular, the operability of opening the lid with one hand is good.

Moreover, since the lid 20 can be made taller,
It is suitable for designing the lid.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a cap of a first embodiment of the present invention taken into consideration.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the cap of the first embodiment in a fully closed state.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the cap of the first embodiment during molding.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cap of the first embodiment during molding.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a cap of a second embodiment of the present invention at a thought point.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a cap of a third embodiment of the present invention at a thought point.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a cap of a fourth embodiment of the present invention at a thought point.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 cap 10 Cap body 14 Spout (engagement part) 20 lid 24 Cylindrical projection (engagement part) 31 first hinge 32 second hinge 33 Third hinge 40 strips (leaf springs)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tsuguo Arai 1-6-9 Unobe, Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture Yoshino Industry Co., Ltd. Osaka Plant (56) Reference JP-A-56-106758 (JP, A) ( 58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65D 47/08

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cap body provided with a spout is rotatably provided with a lid for opening and closing the spout through a first hinge, and an elastic member is provided between the cap body and the lid. Has a leaf spring whose both ends are close to each other. One end of the leaf spring is rotatably attached to the cap body via the second hinge, and the other end of the leaf spring is connected via the third hinge. In the cap rotatably attached to the lid body, the center of rotation of the second hinge is located rearward of the center of rotation of the first hinge, and the cap is opened when the lid body is opened. The timing when the center of rotation of the first hinge, the center of rotation of the second hinge, and the center of rotation of the third hinge are located on substantially one plane is 20 mm or less in the moving dimension of the lid tip from the fully closed position. The center of rotation of each hinge is located Note that when the rotation center of the first hinge, the rotation center of the second hinge, and the rotation center of the third hinge are located on substantially one plane, the angle between the plane and the horizontal plane is 40.
A cap characterized by being set to exceed the limit. 2. The rotation center of each of the hinges is arranged such that the timing is 10 mm or less in terms of the moving dimension of the lid tip from the fully closed position. Cap. 3. The cap body and the lid are provided with engaging portions that engage with each other when the lid is fully closed, and the timing of releasing the engagement of the engaging portions when the lid is opened, The rotation center of the first hinge, the rotation center of the second hinge, and the rotation center of the third hinge are set so as to precede the timing when they are located on substantially one plane. The cap according to 1 or 2. 4. The cap body, the lid, the leaf spring, and the first
The cap according to claim 1, wherein the hinge, the second hinge, and the third hinge are integrally formed of resin.