JP3590674B2 - Plastic cap with tamper evidence function - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a plastic cap having a tamper-evident function, and more particularly to a plastic cap suitably applied to a glass container such as a milk bottle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, from the viewpoint of preventing mischief or the like, plastic caps having a function of indicating an opening history, that is, a tamper-evident function, have been widely used as caps for various containers (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-20502 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. -18523).
[0003]
In this plastic cap, particularly one used for a glass container such as a milk bottle, usually includes a cap body composed of a top surface and a skirt wall hanging down from the periphery thereof, and the skirt through a breakable connection portion. A tamper-evidence (TE) band provided at the lower end of the wall, and the skirt wall inner surface of the cap body is fitted to the container opening by being fitted to the container opening. That is, a projection that engages with the mouth of the container is formed on the inner surface of the skirt wall of the cap body, and the cap body is fitted and fixed to the mouth of the container by stoppering. The TE band is provided with an appropriate knob, and by pulling the knob by hand, the connecting portion is broken and the band is removed from the cap body. Desorption from the mouth is performed. Therefore, since the TE band is always removed from the cap that has been opened once after being fastened to the container mouth, the opening history is clearly indicated (the TE function is exhibited).
[0004]
By the way, in this type of cap, when the cap is plugged into the container mouth, first, the TE band rides over the projection for engagement with the cap body provided in the container mouth, and thereafter the cap body is Mates with mouth. The container has such a shape that the diameter increases from the mouth to the bottom. From such a point, it is preferable that the inner diameter or the outer diameter of the lower end of the TE band is basically designed to be larger than that of the cap body.
[0005]
Further, it is preferable that the lower end of the TE band is tightly adhered to the outer wall of the container at a lower portion (outer periphery of the neck) of the container mouth, and when the container is used, the TE band is torn when detached from the container mouth. In order to easily tear the band, the TE band is designed to be thin and very flexible.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, the conventional TE plastic cap of the type that is attached to the container mouth by stoppering has a problem when the cap is supplied. That is, a large number of caps are supplied by being aligned with a hopper or the like before being fastened to the container mouth. At this time, the caps overlap with each other, the TE band of the upper cap spreads outward, and the trouble that the lower cap is completely fitted into the upper cap frequently occurs. In particular, if the cap height is designed to be relatively low, such as a cap applied to a glass container such as a milk bottle, it is not easy to remove the fitted cap, which is a very important problem. Has become.
[0007]
As a means for solving such a problem, it is conceivable to make the inner diameter of the lower end of the TE band as small as possible. However, since the top surface of the cap and the skirt wall have a curved surface, the TE band is also difficult. Since the band itself is highly flexible, when the caps overlap each other, the TE band spreads outward with the above-mentioned curvature surface as a guide surface, and as a result, the lower cap is prevented from being fitted. It is difficult to do.
[0008]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a TE plastic cap of a type that is attached to the mouth of a container by stoppering, and when the caps overlap each other, trouble such that the lower cap is fitted into the upper cap is effective. To provide a protected TE plastic cap.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, the cap body includes a top surface and a skirt wall hanging down from a peripheral portion thereof, and a tamper evidence band provided at a lower end of the skirt wall via a breakable connection portion. In a plastic cap attached to the container mouth by fitting the inner surface of the skirt wall of the cap body to the container mouth, a plurality of ribs extending in the height direction of the cap are provided on the outer surface of the skirt wall. Are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction,
When viewed from the side, the upper end surface of the rib is a substantially flat horizontal surface, and the outer diameter of the horizontal surface is set to be larger than the inner diameter of the lower end portion of the tamper evidence band. A cap is provided.
[0010]
[Action]
That is, in the cap of the present invention, since the upper ends of a number of ribs provided on the outer surface of the skirt wall of the cap body are horizontal, when the caps overlap, the lower end of the TE band stops at the horizontal surface of the upper end of the rib. Therefore, the lower cap does not fit into the upper cap any more.
Many conventional caps have a large number of ribs formed on the outer surface of the skirt wall to prevent slippage or the like. However, in the conventional cap, the entire upper end face of the rib is a curved surface from the viewpoint of appearance characteristics and feel because the cap has a curved surface from the top surface of the cap to the skirt wall. Therefore, in the conventional TE cap, even if the rib is provided, it is difficult to prevent the lower cap from being fitted.
[0011]
【Example】
Hereinafter, the plastic cap of the present invention will be described in detail based on specific examples shown in the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged side view of a representative plastic cap of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cap of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the cap of FIG. FIG. 4 is a half sectional view showing a state where the caps of FIG. 1 are overlapped.
[0012]
In these figures, the TE cap comprises a cap body 1 and a TE band 2.
[0013]
The cap body 1 is composed of a horizontal top surface 5 and a skirt wall 6 hanging down from the periphery of the top surface 5, and a portion 7 from the top surface 5 to the skirt wall 6 has a curvature surface. The skirt wall 6 smoothly extends from the surface 5.
A circumferential projection 8 is formed on the inner surface of the skirt wall 6, and an annular hanging downwardly is provided on the inner surface of the top surface 5 at a position about the thickness of the upper end of the container mouth from the skirt wall 6. A projection 9 is formed.
At the lower end of the skirt wall 6, a horizontal flange 10 slightly expanding outward is formed, and a protruding piece 11 is formed at a part thereof.
[0014]
The TE band 2 is connected to the lower surface of the lower horizontal flange 10 of the skirt wall 6, and the inner diameter of the TE band 2 is substantially larger than the inner diameter of the skirt wall 6.
The connecting portion 12 between the TE band 2 and the skirt wall 6 is thin and is configured to be breakable.
A knob 15 extending along the outer surface of the TE band 2 is provided, and a cut line 16 is formed from the inside of the holding portion 15a of the knob 15 to the lower side. The score 17 extends from the end to the lower end of the TE band 2. That is, the score 17 is broken by turning the knob piece 15 and pulling it by hand, and then the connecting portion 12 between the TE band 2 and the cap body 1 is broken, so that the TE band 2 is completely removed from the cap body 1. Be separated. Note that it is preferable that the knob 15 be biased toward the outer surface of the TE band 2 by the bridge 18 so as not to be turned up in a normal state.
Further, a circumferential projection 20 is formed on the inner surface of the TE band 2.
[0015]
When the above-described cap of the present invention is plugged into the container mouth, the TE band 2 passes through the projection formed at the upper end of the container mouth, and the circumferential projection 20 provided on the inner surface thereof is connected to the container mouth. At the same time, the peripheral projection 8 provided on the inner surface of the skirt wall 6 gets over the upper end projection of the container mouth. As a result, the circumferential projection 20 of the TE band 2 and the lower projection are engaged, the TE band 2 is firmly fixed to the container opening, and the lower end of the TE band 2 is in close contact with the outer surface of the container opening. Also, the protrusion at the upper end of the container mouth is fitted into the space between the skirt wall 6 and the annular protrusion 9, the circumferential protrusion 8 and the upper end protrusion engage, and the cap body 1 is firmly fixed to the container mouth. Will be.
[0016]
When removing this cap from the container mouth, as described above, after turning the knob 15 of the TE band 2 to separate the TE band 2 from the cap body 1, the user can turn the projection 11 by hand. Just fine. Thereby, the cap main body 1 is easily removed from the container mouth. In addition, since the TE band 2 is separated from the cap body 1 removed from the container opening, the opening history is clearly indicated.
[0017]
In such a cap of the present invention, as clearly shown in FIG. 1 in particular, a large number of ribs 30 are formed on the outer surface of the skirt wall 6 at regular intervals in the circumferential direction, and the upper end thereof is It is extremely important that the plane 30a be substantially flat.
That is, please refer to FIG. 4 showing the state where the caps overlap. As is apparent from FIG. 4, by forming the horizontal surface 30a on the upper end of the rib 30, when these caps overlap, the lower end of the TE band 2 comes into firm contact with the horizontal surface 30a. Does not spread outward, and the trouble that the lower cap fits completely into the band 2 is effectively prevented.
[0018]
In order to sufficiently exhibit the above-described characteristics, it is essential that the outer diameter X of the horizontal surface 30a is larger than the inner diameter Y of the lower end of the TE band 2, and it differs depending on the lower end thickness of the TE band 2. It is sufficient to increase the thickness by 0.2 mm or more, especially 0.3 mm or more.
The length d of the horizontal surface 30a is not particularly limited as long as the lower end of the TE band 2 can be firmly held. However, if the length d is larger than necessary, the appearance and commercial value of the cap are impaired. Is preferably about 0.35 to 0.9 mm.
[0019]
As long as the horizontal plane 30a is formed at the upper end of the rib 30, for example, a corner portion thereof, that is, a portion where the horizontal plane 30a is connected to the vertical plane 30b may be a curvature surface according to a conventional method.
[0020]
Further, it is preferable that the position of the horizontal plane 30a at the upper end of the rib be set at the end position of the curvature surface 7 from the top surface 5 to the outer surface of the skirt wall 6 or slightly above it. That is, if the height of the rib 30 is too low as compared with the skirt wall 6, even if such a rib is formed, the overlapping caps may be engaged with each other. In addition, if the position is set as described above, for example, when the caps overlap, the lower end of the TE band 2 is immediately stopped at the horizontal surface 30a even when the lower end of the TE band 2 spreads out on the curvature surface 7, so that the TE band is more than necessary. There is also an advantage that the band 2 is not deformed.
[0021]
In the cap of the present invention described above, various design changes are possible as long as the trouble that the overlapping caps are fitted to each other is prevented. For example, the circumferential projection 8 is not necessarily provided on the inner surface of the TE band 2. The inner surface of the TE band 2 can be made flat according to the shape of the container opening.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since a horizontal surface is formed on the upper end surface of a number of ribs provided on the outer surface of the skirt wall 6 of the cap body, a problem that the caps are fitted when the caps are supplied is effective. This is extremely advantageous in terms of supplying the cap.
Such a cap is particularly useful as a cap for a glass container such as a milk bottle, and is produced, for example, by integral molding of a polyolefin such as polyethylene.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged side view of a representative plastic cap of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cap of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a side view of the cap of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a half sectional view showing a state where the caps of FIG. 1 are overlapped.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: Cap body 2: TE band 6: Skirt wall 7: Curvature surface 15: Knob piece 16: Cut line 17: Score 30: Rib 30a: Horizontal plane

Claims (4)

A cap body comprising a top surface and a skirt wall hanging down from a peripheral portion thereof, and a tamper-evidence band provided at a lower end of the skirt wall via a breakable connection portion, and the skirt of the cap body In the plastic cap attached to the container mouth by fitting the inner surface of the wall to the mouth of the container, a plurality of ribs extending in the height direction of the cap are provided on the outer surface of the skirt wall at circumferential intervals. Are formed in
When viewed from the side, the upper end surface of the rib is a substantially flat horizontal surface, and the outer diameter of the horizontal surface is set to be larger than the inner diameter of the lower end portion of the tamper evidence band. cap. 2. The plastic cap according to claim 1, wherein an outer diameter of a horizontal surface of the upper end of the rib is set to be 0.2 mm or more larger than an inner diameter of a lower end portion of the tamper evidence band. 3. 2. The plastic cap according to claim 1, wherein the rib upper end horizontal surface is located at a lower end of a curvature portion formed from an outer surface of the top surface to an outer surface of the skirt wall or slightly above the lower end. 3. 2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the inner surface of the skirt wall and the inner surface of the tamper-evidence band are provided with projections respectively engaging with the outer surface of the container mouth, and are fastened to the container mouth by tapping. Plastic cap.

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