JP4104113B2 - Cleaning the inner surface of the cap after plugging - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for cleaning the inner surface of a cap and the outer peripheral surface of a container mouth after stoppering, and more specifically, it is possible to reliably clean the content liquid remaining between the container mouth and the cap, The present invention relates to a method for cleaning an inner surface of a cap that allows smooth water flow.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, after filling the container with the content liquid and capping, in order to clean the content liquid remaining adhered between the outer peripheral surface of the container mouth and the inner peripheral surface of the cap skirt, the cleaning liquid is directed toward the cap. The cleaning liquid is sprayed and allowed to flow into the cap.
As a cap that can be cleaned by spraying such cleaning liquid, for example, a cap in which a plurality of holes are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction at the peripheral portion of the top surface of the cap and the skirt portion or a boundary region thereof. Has been proposed (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-54119).
[0003]
In a cap having a plurality of holes as described above, the hole is required to be as small as possible due to dust intrusion and appearance problems. After the cap is molded, a tamper evidence band (hereinafter referred to as a tamper evident band) is used. And a TE band), and the skirt portion is cut by a cutter or the like (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-208693).
On the other hand, in the cap in which holes as small as possible are formed, it is difficult to sufficiently flow the cleaning liquid into the cap. Therefore, as a method for efficiently flowing the cleaning liquid into the cap, It has been proposed to spray a cleaning liquid at 65 ° C. or higher, or spray a cleaning liquid at 45 to 70 ° C. after heating the cap to 70 ° C. or higher (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-85727).
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
According to the above method, it is possible to efficiently clean the inside of the cap. However, in the above method, since the container mouth and the cap are heated to a relatively high temperature, for example, aseptic filling (aseptic filling) is performed. It cannot be applied to containers and caps. That is, in a container to which aseptic filling is applied, since the heat sterilization after filling for preventing deterioration of the contents is not premised, the container mouth portion does not have heat resistance, and such a container In order to obtain a necessary cleaning effect by spraying a cleaning liquid at 65 ° C. or higher, the container mouth may be deformed, which may cause a problem in sealing performance.
[0005]
In addition, a method of cleaning without providing a plurality of holes in the cap has also been proposed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-7096 discloses a screw thread portion formed on the outer periphery of a container mouth portion or a cap screwed into the cap portion. Vent slits are formed at a plurality of longitudinal positions on at least one of the threaded portions of the container, and the cleaning water is sprayed toward the gap between the neck support portion of the container and the lower end of the cap, and the outer peripheral portion of the container mouth through the vent slit There has been proposed a method for cleaning between the cap and the inner surface of the cap.
[0006]
In the above method, the cleaning water jetted at high pressure passes between the inner surface of the cap skirt and the vent slit to clean the outer periphery of the container mouth and the inner surface of the cap. Because there is a slight gap between them, the washing water jetted from below effectively flows upward, and the washing water flows upward from below and then flows out of the cap again. It is insufficient. Further, in the above method, an annular jaw portion that engages with the TE band engagement piece is formed below the screw thread at the container mouth portion, which makes it more difficult to distribute the wash water upward.
The cleaning liquid remaining in the cap may be mistaken by consumers as leakage of the content liquid, or may cause mold, etc.If the flow path is increased to increase the flow rate of cleaning water, the cap and the container mouth Engagement may be weakened.
[0007]
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to facilitate the flow of the cleaning water, to surely clean the outer peripheral surface of the container mouth, the entire skirt portion of the inner surface of the cap, and a part of the peripheral edge of the top plate, and the cleaning water can easily flow in and out It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for cleaning the inner surface of a cap that can effectively prevent water from remaining.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, the top plate portion is composed of a skirt portion that is suspended from the periphery of the top plate portion and that has a thread on the inner surface that engages with the container mouth portion. has a tamper evident band being molded integrally, in the method the skirt inner surface of cleaning the inner surface of the notch formed cap to divide the thread in the circumferential direction after capping, the cap is injection molded The lower end of the opening between the breakable bridge parts is inclined upward from the radially outer side to the inner side, and the washing water is injected at a high pressure toward the opening between the bridge parts and enters the cap. with flowing, said skirt portion upward or top plate peripheral edge of the cap slit formed by cutting by post-processing is formed by removing the air with the wash water flowing in from the slit, Cleaning method characterized by facilitating the flow of clean water is provided.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, after the cap is plugged into the container mouth portion, the cleaning water can be broken by connecting the TE band when cleaning the outer peripheral surface of the container mouth portion, the entire skirt portion of the cap inner surface, and a part of the peripheral edge of the top plate portion. In addition to flowing into the cap from the opening between the bridge parts, a slit is provided above the cap skirt part or at the periphery of the top plate part. It becomes possible.
That is, the cleaning water flows in from the opening between the bridge portions, flows through the cap, and then flows out from below the cap. However, since the flow path through which the cleaning water in the cap can flow is a minute space, Is filled with washing water jetted at high pressure and the air accompanying it, so the circulation of the washing water does not proceed smoothly, and the washing water flows into and out of the cap. It is not done easily. As a result, it becomes difficult to effectively clean the inner surface of the cap and the outer peripheral surface of the container mouth.
[0011]
In the present invention, by releasing the pressure in the space formed by the inner surface of the cap skirt portion and the periphery of the top plate portion and the outer peripheral surface of the container mouth portion from the hole provided above the cap skirt portion or the periphery of the top plate portion, The distribution in the cap can be smoothed and the cleaning efficiency can be improved. That is, by providing a hole above the cap, which is the direction opposite to the bottom of the cap that is the outflow inlet of the cleaning water, the flow of the cleaning water in the vertical direction can be made smooth, and the cap can be cleaned efficiently. Is possible.
[0012]
In the present invention, the hole provided in the upper part of the cap skirt part or in the periphery of the top plate part is formed by cutting with a cutter or the like after cap formation, thereby preventing contamination from the outside of the cap inner surface and the container mouth part. Although it is desirable above, a cutout may of course be used as long as foreign matter cannot enter from the outside. Of course, the number is not limited to this, but it is preferably 2 to 8, and the size is preferably about 1.5 to 4.0 mm.
[0013]
The cap of the present invention is preferably a cap having a tamper-evident band (hereinafter referred to as a TE band) formed by injection molding and integrally formed via a breakable bridge portion at the lower end of the skirt portion. In other words, since the bridge portion connecting the TE bands is also formed integrally without any post-processing, the opening between the bridge portions is larger than that which is cut by a cutter or the like by post-processing, and is cold washing water. However, it is possible to flow from the opening of the bridge portion, and even in a sterile filling container having low heat resistance, the entire region between the inner surface of the cap and the outer periphery of the container mouth can be effectively cleaned.
[0014]
At this time, it is particularly preferable that the lower end of the opening between the bridge portions is provided with an inclined surface inclined upward from the radially outer side to the inner side, and the washing water sprayed on the inclined surface collides with it. Accordingly, the cleaning water sprayed from the horizontal direction flows upward at a different angle, so that the cleaning water can efficiently flow into the cap.
[0015]
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1A and 1B are diagrams showing an example of a cap to which the cleaning method of the present invention is applied. FIG. 1A is a side sectional view, and FIG. 1B is a bottom view.
In FIG. 1, the cap of the present invention represented by 1 as a whole is composed of a top plate portion 2 and a skirt portion 3 depending from the top plate portion, and a TE band 5 is provided at the lower end of the skirt portion 3 via a breakable bridge portion 4. A plurality of flap pieces 6 are formed on the inner surface of the TE band 5 to be engaged with a container mouth (not shown). The inner surface 7 of the skirt portion 3 is provided with a screw portion 8 that engages with a screw portion of a container mouth portion (not shown). On the inner surface side of the top plate portion 2, an inner ring 9 that is inserted into the container mouth portion and maintains the sealing performance of the container is formed integrally with the cap shell.
[0016]
The screw portion 8 of the cap shown in FIG. 1 is a single thread, and has a portion that is doubled by an upper screw thread 8a and a lower screw thread 8b. In the cap of the present invention, notches 10a and 10b are provided at the same position vertically on the screw threads 8a and 8b, and an axial flow passage 11 is formed by the notches 10a and 10b.
[0017]
A plurality of slits 12 and 12 are provided above the skirt portion 3 of the cap shown in FIG. 1, and the pressure in the cap is adjusted when air in the cap escapes from here, and the cleaning enters from below. It becomes possible to smoothly distribute water.
In the cleaning method of the present invention, cleaning water is injected at a high pressure toward the opening 13 between the breakable bridge portions 4. In the cap shown in FIG. 1, since the opening 13 is formed simultaneously with the molding of the cap, the opening is larger than that formed by post-processing, and the cleaning water efficiently enters the cap. be able to.
[0018]
When the cleaning water is jetted into the opening between the bridge portions, when the inclined surface inclined upward from the radial outer side to the inner side is provided at the lower end of the opening, the nozzle is directed from the side of the opening, that is, in the cap axial direction. Even if it is sprayed from a 90 ° position, the wash water turns upward and can enter efficiently, but in the case where an inclined surface is not formed, it is sprayed obliquely upward. May be.
[0019]
The cap of the present invention can be applied to a cap molded by a conventionally known molding method such as injection molding, compression molding, etc., but is particularly effective for those molded by injection molding without secondary processing.
As the resin that can be used for forming the cap, any resin that has been conventionally used for resin caps can be used. For example, olefin resins such as polyethylene, isotactic polypropylene, ethylene-polypropylene copolymer, polybutene-1, ethylene-butene-1 copolymer, propylene-butene-1 copolymer, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, etc. And synthetic resins such as polystyrene, styrene-butadiene copolymer, ABS resin, and polycarbonate.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the top plate portion is composed of a skirt portion that is suspended from the periphery of the top plate portion and that has a thread on the inner surface that engages with the container mouth portion. In the method that has a tamper-evident band that is integrally molded, and the inner surface of the skirt has a notch that divides the screw thread in the circumferential direction. Is injected into the cap at a high pressure and flows into the cap, and a slit is formed above the cap skirt or at the periphery of the top plate. By removing the air accompanying the inflow of the cleaning water from the slit, Distribution becomes smooth and the inner surface of the cap and the outer peripheral surface of the container mouth can be efficiently cleaned. In addition, the flow of cleaning water is effective, effectively preventing the cleaning liquid from remaining in the cap, and providing a cap that can be reliably cleaned even when applied to containers with low heat resistance such as aseptic filling containers. We were able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A and 1B are diagrams showing an example of a cap to which a cleaning method of the present invention can be applied, in which FIG. 1A is a side sectional view and FIG. 1B is a bottom view.

Claims (1)

A tamper formed of a top plate portion and a skirt portion that is suspended from the periphery of the top plate portion and has a thread on the inner surface that engages with the container mouth portion, and is integrally formed via a breakable bridge portion at the lower end of the skirt portion In the method of having an evidence band and cleaning the inner surface of the cap having a notch that divides a screw thread in the circumferential direction on the inner surface of the skirt portion after being plugged, the cap is formed by injection molding, and the fracture The lower end of the opening between the bridge portions is inclined upward from the outside in the radial direction toward the inside, and the washing water is injected at a high pressure toward the opening between the bridge portions and flows into the cap. of the skirt upper or top plate peripheral edge slit formed by cutting by post-processing is formed by removing the air with the wash water flowing in from the slit, circular circulation of washing water Cleaning method characterized by the.

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