JP7416410B2 - Drinking container spout parts - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a beverage container equipped with a straw.

A beverage container with a straw is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below. This beverage container includes the following drinking spout member. In other words, it has a short straw that can be held in the mouth when drinking, and an attachment part that is formed at one end of the short straw and consists of a flange and a flange that is fixed to the straw adapter. A straw insertion opening is provided which is inclined to the outside. A long straw is connected to this straw insertion port.

In a beverage container equipped with such a drinking spout member, the straw insertion port is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the short straw, so that the tip of the long straw can be positioned at a corner of the container body. For this reason, the beverage can be completely consumed.

However, the straw insertion port is inclined at a predetermined angle, and the angle remains unchanged. Further, the angle is a specific angle for positioning the tip of the long straw at the corner of the container body.

That is, if the height and diameter of the container body differ, the inclination angle of the straw insertion port will also change, so it is necessary to form drinking spout members with different inclination angles depending on the size of the container body.

Patent No. 4990444

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to enable the tip of the straw to be located at the bottom corner of the container body, regardless of the size of the container body.

The means for this purpose includes an attachment part attached to the stopper of the beverage container, a drinking spout erected from the attachment part, and a straw connection part provided below the attachment part to which an internal straw is removably connected. A drinking spout member for a beverage container comprising: a bent portion having flexibility and having a flow path therein formed between the attachment portion and the straw connection portion; The connecting portion is formed in a shape having a certain inclination angle inclining in one inclination direction, and the rigidity of at least one of the side surface of the bent portion in the inclination direction or the side surface in the opposite direction to the inclination direction is , the rigidity of the side surface in the direction orthogonal to the inclination direction is set lower than that of the side surface, and when the bending part is at the initial position at the constant inclination angle, and the bending part is set to be lower than the rigidity of the side surface in the direction perpendicular to the inclination direction, A drinking spout member of a beverage container that accumulates a biasing force to return to the initial position when displaced in the opposite direction, thereby positioning the tip of the internal straw at a corner of the inner bottom of the container body.

In this configuration, the unidirectionally inclined flexible bend directs the tip of the connected internal straw toward the corner of the inner bottom of the beverage container when attached to the beverage container. In the bending deformation of the bent portion, due to the difference in the rigidity of the side surfaces, the swinging displacement in the direction of inclination and the direction opposite to this is given priority over the displacement in the direction orthogonal to the direction of inclination. If internal straws of different lengths are connected depending on the size of the beverage container, the bent portion will naturally bend in one direction and form an appropriate inclination angle to position the tip of the internal straw at the corner of the inner bottom.

According to this invention, since the direction of displacement of the bending portion is regulated and the bending portion is bent preferentially in one direction, the tip of the internal straw is automatically moved to the bottom corner of the container body in accordance with the size of the container body. It can be located at Therefore, even if one type of spout member is used for multiple types of beverage containers of different sizes, it is possible to drink all the beverages.

A vertical cross-sectional view of a beverage container. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a stopper with a straw. A front view and a right side view of the drinking spout member. The AA sectional view of FIG. 3(a) and the BB section end view of FIG. 3(b). A perspective view of usage mode. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a straw according to another example.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A cross-sectional view of a portable beverage container 11 is shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the beverage container 11 is equipped with a straw 12 for sucking the beverage, and is configured so that the beverage can be drunk to the end.

To explain the general structure, the beverage container 11 includes a container body 13 in which a beverage is stored, a shoulder member 14 fixed to the outer periphery of the upper part of the container body 13, and a shoulder member 14 that is detachably fixed to the shoulder member 14. It has a stopper 15 that closes the upper end opening of the stopper 15, and a lid member 16 pivotally attached to the stopper 15. A spout member 17, which constitutes a part of the straw 12 for sucking the beverage, is fixed to the stopper 15 of these.

The spout member 17 includes a mounting portion 21 attached to the stopper 15, a spout 22 erected from the mounting portion 21, and a straw provided below the mounting portion 21 to which the internal straw 18 is removably connected. A connecting portion 23 and a bent portion 24 between the attachment portion 21 and the straw connecting portion 23 are provided. The internal straw 18 is made of a hard tube with a circular cross section, and extends obliquely toward the inner bottom of the container body 13, with its tip 18a located at a corner of the inner bottom.

Specifically, the spout member 17 is entirely made of flexible resin or rubber, preferably a molded product of silicone rubber. The attachment portion 21 of the spout member 17 is fixed to the open cylinder portion 15b of the upper end plate portion 15a located at the upper end of the stopper body 15. The attachment part 21 has a constriction part 21a that fits into the open cylinder part 15b, and a collar part 21b that is located below the constriction part 21a and abuts on the lower surface of the upper end plate part 15a. Further, a flow path 12a is formed in the center of the attachment portion 21, extending in the vertical direction and through which the beverage passes.

The drinking spout 22 on the mounting portion 21 is erected and inclined upward and diagonally forward. As shown in FIG. 2, the "front" here means the open end side of the lid member 16 where the opening operation button 19 is provided, that is, the side opposite to the pivot portion 15c. This open end side is the side facing the human body when drinking a beverage. Therefore, the spout 22 extends obliquely toward the front side of the person drinking the beverage. The drinking spout 22 is entirely tubular and has a flow path 12a inside.

The straw connection part 23 below the attachment part 21 has a cylindrical shape with an open bottom end. The inner diameter of the straw connecting portion 23 is set larger than that of the flow path 12a, and the internal straw 18 is fitted therein. The length of the straw connection 23 is set to allow a secure connection of the internal straw 18.

The bent portion 24 that connects the straw connecting portion 23 to the attachment portion 21 is flexible and has a cylindrical shape with a flow path 12a inside, and is shaped to tilt the straw connecting portion 23 in one inclination direction. One inclination direction is the front side for the person drinking the beverage, and is the same direction as the direction in which the drinking spout 22 described above is inclined. However, the direction of inclination of the bent portion 24 may be different from the direction of inclination of the spout 22.

The bent portion 24 has different side rigidities in the circumferential direction. In other words, the rigidity of at least one of the inclined direction of the bent portion 24, that is, the front side surface, or the opposite direction to the inclined direction, that is, the rear side surface, is greater than the stiffness of the side surface in the direction perpendicular to the inclined direction (front). low.

For this purpose, specifically, the following three examples may be used.

One of them is a configuration in which the diameter of the cross-sectional shape of the bent portion 24 in the direction of inclination is set shorter than the diameter in the direction perpendicular to the direction of inclination.

Second, the wall thickness of at least one of a portion of the peripheral wall forming the flow path 12a of the bent portion 24 corresponding to the inclination direction or a portion corresponding to the opposite direction to the inclination direction is adjusted perpendicularly to the inclination direction. The structure is such that the wall thickness is formed thinner than the thickness of the portion corresponding to the direction of movement.

The third is a configuration in which a thickened portion 25 is formed in a portion of the peripheral wall forming the flow path 12a of the bent portion 24 corresponding to a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction.

A specific configuration of the bent portion 24 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3(a) is a front view (viewed from the front) of the spout member 17, and FIG. 3(b) is a right side view. 4(a) is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3(a), and FIG. 4(b) is an enlarged end view taken along line BB in FIG. 3(b). In FIG. 4(b), the left side of the drawing is the front, the right side of the drawing is the rear, and the upper and lower sides of the drawing are perpendicular to the inclination direction.

As shown in these figures, the flow path 12a formed from the tip of the drinking spout 22 to the bent portion 24 has a circular cross-sectional shape. In the drinking spout 22, the outer peripheral surface also has a circular cross-sectional shape, whereas in the bent portion 24, the outer peripheral surface has a cross-sectional shape of an ellipse whose major axis is a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction. That is, the diameter a of the cross-sectional shape of the bent portion 24 in the direction of inclination is shorter than the diameter b in the direction perpendicular to the direction of inclination.

Further, of the peripheral wall forming the flow path 12a of the bent portion 24, a wall thickness t1 of a portion corresponding to the inclination direction and a wall thickness t2 of a portion corresponding to the opposite direction to the inclination direction correspond to a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction. It is thinner than the wall thickness t3 of the part. Furthermore, the center of the circular cross-section of the flow path 12a and the center of the cross-section of the elliptical outer peripheral surface are common. Therefore, of the peripheral wall forming the flow path 12a of the bent portion 24, the wall thickness t1 of the portion corresponding to the inclination direction and the wall thickness t2 of the portion corresponding to the direction opposite to the inclination direction are the same.

Furthermore, in other words, a thickened portion 25 is formed in a portion of the peripheral wall forming the flow path 12a of the bent portion 24 that corresponds to a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction. The thick portion 25 is a portion on the outer peripheral side of the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 4(b). The thick portion 25 can be locally thickened, for example, like a rib or a convex strip, but as described above, since the cross-sectional shape of the outer circumferential surface of the bent portion 24 is elliptical, the outer circumferential surface The cross-sectional shape of is a continuous curved line with no depression in the circumferential direction.

The inclination of the bent portion 24 is for positioning the tip 18a of the internal straw 18 at the front corner of the inner bottom of the container body 13 when the stopper 15 is attached to the container body 13 as shown in FIG. It is. This angle varies depending on the height and internal diameter of the container body 13. Therefore, the angle of the bent portion 24 to be formed is set based on the container main body 13 that is expected to be used and has a short height and a large inner diameter. That is, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the inclination angle of the bent portion 24 is preferably such that the inclination angle α from the vertical direction V of the container body 13 is the largest within the assumed range.

As shown in FIG. 3(b), the bending portion 24 having such a configuration can be bent mainly in the front-rear direction indicated by the arrow, and the straw connecting portion 23 can be bent in the front-rear direction from the initial position indicated by the solid line. It is made movable and biased to return to the initial position. Furthermore, displacement in the direction perpendicular to the inclination direction is suppressed by the difference in side surface rigidity.

Therefore, even if a load is applied to the bending portion 24 via the internal straw 18 to bend in a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction, that is, in the left-right direction, the bending portion 24 resists the load and suppresses bending in that direction. do.

In the beverage container 11 equipped with the spout member 17 configured as described above, as shown in FIG. Different types of drinking spout members 17 are applied to a plurality of types of container bodies 13 of different sizes.

In other words, even if the drinking spout member 17 is used for a container body 13 having a low height as shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, the tip 18a of the inner straw 18 can be positioned at the corner of the inner bottom as shown by the imaginary line.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the stopper 15 holding the internal straw 18 in the same forwardly inclined state as the drinking spout 22 is lowered relative to the container body 13, and the internal straw 18 is placed in the container body 13. When placed inside, the tip 18a of the internal straw 18 comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the container body 13. The bent portion 24 is elastically displaced in the front-back direction to enable the internal straw 18 to descend smoothly.

The stopper 15 is screwed into the shoulder member 14 when fixed to the container body 13, but even when the stopper 15 is rotated, the bent portion 24 is displaced preferentially in the front-rear direction, and the inclination direction of the bent portion 24 is Bending in the left-right direction perpendicular to is suppressed. Therefore, the internal straw 18 is not tilted or twisted in the left-right direction, and descends to the inner bottom even while being turned. When the fixation by screwing is completed, the tip 18a of the internal straw 18 is located at the corner of the inner bottom of the container body 13.

As mentioned above, it is preferable that the inclination angle of the bent part 24 to be formed is the largest within the expected range, but even if that is not the case, since the bent part 24 is bent in the front-rear direction, it may be rounded. The tip 18a of the internal straw 18 in contact with the bottom surface can deform the bent portion 24 into an appropriate bent state by a reaction force.

As described above, the tip 18a of the internal straw 18 can be automatically positioned at the front corner of the bottom inside the container body 13 in accordance with the size of the container body 13. As a result, it is possible to finish drinking the beverage. Furthermore, one type of spout member 17 can be used for multiple types of beverage containers 11 of different sizes.

Further, the structure of the bent portion 24 is simple and easy to manufacture, and since the outer circumferential surface of the bent portion 24 has a shape with no dents in the circumferential direction, it is difficult to get dirty.
The above-described configuration is one form for carrying out the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described configuration, and other configurations may also be adopted.
For example, an inclined surface may be formed at the tip 18a of the straw 12 (internal straw 18). This is to increase the effectiveness of the above-mentioned effect of allowing you to drink the drink till the end.
That is, the tip 18a of the internal straw 18 is prevented from coming into too much contact with the corner of the inner bottom of the container body 13 and inhibiting suction. For this purpose, the tip 18a of the internal straw 18 is preferably formed with an inclined surface that is not perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
The sloped surface may be formed by cutting off the entire circumferential direction diagonally, but it is preferable to form the sloped surface 18b in half of the circumferential direction instead of the entire circumferential direction, as in the case of the internal straw 18 shown in FIG. 6, for example. preferable. The angle of the inclined surface 18b is preferably about 45 degrees with respect to the longitudinal direction, for example. In FIG. 6, a virtual line 13a is the inner surface of the inner bottom of the container body 13.
Such inclined surfaces 18b are formed at both ends of the internal straw 18.
Since the inclined surfaces 18b are provided at both ends, the intended purpose can be achieved regardless of the connection direction of the internal straw 18 to the drinking spout member 17. Further, since the inclined surface 18b is formed in a part of the circumferential direction, and the portion other than the inclined surface is a surface perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the end portion having the inclined surface 18b is connected to the straw connecting portion 23 of the drinking spout member 17. A connection state that does not interfere with suction can be obtained even if the

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11...Beverage container 12...Straw 12a...Flow path 15...Bung body 17...Drinking spout member 18...Internal straw 21...Attachment part 22...Drinking spout 23...Straw connecting part 24...Bending part 25...Thick wall part

Claims (5)

A beverage container comprising: a mounting portion attached to a stopper of the beverage container; a drinking spout erected from the mounting portion; and a straw connection portion provided below the mounting portion to which an internal straw is removably connected. A drinking spout member,
A bent part having flexibility and having a flow path inside is formed between the attachment part and the straw connection part,
The bent part is formed in a shape having a certain inclination angle that inclines the straw connection part in one inclination direction,
The rigidity of at least one of the side surface in the inclination direction and the side surface in the opposite direction to the inclination direction of the bent portion is set lower than the rigidity of the side surface in the direction orthogonal to the inclination direction, When the bent portion is at the initial position with the constant inclination angle, and when the bent portion is displaced from the initial position in a direction opposite to the inclination direction, a biasing force is accumulated to return the inner straw to the initial position. Position the tip at the inner bottom corner of the container body.
Drinking container spout parts. The spout member for a beverage container according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the cross-sectional shape of the bent portion in the inclination direction is shorter than a diameter in a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction. The wall thickness of at least one of a portion of the peripheral wall forming the flow path of the bent portion corresponding to the inclination direction or a portion corresponding to a direction opposite to the inclination direction is in a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction. The spout member for a beverage container according to claim 1 or 2, which is formed thinner than a wall thickness of a portion corresponding to the spout member. Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a thick wall portion is formed to increase the wall thickness in a portion of the peripheral wall forming the flow path of the bent portion that corresponds to a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction. The drinking spout member of the beverage container described in 2. A beverage container comprising the drinking spout member of the beverage container according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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