JPH09150846A - Ratchet type tamper-evident cap - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively prevent a band left at a container neck from dropping out on pouring the liquid in a container, by radially protruding a projection fixing to a projection formed at the outer periphery of the upper container neck than a ratchet claw, at the upper inside face of a tamper-evident band. SOLUTION: When a cap is opened, since the front end in the peripheral direction of a ratchet 10 formed at the inner peripheral face of a tamper-evident 2 is fixed to the ratchet claw 53, a band can not be rotated further. On the other hand, since the cap body 1 is turned to the opening direction and raised, the bridge 9 of the band 2 and the cap body 1 is broken. Accordingly, the band 2 is separated from the cap body 1 and left on the container neck 50 and the cap body 1 is removed from the container neck 50. In this time, since a fixing projection 20 protruded to the radial inside is provided at a horizontal level difference part 2a of the inner peripheral face side of the band 2, when the container is tilted, the projection 20 is fitted to the peripheral projection and hence the band is prevented from dropping down.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ratchet-type tamper-evidence cap, and in particular, a tamper-evidence band remaining at the mouth of a container does not fall off when pouring out the contents of the container, and is an excellent tamper The present invention relates to a ratchet tamper evidence cap having evidence characteristics.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plastic cap having an opening history clarification function, that is, a tamper-evidence characteristic, has a circumferential tamper-evidence band (hereinafter simply referred to as "TE band" through a rupturable bridge portion at the bottom of the cap body. It is often used in various applications from the standpoint of preventing unauthorized use.

[0003] As a typical example of this, when the cap is opened, the TE band is fixed by a plurality of ratchet pieces provided on the inner peripheral surface of the TE band and a ratchet claw provided on the outer peripheral surface of the neck of the container. A ratchet type cap which is performed by combination is known (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 56-131362). That is, in this ratchet type cap, a plurality of ratchet pieces formed on the inner peripheral surface of the TE band are oriented in the cap opening direction, and when the cap is opened, the tip end of the ratchet piece in the circumferential direction is the container. The ratchet pawl on the outer peripheral surface of the neck is brought into contact with and engaged with the ratchet pawl. As a result, the TE band is prevented from swiveling in the opening direction, and only the upper cap body swivels, so that the bridging part connecting the TE band is immediately broken, and the cap is separated from the TE band and the cap is closed. Removed from the neck.
Therefore, this ratchet type cap has very good tamper-evidence (TE) characteristics.

[0004]

However, the ratchet type cap has an unexpected drawback because the TE band is always separated from the cap body when the cap is opened. That is, when the cap is opened and the cap body is removed from the container neck, the TE band remains on the container neck. In this state, a general user usually tilts the container and pours out the contents. Therefore, at the same time when the contents are poured out, the TE band remaining on the neck portion of the container also falls off. Such troubles are very unfavorable from a hygienic point of view, especially when the content is food or beverage.

Such troubles can be easily solved by forming a circumferential projection on the outer peripheral surface of the container neck and providing a projection serving as a stopper on the inner surface of the TE band. That is, when the container is tilted, the stopper provided on the TE band engages with the circumferential projection on the outer peripheral surface of the container neck, thereby preventing the TE band from falling off the container neck.

However, when the stopper is provided on the inner surface of the TE band, the TE band separated from the cap body may be restricted from falling on the neck of the container. This is because the stopper on the inner surface of the TE band rides on the ratchet claw at the neck of the container. Moreover, if the TE band is restricted from falling, the gap between the cap body and the TE band becomes extremely small when the cap that has been opened once is attached again, and it is possible to determine whether or not the cap has been opened once. It will be difficult. That is, the tamper-evidence characteristic is unavoidably deteriorated. Of course, such an inconvenience can be easily solved by increasing the height of the container neck or the height of the cap, but an increase in the amount of resin,
Not suitable in terms of high cost.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to effectively remove the tamper-evidence band remaining at the neck of the container when pouring out the contents of the container in the ratchet type tamper-evidence cap without degrading the tamper-evidence characteristics. To provide a cap that is prevented.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a cap body including a top plate portion and a skirt-shaped side wall hanging down from a peripheral portion of the cap body is connected to a lower end of the skirt-shaped side wall through a breakable bridging portion. A ratchet tamper in which a plurality of ratchet pieces capable of engaging with ratchet pawls of the container neck are formed at circumferentially spaced intervals on the inner surface of the tamper evidence band. In the evidence cap, a locking projection capable of engaging with a projection formed on the outer circumference of the container neck portion above the ratchet claw is radially projected at an upper portion of the inner surface of the tamper evidence band, The locking projection is arranged on the upstream side in the cap opening direction with reference to the circumferential tip of the ratchet piece and at a position not overlapping the ratchet pawl. Tamper evident cap, characterized in that it is are provided.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the locking projections are arranged on the root of the ratchet piece in the circumferential direction or on the upper part in the vicinity thereof.

In the present invention, the locking projection for preventing the tamper-evidence band (TE band) that is separated from the cap body and remains on the neck of the container from falling off from the neck of the container is arranged at the above position. As a result, the TE band separated from the cap body always drops to the same position as when the locking protrusion is not provided.

That is, when the TE band is separated from the cap body, the ratchet piece of the TE band is in a state where its distal end in the circumferential direction is in contact with the ratchet pawl provided on the neck of the container. Due to this contact, TE when opening the package
This is because the rotation of the band is blocked, only the cap body is swung up, and the bridging portion between the cap body and the TE band is broken. However, the fact that the distal end of the TE band in the circumferential direction of the ratchet is in contact with the ratchet pawl means that the upper portion of the upstream side position in the opening direction with respect to the distal end of the ratchet circumferential direction is the ratchet pawl unless it is extremely upstream. Means that they do not overlap. Therefore, when the TE band is separated from the cap body and drops on the container neck, the locking projections arranged at such positions slip through the plurality of ratchet claws provided on the container neck. .

Thus, according to the present invention, the isolated T
The E band drops on the neck of the container in the same manner as when the locking projection is not provided, and when the cap body is mounted on the container neck again, the mounted cap body and the remaining TE band A certain gap is secured between the and, and excellent tamper-evidence characteristics are maintained.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific examples shown in the accompanying drawings. 1 is a side sectional view of the plastic cap of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a bottom plan sectional view of the cap of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the cap of FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a state in which the cap of FIG. 1 is fastened to the neck of the container.

With particular reference to FIGS. 1-3, this cap comprises a cap body 1 and a tamper-evidence band (T
E band) 2. The cap body 1 has a top plate portion 5
And a skirt-shaped side wall 6 hanging down from the peripheral portion of the top plate portion 5. A donut-shaped annular protrusion 7 is provided on the inner surface of the top plate portion 5, and the upper end of the container neck portion is fitted into the annular protrusion 7 to ensure the sealing property. Further, instead of providing the annular projection 7, a liner material or packing may be provided on the inner surface of the top plate portion 5 to ensure the sealing property. Also, the skirt-shaped side wall 6
A screw thread 8 is provided on the inner surface of the container, and the cap is fastened to the neck of the container by screw engagement.

The TE band 2 is arranged below the skirt-shaped side wall 6, and the upper end surface of the TE band 2 and the skirt-shaped side wall 6 are arranged.
Is connected to the lower end surface of the through a plurality of breakable bridging portions 9 provided at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction.
As shown in FIG. 1, the TE band 2 has a skirt-shaped side wall 6 at the upper end where the bridging portion 9 is connected.
Although it is almost on the extension line of the lower end portion, horizontal step portions 2a and 2b are formed on the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface at a slightly lowered position, and the horizontal stepped portions 2a and 2b hang down outward. As is apparent from FIG. 2, a plurality of ratchet pieces 10 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the TE band 2 at appropriate intervals, and these ratchet pieces 10 rotate in the turning direction when the cap is opened. (Indicated by arrow A in FIG. 2). The ratchet piece 10 has its upper end fixed to the horizontal step 2a (see FIG. 1), and as shown in FIG. 2, its root is fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the TE band 2. There is. In addition, the TE band 2 has an appropriate strength and the ratchet piece 1
As long as the inner space where 0 is formed is secured, it is not necessary to form the horizontal step portion 2b on the outer peripheral surface of the TE band 2, and for example, the outer peripheral surface of the TE band 2 is formed in a straight shape downward from the upper end portion. May be hanging.

In FIG. 4 in which the cap is shown together with the container neck, the container neck 50 has a screw thread 51 on the upper side of the outer peripheral surface thereof, and a support ring 52 is further formed on the lower side thereof. That is, the cap is fastened to the neck of the container by the screw engagement between the screw thread 51 and the screw thread 8 formed on the inner surface of the skirt-shaped side wall 6.

The container neck 50 is provided with a plurality of ratchet pawls 53 on the upper surface of the base of the support ring 52 at appropriate intervals. Further, a circumferential projection 54 is formed above the support ring 52 to lock the TE band 2 and prevent the TE band 2 from falling off from the neck portion 50. The projections 54 do not necessarily have to be circumferentially continuous as long as they can effectively prevent the separated TE band 2 from falling off the container neck 50, and are formed at regular intervals in the circumferential direction, for example. It may be something like.

The positional relationship between the TE band 2 and the container neck when the cap is opened is shown in the partial cross section of FIG. That is, when the cap is opened, the distal end in the circumferential direction of the ratchet piece 10 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the TE band 2 abuts and engages with the ratchet claw 53 of the container neck, whereby the TE band 2 is released. No more turning. On the other hand, the cap body 1 swivels in the opening direction as it is and rises,
The bridging portion 9 between the E band 2 and the cap body 1 is broken.
Therefore, the TE band 2 is separated from the cap body 1 and remains on the container neck 50, and the cap body 1 is removed from the container neck 50.

Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, according to the present invention,
A locking projection 20 is provided on the horizontal step portion 2a on the inner peripheral surface side of the TE band 2 so as to project inward in the radial direction. As will be understood by also referring to FIG. 4, the locking projection 20 engages with the circumferential projection 54 formed on the container neck 50. That is, when the cap is opened, as described above, the cap body 1 is removed from the container neck 50, but the TE band 2 is separated from the cap body 1 and remains on the container neck 50. If the container is tilted in this state, the remaining TE band 2 will also easily fall off, but since the locking projection 20 engages with the circumferential projection 54,
The drop is effectively prevented.

In the present invention, as is apparent from FIG. 2, the locking projection 20 is located at a position biased toward the upstream side in the opening direction with respect to the circumferential tip of the ratchet piece 10 and the ratchet pawl 53. It is important to place them so that they do not overlap. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the cap is opened and the TE band 2 is separated from the cap body 1, the circumferential tip of the ratchet piece 10 contacts the ratchet claw 53 of the container neck. Closely engaged. Therefore, it is possible to easily set a position that does not overlap the ratchet claw 53 with reference to the circumferential tip position of the ratchet piece 10. For example, in the cap of the example shown in FIG. 2, the locking projection 20 is provided at the root of the ratchet piece 10 or in the vicinity thereof, and at such a position, the ratchet claw 53 does not overlap. Become. As a result, the TE band 2 separated from the cap body 1 falls like the case where the locking projection 20 is not provided.

6A and 6B, the cap body 1 is shown.
2 shows the falling position of the PP band 2 separated from. FIG.
As shown in (A), if the locking projection 20 falls without riding on the ratchet pawl 53, the TE band 2 will be
The inner peripheral surface horizontal step portion 2a falls until it abuts on the ratchet pawl 53. Therefore, in this case, when the cap body 1 that has been opened once is mounted again, the distance between the upper end surface of the TE band 2 and the lower end surface of the skirt-shaped side wall 6 is indicated by p in the figure. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), when the locking projection 20 gets on the ratchet claw 53, the height of the locking projection 20 is set to q, and the skirt-shaped side wall is remounted. The distance between the lower end surface of 6 and the upper end surface of the TE band 2 is p
It becomes -q.

Therefore, when the locking projection 20 rides on the ratchet claw 53 when the separated TE band 2 is dropped, the TE remaining separated from the remounted cap body 1 is left. The space between band 2 is narrowed. As described above, if this interval is narrow, it cannot be immediately determined whether or not the cap is opened, and the tamper-evidence property cannot be avoided. However, according to the present invention, the separated TE band 2 is always in the state of FIG. 6 (A), so that the gap between the re-mounted cap body 1 and the separated TE band 2 is sufficiently secured, and the tampering is performed. Evidence is not impaired.

Since the above-mentioned locking projection 20 is provided to prevent the separated TE band 2 from easily falling off the neck 50 of the container when the container is tilted, it is generally used. It is desirable that a plurality of are provided at appropriate intervals. As a result, it is possible to prevent the separated TE band 2 from falling off no matter what direction the container neck 50 is tilted.

Further, in the cap of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1 or 3, two upper projections 30, 30 are provided on the upper end surface of the TE band 2 with a small space therebetween, and these upper projections 30 and 30 are provided. It is desirable to form a recess 31 having a shape along the outer shape of the protrusion 30 on the lower end surface of the skirt-shaped side wall 6 corresponding to the portion where the protrusion 30 is formed. By forming the upper protrusion 30 and the recess 31 as described above,
When the virgin cap is attached to the container neck 50, the breakage of the bridging part 9 can be effectively prevented, and the cap can be smoothly opened.

In FIG. 7, which is an enlarged view of the portions where the projections 30 and the recesses 31 are formed, the TE band 2 is shown.
The upper projection 30 formed on the upper end surface 40 of the projection has a rising surface 30a on the opening direction side as an upright surface and a rising surface 30b on the closing direction side as an inclined surface.
c is preferably a horizontal plane, and therefore the skirt-shaped side wall 6
The shape of the recess 31 formed on the lower end surface 41 of the is also set so as to correspond to the shape of the protrusion 30.

That is, the virgin cap is attached to the container neck 50.
When the cap is swung in the direction of closing and the cap is pushed onto the container neck 50 for capping, the inner peripheral surface of the TE band 2 first gets over the ratchet claw 53 provided on the container neck 50. To go. For this, T
Although the resistance acts on the E-band 2, the resistance does not act on the cap body 1, and this resistance is concentrated on the bridging portion 9,
The breakage easily occurs. However, if the upper protrusion 30 and the recess 31 are formed, the upright surface 30a of the upper protrusion 30 will be
Then, the corresponding surface of the concave portion 31 of the cap body 1 collides, whereby the TE band 2 can be forcibly turned in the closing direction. That is, the resistance force concentrated on the bridge portion 9 can be alleviated, and the breakage of the bridge portion 9 can be prevented.

During capping, a load is applied to the cap in the axial direction, and the bridging portion 9 easily breaks due to the axial load. However, such an axial load can be mitigated by the abutment of the tip end portion 30c of the upper protrusion with the lower end surface of the skirt-shaped side wall 6, and the breakage of the bridging portion 9 can be effectively prevented.

When the cap is opened, the upper projection inclined surface 30b is pushed down by the contact with the corresponding surface of the recess 31. Therefore, the cap can be opened easily, that is, the bridging portion 9 can be smoothly broken, and the cap can be easily opened.

The upper end surface 40 of the TE band 2 and the lower end surface 41 of the skirt-shaped side wall 6 are connected to each other at an intermediate portion between the pair of upper protrusions 30 and 30 so as to be easily broken. Is preferred. This effectively prevents the positional deviation between the upper protrusion 30 and the recess 31 due to the upper protrusion 30 expanding to the outside when the cap is closed or opened, and the effect of the combination of the above-described protrusion 30 and the recess 31 is effectively prevented. Is stably expressed.

According to the present invention, the T remaining on the neck of the container
A locking projection for preventing the E-band from falling off is formed by forming it in a portion upstream of the cap opening direction with respect to the circumferential tip of the ratchet piece as a reference and not overlapping the ratchet pawl. Further, the PP band always drops to the same position as when the locking projection is not provided. Therefore, when the cap body that has been opened once is attached to the neck of the container again, a sufficient space is guaranteed between the separated TE band and the cap body, and the excellent tamper evidence of the ratchet tamper evidence cap is obtained. The characteristics can be maintained. In particular, since excellent tamper-evidence characteristics can be secured without increasing the height of the container neck or the cap, the present invention is extremely advantageous in terms of cost and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a plastic cap of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan cross-sectional view of the cap of FIG.

3 is a side view of the cap of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a state in which the cap of FIG. 1 is fastened to the neck of the container.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the positional relationship between the TE band and the container neck when the cap is opened.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a falling position of the TE band separated from the cap body.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view showing a protrusion formed on the upper end surface of the TE band.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 TE band 9 Bridge part 10 Ratchet piece 20 Locking protrusion 53 Ratchet claw

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cap body composed of a top plate portion and a skirt-shaped side wall hanging from a peripheral portion thereof, and a tamper-evidence band connected to a lower end of the skirt-shaped side wall via a rupturable bridge portion. A ratchet-type tamper-evidence cap in which a plurality of ratchet pieces capable of engaging with a ratchet claw of a container neck are formed at a circumferential interval on the inner surface of the tamper-evidence band. In the upper portion of the inner surface of the ratchet, a locking projection capable of engaging with a projection formed on the outer circumference of the container neck portion above the ratchet claw is projected in the radial direction, and the locking projection surrounds the circumference of the ratchet piece. Is arranged at a position upstream of the cap opening direction with reference to the front end in the direction, and not overlapping the ratchet pawl. Per-evident cap. 2. The tamper-evidence cap according to claim 1, wherein the locking projections are arranged at a circumferential root of the ratchet piece or an upper portion in the vicinity thereof. 3. The tamper evidence cap according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the locking protrusions are provided at intervals in the circumferential direction.