JPH1157909A - Cap and manufacture of it and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To mold a cap of insertion type which would not be damaged by a pressure exerted when the cap is closely fitted with a vessel such as a glass, out of a heat moldable sheet with comparatively thin and uniform thickness. SOLUTION: A mold 100 with a molding surface corresponding to the shape of the cap and further a molding ring 142 to aid the forming of the cap are prepared, a sheet material 150 capable of heat molding is located near the molding surface between the mold and the molding ring, and then the molding ring is made to descend and is brought into contact with the sheet material at which time the sheet is molded along the molding surface of the mold so that the molding ring is brought into contact with a part of the sheet material to form the lowest range of the cap. Thereby, the cap is formed which is equipped with an annular fitting part 18, an annular grooved part 40 arranged inside the annular fitting part, and annular side wall 24 elevating and elongating from the inner circular edge of the annular grooved part, an annular ridge part 26 forming the top end of the annular side wall and the top surface 44 arranged inside the annular ridge part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lid for a container for storing beverages and the like, and a method and an apparatus for manufacturing the lid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a beverage container or the like, it is widely practiced to close the container with a lid or cover in order to prevent the contents contained in the container from spilling. Many of the prior art lids have openings to allow direct mouthing or insertion of straws to allow drinking of the contents.
Some lids use foldable flaps to prevent the contents from spilling when drinking. Further, there is provided a lid which has a tab which can be pushed down or pulled up, and which allows a container content to be drunk or a container content to be poured into a cup or the like from an opening formed by pushing down or pulling up the tab. I have.

[0003] As described above, an opening is formed in the lid in advance, and the contents of the container can be directly drunk or the contents can be poured out of the container through the opening without removing the lid. I have to.

[0004] However, many conventional designs have a problem that if the container is shaken even a little while storing a large amount of the contents, the contents will fall out of the opening. In order to solve this problem, a proposal has been made to change the opening position of the lid, but this time, there has been a problem that the opening position interferes with drinking of the contents of the container.

Further, according to US Pat. No. 4,441,624, there is proposed a beverage container cover having a circular top surface and an annular side surface which is in close contact with the container. The top surface of the container cover is an inclined surface that descends from the front to the rear, and has an opening closed by a sealing flap located inside the top surface. Applying pressure from the user's mouth near the opening in the top surface allows the sealing flap to be removed from the opening and through which the container contents can be extracted. However, the manufacture of such a two-piece lid is cumbersome and costly, and is cumbersome for consumers.

[0006] The lid structure disclosed in US Patent No. 4,589,569 has an annular mounting portion and an annular side surface which are engaged with the container mouth. In addition, a recess is provided on the top surface of the lid to receive the lips of the consumer, so that the consumer can grip the lid near a beverage outlet (opening) formed in the top surface. ing. Such a lid can be generally formed by a so-called thermoforming method in which a softened plastic blank is formed into a shape by vacuum forming into a mold. This method is described in U.S. Pat.
523 is similar to the method described in US Pat.

The method described in US Pat. No. 3,928,523 involves molding a thermoformable plastic sheet along a male mold, which is wrapped between the sheet and the male mold. There are provided a plurality of passages for discharging the exhausted air. The passage is alternatively connected to a vacuum source to reduce the pressure in the passage. This molding method is useful in the lid shape described above. In particular, US Patent No. 4
In the lid described in Japanese Patent No. 589569, there is no groove between the raised dome-shaped side surface and the annular ridge seal part, and the lid is not a lid of a type in which the groove part is inserted inside the upper end of the cup. Applicable without problems.

[0008]

However, 199
U.S. Patent Application No. 467718 filed June 6, 5
When molding a lid as described in the item, i.e., a lid having an insertion groove between the raised top surface and the mounting portion to the cup, the material forming the insertion area is thickened,
Care had to be taken that the lid did not tear or break when the pressure required to attach the lid to the cup was applied. For this reason, said method was not suitable for molding such lids.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and is suitable for manufacturing a plug-in type lid having a raised domed or conical top surface. It is intended to provide a method and apparatus.

More specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a plug-in type lid which is not damaged by pressure applied when the lid is attached to a container such as a cup, and has a relatively thin and uniform thickness. It is intended to mold from a thermoformable sheet material.

The present invention, which has been devised to achieve the above object, comprises an annular mounting portion, an annular groove provided inside the annular mounting portion, an annular side wall extending upward from an inner peripheral edge of the annular groove, and an upper end of the annular side wall. A method for molding a lid having an annular ridge portion and a top surface provided inside the annular ridge portion, comprising: preparing a mold having a molding surface having a shape corresponding to the lid shape; Providing a forming ring to assist in forming, positioning the thermoformable sheet material between the mold and the forming ring near the forming surface of the mold, lowering the forming ring into contact with the sheet material, A method of manufacturing a lid, comprising forming a sheet material along a forming surface of a mold by bringing a forming ring into contact with a sheet material in a portion forming a lowermost region of the lid (claim 1). .

[0012] Further, the apparatus for manufacturing a lid according to the present invention comprises an annular mounting portion, an annular groove provided inside the annular mounting portion, an annular side wall extending upward from an inner peripheral edge of the annular groove, and an annular ridge forming an upper end of the annular side wall. A device for molding a lid having a portion and a top surface provided inside an annular ridge portion, comprising: a mold having a molding surface having a shape corresponding to the lid shape; Ring, positioning means for positioning the thermoformable sheet material between the mold and the molding ring near the molding surface of the mold, and driving means for lowering the molding ring to contact the sheet material, The forming ring is configured to be in contact with the sheet material of the portion forming the lowermost region of the lid (claim 11).

The preferred embodiment of the method and the apparatus of the present invention will be described below. Preferably, the forming ring is made of a material which does not easily adhere to the sheet material (claims 2 and 12). It is preferable to use them (claims 3 and 13).

The forming ring contacts the sheet material of the portion forming the annular groove of the lid (claims 4 and 14). Thereby, the forming ring serves to give the entire thickness of the sheet material to the bottom of the annular groove of the lid (claims 5 and 15).

The present invention also provides a characteristic lid configuration or shape, that is, a lid made of a thermoformable sheet material, wherein the lid has an annular mounting portion that is in close contact with a beverage cup. An annular groove provided inside the annular mounting portion, an annular side wall rising and extending from an inner peripheral edge of the annular groove, an annular ridge forming an upper end of the annular side wall, and an opening formed in the annular ridge. And a top surface portion provided inside the annular ridge portion (claim 6).

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the lid of the present invention will be described. When the lid is mounted on the cup, the annular groove is inserted into and engaged with the inner wall surface of the cup. In this case, the diameter of the annular groove is substantially the same as the diameter of the annular mounting portion.

Further, the lowermost part of the annular groove is disposed on a first substantially horizontal plane, and the uppermost part of the annular mounting part is disposed on a second substantially horizontal plane higher than the first substantially horizontal plane. Is preferable (claim 9). In this case, the annular ridge has a substantially flat surface at a position higher than the first and second substantially horizontal surfaces.

It is preferable that the apparatus for manufacturing a lid according to the present invention is configured to realize the above-described lid shape.

That is, it is preferable that the thickness of the sheet material forming the annular groove of the lid is substantially the same as the thickness of the other parts of the lid.

The mold forms an annular groove so that the annular groove of the lid is inserted into and engaged with the inner wall surface of the cup when the lid is mounted on the cup (claim 17).

The molding surface of the mold is provided so that the diameter of the annular groove of the lid is substantially the same as the diameter of the annular mounting portion of the lid.

By the cooperation of the mold and the forming ring, the lowermost part of the annular groove of the lid is arranged on the first substantially horizontal plane, and the uppermost part of the annular mounting part is higher than the first substantially horizontal plane. It is arranged on a second substantially horizontal plane (claim 19).

The annular ridge of the lid has a substantially flat surface, and the flat surface is provided at a position higher than the first and second substantially horizontal surfaces by the cooperation of the mold and the forming ring.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The features of the present invention are particularly embodied in a plug assist ring 100 shown in detail in FIGS. In order to fully understand the importance of the plug assist ring 100 and the method of the present invention, a lid manufactured by the method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The lid according to the embodiment shown is a beverage cup 12
Lid 10 used to close the upper end of the opening (FIG. 5)
It is embodied as For convenience of description, the terms “upper”, “downward”, “horizontal” and the like below are based on the state shown in FIG. 2, but the lid 10 is in various directions during use. Used.

Although the lid 10 can be used for various types of cups, it can be particularly suitably used as a lid for a disposable cup used as a take-out container for coffee or other beverages. Such disposable cups are generally made of plastic or paper, such as expanded polystyrene. As shown in FIG. 5, the cup 12 has a bead 16 on the outer circumference of the generally circular upper lip or rim 14.
Is formed, and a lid is attached thereon.

The lid 10 closes the opening of the cup 12 to prevent the beverage from overflowing the cup and to reduce heat transfer (heat exchange) between the beverage and the outside air. The lid 10 is provided with an annular mounting portion 18, and the annular mounting portion 18 is engaged with the upper end lip 14 of the cup so that the lid 10 is fixed at a predetermined position with respect to the cup 12. The beverage in the cup 12 can be drunk without removing the lid 10 through the opening 20 formed in the lid 10 in advance. The opening 20 is merely an opening in the illustrated embodiment, but may be an opening having a cover or stopper that can be easily removed by the consumer before drinking the beverage in the cup.

The opening 20 is formed at a position where the lower lip does not hit the lower end 22 of the lid 10 when drinking the beverage in the cup. The lid 10 has an annular side surface 24 that extends upward from the mounting portion 18 to an annular ridge 26 that extends around the top surface of the lid 10. A generally circular outer peripheral portion 28 of the annular ridge 26 is in contact with the upper end of the side surface 24. The opening 20 is formed in the annular ridge portion 26.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 4 and FIG.
The mounting portion 18 is provided with an annular elastic grip portion 32 that engages the bead 16 on the upper lip 14 of the cup 12 in a close contact state. The mounting portion 18 further extends outwardly from the grip portion 32 to facilitate mounting of the lid 10 and to facilitate movement of the elastic grip portion 32 to expand into engagement with the bead 16. It has a flare skirt portion 34. Lid 1 of the upper end of the cup 12 from above
4, the skirt portion 34 automatically expands the diameter of the grip portion 32 by elastic deformation while automatically centering the lid by the action of the skirt portion 34, so that the grip portion 32 is brought into close contact engagement along the bead 16. In addition, an annular groove 40 is provided between the grip portion 32 and the lower end of the side surface 24 to accommodate a liquid (beverage) that falls outside the side surface 24. The annular groove 40 will be described in more detail later.

In order to prevent the lower lip from hitting the lower end 22 of the lid 10 when drinking the beverage in the cup 12, the opening 2
0 is preferably provided at a sufficient distance from the lower end 22 of the lid 10. For this reason, the side surface 24 extends upward from the mounting portion 18 by about 0.5 inch (about 1.27 cm) or more. The provision of a certain level of height difference between the lower end 22 and the opening 22 further reduces the risk of liquid spilling upward from the opening 20 and also when the beverage in the cup is hot. This also contributes to maintaining a relatively low temperature at the portion of the lid 10 where the user's lips hit. In this embodiment, the height of the side surface 24 is 0.5 inch (about 1.27 cm).
Is slightly exceeded.

Further, even when considering that the lid is manufactured by the method and apparatus described later, the above-described side height does not significantly increase the material cost associated with manufacturing the lid. In addition, the lid is not so large as to cause inconvenience in handling and storage, and can provide the above-mentioned many advantages while being sufficiently practical. That is, the lid can be manufactured without the need to use a thick lid material, and such a lid does not easily collapse or break when applied to a cup. The annular side surface 24 may extend substantially vertically upward from the mounting portion 18. The ventilation hole 38 formed in the annular ridge portion 26 is used to supply air to the cup 12 when the user drinks the beverage in the cup 12 so that the drinking cup 12 can be used.
It serves to promote the discharge of internal beverages.

As described above, the annular groove portion 40 is provided between the mounting portion 18 and the substantially vertical annular side surface 24, and the beverage overflowing from the opening 20 when the cup 12 is shaken or the beverage spilling in the beverage. And other liquids. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, the annular groove 40 has a size that is far beyond the level that can accommodate a few drops of liquid and is realized by the method and apparatus of the present invention described below. Is what is done.

Although not essential to the present invention, a plurality of concave portions 42 are provided at the upper end of the annular side surface 24 and the outer peripheral edge of the annular ridge portion 26. These recesses 42 are provided in order to prevent the lids 10 that are vertically adjacent to each other from being in close contact with each other when the lids 10 are stacked, making it difficult to separate them. In general, it is preferable that the intervals between the concave portions 42 be set randomly so that the concave portions 42 are always arranged at different positions between the vertically adjacent lids 10 when the lids 10 are stacked.

Further, although this is not essential to the present invention,
4 and 5, the outer peripheral edge of the lid top surface 44 surrounded by the annular ridge portion 26 is located on a plane lower than the annular ridge portion 26, and the lid top surface itself is Generally, the conical surface has a peak at the center thereof. The lid top surface 44 is provided with a concave portion 46 for preventing the user's nose from obstructing the drink in the cup 12 through the opening 20. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, a beam portion 48 is provided on the top surface 44 of the lid.

Next, the lid 1 described above with reference to FIGS.
A method and an apparatus for manufacturing the “0” will be described.

FIG. 6 shows the above-described lid 10 shown in FIGS.
1 shows a male mold used for the molding of. The male mold 100 has a lid 10
As a top surface. The male mold 100 may be composed of a plurality of parts as is well known, but is shown as a single structure for simplification in the drawings. Further, as is well known, in order to easily and smoothly form a thermoformable sheet material along the shape of the male mold 100, the male mold 100 is
An air passage (not shown) connected to the reduced pressure supply 112 via the valve 114 can be provided.

The male mold 100 is a cover 10 shown in FIGS.
Has the necessary configuration (shape) for molding each part of That is, the male mold 100 is provided with the annular mounting portion 1 of the lid 10.
8 has an annular bead portion 118 for molding, and a side surface portion 124 for molding the annular side surface 24. An annular groove forming part 140 for forming the annular groove part 40 is provided between the annular bead part 118 and the side part 124. Lid 10
As described above, the formation of the annular groove 40 constitutes a feature of the present invention.

To clarify the features of the present invention, the method and apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to molding a single lid, but those skilled in the art will be able to form one thermoformable material in a known manner. It will be appreciated that multiple lids can be molded simultaneously from various plastic materials.

Referring to FIGS. 7 to 9, and particularly to FIG.
Reference numeral 00 denotes a predetermined position below the thermoformable sheet material 150 for forming the lid 10 according to the present invention. The plug assist device or ring 142 shown with the male mold 100 in FIG. 8 is used to form the annular groove 40 in the lid 10. As mentioned above, when molding a lid of the type described in the present invention, the sheet material forming the annular groove 40 is often thinned, which causes a force to be applied to the upper surface of the lid applied to the container. The lid was sometimes torn or broken. In the prior art, in order to solve this drawback, a thick sheet material is used to increase the strength of the annular groove 40 to a degree sufficient to prevent the lid from being damaged.
As already mentioned, this solution significantly increases the overall cost of the lid. Attempts have also been made to maintain the material thickness in the annular groove using a female member, but it is extremely difficult to remove the lid in which the annular groove is plug-fit molded from the female member. And the cost of the lid could not be avoided.

The plug assist device 142 of the present invention
Enables the molding process to proceed with the male mold 100 while exhibiting the same advantages as using a female mold.

The plug assist device 142 is preferably made of nylon, but any material can be used as long as it has the property of not sticking to the thermoformable sheet material. In this embodiment, the nylon plug assist device 142 causes the sheet to be located at the bottom of the plug fit area, thus eliminating the need for thick sheet material.
Maintain a thickness in this area that can withstand the pressure required when applying the lid to the cup. The thermoformable sheet material 150 is positioned above the male mold 100 by a clamp or other suitable positioning mechanism 144. In the following description of the process, the movement described is a relative movement with respect to various members, and when one or more members are moved with respect to another member, only the former is moved. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto, and may include a mode in which both the former and the latter are moved or a mode in which the latter is moved while the former is stationary.

The plug assist device 142 and the positioning mechanism 144 descend from the position shown in FIG. 8 to the position shown in FIG. In the position of FIG. 9, the upper part of the male mold 100 is in contact with the central part of the moldable sheet material 150, and the tip 146 of the plug assist device 142 is in contact with the outer part of the male material 100 contact area of the sheet material 150, Assist device 142
The tip 146 contacts (presses) with the lowering of
The sheet portion gradually moves outward, and the sheet material 150
Along the side surface 124 to the inside of the annular groove 140 (see FIG. 7). As shown in FIG. 7, the inner cavity of the plug assist device 142 is sized and shaped so as not to interfere with the top shape of the lid. The plug assist device 142 rises immediately after descending to the position shown in FIG. Therefore, the plug assist device 1
It does not occur that the material forming 42 sticks to the thermoformable sheet material 150 and does not separate. According to a preferred embodiment, at or immediately before the position of FIG.
Is adhered along the male mold surface. As described above, according to the present invention, a lid having a raised dome-shaped upper surface and provided with a deep annular groove for fitting a cup upper end portion around the lid can be formed without relying on a thick thermoformable sheet material or a female member. According to this, molding can be performed efficiently and at low cost.

In the above description, the annular mounting portion, the annular groove provided inside the annular mounting portion, the annular side surface extending upward from the inner peripheral edge of the annular groove, the annular ridge forming the upper end of the annular side surface, and the inside of the annular ridge. Although a method for molding a lid having a top surface portion provided in the above has been described in detail, the present invention also exerts an advantage as an apparatus for performing such a method. As described above, the apparatus of the present invention has a mold (male mold 10) having a molding surface having a shape corresponding to the lid shape.
0), a forming ring to assist in forming the lid (plug assist device 142), and positioning means (positioning mechanism 144) for positioning the thermoformable sheet material between the mold and the forming ring near the forming surface of the mold. And a driving means (not shown) for lowering the forming ring to make contact with the sheet material. The method includes the step of contacting the forming ring with a portion of the sheet material that forms the lowermost region of the lid.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, the present invention may take various forms without being limited to the specific form described without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Things. The spirit and scope of the invention is limited only by the following claims.

[0045]

According to the present invention, a cover having a raised dome-shaped upper surface and provided with a deep annular groove around which the upper end of the cup is fitted can be formed by using a thick thermoformable sheet material or a female mold. Molding can be performed efficiently and at low cost without relying on members.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lid manufactured by the method and apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the lid shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the lid shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state where the lid of FIG. 1 is placed on a cup.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a male mold used to manufacture the lid of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a plug assist device is combined with the male mold of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the plug assist device is at the uppermost position apart from the male mold.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the plug assist device is in a lowered position in proximity to the male mold.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 lid 12 cup 14 upper lip 16 bead 18 mounting part 20 opening 24 annular side surface 26 annular ridge 40 annular groove 44 lid top surface 100 male type (mold) 110 molding surface 150 sheet material 142 plug assist device (molding ring) 144 positioning Mechanism (means)

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. An annular mounting portion, an annular groove provided inside the annular mounting portion, an annular side wall rising and extending from an inner peripheral edge of the annular groove, an annular ridge forming an upper end of the annular side wall, and an annular ridge provided inside the annular ridge. A mold having a molding surface having a shape corresponding to the shape of the lid, and providing a molding ring for assisting the molding of the lid, and thermoforming. Positioning a possible sheet material between the mold and the molding ring, near the molding surface of the mold,
The forming material is lowered along the forming surface of the mold by lowering the forming ring into contact with the sheet material, such that the forming ring is in contact with the sheet material forming the lowermost region of the lid. A method for producing a lid, characterized in that: 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said forming ring comprises a material that is resistant to sticking to said sheet material. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said forming ring is made of nylon. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said forming ring contacts said sheet material in a portion forming an annular groove in the lid. 5. The method of claim 4 wherein said forming ring serves to provide a total thickness of said sheet material to the bottom of the annular groove of the lid. 6. A lid made of a thermoformable sheet material, comprising: an annular mounting portion which is tightly engaged with a beverage cup; an annular groove provided inside the annular mounting portion; and an inner peripheral edge of the annular groove. An annular side wall extending upward, an annular ridge forming an upper end of the annular side wall, an opening formed in the annular ridge, and a top surface provided inside the annular ridge. Features lid. 7. The lid according to claim 6, wherein said annular groove is inserted into and engaged with an inner wall surface of said cup when said lid is mounted on said cup. 8. The lid according to claim 7, wherein the diameter of the annular groove is substantially the same as the diameter of the annular mounting portion. 9. A lowermost portion of the annular groove portion is disposed on a first substantially horizontal plane, and an uppermost portion of the annular mounting portion is disposed on a second substantially horizontal surface higher than the first substantially horizontal plane. 9. The lid of claim 8, wherein: 10. The lid according to claim 9, wherein said annular ridge has a substantially flat surface located at a position higher than said first and second substantially horizontal surfaces. 11. An annular mounting portion, an annular groove provided inside the annular mounting portion, an annular side wall rising and extending from an inner peripheral edge of the annular groove, an annular ridge forming an upper end of the annular side wall, and provided inside the annular ridge. For forming a lid having a top surface portion to be formed, a mold having a molding surface having a shape corresponding to the lid shape, a molding ring for assisting molding of the lid, and a thermoformable sheet material Positioning means for positioning the mold near the molding surface of the mold between the mold and the molding ring, and driving means for lowering the molding ring to make contact with the sheet material, wherein the molding ring covers the lowermost region of the lid. An apparatus for manufacturing a lid, which is configured to be in contact with a sheet material of a portion to be formed. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said forming ring is made of a material that does not stick to said sheet material. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said forming ring is made of nylon. 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said forming ring contacts said sheet material in a portion forming an annular groove in a lid. 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said forming ring serves to provide the full thickness of said sheet material to the bottom of the annular groove of the lid. 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the thickness of the sheet material forming the annular groove of the lid is substantially the same as the thickness of the other portions of the lid. 17. When the lid is mounted on the cup, the annular groove of the lid is inserted into and engaged with the inner wall surface of the cup.
The mold of claim 1, wherein the mold forms an annular groove.
1 device. 18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the molding surface of the mold is provided such that the diameter of the annular groove of the lid is substantially the same as the diameter of the annular mounting portion of the lid. 19. The lower part of the annular groove of the lid is disposed on a first substantially horizontal plane and the uppermost part of the annular mounting part is formed by the cooperation of the mold and the forming ring. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus is disposed on a second substantially horizontal plane that is higher than the horizontal plane. 20. An annular ridge portion of a lid having a substantially flat surface, wherein the flat surface is provided at a position higher than the first and second substantially horizontal surfaces by the cooperation of the mold and the forming ring. 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein