WO2009125691A1

WO2009125691A1 - Liquid container

Info

Publication number: WO2009125691A1
Application number: PCT/JP2009/056601
Authority: WO
Inventors: 繁彦小久保
Original assignee: ロート製薬株式会社
Priority date: 2008-04-08
Filing date: 2009-03-31
Publication date: 2009-10-15
Also published as: JP2009249007A; US20110024426A1; JP5314318B2; TWI444313B; EP2287083A1; TW200951032A; CN101983164A; EP2287083A4

Abstract

A liquid container has a container main body (1) and a cap (2). A protrusion (12a) for locking the cap (2) is provided on the outer circumferential surface in the cylindrical neck part (12) of the container main body (1), with the outer diameter dimension formed larger than the maximum diameter dimension of a nozzle part (14). The cap (2) also has a pair of locking arms (24), and the locking arms (24) lock onto the locking protrusion (12a) when the cap (2) is mounted on the container main body (1). The opposite surfaces (26) of the locking arms (24) constitute guide surfaces that guide the cap (2) along the cylindrical neck part (12) in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical neck part (12) when the cap is mounted, thereby bringing the plug protrusion (22) of the cap (2) and a nozzle hole (14a) into correspondence.

Description

Container for liquid

The present invention relates to a liquid container useful as a container for eye drops, nasal drops, contact lens cleaning liquids, and the like.

Conventionally, as a container for eye drops etc., it consists of a container main body equipped with a nozzle and a cap that is detachably attached to the container main body. Remove the cap with the nozzle tip facing downward, and lightly press the container main body to make the nozzle Those in which a chemical solution is dripped from the tip are generally known.

In particular, as described in Patent Document 1, the cap inner peripheral surface is provided with a locking arm, and the locking arm is locked to a locking projection formed on the container main body, whereby the cap is attached to the container main body. A so-called twist cap type liquid container that can be removed by unlocking the locking arm by twisting the cap against the container body, is widely used as a container for eye drops, etc. It has been.

In addition, containers such as eye drops are often carried around, and therefore it is necessary to reliably prevent liquid leakage from the nozzles. Therefore, in the container of Patent Document 1, a stopper protrusion (seal part) is provided at the top of the cap, and the stopper protrusion is inserted into the nozzle port to prevent liquid leakage. A guide portion is provided around the plug protrusion so that the nozzle and the plug protrusion can be positioned so that they can be inserted into the nozzle opening.

However, in the container described in Patent Document 1, when the cap is installed, the nozzle is brought into contact with the guide provided along the guide provided on the cap. It can be considered that the formation of droplets is hindered. In particular, ring-shaped protrusions are formed on the outer periphery of the nozzle to prevent dripping from the nozzle, and droplets are well formed regardless of the attitude (dropping angle) of the container body to improve eye drop operability. Since the tip of the ring-shaped projection is guided along the guide portion of the cap (for example, Patent Document 2), the ring-shaped projection is deformed when the cap is repeatedly attached and detached, thereby preventing dripping. It is conceivable that the droplet forming function is hindered. In addition, since contact is made only at the tip portion of the ring-shaped protrusion along the guide portion of the cap as described above, there is a problem that it is difficult to stably guide the nozzle along the guide portion during the cap mounting operation. . Therefore, it is required to improve these problems based on a rational configuration.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-329855 JP 2004-196417 A

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and in the cap mounting operation, while the cap can be mounted with good guidance to the container body, inconvenience such as nozzle deformation has occurred. It aims to be able to prevent.

In order to achieve this object, the liquid container of the present invention has a cylindrical mouth and neck portion, and a container main body integrally provided with a nozzle portion at the tip of the cylindrical mouth and neck portion, and a nozzle opening. A container for liquid comprising a sealing portion for sealing, and having a cap-shaped cylindrical cap attached to the container main body so as to cover the nozzle portion and the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion, the container main body includes: The outer diameter of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck part is formed larger than the maximum diameter dimension of the nozzle part, and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck part is provided with a projection for locking the cap, The cap includes a pair of locking pieces extending along the cylindrical mouth-neck portion at an inner top portion thereof and arranged in the radial direction of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion, and the cap is attached to the cylindrical mouth with respect to the container body. When mounted along the axial direction of the neck, the cylindrical mouth-neck is inserted between each locking piece Each of the locking pieces is configured such that the locking protrusion is inserted into a locking recess formed on the opposing surface of the locking piece and the cap is locked to the container body. In the cap mounting on the container body, by contacting the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth and neck portion, the cap along the cylindrical mouth and neck portion so that the nozzle port and the seal portion correspond to each other. Is provided with a guide surface.

According to this liquid container, when the cap is attached along the axial direction of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion of the container body, the nozzle and the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion are interposed between the pair of locking pieces provided on the inner top portion of the cap. The cap is guided along the axial direction of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion as the guide surface of each locking piece comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion while being inserted. Thus, the nozzle opening is positioned with respect to the seal portion by guiding the cap along the guide surface of each locking piece. Then, when the cap is pushed to the predetermined end position along the axial direction of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion, the locking portion of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion is inserted into the locking recess formed on the opposing surface of each locking piece. The protrusion is inserted, so that the cap is locked against the container body. That is, according to this liquid container, since the nozzle portion is not brought into contact with the guide along the guide portion provided on the cap as in the conventional case, the deformation of the nozzle accompanying the contact is prevented in advance. It becomes possible. In addition, since the guide surface of the cylindrical mouth / neck portion is integrally provided on the locking piece for locking the cap to the container body, it is possible to enjoy the above-described operation with a rational configuration. .

As a specific configuration, the guide surface of each locking piece has a shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the outer peripheral surface so as to continuously contact the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth and neck portion in the circumferential direction. Alternatively, it may be formed so as to intermittently contact the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion in the circumferential direction.

The above-described configuration is particularly useful in a liquid container in which a ring-shaped protrusion is formed as the maximum diameter portion on the outer periphery of the nozzle portion.

That is, by forming a ring-shaped protrusion on the outer periphery of the nozzle part, liquid dripping from the nozzle part is prevented, and droplets are formed well regardless of the attitude (dropping angle) of the container body, improving the drip operability. However, according to the above configuration, when the cap is mounted, the nozzle portion is not brought into contact with the guide portion provided on the cap to guide the ring-shaped projection. As a result, it is possible to keep the above functions good in the long term.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a main part of a liquid container according to the present invention ((a) is a vertical cross-sectional view, (b) is a flat cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along the line II in (a))) It is. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1A) showing the main part of the liquid container. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view (a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1A) of the liquid container showing a state during the cap mounting operation. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view (corresponding to FIG. 1A) showing a main part of another liquid container having a different nozzle shape. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view (corresponding to FIG. 1A) showing a main part of another liquid container having a different nozzle shape. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view (a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1B) showing a main part of another liquid container having a different shape of the locking arm (opposing surface).

1 and 2 show the main part of the liquid container according to the present invention.

The liquid container (hereinafter abbreviated as “container”) shown in the figure is a so-called twist cap type container. This container is a container for eye drops in this embodiment, and is composed of a container body 1 having a nozzle portion 14 and a cap 2 that is detachably attached to the container body 1 so as to cover the nozzle portion 14. At the time of instillation, the tip of the nozzle part is directed downward with the cap 2 removed, and the container body 1 is lightly pressed to drop the medicine contained in the container body 1 from the tip of the nozzle part.

The container body 1 is formed flat in the front-rear direction (vertical direction in the figure) as shown in FIG. The container body 1 has a cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12 having a circular cross section through a shoulder portion 10 at the upper center position, and the nozzle portion 14 is provided on the upper portion of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12. The portions other than the nozzle portion 14 are integrally formed of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or polyethylene terephthalate.

The nozzle portion 14 is provided integrally with the container body 1 by press-fitting an axial nozzle body formed separately from the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12 and the like into the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12. The nozzle portion 14 is formed of a soft synthetic resin such as low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, or polypropylene.

As shown in the figure, the nozzle portion 14 includes a ring-shaped protrusion 15 on the outer periphery, and a constricted portion on the base end side (lower side) of the ring-shaped protrusion 15. That is, the liquid dripping from the nozzle portion 14 is prevented by the ring-shaped protrusion 15, and at the time of instillation, droplets are favorably formed on the ring-shaped protrusion 15 regardless of the attitude (dropping angle) of the container body 1. It has become.

The outer diameter of the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 is set to be larger than the maximum diameter of the nozzle portion 14 (in this embodiment, the outer diameter of the ring-shaped protrusion 15). When the cap 2 is attached to the cap 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as the cap attachment state), a gap is formed between the later-described locking arm 24 of the cap 2 and the nozzle portion 14, and the cap 2 and the ring-shaped protrusion 15 are not connected. It is configured to be in contact.

The cap 2 is shown in FIG. 1 (for the sake of convenience, only a part of the cap 2 is shown by a solid line in FIG. 1), and as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the side surface of the container body 1 and the side surface of the cap 2 form a smooth outer shape line that is continuous in the vertical direction. Has been. The cap 2 is formed of, for example, a synthetic resin such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or polystyrene, as with the container main body 1, but is slightly harder than the container main body 1.

A cap projection 22 (corresponding to a seal portion according to the present invention) is provided on the inner top surface 20 of the cap 2 so as to protrude downward at the center thereof. The nozzle port 14a is inserted into close contact with the inner peripheral surface, and as a result, the nozzle port 14a is sealed.

A locking arm 24 (corresponding to a locking piece according to the present invention) is integrally formed on the inner top surface 20 of the cap 2 on both the left and right sides of the plug projection 22.

These locking arms 24 are extended along the axial direction of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12, and locking recesses 28 are formed on the opposite surfaces 26 at the tips of the locking arms 24. In the mounted state, as shown in FIG. 1A, the nozzle portion 14 and the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 are inserted between the locking arms 24, and the outer periphery of the proximal end portion of the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 is inserted. A locking projection 12 a formed in the container is inserted into the locking recess 28, whereby the cap 2 is locked to the container body 1 via the locking arm 24.

The opposing surface 26 of each locking arm 24 is formed in an arc shape whose cross-sectional shape corresponds to the outer peripheral surface shape of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12 throughout the longitudinal direction of the arm. Are set so that each facing surface 26 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12 from both the left and right sides. With this configuration, the cap projection 22 and the nozzle port 14a are positioned during the cap mounting operation, as will be described later. That is, in this embodiment, these opposing surfaces 26 correspond to guide surfaces according to the present invention. In addition, a rounded taper 29 is formed at the tip of the opposing surface 26 of each locking arm 24, so that the nozzle portion 14 can be smoothly inserted between the both locking arms 24 during the cap mounting operation. It is possible.

In the container configured as described above, when instilled, the cap 2 is rotated about 90 ° around the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 12 from the cap-mounted state shown in FIG. Remove. That is, when the cap 2 is rotated, the cap 2 rides on the shoulder portion 10 of the container body 1, and the cap 2 is pushed upward along with this riding, and the locking arm 24 and the cylindrical mouth and neck portion 12 are locked. Is released. Accordingly, after that, the cap 2 is removed from the container main body 1 along the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 12 to enable instillation.

On the other hand, after use, the cap 2 is attached along the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 12 of the container body 1. At this time, when the cap 2 is attached and operated along the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12, the nozzle portion 14 and the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12 are inserted between the locking arms 24 as shown in FIG. The cap 2 is guided along the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 by the opposing surface 26 of the arm 24 coming into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12. Thus, the cap 2 is guided along the opposing surface 26 of each locking arm 24, whereby the nozzle port 14a is positioned with respect to the plug projection 22, and the plug projection 22 is inserted into the nozzle port 14a satisfactorily. . At this time, since the outer diameter dimension of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck part 12 is set larger than the maximum diameter dimension of the nozzle part 14 (the outer diameter dimension of the ring-shaped protrusion 15), the container has a ring-like shape with the locking arm 24. There is no contact with the protrusion 15.

When the cap 2 is pushed along the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 to a predetermined end position, the locking arm 24 is elastically displaced moderately, and the cylindrical mouth / neck portion is inserted into the locking recess 28 of each locking arm 24. Twelve locking projections 12 a are inserted, whereby the cap 2 is locked to the container body 1.

As described above, in the container, the cap projection 22 is inserted into the nozzle port 14a while the cap 2 is guided by bringing the locking arms 24 into contact with the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 when the cap is mounted. There is no possibility that the nozzle part is deformed or the like as the cap is detached, unlike a conventional container that guides the nozzle part by bringing it into contact with the provided guide surface. Therefore, it is possible to prevent inconvenience that the dropping performance of the medicine is impaired due to deformation of the nozzle portion 14 or the like.

In particular, the container is provided with a ring-shaped projection 15 on the nozzle portion 14 to prevent liquid dripping from the nozzle portion 14 with the ring-shaped projection 15, and at the time of instillation, regardless of the posture (dropping angle) of the container body 1. Although it is the structure which forms a droplet favorably in the part of the ring-shaped projection 15 and improves eye drop operability, as described above, according to this container, the nozzle part 14 (particularly, with the detachment of the cap 2) Since the deformation or the like of the ring-shaped protrusion 15) can be prevented in advance, the above-mentioned eye drop operability can be kept good in the long term.

Further, in order to guide the cap 2 along the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 in a state where the arcuate facing surface 26 corresponding to the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 is in wide contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12. In the cap mounting operation, the plug protrusion 22 can be inserted into the nozzle port 14a while stably guiding the cap 2 along the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12.

In addition, the container focuses on the locking arm 24 which is a configuration peculiar to the twist cap type container, and the cap 2 is used in the cylindrical mouth-neck portion by using the opposing surface 26 of the locking arm 24 as a guided surface. Since it is set as the structure guided along 12, there also exists an advantage that said operation effect can be enjoyed with a rational structure.

In addition, according to the container described above, there is an advantage that the cap 2 can be shared with other containers that differ only in the shape of the nozzle portion 14. That is, in the conventional container that guides the nozzle portion by bringing it into contact with the guide surface provided on the cap, it is necessary to provide a guide surface according to the shape of the nozzle portion on the cap side, so the outer diameter of the nozzle portion is different. A dedicated cap is required for each container body. On the other hand, according to the configuration in which the cap 2 is guided along the cylindrical mouth and neck portion 12 as in the container of the above embodiment, the maximum diameter size of the nozzle portion 14 is larger than the outer diameter size of the cylindrical mouth and neck portion 12. If it is small, the cap 2 can be guided well along the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 12 regardless of the specific shape of the nozzle portion 14. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the container body 1 has a nozzle portion 14 with a tapered tip, and the cylindrical nozzle portion 14 has an outer diameter dimension that is substantially constant in the axial direction as shown in FIG. The cap 2 can be used in common for the container body 1 as well, and the same operational effects as in the above embodiment can be enjoyed. In particular, the container body 1 as shown in FIG. 4 has a nozzle portion 14 having a tapered tip (taper shape) in order to reduce the amount of liquid droplets and make it easy to determine a dropping target, and a guide portion provided on the cap. In the conventional container that guides the nozzle part by contacting the nozzle part, it is difficult to stably guide the nozzle part, so that a sufficient guide effect cannot be obtained, and the nozzle part is deformed due to the removal of the cap. Although the function may be impaired, according to the container of the above embodiment, such inconvenience can be avoided in advance. Accordingly, it is possible to share the cap 2 among a plurality of types of container main bodies 1 that differ only in the shape of the nozzle portion 14, and as a result, the container can be manufactured rationally and the burden of inventory management can be reduced. There is an advantage that you can.

In addition, the container mentioned above is an example of preferable embodiment of the container for liquids concerning this invention, The specific structure can be suitably changed in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

For example, the specific shape of the nozzle portion 14 may be other than the shape shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 as described above. In the embodiment, the opposed surface 26 of the locking arm 24 is formed in an arc shape corresponding to the outer peripheral surface shape of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12, so that the guided surface of the cap 2 is the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion 12. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the guided surface of the cap 2 is intermittent in the circumferential direction with respect to the cylindrical mouth and neck portion 12. The structure which contacts may be sufficient. Specifically, protrusions 26 a extending along the cylindrical mouth and neck portion 12 are provided on the opposing surfaces 26 of the respective locking arms 24, and these protrusions 26 a are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth and neck portion 12. The structure which contacts may be sufficient. In this case, the locking recess 28 is formed in the middle portion of the protrusion 26a.

In the embodiment, as the sealing portion according to the present invention, a cap protrusion 22 is provided on the cap 2, and the nozzle opening 14 a is sealed by inserting the plug protrusion 22 into the nozzle opening 14 a of the nozzle portion 14. However, in addition to the shape that the seal portion is completely inserted into the nozzle port 14a in this way, for example, the plug projection 22 is pressed against the opening edge of the nozzle port 14a to seal the nozzle port 14a. Something like that.

Further, in the embodiment, as the locking piece of the present invention, a pair of locking arms 24 arranged in the radial direction of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion 12 is provided on the cap 2. For example, such a pair of locking arms One set of 24 may be further added, and a total of two sets of four locking arms 24 may be locked to the cylindrical mouth / neck portion 12 from four directions. Of course, three or more sets of locking pieces (locking arms 24) may be provided.

In the embodiment, a cylindrical mouth-neck portion 12 having a circular cross section is provided in the container body 1 as the cylindrical mouth-neck portion according to the present invention, but the shape of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion is, for example, a hexagonal cross section, It may be a polygon such as an octagon.

Further, in the embodiment, an example in which the liquid container of the present invention is applied as a container for eye drops has been described, but the liquid container of the present invention is, of course, used for applications other than eye drop containers, such as nasal drops and It can also be applied to containers such as contact lens cleaning solutions. Moreover, the molding material of the container main body 1 and the cap 2 described in the description of the embodiment is an example of a material preferable as a container for eye drops, and the specific molding material of the container main body 1 or the like depends on the use of the container or the like. Can be selected as appropriate.

As described above, the container for liquid according to the present invention is useful as a container for eye drops, nasal drops, contact lens cleaning liquids, etc., and can be attached to the container body while preventing inconvenience such as nozzle deformation. Is suitable for maintaining good.

Claims

A container body having a cylindrical mouth and neck portion, and a nozzle body integrally provided at the tip of the cylindrical mouth and neck portion, and a seal portion for sealing the nozzle port, the nozzle portion and the cylindrical mouth and neck portion are provided. In a liquid container provided with a cap with a crest attached to the container body so as to cover,
The container body has an outer diameter dimension of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion larger than a maximum diameter dimension of the nozzle portion, and includes a projection for locking the cap on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion. With the configuration,
The cap includes a pair of locking pieces extending along the cylindrical mouth-neck portion at an inner top portion thereof and arranged in the radial direction of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion, and the cap is disposed on the tubular body with respect to the container body When mounted along the axial direction of the mouth-and-neck part, the cylindrical mouth-and-neck part is inserted between the respective locking pieces, and the locking protrusion is formed in the locking recess formed on the opposing surface of the locking piece. Is inserted so that the cap is locked to the container body,
When the cap is attached to the container main body, the cylindrical mouth neck portion is brought into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth neck portion so that the nozzle mouth and the seal portion correspond to each locking piece. A guide surface for guiding the cap is provided along the container.
The liquid container according to claim 1,
The guide surface of each locking piece has a shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the outer peripheral surface so as to continuously contact the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth-and-neck portion in the circumferential direction. Container for liquid.
The liquid container according to claim 1,
The liquid container, wherein the guide surface of each locking piece is formed so as to intermittently contact the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical mouth-neck portion in the circumferential direction.
The liquid container according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The liquid container, wherein the nozzle portion has a ring-shaped protrusion formed on the outer periphery thereof as the maximum diameter portion.