JPH05201437A - Container lid - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a lid for a container that does not need to support the lid when pouring a fluid by positioning the lid with respect to the spout. To do. [Structure] A substantially cylindrical spout portion 11, a lid portion 12 that opens and closes the spout of the spout portion 11, and is disposed and fixed between the spout portion 11 and the lid portion 12. A hinge for connecting the two swingably around the swing axis, and the lid portion 12 held at a swing position set by elastic force,
It has a self-locking means that enables it to be released from the set swing position by applying force. The hinge allows the lid portion 12 to be connected to the spout portion 11 even when the spout is open, and is positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the spout portion 11 so that the lid portion 12 can be closed when pouring a fluid. There is no need to support it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lid of a container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a container formed of, for example, a metal can or a cardboard whose inside is coated with a fluid such as a liquid, a lid is provided so that the spout can be repeatedly opened and closed. The lid includes a spout portion having a spout and a lid portion that opens and closes the spout. The lid is used by being fitted into an opening formed in the container, and a thermoplastic material is used as the material (Swiss patent application No. 2739 / 91-2).
No. and Swiss Patent Application No. 2740 / 91-9 (filed Sep. 17, 1991).

The lid body is formed by a multi-material injection molding method using two or more materials having at least one characteristic different from each other. The Swiss patent application No. 2740 / 91-
In the lid described in No. 9, the lid is not completely separated from the spout even when the spout is opened in order to facilitate handling when the lid is normally used. It is like this. Therefore, one or two or more webs are formed in the lid part, and the web is made flexible to connect the lid part and the spout part, or
The lid and the container are connected.

[0004]

However, in the conventional lid of the container, since the spout or the part between the container and the lid is connected by the web, the position of the lid when the spout is opened is changed. I can't stabilize. Therefore, before the operation of closing the spout with the lid portion, the operation of aligning the position of the lid portion with the spout portion is necessary.

Further, since the lid body is processed in the closed state and has elasticity, the web tries to close the spout in the opened state. Therefore, when pouring the fluid, it is necessary to support the lid portion and sufficiently open the spout. Furthermore, the conventional lid body made of one material also has a web connecting the spout portion and the lid portion. The lid is manufactured with the spout open.
The spout is closed before or after it is attached to the container. In this case, since the web has elasticity, the lid body tries to maintain the completely opened state. Therefore, the lid cannot be accurately positioned in the open state.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the lid of the conventional container, and the lid part is connected to the spout part even when the spout is open, and moreover, it has a predetermined shape with respect to the spout part. It is an object to provide a lid for a container that is positioned in position and does not need to support the lid when pouring fluid.

[0007]

Therefore, in the lid of the present invention, the lid is used for a container for containing a fluid and is made of a thermoplastic material. Then, a substantially cylindrical spout portion, a lid portion that opens and closes the spout of the spout portion, and is disposed between the spout portion and the lid portion, and swings both around a swing axis. It has a hinge that is movably connected, and a self-locking means that makes it possible to hold the lid portion in a swing position set by elastic force and release it from the set swing position by applying force.

The self-locking means can be composed of a pair of supporting surfaces having a flat surface at least in part. Also,
The hinge is a film hinge whose swing shaft is fixed by a restricting means, and the restricting means can constitute a self-locking means for setting at least one swing position. The regulation means includes a support surface formed on the spout portion side and a swing portion formed on the lid portion side and supported by the support surface, and the support surface and the swing portion surface are It can be provided with a corresponding planar area.

Further, at least one plug-shaped bearing portion formed on the spout portion side and at least one cylindrical rocking portion formed on the lid portion side and surrounding the plug-shaped bearing portion are provided. The plug-shaped bearing portion and the tubular rocking portion respectively include at least one plane area that relatively moves during rocking, and each plane area is relatively locked at a set rocking position. Can be done. Further, a cylindrical bearing portion may be formed on the spout portion side, and a plug-shaped swing portion may be formed on the lid portion side.

[0010]

According to the present invention, as described above, the lid body is used for the container for containing the fluid and is formed of the thermoplastic material. Then, a substantially cylindrical spout portion, a lid portion that opens and closes the spout of the spout portion, and is disposed between the spout portion and the lid portion, and swings both around a swing axis. It has a hinge that is movably connected, and a self-locking means that makes it possible to hold the lid portion in a swing position set by elastic force and release it from the set swing position by applying force.

The self-locking means can be composed of a pair of supporting surfaces having a flat surface at least in part. Also,
The hinge is a film hinge whose swing shaft is fixed by a restricting means, and the restricting means can constitute a self-locking means for setting at least one swing position. Therefore, when the lid portion swings to open and close the pouring opening, the swinging portion swings within the supporting surface, and the hinge zone is accurately deformed along the common swinging axis of the regulating means. Further, since the film hinge is regulated by the regulation means, the swing shaft is positioned at a predetermined position without being affected by the force applied to the lid portion when opening and closing.

Further, at least one swing position can be set on the lid portion. Therefore, when swinging the lid portion, a frictional resistance acting between the swing portion and the support surface and a force that opposes the self-locking force must be applied. Moves out of the set swing position. The regulation means includes a support surface formed on the spout portion side and a swing portion formed on the lid portion side and supported by the support surface, and the support surface and the swing portion surface are It can be provided with a corresponding planar area.

Further, at least one plug-shaped bearing portion formed on the spout portion side and at least one tubular swing portion formed on the lid portion side and surrounding the plug-shaped bearing portion are provided. The plug-shaped bearing portion and the tubular rocking portion respectively include at least one plane area that relatively moves during rocking, and each plane area is relatively locked at a set rocking position. Can be done. Further, a cylindrical bearing portion may be formed on the spout portion side, and a plug-shaped swing portion may be formed on the lid portion side.

In this case, the rocking position can be set by the frictional resistance or the self-locking force acting between the rocking portion and the supporting surface.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hinge used in a lid of a container showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a lid of a container showing the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a cross section in a direction perpendicular to the swing axis Z located substantially at the center of the hinge zone 14.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a spout portion having a cylindrical or polygonal tubular shape, that is, a substantially tubular shape.
Reference numeral 12 is a lid portion for opening and closing the spout of the spout portion 11. The spout 11 is mainly made of the first material A. The area formed of the first material A is the lid portion 12
To form a hinge zone 14, and the lid portion 12 is surrounded, for example, on the inside and outside by a second material B. Further, the rocking portion 15 is formed of the second material B, and the bearing portion and the support surface 17 are formed of the first material A. The hinge zone 14 is composed of the thinnest part of the region formed of the first material A.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 13 denotes a film hinge, which extends axially between the spout portion 11 and the lid portion 12 and can be deformed when the lid portion 12 swings. The thin, flexible and narrow hinge zone 14 is formed. And
Since the film hinge 13 is regulated by the regulation means, the swing axis Z (FIG. 2) is not affected by the force applied to the lid portion 12 at the time of opening and closing and has a predetermined position. Fixed to.

The regulating means comprises a support surface 17 formed on the spout portion 11 side and a swinging portion 15 formed on the lid portion 12 side and supported on the support surface 17, and passes through the hinge zone 14. It has a common swing axis Z. When the lid portion 12 is swung to open and close the pouring opening, the swing portion 15 swings in the support surface 17, and the hinge zone 14 is accurately deformed along the swing axis Z common to the restricting means. To do. As described above, the lid portion 12 has the swing axis Z relative to the spout portion 11.
Change relative position only around.

Further, the lid portion 12 can set at least one swinging position (for example, the opening position of the lid portion 12). And the lid portion 12
When rocking the lid part 12, a frictional resistance acting between the rocking part 15 and the support surface 17 or a force counteracting the self-locking force is applied. It can be removed from the moving position.

That is, when the lid portion 12 is swung in order to remove it from the set swing position, the elastic resistance acts. The force required for rocking depends on the rocking position and the rocking direction that are set at that time. For example, when removing the lid portion 12 from the rocking position that is set, the force is set to the rocking position that is set. Greater force is required when setting. Further, by utilizing the self-locking force, when the regulating means is placed near the set swing position, the lid portion 12 is automatically moved to the set swing position without applying external force. It can also be moved to.

Further, since the opening position of the lid portion 12 can be set, it is possible to prevent the opening angle of the film hinge 13 from becoming excessively large, and it is possible to prevent the film hinge 13 from extending too much. Can be prevented. In order to generate the self-locking force, the supporting surface 1
7 and the surface of the rocking portion 15 that moves on the support surface 17 during rocking are asymmetric with respect to the rocking axis Z in the rocking direction. The asymmetric surface of the rocking portion 15 is elastically deformed, and when a predetermined force is applied and becomes larger than the self-locking force, the lid portion 12 is disengaged from the set rocking position.

Further, the self-locking means for setting the swing position is formed on the support surface 17 and the swing portion 15, and is composed of a flat area which moves relatively during swing. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention in a direction perpendicular to the restricting means for the hinge. In the figure, (a) is a first example of the self-locking means, (b) is a second example of the self-locking means,
(C) shows a third example of the self-locking means.

In FIG. 3A, the swinging portion 15a has two points a and b which are asymmetric in the rotational direction, and the support surface 17a has a point c corresponding to the points a and b. The rocking portion 15a formed on the lid portion 12 has two set rocking positions, that is, a rocking position where the point a is located on the point c (the rocking portion 15a and the lid portion 12 are represented by solid lines. Rocking position), and a rocking position where the point a is located on the point c (the rocking portion 1).
5a and the lid portion 12 are in a swinging position indicated by a chain double-dashed line.

The two swinging positions of the lid portion 12 are a closed position for closing the spout and an open position for opening the spout. (B) and (c) of the figure show another embodiment of the regulating means having a self-locking means, wherein the self-locking means is provided in connection with the film hinge 13 (FIG. 1),
Set a predetermined swing position.

That is, the restricting means shown in (b) is
Two rocking positions with an angle of 90 ° between them, (c)
Show four swing positions with an angle of 60 ° between them. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a hinge used for the lid of the container showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the hinge 18 is composed of a plug-shaped swinging portion 21 on the lid portion 12 side and a cylindrical bearing portion 22 on the spout portion 11 side, and the swinging portion 21 is supported by the bearing portion 22. is doing. In addition, the rocking | swiveling part 21 and the bearing part 22 are shown with the broken line. On the contrary, a cylindrical swinging portion may be provided on the lid portion 12 side and a plug-shaped bearing portion may be provided on the spout portion 11 side so that the swinging portion is supported by the bearing portion.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a hinge in a lid of a container showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Figure (a)
Is a first example of the lid hinge 18, (b) is a second example of the lid hinge 18, and (c) is a third example of the lid hinge 18.
For example: In the figure, 11 is a spout portion, 12 is a lid portion, 21 is a swinging portion, and 22 is a bearing portion.

The bearing portion 22 has a cylindrical shape as shown in (a) of the figure or a plug shape as shown in (b) and (c) of the figure.
On the other hand, the oscillating portion 21 is in the form of a plug as shown in (a) of the figure and is surrounded by and supported by a cylindrical bearing portion 22, or is shown in (b) and (c) of the figure. As described above, the cylindrical bearing portion 22 surrounds and supports the plug-shaped bearing portion 22. A large-diameter portion is formed in the plug-shaped bearing portion 22 of (c) in the figure, while an enlarged portion corresponding to the large-diameter portion is formed in the opening of the cylindrical rocking portion 21. In this type of hinge, even if a tensile force acts in the axial direction, from the plug-shaped bearing portion 22 to the tubular swing portion 21.
Does not come off.

In order to set the swing position in the hinge 18 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a surface which is asymmetric in the circumferential direction with respect to the swing axis Z is formed between the swing portion 21 and the bearing portion 22.
This can be achieved, for example, by forming plane regions corresponding to each other without forming a surface that relatively moves during swinging into a cylindrical surface. FIG. 6 shows the third aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a lateral cross-sectional view of a hinge in the lid of the container showing the embodiment of (A) of a figure shows the 1st example of hinge 18 of a lid, (b) shows the 2nd example of hinge 18 of a lid, (c) shows the 3rd example of hinge 18 of a lid. ing.

In the figure, 31a to 31c are cylindrical bearing portions on the spout portion 11 side, and 32a to 32c are plug-like swinging portions on the lid portion 12 side. Then, in setting the swing range, (a) of the figure has up to three swing positions, and (b) has up to four swing positions,
(C) has up to six swing positions. In addition to the embodiment shown here, it is possible to form partially planar areas and partially curved surfaces to form circumferentially asymmetric surfaces.

The lid of the present invention is preferably manufactured by a multi-material injection molding method. In that case, a preform is molded with the first material A (FIG. 2) in the first molding stage, then the mold is at least partially moved, and finally molded with the second material B in the second molding stage. Mold the product.
In the second molding step, at least a portion of the preform constitutes a mold.

The self-locking means can be formed by molding the lid portion 12 with the first material A and the spout portion 11 with the second material B. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the spirit of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0033]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the lid of the container is a substantially cylindrical spout, a lid for opening and closing the spout of the spout, and A hinge that is disposed between the spout and the lid and that swingably connects the two around the swing axis, and that holds the lid in the swing position set by elastic force and applies force. It has a self-locking means that enables it to be disengaged from the set swing position.

Therefore, the hinge allows the lid portion to be connected to the spout portion even when the spout is opened, and the relative position of the lid portion to the spout portion is
Except for the swing position with respect to the swing shaft, the positioning is performed with high accuracy. The self-locking means may be composed of a pair of supporting surfaces having a flat surface at least in part. Further, the hinge is a film hinge having a swing shaft fixed by a restricting means, and the restricting means can constitute a self-locking means for setting at least one swing position.

Therefore, at least one swing position can be set in the lid portion, and it is not necessary to hold the lid portion when pouring the fluid. The regulation means includes a support surface formed on the spout portion side and a swing portion formed on the lid portion side and supported by the support surface, and the support surface and the swing portion surface are It can be provided with a corresponding planar area.

Further, at least one plug-shaped bearing portion formed on the spout portion side and at least one cylindrical rocking portion formed on the lid portion side and surrounding the plug-shaped bearing portion are provided. The plug-shaped bearing portion and the tubular rocking portion respectively include at least one plane area that relatively moves during rocking, and each plane area is relatively locked at a set rocking position. Can be done. Further, a cylindrical bearing portion may be formed on the spout portion side, and a plug-shaped swing portion may be formed on the lid portion side.

In this case, the rocking position can be set by the frictional resistance or the self-locking force acting between the rocking portion and the supporting surface. Therefore, even when the spout is opened, the lid part is connected to the spout part and is positioned at a predetermined position with respect to the spout part, and it is not necessary to support the lid part when pouring the fluid. ..

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hinge used for a lid of a container according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the lid of the container showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment of the present invention in a direction perpendicular to the restricting means for the hinge.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a hinge used for the lid of the container showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a hinge in the lid of the container showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a lateral cross-sectional view of a hinge in a lid of a container showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 spout part 12 lid part 13 film hinge 15, 15a, 21, 32a to 32c swing part 17, 17a support surface 18 hinge 22, 31a to 31c bearing part Z swing shaft

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A container lid used for a container for containing a fluid and formed of a thermoplastic material, comprising:
(A) a substantially cylindrical spout, (b) a lid that opens and closes the spout of the spout, (c) is disposed between the spout and the lid, and swings. It is possible to hold the hinge that connects the two swingably around the shaft, and (d) hold the lid portion at the swing position set by elastic force, and remove it from the set swing position by applying force. A lid for a container, comprising: a self-locking means. 2. The lid of a container according to claim 1, wherein the self-locking means comprises a pair of supporting surfaces having a flat surface at least in part. 3. (a) The hinge is a film hinge whose swing shaft is fixed by a restricting means, and (b) the restricting means constitutes a self-locking means for setting at least one swing position. The lid of the container according to claim 1 or 2. 4. (a) The regulating means includes a support surface formed on the spout portion side and a swinging portion formed on the lid portion side and supported by the support surface, and (b) the support. The lid of a container according to claim 3, wherein the surface and the surface of the swinging portion have corresponding flat areas. 5. (a) At least one plug-shaped bearing portion formed on the spout portion side, and (b) at least one tubular member formed on the lid portion side and surrounding the plug-shaped bearing portion. (C) The plug-shaped bearing portion and the tubular rocking portion each include at least one plane area that relatively moves during rocking, and each plane area is set. The lid of the container according to claim 1, wherein the lid is relatively locked in the swinging position. 6. (a) At least one tubular bearing portion formed on the spout portion side, and (b) at least one plug formed on the lid portion side and extending to the tubular bearing portion. (C) the cylindrical bearing portion and the plug-shaped swing portion each include at least one plane area that relatively moves during rocking, and each plane area is set. The lid of the container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lid is relatively locked in the rocking position.