JP2000255694A - Mouthpiece for beverage container and beverage container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mouthpiece for a beverage container and a beverage container, capable of safely performing unsealing operation even in the case where a fitting having no jump-out-preventing mechanism is used. SOLUTION: A mouthpiece 1 for a beverage container has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole. An internal thread portion 11 for mounting a fitting is formed at an upper part of an inner face of the mouthpiece 1, and a seal face 12 for being brought into close contact with a seal member of the fitting to seal the container is formed at a lower part of the inner face of the mouthpiece 1. A pressure release hole 14 is defined between the internal thread portion 11 and the seal face 12 so that an outer face of the mouthpiece 1 communicates with the inner face thereof.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mouthpiece for a beverage container, which is mounted on a beverage container such as a beer barrel and has a fitting (a container stopper) attached thereto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A fitting (container stopper) is attached to a mouthpiece of a beverage container such as a beer barrel, and a dispense head is connected to the fitting. A pressure gas such as carbon dioxide is supplied into the beverage container via the dispense head, and a beverage such as draft beer in the beverage container is discharged out of the container. Usually, the pressure in the container is higher than the external pressure due to the pressure gas and carbon dioxide gas generated from draft beer. Then, even after the beverage in the container has been poured out, the pressure gas remains in the container, and the internal pressure is high.

[0003] If the fitting is removed from the base while the internal pressure in the container is high, there is a danger that the fitting jumps out of the base due to the internal pressure. The worker may be injured by the base that pops out. Therefore, when removing the fitting, an operation procedure is defined such that the internal pressure of the container is first released, and then the fitting is removed. However, since there is a possibility that the work procedure is incorrect or a person who does not know the work procedure may perform the work by mistake, a pop-out prevention mechanism has been provided on the fitting side.

[0004]

The opening work of the fitting without the pop-out preventing mechanism involves danger if the work procedure is erroneously performed as described above. Therefore, the fitting without the pop-out preventing mechanism is equipped with the pop-up preventing mechanism one after another. Fittings are being replaced. The old fitting is discarded, but the fitting contains not only stainless steel but also rubber. It also wastes resources by discarding still usable fittings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage container base and a beverage container which can safely perform the opening operation even if a fitting having no pop-out preventing mechanism is used.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, a beverage container base of the present invention has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole, and has a female screw portion for attaching a fitting to an upper portion of an inner surface thereof. A sealing surface for sealing the container is formed at the lower portion in close contact with the sealing member of the fitting, and at a position between the female screw portion and the sealing surface,
A pressure release hole is formed so as to communicate the outer surface and the inner surface.

In the above-mentioned beverage container base, it is preferable that a plurality of the pressure release holes are provided on a circumference.

In the above-mentioned beverage container base, an inner circumferential groove is formed along the circumference of the inner surface of the base between the female screw portion and the sealing surface, and the pressure release hole is formed. Preferably communicates the outer surface of the base with the inner peripheral groove.

A beverage container according to the present invention is a beverage container equipped with any of the above-mentioned beverage container caps.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a description will be given by taking draft beer as a beverage and a beer barrel as a beverage container. FIG.
It is a figure showing base 1 of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the base 1, and FIG.
It is an AA arrow sectional view in (a). This base 1
Is for mounting a well-type fitting 4 (see FIG. 2). The base 1 has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole, and a female screw portion 11 is formed at an upper portion of an inner surface thereof. The male thread of the well-type fitting 4 is screwed into the female thread 11 (see FIG. 2), and the fitting 4 is attached to the base 1.

A seal surface 12 to which the seal member 42 of the fitting 4 is pressed is formed at a lower portion of the inner surface of the base 1 (near the mounting portion 15). Gas leakage between the base 1 and the fitting 4 is sealed by the seal surface 12 and the seal member 42. An inner circumferential groove 13 is formed at a position between the female screw portion 11 and the seal surface 12 along the circumference of the inner surface. A pressure release hole 14 is provided so as to connect the inner peripheral groove 13 and the outer peripheral surface of the base 1. Mounting part 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a portion attached to the container body 3. The base 1 is attached to the container body 3 by welding.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a beverage container equipped with the base 1 of the first embodiment. The base 1 is mounted on the upper part of the container body 3, and the external thread of the fitting 4 is screwed into the internal thread 11 of the base 1 and fixed.
The fitting 4 is of a known well type. When the fitting 4 is screwed and fixed, the sealing member 42 is pressed against the sealing surface 12 to seal gas leakage between the base 1 and the fitting 4.

A down tube 44 urged upward by a spring is attached to the fitting 4. A gas valve 45 is fixed to the upper end of the down tube 44 by press fitting or the like, and a beer valve 47 is provided inside the upper end of the down tube 44 so as to be urged upward. The gas valve 45 is provided with a coil spring 46 together with the down tube 44.
And is pressed against the valve seat of the fitting 4. The beer valve 47 is pressed against the valve seat below the gas valve 45 by the urging force of the coil spring 48. The gas valve 45 and the beer valve 47 are normally closed.

A dispense head can be attached to the fitting 4. The dispense head and the fitting 4 can be connected with one touch by a connection mechanism such as a bayonet mechanism using the engagement protrusion 41.
By operating the gas valve 45 and the beer valve 47 by the dispense head, a pressure gas such as carbon dioxide gas is supplied into the container body 3, the internal pressure of the container body 3 is increased, and draft beer is passed through the down tube 44 and the beer valve 47. Can be discharged outside.

By turning the fitting 4 in the loosening direction, the fitting 4 can be removed from the base 1. When such a plugging operation is performed, if the fitting 4 is turned to some extent in a loosening direction, the sealing member 42 and the sealing surface 12 are rotated.
Is released. Then, the pressure gas remaining in the container body 3 flows out from between the seal member 42 and the seal surface 12 and is released from the inner peripheral groove 13 to the outside through the pressure release hole 14. As a result, the internal pressure of the container body 3 decreases to the same level as the external pressure. Therefore, even if the fitting 4 is further loosened and the screw connection between the base 1 and the fitting 4 is released, the fitting 4 does not jump out.

Since the inner peripheral groove 13 is provided, the outflow of the pressure gas to the outside can be performed reliably and in a short time. It is preferable to provide an inner circumferential groove 13 on the inner surface of the base 1, but it is not always essential. The pressure release hole 14 may be provided so as to directly communicate the outer surface and the inner surface of the base 1 without providing the inner peripheral groove 13. Further, the number of the pressure release holes 14 may be one, or a plurality of them may be provided on the circumference.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a base 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a plan view of the base 2, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 3A. This base 2 is a flat type fitting 5
(See FIG. 4). Base 2
Has a substantially cylindrical shape, and has a female screw portion 21 formed at an upper portion of an inner surface thereof. The male thread of the flat fitting 5 is screwed into the female thread 21 (see FIG. 4), and the fitting 5 is attached to the base 2.

A seal surface 22 to which the seal member 52 of the fitting 5 is pressed is formed at a lower portion of the inner surface of the base 2 (near the mounting portion 25). Gas leakage between the base 2 and the fitting 5 is sealed by the sealing surface 22 and the sealing member 52. An inner peripheral groove 23 is formed at a position between the female screw portion 21 and the sealing surface 22 along the circumference of the inner surface. A pressure release hole 24 is provided so as to communicate the inner peripheral groove 23 with the outer peripheral surface of the base 2. Mounting part 2
Reference numeral 5 denotes a portion attached to the container body 3. The base 2 is attached to the container body 3 by welding.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a beverage container equipped with the base 2 according to the second embodiment. The base 2 is mounted on the upper part of the container body 3, and the male screw of the fitting 5 is screwed into the female screw 21 of the base 2 and fixed.
The fitting 5 is a known flat type. When the fitting 5 is screwed and fixed, the sealing member 52 is pressed against the sealing surface 22 to seal gas leakage between the base 2 and the fitting 5.

A flat type dispensing head can also be attached to the fitting 5. By operating the dispense head, the internal pressure of the container body 3 can be increased and the draft beer can be discharged out of the container. The function of dispensing the beverage of the flat-type fitting 5 is the same as that of the well-type fitting 4, and therefore the detailed description is omitted.

In the opening operation of the flat type fitting 5 as well, when the fitting 5 is turned to some extent in a loosening direction, the pressure contact between the sealing member 52 and the sealing surface 22 is released. Then, the pressure gas remaining in the container body 3 flows out from between the seal member 52 and the seal surface 22 and is released from the inner peripheral groove 23 to the outside through the pressure release hole 24. As a result, the internal pressure of the container body 3 decreases to the same level as the external pressure. Therefore, even if the fitting 5 is further loosened and the screw connection between the base 2 and the fitting 5 is released, the fitting 5 does not jump out.

In the second embodiment as well, it is preferable to provide the inner peripheral groove 23 on the inner surface of the base 2 as in the first embodiment, but this is not essential. Similarly, the number of the pressure release holes 24 may be one or a plurality may be provided on the circumference.

In the above embodiments, draft beer is used as a beverage and beer barrels are used as a beverage container. However, the present invention can be applied to any other beverage containers.

[0024]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

Since the pressure release hole is provided so that the outer surface and the inner surface of the beverage container base communicate with each other, the fitting can be loosened and the internal pressure of the container can be released at the same time as the opening operation, and the fitting pops out and the worker Can be prevented from being injured. Further, since a fitting that has not been used in the past and has no pop-out prevention mechanism can be used as it is, no extra cost is required for safety measures. At the same time, it saves resources.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a base according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the beverage container equipped with the mouthpiece of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a base according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the beverage container equipped with the mouthpiece according to the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Base 2 ... Base 3 ... Container main body 4 ... Fitting 5 ... Fitting 11 ... Female screw part 12 ... Seal surface 13 ... Inner peripheral groove 14 ... Pressure release hole 15 ... Mounting part 21 ... Female screw part 22 ... Seal surface 23 ... Inner circumference Groove 24 Pressure release hole 25 Mounting part 41 Engagement projection 42 Seal member 44 Down tube 45 Gas valve 46 Coil spring 47 Beer valve 48 Coil spring 52 Seal member

Claims (4)

[Claims] An inner shape is substantially cylindrical, and female screw portions (11, 21) for attaching fittings (4, 5) are formed at an upper portion of an inner surface, and a sealing member of the fitting (4, 5) is formed at a lower portion of the inner surface. (4
2, 52) are formed in contact with the internal thread portions (11, 21) and the sealing surfaces (12, 22).
A beverage container base in which a pressure release hole (14, 24) is formed at a position between 2) to allow communication between the outer surface and the inner surface. 2. The beverage container base according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the pressure release holes (14, 24) are provided on a circumference. 3. The base for a beverage container according to claim 1, wherein said female screw portion (11, 2) on the inner surface of said base (1, 2).
An inner circumferential groove (13, 23) is formed along the circumference at a position between 1) and the sealing surface (12, 22), and the pressure release holes (14, 24) are formed by the base. (1,2)
A base for a beverage container, which communicates the outer surface of the container with the inner peripheral grooves (13, 23). 4. A beverage container equipped with the beverage container cap according to claim 1.