JP2009113831A - Fluid spouting cap - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remarkably improve liquid cutting by investigating a structure of a fluid spouting cap. <P>SOLUTION: The fluid spouting cap has a plurality of micochannels in the flow direction in a spouting part. In this fluid spouting cap, In the microchannel, it is preferable that an interval between the adjoining channels is ≤300 μm, the depth of the channel is ≥5 μm, and a pitch of the channel is ≤600 μm. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fluid pouring cap.

  A bottle-like container having a resin fluid pouring cap attached thereto is known. In such a fluid pouring cap, when the fluid in the container is poured out from the cap, the fluid may remain in a droplet state in the liquid drainage portion of the cap. The fluid remaining in this droplet state may fall and is not preferable. For this reason, in this kind of cap, it is a condition as a good product that the liquid runs out at the completion of the pouring.

In order to obtain a cap with good liquid drainage, conventionally, various shapes of the pouring part of the fluid in the cap have been devised (Patent Document 1).
In addition, there is also known one in which an additive for improving the liquid cutting property is mixed with the resin constituting the cap and the additive is deposited on the resin surface.
JP-A-10-297663

  However, although the shape of the fluid pouring part in the cap has been devised in various ways as described above, there has not yet been proposed one that can reliably exhibit good performance. In other words, although many proposals have been made in the past to improve the liquid drainage by devising the shape of the fluid pouring part in the cap, none of them has been sufficiently effective.

  When the additive is mixed with the resin, the cost is high, and when the fluid in the container is a food, the additive may be mixed in the food.

  Therefore, the present invention has an object to solve the above-mentioned problems and to make it possible to remarkably improve the goodness of liquid drainage by examining the structure of the liquid pouring cap.

In order to achieve this object, the fluid pouring cap of the present invention is characterized in that the pouring portion has a multi-row fine groove in the flow direction.
According to the fluid pouring cap of the present invention, it is preferable that the fine grooves have an interval between adjacent grooves of 300 μm or less, a groove depth of 50 μm or more, and a groove pitch of 600 μm or less.

  According to the fluid pouring cap of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a good liquid cutting property by providing the pouring portion with multiple fine grooves in the flow direction.

  Although the reason is not certain, it is considered that the contact angle of the fluid is increased by the multiple fine grooves. Alternatively, it can be considered that the flowability of the fluid is improved by the multiple fine grooves.

  1 to 5 show a fluid pouring cap according to an embodiment of the present invention. The fluid pouring cap is formed of a resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene, and a cap body 1 that is attached to an opening portion of a container such as a glass bottle or a synthetic resin container, and a note formed on the cap body 1. This is a configuration having an upper lid 3 for opening and closing the outlet 2. The cap body 1 has a top wall 4, and a cylindrical pouring part 5 for forming the spout 2 is integrally formed on the top wall 3. Reference numeral 6 denotes a cylindrical side wall that hangs down from the peripheral edge of the top wall 3, and the side wall 6 is configured to be fitted to the opening of the container. The upper lid 3 has a cylindrical side wall 7 having the same diameter as the side wall 6 of the cap body 1. Side walls 6 and 7 of the cap body 1 and the upper lid 3 are integrally connected by a hinge portion 8.

  An edge portion 9 having a J-shaped cross section that functions as a liquid drain is formed at the tip of the dispensing portion 5. A cylindrical inner ring 10 is integrally formed on the upper lid 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the inner ring 10 is fitted into the pouring portion 5 when the upper lid 3 is put on the cap main body 1 and closed, whereby the inner surface of the pouring portion 5 and the inner ring 10 are The required seal is achieved by close contact with the outer surface.

  As described above, the pouring part 5 is formed in a cylindrical shape, but the actual pouring is not performed on the entire circumference of the pouring part 5 but the part where the hinge part 8 is formed. It is mainly done in the opposite part.

  In this way, the portion of the pouring portion 5 where the pouring is actually performed, that is, the portion opposite to the portion where the hinge portion 8 is formed, is poured from the pouring portion 5 to the inner surface thereof. A plurality of microscopic grooves 11 are formed along the flow direction of the fluid.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion where the fine groove 11 is formed in the extraction portion 5, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the fine groove 11. The fine groove 11 is formed from the proximal end portion to the distal end of the extraction portion 5, and is formed particularly up to the distal end of the edge portion 9 having a J-shaped section. As shown in FIG. 3, the fine groove 11 is formed to have a substantially rectangular groove shape.

  The interval W between the adjacent fine grooves 11 and 11 is preferably 300 μm or less, and the lower limit value of the interval W is about 10 μm. In the case where the interval W is wider than 300 μm or smaller than 10 μm, the effect of improving the liquid breakage based on the present invention is not achieved. The groove depth D of the fine groove 11 is preferably 5 μm or more. The upper limit value of the groove depth D is about 200 μm. When the groove depth D is shallower than 5 μm, the effect of improving the liquid cutting property based on the present invention is not achieved. When the groove depth is larger than 200 μm, the liquid tends to adhere to the inside of the groove 11, and the tendency of liquid breakage tends to deteriorate. The groove pitch P is preferably 600 μm or less. The lower limit value of the groove pitch P is about 20 μm. In the case where the groove pitch P is larger than 600 μm or smaller than 20 μm, none of the effects of improving the liquid cutting property based on the present invention can be obtained.

  As described above, the cross-sectional shape of the fine groove 11 is preferably rectangular. By adopting a rectangular shape, air can be satisfactorily entrapped inside the groove 11 during liquid pouring, and the contact angle of the fluid with respect to the pouring part 5 can be made sufficiently large. It is because it can plan. Although FIG. 3 schematically depicts a complete rectangular shape, the actual fine groove 11 is unlikely to have such a perfect shape. For example, it has normal accuracy such as having a rounded portion at the corner of the groove. It is sufficient if it is formed by. In this regard, when the cross-sectional shape is, for example, a rounded U-shape, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient contact angle as in the case of a rectangular shape, but the object of the present invention can still be achieved. The contact angle can be obtained, and the required effect of improving liquid drainage can be exhibited.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the fine groove 11 is formed with a predetermined groove depth D up to the tip of the edge 9 having a J-shaped cross section. On the other hand, the base end portion of the extraction portion 5 is formed so that the groove depth D gradually decreases along the length direction of the groove 11. That is, it is formed to have a so-called fade-out shape. Reference numeral 12 denotes the fade-out portion. When the resin cap provided with the fine grooves 11 is molded using, for example, a mold, it is necessary to form fine irregularities on the mold by electric discharge machining, cutting, or the like. Thus, when the fine groove | channel 11 becomes fade-out shape, there exists an advantage which can form the unevenness | corrugation of a metal mold | die easily.

  As described above, by forming the multiple fine grooves 11 on the inner surface of the extraction portion 5, it is possible to achieve good liquid drainage, as is apparent from the experimental results described later.

  The fine groove 11 can be easily formed by using a concave / convex mold as a mold for forming a cap as described above. In addition, it is also possible to form the fine groove 11 in the extraction part 5 by cutting, for example.

  As described above, when the upper lid 3 is put on the cap body 1 and closed as shown in FIG. 5, the inner surface of the extraction portion 5 and the outer surface of the inner ring 10 are brought into close contact with each other to achieve a required seal. However, since the fine groove 11 is formed in the edge portion 9, it cannot be said that there is no case where the sealing of the extraction portion 5 becomes incomplete at the bottom of the fine groove 11. Therefore, in the illustrated cap, the inner ring 10 is formed so as to be higher, and the pouring part 5 and the inner ring 10 overlap each other when the lid is closed, so that the liquid in the container does not easily reach the edge part 9. It is configured as follows.

  In the above, the fluid pouring cap of the present invention has been described as being attached to the opening portion of a container such as a glass bottle or a synthetic resin container, but the fluid pouring cap of the present invention is Other than this, for example, it is a concept including the spout in a plastic bottle or the like in which the spout is formed integrally with the bottle. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to form a fine groove in the spout in a PET bottle or the like in which the spout is formed integrally with the bottle.

  Prepared by molding, using a mold, a fluid dispensing cap in which fine grooves are formed as an embodiment of the present invention and a conventional fluid dispensing cap in which fine grooves are not formed did. Both caps were prepared from low density polyethylene and polypropylene.

  Each cap was stoppered into PET bottles 15A and 15B having a square content of 400 ml as shown in FIG. In the case of FIG. 6, the fluid dispensing cap 16 with fine grooves of the embodiment of the present invention is plugged into the left bottle 15A shown in the figure, and the conventional fluid without fine grooves is placed in the right bottle 15B. The dispensing cap 17 was stoppered.

  The fine grooves formed in the cap 16 were as follows. That is, in the design dimensions, the interval between the grooves was 100 μm, the groove depth was 50 μm, and the groove pitch was 210 μm. Such a cap 16 was molded using a mold. In the mold, rectangular irregularities for forming fine grooves were formed by electric discharge machining. As a result, the cap molded using the mold is formed into the exact rectangular groove shape of both low density polyethylene and polypropylene, and the groove width and groove pitch are as designed. there were. The groove depth was 40-50 μm made of low-density polyethylene and 50 μm made of polypropylene, and there was no problem.

  Two PET bottles 15A and 15B with caps shown in FIG. 6 were arranged side by side as shown in the figure, and an adhesive tape was wound around the outer periphery of both to integrate these PET bottles 15A and 15B.

  The below-described liquid is injected into both the PET bottles 15A and 15B at the same level, and the liquid pouring operation shown in FIG. 7 is simultaneously performed on both PET bottles 15A and 15B under the same conditions. Returned to the upright state. This liquid pouring and returning operation is repeated 50 times for each liquid, and whether or not a droplet adheres to the edge of the top of the pouring portion of each cap, that is, the tip of the draining portion, for each operation. Was observed.

The liquids used were as follows and all were at room temperature.
(1) Water (2) Vinegar (Mitsukan, grain vinegar)
(3) Cooking liquor (co-op)
(4) Non-oil dressing (Cupie, Blue Jiso dressing)
(5) Mirin-style seasoning (manufactured by co-op)
(6) Soy sauce (Kikkoman)
For each liquid, out of 50 liquid pouring operations, the number of droplets remaining at the edge of the pouring part, that is, draining, was counted. The results are shown in Table 1.

  FIG. 8 shows a state during the returning operation to the upright state after the liquid pouring operation using water. As shown in the drawing, no droplets are generated in the fluid dispensing cap 16 with fine grooves according to the embodiment of the present invention, but droplets 20 are generated in the conventional fluid dispensing cap without fine grooves. You can see that

  As is clear from Table 1, the effect of forming fine grooves in the cap was observed for all of the test liquids. In other words, in the case of the conventional cap having no fine groove, the number of remaining droplets exceeds half of 50 times, but in the case of the cap of the present invention in which the fine groove is formed, no droplet remains. .

It is a figure which shows the open state of the fluid extraction cap of embodiment of this invention. It is a three-dimensional view which expands and shows the principal part of the cap for fluid extraction of FIG. It is a figure which shows the cross-sectional shape of the fine groove | channel shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. It is sectional drawing of the pouring part in which the fine groove | channel was formed. It is sectional drawing which shows the cover open state of the fluid pouring cap. It is a figure which shows side by side the bottle which stoppered the fluid extraction cap of the embodiment of this invention, and the bottle which stoppered the conventional fluid extraction cap. It is a figure which shows the liquid pouring operation | movement by the two bottles of FIG. It is a figure which shows the mode of the cap in the middle of the return operation | movement to an upright state after the liquid pouring operation | movement of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Cap body 2 Outlet 5 Outlet 9 Edge 11 Fine groove

Claims (2)

  A fluid pouring cap characterized in that the pouring portion has multiple fine grooves in the flow direction.   2. The fluid pouring cap according to claim 1, wherein the minute groove has an interval between adjacent grooves of 300 [mu] m or less, a groove depth of 5 [mu] m or more, and a groove pitch of 600 [mu] m or less.

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