JP4666305B2 - Liquid container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid container that can be filled with a liquid and can also be aspirated by a suction means such as a piercing nozzle to suck the liquid.

Conventionally, in a liquid container corresponding to a device that takes in liquid by a suction mechanism having a suction nozzle, a liquid flow path is formed when the nozzle is pierced when connecting to the suction mechanism. Therefore, the outlet of the liquid container is covered with a sheet-like member capable of piercing the nozzle, and a cap having an opening through which the nozzle passes is attached to the outlet so that the sheet-like member is sandwiched and supported by the cap and the outlet. A configuration has been proposed in which a nozzle can be inserted into a sheet-like member from above the cap when necessary (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In addition, in liquid containers for storing ink, an attempt has been made to develop a configuration that can accommodate insertion of filling means and suction means in order to easily connect an ink filling device, a printing device, and the like to the liquid container. A contrivance has been proposed in which the opening of the rigid liquid container can be opened and closed with an inner stopper movably arranged in the container body (see Patent Document 3).
JP 11-91809 A JP-A-11-91810 JP 2004-237722 A

Among the liquid containers for ink storage described above, there are also liquid containers for ink storage in general office copying machines, and the user has to load a new liquid container that has been filled with ink into the ink suction mechanism of the copying machine. In consideration of the above, there is one in which the flow path can be formed by piercing the nozzle.
As shown in FIG. 9, the liquid container containing the ink is obtained by attaching a mouthpiece d having an insertion hole c through which the nozzle b on the suction mechanism side can pass through the container body a. And in the mouthpiece d, the insertion hole c is located in the center of the back surface side of the cylindrical site | part e made larger diameter than the diameter of the insertion hole c, and the circumference | surroundings of the insertion hole c were made into the cyclic | annular site | part f. Was structured.
In such a liquid container, ink is filled in the container main body a from the insertion hole c in advance, and then the closed body g capable of being pierced and opened by the nozzle in the space surrounded by the cylindrical part e is provided with the cylindrical part e. Is pushed to a position exceeding an undercut h formed on the inner side of the lip member, and the closing body g against the annular portion f is pressed to cover the insertion hole c. And what attached the cap j provided with the recessed part i which enters the space enclosed by the cylindrical part e to the mouthpiece d so that the said closure g can be pressed down is shipped for general users as a product. ing.
In this liquid container, a mouth layout with the mouth facing sideways on the lower end side of the container on the side surface of the container body so that ink with high viscosity is easily sucked, or the mouthpiece facing downward on the bottom surface of the container body It may be a mouthpiece layout.

  In the copying machine, after the user removes the cap, the container is placed in the filling portion of the copying machine and the loading unit is operated. A nozzle in the suction mechanism is pierced so that a flow path capable of sucking ink is formed.

However, this liquid container has the following problems.
First, in order to minimize the residual ink usage in the container, a flexible film material is used to reduce the internal volume of the container body as the ink is sucked. If the container body is pressed strongly during handling after removing the cap in the container, the ink that is the contents may leak out by pushing the closure body through the insertion hole in connection with the fact that the closure body is no longer supported by the recess of the cap There was sex.
Next, there is a concern that the pressing force with only the undercut that presses the closing body against the annular part cannot prevent leakage of liquid with high fluidity. In other words, when the ink in the stored item tends to decompose, low-viscosity components may be separated, and in order to reliably prevent leakage of this low-viscosity and high-fluidity component, the pressing force of the closing body due to undercut is not sufficient. being insufficient.

  There was also a problem of unauthorized refilling. Since the liquid container of the product was the one that closed the insertion hole by pushing the closure body over the undercut as described above, the regular closure body (opened) was removed from the mouthpiece of the used liquid container, It is highly likely that the improperly filled sheet is pushed in and the insertion hole is closed, and in such a liquid container, the ink in the contents is oxidized due to incomplete closing of the insertion hole or dried. To do. Then, setting such illegally refilled liquid container in the copying machine may cause trouble on the copying machine side.

Next, in this liquid container, as described above, it is conceivable to fill the contents from the insertion hole and to heat seal the outer peripheral portion of the closing body and the annular portion around the insertion hole after the closing body is pushed in. However, when filling the contents, the contents may adhere to the annular part, and even if a closed body is placed and heat sealed in this state, the sealing strength is extremely low, and the leakage of the contents cannot be prevented. was there.
In addition, in order to fill the container body from other than the mouthpiece, it must be configured so that it can be reliably closed with a simple seal, so that the entire liquid container becomes bulky, the container body film material, etc. Or the remaining amount of ink remaining in the liquid container in a state where the use has been terminated due to the inability to suck.
The next problem is that when the liquid container is loaded in the copying machine, the user performs loading with the cap attached, and the nozzle is damaged. That is, since it has a cap shape having a concave portion (a portion that supports the closing body), the user mistakes the concave portion as a nozzle insertion portion and loads the cap with the cap attached. For this reason, it has been desired to prevent the trouble of loading with a cap.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, the present invention has an object to ensure a high sealing property for a mouthpiece in a form without a cap, and to obtain a liquid container that is easy to handle without leakage of contents. It is.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and is a liquid container comprising a container body and a mouthpiece device disposed on the container body,
The mouthpiece device includes a filling mouthpiece formed from a heat-sealable material having a filling hole into which a filling means for filling a liquid in the container body can be inserted, and covering the filling hole. An insertion hole that is provided so as to be attachable to the filling mouthpiece, is pierced by a suction means for sucking the liquid filled in the container body, and is closed so as to be openable. And a discharge opening that closes the liquid flow path,
Each of the filling mouthpiece and the discharge mouthpiece has a lock means that locks each other and makes it impossible to remove the discharge mouthpiece attached to the filling mouthpiece. It is detachably attached to the filling mouthpiece by engagement, and the liquid flow path through the filling hole is closed ,
The filling mouth includes a cylindrical portion having a threaded portion around the filling hole via an annular groove, and the discharge mouth has a threaded portion that engages with the threaded portion of the filling mouth and corresponds to the annular groove. And the lower end of the cylinder part of the discharge port is in close contact with the bottom surface of the annular groove when the locking means is engaged. The present invention provides a liquid container characterized in that the above-mentioned problems are solved.

In the present invention, the insertion hole of the discharge port device can be closed with a sheet including at least a biaxially stretched film.
Further, in the present invention, the screw portion of the discharge mouthpiece is a male screw, the screw portion of the filling mouthpiece is a female screw, and the cylinder portion of the discharge mouthpiece is located on the inner peripheral surface side of the cylinder wall portion of the filling mouthpiece. Is possible.
In the present invention, the insertion hole closing position in the suction means insertion direction of the discharge mouthpiece is lower in the suction means insertion direction than the end height position in the suction means insertion direction in the screw portion of the discharge mouthpiece. It can be provided.

(Effect of Claim 1)
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the conventional cap is not used, resource saving can be achieved, and the nozzle which is the suction means generated when the liquid container is loaded into the suction mechanism with the nozzle while the cap is attached as described above Can be prevented from being damaged.
Since the liquid container has a product form that does not have a cap, when the liquid container is to be loaded into the copying machine as a container that stores ink used in the copying machine, the contents are given to the general user. This leads to a form of use where the contents are aspirated to the last possible amount without causing the need to unnecessarily remove the remaining containers. As a result, the contents can be used economically and the disposal of the liquid container in a state where a large amount of contents remain can be prevented. Furthermore, since the product form does not have a cap, an empty container whose contents have been used cannot be reusable because the inside of the container cannot be maintained, and is reliably handled as waste.
Therefore, solidification that was likely to occur due to improper usage such as removing the liquid container from the copier etc. and reloading the liquid container again after a period of time, or unauthorized use of a container that was illegally filled into a used empty container. It is possible to prevent problems that occur when the contents are sucked into the equipment.
Further, by attaching the discharge port to the filling port, the liquid flow path to the outside of the container through the filling hole of the filling port is closed, and the contact pressure at the contact portion between the filling port and the discharge port Since it is easy to introduce a method such as setting the shape so as to increase the sealing performance, it is possible to ensure sealing performance for closing the liquid flow path through the filling hole. Therefore, even when a part of the contents adheres and remains at the position where the filling mouthpiece and the outlet mouth are in contact with each other at the time of filling the contents, unlike heat sealing, the sealing performance in the unopened state of the insertion hole is maintained. It has excellent effects such as no damage.
Further, since the discharge mouthpiece is attached to the filling mouthpiece while rotating, the lower end of the cylinder wall portion of the discharge mouthpiece is moved under a high pressing force by a simple operation of rotating the discharge mouthpiece. It can be applied to the annular groove, and the close contact state is maintained by the engagement of the locking means, so that the sealing performance in the unopened state of the insertion hole can be further enhanced.

(Effect of claim 2)
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the sheet is opened so as to be torn by the stab of the suction means such as a nozzle, and the cut piece can be prevented from coming out of the opened insertion hole and entering the container main body.
(Effect of claim 3)
According to the invention of claim 3 , since the discharge mouth can be supported in the inner space surrounded by the cylindrical wall portion of the filling mouth, it is not necessary to increase the shape of the filling mouth attached to the container body, Therefore, the entire mouthpiece device is small, and the position of the mouthpiece device relative to the container body is advantageous for discharging the contents even when the filling mouthpiece is attached to the container body with a device such as a heat-sealing machine. Can be laid out on the container bottom side.
(Effect of claim 4 )
According to the invention of claim 4 , since the closing position of the insertion hole of the filling mouthpiece is located on the lower side in the suction means insertion direction, and the insertion hole is closed with a sheet before attaching the discharge mouthpiece to the filling mouthpiece, When the sheet is pasted into the insertion hole and closed, there is no portion higher than the pasting surface in the periphery, and it is possible to use a roll-shaped sheet, and since the seal bar may be flat, the sheet is easily pasted. It is attached and is advantageous in production.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a liquid container. The liquid container 1 is a container body 2 made of a flexible and heat-sealable film material, and a mouthpiece device 3 attached to the lower side of the side surface of the container body 2. It consists of The liquid container 1 is a container for storing a relatively high-viscosity content, for example, a liquid such as ink, and after filling the content through the mouth device 3, the mouth device 3 is closed, and this The mouthpiece device 3 is connected to the mouthpiece device 3 by connecting to the suction mechanism for sucking the contents stored in the liquid container 1 such as a container loading section provided with the ink suction mechanism of the copying machine. The device 3 is opened so that the contents can be sent out.

  The mouthpiece device 3 corresponding to the filling by the filling means and the suction by the suction means is a filling mouth 5 having a filling hole 4 through which the filling means can pass as shown in FIG. It comprises a discharge port 7 having an insertion hole 6 into which a nozzle that is a suction means of the mechanism can be inserted. After filling the contents, the fill hole 4 is closed by the discharge port 7 and the discharge port 7 The insertion hole 6 is also closed, and the closed state of the insertion hole 6 is released by piercing by the suction means, and a liquid flow path through the filling hole 4 and the insertion hole 6 is obtained. Therefore, the liquid container 1 is in the form of a product in which the contents are filled and the insertion hole 6 of the mouthpiece device 3 is closed. As will be described later, a reliable closure is ensured and a cap for the mouthpiece device 3 is not required. It is said.

The filling mouthpiece 5 is formed from a material that can be fused, and has the filling hole 4 as shown in FIG. 3, and the opening periphery of the filling hole 4 extends in the direction of suction means insertion (filling). (It is the same as the direction of inserting means) It has an inner cylindrical portion 8 extending upward and continuing in the radial direction, and an annular portion 9 extends radially from the proximal end of the inner cylindrical portion 8, and around the annular portion 9 A cylindrical portion 10 extending upward in the direction of insertion of the suction means and continuous in the circumferential direction is used as a barrel portion, and a flange 11 fused to the inner surface of the film material of the container body 2 is integrally formed on the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 10. In preparation.
Further, in the filling mouthpiece 5, a support flange 12 extending outward is integrally provided around the opening of the cylindrical portion 10 in the suction means insertion direction upper direction. Further, a threaded portion 13, which is a female screw, is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 10 up to the vicinity of the annular portion 9. A seal ring 14 is provided integrally with the annular portion 9, and as will be described later, the discharge port 7 is pressed against the seal ring 14 to enhance the sealing performance. A plurality of convex portions 15 projecting downward in the suction means insertion direction are integrally provided at a portion of the filling mouthpiece 5 located on the inner side of the container body.

  And in the mouthpiece apparatus 3 in this Embodiment, once the below-mentioned discharge mouthpiece 7 is once attached to the filling mouthpiece 5, it has the device which cannot remove it. In order to make the structure incapable of detaching, the filling mouthpiece 5 has an opening peripheral edge of the cylindrical portion 10 whose diameter is increased in the radial direction. The locking means 17 is integrally formed. It should be noted that the discharge port 7 has a lock means corresponding to the lock unit 17 and is provided so that the discharge port 7 cannot be removed by the engagement of both. This point will be described later.

FIG. 4 shows the discharge port 7 alone. As shown in FIG. 4, the insertion hole 6 in the discharge port 7 is formed as an inner cylindrical body that tapers slightly downward in the suction means insertion direction. Then, a cylindrical portion 19 is formed in which the standing wall is continuous in the circumferential direction from the periphery of the annular portion 18 that extends in the radial direction around the opening that is above the suction means insertion direction in the insertion hole 6. Thus, the receiving end 20 is widened in a tapered shape. A flange 21 projecting outward is integrally formed around the base end of the receiving port 20.
Further, a cylindrical portion 22 is integrally formed from the annular portion 18 downward in the suction means insertion direction. The cylindrical portion 22 surrounds the insertion hole 6 that is the cylindrical body, and a downwardly opening groove portion 23 is formed between the cylindrical portion 22 and the outer peripheral surface of the insertion hole 6. In addition, the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 22 has a screw portion 24 that is a male screw.

The cylindrical portion 22 in the discharge port 7 can be put into the inner space surrounded by the cylindrical portion 10 of the filling port 5, and the screw portion 24 of the cylindrical portion 22 in the discharge port 7 is filled. By screwing into the threaded portion 13 of the tube portion 10 of the mouthpiece 5, the tube portion 22 of the discharge mouthpiece 7 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the tube portion 10 of the filling mouthpiece 5 so as to correspond to the inner peripheral surface. The discharge port 7 is supported by the filling port 5 by this screwing.
Further, a jetty portion 25 that protrudes in the radial direction at a height position that is the outer periphery of the annular portion 18 is integrally provided in the circumferential direction above the suction means insertion direction in the cylindrical portion 22 of the discharge port 7. It is provided so that it may be located in the said enlarged diameter part 16 of the filling mouth tool 5 by screwing the tool 7 in the filling mouth tool 5. FIG. The jetty portion 25 is provided with a lock means 26 composed of a pair of protrusions that are opposed to each other in the radial direction. When the discharge port 7 is screwed and the final rotation as the final stage of tightening is performed. The jetty portion 25 is positioned in the diameter-expanded portion 16, and is provided so that the screwing rotation of the screwing is completed when the locking means 26 is engaged after getting over the locking means 17. The rotation in the removal direction, which is a reverse rotation, is regulated by the engagement of the lock means 17 and 26, so that the discharge port 7 cannot be removed.

In the discharge port 7 that cannot be removed by the engagement of the locking means 17 and 26, the cylindrical insertion hole 6 enters the inside of the filling hole 4 of the filling port 5, and FIG. As shown in the cross-sectional form, the inner cylindrical portion 8 in the filling hole 4 of the filling mouthpiece 5 enters the groove portion 23 of the discharge mouthpiece 7, and the discharge port is connected to the seal ring 14 in the annular portion 9 of the filling mouthpiece 5. The lower end (the end on the lower side in the suction means insertion direction) of the cylindrical portion 22 of the tool 7 is in contact with a pressing force, and this contact portion is brought into a close contact state. 7, the filling hole 4 of the filling mouthpiece 5 is covered.
The insertion hole 6 in the discharge port 7 is closed by attaching a sheet 27 at an end surface position on the container main body side below the suction means insertion direction. The sheet 27 has a laminated structure including at least one biaxially stretched film.
In this way, the insertion hole 6 to be disposed so as to enter the filling hole 4 of the filling mouthpiece 5 by the attachment that makes the discharge mouthpiece 7 non-removable is closed in advance by the sheet 27, and also the discharge mouthpiece. 7 is located inside the cylinder portion 10 of the filling mouth 5 and is in close contact with the seal ring 14 of the annular portion 9 around the filling hole 4. The liquid flow path from the container body to the outside is securely closed. Of course, the discharge port 7 is also closed by the seat 27 with the end face of the insertion hole 6 on the tapered side (container body side) as the closed position as described above. 6 is not opened, and therefore the liquid flow path from the container main body 2 to the outside through the filling hole 4 and the insertion hole 6 in the liquid container 1 is completely closed.

When the contents filled in the liquid container 1 are sucked, the liquid container 1 is placed so that the mouthpiece device 2 corresponds to the nozzle as the suction means in the container loading portion in the apparatus such as a copying machine as described above. After setting, for example, the mouthpiece device 3 is applied to the nozzle by an operation on the device side, and the nozzle pierces and opens the sheet 27 of the insertion hole 6 of the discharge mouthpiece 7 to the insertion hole 6 and the filling hole 4. Just go in. As a result, the contents can be sucked.
In the insertion hole 6 into which the nozzle serving as the suction means enters, as described above, the closing position of the insertion hole 6 is also away from the position above the cylinder portion 22 in the suction means insertion direction, and the internal shape of the insertion hole 6 is cylindrical. Therefore, the advancing direction of the nozzle is guided by the inner peripheral surface of the insertion hole 6, and the sheet 27 is properly pierced and opened. Further, since the sheet 27 also has a biaxially stretched film, the sheet 27 is opened so as to be torn, and cutting waste can be prevented from entering the container body side.

  In the above embodiment, the receiving port 20 of the discharge port 7 is formed in a tapered shape continuously to the cylindrical portion 19, but as shown in FIG. 5, a receiving inclined surface for the suction means is formed by the inclined rib 28. It is possible to

In each of the above-described embodiments, as a configuration that makes it impossible to remove the discharge port 7 from the filling port 5, a locking means 26 including a notch step is provided on the jetty portion 25 of the discharge port 7, and the filling port 5 Although the locking means 17 which consists of protrusions was provided in the enlarged diameter part 16 around the opening of the cylinder part 10, this invention is not limited to this.
6 to 8 show other examples. In this example, the locking means 26 is formed from a pair of protrusions projecting in the radial direction on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical insertion hole 6 in the discharge opening 7, and the filling opening that enters the groove 23 around the insertion hole 6. 5 is formed with a locking means 17 formed of a claw that can be engaged with the locking means 26 so that the engaging relationship thereof cannot be released. Even in this example, when the final rotation of the tightening by screwing the discharge port 7 to the filling port 5 is reached, the lock unit 26 is engaged with the lock unit 17 once, and thereafter the locking relationship cannot be released. It is provided to maintain the state. Of course, the end of the cylindrical portion 22 of the discharge mouthpiece 7 is brought into contact with the seal ring 14 of the annular portion 9 of the filling mouthpiece 5 at a time when the locking relationship cannot be released. Is the same as in the above embodiment.

In addition, the support flange 12 of the filling mouthpiece 5 in each of the above-described embodiments has an outer peripheral shape that is not circular, but has a shape having a pair of recesses facing each other in the radial direction as shown in the figure. When attaching 7, the support flange 12 is securely supported by a mechanism (not shown) using the recess so that the filling mouthpiece 5 does not rotate together.
Moreover, although the liquid container 1 in each embodiment mentioned above demonstrated as the whole container main body consisting of a flexible film raw material, this invention is not limited to this. For example, a region that occupies a part of the surface area of the container body may be a hard face plate made of the same material as that of the mouthpiece body, and the other part may be made of a film material. It is also possible to integrally form the mouthpiece body.

1 shows an example of a liquid container according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mouthpiece apparatus in an example in a cross section. The filling mouthpiece in a mouthpiece apparatus is shown, (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the front state seen from the suction means insertion direction upper side, (B) is explanatory drawing which shows the cross section along the suction means insertion direction. . FIG. 2 shows a discharge mouthpiece in the mouthpiece device, in which (A) is an explanatory view showing a front state as viewed from above the suction means insertion direction, and (B) is a side view with a part taken along the suction means insertion direction. (C) is explanatory drawing which shows the back surface state seen from the suction means insertion direction lower side. The modification of the receptacle in an example is shown, (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the front state seen from the suction means insertion direction upper side, (B) is explanatory drawing which shows the cross section along a suction means insertion direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example in the cross section along the suction means insertion direction. The discharge port tool in another example is shown, (A) is an explanatory view showing the front state seen from the suction means insertion direction upper side, (B) is a side surface with a part along the suction means insertion direction (C) is explanatory drawing which shows the back surface state seen from the suction means insertion direction lower side. The filling mouthpiece in another example is shown, (A) is an explanatory view showing the front state seen from the suction means insertion direction upper side, (B) is an explanatory view showing a cross section along the suction means insertion direction, (C) is an explanatory view showing a back surface state viewed from the lower side in the suction means insertion direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Liquid container 2 ... Container main body 3 ... Mouth device 4 ... Filling hole 5 ... Filling port 6 ... Insertion hole 7 ... Discharge port 8 ... Inner cylinder part 9 ... Ring part 10 ... Tube part 13 ... Screw part 14 ... Seal ring 16 ... Diameter expansion part 17 ... Locking means 18 ... Ring portion 19 ... Tube part 22 ... Tube part 23 ... Groove part 24 ... Screw part 25 ... Jetty part 26 ... Locking means 27 ... Sheet 28 ... Inclined rib

Claims (4)

A liquid container comprising a container body and a mouthpiece device disposed in the container body,
The mouthpiece device includes a filling mouthpiece formed from a heat-sealable material having a filling hole into which a filling means for filling a liquid in the container body can be inserted, and covering the filling hole. An insertion hole that is provided so as to be attachable to the filling mouthpiece, is pierced by a suction means for sucking the liquid filled in the container body and is closed so as to be openable, is provided at a position corresponding to the filling hole, and is inserted through the filling hole. And a discharge opening that closes the liquid flow path,
Each of the filling mouthpiece and the discharge mouthpiece has a lock means that locks each other and makes it impossible to remove the discharge mouthpiece attached to the filling mouthpiece. It is detachably attached to the filling mouthpiece by engagement, and the liquid flow path through the filling hole is closed ,
The filling mouth includes a cylindrical portion having a threaded portion around the filling hole via an annular groove, and the discharge mouth has a threaded portion that engages with the threaded portion of the filling mouth and corresponds to the annular groove. And the lower end of the cylinder part of the discharge port is in close contact with the bottom surface of the annular groove when the locking means is engaged. liquid container, characterized in that there.   The liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the insertion hole of the discharge port is closed with a sheet including at least a biaxially stretched film. The thread portion of the discharge mouthpiece is a male screw and the thread portion of the filling mouthpiece is a female screw, and the cylinder portion of the discharge mouthpiece is located on the inner peripheral surface side of the cylinder portion of the filling mouthpiece . Container for liquid. The insertion hole closing position in the suction means insertion direction of the discharge port tool is provided below the suction means insertion direction below the end height position of the screw portion of the discharge port tool in the suction means insertion direction upper direction. The liquid container according to any one of 1 to 3 .

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