A SPOUT FOR A SEALED CARTON FOR CONTAINING LIQUID PRODUCT

Abstract: A sealed carton for containing liquid product such as milk, juice or the like comprising a spout made of an elastic material such as polyethylene resin in such a way that it comprises a main body (3) in the form of a pipe or case passed through the wall of the carton and a cover (2) for closing an opening of the main body (3), the main body and the cover being made as an integral body. The cover (2) and the main body (3) are interconnected with each other through a reduced-thickness separable portion (9) which is severed when the cover (2) is opened and through a reduced-thickness portion (7) which functions as an hinge portion when the cover (2) is opened. A first engaging element (10D) is made of an elastic material integral with the main body (3) and extends from the main body (3) at a position adjacent the hinge portion (6). Said first engaging element (10D) has at its distal end a lateral engaging portion (15). A second engaging element (11D) made of an elastic material integral with the cover (2) extends from the outer surface of the cover (2) at a position adjacent the hinge portion (6) and has at its distal end a lateral engaging portion (16) for detachable engagement with said lateral engaging portion (15) of the first engaging element (10D). Said lateral engaging portions (15,16) being disposed so as to engage with each other, when the cover (2) is swung in an opening direction about said hinge portion (6) after the reduced thickness hinge portion is severed, to maintain the cover in an opened state.

Description: The present invention relates to a spout for a sealed carton for containing liquid product, comprising a spout in which milk, juice and other beverages are filled in hermetically sealed state. The spout in accordance with the present invention is applied advantageously to, for instance, gable-top-sealed type paper containers, rectangular-box-shaped paper containers or the like. BACKGROUND ART: Heretofore. in order to dispense the content in packaging containers containing milk, juice or the like, an opening is formed by cutting off or pulling out the sealed portion of the containers. For this purpose, scissors are needed or a considerably great opening force is required. Further, the fingers of the person opening the container contact with the opening so that the latter cannot be maintained in sanitary condition. Furthermore, in the case of providing an opening forming means in the form of a spout having a sealing cap thereon, the spout main body and the sealing cap must be separately fabricated so that the fabrication steps are increased in number and the fabrication costs become expensive. EP-A-167 095 published on 08.01.86 with priority of 26.04.84 discloses a gable top carton for containing a liquid product, wherein the carton includes a box-like body having a closed bottom and a sealed gable top, the gable to having a pair of oppositely sloping sides one of which has defined therein an aperture for pouring out the contained liquid product, whereby a mouthpiece of one piece plastic molding watertightly closes the aperture, the mouthpiece including a lid having a pull tab projecting therefrom said lid being torn open by the exertion of a pull on the pull tab. The gable top of the box-like body has a sealed ridge and the pull tab of the mouthpiece is formed to include a hook capable of engaging the sealed ridge of the gable top when the lid is torn open, for holding the lid open. But in order to be able to engage the sealed ridge it is necessary to observe an exact location of said aperture with respect to the ridge and an exact dimension of said sealed ridge itself. The object of the present invention is to provide a spout for a packaging container which makes it unnecessary to cut off or pull out the sealed portion of the container or to remove a sealing cap for the purpose of dispensing the content of the container, which makes it easy and simple to open the container for dispensing the content and to reclose the same, which can be kept sanitary and be produced easily and which can be operated easily, whereby it is not necessary to observe an exact location of the spout within the container. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION: A sealed carton for containing liquid product comprises a box-shaped body having a closed bottom and a closed top wall which has a hole therethrough, and a spout sealingly attached to said top wall and having a main body which is located at said hole and has an opening, said spout having a cover integrally joined to said main body so as to close said opening of the main body, said cover having one side integrally connected to the main body through a reduced-thickness portion which defines a hinge portion, the remaining portion except said hinge portion of said cover being integrally connected to the main body through a reduced-thickness separable portion. In accordanca with the invention a first engaging element extending upright from the main body at aposition adjacent to the hinge portion and made of an elastic material integral with the main body, said first engaging element having at its distal end a lateral engaging element extending upright from the outer surface of the cover at a position adjacent to the hinge portion, said second engaging element being made of an elastic material integral with the cover and having at its distal end a lateral engaging portion for detachable engagement with said lateral engaging portion of the first engaging element; said first and scond engaging elements being offset in position with respect to an imaginary plane perpendicular to the axis of the hinge portion, said lateral engaging portions being disposed so as to be included substantially in said imaginary plane and to engage with each other, when the cover is swung in an opening direction about said hinge portion after the reduced-thickness separable portion is severed, to maintain the cover in an opened state. When a liquid filled into a packaging container is to be dispensed, the reduced-thickness separable portion between the cover and the main body is severed and the cover is swung in the opening direction about the hinge portion so that the cover can be maintained in the opened state by the mutual engagement of the first and second engaging means which are disposed on the main body and the cover, rspectively and are spaced apart from each other with the hinge portion therebetween, whereby the liquid content can be discharged. When it is desired to stop the discharge, the cover is fitted with the main body, thereby closing the spout. As both engaging elements are attached on the spout itself it is not necessary to observe an exact location of spout on the container. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: Fig. 1 is a top view of a spout for a sealed carton for containing liquid product in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of a modified embodiment of the spout according to the present invention. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION: As shown in Fig. 1, a spout 1D in accordance with the present invention is attached to a packaging container for any liquid which is only schematically shown here. The packaging container may be a gable-top-sealed paper container for containing a beverage such as milk, juice or the like. The spout 1D is attached to a top wall C1 of a container not shown. The container may be a rectangular-box-shaped paper container or any other container having various configurations. The spout 1D may be formed as an integral unit by injection molding process from an elastic synthetic resin such as polyethylene resin or the like. It generally comprises a lower main body 3 and an upper cover 2. A peripheral flange 4 is formed integral with the base portion of the main body 3 and, as shown in Fig. 1, the peripheral flange 4 is made into contact with the inner surface of the top wall C1 of the container. The main body 3 is passed outwardly through a hole formed through the top wall C1 of the container, whereby the spout 1D is joined to the container. Projections 5 for purpose of preliminary retaining the spout in the hole of the top wall are provided on the outer surface of the main body 3 at positions spaced apart from the peripheral flange 4, and peripheral portion of the hole of the wall C1 of the container is inserted between the peripheral flange 4 and the projections 5. One end of the cover 2 is integrally connected through a straight reduced-thickness portion 7 to the upper portion of the main body 3. the reduced-thickness portion 7 defines a hinge portion 6 for the cover 2. A reduced-thickness separable portion 9 is formed arcuately along one end of the main body 3 and its both ends are terminated at positions adjacent to the straight reduced-thickness portion 7 and are spaced apart therefrom by a small distance. A first and a second straight engagement elements 10D and 11D are formed integral with the main body 3 and, respectively, and are spaced apart with the hinge portion 6 therebetween.An opening and closing tab 12 is formed integral with the cover 2 in diametrally opposed relationship with the engaging elements 10D and 11D. When the tab 12 is joined flexibly to the cover 2 (for instance, by slightly reducing the thickness of the interconnecting portion between the tab 12 and the cover 2), the tab 12 will bend when a force is unintentionally exert thereto so that no severing force be transmitted to the reduced-thickness portion, whereby the opening of the cover 2 by mischievous handlings can be prevented. The spout of the present invention is constructed in the manner described above. Therefore, when the tab 12 is pulled upwardly, the cover 2 will be sheared off from the spout main body 3 along the reduced-thickness portion 9 to the positions adjacent to the hinge portion 6 and be swung upwardly about the hinge portion 6 which is defined by the straight reduced-thickness portion 7, whereby the spout is opened. In order to prevent the reduced-thickness portion 7 from being severed when the reduced-thickness portion 9 is being severed, the reduced-thickness portion 9 is not joined to the reduced-thickness portion 7. As the cover 2 is swung upwardly, the distal end of the engaging element 11E is brought into engagement with the engaging element 10E of the main body 3 whereby the cover 2 is maintained in the opened position. Therefore, the content can be easily dispensed. After the discharge of the content from the container, the cover 2 is pushed down whereby the cover is maintained in the closed position. This condition can be attained by pressure contact of the engaging projection 8a with the inner wall of the main body 3. The tab 12 is disposed at one side of the cover 2 and the engaging projection 8a is formed on its upright portion. The second engaging element 11D disposed on one side of the hinge portion 6 is curved toward the first engaging element 10D disposed on the other side, and when the cover 2 is opened, the distal end of the second engagement element 11E approches and then engages the first engaging element 10D whereby the cover 2 is maintained in the opened state. A fin 13 which is provided in this embodiment is so formed as to have an inclined side extended from a position adjacent to the lower portion of the main portion of the main body 3 toward the peripheral flange 4 and the inclined side is made in contact with the periphery of the hole of the top wall C1 of the container so that it has a function of pressing the opposite edge portion of the hole against the main body 3. As shown a first engaging element 10D and a second engaging element 11D are offset from each other and only when cover 2 is opened, a projection 15 on one end of the first engaging element 10D is fitted into a recess 16 formed at one end of the second engaging element 11D. As described above, in the spouts according to the present invention, when the cover is pulled by utilizing the tab, the reduced-thickness portion interconnecting the cover and the main body is severed so that an open spout can be easily formed. Furthermore, the cover can be maintained in the opened state by the engagement between the engaging elements whereby the dispensing of a liquid from the packaging container is much facilitated. Moreover, in case of opening the spout, fingers do not make contact with the spout itself and a portion therearound so that sanitary condition can be maintained. In addition, when the spout is closed, the cover is pushed down to engage with the main body, whereby the firmly closed state can be maintained. Furthermore, the spouts for packaging containers in accordance with the present invention are simple in construction so that they can be produced by plastic injection molding process as an integral unit at little costs. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY: The spouts in accordance with the present invention can be applied to paper packaging containers in which is filled a beverage in hermetically sealed state, as well as to other containers.

Claims: 1. A spout for a sealed carton for containing liquid product, comprising; a box-shaped body having a closed bottom and a closed top wall (C₁) which has a hole therethrough; and a spout (1) sealingly attached to said top wall (C₁) and having a main body (3) which is located at said hole and has an opening, said spout having a cover (2) integrally joined to said main body (3) so as to close said opening of the main body (3), said cover (2) having one side integrally connected to the main body (3) through a reduced-thickness portion (7) which defines a hinge portion (6), the remaining portion except said hinge portion of said cover being integrally connected to the main body through a reduced-thickness separable portion (9); characterized by a first engaging element (10D) extending upright from the main body (3) at a position adjacent to the hinge portion (6) and made of an elastic material integral with the main body (3), said first engaging element (10D) having at its distal end a lateral engaging portion (15); and a second engaging element (11D) extending upright from the outer surface of the cover (2) at a position adjacent to the hinge portion (6), said second engaging element (11D) being made of an elastic material integral with the cover (2) and having at its distal end a lateral engaging portion (16) for detachable engagement with said lateral engaging portion (15) of the first engaging element (10D); said first and second engaging elements (10D, 11D) being offset in position with respect to an imaginary plane perpendicular to the axis of the hinge portion (6), said lateral engaging portions being disposed so as to be included substantially in said imaginary plane and to engage with each other, when the cover (2) is swung in an opening direction about said hinge portion (6) after the reduced-thickness separable portion (9) is severed, to maintain the cover in an opened state. 2. A spout according to claim 1, characterized in that said lateral engaging portion of the first engaging element (10D) extends parallel to the hinge portion (6), and said lateral engaging portion of the second engaging element (11D) is a recess (16).

Inventors: ASHIZAWA, KENJI, UEMATSU, HIROSHI
Applicants: DAI NIPPON INSATSU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B65D5
IPC codes: B65D47, B65D5