In recent years, when a tire mounted to a vehicle is punctured, flat tire repair liquid is injected into the tire via the tire valve to temporarily repair the puncture. For example, a flat tire repair kit that is configured to supply flat tire repair liquid stored in the flat tire repair liquid container to the interior of the tire via a tube is employed as an injection device for such flat tire repair liquid. Employing such a flat tire repair kit eliminates the need to provide the vehicle with a spare tire, which makes it possible to save resources and reduce the weight of the vehicle. There is a further advantage that the space in the vehicle where the spare tire would have been provided can be used for other purposes.
A flat tire repair liquid container includes, for example, a container main body including a container body storing a flat tire repair liquid and an opening, and a cap including a mounting portion mounted to the opening during flat tire repair work, a dispensing portion that dispenses the flat tire repair liquid outside of the container, and a flow path that connects the mounting portion to the dispensing portion. In such a configuration, providing a closing plug formed from rubber in the flow path has been proposed as a way of preventing the flat tire repair liquid from leaking out from the flow path during storage (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-067161A, for example).
With the closing plug proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-067161A, the flow path is opened by pressure of air supplied to the interior of the container during flat tire repair work that moves the closing plug within the flow path to a predetermined position (an end of the flow path positioned toward the outer side of the container). However, typically used closing plugs formed from rubber deform easily and, as such, there is a problem that the closing plug deforms under the pressure of the air when moving within the flow path, becomes stuck in the flow path, blocks the flow path, and prevents the flow path from opening correctly (in other words, an opening problem occurs).
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds