CN216547305U

CN216547305U - Container and container assembly

Info

Publication number: CN216547305U
Application number: CN202120487951.1U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈标云; 刘鹏
Original assignee: Stora Enso Oyj
Current assignee: Stora Enso Oyj
Priority date: 2021-03-08
Filing date: 2021-03-08
Publication date: 2022-05-17
Anticipated expiration: 2031-03-08
Also published as: WO2022189904A1

Abstract

The utility model relates to a container, characterized in that it comprises: -a body (100) comprising a housing cavity and an opening edge (120), -a cover (200) comprising a cover edge (220) cooperating with said opening edge (120), said housing cavity comprising a plurality of sub-cavities (110) symmetrical with respect to a central axis of the body (100), said plurality of sub-cavities (110) being separated from each other by side walls defined by a bottom recess (130) formed on a bottom surface of said body (100), said bottom recess (130) being adapted to receive a lifting member (400) for lifting said container.

Description

Container and container assembly

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of containers, more particularly to food containers used in the catering industry, such as portable containers, in particular portable cutlery boxes.

Background

Currently, the business mode of catering industry 'take-out' is in a state of continuous growth. In order to provide better service, both the merchant providing the food processing and the "take-away" carrier wish to deliver the food to the customer as quickly as possible, i.e., to increase the efficiency of the delivery to increase their competitiveness. This requirement places high demands on containers used to transport food, such as meal boxes, for example, the meal boxes should be convenient to package, the meal boxes should be portable, and the meal boxes should be kept relatively stable in position while transporting multiple meal boxes (especially when stacking meal boxes one on top of another).

To meet such a demand, a common solution at present is to place a lunch box having a lid and a body in a plastic bag for convenient transportation. The advantage of this solution is that the lunch box can be packed very easily by simply placing it in a plastic bag prepared in advance. However, this leads to a large demand for plastic bag products, leading to potential concerns about environmental impact. In addition, in the case of placing a plurality of lunch boxes in a plastic bag, the position of the stacked lunch boxes in the horizontal direction is not fixed enough, which easily causes the lunch boxes to slide during transportation, and even the problem that the liquid in the food leaks out due to slipping becomes very prominent. In addition, when only a single meal box is carried using a paper or plastic bag in the prior art, the meal box often tips over due to the oversized bag, causing food leakage. However, if the bag is sized to match the dimensions of the cutlery box, the cutlery box is not easily removed from the bag.

In summary, the prior art solutions do not satisfy the current requirements for efficient "take-away" delivery, i.e. they do not satisfy the requirements for fast packing and relatively stable positioning of meal boxes at the same time, especially in situations involving the transportation of multiple meal boxes.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The present invention solves the above technical problem by proposing a new container. The present invention provides a container, characterized in that it comprises:

a main body comprising an accommodating cavity and an opening edge,

an upper cover comprising an upper cover edge that mates with the opening edge,

the receiving chamber comprises a plurality of sub-chambers symmetrical about a central axis of the main body, the plurality of sub-chambers being separated from each other by side walls defined by a bottom recess formed on a bottom surface of the main body, the bottom recess being adapted to receive a lifting member for lifting the container.

Compared with the prior art, the utility model has the following beneficial effects:

the container of the utility model is convenient and quick to package. The groove provided at the bottom of the container body of the present invention allows the lifting member (e.g., a string) to be easily received therein, which enables quick packing of the lunch box; for example, the string as the lifting member may be in a closed loop form, so that the container can be smoothly lifted up only by putting the string into the bottom groove of the lunch box in advance according to the shape of the bottom groove of the lunch box, which is very convenient and fast, and also can prevent the use of a plastic bag having a negative influence on the environment.

Preferably, the side of the body is formed with a plurality of side grooves adapted to receive a lifting member for lifting the container. Such an arrangement enhances the stability of the packaging of the container. After lifting the pull member, the pull member is received in the side recess in addition to the bottom recess, thereby providing a stop at the side of the container to prevent the container from tipping. At the same time, this is particularly advantageous when the containers are stacked, since it is possible to avoid relative lateral displacements between the stacked containers.

Preferably, the upper lid edge has an upper lid groove corresponding to the side groove. The upper lid of the container thus also provides a location suitable for receiving the lifting member and also provides an additional stop at the side of the container.

Preferably, the bottom groove is in communication with the side groove. Therefore, the lifting part can be directly accommodated in the side groove after penetrating through the bottom groove, and double positioning of the lifting part on the bottom and the side can be realized through one-step simple operation.

Preferably, the plurality of sub-cavities are four sub-cavities, and the four sub-cavities form four-leaf clover-shaped lobes. The arrangement of four sub-cavities can realize the separate holding of different contents for the container can hold different contents simultaneously and not interfere with each other. Furthermore, the provision of four sub-cavities also means that the bottom recesses can be arranged in an intersecting manner so that the pull members can be placed in an intersecting manner at the bottom to better provide stability.

Preferably, the bottom groove is formed in a substantially cruciform shape. The generally cruciform bottom groove allows the pull member to function well in securing and may be naturally formed between adjacent sub-cavities separating the form of "clover", while providing both aesthetic appearance and functionality.

Preferably, the bottom wall of the bottom recess is flush with the opening edge of the body. This arrangement means that the depth of the bottom recess is almost comparable to the thickness of the body of the container, which makes it less likely that the different contents of the sub-cavities will mix.

Preferably, the sub-cavities have first engagement portions on their bottom surfaces, and the lid includes second engagement portions adapted to engage with the first engagement portions of the containers stacked thereon. The first engaging portion and the second engaging portion which are engageable with each other make it easy to stack the container of the present invention one on top of the other, which makes it possible to pack and transport a plurality of containers simultaneously, improving efficiency.

Preferably, the first and second engagement portions are flat. The flat first joint part and the flat second joint part enable the containers stacked up and down to be placed flatly, and provide a foundation for the stability of transportation.

Preferably, the upper cap further comprises a stopper portion abutting the second engaging portion and closer to the central axis than the second engaging portion for stopping lateral movement of the main body of the other container. The stop is provided to prevent relative lateral movement between the upper and lower containers when the containers are stacked.

Preferably, the bottom surface of the sub-cavity is provided with an avoiding part which is adjacent to the first engaging part and corresponds to the stopping part. When the containers are stacked, the avoiding part is arranged above the stopping part and is not contacted with the stopping part, so that mutual interference between the upper container and the lower container is avoided. Further, when a pull member is used, the pull member may also extend along a boundary between the escape portion and the first stopper portion, thereby providing another way of placing the pull member.

Preferably, the upper cover includes a receiving portion recessed from a top surface of the upper cover toward the main body. The receiving portion forms a receiving space by being lower than other portions of the upper cover, providing a convenient space for additional articles on the container itself, increasing portability of the container and its accessories. The receptacle is a cutlery receptacle.

Preferably, the upper cover includes a plurality of recesses at an edge thereof, and outer walls of the recesses abut against inner sides of the side walls of the main body to fix the upper cover to the main body. In addition to this, the outer wall of the recess provides sealing against the inside of the side wall of the body.

Preferably, the container is a cutlery box.

Preferably, the present invention provides a container assembly comprising at least one container as described above and a lifting member.

Preferably, the lifting member is a cord.

Preferably, the assembly comprises a plurality of said containers arranged in a stack.

The sub-cavities of sub-cavities those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that any combination of the above aspects can be made without departing from the spirit of the utility model, and still obtain a technical solution without departing from the scope of the utility model.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container and a pull member according to one embodiment of the present invention, in which an upper cover is mounted on a body and the pull member in the form of a closed loop is placed at one side of the container;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the body of the container of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, showing a plurality of subcavities and a central axis of the container;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the container of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 with the body inverted, showing the bottom structure of the body;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the bottom of the body of the container of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, showing the sub-cavities and the bottom grooves between the sub-cavities;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the upper lid of the container of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a plurality of the containers of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 stacked one above the other, the cross-section including the central axis of the containers and sectioning two opposing subcavities;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the lower container portion of FIG. 6, encircled by circle C, showing the recess of the upper cover;

figures 8 and 9 show how a container according to the utility model can be carried with a lifting member;

figures 10 to 12 show how the stacked containers according to the utility model are carried by a lifting member.

In the accompanying drawings 1-12 of the utility model, the following reference numerals are used in order to describe the preferred embodiment of the present invention:

100: main body

200: upper cover

120: edge of opening

220: edge of upper cover

110: sub-cavity

111: first joint part

211: second joint part

112: avoiding part

212: stop part

130: bottom groove

131: bottom wall of bottom groove

140: side groove

240: upper cover groove

250: receiving part

260: concave part

300: tableware

400: pulling component

Detailed Description

In this section, a container, a lifting member, and a container assembly including both of the container and the lifting member according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail and explained with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the description of such embodiments is illustrative and explanatory and is not intended to limit the scope of the utility model in any way. The utility model is not limited to this particular embodiment.

The container of the present invention is proposed to solve the problems of quick packaging and shipping stability. A container assembly including a container and a pull member according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig. 1. For clarity of description of the container and container assembly according to the utility model, an orthogonal coordinate system XYZ is established, wherein the X-axis and the Y-axis define a plane in which the container lies when normally lying, for example a table top. The Z-axis is perpendicular to the XY-plane and corresponds to a direction from the container body 100 toward the upper cover 200.

A container according to the utility model is described below with reference to figures 1 to 4.

Fig. 1 shows a container according to the utility model and a pull-up member 400. As shown, the container includes a main body 100 and an upper cover 200, wherein the upper cover 200 is covered on the main body 100. The container shown in figure 1 is a cutlery box having a general clover form. The lifting member 400 is, for example, a cord in the form of a closed loop.

The body 100 of the container includes a receiving cavity and an open edge 120, as shown in fig. 2. The upper cover 200 includes an upper cover rim 220 that mates with the opening rim 120 of the main body 100, as shown in fig. 5. Referring to fig. 2 and 3, the body 100 includes a central axis O that is parallel to the axis Z. The receiving chamber includes a plurality of sub-chambers 110 symmetrical about a central axis O of the main body 100, the plurality of sub-chambers 110 being separated from each other by sidewalls defined by a bottom groove 130 formed on a bottom surface of the main body 100, and the bottom groove 130 being adapted to receive the pull member 400.

The figures of the present invention show, by way of example, a container in the form of clover, which may be a cutlery box, in particular a portable cutlery box. In this example, the body 100 has four sub-cavities 110, corresponding to the four lobe portion sub-cavities of a clover structure, respectively. Correspondingly, the upper cap 200 of the container also has a covering unit corresponding to the sub-cavity. It should be understood that the cutlery box may have a structure that is not limited to the clover form. In this case, the bottom groove 130 of the body is formed in a substantially cross shape. The "substantially cross shape" in the present invention is not limited to a cross shape formed by two straight grooves intersecting at right angles, but also includes a cross shape formed by grooves intersecting at non-straight lines and/or non-right angles. For example, as shown in the embodiment and the drawings of the present invention, the "cross shape" in fig. 4 is not a strictly right-angled intersecting "cross", but a groove formed by intersecting grooves having curved portions. Those skilled in the art will be able to devise similar forms of the grooves without departing from the scope of the utility model.

When it is desired to carry the container away, the container can be carried away with a high degree of portability by placing a lifting member 400 (e.g., a string) in the bottom recess 130 in a criss-cross fashion (similar to the figure "8").

As shown, the side of the body 100 may further be formed with a plurality of side grooves 140, the side grooves 140 also being adapted to receive a lifting member 400 for lifting the container. The side groove 140 is recessed from the opening edge 120 toward the central axis O. After lifting the pull member, the pull member 400 is received in the side recess in addition to the bottom recess, thereby providing a stop at the side of the container to prevent the container from tipping. At the same time, this is particularly advantageous when the containers are stacked, since it is possible to avoid relative lateral displacements between the stacked containers.

The side grooves 140 may be demarcated portions between sub-cavities of the body, whereby the side grooves 140 communicate with the bottom groove 130. The pulling member is received directly in the side recess after passing through the bottom recess 130, and the double positioning of the pulling member at the bottom and the side of the body can be achieved by a simple operation.

As shown in fig. 1, the upper lid rim has an upper lid groove 240 corresponding to the side groove 140, the upper lid groove 240 being recessed from the upper lid rim 220 in a direction toward the central axis O.

Further, the bottom wall 131 of the bottom recess 130 is flush with the opening edge 120 of the body. As shown in fig. 2, the open edge of each subcavity 110 is defined by a portion of the open edge 120 of the body and the bottom wall 131 of the bottom recess 130. The fact that the bottom wall 131 is flush with the opening edge 120 means that the opening edges of the respective sub-cavities 110 are in the same plane. Thus, the contents in each of the sub-cavities 110 are not easily mixed. In addition, when the upper cover 200 is closed on the main body 100, the bottom wall 131 may contact a corresponding portion of the upper cover, so that the sub-cavities 110 form closed sub-cavities, better ensuring separation of the contents in each sub-cavity 110, as described in detail below.

In order to facilitate carrying of accessories related to the container, for example, tableware used in conjunction with a lunch box, a receiving part 250 for receiving accessories (for example, tableware) is further provided on the upper cover 200, and the receiving part 250 is recessed from the top surface of the upper cover 200 toward the main body to form a space, i.e., the receiving part 250. Thus, good storage of the accessories can be achieved without adding additional design and manufacturing costs to the container, and without taking up space outside the container.

In order to facilitate carrying of a plurality of containers together, the container according to the utility model is also provided with a structure that facilitates stable stacking thereof.

Specifically, the bottom surface of the sub-cavity 110 has a first engaging portion 111 (fig. 3), and the upper cover 200 includes a second engaging portion 211 (fig. 1), the second engaging portion 211 being adapted to engage with the first engaging portion 111 of the container stacked thereon when two or more containers are stacked (fig. 6). The first and second engaging

portions

111 and 211 have matching shapes. In the example shown in the figure, they are both flat. Thus, the lower located container provides a relatively stable support for the upper located container.

Further, since stacked containers are easily translated relative to each other during transport, which may cause the contents to fall, the container according to the present invention is further provided with a stopper 212 on the upper cover 200, as shown in fig. 1, 5 and 6. Specifically, the cover unit of the upper cover 200 includes a stopper portion 212 that abuts the second engagement portion 211 and is closer to the central axis O than the second engagement portion 211. The stopper portion 212 may be a protruding portion that is raised with respect to the second engaging portion 211. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom surface of the sub-cavity 110 further has an avoiding portion 112 corresponding to the stopping portion 212, which is adjacent to the first engaging portion 111 of the bottom surface of the sub-cavity 110 and is closer to the central axis O than the first engaging portion 111.

Thus, when the containers are stacked (fig. 6), the edge of the first engaging portion 111 (the boundary portion between the first engaging portion 111 and the escape portion 112) at the bottom of the main body of the container located above abuts against the corresponding stopping portion 212. Since the sub-cavities 110 of the container are symmetrical about the central axis O, the bottom of the body, which is equivalent to the container located above, is obstructed in all directions in a plane parallel to the XY plane, thus avoiding relative lateral movement between the upper and lower containers.

In addition, another form of mating of the container to the pull member is provided due to the presence of the relief 112. The pull members 400 may be arranged in a rectangular-like manner, as exemplified by the dashed lines L1 and L2 in FIG. 3, and L1 and L2 represent portions of the same annular pull member, respectively located in the two longer sides of the rectangular form. The L1 and L2 may not be received in the bottom groove 130 in a crossing manner, but are placed at the boundary portion of the first engaging portion 111 and the escape portion 112 of the corresponding sub-cavity of the bottom of the main body, and extend upward (positive Z direction) into the side groove 140 beyond the boundary portion, thereby lifting up the container. The upper cover 200 is further described with reference to fig. 5. The boundary portion between the cover units of the upper cover 200 forms the aforementioned receiving portion 250 for receiving accessories. The inner side surface of the upper cover 200 corresponding to the accommodating portion 250 may contact the bottom wall 131 between the sub-cavities 100, so that the sub-cavities 110 form closed sub-cavities, and the separation of the contents in each sub-cavity 110 is better ensured.

The sub-chamber has a recess 260 at the edge of each cover unit of the upper cover 200 for sealing and fixing the upper cover 200 with the main body 100, and an upper cover groove 240 corresponding to the side groove 140 at the edge of the upper cover. The utility model also relates to a container assembly comprising the container and a lifting component.

Taking the meal box and the rope as an example, the perspective view of fig. 1 can show the state of the food supplier before packing the meal box after placing the food in the meal box. In preparation for packaging, the string in the form of a closed loop is laid in a manner corresponding to the bottom groove 130 of the cutlery box, as shown in fig. 8, and the cutlery box is placed on the string. The strings cross at the middle portion to correspond to the shape of the bottom groove 130, the crossing of the strings not being shown due to the blocking of the lunch box in the perspective view of fig. 8. If there is only one cutlery box, lifting the string into the bottom groove 130, the side grooves 140 and the lid groove 240 meets above the cutlery box, as shown in fig. 9, thereby facilitating lifting. Or, the rope is laid in a rectangular form, two long sides of the rectangle are jointed to the joint part of the first jointing part and the avoidance part at the bottom of the main body, and after the rope is lifted, the rope enters the side groove 140 and the upper cover groove 240 and meets above the lunch box, so that the lifting is convenient.

As can be seen from the above description with reference to fig. 1 to 5 and fig. 8 and 9, the above container and container assembly of the present invention has the following advantages. When the string is lifted, the string is easily inserted into the bottom groove 130 or the corresponding engaging portion by the weight of the lunch box. This enables quick packing of the cutlery box, which is positioned by the rope engaging the bottom of the body, improving the stability of the cutlery box in transit. On this basis, through the use of the side grooves 140, and more preferably the upper lid groove 240, the rope can enter the groove at the side of the lunch box after being lifted, so that the rope holds the lunch box at the side periphery of the lunch box, and the lunch box is not easy to tip over. When the prior art uses paper bags or plastic bags to carry the lunch boxes, the lunch boxes are often overturned due to the overlarge size of the bags, and food leakage is caused. However, if the bag is sized to match the dimensions of the cutlery box, the cutlery box is not easily removed from the bag. The container according to the present invention completely avoids such problems due to the structure of the matching pulling member, and does not have too severe requirements for the size of the pulling member.

Fig. 10 to 12 further show the situation when a plurality of lunch boxes are stacked up and down. Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of the container assembly of two cutlery boxes and a string. Corresponding to fig. 8, fig. 11 shows a perspective view of the rope of fig. 10 placed on the bottom of the lunch box in a manner corresponding to the grooves on the bottom of the lunch box, and then the lunch box is placed on the rope, wherein the lunch boxes are stacked up and down in a manner that the grooves on the sides are aligned. Fig. 12 is a perspective view, corresponding to fig. 9, of the cord of fig. 11 after lifting. It can be seen that the arrangement of the lunch boxes and the string of the present invention allows a plurality of lunch boxes stacked up and down to be packed quickly, and the lateral stability between the plurality of lunch boxes is ensured because the string enters the lateral grooves 140 and the upper cover groove 240 at the side.

It is to be understood that the structures described above and shown in the attached drawings are merely examples of the present invention, which can be replaced by other structures exhibiting the same or similar function for obtaining the desired end result. Furthermore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings are to be regarded as only non-limiting examples of the utility model and that it can be modified in a number of ways within the scope of the patent claims.

Claims

1. A container, characterized in that it comprises:

a body (100) comprising a housing cavity and an open edge (120),

an upper cover (200) comprising an upper cover rim (220) cooperating with the opening rim (120),

the receiving chamber includes a plurality of sub-chambers (110) symmetrical about a central axis of the body (100), the plurality of sub-chambers (110) being separated from each other by side walls defined by a bottom groove (130) formed on a bottom surface of the body (100), the bottom groove (130) being adapted to receive a lifting member (400) for lifting the container.

2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the side of the body (100) is formed with a plurality of side grooves (140), the side grooves (140) being adapted to receive a lifting member (400) for lifting the container.

3. The container of claim 2, wherein the lid rim (220) has a lid groove (240) corresponding to the side groove (140).

4. The container according to claim 2, wherein the bottom groove (130) communicates with the side groove (140).

5. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the plurality of sub-cavities (110) are four sub-cavities forming clover-shaped lobes.

6. The container according to claim 5, wherein the bottom groove (130) forms a substantially cruciform shape, wherein the substantially cruciform shape means that the shape is not limited to a cruciform shape formed by two straight grooves intersecting at right angles, but also includes a cruciform shape formed by grooves intersecting at non-straight lines and/or non-right angles.

7. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the bottom wall (131) of the bottom recess (130) is flush with the opening edge (120) of the body (100).

8. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bottom surface of the subcavity (110) has a first engaging portion (111), the upper cover (200) comprising a second engaging portion (211) adapted to engage with the first engaging portion (111) of the container stacked thereon.

9. The container according to claim 8, wherein the first joint (111) and the second joint (211) are flat.

10. The container according to claim 9, wherein the upper cap (200) further comprises a stopper portion (212) abutting the second engaging portion (211) and closer to the central axis than the second engaging portion (211) for stopping the lateral movement of the main body (100) of another of the containers.

11. The container according to claim 10, wherein the bottom surface of the sub-cavity (110) has an escape portion (112) adjacent to the first engagement portion (111) and corresponding to the stop portion (212).

12. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the upper lid (200) comprises a receptacle (250) recessed from a top surface of the upper lid (200) towards the main body (100).

13. The container according to claim 12, characterized in that the receptacle (250) is a receptacle for cutlery (300).

14. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the upper cover (200) comprises a plurality of recesses (260) at its edge, outer walls of the recesses (260) abutting against inner sides of the side walls of the body (100) to fix the upper cover (200) on the body (100).

15. A container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the container is a cutlery box.

16. A container assembly, characterized in that it comprises at least one container according to any one of the preceding claims and a lifting member (400).

17. The container assembly of claim 16, wherein the lifting member (400) is a string.

18. The container assembly of claim 16 or 17, wherein the assembly comprises a plurality of said containers arranged in a stack.