EP0893355A2

EP0893355A2 - Package container for beverages.

Info

Publication number: EP0893355A2
Application number: EP98202442A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michio Ueda
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-07-24
Filing date: 1998-07-21
Publication date: 1999-01-27
Also published as: EP0893355A3; JPH11147536A

Abstract

A closure (12) of thermoplastic resin is joined by heat sealing at a peripheral edge portion thereof to a flange (23) along an opening edge of a cup-shaped container body (11) made of a paper-base laminate having a thermoplastic resin layer over a surface thereof. The closure (12) is provided with a spout (31) and a cap (32) removably attached to the spout (31). <IMAGE>

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to package containers useful as containers for beverages such as cooling drinks and milk drinks including milk and yogurt drinks.

Known containers of the type mentioned comprise a cup-shaped container body of paper, and a closure made of an aluminum or plastic sheet and joined at a peripheral edge portion thereof to the upper-end opening edge of the container body. The beverage in the container is drunk with the lips in direct contact with an upper-end opening edge portion of the container body after peeling the closure off the container body.

When the closure is peeled off the container body, the upper-end opening edge of the container body becomes fluffy and therefore feels disagreeable to the lips as fitted thereto. The container has another problem in that once opened, the container can not be closed again.

The closure is merely placed on the container body before it is joined thereto by heat sealing. Accordingly, the closure is liable to shift relative to the container body. To prevent this displacement, there is a need to provide means for preventing displacement at required locations on the apparatus for producing such containers. This results in a corresponding increase in the cost of the apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a package container for beverages which feels agreeable, assures ease of drinking and can be closed again reliably and which can be manufactured by an apparatus of reduced cost.

The present invention provides a package container for a beverage comprising a cup-shaped container body having a flange along an opening edge thereof and made of a paper-base laminate having a thermoplastic resin layer over a surface thereof, and a closure made of a thermoplastic resin and joined at a peripheral edge portion thereof to the container body flange by heat sealing, the closure being provided with a spout and a cap removably attached to the spout.

When the cap is removed from the spout, the beverage accommodated in the container of the invention can be drunk through the spout, so that the container feels agreeable, assures ease of drinking and can be closed again reliably if the cap is attached to the spout.

The closure of the container, which is made of a thermoplastic resin, may alternatively be made of a paper-base laminate.

The container is then disposable easily when to be discarded as separated according to the kind of materials.

The closure may have a skeleton of thermoplastic resin. Preferably, the skeleton comprises an outer ring joined to the container body flange by heat sealing, a plurality of arms extending inward from a plurality of portions of the outer ring along the circumference thereof respectively, and an inner ring interconnecting inner ends of the arms.

Further preferably, a reinforcing ring of thermoplastic resin is interposed between the container body flange and the peripheral edge portion of the closure.

The container body, which is made of a paper-base laminate, may alternatively be made of a thermoplastic resin.

Preferably, the closure is formed with a positioning projection extending downward from an outer periphery thereof at at least one portion of the circumference thereof. The apparatus for producing such containers having the downward projection then need not be provided with means for preventing the displacement of the closure and can therefore be lower in cost.

The projection may be an annular projection extending from the outer periphery of the closure along the entire circumference thereof and fitted inside the opening edge of the container body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a container embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in section of the container shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing a modification of the container;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing another modification of the container;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another modification of the container;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another modification of the container;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view in section of the container shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another modification of the container;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view in section of the container shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another modification of the container;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another modification of the container;

FIG. 12 is a view in vertical section showing another modification of the container shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing part of FIG. 12 on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 14 is a view in vertical section showing the container of FIG. 1 and a conveyor for transporting the container;

FIG. 15 is a view in vertical section showing another modification of the container shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 16 is a sectional view showing part of FIG. 15 on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 17 is a view in vertical section showing another modification of the container shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 18 is a view in vertical section showing another modification of the container shown in FIGS. 1 to 3; and

FIG. 19 is a view in section taken along the line XIX-XIX in FIG. 18.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a package container, which comprises a container body 11 in the form of a cup, and a dome-shaped closure 12 covering an upper-end opening of the body.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the container body 11 is a paper cup which is widely available commercially. The body 11 comprises a tapered trunk panel 21 which is upwardly flared, and a flat bottom panel 22. The trunk panel 21 and bottom panel 22 are each made of paper which is coated with a waterproof thermoplastic resin, such as polyethylene, over the surface thereof providing the inner surface of the container. The trunk panel 21 is formed at its upper end with a flange 23 of triple layer and formed by curling, and has a folded-over portion 24 at its lower end. The bottom panel 22 is provided along its peripheral edge with a skirt 25, which is held between the lower end of the trunk panel 21 and the folded-over portion 24 thereof.

The closure 12 is molded integrally from a thermoplastic resin, such as polyethylene, and has a vertical tubular spout 31 at its top. The spout 31 is externally threaded as at 33. A cap 32 of the same material as the closure 12 is fitted over the cap 32. The cap 32 has a skirt which is internally threaded as at 34 and screwed on the externally threaded portion 33. The closure 12 is provided at its lower end with a flange 35 fittable to the flange 23 of the container body 11. The

flanges

23, 35 of the container body 11 and the closure 12 are fitted to each other in layers and joined by heat sealing.

Since a multiplicity of container bodies 11 can be fittingly placed into one another before closures 12 are bonded thereto by heat sealing, the container bodies 11 can be transported efficiently.

When the contents are to be drunk, the cap 32 is removed from the spout 31. The spout 31 will not feel disagreeable to the lips as fitted thereto directly at this time. When the contents are to be left partly undrunk, the cap 32 may be fitted to the spout 31, whereby the container can be closed again readily.

Various modifications of the container will be described below. Throughout the drawings, like parts are designated by like reference numerals and will not be described repeatedly.

FIG. 3 shows a reinforcing ring 41 L-shaped in cross section and interposed between the flange 23 of a container body 11 and the flange 35 of a closure 12. The reinforcing ring 41 is made of the same material as the closure 12.

When the container exceeds 330 ml in capacity, the flange 23 of the container body 11 is likely to exhibit an insufficient strength, which, however, can be compensated for by the reinforcing ring 41. Furthermore, the presence of the reinforcing ring gives an improved sealing property to the joint between the container body 11 and the closure 12.

The container body 11 has a trunk panel 21 of paper and a bottom plate 51 made of a thermoplastic resin. Since the bottom panel 51 of thermoplastic resin is more advantageous than the paper bottom panel 22 in strength, the container body 11 has its lower end reinforced in addition to its upper end which is reinforced by the ring 41. The bottom plate 51 also gives an improved gas barrier property to the container body 11.

FIG. 4 shows a container body 11 comprising a trunk panel 61 and a bottom panel 62 which are made of a thermoplastic resin. The trunk panel 61 is provided at its upper end with a flange 63 integral therewith. This embodiment has a still higher gas barrier property and can be produced at a lower cost than the embodiment of FIG. 3. The reinforcing ring 41 need not be provided.

FIG. 5 shows a container body 11 having a trunk panel 71 extending straight from upper end to lower end with a uniform cross section. The trunk panel 71 and a bottom panel 72 are both made of paper. The trunk panel 71 has a flange 23 of the same construction as the flange 23 shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 shows a container body 11 comprising a trunk panel 81 and a bottom panel 82, which are assembled from a sheet of blank. More specifically, the container body 11 is prepared from a blank of paper-base laminate having a polyethylene layer over each of its opposite surfaces, by shaping the blank into a tube having a square cross section and folding one end of the tube flat. As seen in FIG. 7, the trunk wall 81 has no flange at its upper end, and a vertical portion of a reinforcing ring 41 is fitted in the upper end of the trunk wall 81 and joined thereto by heat sealing. The reinforcing ring 41 has a horizontal portion bearing on the upper end face of the trunk wall 81. A closure 12 has a flange 35 joined to the ring horizontal portion by heat sealing. The closure 12 is in the form of a pyramid instead of being dome-shaped as previously described.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a container body 11 comprising a trunk panel 91 which is made of the same paper-base laminate as the trunk panel 81 shown in FIG. 6, and a bottom panel 92 which is made of a thermoplastic resin. The bottom panel 92 is fitted in the lower end of the trunk panel 91 and has a skirt joined to the inner surface of the lower end of the trunk panel 91 by heat sealing.

FIG. 10 shows a container body 11 comprising the same trunk panel 91 as is shown in FIG. 8 except that the four corners of the trunk panel 91 are rounded as at 101. The rounded corners 101 make it easy to heat-seal the joints between the flanges and at the bottom.

FIG. 11 shows a modified closure 12, which is provided with a spout 111 having the same shape as the spout 31 shown in FIG. 1 and an axis L inclined with respect to a vertical. The contents of the container are then easy to drink with the mouth fitted to the spout 111. The spout also gives a fresh appearance to the container.

FIG. 12 shows a modification of the container having the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. In these drawings, like parts are designated by like reference numerals and will not be described repeatedly.

This modified container comprises a container body 11 in the form of a cup and a dome-shaped closure 12. The container body 11 comprises a trunk panel 21 and a bottom panel 22. The trunk panel 21 has a flange 23 at its upper end and a folded-over portion 24 at its lower end. The bottom panel 22 has a skirt 25 along its outer periphery. The closure 12 has at its upper end a spout 31 with a cap 32 fitted thereover. The closure 12 is formed with a flange 35 at its lower end. A reinforcing ring 41 is interposed between the container body flange 23 and the closure flange 35. In the construction described so far, the container is the same as the container shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

As shown in greater detail in FIG. 13, the closure 12 is provided at its lower end with an annular downward projection 121 integral with the inner periphery of the flange 35. The downward projection 121 is fitted to the inside of the vertical portion of the reinforcing ring 41 and is in intimate contact with the inner surface of the vertical portion so as to position the closure 12 in place relative to the container body 11 or to prevent the displacement of the closure.

FIG. 14 shows the container shown in FIG. 12 with the downward projection 121 omitted, i.e., the container shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and an example of conveyor for transporting the container.

The conveyor has a holder plate 121 formed with container holding apertures 132, and positioning pins 133 arranged around each of the holding aperture 132 and projecting upward from respective positions dividing a circle around the aperture 132 into four equal portions. The container body 11 is fitted in the holding aperture 132, with the flange 23 supported by the inner peripheral portion of the plate 121 defining the aperture 132.

The container body flange 23 and the closure flange 35 are inserted inside the four positioning pins 133 and thereby positioned in place, whereas to render the pins so insertable with ease, the circle inscribed in the arrangement of the four positioning pins 133 is made larger than the outer peripheries of the

flanges

23, 35. Accordingly, the

flanges

23, 35 inevitably shift relative to each other by an amount corresponding to this dimensional difference.

Since the closure 12 and the reinforcing ring 41 are molded from a resin with a die, the downward projection 121 has a high dimensional accuracy. The closure 12 can be positioned accurately relative to the container body 11 by virtue of the presence of the downward projection 121 as shown in FIG. 12. Of course, there is no need to provide positioning pins or the like on the apparatus for producing the container shown in FIG. 12.

The positioning downward projection 121 is provided not only for the container shown in FIG. 12 but also for various containers such as those already described. The positioning projection may be fitted to the upper-end opening edge of the container body over the entire circumference thereof or along a required portion of the circumference. For example, in the case where the container body is tubular and has a square cross section as seen in FIGS. 6 to 11, the closure can be provided with downward projections which are L-shaped or circular-arc in cross section and fittable to the respective four corners of the trunk wall of the container body or only to two opposed corners thereof. Alternatively, the positioning downward projections may be made fittable to at least two sides of the container body trunk wall other than the corners thereof. Further alternatively, the positioning downward projections can be made fittable to a suitable combination of corner of the trunk wall and other portion of the trunk wall.

Other modifications of the container shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 19.

The package containers illustrated in these drawings comprise a cup-shaped container body 11 and a closure 12. The container body 11 is the same as the one shown in FIG. 1 and is in the form of a cup.

The closure 12 comprises a body 141, and a spout member 142 provided on the top of the body 141. The body 141 is made from a paper-base laminate and shaped in the form of a dome. With reference to FIG. 15, the body 141 has a flange 143 along the peripheral edge thereof. The flange 143 is bonded by heat sealing to a flange 23 of the container body 11 with a reinforcing ring 41 interposed therebetween. The body 141 is formed at its top with a thin wall portion 144 for forming a spout. As shown in greater detail in FIG. 16, the thin wall portion 144 is formed by removing an outer thermoplastic resin layer 152 and a paper layer 153 from the laminate, with an inner thermoplastic resin layer 151 left unremoved. The spout member 142 is made from the same material as the above-mentioned spout 31 in the form of a vertical tube and has a flange 154 at its lower end. The lower face of the flange 154 is joined by heat sealing to the upper surface of the body 141 around the thin wall portion 144.

The body 141 of the closure 12 shown in FIG. 17 is formed with an outlet 161 in place of the thin wall portion 144. A spout member 142 is inserted through the outlet 161 from inside and has a flange 154, the upper face of which is joined by heat sealing to the lower surface of the body 141 around the outlet 161.

With the container shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the body 141 of the closure 12 comprises a skeleton 171 and a cover 172.

The skeleton 171, which is made of a thermoplastic resin, comprises an outer ring 181, a plurality of arms 182 extending inward from a plurality of portions of the outer ring 181 along the circumference thereof respectively, and an inner ring 183 interconnecting the inner ends of these arms 182. Examples of useful thermoplastic resins are polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and PET.

The outer ring 181 is generally reversely S-shaped in cross section and comprises an outer peripheral portion 191, an inner peripheral portion 192 and an intermediate portion 193 connecting the inner end of the outer peripheral portion 191 to the outer end of the inner peripheral portion 192. The outer peripheral portion 191 is joined to the container body flange 23 by heat sealing. A stepped portion 194 is formed at the boundary of the outer peripheral portion 191 and the intermediate portion 193. The inner ring 193 has such an inside diameter that the spout member 142 can be loosely inserted therethrough.

The cover 172 is made from the above-mentioned laminate generally in the form of a disk and joined as fitted in the stepped portion 194 to the skeleton 171 by heat sealing. The cover 172 is centrally formed with an outlet 195 in register with the center hole of the inner ring 183. The spout member 142 is inserted through the inner ring 183 and the outlet 195, with the upper face of flange 154 thereof joined to the lower face of the inner ring 183 by heat sealing.

With the closure 141 thus constructed, the cover 172 is provided over the spaces between the adjacent arms 182 and between the outer ring 181 and inner ring 183 of the skeleton 171. The cover 172 may be bonded by heat sealing to the skeleton 171 from inside to cover the spaces.

Although FIGS. 15 to 19 show embodiments wherein the reinforcing ring is interposed between and joined by heat sealing to the container body and the closure, the closure may alternatively be joined directly to the container body by heat sealing without providing the reinforcing ring therebetween as seen in FIG. 2.

Claims

A package container for a beverage comprising a cup-shaped container body having a flange along an opening edge thereof and made of a paper-base laminate having a thermoplastic resin layer over a surface thereof, and a closure made of a thermoplastic resin and joined at a peripheral edge portion thereof to the container body flange by heat sealing, the closure being provided with a spout and a cap removably attached to the spout.
A package container for a beverage comprising a cup-shaped container body having a flange along an opening edge thereof and made of a paper-base laminate having a thermoplastic resin layer over a surface thereof, and a closure made of a paper-base laminate having a thermoplastic resin layer over a surface thereof and joined at a peripheral edge portion thereof to the container body flange by heat sealing, the closure being provided with a spout and a cap removably attached to the spout.
A package container for a beverage according to claim 1 or 2 wherein a reinforcing ring of thermoplastic resin is interposed between the container body flange and the peripheral edge portion of the closure.
A package container for a beverage according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the closure has a skeleton of thermoplastic resin.
A package container for a beverage according to claim 4 wherein the skeleton comprises an outer ring joined to the container body flange by heat sealing, a plurality of arms extending inward from a plurality of portions of the outer ring along the circumference thereof respectively, and an inner ring interconnecting inner ends of the arms.
A package container for a beverage comprising a cup-shaped container body made of a thermoplastic resin and having a flange along an opening edge thereof, and a closure made of a thermoplastic resin and joined at a peripheral edge portion thereof to the container body flange by heat sealing, the closure being provided with a spout and a cap removably attached to the spout.
A package container for a beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the closure is formed with a positioning projection extending downward from an outer periphery thereof at at least one portion of the circumference thereof.
A package container for a beverage according to claim 6 wherein the projection is annular, extends from the outer periphery of the closure along the entire circumference thereof and is fitted inside the opening edge of the container body.