JP2008143594A - Contents container, and container body composing it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contents container which prevents the appearance deformation from being produced when the inside of a container body is pressurized, and also a whole configuration from being distorted for the reason that local deformation is produced in the container body when the inside of the container body is depressurized after the plug of the contents container is opened. <P>SOLUTION: The contents container 10 is equipped with a spout section 11, the container body 13 having a barrel section 12 connected with the spout section 11 and a cap 14 installed on the spout section 11 of the container body 13. Among them, the barrel section 12 of the container body 13 has a plurality of polygonal panels 15, each polygonal panel 15 has the ridgeline 15a of an outer edge and a concave curved face section 15b prepared within the ridgeline 15a. While filling up the inside of the container body 13 with contents 16, when having filled up the inside of space 17 on the contents 16 with pressurization gas 18, the curved face section 15b of each polygonal panel 15 projects outward and the curved face section 15b is located with the ridgeline 15a substantially on the same plane. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content container for containing beverages and the like and a container main body constituting the same, and in particular, even if the container main body is thin, the outer appearance is not deformed when the inside of the container main body is pressurized, and the content The present invention relates to a content container and a container main body constituting the same, in which a local deformation does not occur in the container main body even when the inside of the container main body is depressurized after the container is opened.

  In recent years, since the price of crude oil has soared or in order to make effective use of resources, it has been promoted to reduce plastic molding materials and to make plastic containers thinner. In addition, according to the voluntary action plan declared by Keidanren following the revision of the Container Recycling Law, it is obliged to reduce the amount of plastic.

  Under such circumstances, thin plastic containers have become common. On the other hand, a synthetic resin container filled with a beverage may be crushed by a shopping basket or other foods enclosed in a bag, or may be shocked when dropped in a vending machine. . In addition, liquid spillage may occur when the container body is gripped after the container is opened. Therefore, even a thin synthetic resin container needs to be designed so that such a problem does not occur.

  Conventionally, in order to increase the strength of the synthetic resin container, a method of dropping liquefied nitrogen into the space (head space) on the contents of the container body of the synthetic resin container has been used. That is, when the pressure as described above is applied to the container main body, the container is prevented from being deformed by the pressurized nitrogen in the head space. However, when such a method is used, it is conceivable that the internal pressure of the container main body increases, and thereby the panel portion of the container main body is locally deformed.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, when a plurality of circumferential ribs are provided in the body portion of the synthetic resin container and the ribs are provided with discontinuous portions, the internal pressure of the container body is increased by pressurized nitrogen. Prevents pressure deformation. Patent Document 2 shows that when the inner pressure of the container body is increased by pressurized nitrogen because the bottle body portion of the synthetic resin bottle has diamond-cut irregularities and the bottom shape is a concave dome shape or a betaloid shape. Prevents pressure deformation.

However, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, no countermeasure is taken against deformation under reduced pressure after the container is opened. In other words, once the container is opened, it is closed with a part of the beverage, and then cooled in the refrigerator, the container body is locally deformed significantly and the overall shape is distorted, which may cause the container to fall over. There is. Further, since the container is deformed in this way, it becomes difficult to hold the container, and the container may have a poor appearance. Furthermore, since the containers shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are limited in the shape of the body and the bottom, the design of the entire container is limited to some extent.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-180427 JP 2002-370721 A

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such points, and when the inside of the container body is pressurized, the container body is not deformed in appearance, and the inside of the container body is decompressed after the contents container is opened. It is an object of the present invention to provide a content container that does not deform in the container body and a container body that constitutes the container.

  The present invention is a content container comprising a container body having a mouth part, a body part connected to the mouth part, and a cap attached to the mouth part of the container body, wherein the body part has a plurality of polygons. Each polygonal panel has a ridgeline at the outer edge and a concave curved surface provided in the ridgeline, and fills the container body with the contents and adds to the space above the contents. When the pressurized gas is filled, the curved surface portion of each polygonal panel protrudes outward, and the curved surface portion is located on substantially the same plane as the ridge line.

  The present invention is a content container characterized in that a flat surface is formed on the outer periphery of the curved surface portion within the ridgeline of each polygonal panel.

  The present invention is the contents container characterized in that the polygonal panel of the body portion has a thickness of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.

  The present invention is a container body constituting a content container.

  According to the present invention, when the container body is filled with the contents and the space above the contents is filled with the pressurized gas, the curved surface portion of each polygonal panel protrudes outward, and the curved surface portion is a ridge line. Therefore, even if the inside of the container body is pressurized, local appearance deformation does not occur in the container body, and the commercial value of the contents container is not impaired.

Further, according to the present invention, when the inside of the container body is depressurized, the curved portion of each polygonal panel absorbs this depressurized portion, so that the contents are partially left after the contents container is opened. Even when the contents container is closed again and then the contents container is cooled and the inside of the container body is depressurized, the curved surface portion of each polygonal panel absorbs this depressurization, but the overall shape is deformed in a well-balanced manner. For this reason, a local deformation | transformation arises in a container main body, and the whole shape does not distort.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the flat surface is formed on the outer periphery of the curved surface portion within the ridge line of each polygon panel, the flat surface is greatly deformed in the container main body when the pressure in the container main body is reduced. Then, the reduced pressure component can be absorbed.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
Here, FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a polygon panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing Comparative Example 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing Comparative Example 2 of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a front view showing Comparative Example 3 of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a front view showing Comparative Example 4 of the present invention.

First, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, an outline of a content container according to the present embodiment and a container main body constituting the container will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the content container 10 includes a container body 13 having a mouth part 11, a body part 12 connected to the mouth part 11, and a bottom part 19 provided at a lower part of the body part 12, and a container body. 13 and caps 14 attached to the mouth portions 11. Among these, the container main body 13 is integrally molded from a synthetic resin material such as polyethylene terephthalate.

  The body 12 of the container body 13 has a plurality of polygon panels 15. Each polygon panel 15 has an outer edge ridge line 15a and a concave curved surface portion 15b provided in the ridge line 15a. A flat surface 15c is formed on the outer periphery of the curved surface portion 15b in the ridge line 15a of each polygon panel 15. Each of these polygonal panels 15 has a thickness of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm and has a relatively thin structure.

  The polygon panel 15 has a rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 1, but may have a polygonal shape such as a triangle or a pentagon. Moreover, the trunk | drum 12 of the container main body 13 may have it combining the polygon panel 15 of multiple types of shape. Therefore, the shape of the container body 13 can be freely configured.

  In addition, the container body 13 is filled with a content 16 made of beverage or the like, and a space (head space) 17 on the content 16 is filled with a pressurized gas 18 made of, for example, nitrogen. When the pressurized gas 18 is filled in the head space 17 on the contents 16 in this way, the curved surface portion 15b of each polygon panel 15 protrudes outward, and the curved surface portion 15b is substantially the same as the ridge line 15a. They are located on the same plane (see FIG. 2). In FIG. 2, the angle α between the flat surface 15c of the polygon panel 15 and the adjacent flat surface 15c is about 120 °. The angle α, the depth D of the curved surface portion 15b, and the size of the curved surface portion 15b may be appropriately changed depending on the capacity of the container body 13 and the structure of the polygon panel 15.

  The pressure of the pressurized gas 18 in the head space 17 is preferably 5 to 40 kPa experimentally. If the pressure of the pressurized gas 18 is less than 5 kPa, liquid spillage of the contents 16 may occur when the body 12 is gripped to open the contents container 10. On the other hand, when the pressure of the pressurized gas 18 exceeds 40 kPa, the bottom 19 of the container body 13 may be inverted outward (hereinafter also referred to as buckling).

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described.

First, an operation when the inside of the container body 13 is pressurized will be described.
First, the contents 16 are injected from the mouth 11 of the empty container body 13 and filled into the container body 13. Next, the pressurized gas 18 is filled in the head space 17 on the contents 16. In this case, for example, liquid nitrogen is introduced into the head space 17 on the contents 16 and the liquid nitrogen is vaporized, whereby pressurized nitrogen (pressurized gas 18) can be filled into the head space 17. it can. Thereafter, the cap 14 is screwed onto the mouth portion 11 of the container body 13 and sealed, and thus the contents container 10 is manufactured. In this case, as will be described later, the curved surface portion 15b of the polygon panel 15 protrudes outward (reference numeral 15d), and the curved surface portion 15b is positioned substantially on the same plane as the ridge line 15a.

  By the way, as mentioned above, in order to reduce the weight of the contents container 10, the thickness of the container body 13 is reduced. For this reason, the rigidity of the body 12 of the container body 13 is relatively low. Therefore, when the content container 10 is crushed in a shopping basket or bag, dropped in a vending machine, or subjected to an impact, the container body 13 may be easily crushed. The pressurized gas 18 described above is filled in the head space 17 in order to prevent the container body 13 from being crushed in this way.

  In this case, it is conceivable that the inside of the container body 13 is pressurized by the pressurized gas 18 so that the body 12 of the container body 13 is locally deformed. In order to prevent such local deformation, the body 12 of the container body 13 has a plurality of polygonal panels 15.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when the inside of the container body 13 is pressurized, the curved surface portion 15b of the polygon panel 15 protrudes outward (reference numeral 15d), and the curved surface portion 15b is substantially flush with the ridgeline 15a. It is supposed to be located. In this case, the curved surface portion 15b of the polygonal panel 15 is deformed to absorb the pressure in the container body 13, so that the body portion 12 of the container body 13 does not expand locally. Further, since the curved surface portion 15b of the polygon panel 15 becomes a gentle curved surface along the flat surface 15c, it is difficult to visually distinguish that the inside of the container body 13 is pressurized.

Next, an operation when the inside of the container body 13 is depressurized will be described.
First, the cap 14 of the content container 10 is removed while the inside of the container body 13 is pressurized by the pressurized gas 18. At this time, the pressurized gas 18 in the head space 17 is discharged outward. Thereby, the curved surface part 15b of the polygon panel 15 returns from the position (reference numeral 15d) indicated by the phantom line in FIG. 2 to the position (reference numeral 15b) indicated by the solid line.

  Next, with the contents 16 in the container body 13 partially remaining, the cap 14 is screwed into the mouth 11 of the container body 13 and sealed, and then the contents container 10 is cooled in the refrigerator or the like. Describe the case.

  In this case, the contents container 10 is cooled, and thereby the inside of the container body 13 is decompressed. At this time, the curved surface portion 15b of the polygon panel 15 is deformed from the position indicated by the solid line (reference numeral 15b) in FIG. 2 to the position indicated by the virtual line (reference numeral 15e). That is, each flat surface 15c of the polygon panel 15 is rotated to the inside of the container main body 13 with the ridge line 15a as a fulcrum, and the curved surface portion 15b is also moved inward of the container main body 13 in conjunction with this. In this way, the curved surface portion 15b and the flat surface 15c of each polygon panel 15 are recessed into the container body 13, thereby absorbing the reduced pressure in the container body 13 and preventing local deformation of the body portion 12. This prevents the overall shape of the container body 13 from being distorted.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, when the contents 16 are filled in the container body 13 and the pressurized gas 18 is filled in the space (head space) 17 on the contents 16, each polygon is formed. Since the curved surface portion 15b of the panel 15 protrudes outward and the curved surface portion 15b is positioned on substantially the same plane as the ridge line 15a, the container body 13 is locally deformed even when the container body 13 is pressurized. It does not occur and the commercial value of the contents container 10 is not impaired.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the inside of the container main body 13 is depressurized, the curved portion 15b of each polygonal panel 15 absorbs this depressurized portion, so that the contents after the contents container 10 is opened Even when the contents container 10 is closed again with a part of the object 16 remaining, and then the contents container 10 is cooled and the inside of the container body 13 is depressurized, the container body 13 is locally deformed, resulting in an overall shape. Will not be greatly distorted.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, since the flat surface 15c is formed in the ridge line 15a of each polygon panel 15 and on the outer periphery of the curved surface portion 15b, the flat surface is obtained when the inside of the container body 13 is decompressed. 15c is greatly deformed in the container body 13 and can absorb the reduced pressure.

EXAMPLES Next, specific examples of the present invention will be described.

(Example)
The container main body 13 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 was produced from a lightweight preform. In this case, the thickness of the polygonal panel 15 of the trunk portion 12 was 0.20 mm. Moreover, the trunk | drum 12 has the polygon panel 15 of 12 surfaces in total, and the ratio of the total area of the polygon panel 15 with respect to the total area of the container main body 13 became 46%. Further, the depth D (see FIG. 2) of the curved surface portion 15b of the polygon panel 15 was 2 mm. The distance L (see FIG. 2) between the ridgeline 15a of the polygon panel 15 and the boundary 15f between the curved surface portion 15b and the flat surface 15c is 6.5 mm.

(Comparative Example 1)
Next, Comparative Example 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Comparative Example 1 is different only in the shape of the polygonal panel, and the other shapes are the same as those of the container body 13 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. That is, in FIG. 3, the polygon panel 35 is composed only of a ridge line 35 a at the outer edge and a recess 35 b surrounded by the ridge line 35 a. A container body 33 having such a polygon panel 35 was produced from a lightweight preform. In this case, the thickness of the polygon panel 35 was 0.21 mm.

(Comparative Example 2)
Next, Comparative Example 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Comparative Example 2 is different only in the shape of the polygonal panel, and the other shapes are the same as those of the container body 13 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. That is, in FIG. 4, the polygon panel 45 has a ridgeline 45a at the outer edge, a reduced pressure absorption rib 45g provided in the ridgeline 45a, and a flat portion 45b surrounded by the reduced pressure absorption rib 45g. A container body 43 having such a polygonal panel 45 was produced from a lightweight preform. In this case, the thickness of the polygonal panel 45 was 0.20 mm.

(Prototype content)
(1) Next, 500 mL of contents each having a temperature of 30 ° C. were filled in the three container bodies 13, 33, and 43, and then liquid nitrogen was dropped into each head space and sealed with a cap. In this case, the volume of each head space was 20 mL, and the internal pressure of each head space after sealing was 36 kPa.
(2) Next, the appearance of each container body 13, 33, 43 was observed and judged. As a result, it became as follows.

  (3) Next, each empty container body 13, 33, 43 is filled with 500 mL of contents at 30 ° C., and the same amount of liquefied nitrogen is used so that each container body 13, 33, 43 is judged to be good. Was dropped and sealed. Next, 250 mL of the contents were discarded, and then each container body 13, 33, 43 was placed in a 5 ° C constant temperature bath and cooled, and the appearance was observed and judged. As a result, it became as follows.

  That is, the container body 33 shown in Comparative Example 1 has a small change amount (absorption amount) of the polygon panel 35 when the inside of the head space is pressurized or depressurized (reference numerals 35d and 35e in FIG. 3). Therefore, the strength of the container body 33 is maintained to some extent by the ridge line 35a. However, when the inside of the head space is pressurized or depressurized over a certain level, the ridge 35a is crushed and the entire container body 33 is deformed.

  Further, in the container main body 43 shown in the comparative example 2, the polygon panel 45 hardly absorbs pressure when the inside of the head space is pressurized or depressurized. Therefore, the polygon panel 45 is not deformed, and the internal pressure of the container body 43 is directly applied to the bottom of the container body 43. For this reason, inversion (buckling) of the bottom occurs at a lower internal pressure than the container main body 13 (Example) and the container main body 33 (Comparative Example 1).

  On the other hand, the container body 13 shown in the present embodiment is the most deformed amount of the polygon panel among the three container bodies 13, 33, 43 (the curved surface portion 15 b and the flat surface 15 c of the polygon panel 15). Absorption) is large. This is because the angle α between the flat surfaces 15c is larger than the angle β in the comparative example 2 shown in FIG. 3, so that the flat surface 15c of the polygon panel 15 functions as a buffer when the inside of the container body 13 is pressurized or depressurized. It is to fulfill.

  That is, the curved surface portion 15b and the flat surface 15c of the polygon panel 15 do not cause local deformation in the container body 13 when the inside of the container body 13 is pressurized. In addition, the curved surface portion 15b does not swell only on substantially the same plane as the flat surface 15c (reference numeral 15d in FIG. 2), and the curved surface portion 15b becomes a gentle curved surface close to the flat surface 15c. Thereby, it is hard to distinguish that the inside of the container main body 13 is pressurized in appearance. On the other hand, when the inside of the container main body 13 is depressurized, the flat surface 15 c moves to the inside of the container main body 13. As a result, local deformation such as a dent in each ridge line 15a does not occur, and the overall shape of the container body 13 is not distorted, whereby the polygonal panel 15 can absorb the reduced pressure.

(Comparative Example 3)
Next, Comparative Example 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the container body 53 includes a mouth part 51, a body part 52 connected to the mouth part 51, and a bottom part 59 provided at the lower part of the body part 52. Among these, the trunk | drum 52 becomes a horizontal cross section circular shape, and has the some annular concave rib 54 on the side surface. On the other hand, as apparent from FIG. 5, a panel for absorbing the reduced pressure in the container main body 53 is not provided on the side surface of the trunk portion 52.

(Comparative Example 4)
Next, Comparative Example 4 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the container main body 63 has a mouth portion 61, a body portion 62 connected to the mouth portion 61, and a bottom portion 69 provided at the lower portion of the body portion 62. Among these, the trunk | drum 62 has the 6 long panel 64 on the side surface. The panel 64 is for absorbing the reduced pressure in the container body 63.

(4) Next, these three container bodies 13, 53, and 63 were filled with 500 mL of contents each having a temperature of 30 ° C., and then liquid nitrogen was dropped into each head space and sealed with a cap. In this case, the volume of each head space was 20 mL, and the internal pressure of each head space after sealing was 32 kPa.
(5) Next, the external appearance of each container main body 13, 53, 63 was observed and determined. As a result, it became as follows.

  (6) Next, each empty container body 13, 53, 63 is filled with 500 mL of contents at 30 ° C., and the same amount of liquefied nitrogen is used so that each container body 13, 53, 63 is judged to be good. Was dropped and sealed. Next, 250 mL of the contents were discarded, and then each container body 13, 53, 63 was placed in a 5 ° C. thermostat and cooled, and the appearance was observed for determination. As a result, it became as follows.

  That is, the container main body 53 shown in the comparative example 3 can absorb this pressure by the annular concave rib 54 when the inside of the container main body 53 is pressurized, but the pressure is reduced when the inside of the container main body 53 is depressurized. The container main body 53 is locally deformed without being able to be absorbed, and the entire shape of the container main body 53 is distorted (the cross section becomes elliptical). Further, in the container body 63 shown in Comparative Example 4, the panel 64 absorbs the reduced pressure when the inside of the container body 63 is decompressed, thereby preventing the deformation of the container body 63, but the inside of the container body 63 is pressurized. In some cases, the bottom 69 of the container body 63 is deformed due to buckling.

  On the other hand, the container main body 13 shown in the present embodiment has the container main body 13 formed by the polygonal panel 15 of the trunk portion 12 regardless of whether the container main body 13 is pressurized or depressurized. Therefore, local deformation does not occur and the entire shape is not distorted.

The front view which shows one Embodiment of the content container by this invention, and the container main body which comprises it. Sectional drawing which shows the polygon panel by one embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the comparative example 1 of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the comparative example 2 of this invention. The front view which shows the comparative example 3 of this invention. The front view which shows the comparative example 4 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Contents container 11 Mouth part 12 Trunk part 13 Container main body 14 Cap 15 Polygon panel 15a Ridge line 15b Curved surface part 15c Flat surface 16 Contents 17 Space (head space)
18 Pressurized gas 19 Bottom 33 Container body 35 Polygonal panel 35a Ridge line 35b Recess 43 Container body 45 Polygonal panel 45a Ridge line 45b Flat part 45g Decompression absorbing rib 51 Portion 52 Body 53 Container body 54 Ring-shaped concave rib 59 Bottom 61 Part 62 body part 63 container body 64 panel 69 bottom part

Claims (4)

In a content container comprising a container body having a mouth part and a body part connected to the mouth part, and a cap attached to the mouth part of the container body,
The trunk has a plurality of polygonal panels,
Each polygon panel has a ridgeline of the outer edge and a concave curved surface portion provided in the ridgeline,
When filling the contents in the container body and filling the space above the contents with pressurized gas, the curved surface of each polygonal panel protrudes outward, and the curved surface is on the same plane as the ridgeline. A content container characterized by being located.   The content container according to claim 1, wherein a flat surface is formed on the outer periphery of the curved surface portion within the ridge line of each polygon panel.   The content container according to claim 1, wherein the polygonal panel of the trunk portion has a thickness of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.   The container main body which comprises the contents container in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3.

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