JP2011143963A - Folding container and folding container assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily maintain an upright shape even when weak external force acts on a folding container. <P>SOLUTION: The thickness of a folding part 18 of the folding container 11 is gradually increased and reduced a plurality of times from the lower side to the upper side. Therefore, the widths of thin parts 23 having thin thicknesses are extremely small. As a result, even when weak external force acts thereon, only the thin parts 23 are slightly deformed, and the deformation amount of the folding container 11 per se is small. Therefore, the folding container 11 per se easily maintains the upright state, and even when liquid or the like is stored therein, the liquid or the like is not spilled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

    The present invention relates to a folding container and a folding container assembly that can be folded to be compact when being carried.

    As a conventional folding container, what is described in the following patent document 1, for example is known.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-000105

  This is a disk-shaped bottom wall, a support member arranged in a coaxial relationship with the bottom wall above the bottom wall, and having a plurality of thick cylindrical shapes that increase in diameter as they move upward, When connecting adjacent support members with substantially the same width as the support member, and a plurality of thin-walled cylindrical film members made of a flexible material, when storing beverages such as water, The container is made into a cup shape by pulling up the support member and erecting the film, while at the time of carrying, the support member and the film member are radiused by pushing down the support member sequentially and folding each film member downward 180 degrees. They are overlapped in the direction so as to be compacted to almost the width of the support member.

    However, in such a conventional folding container, the width of the film member is almost the same as the width of the support member even though the film member is thin enough to be folded back. Alternatively, even if a weak external force is applied to the folding container from the side, the film member is greatly deformed or folded back, and the folding container is greatly deformed. There was a problem that it might be soiled.

  An object of this invention is to provide the folding container and folding container assembly which can maintain an upright shape easily even if weak external force acts.

    The purpose of this is, firstly, a folding container comprising a bottom wall and a side wall having a lower end continuous with an outer edge portion of the bottom wall and having an opening at the upper end, and at least a central portion in the vertical direction expanding in diameter upward. The folding container is made of a material that can be bent easily, and the thickness of the central portion in the vertical direction of the side wall is gradually increased and decreased several times from the bottom to the top, so that the thin-walled portion that is thin when carrying is greatly bent This can be achieved by a folding container that is adapted to fold.

  Secondly, a lid body comprising a top wall capable of closing the upper end opening of the folding container according to claim 1 and a fitting portion extending downward from the outer edge of the top wall and fitting into the upper end of the folding container. A bulging portion that is a part of a spherical surface and bulges upward, and a spout formed at the peripheral edge of the bulging portion and extending substantially radially outward from the bulging portion. A collapsible container assembly in which a pour spout body is provided, and when the pour spout is no longer necessary, the pour spout is sunk downward from the top surface of the top wall by pushing the bulging portion downward and bulging downward. It can be achieved by a solid.

  In the invention according to the first aspect, since the thickness at the central portion in the vertical direction of the side wall of the folding container is gradually increased and decreased several times from the lower side to the upper side, the width of the thin wall portion having a small thickness is extremely small. As a result, even if a weak external force is applied, the deformation of the container itself is small with only a slight deformation of the thin portion. As a result, the container itself is easily maintained in an upright state, and even when the liquid or the like is stored therein, the liquid or the like does not spill.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 4, in addition to the action and effect of the invention according to claim 1, the liquid in the sealed container can be easily taken out from the spout, and the spout is unnecessary. If this happens, the spout can be pushed into the container to eliminate obtrusive protrusions. Furthermore, if it comprises as described in Claim 2, the outer surface shape of a side wall will become clear and willingness to purchase can be improved easily. Moreover, if comprised as described in Claim 3, the folding shape of a side wall part can be made into an appropriate thing reliably.

It is an expanded front sectional view of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is front sectional drawing of the folding container assembly from which the bulging part protrudes below. It is a half section perspective view of a spout body. It is front sectional drawing of the folding container vicinity.

Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, reference numeral 11 denotes a folding container suitable for carrying and disaster prevention that can be easily compacted by folding. The folding container 11 is easy to bend and can store liquids and the like. It is composed of a safe material such as silicon rubber, synthetic rubber, natural rubber, and the like, and in an upright state, it can store liquids such as drinking water and milk, and solids such as sugar and tea leaves. The folding container 11 has a horizontal bottom wall 12 having a thick disk shape at the lower end thereof, and when the folding container 11 is placed on, for example, a table on the outer periphery of the bottom wall 12, the folding container 11 In order to stabilize the posture of the folding container 11, a plurality of legs 13 in the circumferential direction, here four legs 13 having a semicircular shape are integrally formed.

  16 is a side wall whose lower end is integrally continuous with the outer edge portion of the bottom wall 12, here the outer peripheral edge portion, and this side wall 16 has a rising portion 17 having substantially the same thickness as the bottom wall 12 at its lower end portion. In addition, a folding part 18 whose thickness changes in the central part in the vertical direction, and an outer cylinder part 19 that is slightly thinner than the bottom wall 12 are provided at the upper end part, and this side wall 16 (outer cylinder part 19) It opens upward at its upper end. Here, the rising portion 17 and the folding portion 18 are coaxial with the central axis of the bottom wall 12 and have a frustoconical shape whose diameter is increased upward.

  On the other hand, the outer cylinder portion 19 has a substantially cylindrical shape that is coaxial with the central axis of the bottom wall 12 and has the same diameter regardless of the vertical position. In the present invention, all of the rising portion 17, the folding portion 18, and the outer cylindrical portion 19 may be increased in diameter upward, or the rising portion 17 and the outer cylindrical portion 19 are cylindrical and the folding portion 18 is formed. Only the diameter may be increased upward, and the rising part 17 may be cylindrical and the folding part 18, the outer cylinder part 19 may be increased in diameter upward, and at least the folding part 18 may be It is only necessary that the diameter is increased upward. The aforementioned bottom wall 12 and side wall 16 constitute the folding container 11 as a whole. In this embodiment, the bottom wall 12 and the side wall 16 have a circular planar shape. However, in the present invention, the planar shape may be an ellipse, an oval, a square, or a rectangle.

  A plurality of (four) horizontal grooves 22 having a substantially triangular cross section and continuously extending in the circumferential direction are arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the folding portion 18 apart from each other in the vertical direction. As a result, the folding portion The thickness of 18 is gradually increased and decreased a plurality of times from the bottom to the top. Here, among the plurality of grooves 22, the grooves 22 located at the lower end and the upper end have a right triangle, and the two grooves 22 sandwiched between the upper and lower grooves 22 have a substantially isosceles cross section. Presents a triangle. As a result, the folding portion 18 is formed with a thin portion 23 having a thickness of a total of four thinnest portions, for example, a thickness of about 0.5 mm between the upper and lower ends and between them, and between the adjacent thin portions 23. In, the wall thickness once increases upward and then gradually decreases. Here, after the thickness of the folded portion 18 is gradually increased, the thick state may be maintained for a certain distance.

  In this embodiment, the upper end portion of the rising portion 17 is also formed with a groove 25 that is a right triangle and continues to the groove 22 located at the lower end. In the present invention, such a groove 25 is formed. May be omitted. In the present invention, the outer cylinder portion 19 may be formed with a groove in which the upper end groove 22 continues in a substantially triangular shape, or may be formed in the entire side wall 16. . Then, if the thickness of the folded portion 18 whose diameter is expanded upward is gradually increased and decreased several times from the lower side to the upper side, a pressing force is applied to the folding container 11 from the upper side to the lower side. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the adjacent thin-walled portions 23 of the folding container 11 are bent largely in the reverse direction (an angle close to 180 degrees), and the side wall 16 between the adjacent thin-walled portions 23 is folded back in the reverse direction. . Thereby, the side wall 16 (folding part 18) is folded and the folding container 11 is made compact, and it becomes suitable for carrying and disaster prevention.

  In addition, since the thickness of the folding portion 18 of the folding container 11 is gradually increased and gradually decreased from the bottom to the top several times in this way, the width of the thin-walled portion 23 with a small thickness becomes extremely narrow. Even if a weak external force is applied, the amount of deformation of the folding container 11 itself is small because the thin portion 23 is only slightly deformed. As a result, the folding container 11 itself is easily maintained in an upright state, and even when liquid or the like is stored therein, the liquid or the like does not spill. Here, as described above, the thickness of the side wall 16 is gradually increased and decreased, and a plurality of horizontal grooves 22 having a substantially triangular cross section are arranged in parallel on the inner surface (inner peripheral surface) of the side wall 16 (folding portion 18). By doing so, the shape of the outer surface (outer peripheral surface) of the side wall 16 becomes clear, and the willingness to purchase the folding container 11 can be easily improved.

  In this embodiment, among the thin portions 23 of the side wall 16, the outer surface (outer peripheral surface) is arranged on the outer surface (outer peripheral surface) of the even number from the lower side, here the second and fourth thin portions 23. ), The annular protrusions 27 extending continuously in the circumferential direction are formed. As described above, when the protrusion 27 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the even-numbered thin-walled portion 23, when the downward pressing force is applied to the folding container 11 as described above, the even-numbered thin-walled portion 23 is The even-numbered thin-walled portion 23 is restrained from bending so that its outer peripheral surface becomes a valley. Thereby, the side wall 16 is bent so that the outer peripheral surface of the odd-numbered thin-walled portion 23 is a valley, while the outer peripheral surface of the even-numbered thin-walled portion 23 is bent to be a mountain, and as a result, in the thin-walled portion 23 The bending is alternately reversed in the upward direction, so that the folded shape of the side wall 16 can be ensured appropriately. In this embodiment, the projecting portion 27 is a continuous ring. However, in the present invention, a plurality of projecting portions may be intermittently formed on the outer peripheral surface of the side wall 16, and the projecting portion in this case As the shape, a circular shape, a rectangular shape or the like can be used. Further, in order to facilitate bending at the thin portion 23 at the upper end, the width of the thin portion 23 at the upper end may be larger than the width of the other thin portions 23, for example, about 3 mm. In this way, the folded shape of the side wall 16 can be made more appropriate easily.

  31 is a lid body made of a material that is detachably attached to the folding container 11 and is easily bent. The lid body 31 includes a disc-shaped top wall 32 capable of closing the upper end opening of the folding container 11, and the top wall. 32 is formed of a cylindrical fitting portion 33 that extends downward from an outer edge (outer peripheral edge) and has an outer diameter that is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the outer cylinder portion 19. The lid main body 31 is attached to the folding container 11 by being fitted into the upper end of the folding container 11, here the inner side of the outer cylinder part 19. In the present invention, the lid main body 31 may be fitted to the folding container 11 by fitting it to the outside of the folding container 11. The top wall 32 is formed with a circular through hole 34 penetrating in the vertical direction at a position eccentric from the center.

  37 is a spout body made of an easily bendable material. The spout body 37 has a ring portion 38 having an outer diameter substantially the same as the inner diameter of the through hole 34, and an outer edge integrated with the ring portion 38. A bulging portion 39 formed of a part of a spherical surface and bulging upward, and a peripheral portion away from the top of the bulging portion 39, and substantially radially outward from the bulging portion 39. A hollow spout 40 that extends obliquely toward the top, and an air vent 41 that is formed at the peripheral edge of the bulging portion 39 that is approximately half a circumference away from the spout 40 and provided with a small hole 42 therethrough. ing.

  The spout body 37 is detachably attached to the lid body 31 by fitting the ring portion 38 into the through hole 34 of the lid body 31. The lid body 31 and the spout body 37 described above constitute a lid 44 that closes the upper end opening of the folding container 11, and when the lid 44 is attached to the folding container 11, the inside of the folding container 11 is temporarily accommodated. Sealed. Then, when taking out the liquid or the like retained inside from the sealed folding container 11, the folding container 11 may be tilted to allow the liquid or the like to flow out from the spout 40. Here, except when taking out the liquid etc. inside, although the spout 40 is not necessary, it protrudes upward from the lid body 31 and gets in the way, and if you accidentally hook your hand etc., There is a possibility that the folding container 11 may fall down and cause liquid or the like to flow out.

  Therefore, when the spout 40 is no longer necessary as described above, the bulging portion 39 that has been bulging upward is pushed downward, and the bulging portion 39 is moved downward as shown in FIG. Inflate toward. When the bulging portion 39 bulges downward in this way, the spout 40 and the air vent 41 are sunk downward from the top surface of the top wall 32 and pushed into the folding container 11, thereby causing an obstructing protrusion. (Spout 40) can be easily eliminated. Further, if the lid body 31 and the spout body 37 are separated as described above, an article stored in the internal space of the folding container 11 without removing the lid body 31 from the folding container 11, such as a tea bag A sugar stick or the like can be easily taken out through the through hole 34. This is particularly useful when the folding container 11 is carried outdoors in the folded state as shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the lid body 31 and the spout body 37 are separated from each other. However, in the present invention, the lid body 31 and the spout body 37 are integrated to form a lid. Also good. The folding container 11, the lid main body 31, and the spout body 37 described above constitute a folding container assembly 45 as a whole. 48 is a cover, and this cover 48 has a disk-like upper wall 49 that is slightly larger in diameter than the top wall 32, and extends downward from the outer peripheral edge of the upper wall 49. A cylindrical fitting portion 50 having substantially the same diameter as the 19 outer diameter. When the cover 48 is fitted to the outside of the outer cylinder part 19 and the lid main body 31 of the folding container 11, the cover 48 covers the periphery of the outer cylinder part 19 and the lid main body 31.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
When carrying the folding container 11 (folding container assembly 45), the side wall 16 (folding part 18) is folded to make the folding container 11 compact for convenience of carrying. In this case, the folding container 11 stands upright. A downward pressing force is applied to the upper end of 11. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the folding portion 18 bends largely around the thin portion 23. At this time, the even-numbered thin portion 23 from the lower side has a protruding portion 27, so that the even number The individual thin-walled portion 23 is bent so that the outer peripheral surface thereof is a mountain, while the outer peripheral surface of the odd-numbered thin-walled portion 23 is bent so as to be a valley, whereby a side wall between adjacent thin-walled portions 23 is obtained. 16 is alternately folded in the opposite direction.

  At this time, it is preferable to increase the rigidity of the outer cylinder part 19 by fitting the lid body 31 inside the outer cylinder part 19 so that the folding can be easily performed. At this time, an article such as a tea bag may be put into the space in the folding container 11 and stored. Alternatively, when the spout body 37 is to be carried with the folding container 11, the bulging portion 39 is located below. The spout body 37 that bulges toward the cover may be attached to the lid body 31. Thereafter, the cover 48 is fitted to the outer side of the outer cylinder part 19, and the outer cylinder part 19 and the lid body 31 (particularly the through hole 34) are covered from the outer side.

  Next, when the folded container 11 is used for storing liquid or the like, the bottom wall 12 and the legs 13 are grasped with one hand, and the cover 48 and the outer cylinder part 19 are grasped with the remaining one hand. When the folding container 11 is stretched in the axial direction in this state, the folded folded portion 18 is largely bent in the opposite direction to the folded state around the thin portion 23 as shown in FIG. 2, and returns to the truncated cone shape. To do. Thereafter, the cover 48 is removed from the folding container 11, and when the spout body 37 is attached to the lid body 31, the spout body 37 is removed from the lid body 31. At this time, the lid body 31 may also be removed from the folding container 11 as necessary.

  Thereafter, liquid or the like is injected into the folding container 11 from the upper end opening of the folding container 11 or from the through hole 34 of the lid body 31, and the liquid or the like is stored in the folding container 11, while the spout body 37, The lid body 31 is attached to the folding container 11. Next, when taking out the stored liquid or the like, the folding container 11 is tilted so that the liquid or the like flows out from the spout 40 of the spout body 37. The spout body 37 may be removed from the folding container 11, or after removing both the spout body 37 and the lid body 31, the fluid may be taken out from the through hole 34 or the upper end of the folding container 11. .

  At this time, since the thickness of the folded portion 18 is repeatedly gradually increased and gradually decreased as described above, the width of the thin-walled thin portion 23 is extremely narrow, and as a result, even if a weak external force acts, The deformation amount of the folding container 11 itself is small because the thin wall portion 23 is slightly deformed. As a result, the folding container 11 itself can be easily maintained in an upright state, and even when liquid or the like is stored therein, the liquid or the like does not spill.

  The present invention can be applied to the industrial field of a folding container that can be folded to be compact when being carried.

11 ... Folding container 12 ... Bottom wall
16 ... Side wall 23 ... Thin part
25 ... Groove 27 ... Projection
31 ... Lid body 32 ... Top wall
33 ... Mating part 37 ... Spout body
39 ... bulging part 40 ... spout
45 ... Folding container assembly

Claims (4)

    A folding container comprising a bottom wall and a side wall having a lower end continuous with an outer edge portion of the bottom wall and having an opening at the upper end, and at least a center portion in the vertical direction expanding in the upward direction. The thickness of the central portion in the vertical direction of the side wall is gradually increased and decreased several times from the lower side to the upper side, and the thin wall portion having a small thickness is bent and folded when being carried. Folding container.     The folding container according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the side wall is gradually increased and decreased by arranging a plurality of horizontal grooves having a substantially triangular cross section on the inner surface of the side wall.     The folding container of Claim 1 or 2 which formed the protrusion part which rose from the outer surface in the thin-walled part of the said side wall in the side wall outer surface of the even-numbered thin-walled part from the lower side.     A lid body comprising a top wall capable of closing the upper end opening of the folding container according to claim 1 and a fitting portion extending downward from an outer edge of the top wall and fitting into the upper end portion of the folding container, A spout body having a bulge portion formed of a part of a spherical surface and bulging upward on the lid body, and a spout formed at a peripheral edge portion of the bulge portion and extending substantially radially outward from the bulge portion. When the pour spout becomes unnecessary, the folding container is characterized in that the pour spout is sunk downward from the top surface of the top wall by pushing the bulging portion downward and bulging downward. Assembly.

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