JP2014024563A - Container for tofu - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tofu package from which tightly sealed tofu can be easily taken out.SOLUTION: A container for tofu is formed by thermally molding a thermoplastic resin sheet and comprises: a storage recess which has a rectangular opening at its top part; and a flange part extending outward from the opening edge of the storage recess. The storage recess has a bottom part having a rectangular shape in a plan view and a peripheral side wall part which is raised from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom part and has a rectangular frame shape, with the peripheral side wall part being provided with a plurality of ribs which protrude inward from the opening edge and extend along the direction of the depth of the storage recess, while the storage recess is tightly sealed by a resin film in a state in which a cut tofu and water are stored in it when the container is being used. The plurality of ribs have a common protrusion height and their tip part in the protrusion direction are formed flatly.

Description

  The present invention relates to a container for tofu obtained by thermoforming a thermoplastic resin sheet.

Conventionally, when distributing tofu manufactured in a food factory or the like to the market, it has been widely practiced to form a tofu pack in which a thermoplastic resin sheet is thermoformed and accommodated in a container and sealed with a resin film. Yes.
As the tofu container used for forming this tofu pack, a container having an accommodation recess having an opening in the upper part and a flange portion extending outward from the opening edge of the accommodation recess is widely used. A type is widely used in which tofu is accommodated and heat sealing is performed between the flange portion and the resin film to perform the sealing.

  The tofu that is housed in such a container for tofu and marketed in the form of a tofu pack is roughly divided into two types according to its production method, and cut tofu that has been formed in a standard size such as 1 or half A soy milk solution containing soy milk and coagulant is quantitatively filled in a tofu container, sealed with a resin film, etc., and then heated with steam, etc. Things are known.

As a container for tofu for containing this filled tofu, a container with a characteristic shape such as a hemispherical shape or a heart shape is adopted, which has a relatively high degree of freedom in the shape of the accommodating recess, as described above. On the other hand, the container for accommodating cut tofu is generally formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape because the cut tofu is generally formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape.
That is, a container for cut tofu usually has a rectangular bottom in the plan view and a rectangular frame-shaped peripheral side wall that rises from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom, and is slightly larger than cut tofu inside. A rectangular parallelepiped housing space is formed.

  Conventionally, such cut tofu containers have been required to be thin due to material costs and the like, and in order to demonstrate the required strength while being thin, the containers are placed on the bottom and peripheral side walls of the housing recess. A rib having an inward protruding rib is employed, and a rib having a plurality of ribs extending along the depth direction of the housing recess is formed on the peripheral side wall.

  When manufacturing a tofu pack containing cut tofu, the cut tofu is filled with water in a storage recess and sealed with a resin film together with water to fill the excess space other than cut tofu with water. Measures have been taken to prevent contact with air (see Patent Document 1, [0017], etc.), and the ribs are used to distribute water between the bottom and peripheral side walls of the housing recess and the cut tofu. It is also effectively used to ensure safety.

By the way, when such a tofu pack is opened and cut tofu is taken out, the resin film sealing the cut tofu is generally cut using a knife edge, and the circumference of the housing recess is cut. A method is generally employed in which a kitchen knife is inserted into the gap between the side wall and the side surface of the cut tofu, and the knife is moved along this gap to cut the resin film.
However, since the ribs protruding inward are provided on the peripheral side wall as described above, the cutting edge of the kitchen knife may be caught by the ribs, and the resin film may not be cut smoothly. Depending on the case, there is a risk that the leading end of the rib in the protruding direction may be cut with a knife.

  That is, in the conventional tofu container used for the tofu pack etc. which accommodated the cut tofu, it has the problem that it is difficult to carry out the removal of the cut tofu smoothly.

JP 2007-125008 A

  This invention makes it a subject to solve the above problems, and makes it the subject to provide the container for tofu which can implement the extraction of cut tofu smoothly.

  The present invention relating to a tofu container for solving the above-mentioned problems is a thermoplastic resin sheet formed by thermoforming, a housing recess having a rectangular opening at the top, and a flange portion extending outward from the opening edge of the housing recess. The housing recess has a rectangular bottom in a plan view and a rectangular frame-shaped peripheral side wall that rises from an outer peripheral edge of the bottom, and the peripheral side wall protrudes inward from the opening edge and receives the storage A plurality of ribs extending along the depth direction of the concave portion are formed, and the storage concave portion is a container for tofu that is used by being sealed with a resin film in a state of containing cut tofu together with water. The plurality of ribs are characterized in that the protruding heights are made common and the tips in the protruding direction are formed flat.

In the container for tofu according to the present invention, the ribs of the plurality of strips have the same projecting height, and the tips of the ribs in the projecting direction are formed flat, so that the knife is smoothly moved along the flat surface. Can be moved to.
Therefore, when the tofu container of the present invention is used for a tofu pack containing cut tofu, the resin film used for sealing the cut tofu is easily cut using a knife such as a knife. It is possible to suppress the cutting edge from being caught by the rib.
That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a tofu container that can smoothly extract cut tofu.

The schematic perspective view showing the tofu pack in which the container for tofu which concerns on one Embodiment is used. The schematic perspective view showing the container for tofu which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The schematic sectional drawing showing the cross-sectional shape of the surrounding side wall part shown by the AA line in FIG. The schematic sectional drawing showing the cross-sectional shape of the surrounding side wall part of the container for tofu which concerns on other embodiment. The schematic sectional drawing showing the cross-sectional shape of the surrounding side wall part of the conventional container for tofu.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking a tofu container as an example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a tofu pack in which cut tofu is sealed together with water in the tofu container of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the tofu container.
The container 1 for tofu according to this embodiment is obtained by subjecting a thermoplastic resin sheet to thermoforming such as vacuum forming or pressure forming to give a three-dimensional shape, and is used for forming the tofu pack 100.
More specifically, the container 1 for tofu of this embodiment has the accommodation recessed part 10 which has a rectangular opening in the upper part, and this accommodation recessed part 10 is the resin film 90 in the state which accommodated the cut tofu 80 with water. It is sealed and used for forming the tofu pack 100.

  The container 1 for tofu of this embodiment has the accommodation recessed part 10 which comprises the accommodation space of the said cut tofu 80, and the flange part 20 extended substantially horizontally outward from the opening edge 10e of this accommodation recessed part 10. As shown in FIG. The resin film 90 is adhered to the upper surface side of the flange portion 20, and the annular seal portion 70 is formed by performing the adhesion so as to surround the housing recess 10 along the flange portion 20. The cut tofu 80 is formed so as to be sealed.

In addition, the receiving recess 10 in the present embodiment is a rectangular shape that rises in a state where the bottom portion 11 has a rectangular shape in plan view that is slightly larger than the contour shape in plan view of the cut tofu 80 and is inclined slightly outward from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom portion 11. It has a frame-shaped peripheral side wall portion 12.
The tofu container 1 of the present embodiment has a plurality of ribs 13 formed on the peripheral side wall portion 12 so as to protrude inward from the opening edge 10e of the housing recess 10 in plan view. The rib 13 is formed on the peripheral side wall 12 so as to extend along the depth direction of the housing recess 10 (the direction of arrow D in FIG. 2).
(Hereinafter, the depth direction of the accommodating recess may be simply referred to as “depth direction D”.)

Further, in the tofu container 1 of the present embodiment, the plurality of ribs 13 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of the peripheral side wall portion 12 (in the direction of arrow R in FIG. 2). 13 has a common projecting height, and a flat surface 13 a is formed at the leading end of the rib 13 in the projecting direction.
(In the following, the circumferential direction of the peripheral side wall portion may be simply referred to as “circumferential direction R”.)

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the rib 13 in the present embodiment shows a state of a cross section (a cross section taken along line AA in FIG. 2) obtained by cutting the peripheral side wall portion 12 along a horizontal plane. It is formed so as to become narrower in the protruding direction, and is formed so that its cross-sectional shape is a substantially isosceles trapezoid.
That is, in the present embodiment, the plurality of ribs 13 formed on the peripheral side wall portion 12 are formed on the virtual plane obtained by extending the flat surface 13a at the tip of one rib 13 in the plane direction. The shape is such that the flat surface 13a is positioned.

The ribs of the plurality of strips in the present embodiment may have different flat surface widths between the ribs, but in that case, the shape of the mold for molding the tofu container is complicated. I will let you.
Therefore, in this embodiment, it is preferable that the ratio of the formation width of the flat surface between the rib with the smallest flat surface formation width and the rib with the largest formation width is 5 times or less. It is preferable that 90% or more of the ribs have the same flat surface width.
The ratio of the maximum value to the minimum value of the flat surface width is more preferably 3 times or less, and 95% or more of all the ribs share the flat surface width. It is more preferable.
In particular, it is particularly preferable that all the ribs have the same flat surface width (the ratio is 1 time).

  In general, the rib is formed so that the protruding height with respect to the width in the circumferential direction of the peripheral side wall portion is relatively high, and the top and bottom required for the tofu container while reducing the thickness of the thermoplastic resin sheet used for the formation. The result is that the thermoplastic resin sheet is stretched to form ribs when the protrusion height is excessively increased while the strength (compressive strength toward the container depth direction) is exerted. As a result, the rib thickness is reduced, and local strength such as piercing strength may be impaired.

For this reason, in the conventional tofu container, ribs having a high height are provided every few in the circumferential direction of the peripheral side wall portion, particularly when strength is required.
This will be explained with reference to FIG. 5 showing a cross section of a conventional tofu container as in FIG. 2. If ribs 13x ′ having a high projecting height are formed for reinforcement, in this case Since ribs jumping inward from the ribs 13x "are formed, the cutting edge of the blade is cut off from the side portion of the cut tofu so as to cut the resin film using a knife such as a knife and take out the cut tofu from the tofu pack. When the blade is inserted between the peripheral wall portion of the tofu container and the cutter is moved along the gap, the cutting edge may be caught by the protruding rib 13x ′.
Further, in such a case, the protruding portion of the protruding rib 13x ′ is cut with the blade edge, and the tofu container has a hole, or the cut piece of the thermoplastic resin sheet is cut. There is also a risk of adhering to tofu and accidentally being mixed into a dish using the cut tofu.

  On the other hand, in the container 1 for tofu in the present embodiment, the plurality of ribs 13 have a common protruding height (h) from the opening edge 10e indicated by the imaginary line Y in FIG. The possibility that the blade edge is caught by the rib 13 can be suppressed.

In addition, the conventional tofu container is generally formed with a rib 13x having a rounded front end in the protruding direction so that the cross-sectional shape of the peripheral side wall 12x is a sine wave shape.
Therefore, when the resin film is cut, the contact area between the rib and the blade that the blade edge has passed immediately before is a linear region between the rib tip and the side surface of the blade.
In other words, since the blade is in contact with the rib only in a small area, almost no restriction is imposed in the traveling direction.
Therefore, if care is not taken at the time of cutting the resin film, there is a risk that the blade tip may be hooked on the rib of the tofu container, or the side surface portion of the cut tofu may be scraped off with the blade.

On the other hand, the tofu container 1 of the present embodiment has a flat tip 13 in the protruding direction, so that the side surface of the blade and the rib can be brought into surface contact using the flat surface 13a of the tip. it can.
Therefore, it is possible to suppress the possibility that the cutting edge is easily guided in the direction parallel to the peripheral side wall portion 12 and the cutting edge is caught by the rib.

In addition, the effects as described above are more remarkable as the ratio of the total width (W) of the flat surfaces 13a of all the ribs 13 to the peripheral length of the peripheral side wall portion increases. In addition, it is preferable to ensure a large formation width of the flat surface occupying the circumference at the position corresponding to the center of the side of the opening edge 10e having a rectangular shape in plan view that allows the cutting edge to pass when the resin film is cut.
For this reason, the tofu container of the present embodiment has, for example, a length from one corner of the peripheral side wall to another corner adjacent to L (mm). In the region having a length of L / 2 (mm) in the central portion of the side, it is preferable to form ribs so that the total value of the flat surface width is equal to or greater than L / 5 (mm). It is particularly preferable to form the ribs so that the total value is L / 4 (mm) or more.
That is, the ratio (P / W) of the distance between the centers of adjacent ribs (formation pitch: P) to the width (W) of the flat surface of the ribs is preferably 2.5 (5/2) times or less. It is particularly preferable that the ratio is 0.0 (4/2) times or less.

In addition, the effect that it can prevent more reliably that the blade edge | tip of a cutter is hooked by making the formation state of the rib 13 in a center part of a side into the above has all the four sides of a peripheral side wall part as mentioned above. You can't get without it.
For example, if the shape of the opening edge of the housing recess is a rectangular shape in plan view, if the long side is in the above state, the cut tofu can be easily taken out while suppressing the catch of the blade edge. Can do.
Also in that case, only one side of the pair of long sides may be formed as described above in order to obtain the above effect.

Note that the closer the flat surface 13a of the adjacent ribs 13 is, the more the cutting edge can be prevented from getting caught. In other words, the approach between the ribs 13 and the ribs 13 is that of the groove 14 between the adjacent flat surfaces 13a. A width | variety will be made narrow and it may have the possibility of making the thermoforming of the said tofu container difficult.
Therefore, in this embodiment, it is preferable that the total value of the widths of the flat surfaces in the region having the length L / 2 at the center of the side is L / 2.5 (mm) or less, and L / 3 (mm) or less. It is particularly preferable that
That is, the ratio (P / W) of the rib formation pitch (P) to the flat surface width (W) of the rib is preferably 1.25 times (2.5 / 2) times or more. It is particularly preferably 5 (3/2) times or more.
In other words, the groove width between the ribs is preferably at least 0.25 (1.25-1) times the width of the flat surface, and more preferably at least 0.5 (1.5-1) times. preferable.
The groove width is preferably 1.5 (2.5-1) times or less, and particularly preferably 1.0 (2.0-1) times or less the width of the flat surface.

In addition, the width (W) of the flat surface 13a of each rib can usually be 1 mm or more and 8 mm or less, and preferably 2 mm or more and 5 mm or less.
Therefore, usually, each side of the peripheral side wall is provided with ten or more ribs.
Also, the rib height from the groove bottom to the rib tip (flat surface) can usually be 1 mm or more and 8 mm or less, and preferably 2 mm or more and 5 mm or less.
Furthermore, the protrusion height (h) from the opening edge of the rib is usually 0.5 mm or more and 5 mm or less.

In addition, as FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a tofu container according to another embodiment of the present invention, the tofu container of the present invention has a protruding height of ribs (height from the opening edge 10e: h). The ribs may be common to the plurality of ribs, and the depth of the groove 14 between the ribs may be different, and ribs that have different rib heights from the groove bottom portion to the rib tip end portion may be formed.
The groove 14 is recessed on the inner surface side of the housing recess 10, but protrudes in a rib shape on the outer surface side, so that the groove 14 contributes to the improvement of the top and bottom strength of the tofu container. be able to.

That is, if a plurality of grooves 14 ′ narrower than the other grooves 14 and deeper than the other grooves 14 are provided in the circumferential direction R of the peripheral side wall portion 12, the grooves 14 ′ are formed. The top-to-bottom strength of the tofu container 1 can be improved as compared with the case where no is provided.
For this reason, if excellent top and bottom strength is required for the tofu container 1, one or more grooves 14 ′ of the grooves 14 formed between the ribs 13 are groove depths than the other grooves 14. The tofu container 1 is formed in such a manner that a plurality of ribs 13 are formed so that one or more grooves 14 ′ are narrower than other grooves 14. More preferably, it is desirable to form a plurality of ribs so as to form one or more grooves 14 ′ having a groove depth deeper than the other grooves 14 and a narrow groove width.

In the present embodiment, the rib 13 extends to the bottom 11 beyond the lower end of the peripheral side wall 12.
The bottom portion has an annular rib 15 formed in a rectangular shape in plan view that is slightly smaller than the shape of the outer peripheral edge thereof, and the rib continuous from the peripheral side wall portion 12 reaches the outer periphery of the annular rib. Is formed.

  Moreover, since the said flange part 20 in this embodiment is utilized for sealing of the accommodation recessed part by a resin film, the upper surface side is a flat surface, specifically, it becomes flat form and the accommodation recessed part is The tofu container is provided so as to extend outward from the opening edge.

  In addition, it does not specifically limit as the thermoplastic resin sheet which forms the container 1 for tofu of this embodiment, and the resin film 90 used for sealing of this container for tofu, In the shape retainability utilized for the conventional tofu pack An excellent white or black thermoplastic resin sheet and a transparent resin film in which the cut tofu inside can be visually recognized can be employed.

For example, as the thermoplastic resin sheet for forming the tofu container 1 of the present embodiment, polyester resin sheets such as polyethylene terephthalate resin sheet, polybutylene terephthalate sheet, polylactic acid resin sheet; polyethylene resin sheet, polypropylene resin Sheet, polyolefin resin sheet such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer resin sheet; polystyrene resin sheet, polystyrene resin sheet such as high impact polystyrene resin sheet, PA6 (ε-caprolactam ring-opening polymer) sheet, PA66 (adipic acid And hexamethylenediamine copolycondensation polymer) sheet, polyamide resin sheet such as aromatic polyamide resin sheet, resin sheet such as polyvinyl chloride resin sheet and polycarbonate resin sheet Laminated sheet resin sheet is laminated and the resin sheet and the laminated sheet and the sheet and the resin sheet other than the resin sheet such as a nonwoven fabric are stacked can be employed.
In addition, as a thermoplastic resin sheet used for formation of the container 1 for tofu, a polyolefin-type resin sheet is suitable, and a polypropylene resin sheet is especially preferable especially.

  Further, as the resin film 90, a transparent resin film to which heat sealability is imparted by forming at least the surface with a polypropylene resin or a polyethylene resin can be suitably employed.

Moreover, it does not specifically limit about the method for manufacturing the container 1 for tofu or the tofu pack 100 by these, The method similar to the past can be employ | adopted.
In addition, the tofu pack 100 obtained using the tofu container 1 of the present embodiment has a resin film 90 that closes the opening of the housing recess 10 and seals the cut tofu 80 together with water inside the tofu container. For example, when cutting with a knife such as a knife along the imaginary line X depicted in FIG. 2, the cutting edge of the cutting tool is inserted into the gap between the peripheral side wall portion 12 and the cut tofu 80, and the cutting edge is cut along the gap. When it is made to move, it is suppressed that a blade edge is caught in the rib 13, and taking out of the cut tofu 80 can be implemented smoothly.

In addition, the container for tofu of this invention is not limited to the said illustration.
That is, the present invention can be carried out by adding various modifications to the above-described exemplary embodiments within a range where the effects of the present invention are not significantly impaired based on conventionally known technical matters.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tofu container 10 Accommodation recessed part 10e Opening edge 11 Bottom part 12 Peripheral side wall part 13 Rib 13a Flat surface 14 Groove 20 Flange part 80 Cut tofu 90 Resin film 100 Tofu pack

Claims (1)

A thermoplastic resin sheet is thermoformed, and has an accommodation recess having a rectangular opening at the top and a flange portion extending outward from the opening edge of the accommodation recess, and the accommodation recess is a rectangular bottom in plan view and the bottom A plurality of ribs that protrude inward from the opening edge and extend in the depth direction of the housing recess. A container for tofu that is formed and used by being sealed with a resin film in a state in which the accommodation recess accommodates cut tofu together with water,
The plurality of ribs have a common projecting height and have a projecting direction tip formed flat.

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