JP2017171375A - Seal method for cup-shaped container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seal method for a cup-shaped container for producing a sealed container in which, a content scattering during opening can be prevented without a complicated opening work.SOLUTION: A seal method of a cup-shaped container is a method in a sealed container formed of a shape variable cup-shaped container and a lid material and stores a content, and comprises: a step for putting a content in the cup-shaped container from an opening formed on the cup-shaped container; a step for deforming the cup-shaped container so as to reduce a volume by external force so that inner pressure in the sealed container becomes 0 to -5 kPa; a step for sealing the opening of the cup-shaped container which stores the content and is deformed, with the lid material; and a step for releasing the external force to the cup-shaped container which is sealed with the lid material.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for sealing a cup-shaped container.

  Conventionally, a cup-shaped container sealed with a lid has been adopted for packaging semi-fluid foods that are sticky. When opening the lid of the cup-shaped container, there has been a problem that the contents may pop out vigorously to contaminate the opener's clothes.

  The phenomenon that the contents scatter is thought to be caused by the internal pressure of the container before opening being increased from the outside, causing the contents attached to the lid or the container body to get caught in the air inside the container. Yes.

  Phenomena in which the pressure inside the container becomes high include high pressure due to fermentation of semi-fluid food, high pressure inside the container due to temperature difference between filling and opening, grasping the container by hand to fix the container when opening, etc. This is caused by the high pressure inside the container.

  As a prior art related to the invention for preventing the scattering of the semi-fluid contents at the time of opening, for example, Patent Document 1 exists. In the invention described in Patent Document 1, a hole that allows air to pass through the first lid member that seals the container is formed, and a second lid member that covers the hole is attached on the first lid member. It is. When opening, first the second lid is opened to equalize the internal pressure of the container and the external pressure, and then the first lid, which is the lid body, is opened to prevent the contents from scattering. It is.

JP 2007-112506 A

  However, the invention described in Patent Document 1 has the following problems. That is, since it is necessary to open the second lid first before removing the first lid that seals the container, the opening operation becomes complicated.

  In addition to the first lid material that originally functions as a lid material, the second lid material is required, which increases the number of parts and increases the manufacturing cost.

Moreover, when the contents adhere to the second lid member, the contents adhered when the second lid member is removed may be scattered.
An object of the present invention is to provide a sealing method for a cup container in a sealed container capable of preventing the contents from being scattered at the time of opening without requiring a complicated opening operation in order to solve the above-described problems in the prior art. And

  In order to solve the above problems, a cup-shaped container sealing method according to one aspect is a cup-shaped container sealing method in a sealed container configured by a shape-variable cup-shaped container and a lid, and containing contents. , The step of putting the contents into the cup-shaped container from the opening formed in the cup-shaped container, and the volume is reduced by an external force so that the internal pressure of the sealed container is 0 to -5 kPa. A step of deforming the cup-shaped container; a step of sealing the opening of the cup-shaped container in a deformed state containing the contents with the lid material; and the cup-shaped container sealed with the lid material. Releasing the external force.

  Since the cup-shaped container after containing the contents is sealed with a lid material so that the internal pressure thereof is equal to or lower than the atmospheric pressure, the cup-shaped container takes in external air when opened. For this reason, the contents attached in the vicinity of the opening portion flow into the cup-shaped container together with the air, so that the contents are not scattered outside the cup-shaped container.

The figure for demonstrating the sealing method of the cup-shaped container which concerns on embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same referential mark is attached | subjected to the component which exhibits the same or similar function through all the drawings, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted. Further, the drawings are schematic views for promoting various embodiments and understanding thereof. The shape, size, ratio, and the like of the structure shown in the figure may differ from those of the actual structure, but the design can be changed as appropriate.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a sealing method in the sealed container 1 according to the present embodiment. (A) of FIG. 1 is a figure for demonstrating the 1st process mentioned later. FIG. 1B is a diagram for explaining a second step to be described later. (C) of FIG. 1 is a figure for demonstrating the 3rd process and 4th term process which are mentioned later. A sealed container 1 shown in FIG. 1C is composed of a cup-shaped container 11 and a lid member 12 and accommodates the contents 2.

First, the cup-shaped container 11 used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The cup-shaped container 11 is made of a shape variable material. The cup-shaped container 11 is made of, for example, paper or plastic, but is not limited thereto.

The cup-shaped container 11 has a bottom part 111, a side part 112 and a flange part 113. In the cup-shaped container 11, an opening 114 is formed in the upper part opposite to the bottom part 111.
The bottom part 111 is configured in a shape that allows the cup-shaped container 11 to be placed on a horizontal plane.
The side part 112 is comprised by frustum shape, for example.
The flange portion 113 is formed at the upper end portion of the side portion 112 so as to surround the opening 114. The flange portion 113 is used for sealing the cup-shaped container 11 with the lid member 12.

Next, the first step will be described with reference to FIG.
The sealing method includes a first step of putting the contents 2 into the cup-shaped container 11 from the opening 114 formed in the cup-shaped container 11. The content is, for example, a semi-fluid food such as yogurt. In the first step, the contents 2 are filled into the cup-shaped container 11 up to a predetermined ratio of the volume of the cup-shaped container 11. A 1st process is performed by the filling mechanism which puts the content 2 in the cup-shaped container 11, for example.

Next, the second step will be described with reference to FIG.
The sealing method includes a second step of deforming the cup-shaped container 11 so as to reduce the volume by an external force so that the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 is 0 to −5 kPa.

  In the second step, for example, the side portion 112 of the cup-shaped container 11 is pressed from the outside. The second step is performed by, for example, a gripping mechanism that grips the side portion 112 of the cup-shaped container 11. Since the side part 112 of the cup-shaped container 11 is forcibly deformed by compression, the volume of the cup-shaped container 11 decreases. The external force is adjusted so that the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 after the external force is released in the fourth step described later is a negative pressure of 0 to -5 kPa. In addition, the external force with respect to the cup-shaped container 11 is appropriately adjusted according to the material and volume of the cup-shaped container 11 and the type and amount of the contents 2 within a range where the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 is 0 to −5 kPa.

  In the second step, for example, the cup-shaped container 11 may be deformed by suction inside the cup-shaped container 11 by a suction mechanism.

Next, the third step will be described with reference to FIG.
The sealing method includes a third step of sealing the opening 114 of the cup-shaped container 11 in a deformed state containing the contents 2 with the lid member 12.
For example, the third step is performed on the cup-shaped container 11 that is deformed by the gripping mechanism. In the third step, the cup-shaped container 11 is sealed by bonding the lid member 12 to the flange portion 113 of the cup-shaped container 11. Adhesion between the lid member 12 and the flange portion 113 is performed by, for example, heat sealing, but may be performed by other methods.

  The lid member 12 is made of, for example, plastic or aluminum, but is not limited thereto.

Next, the fourth step will be described with reference to FIG.
The sealing method includes a fourth step of releasing an external force applied to the cup-shaped container 11 that is sealed with the lid member 12.
In the fourth step, for example, the gripping mechanism is separated from the cup-shaped container 11 sealed with the lid member 12.

  By the first to fourth steps described above, the sealed container 1 configured by the cup-shaped container 11 and the lid member 12 and containing the contents 2 is manufactured.

Next, the shape of the cup-shaped container 11 after the fourth step and the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 will be described.
Since the cup-shaped container 11 is released from the external pressure, the cup-shaped container 11 recovers to its original shape. Since the volume of the cup-shaped container 11 is also restored, the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 is equal to or lower than the pressure outside the cup-shaped container 11 (atmospheric pressure). Specifically, the internal pressure of the cup-shaped container 11 sealed with the lid 12 after the external force is released is 0 to −5 kPa.

Next, the operation of the sealed container 1 manufactured according to this embodiment will be described.
Since the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 is 0 to −5 kPa, when the lid member 12 is opened, the cup-shaped container 11 takes in external air. Therefore, the contents 2 adhered to the vicinity of the opened portion flows into the cup-shaped container 11 together with air. As described above, the sealed container 1 cancels the high pressure in the container due to the temperature difference factor, the high pressure in the container due to the finger pressure at the time of opening, and the like.

Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described.
The consumer can open the lid 12 suitably without scattering the contents 2 at the time of opening without requiring a complicated opening operation. Moreover, since the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 is 0 to -5 kPa, the cup-shaped container 11 can easily maintain the original shape. In addition, if the absolute value of the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 is made larger than the absolute value of −5 kPa, the cup-shaped container 11 cannot maintain the original shape and is likely to be a partially collapsed shape.
In addition, it is preferable that the internal pressure of the sealed container 1 is in the range of −1 to −3 kPa. Within this range, the sealed container 1 can further suppress not only the concern of preventing the contents 2 from being scattered but also the deformation (dent) of the cup-shaped container 11 due to the negative pressure effect.

  The sealing method according to the present embodiment can manufacture the sealed container 1 that can obtain the above effects without increasing the number of parts and without increasing the manufacturing cost.

Below, some modifications of this embodiment are explained.
As a modification, in the second step, an external force may be applied to the bottom portion 111 instead of the side portion 112. Even if the bottom 111 of the cup-shaped container 11 does not recover to the original shape after the above-described fourth step, the bottom 111 is difficult to touch the buyer's eyes. Therefore, the appearance of the sealed container 1 is not impaired.

  As another modification, the sealing method may exchange the order of the first step and the second step described above. Specifically, the sealing method deforms the cup-shaped container 11 so that the volume is reduced by an external force with respect to the cup-shaped container 11 in which the content 2 is not placed. Thereafter, the contents 2 are put into the cup-shaped container 11 from the opening 114 formed in the cup-shaped container 11.

Example 1
The sealed container 1 was manufactured by the sealing method described above. Content 2 was yogurt. The internal pressure of the cup-shaped container 11 was −5 kPa.
The yogurt was not scattered from the cup-shaped container 11 when the lid 12 of the sealed container 1 manufactured in this example was opened.

(Example 2)
A sealed container having an internal pressure of −1 kPa was produced in the same manner as in Example 1.
The yogurt was not scattered from the cup-shaped container 11 when the lid 12 of the sealed container 1 manufactured in this example was opened.

(Example 3)
A sealed container having an internal pressure of −7 kPa was produced in the same manner as in Example 1.
Although the yogurt was not scattered from the cup-shaped container 11 when the lid 12 of the sealed container 1 manufactured in this example was opened, the container was confirmed to be deformed (dented) in the sealed state.

Example 4
It was confirmed that the yogurt was scattered from the cup-shaped container 11 when the lid 12 of the commercially available yogurt sealed container 1 was opened. The internal pressure of the sealed container was 2 kPa.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention at the stage of implementation. Furthermore, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements.
For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the effect of the invention can be obtained. In such a case, a configuration in which this configuration requirement is deleted can be extracted as an invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sealed container, 2 ... Contents, 11 ... Cup-shaped container, 12 ... Cover material, 111 ... Bottom part, 112 ... Side part, 113 ... Flange part, 114 ... Opening.

Claims (1)

In a sealing method for a cup-shaped container in a sealed container configured with a shape-variable cup-shaped container and a lid, and containing contents,
Putting the contents into the cup-shaped container from an opening formed in the cup-shaped container;
Deforming the cup-shaped container so as to reduce the volume by an external force so that the internal pressure of the sealed container is 0 to -5 kPa;
Sealing the opening of the cup-shaped container in a deformed state containing the contents with the lid;
Releasing the external force on the cup-shaped container sealed with the lid;
Comprising
A method for sealing a cup-shaped container.