JP4729204B2 - Insulated container - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention, the tubular label is related to the heat insulating container mounted, for example, to accommodate the foods eaten by heating with dry food and a microwave oven, such as instant noodles eating pouring hot water, soup or coffee etc. hot surfaces, or relates to thermal insulation container which is suitable for or accommodate those cold frozen or refrigerated Hinto.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, containers for instant food such as instant noodles (dried surface), foods heated in a microwave oven, hot coffee, or very cold beverages are insulated from the container itself in consideration of the risk of burns and ease of holding. Ingenuity is given.
As such a heat insulating container, there is a sheet formed from a foamed resin or a foamed polystyrene sheet, but there are problems such as strength. In addition, recently, containers formed by injection molding using polypropylene as a material are also being used. For example, a cylindrical label made of a heat-shrinkable film is provided on the outer peripheral surface of a body portion of a container body formed by injection molding. And heat shrunk. In the insulated container with a label, the container body is gripped through the cylindrical label, but the heat insulating sheet with a foam layer is used for the cylindrical label to further improve the thermal insulation of the container. It is hoped that
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this heat-insulated container with a label, the container main body is covered with an unshrinked cylindrical label, and the cylindrical label is thermally contracted by heating to be tightly fixed to the container main body. However, there is a demand for strength and heat resistance that can withstand the contraction force when heat shrinking, and as a result, the container body has to be made thick and the container itself becomes heavy. On the other hand, this type of heat-insulated container with a label is required to be lighter and lower in cost. For this purpose, the container body is thinned to reduce the amount of resin material to be used and to reduce the weight of the container. It will be necessary.
[0004]
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is an object to provide a cylindrical label with a foam layer to improve heat insulation and to reduce the weight and cost of the container by reducing the thickness of the container body. To do.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a heat-insulating container according to the present invention comprises a bottomed cylindrical container body made of a thermoplastic resin and a cylindrical label attached to the container body. a heat-insulating container with torso of the container the body, and the label fixing portion for fixing the cylindrical label to the container the body in contact with the inner surface of the tubular label, the tubular label have covered with the convex strip in the vertical direction and a concave strip and are circumferentially alternately formed uneven portion in, the tubular label is made of heat-shrinkable sheet having a foamed layer, attached to the container body before being, inner surface, characterized in der Rukoto those heat shrinkable shaped to have a gap between the ridges of the label fixing portion abuts and irregular portion.
Note that “having a foamed layer” includes a single layer or a multilayer having a foamed layer as a whole, in addition to a multilayered structure in which a foamed layer and a non-foamed layer are laminated.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, an embodiment of the heat insulating container of the present invention, a bottomed cylindrical container body 1 having an upper surface opening, and a cylindrical label attached to the body portion 2 of the container body 1 The insulated container with a label provided with 3 is demonstrated.
The opening of the container body 1 is closed by a fitting lid formed by sheet molding from a sheet material, or by a seal lid made of a laminate material in which a sealant layer is laminated on aluminum foil, a synthetic resin film, paper or the like. Sealed to be peelable.
The container body 1 includes a barrel portion 2 that expands upward in a substantially tapered shape, a substantially flat bottom portion 4 that is integrally formed with the barrel portion 2, and an outer end from the upper end portion of the barrel portion 2. And a flange portion 5 extending substantially horizontally over the entire circumference.
The bottom portion 4 is provided at a position above the lower end portion of the body portion 2 by a predetermined length and has a so-called raised bottom shape. Therefore, when the container is placed, the placement surface and the bottom portion 4 are placed. A space V is formed between the two.
[0009]
The torso 2 is composed of a first torso 6 that occupies most of the torso 2 and is gripped by hand, and a second torso 7 adjacent to the upper side of the first torso 6, The second body 7 has a larger diameter than the first body 6. That is, the second body portion 7 is formed to bulge outward from the first body portion 6, and the outer peripheral surface 7 a of the second body portion 7 is in contact with the inner surface of the tubular label 3 and is formed into a tubular label. It functions as a label fixing part for fixing 3. In the present embodiment, the cylindrical label 3 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface 7a of the second body portion 7 by adhesion.
[0010]
In the first body 6, vertical ribs 8 are formed at regular intervals in the circumferential direction and are formed radially as a whole. The ribs 8 are continuous over the entire length of the first body 6. The protruding height is gradually increased upward. The ribs 8 are all formed in substantially the same shape, and a step is provided between the outer peripheral surface 7a of the second body 7 and the tip of the rib 8, and the step is, for example, 0.5 to It is about 1 mm. Therefore, a gap G is continuously formed over the entire length between the tip of the rib 8 and the inner surface of the cylindrical label 3. Note that the gap G gradually decreases downward.
In the present embodiment, the rib 8 is a ridge, the smooth region 9 between two adjacent ribs 8 is a ridge, and the first body portion 6 is an uneven portion.
[0011]
The container body 1 configured as described above is formed by injection molding from a thermoplastic resin. Here, examples of the thermoplastic resin include polypropylene, high-density polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, polyamide, and polystyrene. In particular, polypropylene (including propylene-ethylene copolymer) is light and has high mechanical strength. In addition, it is preferable because it is relatively inexpensive, has good moldability, has a high heat resistance temperature and a high heat distortion temperature, and is excellent in heat resistance.
Further, the one having a load deflection temperature of 110 to 140 ° C. according to a test method for the deflection temperature of hard plastic (JIS K7207) is preferable, and the one having a deflection temperature under load of 120 to 130 ° C. is particularly preferable.
The body 2 is thin, and the body 2 (the smooth region 9 and the second body 7) preferably has a thickness of 0.3 to 1 mm, particularly 0.3 to 0.5 mm. . Further, the height of the ribs 8 (projections) is preferably 0.2 to 3.0 mm, particularly preferably 0.3 to 2.0 mm.
[0012]
On the other hand, the cylindrical label 3 covers the body portion 2 from the upper end to the lower end over the entire length, and is fixed to the outer peripheral surface 7a of the second body portion 7 by bonding as described above. Further, the lower end portion of the cylindrical label 3 is bent substantially horizontally inward to cover a predetermined peripheral area of the bottom portion 4 over the entire circumference. That is, the lower end portion of the cylindrical label 3 has a ring-shaped flange portion. 3a is extended inside.
[0013]
The cylindrical label 3 is composed of a heat-shrinkable sheet having a foamed layer, for example, a foamed resin sheet having heat-shrinkability in one direction (circumferential direction). A preferred label base material is a sheet made of expanded polystyrene, or a sheet having a non-foamed resin layer on one or both sides of the expanded polystyrene layer. The expansion ratio of the expanded polystyrene sheet or expanded polystyrene layer is 2 to 10 times, preferably 2.5 to 7 times.
Expanded polystyrene is mainly composed of general-purpose polystyrene or a copolymer obtained by copolymerizing butadiene, acrylonitrile, methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, acrylic esters, etc. with polystyrene, and the styrene component is 50% by weight or more (preferably 70% by weight). The above-mentioned contents are foamed with various foaming agents. The thickness of the expanded polystyrene sheet or expanded polystyrene layer is 0.1 to 1.0 mm, preferably 0.2 to 0.5 mm.
In addition, as the non-foamed resin layer, polystyrene, styrene / butadiene copolymer, styrene resin such as styrene / acrylic acid copolymer, or a mixture thereof or a resin such as polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, etc. Styrenic resin mixed with is preferable, but polyethylene, polypropylene, and the like can also be used. The non-foamed resin layer has a thickness of about 3 to 30 μm.
As the foam layer, those made of the above-mentioned polystyrene resin are preferable because of excellent heat insulation and rigidity. However, it is also possible to use a laminate of a polypropylene or polyethylene foam layer and a non-foamed heat-shrinkable polyester film. it can.
[0014]
Moreover, the cylindrical label 3 has one-way heat shrinkability, and the heat shrinkage rate is measured by, for example, the shrinkage rate when immersed in oil at a predetermined temperature for 10 seconds. And the thermal contraction rate in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical label 3 is 5% or less at 80 ° C. and 30 to 60% at 110 ° C. in the expanded polystyrene sheet, and the heat shrinkable film such as polyester is thermally contracted. It is higher than the temperature.
[0015]
1 to 3 attached to the container main body 1, the cylindrical label 3 is in a heat-shrinked state, but as described above, between the inner surface of the cylindrical label 3 and the tip of the rib 8. Is formed with a predetermined gap G. As will be described later, this is because the cylindrical label 3 is preliminarily heat-shrinked before being attached to the container main body 1 and has a shape that matches the shape of the container main body 1. A so-called preformed cylindrical label 3 is attached to the container body 1.
[0016]
The manufacturing method of the labeled insulated container will be further described with reference to FIG. 4. First, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), a jig 20 that matches the outer shape of the container body 1 is placed with the bottom face up. The cylindrical label 3 is placed on the jig 20 from above. The tapered outer peripheral surface 20a of the jig 20 is formed along the trunk portion 2 of the container main body 1, and the overall length thereof substantially matches that of the trunk portion 2, and the cylindrical label 3 is more axial than the jig 20. Is long. The outer periphery of the jig 20 is formed so that a predetermined gap G is formed between the inner surface of the cylindrical label 3 and the tip end portion of the rib 8 when the cylindrical label 3 after shrinkage is put on the container body 1. The portion corresponding to the first body portion 6 of the surface 20a is formed to have a larger diameter than the tip end portion of the rib 8, and the tubular shape when the tubular label 3 after shrinkage is covered with the container body 1 is cylindrical. The portion of the outer peripheral surface 20a of the jig 20 that corresponds to the second barrel portion 7 is the They are formed with substantially the same diameter.
When the cylindrical label 3 is heated with a radiant heat heater such as hot air or infrared rays, the cylindrical label 3 is thermally contracted to be in close contact with the outer peripheral surface 20a of the jig 20 as shown in FIG. The portion is bent inward so as to cover the peripheral edge of the bottom surface 20b of the jig 20, and is in close contact with the bottom surface 20b.
In this way, after heat shrinking and preforming into a shape that matches the container body 1, the tubular label 3 after shrinking is removed from the jig 20, and the bottom 4 is turned up as shown in FIG. The cylindrical body 3 is placed on the container body 1 mounted from above, and the cylindrical label 3 is fixed with an adhesive previously applied to the outer peripheral surface 7a of the second body 7. Note that the container body 1 may be covered with the cylindrical label 3 by inserting the container body 1 toward the placed cylindrical label 3.
[0017]
As described above, since the cylindrical label 3 preformed according to the shape of the container main body 1 is put on the container main body 1 and fixed, the container main body 1 is deformed by the contraction force of the cylindrical label 3. No problem occurs. When the cylindrical label 3 includes a foamed layer, the temperature of heat shrinkage is higher than that of a heat-shrinkable film such as non-foamed polyester, so that the container body 1 itself made of a thermoplastic resin is also heated to a higher temperature. However, the problem of deformation of the container main body 1 can be solved by attaching the cylindrical label 3 to the container main body 1 after heat shrinking in advance. Therefore, the container body 1 can be thinned. As a result, the container can be reduced in weight and cost can be reduced. In particular, in the present embodiment, the rib 2 is provided on the body 2, so that the strength can be ensured even if the body 2 (smooth region 9) is thinned to about 0.3 to 0.5 mm, Even when the container is held in the radial direction even if the rib height is lowered to about 0.2 to 0.8 mm due to the reinforcing effect by the rigidity of the cylindrical label 3 by using the cylindrical label 3 made of expanded polystyrene resin. However, the amount of deformation is small and the container can be gripped stably.
[0018]
Moreover, when the rib 8 is formed in the trunk | drum 2 of the container main body 1 in this way, when the cylindrical label 3 is covered with the container main body 1 and heat-shrinked, the inner surface of the cylindrical label 3 is As a result of strongly adhering to the tip of the rib 8, the shape of the rib 8 appears as vertical stripes on the outer surface of the cylindrical label 3, which is not preferable in terms of appearance. In contrast, in the present invention, since the preformed cylindrical label 3 is placed on the container body 1, a good appearance can be obtained even when the rib 8 is formed on the body 2. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the cylindrical label 3 is mounted so as to form a gap G between the tip end portions of the ribs 8, the shape of the preformed cylindrical label 3 is reliably maintained and good. A good appearance can be ensured.
[0019]
Since the cylindrical label 3 is composed of a sheet having a foam layer (particularly, a foam layer made of a foamed polystyrene resin having rigidity), unlike the heat-shrinkable film, the cylindrical label 3 is retained by itself when preformed. Therefore, it can be easily attached to the container body 1. Particularly, the strength in the radial direction is ensured by the ring-shaped flange portion 3a, and the work when covering the container body 1 is facilitated.
[0020]
On the other hand, since the cylindrical label 3 has a foam layer, an excellent heat insulating effect can be obtained. In particular, by providing the ribs 8, a streaky air layer is formed between the adjacent ribs 8. The heat-insulating effect is further increased by the streaky air layer, and the body 2 is gripped. In this case, since the rib 8 is gripped through the cylindrical label 3, heat is not easily transmitted to the finger. Moreover, since a gap G is formed between the tip of the rib 8 and the inner surface of the cylindrical label 3, an annular air layer is further formed outside the streaky air layer. In addition to the heat insulation effect being further improved by the annular air layer, there is an advantage that most of the cylindrical label 3 is not in contact with the container body 1 and heat is hardly transmitted to the cylindrical label 3 itself. In addition, although the heat insulation effect can also be heightened by making the rib 8 tall and making the streaky air layer thick, the amount of resin used increases correspondingly. On the other hand, if the gap G is formed between the rib 8 and the cylindrical label 3 by preforming the cylindrical label 3, the rib 8 can be suppressed relatively low. It is advantageous for weight reduction and cost reduction.
[0021]
Further, since the lower end portion of the body portion 2 is covered from the lower side with the cylindrical label 3, when the container is supported from the lower side, the lower end portion of the body portion 2 does not directly touch the finger, and the cylindrical label 3 There is an advantage that heat is not easily transmitted to the finger by the heat insulating effect of the foam layer. In addition, coupled with the fact that the bottom 4 is a raised bottom and a space V is formed between the ring-shaped flange 3a of the cylindrical label 3 and the bottom 4 of the container body 1, thereby obtaining a heat insulating effect. You can easily hold and hold the container from below.
[0022]
In addition, although this embodiment demonstrated the case where the rib 8 was provided as a protruding item | line on the 1st trunk | drum 6 as an uneven | corrugated | grooved part, the shape of a protruding item | line and a recessed item | ridge, by extension, the shape of an uneven | corrugated | grooved part is not restricted to this, Various For example, in contrast to the rib 8, the width of the concave stripe is narrower than the width of the convex stripe and is formed like a groove, or a curved shape as shown in FIG. It is good also as the uneven | corrugated | grooved part 12 of cross-sectional view wave shape with the substantially constant thickness in which the protruding item | line 10 and the recessed item | line 11 were formed alternately in the circumferential direction.
When the wall thickness is substantially constant as shown in FIG. 5, the container body 1 can be formed not by injection molding but by sheet forming such as vacuum forming, pressure forming, or vacuum / pressure forming. When the container main body 1 is formed by sheet molding, the body 2 is particularly thin, so that the effect of mounting the preformed cylindrical label 3 is great.
[0023]
Moreover, it is good also as a structure which fixes the cylindrical label 3 to the label fixing | fixed part of the container main body 1 by fitting instead of adhesion | attachment.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the cylindrical label 3 may be fixed to the outer peripheral surface 7 a of the second body portion 7 by fitting. In this case, the inner diameter of the cylindrical label 3 is formed slightly smaller than the diameter of the outer peripheral surface 7a of the second barrel portion 7. However, since the cylindrical label 3 is a foamed resin sheet, the cylindrical label 3 is removed from the bottom 4 side. By being pushed in, it can be easily fitted and fixed. Further, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), minute protrusions 30 may be formed along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface 7a of the second barrel portion 7 so as to prevent the cylindrical label 3 from coming off from the container body 1. Good.
Further, when the cylindrical label 3 is fixed to the container main body 1 by fitting as described above, a protrusion is formed on the lower side of the body portion 2 of the container main body 1, and the lower end portion of the cylindrical label 3 is supported by the protrusion. Thus, it is preferable to prevent the cylindrical label 3 from being displaced or dropped.
[0024]
Furthermore, although the ring-shaped collar part 3a is formed in the lower end part of the cylindrical label 3, it is also possible to omit, and in addition to the ring-shaped collar part 3a as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the bottom plate 15 may be provided on the outer surface side to further increase the radial rigidity.
[0025]
In addition, although the structure which provided the label fixing | fixed part in the upper end part of the trunk | drum 2 was demonstrated, you may provide a label fixing | fixed part in the middle part (for example, center part) and lower end part of the trunk | drum 2, and label fixing | fixed part Two or more may be provided apart from each other in the vertical direction. Furthermore, the label fixing portion does not need to be continuous over the entire circumference, and may be provided at intervals in the circumferential direction.
[0026]
In addition, the shape of the container body 1 can be changed as appropriate, and may be a rectangular tube shape such as a quadrangle or a hexagon other than the cylindrical shape. In the case of the rectangular tube-shaped container body 1, of course, the cylindrical label 3 is also preformed into a rectangular shape in accordance with the rectangular tube shape.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, by attaching a cylindrical label heat-shrinked to the shape of the container body to the container body, the influence of heat and contraction force on the container body can be eliminated. The heat insulation can be enhanced by the layer, and the container body can be thinned to reduce the weight and cost.
[0028]
In particular, by providing an uneven portion on the body portion of the container main body and forming a gap between the protrusions of the uneven portion and the cylindrical label, the air layer between the cylindrical label and the container main body becomes thicker and In addition, since the contact between the ridges and the cylindrical label is suppressed and heat transfer due to the contact is also suppressed, the heat insulation effect is further improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a half sectional view including a partially broken line showing an insulated container according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the container.
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line P-P in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the flow of manufacturing the container.
FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of an insulated container according to another embodiment.
6A and 6B show an insulated container according to another embodiment, in which FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional side view, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of an insulated container according to another embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Container main body, 2 ... Body part, 3 ... Cylindrical label, 4 ... Bottom part, 6 ... 1st body part (uneven part), 7 ... 2nd body part (label fixing | fixed part), 8 ... Rib (projection) , 9 ... smooth region (concave), 10 ... convex, 11 ... concave, 12 ... uneven part, 15 ... bottom plate, 20 ... jig, G ... gap, V ... space part

Claims (1)

A insulated container comprising a bottomed cylindrical container body (1) made of a thermoplastic resin and a cylindrical label (3) attached to the container body (1) ,
Barrel of the container body (1) (2) is cylindrical label label fixing portion for fixing the cylindrical label in contact (3) on the inner surface on the container body (1) of (3) (7) And convex and concave portions (6, 12) covered with a cylindrical label (3) and having upper and lower ridges (8, 10) and ridges (9, 11) alternately formed in the circumferential direction. And
The cylindrical label (3) is made of a heat-shrinkable sheet having a foam layer, and before being attached to the container body (1), the inner surface abuts on the label fixing portion (7) and the concavo-convex portions (6, 12). insulated container, characterized in der Rukoto what shape to the heat shrinkage so as to have a gap (G) between the ridges (8, 10) of).

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