JP4820242B2 - Volume-reducible container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a volume-reducible container formed so as to be easily reduced in volume after use among resin containers used as containers for liquid chemicals and various beverages.

  As this type of container, for example, the one disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. The container disclosed in this document 1 has groove-shaped vertical ribs extending in the vertical direction and bifurcating in the vicinity of the lower end of the bottle on the left and right side surfaces of the plastic bottle having a rectangular cross section. Groove-shaped circumferential ribs extending on the front and rear sides of the bottle are formed. By deforming the container along these ribs, the entire bottle can be compressed relatively easily and the bottom can be folded.

More recently, the upper end of the longitudinal rib is bifurcated to extend to the shoulder of the bottle, and the groove type extends in the left-right direction along the boundary between the front and rear side surfaces and the shoulder (edge) of the bottle. It is also known to make the shoulder portion of the bottle easier to fold by forming a lateral rib and making the tip of the bifurcated portion of the longitudinal rib continuous with the lateral rib.
JP 2003-155016 A

  In general, the volume-reducible container as described above is formed thin in consideration of volume reduction operability. For this reason, bottles that are vulnerable to external impacts, especially with a rectangular cross-section, are subject to external forces acting on the shoulders of the bottle (especially at the border between the trunk and shoulders and at the corners of the trunk) during transportation. In many cases, the container is deformed or broken. In addition, the container may be deformed unintentionally when the body part is gripped, the stability of the mouth part position is deteriorated, and it may be difficult to pour the contents. Furthermore, in the case where the upper end of the longitudinal rib is bifurcated and is continuous with the lateral rib at the shoulder of the bottle so that the shoulder of the bottle can be easily folded, if a compressive load acts on the trunk during transportation, the shoulder There are rare cases where the bottle is deformed along the ribs at the part from the part to the body part and is crushed. Therefore, it is desired to improve this point.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to effectively prevent unexpected deformation in a volume-reducible container while ensuring a certain volume reduction operability.

  In order to solve the above problems, a volume-reducible container according to the present invention includes a mouth portion, a shoulder portion, and a body portion having a rectangular cross section arranged vertically along the central axis of the container, and a side surface of the body portion. Folding vertical direction that extends vertically to the left and right side surfaces and has its upper end bifurcated upward when the set of side surfaces facing each other is the left and right side surfaces and the remaining side surfaces are front and rear side surfaces. A rib is formed, a lateral rib for folding extending in the left-right direction is formed at a boundary portion between the front and rear side surfaces and the shoulder portion, and further a boundary portion between the trunk portion and the shoulder portion, and the trunk A chamfered portion is formed at a corner portion of the portion (claim 1).

  According to such a volume-reducible container, since the longitudinal rib and the lateral rib are formed on the trunk portion, the bottle can be compressed and folded relatively easily by deforming the container along the rib. Can do. On the other hand, a chamfered portion is formed at a boundary portion between the trunk portion and the shoulder portion and at a corner portion of the trunk portion, and an external force (impact load) acting on the portion is easily dispersed. Therefore, even when an external force is applied to the part during conveyance, breakage and deformation are less likely to occur, and the stability of the mouth position when the body is gripped is improved. Furthermore, since the chamfered portion is provided, the longitudinal rib (the tip of the branching portion) and the lateral rib are discontinuous, so that the rib extends from the shoulder to the trunk as compared with the case where these ribs are continuous. The portion is not easily crushed appropriately, and as a result, deformation due to unexpected external force is less likely to occur.

  In this configuration, it is conceivable that the volume reduction operability is somewhat worsened by the provision of the chamfered portion, but the volume reduction operability can be improved by appropriately providing the size and shape of the chamfered portion according to the size of the container. It becomes possible to ensure the shape-retaining ability against unexpected external force without significant loss.

  It should be noted that this type of volume-reducible container is often provided with so-called shrink wrapping, in which the film is thermally contracted after the container is inserted into the cylindrical film, but the chamfered portion is formed. According to this volume-reducible container, the cylindrical film is smoothly guided along the chamfered portion, so that the packaging workability of the container having a barrel portion having a rectangular cross section is improved. Therefore, the volume-reducible container as described above is also useful for a container that is inserted into a heat-shrinkable tubular film and shrink-wrapped by the film (claim 2).

  In this case, in order to smoothly guide the cylindrical film along the chamfered portion, the chamfered portion is formed with an angle of 45 ° or more with respect to an axis orthogonal to the central axis. (Claim 3).

  According to the present invention, since the longitudinal rib and the lateral rib are formed on the body portion or the like, the bottle can be compressed and folded relatively easily by deforming the container along the rib. On the other hand, a chamfered portion is formed at a boundary portion between the trunk portion and the shoulder portion and at a corner portion of the trunk portion, and thereby, an external force acting on the portion is easily dispersed. Further, a chamfered portion is formed, and the longitudinal rib (branched portion) and the lateral rib are discontinuous, and accordingly, a portion from the shoulder portion to the trunk portion is not easily crushed. Therefore, while enjoying the benefits of thinning the container and forming the ribs, that is, the benefits of improving the volume reduction operability to some extent, it is possible to effectively prevent the adverse effects caused by this, that is, the deformation of the container due to an unexpected external force. Can do.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a bottle (volume-reducible container) according to the present invention. The bottle 1 shown in the figure is a thin-walled container used as a container for liquid chemicals such as an eyewash, for example. Stretch blow molding using a resin material such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or the like as a raw material. Molded by methods such as law. As shown in the figure, the bottle 1 has a container configuration in which a mouth part 2, a shoulder part 3, a body part 4, and a bottom part 5 are continuous in the vertical direction along the central axis of the container 1.

  The mouth portion 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a male screw for screwing and mounting a bottle cap (not shown) is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The shoulder portion 3 is formed in a reverse funnel shape, and is connected to the mouth portion 2 and the body portion 4 with a smooth curved surface.

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 2, the body portion 4 has front and rear side surfaces 4a and 4a and left and right side surfaces 4b and 4b having a slightly narrower width, and the side surfaces 4a and 4b are connected by smooth curved surfaces. It is formed in a rectangle.

  On the side surfaces 4a and 4b of the body portion 4, folding ribs for facilitating volume reduction of the bottle 1 are formed at appropriate positions. Specifically, vertical ribs 10 extending in the vertical direction are formed at the center in the width direction of the left and right side surfaces 4b, 4b, and the boundary portions between the front and rear side surfaces 4a, 4a and the shoulder 3 and the left and right side surfaces 4b, 4b, Lateral ribs 14 and 15 extending in the left-right direction are formed at the boundary with the bottom 5. These ribs 10, 14, and 15 are groove-type ribs that are recessed from the inside to the outside of the container as shown in FIG.

  The upper end of the longitudinal rib 10 is bifurcated upward in the vicinity of the upper end of the body 4 (referred to as a branch rib 11), and is thus formed in a Y shape. On the other hand, the lower end of the longitudinal rib 10 is bifurcated downward in the vicinity of the lower end of the body 4 (branch rib 12), thereby forming an inverted Y shape. Each of the branch ribs 11 and 12 is a corner portion, that is, a boundary portion between the shoulder portion 3 or the bottom portion 5 and the trunk portion 4, and a corner portion of the trunk portion 4 (hereinafter, a corner portion and a bottom portion of the shoulder portion 3). 5 corners). As shown in FIG. 1, the lower branch ribs 12 of the upper and lower branch ribs 11 and 12 are respectively continuous with the lateral ribs 15 at the corners of the bottom portion 5. On the other hand, the upper branch rib 11 and the lateral rib 14 are discontinuous as a result of providing a chamfered portion 16 to be described later.

  Further, the body portion 4 includes a circumferential rib 18 extending in the circumferential direction from an intermediate portion of the longitudinal rib 10 and a branching portion of the branching ribs 11 and 12 in the longitudinal rib 10 to reach a middle portion of the front and rear side surfaces 4a and 4a. Is formed. In contrast to the longitudinal rib 10 and the lateral ribs 14 and 15, this rib is a groove-type rib that is recessed from the outside of the container to the inside.

  Moreover, in the said bottle 1, the chamfer part 16 for preventing the unexpected deformation | transformation of the said part is formed in each corner part of the shoulder part 3, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4A, the chamfered portion 16 is an inclined plane having an angle θ with respect to an axis orthogonal to the central axis L, and is an inclined plane of approximately 45 ° in this embodiment. Yes.

  The bottle 1 as described above has the following operational effects.

  First, since the ribs 10 (ribs 11 and 12), 14, 15, and 18 as described above are formed, the volume of the bottle 1 can be reduced relatively easily.

  Specifically, first, force is applied to the body 4 from both the front and rear sides. In this way, since the groove-shaped vertical ribs 10 (branching ribs 11 and 14) that are recessed from the inside to the outside of the container are formed on the left and right side surfaces 4b and 4b, the left and right side surfaces 4b and 4b can be easily formed. The body 4 is folded in a mountain fold and compressed in the front-rear direction. After the compression, if the bottle 1 is folded along the circumferential rib 18, the circumferential rib 18 is a groove-shaped rib that is recessed from the outside of the container to the inside. As a result, the bottle 1 can be reduced in volume as shown in FIG.

  As described above, the bottle 1 can be reduced in volume relatively easily by the user intentionally applying a force to the bottle 1, but has a high shape retention against an unexpected external force such as during transportation. Sex is demonstrated. That is, in this bottle 1, since the chamfered portion 16 is formed at the corner portion of the shoulder portion 3 as described above, the external force (impact load) acting on the corner portion is easily dispersed, and the corner portion is conveyed during transportation. Even when an external force is applied, the corner portion is effectively prevented from being damaged or deformed. Further, since the longitudinal ribs 10 (branch ribs 11) and the lateral ribs 14 are discontinuous due to the formation of the chamfered portion 16, the ribs 10 (branch ribs 11) and 14 are continuous. As compared with the above, the portion from the shoulder 3 to the body 4 is not easily crushed. Therefore, the bottle 1 is effectively prevented from being crushed by an unexpected external force.

  That is, in this bottle 1, the chamfered portion 16 is provided at the corner portion of the shoulder portion 3, thereby reducing the thickness of the bottle 1 and improving the operability of volume reduction, that is, by forming the longitudinal rib 10 and the like. While enjoying the benefits, there is an effect that it is possible to correct the adverse effect caused by this, that is, the deterioration of the shape retention property. In addition, although providing the chamfered part 16 also deteriorates the volume reduction operability of the bottle 1, the bottle 1 can be formed by appropriately providing the size and shape of the chamfered part 16 according to the size of the bottle 1. Therefore, it is possible to ensure the shape retention against unexpected external force without significantly impairing the volume reduction operability.

  In addition, as a result of ensuring the mold retaining property against the unexpected external force in this way, the bottle 1 is prevented from being deformed unintentionally when the container 4 is gripped and poured in, for example. Therefore, the positional stability of the mouth part 2 is improved, and there is also an effect that it becomes easier to pour the contents.

  Furthermore, there are the following effects. That is, a product using the bottle 1 of this type is often subjected to shrink wrapping in the manufacturing process. In this case, generally, a heat-shrinkable film (shrink film; polyethylene or the like formed in a cylindrical shape) is used. (Corresponding to the cylindrical film of the present invention) is dropped from above the bottle 1, and after the bottle 1 is inserted into the shrink film from the mouth 2 side, the film 1 is thermally shrunk to wrap the bottle 1. ing. Therefore, in a bottle having a rectangular cross section, the shrink film is easily caught on the shoulder (particularly the corner portion), and the shrink film is not easily inserted. On the other hand, according to the bottle 1 having the chamfered portion 16, the cylindrical shrink film is smoothly guided along the chamfered portion 16. There is also an effect that poor insertion hardly occurs, and as a result, productivity is improved.

  In addition, the bottle 1 demonstrated above is an example of preferable embodiment of the volume reduction container which concerns on this invention, The concrete structure can be suitably changed in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the chamfered portion 16 is an inclined plane having an angle of 45 ° with respect to an axis orthogonal to the central axis L of the bottle 1, but the angle (θ), size, etc. of the chamfered portion 16 The specific shape of the chamfered portion 16 may be appropriately selected according to the specific size, shape, strength, etc. of the bottle 1. For example, in the case where it is required to further enhance the ability to insert the bottle into the shrink film, as shown in FIG. 4B, the inclination angle of the chamfered portion 16 (θ in FIG. 4A) is 45 ° or more. You may make it form in the angle of. Further, the connecting portion between the chamfered portion 16 and the shoulder portion 3 or the connecting portion between the chamfered portion 16 and the trunk portion 4 is not limited to the bent shape as shown in FIG. 4, and may have a rounded shape. .

It is a perspective schematic diagram showing an example of a bottle which is a volume-reducible container according to the present invention. It is a plane sectional view of a bottle (torso part). It is a perspective view schematic diagram which shows the state which reduced the volume of the bottle. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view ((a) is (theta) = 45 degrees and (b) is (theta)> 45 degrees) for the bottle for demonstrating the shape of a chamfering part.

Explanation of symbols

1 bottle (volume reduction container)
2 mouth part 3 shoulder part 4 trunk part 5 bottom part 10 longitudinal direction rib 11,12 branching rib 14,15 lateral direction rib 16 chamfering part 18 circumferential direction rib

Claims (3)

  A mouth portion, a shoulder portion, and a barrel portion having a rectangular cross section are arranged in the vertical direction along the central axis of the container. When the side surfaces are the front and rear side surfaces, folding vertical ribs are formed that extend in the vertical direction on the left and right side surfaces, and the upper ends of the side surfaces are bifurcated upward, and the boundary between the front and rear side surfaces and the shoulder portion Folding lateral ribs extending in the left-right direction are formed, and a chamfered portion is formed at a corner portion of the trunk portion and at a boundary portion between the trunk portion and the shoulder portion. Volume-reducible container. The volume-reducible container according to claim 1,
A volume-reducible container, which is inserted into a heat-shrinkable tubular film and shrink-wrapped by the film. The volume-reducible container according to claim 1 or 2,
The volume-reducible container, wherein the chamfered portion is formed at an angle of 45 ° or more with respect to an axis orthogonal to the central axis.

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