JPH0327938Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention has a plurality of storage recesses that receive the bottoms of bottles, tubes, etc. or the tops of inverted containers (hereinafter collectively referred to as container bottoms). and a storage tray that allows these containers to be held in place within an outer box.

[Conventional technology]

This type of storage tray 21 shown in FIG. 4 has 12 storage recesses 2, and is configured to accommodate and hold containers by fitting the smooth side walls 5 with the outer periphery of a container (not shown). It is configured. However, even if this is used, it does not mean that the product value of the product itself including the container will increase; it is simply used for the convenience of transportation and packaging, and is disposable, so it should be kept as inexpensive as possible. It needs to be manufactured in For this reason, storage trays have traditionally been
A thin plastic sheet of approximately 0.5 mm is adhered to the surface of a mold by vacuum forming or vacuum pressure air, and is processed into a tray with a storage recess of the desired shape and size. The container is held by fitting its outer periphery into the side wall of the storage recess.

The disadvantage of the vacuum forming method mentioned above is that since the heated sheet is drawn, the thickness of the product tends to vary, especially in areas where the thickness is likely to be thin due to stretching, as shown in Figure 4. In the shaped storage tray 21, this is the side wall 5. This side wall is one of the most important parts that contacts the outer periphery of the container and holds it by frictional force, and the inner diameter of the storage recess, that is, the distance between the facing side walls, must match within narrow tolerance limits the outer diameter dimensions of the If the inner diameter of the storage recess exceeds this limit and is large, the fit with the bottom of the container will be loose, and the performance of position fixation will deteriorate.On the other hand, if the inner diameter is small, it will be difficult to accommodate the bottom of the container. It becomes impossible. However, as mentioned above, variations in the wall thickness of the side wall inevitably associated with vacuum forming, etc. reduce the accuracy of the inner diameter dimension of this storage recess.
Deteriorates the tray's ability to hold containers. In particular, when the mold used is of female type construction, only the outer surface of the dish-shaped storage recess is in contact with the mold surface, and the inner surface of the storage recess that should engage the outer periphery of the container to be held is Since it is molded without contacting the mold surface,
A shrinkage phenomenon occurs on the inner surface side, and in addition to the above-mentioned variation in wall thickness, there is a tendency for accuracy defects in dimensions and shapes to occur more frequently.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention is a tray manufactured by an efficient vacuum forming method, similar to conventional storage trays, but despite the above-mentioned dimensional errors inherent in this forming method, it is possible to reliably store containers. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a storage tray structure that can hold the storage tray.

That is, the present invention involves molding a thin plastic sheet with a storage recess having a shape and dimensions that match the outer shape of the bottom or top of the container (hereinafter collectively referred to as the bottom of the container). The storage tray is made of a storage tray having a first rib that bulges inwardly rising from the inner bottom surface of the storage recess and a height higher than the first rib at an appropriate location on the inner surface of the side wall of the storage recess. A second rib with a lower height is provided, and the second rib has a lower height.
The inner diameter of the storage recess defined by the rib is set to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the bottom of the container, while the inner diameter defined by the second rib is set to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the bottom of the storage container. The first rib is set to be smaller than the inner diameter dimension defined by the first rib, and when stored, the first rib touches the outer periphery of the bottom of the container, etc., without the bottom of the container coming into contact with the periphery of the inner bottom surface. This storage tray is characterized by being smoothly elastically deformed and held when pressed.

The number, shape and position of the ribs, or the degree of bulge can be set arbitrarily depending on the attachment/detachment strength required by the container to be stored and held. It is common to arrange them symmetrically or equidistantly with respect to each other.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be further explained below based on preferred embodiments shown in the drawings.

1 to 3 show embodiments of the present invention.

The storage tray 11 of the present invention is made of resin such as hard vinyl chloride, impact-resistant styrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polycarbonate, styrene-synthetic rubber copolymer resin, ethylene-propylene copolymer resin, or inorganic material such as calcium carbonate. T
0.1 by a known sheet extrusion method such as the die method
A plastic sheet with a thickness of ~1.5mm, without
This is obtained by molding this into a tray of a predetermined shape by a known vacuum forming method such as a plug assist molding method using a female mold, and then trimming the outer periphery of the tray.

The tray is provided with a plurality of storage recesses 12 (four in this example as shown in FIG. 1).

Each storage recess 12 is shaped and dimensioned to match the outer shape of the receiving portion of the container 13 (in this example, an inverted tube cylindrical cap 14).

As shown in FIG. 2, the cross-sectional shape of the storage recess 12 is cup-shaped with the upper part 15a of the side wall 15 opening upward. This is to facilitate insertion of the container 13, and therefore the inner diameter of this portion is set to be sufficiently larger than the outer diameter of the cap 14 of the container 13. The lower part 15b of the side wall 15 is made into a cylindrical shape, and its inner diameter is set slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cap 14.
Four first ribs 16 bulging inward from the wall surface with a predetermined thickness are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of the wall at equal angles. As shown in FIG. 3, the first rib 16 is a vertically long rib having a constant width, and its upper end surface 16a is formed in a downward taper toward the inside of the storage recess 12. .
This is also a configuration that takes into account the ease of receiving the cap 14, as described above. This first rib 16
The straight surface 17 that protrudes inward is one of the parts that plays an important role in holding the cap 14 of the container 13 to be stored. The distance D between the straight surfaces of the first ribs 16 must be slightly smaller than the outer diameter d of the cap 14.

At the lower part 15b of the side wall 15 of the storage recess 12, two second ribs 18 rise from the bottom surface between the adjacent first ribs 16 arranged at equal angles. It is bulged inward. The height of this second rib 18 is the same as that of the first rib 18.
It is lower than the rib 16 and has a slightly larger protruding thickness than the first rib. or,
Unlike the first rib 16, its upper end surface 18a does not have a tapered shape.

When storing the container 14 in the storage tray 11, the cap 14 is guided by the tapered portion of the upper side wall 15a of the storage recess 12 and inserted into the recess.
It reaches the side wall lower part 15b and comes into contact with the first rib 16.

If you push this down further, the cap 14 will move to the first position.
The first rib 16 gradually descends along the tapered portion of the upper end surface 6a of the rib 16, and as a result, the first rib 16 is pushed outward and elastically deformed.
4, and elastically holds it from the surroundings.

The cap 14 is further lowered and the second rib 18
When it comes into contact with the upper end surface 18a, further descent is prevented. That is, a space 20 is formed between the top surface 14a of the cap 14 and the bottom surface 12 of the storage recess 12. The effects of this second rib 18 are as follows.

The first rib 16 is integrally connected to the bottom surface 12a of the storage recess 12 at its lowermost edge, and since it is difficult to smoothly deform outward even when the cap 14 is pushed in, it is necessary to actively cap 1
A second rib 18 is provided with an upwardly raised bottom so that 4 cannot be inserted. This makes it possible to use only the region of the first rib 16 that can be smoothly elastically deformed, and even if there are large manufacturing errors on the outer peripheral surface of the cap 14, this can be fully accommodated.

Further, although not shown in the drawings, the same effect can be achieved by providing a protrusion lower in height than the first rib 16 at approximately the center of the bottom surface 12a of the storage recess 12 in place of the second rib 18. You can also do that.

Although the above explanation has been made using a cylindrical container as an example, the container is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to a container with a square or triangular cross section. In that case, the storage recess naturally also needs to be created in a shape corresponding to this.

Further, the shape of the ribs is not the rectangular shape with a constant width as mentioned in the embodiment, but can be arbitrarily selected such as a spindle shape or a hemispherical shape. Further, the ribs may be disposed intermittently in the circumferential direction of the side wall.

[Effect of idea]

As described in detail above, the storage tray of the present invention has a storage recess that has a sufficient margin in advance compared to the outer diameter of the container to be stored, and the first rib that bulges on the inner surface of the side wall of this recess is intermittent. Since the inner diameter of the recess defined by the first rib was set to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the container, this tray could be formed using a forming method with relatively low dimensional accuracy such as vacuum forming. Even if it does, the manufacturing error is well within the range of the preset difference between the inner and outer diameters, and the predetermined container holding action can be performed without any problem. Of course, variations in manufacturing accuracy on the container side can also be fully absorbed by the same principle. This makes it possible to expand the acceptance limit of the product and improve yield.

The first ribs are spaced apart from each other,
In addition, since the second rib with a low height is provided between adjacent ribs, when the container is inserted into the storage recess, the container is easily and naturally elastically deformed by the pressing force from the outer periphery of the container. Since a reaction force is elastically applied to the outer periphery, the container is stably secured within the storage recess.

This holding force is reproduced even when the container is removed and reinserted, so it can be used repeatedly.

In addition, since the elastic force generated by the deformation of the ribs is used primarily to hold the container, a sufficient holding effect can be obtained even though the tray as a whole is thinner than conventional trays.
This allows the use of thinner plastic sheets, saving material costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the storage tray according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the rib, and Fig. 4 is a conventional technique. It is a perspective view of the storage tray in FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Storage tray, 12... Storage recess, 13... Container, 14... Cap, 15... Side wall, 16... First rib, 17... Straight surface, 18... Second rib.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. A thin plastic sheet provided with a storage recess having a shape and dimensions that match the outer shape of the bottom or top of the container (hereinafter collectively referred to as the bottom, etc. of the container). A storage tray made by molding and processing, wherein a first rib that rises from the inner bottom surface of the storage recess and bulges inward and the first rib are provided at appropriate locations on the inner surface of the side wall of the storage recess. A second rib having a lower height than the first rib is provided, and the inner diameter of the storage recess defined by the first rib is set to be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the bottom of the container. , the inner diameter dimension defined by the second rib is set smaller than the inner diameter dimension defined by the first rib,
When stored, the first rib is pressed against the outer periphery of the bottom of the container, smoothly elastically deforms, and is held without the bottom of the container coming into contact with the periphery of the inner bottom surface. A storage tray. 2. The storage tray according to claim 1, wherein the first ribs are provided at equal angular positions on the inner surface of the side wall of the storage recess. 3. The storage tray according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper end surface of the first rib that is connected to the side wall of the storage recess has a downward taper. .