JPH11342949A - Plastic bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sufficiently reduce a volume of a plastic bottle including a bottom, a side wall and a mouth with a smaller diameter than that of the side wall in a reusable form. SOLUTION: The plastic bottle comprises a side wall 3 formed of a synthetic resin material which is highly flexible, a cavity 5 formed in the side wall 3, a fluid injecting/discharging port 7 for injecting fluid into the cavity 5 or discharging fluid from the cavity 5 and a tight plugging means 8 for sealing the cavity 5 provided on the fluid injecting/discharging port 7. The cavity 5 may be integrally formed along an entire periphery of the side wall 3, it may be formed in a spiral, or further preferably a plurality of cavities 5 may be formed on the side wall 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plastic bottle having a bottom portion, a side wall portion, and an opening having a smaller diameter than the side wall portion and used as a fluid container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As the above-mentioned conventional plastic bottle, a bottle made of polyethylene terephthalate which is strong and lightweight (commonly called PET bottle) is used.

[0003]

In recent years, along with the tightening of regulations on waste disposal, the motive for waste recycling has been increasing. For this purpose, it is important to reduce the volume of waste. . By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional PET bottle, the same applies to other plastic containers. However, although various volume reducing devices have been devised, compression is required due to the back spring that appears as a characteristic of the material. With only the result, the effect of volume reduction is extremely weakened. For example, when the collected PET bottle is compressed, if it is pressurized, it is once crushed, but if the pressing force is removed, it is restored at a considerable rate and the internal space is recovered. For this reason, the transport volume is increased, which is an obstacle to recycling. In order to reuse as a raw material after the volume reduction, a collected bottle is crushed and pelletized. However, the PET bottle after the volume reduction in this way cannot be reused unless a regeneration process is performed.

[0004] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a plastic bottle capable of sufficiently reducing the volume in a reusable form.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The characteristic structure of the plastic bottle of the present invention according to claim 1 will be described with reference to the example shown in FIG. And a side wall portion 3 in the mouth portion 4 having a smaller diameter than the side wall portion 3 is formed of a synthetic resin material having high flexibility, and a hollow portion 5 is formed in the side wall portion 3.
A fluid inlet / outlet 7 for injecting a fluid into the cavity 5 or discharging the fluid from the cavity 5 is formed, and the cavity 5 is sealed in the fluid inlet / outlet 7. (A first characteristic configuration).

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the plastic bottle according to the present invention is configured as described above with reference to the example shown in FIG.
The point is that it is integrally formed over the entire periphery of the side wall portion 3 (second characteristic configuration).

[0007] The characteristic structure of the plastic bottle of the present invention according to claim 3 will be described with reference to the example shown in FIG.
The point is that it is formed in a spiral shape (third characteristic configuration). still,
In FIG. 2, the hollow part 5 is spirally inserted between the outer shell part 1 a and the inner shell part 1 b of the bottle main body 1, and the hollow part 5 is filled with the hollow part 5. This shows an example formed in a tube body 13, in which a spiral partition is provided between the outer shell part 1a and the inner shell part 1b, and the hollow part 5 is formed.
May be formed by spirally partitioning between the outer shell 1a and the inner shell 1b.

[0010] The characteristic structure of the plastic bottle according to the present invention according to claim 4 is, as described with reference to the example shown in FIG.
This is a point that a plurality of the side walls 3 are formed and arranged (fourth characteristic configuration).

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the plastic bottle according to the present invention is configured as the fourth characteristic configuration described above with reference to the example shown in FIG. It is formed in the vertical direction, and a plurality of the hollow portions 5 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the side wall portion 3 (fifth characteristic configuration).

[0010] The characteristic structure of the plastic bottle of the present invention according to claim 6 is, as described with reference to the example shown in FIG. It is formed over the circumference, and a plurality of the cavities 5 are arranged in a vertical direction of the side wall 3 (sixth characteristic configuration).

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plastic bottle according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, wherein a plurality of hollow portions are formed so as to communicate with each other. (Seventh characteristic configuration). For example, as described with reference to an example shown in FIG. 6, a communication path 11 that connects a plurality of cavities 5 to each other is provided. As shown in FIG. 4, a supply / discharge communication passage 12 for interconnecting the cavities 5 may be provided.

The characteristic configuration of the plastic bottle of the present invention according to claim 8 is configured as in the seventh characteristic configuration. For example, when the plastic bottle is described with reference to an example shown in FIG. The fluid injection port 7 is provided in any one of them (eighth characteristic configuration).

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plastic bottle according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein an inner wall surface and an outer wall surface are formed in the cavity. (In a ninth characteristic configuration) in which an inner / outer wall connecting portion for restricting the interval between the inner and outer walls to a predetermined distance is formed. In other words, for example, with reference to the example shown in FIG. 2, the inner shell 1b and the outer shell 1a are connected by the inner / outer wall connecting portion 6, and the inner wall 5a and the outer wall 5b of the cavity 5 are connected. The separation is regulated.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a plastic bottle according to the present invention is characterized in that the connecting portion between the inner and outer walls is formed so as to communicate between the cavities on both sides (tenth feature). That is to say, for example, with reference to the example shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of inner and outer wall connecting portions 6 are provided intermittently, and the hollow portions 5 on both sides thereof, that is, the upper hollow portion 5A and the lower hollow portion 5B communicate with each other. is there.

[Functions and Effects of the Characteristic Configuration]
According to the first characteristic configuration of the plastic bottle according to the invention described in (1), after discharging the contents, the plastic bottle can be reduced in volume and can be reused. That is, FIG.
When the side wall 3 is formed of a synthetic resin material having high flexibility, the side wall 3 can be easily folded unless a fluid is injected into the cavity 5. (For example, see FIG. 3). Moreover, since the cavity 5 is formed in the side wall 3, if a fluid such as air is injected from the fluid inlet / outlet 7 to inflate the cavity 5, thereby the side wall 3 Since the shape retaining ability is generated in the liquid bottle 3, the plastic bottle can be made independent by sealing the fluid inlet / outlet portion 7 with the sealing means 8. As a matter of course, if the fluid in the cavity 5 is discharged from the fluid inlet / outlet 7, the plastic bottle can be easily crushed. In addition, if the hollow portion 5 is filled with a heat insulating fluid such as air, a plastic bottle having an effect of keeping warm and cool is obtained. Further, if a coloring fluid is injected into the cavity 5, a decorative effect can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the plastic bottle according to the second aspect of the present invention, the handling becomes easy in addition to the operation and effect of the first aspect. In other words, according to the example shown in FIG. 1, since the hollow portion 5 is formed integrally over the entire periphery of the side wall portion 3, the plastic bottle can be easily self-supported simply by injecting a fluid into one place. In addition to this, the fluid can be easily discharged (see, for example, FIGS. 2 and 3).

According to the characteristic configuration of the plastic bottle according to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the operation and effect of the first characteristic configuration, the cavity is formed integrally with the side wall in the circumferential direction. Since the plastic bottle is formed so as to be vertically overlapped, the plastic bottle can be easily made to stand on its own simply by injecting a fluid from one end thereof, and the fluid can be easily discharged and folded. In addition, for example, as shown in FIG.
If the tube body 13 is spirally inserted into the inside, a plastic bottle having the above-described effects can be formed with a simple structure.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the function and effect of the first aspect, a plastic bottle having an arbitrary size can be formed. That is, according to the example shown in FIG. 6, since a plurality of internal communicating cavities 5 are vertically arranged over the entire circumference of the side wall 3, fluid is injected into the cavities 5. The cavity 5 can be maintained in an annular shape only by applying an appropriate pressure. Since the cavity 5 is vertically overlapped, the side wall 3 is maintained in a cylindrical shape as a whole. Therefore, the radius can be arbitrarily determined, and the height can be arbitrarily determined by overlapping the cavities.

According to the characteristic configuration of the plastic bottle according to the fifth aspect of the invention, the operation and effect of the fourth characteristic configuration are realized. In other words, according to the example shown in FIG. 7, since the cavity 5 is formed to be vertically long and fluid is injected into each of the cavity 5, the peripheral wall of the cavity 5 is formed by applying an appropriate internal pressure. Can be maintained in a columnar shape, so that a plurality of these are arranged in the circumferential direction of the side wall portion 3 so that the overall shape can be maintained in a cylindrical shape. Therefore, the height of the hollow portion to be columnarized can be arbitrarily determined, and the number of the hollow portions may be determined according to the peripheral length of the side wall portion, so that the radius and the height can be arbitrarily determined. As shown in FIG. 4, if a supply / discharge communication passage 12 that connects the fluid inlet / outlet 7 and each cavity 5 is provided, the fluid inlet / outlet 7 can be individually provided for each cavity 5. It is not necessary to provide, and supply and discharge of the fluid are also facilitated.

The function and effect of the fourth characteristic configuration are also realized by the characteristic configuration of the plastic bottle according to the sixth aspect of the present invention. In other words, according to the example shown in FIG. 8, since a plurality of cavities 5 over the entire circumference of the side wall 3 are arranged vertically as described above, a fluid is injected into the cavities 5. The cavity 5 can be maintained in an annular shape only by applying an appropriate pressure, and since the cavity 5 is vertically overlapped, the side wall 3 can be maintained in a cylindrical shape as a whole. Therefore, the radius can be arbitrarily determined, and the height can be arbitrarily determined by overlapping the cavities. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the communication path 11 is provided between the vertically adjacent cavities 5. Therefore, if a fluid is supplied to any one of the cavities 5, the fluid is supplied to all the cavities 5. It is only necessary to provide a single fluid inlet / outlet 7.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the functions and effects of any of the fourth to sixth aspects, the plastic bottle can be easily formed and folded. Become. That is, for example, FIG.
According to the example shown in FIG. 2, the fluid can be supplied to all the cavities 5 through the communication paths 11 between the adjacent cavities 5 only by supplying the fluid to the uppermost cavity 5. ,
It becomes possible to make the plastic bottle stand alone by itself, and if the fluid is discharged from the fluid injection port 7,
The plastic bottle can be easily folded. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, if a supply / discharge communication passage 12 for interconnecting the cavities 5 is provided, the fluid injection / exhaust port 7 may not be provided for each of the cavities 5. Fluid supply and discharge is also facilitated.

According to the characteristic configuration of the plastic bottle according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the operation and effect of the seventh characteristic configuration become concrete. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the communication between the cavities 5 allows the plastic bottle to be easily self-supported by supplying and discharging the fluid from the single fluid injection and discharge port 7. As shown in FIG. 3, it can be folded.

According to the characteristic configuration of the plastic bottle according to the ninth aspect, in addition to the functions and effects of the first to sixth characteristic configurations, it is possible to prevent the internal volume from being reduced. That is, for example, according to the example shown in FIG. 1, while the integral hollow portion 5 is formed between the outer shell portion 1 a and the inner shell portion 1 b over the entire side wall portion 3, the inner and outer wall connecting portion 6 is formed. Thus, the distance between the inner wall surface 5a and the outer wall surface 5b is maintained within a distance regulated by the inner / outer wall connecting portion 6, so that the side wall portion 3 can be maintained in a cylindrical shape. Therefore, the inner shell 1b is restricted from swelling into the space for accommodating the plastic bottle, and a decrease in the internal volume can be suppressed.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the function and effect of the ninth aspect, in addition to the effect of the ninth aspect, the hollow portion 5 in the side wall portion 3 is formed in a single space over the entire area. Can be formed. In other words, according to the example shown in FIG.
The side wall portion 3 surrounding the accommodation space formed therein is formed in a double cylindrical shape, and the pressure in the hollow portion 5 is made uniform to maintain the shape of the bottle main body 1 while maintaining the shape of the hollow portion 5. It is possible to easily inject the fluid into the cavity and discharge the fluid from the cavity 5.

Therefore, it is possible to maintain the bottle shape as required, while easily folding.

As a result, a plastic bottle which can be reduced in volume during transportation and which can be used repeatedly as a bottle can be formed.

In the above description of the means for solving the problems of the present invention, reference has been made to the drawings and reference numerals have been used for convenience of comparison with the drawings. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the attached drawings and the accompanying drawings.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A plastic bottle according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a plastic bottle according to the present invention in a state in which contents are accommodated, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the inside of a hollow portion with an outer wall partially cut away to show its appearance. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where the volume is reduced.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the plastic bottle according to the present invention, the contents are supplied to the bottle body 1 and the contents are taken out from the bottle body 1 as needed. The bottle body 1 includes a bottom 2 forming a bottom, a cylindrical side wall 3 erected around the bottom 2, and the side wall 3.
And a ceiling 9 connecting the opening 4 and the opening 4.

The mouth 4 is made of a hard synthetic resin material (for example, a hard polypropylene resin), and a male screw is formed on the outer periphery so that a cap can be screwed into the mouth. 9 so that it can be bonded. In the bottle body 1 including the side wall 3, the outer shell 1a and the inner shell 1b are separately formed of a highly flexible synthetic resin material (for example, a soft polyethylene resin). The outer shell portion 1a corresponding to the bottom portion 2 is formed thick to be the bottom of the bottle body 1. The other part of the outer shell part 1a and the inner shell part 1b are formed thin enough to be foldable. Then, a plurality of inner / outer wall connecting portions 6 are bonded to the two shell portions 1a and 1b at predetermined positions between the outer shell portion 1a and the inner shell portion 1b (see FIG. 2).
The inner shell part 1b and the outer shell part 1a corresponding to the ceiling part 9 are joined to the mouth part 4, respectively.

A plastic bottle is made as described above, and a cavity 5 is formed in the side wall 3. A fluid is injected into the cavity 5 or the fluid is discharged from the cavity 5. Is formed in the outer shell portion 1a at a position corresponding to the ceiling portion 9, and the fluid injection and discharge portion 7 is formed.
In addition, a sealing means 8 (for example, a cap 8A) for sealing the cavity 5 is provided. That is, the cavity 5 is formed integrally over the entire periphery of the side wall 3. The inner / outer wall connecting portion 6 is provided inside the hollow portion 5 with its inner wall surface 5.
a and the outer wall surface 5b are restricted to a predetermined distance. The plurality of inner / outer wall connecting portions 6 are intermittently arranged in the circumferential direction of the side wall portion 3 to communicate between the hollow portions 5 on both sides thereof.

In the plastic bottle constructed as described above, when air is injected from the fluid inlet / outlet 7, the cavity 5 expands, and the inner wall 5a and the outer wall 5b are expanded.
The gap between the inner shell 1b and the outer shell 1a is increased by the action of the inner / outer wall connecting portion 6.
Thus, the cylindrical shape is maintained by the tension acting on the outer shell portion 1a exerted by the pressure of the air in the hollow portion 5.
In addition, as for the bottom part 2, if the said inner / outer wall connection part 6 is arrange | positioned only at the peripheral part, as shown in FIG.
Bulge inward to form a bottom similar to the bottle bottom. Here, since air is sealed in the cavity 5,
The outer wall of the plastic bottle becomes a double wall sandwiching air,
Since the heat transfer coefficient of air is low, the bottle is suitable for keeping warm and cool.

When the contents (eg, juice) are filled and conveyed, and the contents are emptied after use, the inside is washed to open the fluid inlet / outlet 7, and air is supplied to the cavity 5 If the inner shell 1a and the inner shell 1b are removed from the inside, the outer shell 1a and the inner shell 1b are formed of a soft synthetic resin material, and lose their shape-retaining force and are easily crushed (see FIG. 3). Therefore, if this is folded, the volume can be significantly reduced, so that the transport volume can be reduced and the transport efficiency can be greatly improved.

In addition to the above, if the hollow portion 5 is filled with coloring water using a colorless synthetic resin material (for example, a polyethylene resin to which no coloring additive is added) for the outer shell portion 1a, the coloring is achieved. Since the color of the water becomes the color of the appearance as it is, a colored bottle can be obtained. For example, for a content whose exposure to light in a specific wavelength region is to be avoided, a fluid containing a substance serving as a filter for the specific wavelength region is applied to the cavity 5.
By filling the inside, a bottle capable of protecting the contents can be obtained. Such a function can be arbitrarily expressed by selecting a fluid to be filled in the hollow portion 5, and has a feature that the multi-purpose bottle can be used repeatedly.

[Another Embodiment] Another embodiment which is not shown in the above embodiment will be described below. <1> The hollow portion 5 may be formed only over the entire circumference of the peripheral wall portion. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom portion 2, the ceiling portion 9, and the mouth portion 4 may be attached to a tire tube-shaped side wall portion 3. By simply discharging the fluid in the cavity 5, it becomes easily flat.

<2> The cavity 5 may be formed in a spiral shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the plastic bottle having the same structure as that shown in FIG. 1 is not provided with the inner and outer wall connecting portions 6, and one end is formed in the hollow portion 5 formed on the side wall portion 3 over the entire vertical direction. Alternatively, the tube body 13 having a closed side may be provided in a spiral shape, and the other end may be connected to the fluid inlet / outlet portion 7. Further, a partition wall may be spirally provided between the outer shell part 1a and the inner shell part 1b at a position of a tube wall part vertically contacting the tube body 13 in the above example.

<3> A plurality of cavities may be formed and arranged on the side wall. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a partition wall 10 may be provided vertically and horizontally in a hollow portion 5 formed between an inner shell 1b and an outer shell 1a. These partition walls 10
By narrowing the interval, the bulging amount of the hollow portion 5 in and out can be reduced. The arrangement of the plurality of cavities,
Not limited to the above example, it may be arranged in an oblique lattice shape,
Any arrangement is possible. If the communication passage 11 is provided in the partition wall 10, the number of the fluid inlet / outlet portions 7 can be reduced.

<4> The hollow portion may be formed in the vertical direction of the side wall portion, and a plurality of the hollow portions may be arranged in the circumferential direction of the side wall portion. For example, as shown in FIG.
The cavity portion 5 may be formed in the side wall portion 3 in the vertical direction, and a plurality of the cavity portions 5 may be arranged in the circumferential direction of the side wall portion 3. The one shown in the drawing is provided with a supply / discharge communication passage 12 that connects the fluid inlet / outlet portion 7 and each cavity portion 5 to allow communication between the cavity portions 5, and maintains the shape of the plastic bottle only by injecting fluid from one location. However, a fluid injection port 7 may be provided in each of the cavities 5.

<5> The above <4> is an example in which a plurality of cavities are arranged in the circumferential direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the cavities 5 are formed all around the side wall 3. In addition, a plurality of the cavities 5 may be arranged in the vertical direction of the side wall 3. In the illustrated example, the cavity 5
Although a plurality of the inner and outer wall connecting portions 6 are arranged inside, the inner and outer wall connecting portions 6 can be omitted. Also, an example is shown in which the communication paths 11 are formed between the vertically adjacent cavities 5 and the cavities 5 are communicated with each other. However, the communication paths 11 are omitted and the respective cavities 5 are formed. May be provided with a fluid injection port 7. Note that a part of the communication path 11 may be omitted, and the fluid injection / ejection port 7 may be provided in any of the necessary cavities 5.

<6> In the above embodiment, an example in which the cavity 5 is filled with air to provide heat insulation has been described.
In order to further improve this heat insulating property, it is even better if both or one of the inner wall portions 5a and 5b of the hollow portion 5 is provided with a glittering coating.

<7> With the configuration described above, not only the inside of the inner shell portion 1b becomes a storage portion for the storage material, but also each hollow portion 5 can function as a storage portion. Therefore, the plastic bottle according to the present invention can also function as a container capable of storing a plurality of items.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a plastic bottle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the plastic bottle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a volume reduction state of the above example.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another example of the plastic bottle according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another example of the plastic bottle according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another example of the plastic bottle according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another example of the plastic bottle according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing another example of the plastic bottle according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Bottom part 3 Side wall part 4 Mouth part 5 Cavity part 5a Inside wall surface of cavity part 5b Outside wall surface of cavity part 6 Inner / outer wall connection part 7 Fluid injection / discharge port part 8 Sealing means

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A plastic bottle having a bottom portion, a side wall portion, and a mouth portion having a smaller diameter than the side wall portion, wherein the side wall portion is formed of a highly flexible synthetic resin material, and a cavity is formed in the side wall portion. Forming a part, forming a fluid injection port for injecting fluid into the cavity or discharging the fluid from within the cavity, and in the fluid injection port,
A plastic bottle provided with sealing means for sealing the cavity. 2. The plastic bottle according to claim 1, wherein the hollow portion is formed integrally over the entire periphery of the side wall portion. 3. The plastic bottle according to claim 2, wherein the hollow portion is formed in a spiral shape. 4. The plastic bottle according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the cavity portions are formed and arranged in the side wall portion. 5. The plastic bottle according to claim 4, wherein said hollow portion is formed in a vertical direction of said side wall portion, and a plurality of said hollow portions are arranged in a circumferential direction of said side wall portion. 6. The plastic bottle according to claim 4, wherein the hollow portion is formed over the entire circumference of the side wall portion, and a plurality of the hollow portions are arranged in a vertical direction of the side wall portion. 7. The plastic bottle according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of cavities are formed so as to communicate with each other. 8. The plastic bottle according to claim 7, wherein the fluid inlet / outlet is provided in any of the plurality of arranged cavities. 9. The plastic bottle according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein an inner / outer wall connecting portion for regulating a distance between an inner wall surface and an outer wall surface within a predetermined distance is formed in the hollow portion. . 10. The plastic bottle according to claim 9, wherein the inner and outer wall connecting portions are formed so as to communicate between the cavities on both sides thereof.