JP5733863B2 - Fruit container and method of using the container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a container for storing vegetables and fruits having stems such as strawberries and tomatoes while holding the stems.

  Fruits such as strawberries and cherries are vulnerable to slight impacts and are easily damaged. Therefore, when the strawberry is stacked and accommodated in the container, the strawberry comes into contact with the container or the strawberry comes into contact with each other, so that the strawberry is quickly damaged. Therefore, strawberry is transported or stored to enhance shape retention and protection to prevent strawberry damage and to maintain freshness, and it also looks good when displayed at stores. Various containers have been proposed that can increase the commercial value (Patent Documents 1 to 4). However, strawberries are in contact with containers proposed so far, including Patent Documents 1 to 4. Therefore, although the damage has been reduced, there has been a problem that it is impossible to avoid the occurrence of the damage due to contact.

In order to solve this problem, the present applicant has previously proposed the following plant holding member in Patent Document 5. As shown in FIG. 7, the holding member 100 holds, for example, a stem st of the strawberry S and suspends it. The holding member 100 is disposed adjacent to each other, and a pair of holding pieces 101 each composed of an elastic body, 101 holds the stem st. In addition, when the holding member 100 has a side on which the strawberry S is suspended as a lower side, the support plate 103 is installed on the lower side of the pair of holding pieces 101 and 101 so that the pair of holding pieces 101 are moved upward. The bending is allowed, but the downward bending is restricted by the support plate 103.
Since the holding member 100 holds the stem st and suspends and holds the strawberry S, if the holding member 100 is provided at an interval, the strawberry S can be prevented from contacting each other. Further, by providing the support plate 103, the stem st can be reliably held even if the diameter of the stem st varies.

JP-A-8-282757 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-222282 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-314982 JP 2005-153934 A JP 2010-47307 A JP 2008-285228 A

Strawberries held by the holding member proposed in Patent Document 5 are transported from the production area to the consumption area. However, since both the holding member and the strawberries are vibrated, the holding becomes loose, and in extreme cases, the stem is held. There is also a risk of detachment from the part.
Patent Document 6 discloses a bag packaging container in which two base materials are stacked to form a double structure. However, since both base materials are made of the same material made of PET or plastic, vibration No effective solution has been reached.
The present invention has been made based on such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fruit container that can prevent a pair of holding pieces from being loosened even when subjected to vibration.

The present invention made for this purpose is a container having a storage chamber for storing the fruit to which the stem is connected while holding the stem, each of which is composed of an elastic body, arranged adjacent to the stem , A pair of holding pieces each provided with a notch or slit having an inlet and an end point between them, a receiving seat whose one surface faces the receiving chamber and the other surface faces the pair of holding pieces, And a cushion disposed on one surface side, and has the following characteristics.
In the present invention, the pair of sandwiching pieces are in contact with the receiving seat having higher rigidity than the pair of sandwiching pieces, so that the bending in the first direction toward the receiving seat is restricted, but the second separating from the receiving seat. Deflection in the direction is allowed.
Moreover, the cushion in this invention is formed from the flexible material, and if the fruit accommodated in a storage chamber contacts a cushion, it will give reaction force with respect to a fruit in the 1st direction.
Then, when the pair of sandwiching pieces bent in the second direction when holding the stem and pushing into the slit or slit between the pair of sandwiching pieces toward the end point from the entrance stop holding the stem, the reaction force causes The deflection returns to the first direction and the stem can be clamped.

The cushion according to the present invention applies a reaction force to the fruit in the first direction, and the direction of the reaction force is opposite to the second direction in which the sandwiching piece is allowed to bend.
Here, when the container according to the present invention is subjected to vibration, the sandwiching piece is bent in the second direction in which bending is allowed with vibration. At this time, the stem also vibrates. However, particularly when the stem is displaced in the second direction, the force for clamping the stem becomes loose. However, in the present invention, a reaction force is applied to the fruit in a direction opposite to the second direction (first direction), and this reaction force is also transmitted to the stem, pulling the stem in the first direction. Therefore, according to the present invention, even when subjected to vibration, the bending of the holding piece in the second direction is suppressed, and the stem is prevented from being displaced in the second direction, whereby the holding of the stem is suppressed. It can prevent or reduce loosening.

In the container of the present invention, the storage chamber is preferably formed in a region surrounded by the receiving seat and the cylindrical side wall rising from the receiving seat.
Since the displacement due to the vibration of the fruit can be regulated by the side wall, it is possible to prevent the fruit from violating when receiving the vibration.

The direction of the fruit does not matter for accommodating the fruit using the container of the present invention. This is because the relationship in which the first direction in which the cushion gives a reaction force to the fruit and the second direction in which the clamping piece is allowed to be bent is opposite is established regardless of the direction of the fruit. .
Therefore, as a method of using the container according to the present invention, the container can be arranged so that the opening of the storage chamber faces upward, and the fruit can be stored in the storage chamber with the stem facing downward, or the opening of the storage chamber faces downward. It is also possible to arrange the container so that the fruit is stored in the storage chamber with the stem facing upward.

According to the container of the present invention, the cushion exerts a reaction force on the fruit in the first direction, so that even when subjected to vibration, the bending of the sandwiching piece in the second direction is suppressed, and the stem is By suppressing the displacement in the second direction, it is possible to prevent or reduce loosening of the stem.
Therefore, the fruit accommodated in the container of the present invention can be transported while being stably held.

It is a figure which shows a mode that the strawberry was accommodated in the container of this embodiment, and was hold | maintained. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the process in which a stem is inserted in the slit of the container of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which turned the container (container main body) of FIG. 1 upside down. It is a figure which shows the example which arrange | positions and uses multiple containers of FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification of the holder used for the container of FIG. It is a figure which shows the holding member disclosed by patent document 5. FIG.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
This embodiment relates to a container 1 that can be transported while holding a strawberry S. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container 1 according to this embodiment includes a cup-shaped container body 10. And a holder 20 that is disposed on the back side of the receiving seat 17 of the container body 10 and sandwiches the stem st of the strawberry S, and a cushion 30 that is arranged between the receiving seat 17 and the strawberry S.

[Container configuration]
The container body 10 includes a rectangular pedestal 11, an outer cylinder 13 whose outer shape rising from the pedestal 11 is tapered, a cylindrical inner cylinder 15 that hangs down from the leading edge of the outer cylinder 13 toward the inside, A circular receiving seat 17 extending inward from the leading edge of the tube 15 and a slit (first slit) 19 extending in the radial direction from the outer tube 13 to the center of the receiving seat 17 are provided. The container body 10 can be manufactured by various methods. For example, a relatively high-rigidity resin such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or polycarbonate can be injection-molded and manufactured as an integral molded product. In addition, the container main body 10 should just produce the rigidity of the part of the receiving seat 17 sufficiently higher than the holder 20 at least. In addition, the container body 10 is not limited to a resin, and may be composed of a metal material such as stainless steel, and a composite material of a metal and a resin. It is assumed that the vertical direction in FIG. 1 is along the vertical direction.

The pedestal 11 is formed so as to protrude from the lower end edge of the outer cylinder 13 so that the container main body 10 can be stably placed at a necessary place, and the container main body 10 usually has the pedestal 11 below. The opening of the storage chamber R faces upward.
The outer cylinder 13 contributes to improving the rigidity of the container body 10 by forming a double structure in the radial direction together with the inner cylinder 15 in addition to serving as a basis for forming the inner cylinder 15 and the receiving seat 17. However, the outer cylinder 13 and the inner cylinder 15 can be integrated into a single cylindrical side wall.
The inner cylinder 15 together with the receiving seat 17 forms a storage chamber R for storing the strawberry S. The movement of the strawberry S accommodated in the accommodation chamber R in the horizontal direction is regulated by the inner cylinder 15. The strawberry S is stored in the storage chamber R with the stem st facing downward. Although the accommodation room R shows the example which accommodates only a part of strawberry S here, the outer cylinder 13 and the inner cylinder 15 etc. can also be comprised so that the whole strawberry S may be accommodated.
The receiving seat 17 is formed at a position about half the height from the base 11 to the tip of the outer cylinder 13 and supports the strawberry S from below. Although the receiving seat 17 has shown the flat example here, it can also be made into the shape hollow according to the shape of the strawberry S. FIG. The same applies to the inner cylinder 15. In addition, the side in which the strawberry S of the receiving seat 17 is accommodated is defined as a “table”.
The slit 19 is formed in order to pass a portion of the stem st when accommodating the strawberry S. The stem st is inserted from the side of the inlet 19 a that opens to the side surface of the outer cylinder 13, and moves toward the end point 19 b located at the center of the receiving seat 17. The width of the slit 19 is set so that the stem st can be moved without difficulty.

Next, the holder 20 is a disk-shaped member made of silicon rubber, and is provided with a notch 21 in the radial direction from the outer peripheral inlet 21a to the center end point 21b. The notch 21 is formed through the front and back of the holder 20. The notch 21 is formed with a through hole 22 for avoiding stress concentration at the end point 21b. The holder 20 uses the portions on both sides in the circumferential direction that sandwich the notch 21 as a pair of holding pieces 23 that can be bent (deformed) independently of each other. That is, the stem st can be held by the pair of sandwiching pieces 23 by pushing the stem st from the inlet 21a of the cut 21 toward the end point 21b. When the stem st is pushed in, the pair of clamping pieces 23 can be bent.
The holder 20 is arranged on the back surface of the receiving seat 17 of the container body 10. At this time, the holder 20 is arranged with respect to the receiving seat 17 so that the positions of the slit 19 of the container body 10 and the notch 21 of the holder 20 coincide.
The holder 20 can be fixed to the back surface in advance with an adhesive, a double-sided adhesive tape, or the like. However, when the strawberry S is accommodated, the stem st holds the holding piece 23, and therefore, a special fixing means is used. It can also be arranged on the back surface.

The holder 20 is not limited to silicon rubber, and can be formed of a material such as urethane foam, neoprene rubber, or foamed styrene. If the holder 20 is formed of such a flexible material, the stem st will not be damaged even if the stem st is clamped by the pair of clamping pieces 23, so that the commercial value of the strawberry S does not need to be lowered.
In this example, the notch 21 is formed without a gap between the pair of sandwiching pieces 23 in a free state, but may be in the form of a slit having a gap between them. Various forms of the cut 21 will be described later.

Next, the cushion 30 is disposed between the receiving seat 17 and the strawberry S in the storage chamber R. When the strawberry S is stored in a predetermined position of the receiving chamber R, the cushion 30 is oriented away from the front side of the receiving seat 17 (first). The force of holding the stem st by the holder 20 is compensated for by applying the force in the direction of) to the strawberry S.
The cushion 30 needs to be made of a flexible material in order to exhibit the above action. That is, when the strawberry S is placed on the cushion 30, the reaction force is applied to the strawberry S from the cushion 30 to compensate for the force with which the pair of sandwiching pieces 23 hold the stem st, but this reaction force is generated. Therefore, the cushion 30 is made of a flexible material. By making the cushion 30 with a flexible material, the damage of the strawberry S based on the contact with the cushion 30 can be minimized.
The material constituting the cushion 30 can be selected from, for example, sponge, polyurethane-based other resins, and foamable resins. Even if these materials are extremely thin, a reaction force cannot be applied to the strawberry S. Therefore, the cushion 30 has a thickness in consideration of various materials so as to obtain a necessary reaction force. Is set.

A slit (second slit) 31 is formed in the cushion 30 corresponding to the slit 19 of the container body 10 and the notch 21 of the holder 20. When the strawberry S is accommodated in the container body 10, the stem st of the strawberry S is inserted into the slit 31 aligned with the slit 19 and the notch 21.

  The cushion 30 is shaped like a bowl in accordance with the shape of the strawberry S, but a flat cushion 30 can be used as long as it has sufficient flexibility. Moreover, although the cushion 30 is integrally formed, the cushion 30 may be divided into a plurality. Moreover, it can also be set as the ring-shaped cushion from which a center part becomes a space | gap. That is, the form of the cushion 30 is not limited as long as reaction force can be applied to the strawberry S while minimizing damage. However, it is preferable that the reaction force applied to the strawberry S is equal in the circumferential direction of the strawberry S in order to compensate for the force for holding the stem st. Therefore, even when the cushion 30 is divided, for example, the reaction force is evenly arranged in the circumferential direction. It is desirable to do.

[Strawberry accommodation procedure]
In order to store the strawberry S in the container 1, first, the cushion 30 is arranged inside the receiving chamber R on the front side of the receiving seat 17 of the container body 10, and the holder 20 is placed on the back side of the receiving seat 17. Place. At this time, consideration is given so that the slits 19 of the holder 20 and the slits 31 of the cushion 30 are aligned with the slits 19 of the container body 10.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the strawberry S is pushed inward from the inlet 19 a of the slit 19 of the container body 10 with the stem st facing down. This operation can be performed by manually grasping the stem st and, if necessary, the strawberry S, but can also be performed by a robot holding the stem st. Here, the pinching piece 23 of the holder 20 is provided with a highly rigid receiving seat 17 on the upper side, so that downward bending (second direction) is allowed, but bending toward the receiving seat 17 is not performed. Be regulated. Therefore, when the stem st is slightly inclined downward and pushed into the slit 19 (the cut 21 and the slit 31), as shown in FIG. 3A, the sandwiching piece 23 has the end facing the cut 21 as the apex. To bend downward (second direction). Therefore, even if there is variation in the thickness of the stem st, the interval between the cuts 21 is adapted to the stem st, and the stem st can be pushed smoothly into the through hole 22 which is the end point of the cut 21.

The pushing of the stem st is performed considering that the strawberry S is placed on the cushion 30. That is, the strawberry S is pushed so as to receive a necessary reaction force from the cushion 30 when the stem st is pushed until it reaches the through hole 22 at the end point 21 b of the cut 21.
If the stem st is pushed to the end point, the grasping of the stem st is stopped. Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the strawberry S receives the reaction force F from the cushion 30 and the stem st is slightly lifted, so that the notch 21 is pushed and expanded in the left-right direction. As a result, the pair of sandwiching pieces 23 A compressive stress is generated in the horizontal direction so that the stem st can be held.
Since the container 1 of this embodiment can grasp and push only the stem st into the slit 19 (the notch 21 and the slit 31) from the side of the container body 10 (the holder 20, the cushion 30), the strawberry S is actually There is an advantage to avoid touching. However, the present invention does not exclude that the strawberry S is touched.

Note that the present invention allows the stem st to be pushed in the horizontal direction. In that case, the load received from the pair of sandwiching pieces 23 increases as the stem st goes to the back, and the stem st is delayed obliquely backward from the grasped position. Then, the stem st is pulled in the axial direction. As a result, the pinching piece 23 is induced to bend downward, and the pushing load is automatically reduced.
FIG. 3B shows an example in which the sandwiching piece 23 has returned to the horizontal position. Depending on the diameter of the stem st, the stem st is sandwiched with the sandwiching piece 23 slightly bent upward. Sometimes.
In addition, as described above, the receiving seat 17 supports the cushion 30 on the front surface in addition to the function of regulating the bending toward the one of the sandwiching pieces 23 ( first direction) on the back surface. It has the function of giving the reaction force F to the strawberry S.

  As described above, when the strawberry S is accommodated in the container 1, it is shipped toward the consumption area. If the strawberry S is vibrated together with the container 1 in the process of transporting to the consumption area, the holding piece 23 may bend downward and the holding of the stem st may be loosened. Since the sandwiching piece 23 has an elastic force, it can be restored even if it is bent downward. However, if the conveying time is long and vibration is repeatedly received, it cannot be expected to be completely restored. . If the clamping is loosened in this way, the strawberry S will be exposed to the inside of the storage chamber R due to the vibration, and the collision or rubbing with the inner cylinder 15 and the receiving seat 17 will cause damage to the strawberry S.

  However, according to the container 1, the strawberry S always receives the reaction force F from the cushion 30, and this reaction force F is upward (the first direction) opposite to the downward direction (second direction) in which the clamping piece 23 is bent by vibration. Direction). Therefore, even if it receives vibration repeatedly, since downward bending of the clamping piece 23 is reduced, the compressive stress which arises in the clamping piece 23 is ensured. In this way, the container 1 compensates the force for holding the stem st by the holder 20, and the inner cylinder 15 can regulate the movement of the strawberry S in the horizontal direction. Moreover, since the cushion 30 has flexibility, even if the strawberry S receives the reaction force F, the damage of the strawberry S can be minimized.

  When the strawberry S is removed from the container 1, it may be pulled forward while pushing down the stem st in the same manner as when the strawberry S is pushed into the notch 21. When the stem st is pushed down, the holding piece 23 bends downward, the force for holding the stem st by the holding piece 23 is weakened, and the strawberry S is easily removed from the container 1.

[Modification]
The container 1 of this embodiment can be used even if the container main body 10 is turned upside down as shown in FIG. In this case, the space surrounded by the outer cylinder 13 and the receiving seat 17 is the accommodation chamber R. However, since the outer cylinder 13 has a larger outer diameter than the inner cylinder 15, the above-described example in which the base 11 is disposed below. The storage chamber R becomes larger than that.
Thus, according to the container 1, the strawberry S from which size differs can be accommodated without difficulty by flipping one container main body 10 upside down.

  In the above description, the minimum unit container 1 that accommodates one strawberry S has been described. However, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the container 1 can be used as a container 2 having a plurality of containers 1 connected to each other. Then, a plurality of strawberries S can be handled at the same time. FIG. 5A shows an example in which a plurality of containers 1 are arranged in a line, but the arrangement is arbitrary, and the plurality of containers 1 can also be arranged in a lattice pattern or a staggered pattern. In addition, when arranging a plurality of containers 1, it goes without saying that more strawberries S can be transported if the interval between adjacent containers 1 is narrowed so as not to contact the adjacent strawberries S.

  Moreover, although the example which mounts the strawberry S on the container main body 10 was demonstrated above, as shown in FIG.5 (b), the opening of the storage chamber R is turned downward, the stem st is turned upward, and the strawberry S is put on the container main body 10. It can also be hung on. Even when the strawberry S is suspended in this manner, it is obvious that the action and effect of the cushion 30 described with reference to FIG. 3 can be obtained. This is because there is no change in that the reaction force F received by the strawberry S from the cushion 30 and the direction in which the sandwiching piece 23 bends due to vibration are opposite. In addition, when the strawberry S is suspended, the weight of the strawberry S is added downward (first direction), and when it receives vibration, the holding piece 23 can be prevented from bending upward (second direction). It is difficult to loosen the stem st.

The holder 20 has a circular through hole 22 formed at the end point of the notch 21, but the form of the notch is not limited to this. An example thereof is shown in FIG. 6, in which only a straight cut 21 is formed without providing the through-hole 22 as shown in FIG. 6A, and a cross-shaped cut 25 is formed at the end of the cut 21 as shown in FIG. Example of forming, example of forming both circular through hole 22 and cross-shaped cut 25 as shown in (c), and forming both triangular through hole 22 and cross-shaped cut 25 as shown in (d). It can be in various forms such as examples. In addition to the shape of the cut, the outer shape of the holder 20 can be rectangular as shown in (e).
The present inventors actually housed the strawberry S in the container 1 having the holder 20 having the above-described form, and performed a vibration test (frequency: 30 Hz, acceleration: 4.5 G). As a result, any holding tool 20 was used, and pinching did not come off after 5 minutes. 6A to 6D, in particular, a cross-shaped cut 25 is formed at the end point of the cut 21 (b) and both the triangular through hole 22 and the cross-shaped cut 25 are formed ( In the form d), it is difficult to remove the pinch. In particular, in the embodiment (d), the pinch does not come off even if the vibration test is continued for 30 minutes.
FIG. 6 shows an example in which the position where the cross-shaped cut 25 and the through hole 22 are provided is provided at the center of the holder 20, but by providing the position behind the center of the entrance of the cut 21, The clamping force by the pair of clamping pieces 23 can be increased.
Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, an example in which the direction of the notch 21 of the holding tool 20 and the slit 31 of the cushion 30 are matched is shown, but for example, after holding the strawberry S, the holding tool 20 or the cushion 30. by rotating the, is possible to intersect at a range orientation of approximately 90 to 120 degrees of the cut 21 and the slit 31 is effective to prevent the stem st moves from nipping portion, or or fall off.

Moreover, although this embodiment demonstrated strawberry as an example, it cannot be overemphasized that the container of this invention can hold | maintain the fruit and vegetable which have the fruit part which a stem and stem connect even if it is except a strawberry.
In addition to the above, the configuration given in the above embodiment may be selected or otherwise selected without departing from the gist of the present invention that the cushion gives a reaction force opposite to the direction in which the clamping piece is bent by vibration. The configuration can be changed as appropriate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Container 10 Container main body 11 Base 13 Outer cylinder 15 Inner cylinder 17 Receiving seat 19, 31 Slit 19a, 21a Inlet 19b, 21b End point 20 Holder 21 Notch 22 Through hole 23 Clamping piece 30 Cushion F Reaction force R Storage chamber S Strawberry st stem

Claims (11)

A container having a storage chamber for storing a fruit to which the stem is connected while holding the stem,
A pair of sandwich pieces each comprising an elastic body, arranged adjacent to the border of the stem, and provided with a notch or slit having an inlet and an end point between each ;
A receiving seat with one surface facing the storage chamber and the other surface facing the pair of clamping pieces;
A cushion disposed on the one surface side of the receiving seat, and
The receiving seat has higher rigidity than the pair of clamping pieces,
The pair of sandwiching pieces are in contact with the receiving seat, so that the bending in the first direction toward the receiving seat is restricted, but the bending in the second direction away from the receiving seat is allowed,
The cushion is made of a flexible material, and when the fruit accommodated in the accommodation chamber comes into contact with the cushion, a reaction force is applied to the fruit in a first direction ,
The pair of sandwiching pieces bent in the second direction when the stem is grasped and pushed into the slit or the slit from the entrance toward the end point grabs the stem. When the movement is stopped, the bending force returns to the first direction by the reaction force, and the stem is sandwiched.
A container characterized by that.   The container of claim 1, wherein the first orientation is upward and the second orientation is downward. The container according to claim 1, wherein the cushion is formed of a foamable resin. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the cushion has a bowl shape. The container according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the receiving seat is formed with a first slit extending in a radial direction from an edge portion to a center thereof. The container according to claim 5 , wherein a second slit corresponding to the first slit of the receiving seat is formed in the cushion. The pair of clamping piece is formed by providing the cut or the slit in the disc-shaped member which is integrally formed,
The container according to claim 6 , wherein the notch or the slit is formed corresponding to the first slit and the second slit. The containment chamber is
The container according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the container is formed by the receiving seat and a cylindrical side wall surrounding the periphery of the receiving seat. The container according to claim 8 , wherein the side wall restricts movement of the fruit in a horizontal direction. A method of using the container according to any one of claims 1 to 9 ,
Arrange the container so that the opening of the storage chamber is facing upward,
Storing the fruit in the storage chamber with the stem facing down,
A method of using a container characterized by the above. A method of using the container according to claim 7 ,
Arrange the container so that the opening of the storage chamber is facing upward,
When storing the fruit in the storage chamber with the stem facing down,
The stem is inserted from the side of the container with the first slit, the second slit, and the cut or the slit aligned.
A method of using a container characterized by the above.

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