JP7636766B2 - Opening structure of rice ball packaging bag - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an opening structure for a rice ball packaging bag that allows you to open the packaging and eat the rice balls without getting your hands dirty.

2. Description of the Related Art Various opening structures for rice ball packaging bags have been disclosed to date that enable a user to open the packaging of rice balls and eat them without getting his or her hands dirty.
For example, there is a configuration in which a stain-prevention film is placed between the film that wraps the outer surface of the rice ball and a divided film that wraps a seaweed sheet that has already been divided into left and right parts, along with the seaweed sheet, so that after removing the wrapping film and the divided film, the lower part of the rice ball wrapped in seaweed is sandwiched between both sides of the stain-prevention film before eating. There is also a configuration in which no special stain-prevention film is used, but the wrapping film is processed in advance so that part of the wrapping film wraps the seaweed rice ball when the wrapping film is opened (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

These onigiri stain-prevention film structures, in which stain-prevention films are placed between packaging films, as well as structures that use existing packaging films as stain-prevention films, are both rooted in the ancient Japanese food culture of eating onigiri by directly gripping them with the hands without using chopsticks or other tools.

Utility Model Registration No. 3067919 JP 2020-023345 A

The most worrisome issue in the onigiri food culture that is so deeply rooted in Japanese culture is that the hands get dirty when the onigiri are made by hand. In particular, with film-wrapped onigiri for wrapping in nori seaweed, which are sold in large quantities at convenience stores these days, they are eaten in a variety of places. Therefore, getting the hands dirty when eating is considered an inevitable issue in onigiri food culture.
In order to solve this problem, the above-mentioned stain-prevention film is used, and when eating, the stain-prevention film is wrapped over the wrapped seaweed sheet to prevent direct contact with the hands.
However, in rice balls wrapped in such seaweed sheets, the stain-prevention film sandwiched between the rice ball's packaging sheets can shift due to shaking during transportation, packaging, or when the packaging film is opened, and the bottom of the rice ball may not be wrapped in the correct position after the film is opened, which can cause hands to get dirty.

This invention aims to provide an opening structure for an onigiri packaging bag in which, when packaging onigiri with a stain-prevention film interposed between the packaging films, the end of the stain-prevention film is welded to the onigiri packaging film in advance, and when opening the packaging film at the time of eating, only the welded portion of the end of the stain-prevention film is removed together with the packaging film, so that the stain-prevention film does not shift between the packaging films even when the packaged onigiri shakes, etc., and the triangular lower part of the onigiri can be accurately wrapped.

This invention relates to an opening structure for a rice ball packaging bag, which is characterized in that in a packaged rice ball consisting of an exterior film with a cutting tape affixed to it that encases the entire rice ball and divides it into two parts from approximately the center, an inner film formed by overlapping the left and right film ends, a seaweed sheet sandwiched between the two films, and a rice ball body positioned outside the inner film and entirely wrapped in the exterior film, a stain-preventing film is interposed between the exterior film and the seaweed sheet, and the longitudinal end of the stain-preventing film is welded to the inner surface of the exterior film.

Another feature is that a cutting line is formed in the form of a cut line or perforation that crosses the stain-prevention film near the welded portion of the stain-prevention film.

Another feature is that one or both longitudinal ends of the stain-prevention film are welded to the inside surface of the exterior film.

Another feature is that the welded end of the stain-prevention film in the longitudinal direction extends from left to right.

Another feature is that the welded end of the stain-prevention film in the longitudinal direction is either the left or right half.

According to this invention, in the packaged rice balls, a stain-preventing film is interposed between the exterior film and the nori sheet, and one or both longitudinal ends, both left and right edges, or the left or right half of the stain-preventing film are welded to the inner peripheral surface of the exterior film, and a cut line is formed in the form of a cut line, perforation, or the like that crosses the stain-preventing film near the welded portion of the stain-preventing film, so that the stain-preventing film can be securely placed inside the exterior film without shifting, and even when the packaging film is opened, the stain-preventing film can securely cover the bottom of the rice ball body, so that when eating the rice ball, the hands do not come into direct contact with the rice ball body and do not get dirty, and it also has the effect of providing hygiene protection against infectious diseases such as viruses.

Furthermore, if the exterior film is cut and removed in the same procedure as for opening the conventional packaging film, the bottom of the onigiri body is automatically wrapped in the stain-prevention film from the surface of the seaweed sheet, so that the rice ball does not need to be directly grasped with the hands, and this has the effect of preventing hand dirt and infection from pathogens.

In addition, compared to the conventional structure in which the onigiri body is packaged with the seaweed sheet in direct contact with the exterior film, the present invention uses a stain-prevention film between the two, so moisture that penetrates through the exterior film does not directly affect the seaweed sheet, providing moisture protection for the seaweed.

In addition, the process of creating the packaging film for packaging the rice ball itself does not require a special process for welding the stain-prevention film to the exterior film, and both films can be welded simultaneously during the welding process of the top and bottom ends of the exterior film in the unfolded state, which has the effect of making it easy to weld the stain-prevention film.

In addition, near the welded portion of the stain-prevention film, a tear line is formed in the form of a score line or perforation that crosses the stain-prevention film, so that simply by splitting and opening the integrally welded exterior film, the exterior film is also automatically cut off, and the welded portion of the stain-prevention film does not impede the opening of the packaging film.

1 is a plan view of an opening structure for an onigiri packaging bag according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 1A is a schematic diagram showing the procedure for removing the packaging film of the rice ball packaging bag opening structure of the first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a schematic diagram showing the state of cutting the outer film with a cutting tape, (b) is a schematic diagram showing the state of removing the right half of the packaging film, (c) is a schematic diagram showing the state of removing the left half of the packaging film, and (d) is a schematic diagram showing the state of the rice ball being held with the anti-stain film. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a stain-prevention film according to a first embodiment of the present invention, with cut lines provided thereon. 11 is a plan view of an opening structure for an onigiri packaging bag according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a plan view of an opening structure for an onigiri packaging bag according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 11 is a plan view of an opening structure for an onigiri packaging bag according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The gist of this invention is that in a packaged rice ball consisting of an exterior film that encases the entire rice ball and has a cutting tape affixed to it that divides it into two parts from approximately the center, an inner film formed by overlapping the left and right film ends, a seaweed sheet sandwiched between the films, and a rice ball body located on the outside of the inner film and entirely wrapped in the exterior film, a stain-preventing film is interposed between the exterior film and the seaweed sheet, one end or both ends, the entire left and right edges, or the left half or right half of the stain-preventing film in the longitudinal direction is welded to the inner peripheral surface of the exterior film, and a cut line is formed in the form of a cut line, perforation, or the like that crosses the stain-preventing film near the welded part of the stain-preventing film.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the opening structure of the rice ball packaging bag of the present invention, FIGS. 2(a) to 2( d ) are explanatory diagrams showing the procedure for opening the packaging bag, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the unfolded packaging film 1 before packaging the rice ball R is made up of a rectangular exterior film 10 which packages the entire rice ball R, rectangular inner films 20, 20 which are formed by overlapping the left and right film ends provided inside the exterior film 10 and which are divided into two from approximately the center, a small rectangular seaweed sheet 30 sandwiched between the two films, and a rectangular stain-prevention film 40 interposed between the exterior film 10 and the seaweed sheet 30.
Moreover, a cutting tape 50 is attached to the exterior film 10 in the vertical direction at approximately the center thereof for cutting the exterior film 10 into two parts, left and right.

The exterior film 10 and the interior film 20 are welded together at the left and right side edges MR and ML, respectively, or at both longitudinal ends MU and MD, respectively, or are overlapped separately to form the packaging film 1.

In the present invention, in the unfolded structure of such a packaging bag, as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, a seaweed sheet 30 is sandwiched between the exterior film 10 and the inner film 20, and a stain-preventing film 40 is sandwiched outside the seaweed sheet 30. The stain-preventing film 40 may be any material that can be welded to the exterior film 10, and may be a plastic film or a paper material that has been treated to be weldable.

That is, in the packaged rice ball 100 consisting of rice balls R positioned outside the inner film 20 and entirely packaged with the exterior film 10, the stain-preventing film 40 is interposed between the exterior film 10 and the seaweed sheet 30, and the longitudinal end of the stain-preventing film 40 is welded and fixed to the welding portion M on the inner peripheral surface of the exterior film 10. The welding state between the exterior film 10 and the stain-preventing film 40 at the welding portion M is weakly welded so that it can be easily unwound when the packaged rice ball 100 is opened. As a result, when the packaged rice ball 100 is opened, the exterior film 10 and the inner film 20 can be removed from the packaged form of the rice ball main body while the stain-preventing film 40 maintains the envelope form of the rice ball main body. In other words, when opening the packaged rice ball 100, the exterior film 10 and the inner film 20 can be released from the welded portion M while maintaining the integral shape at both left and right side ends MR, ML, so that the rice ball body can be pulled out to the left and right while being wrapped in the dirt-prevention film 40.

The following examples are possible ways of welding and fixing the longitudinal ends of the stain-prevention film 40 to the inner surface of the exterior film 10.

That is, the first embodiment is a form in which the stain-prevention film 40 has welded portions M at both longitudinal ends thereof as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 4, the second embodiment is a form in which the stain-prevention film 40 has welded portions M at one longitudinal end thereof as shown in FIG. 5, the third embodiment is a form in which the stain-prevention film 40 has welded portions M, M at the entire left and right edges thereof as shown in FIG. 6, and the fourth embodiment is a form in which the stain-prevention film 40 has welded portions M at the left or right half thereof as shown in FIG. 7.

In each of the above embodiments, the stain-prevention film 40 is sandwiched and welded to the inside of the packaging film 1, and when the rice ball R is actually packaged and the triangular packaging form is completed, this sandwiched and welded portion will be integrally welded to any part of the exterior film 10.
As a result, no matter how much the packaged rice ball body is shaken, the stain-preventing film 40 will come off from the specified position of the exterior film 10, eliminating the risk of impairing the stain-preventing function.

As shown in Fig. 2(c) and Figs. 4 to 7, the stain-prevention film 40 may have a cut line 41 formed in the form of a cut line, perforation, or the like that crosses the stain-prevention film 40 at approximately one-third of the height from the top of the rice ball body when the rice ball body is wrapped. The reason for forming such a cut line 41 is as follows.

If the stain-prevention film 40 is strongly welded to the exterior film 10 at the end so that the welded portion M does not easily come undone in order to prevent inadvertent movement, even if the exterior film 10 of the triangular packaged rice ball 100 is opened to the left and right together with the inner film 20, the stain-prevention film 40 will not be separated to the left and right from the center, which will hinder the work of separating the exterior film 10 and the inner film 20.

Therefore, as shown in Figure 4 or Figure 5, when dividing the exterior film 10 etc. from the center by forming a transverse cutting line 41, the upper part of the anti-stain film 40 is cut along the cutting line 41, and the cut upper part is released and removed together with the exterior film 10.
In the third and fourth embodiments shown in FIG. 6 in which the left and right edges of the stain-preventive film 40 are welded, or in FIG. 7 in which either half of the left or right edge of the stain-preventive film 40 is welded, the cutting line 41 is formed into a substantially rectangular or U-shaped configuration, so that the separation operation of the exterior film 10 and the inner film 20 can be carried out smoothly.

The operation of cutting the upper portion of the stain-prevention film 40 and releasing and removing the cut upper portion together with the exterior film 10 is explained as follows, as shown in Figures 2(a) to 2( d ), first, the exterior film 10 is cut into left and right halves using the cutting tape 50 in the center of the exterior film 10, and then the exterior film 10 is pulled to the left and right together with the inner film 20 which is partially overlapping on the left and right sides, thereby opening the packaging film 1 to the left and right.

At this time, the upper part of the stain-prevention film 40 is cut off along the horizontal cutting line 41 formed at the overlapping upper part of the stain-prevention film 40.

The welded portion at the top of the cut-off stain-prevention film 40 is cut off together with one half of the exterior film 10, leaving the stain-prevention film 40 wrapped around the outer surface of the seaweed sheet 30 that encases the lower base of the rice ball body, so that even if the rice ball R is grabbed with the hand, there is no risk of the hand getting dirty because the stain-prevention film 40 is in between.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but also includes configurations in which the components disclosed in the above-described embodiments are substituted with each other or in different combinations, known inventions, and configurations in which the components disclosed in the above-described embodiments are substituted with each other or in different combinations. Furthermore, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but extends to the matters set forth in the claims and their equivalents.

1 Packaging film 10 Exterior film 20 Inner film 30 Seaweed sheet 40 Stain prevention film 41 Cutting line 50 Cutting tape 100 Packed rice ball R Rice ball M Welded part MU Upper end MD Lower end MR Right end ML Left end

Claims (1)

An exterior film that encases the entire rice ball and has a cutting tape attached to it that divides the rice ball into two parts approximately in the center;
An inner film formed by overlapping the left and right film ends;
a seaweed sheet sandwiched between the exterior film and the inner film ;
a rice ball body located outside the inner film and entirely wrapped with the exterior film,
the exterior film and the inner film are welded to each other at both left and right end portions having protrusions protruding in the left and right direction from both left and right edges in a direction approaching each other,
a stain-preventing film is interposed between the exterior film and the seaweed sheet, the length of the stain-preventing film being in the same direction as that of the exterior film;
The stain-preventive film has a U-shape with one side open and a cut line formed in the form of a cut line or a perforation,
An opening structure for a rice ball packaging bag, characterized in that the vicinity of the edge of the stain-prevention film on the other left or right side of the C-shaped cutting line is continuously welded to the exterior film along the longitudinal direction from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction .

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