JP7800066B2 - Paper containers - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to paper containers, and in particular to paper containers that can be used in applications where plastic containers have traditionally been used, and that have a smaller impact on the environment.

A type of packaging known as a blister pack is made by forming a plastic sheet into a shape suitable for the contents using processing methods such as vacuum forming. Because blister packs can be freely formed into the optimal shape depending on the shape of the contents, they are widely used as a packaging form for small electronic devices such as mice and various other products.

The blister pack described in Patent Document 1 is a container for storing stool collection tubes made from a molded resin sheet, and is a container that allows for automated removal of transported stool collection tubes, something that previously had to be done manually.

However, in recent years, as the impact of plastic packaging on the global environment has become a concern, there has been growing expectation that paper blister pack containers, which have a smaller environmental impact, will replace traditional plastic blister packs.

Patent No. 6534644

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to propose a three-dimensional storage container made primarily of paper as an alternative to conventional plastic blister packs.

As a means for solving the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 is a storage container comprising a middle tray for placing stored items, a fitting plate with a fitting protrusion that fits into the middle tray to secure the middle tray, a lower tray with a flat flange portion and a downwardly convex shape, and an upper tray with a flat flange portion and an upwardly convex shape, wherein the lower tray and upper tray are three-dimensionally molded from a material primarily made of paper and are connected via a first hinge portion, and the fitting plate is connected to the lower tray via a second hinge portion on the edge of the lower tray opposite the first hinge portion.

The paper container of the present invention is made by molding a three-dimensional shape from a material primarily composed of paper, and by fixing the inner tray for placing the contents with a fitting plate, it exhibits content retention capabilities comparable to those of conventional plastic blister packs.

The invention described in claim 2 is a storage container comprising a middle tray for placing stored items, a fitting plate with a fitting protrusion that fits into the middle tray to secure the middle tray, a lower tray with a flat flange portion and a downwardly convex shape, and an upper tray with a flat flange portion and an upwardly convex shape, wherein the lower tray and upper tray are three-dimensionally molded from a material primarily made of paper and are connected via a first hinge portion, and the fitting plate is fixed to the lower tray.

The invention described in claim 3 is a paper container described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an arc-shaped notch is provided in the flange portion of the upper tray that faces the first hinge portion, and the flange portion of the lower tray that faces the first hinge portion is inserted into this notch, allowing the upper and lower trays to be fixed together.

Furthermore, the invention described in claim 4 is a paper container described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the paper-based material constituting the lower tray and upper tray has elongation of 10% or more in both the vertical and horizontal directions.

Furthermore, the invention described in claim 5 is a paper container described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the angle at which the lower tray rises from the flange and the angle at which the upper tray rises from the flange are both 40° or less.

Furthermore, the invention described in claim 6 is the paper container described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that one or more selected from the first hinge portion and the second hinge portion are perforated.

The paper container of the present invention is recognized as a paper container because the upper and lower trays, which account for the majority of the container's weight, are made primarily of paper, and therefore places a small burden on the global environment.

The paper container of the present invention is made by molding a three-dimensional shape from a material primarily composed of paper. The inner tray on which the contents are placed is fixed by a fitting plate with fitting protrusions, allowing it to retain contents as well as conventional plastic blister packs.

In the invention described in claim 1, the upper tray, lower tray, and fitting plate, excluding the middle tray, are made from a single piece of material primarily made of paper, which reduces the number of parts required and the number of steps required for assembly, resulting in cost advantages.

On the other hand, in the invention described in claim 2, the mating plates can be made of a material different from that of the upper and lower plates, which provides a wider range of material choices and is advantageous in terms of design.

As in the invention described in claim 3, if an arc-shaped notch is provided in the flange portion of the upper tray facing the first hinge portion, and the flange portion of the lower tray facing the first hinge portion is inserted into this notch to secure the upper and lower trays together, the upper and lower trays can be secured together with a simple structure.

As in the invention described in claim 4, when the paper-based material that makes up the lower and upper trays has an elongation of 10% or more in both the vertical and horizontal directions, it has good formability and increases the freedom of shape.

As in the invention described in claim 5, when the angle at which the lower tray rises from the flange and the angle at which the upper tray rises from the flange are both 40° or less, breakage during molding is less likely to occur, enabling stable manufacturing.

Furthermore, as in the invention described in claim 6, when perforations are applied to one or more of the first hinge portion and the second hinge portion, the bending operation of the hinge portion is stable and springback of the hinge portion is less likely to occur.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a paper container according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a schematic cross section taken along line AA' in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective explanatory view showing the state in which the upper tray of the paper container shown in FIG. 1 is open. FIG. 4 is a perspective explanatory view showing a state in which the inner tray has been removed from the state shown in FIG. Figure 5(1) is a schematic plan view showing the state in which the upper tray, lower tray, and fitting plate are horizontally extended before folding the paper container shown in Figures 1 to 4. Figure 5(2) is an elevation view thereof. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the paper container according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a schematic cross section taken along line BB' in FIG. FIG. 8 is an explanatory perspective view showing the state in which the upper tray of the paper container shown in FIG. 6 is open. FIG. 9 is a perspective explanatory view showing the state in which the inner tray and the fitting plate are removed from the state shown in FIG. Figure 10 is a schematic plan view showing the upper tray, lower tray, and mating plate extended horizontally, and is an explanatory plan view showing the state in which perforations have been applied to the first hinge portion and the second hinge portion. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram of the angle (α) at which the upper tray rises from the flange portion and the angle (β) at which the lower tray falls from the flange portion.

The paper container according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a paper container 1 according to the present invention. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the A-A' cross section of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the paper container 1 shown in Figure 1 with the upper tray 7 open. Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the state in which the inner tray 2 has been removed from the state shown in Figure 3.

The paper container 1 of the present invention is a storage container comprising an inner tray 2 for placing the contents (not shown), a fitting plate 3 with fitting protrusions 4 that fit into the inner tray to secure it in place, a lower tray 5 with a flat flange portion 6 and a downwardly convex shape, and an upper tray 7 with a flat flange portion 8 and an upwardly convex shape.

The lower tray 5 and upper tray 7 are three-dimensionally molded from a material primarily composed of paper and are connected via a first hinge portion 9. In this embodiment, the fitting plate 3 is connected to the lower tray 5 via a second hinge portion 10 on the side of the lower tray 5 opposite the first hinge portion 9. Therefore, like the lower tray 5 and upper tray 7, the fitting plate 3 is also made from a material primarily composed of paper.

As the material mainly composed of paper (hereinafter referred to as laminate), paper alone or a paperboard with a synthetic resin film bonded to one or both sides can be used. The synthetic resin film bonded to the paperboard is not limited to a single layer, and multiple sheets of different types of synthetic resin film can be bonded together. It is desirable that 50% or more of the total weight of the entire paper container 1 is paper. The paper used should have a basis weight of about 150 g/ ^m2 and an elongation of about 10% in both the longitudinal and transverse directions.

Laminates can be constructed by laminating a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin film to paper, laminating polyethylene (PE) resin films to both sides, or laminating a gas barrier film with an inorganic oxide vapor-deposited onto a PET resin film. Depending on the application, it may also be possible to impart functionality by laminating aluminum foil or an anti-rust film.

The laminate can be printed or combined with embossing, debossing, foil stamping, etc. to enhance its design.

In this example, the fitting plate 3, including the fitting protrusion 4, is horizontal as shown in Figure 2, but the fitting plate 3 can also be three-dimensionally shaped to position the fitting protrusion 4 at a lower or higher position.

There are no particular restrictions on the material of the inner tray 2, and it can be made from plastic, paper, molded pulp, or other materials appropriate to the shape and properties of the items to be stored. The inner tray 2 must have a recess into which the fitting protrusion 4 of the fitting plate 3 fits. This secures the inner tray 2 in place and prevents it from easily coming off the fitting plate 3.

In the example shown in Figures 1 to 5, an arc-shaped notch 11 is provided in the flange portion of the upper tray 7 that faces the first hinge portion 9, and the flange portion of the lower tray 5 that faces the first hinge portion 9 can be inserted into this notch to secure the upper and lower trays together.

A variety of other methods can be used to secure the upper tray 7 to the lower tray 5 when the upper tray 7 is closed. While not specifically shown, one method is to provide a protrusion on the flange portion of the upper tray 7 that faces the first hinge portion 9, and then adhere this protrusion to the back side of the flange portion 6 of the lower tray 5.

The first hinge portion 9 and the second hinge portion 10 may be formed by simply folding the laminate, or, as shown in Figure 10, by providing perforations 12. By providing perforations 12, the hinge portions can be easily bent.

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the paper container 1 according to the present invention. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the cross section B-B' of Figure 6. Figure 8 is a perspective view showing the paper container 1 shown in Figure 6 with the upper tray 7 open. Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the state shown in Figure 8 with the middle tray 2 and fitting plate 3 removed.

In this example, the paper container 1 is composed of a middle tray 2 for placing the contents, a fitting plate 3 with a fitting protrusion 4 that fits into the middle tray 2 and secures the middle tray 2, a lower tray 5 with a flat flange portion 6 and a downwardly convex shape, and an upper tray 7 with a flat flange portion 8 and an upwardly convex shape. The lower tray 5 and upper tray 7 are three-dimensionally molded from a material primarily made of paper and are connected via a first hinge portion 9, and the fitting plate 3 is fixed to the lower tray 5.

In this example, the fitting plate 3 is independent, but is fixed to the lower tray 5, so there is no difference in its function of fixing the middle tray 2, as with the examples shown in Figures 1 to 5. Methods that can be used to fix the fitting plate 3 to the lower tray 5 include adhesives and heat sealing.

6 to 9, the material of the fitting plate 3 can be different from that of the lower tray 5 and the upper tray 7. This is expected to increase the degree of freedom in giving the paper container 1 as a whole a variety of designs.

Methods that can be used to form the lower tray 5 and upper tray 7 into a three-dimensional shape include press molding using male and female molds, vacuum forming, vacuum pressure forming, and hot plate pressure forming. Forming is often made easier by heating the mold temperature to around 120°C during molding.

As for the three-dimensional shape of the upper tray 7 and the lower tray 5, as shown in Figure 11, it is more desirable that the angle α at which the upper tray 7 rises from the flange portion 8 and the angle β at which the lower tray 5 falls from the flange portion 6 are both 40° or less.

1...Paper container 2...Middle tray 3...Fitting plate 4...Fitting protrusion 5...Lower tray 6...Flange portion 7...Upper tray 8...Flange portion 9...First hinge portion 10...Second hinge portion 11...Notch 12...Perforation processing α...Rising angle of upper tray β...Falling angle of lower tray

Claims (6)

An inner tray for placing stored items;
a fitting plate having a fitting protrusion for fitting into the inner tray and fixing the inner tray;
a lower tray having a flat flange portion and a downwardly convex shape;
A paper container comprising an upper tray having a flat flange portion and an upper convex shape,
The lower tray and the upper tray are three-dimensionally formed from a material mainly made of paper, and are connected via a first hinge portion.
The fitting plate is connected to the lower tray via the second hinge portion at a side of the lower tray facing the first hinge portion ,
A paper container characterized by being an alternative to plastic blister packs, with 50% or more of its total weight being paper . An inner tray for placing stored items;
a fitting plate having a fitting protrusion for fitting into the inner tray and fixing the inner tray;
a lower tray having a flat flange portion and a downwardly convex shape;
A paper container comprising an upper tray having a flat flange portion and an upper convex shape,
The lower tray and the upper tray are three-dimensionally formed from a material mainly made of paper, and are connected via a first hinge portion.
The mating plate is fixed to the bottom plate,
A paper container characterized by being an alternative to plastic blister packs, with 50% or more of its total weight being paper . a flange portion of the upper tray facing the first hinge portion is provided with an arc-shaped notch;
3. The paper container according to claim 1, wherein a flange portion of the lower tray that faces the first hinge portion is inserted into the notch, thereby fixing the upper tray and the lower tray together. A paper container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the paper-based material constituting the lower tray and upper tray has an elongation of 10% or more in both the vertical and horizontal directions. A paper container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the angle at which the lower tray rises from the flange and the angle at which the upper tray rises from the flange are both 40° or less. The paper container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that one or more of the first hinge portion and the second hinge portion are perforated.