JP3367647B2 - Hollow container - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hollow container composed of a pulp-molded container body containing pulp as a main raw material and a lid for opening and closing the opening of the container body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Plastic is generally used as a raw material for hollow containers such as containers and bottles having a lid because it is excellent in moldability and advantageous in productivity. Has been done. However, since a plastic hollow container has various problems in waste disposal, a pulp hollow container can be considered as an alternative. Hollow containers made of pulp are economically excellent because they are easy to dispose of and can be manufactured using waste paper as a raw material.

As a conventional technique relating to a container made of pulp, for example, the one described in JP-A-9-309521 is known. The container described in this publication has a container for rice and the like and a lid integrally formed by pulp molding. However, this container has a low productivity because it is necessary to use a large-sized paper making apparatus or the like for its manufacture. Further, in the technique described in the publication, it is not considered to repeatedly open and close the lid body, and if the lid body is repeatedly opened and closed, the hinge portion between the lid body and the housing portion may be cut. is there.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hollow container which can be manufactured with high productivity and economically. Also,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hollow container manufacturing method capable of efficiently manufacturing a hollow container having excellent durability in which the space between the lid and the housing is difficult to be cut even if the opening / closing operation is repeated. .

[0005]

The present invention is a hollow container comprising a pulp mold container body having an opening and a pulp mold lid for opening and closing the opening of the container body. The lid is manufactured separately from the container body, and is fixed to the container body via a connecting portion having a hinge part made of a pulp mold integrally formed with the lid by a papermaking method. are, the hinge portion, to the connecting portion, with which is formed as a thin and dense portion
The deepest portion is chamfered or R-shaped, Ri density of the hinge portion is 0.4 to 2.0 g / cm ³ der, the container
The main body has a fitting portion into which the lid is fitted and a body portion,
The opening is formed at the upper end of the fitting portion, and
At the boundary between the fitting part and the body part, the entire circumference of the container body
When the lid is closed, the bottom of the lid is formed.
By periphery to provide a hollow vessel, characterized that you have come to be abutted on the stepped portion, it is obtained by achieving the above object.

[0006] The present invention is a method of manufacturing the hollow vessel, the connecting portion is formed integrally with by Riue Kifutatai in papermaking method,
Further dehydration to obtain a mold intermediate ,
Mold for pressure drying, which has a movable pressurizing unit
Was charged to, the human part of the formation portion of the connecting portion during pressurization drying of the mold intermediate body by pressure compressed by the pressure portion
The above object is achieved by providing a method for manufacturing a hollow container for forming a hollow portion .

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The hollow container of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings based on its preferred embodiments. 1 and 2 are a perspective view and a side view of the hollow container 1 of the present embodiment. The hollow container 1 is a hollow container suitable for containing contents such as powder and granules, and is composed of a pulp-molded container body 2 having an opening 21 at the top thereof, and the opening of the container body 2. And a lid 3 for opening and closing 21.

The container body 2 comprises a fitting portion 22 into which the lid 3 is fitted, a body portion 23 and a bottom portion 24, and an opening portion 21 is formed at an upper end portion of the fitting portion 22. The shape of the cross section of the container body 2 is substantially the same in the height direction of the hollow container 1, and has a rectangular shape with rounded four corners.

The outer surfaces of the front and rear walls that form the body portion 23 are shaped so as to form a straight line in the height direction of the hollow container 1 when the container body 2 is viewed from the side surface (however,
Except for the concave portion 23a described later). Similarly, the outer surfaces on the left and right sides that form the body portion 23 are also shaped so as to form a straight line across the height direction of the container body 2 when the hollow container 1 is viewed from the front direction (similarly. The concave portion 23a is excluded).

The body portion 23 is formed with a continuous concave portion 23a over the entire circumference thereof, and the vertical sectional shape of the concave portion 23a is an arc shape. The concave portion 23a enhances the gripping property of the hollow container 1. The bottom portion 24 is composed of a central recess (not shown) and a continuous heel portion (not shown) surrounding the central recess. The outer surface of the heel portion serves as a grounding portion of the hollow container 1, and the bottom portion 24 is
By having such a structure, the mounting stability (so-called sitting) of the hollow container 1 is improved. Container body 2
An annular step portion 25 is formed at the boundary between the fitting portion 22 and the body portion 23 of the container body 2 so as to extend over the entire circumference of the container body 2. It is adapted to come into contact with the portion 25. The thickness of the container body 2 is
The container body 2 is made uniform in both vertical and horizontal cross sections.

The lid body 3 is manufactured separately from the container body 2, and is fixed to the container body 2 via a connecting portion 31 provided on the lid body 3 and having a hinge portion 4. The lid 3 is
It is composed of a flat plate-shaped upper surface portion 32 and a peripheral wall portion 33 rising from a peripheral portion of the upper surface portion 32, and is adapted to be detachably fitted to the fitting portion 22 of the container body 2 at the lower end portion of the peripheral wall portion 33. There is.

The connecting portion 31 is integrally connected to the lower end edge of the peripheral wall portion 33, and is integrally formed when the lid 3 is formed. The connecting portion 31 has a substantially rectangular shape, and has the hinge portion 4 at the center thereof. The lid 3 in the present embodiment is made of pulp mold, and the hinge portion 4 is formed in the connecting portion 31 as a thin and high-density portion. More specifically, a long groove having an inner surface with an arcuate cross section is linearly provided in the central portion of the connecting portion 31, and the portion provided with the long groove serves as the hinge portion 4. A portion of the connecting portion 31 that is closer to the front end than the hinge portion 4 is an adhesive portion 31a that is adhered to the body portion 23 of the container body 2. The body portion 23 of the connecting portion 31 in the present embodiment
As shown in FIG. 1, the adhesive portion 31a is attached to the body portion 2
It is made by making a face-to-face contact with the adhesive 3 and adhering the adhesive sealing member 5 so as to cover the adhesive portion 31a. Then, the lid body 3 is fixed so as to rotate around the hinge portion 4 so as to draw an arcuate locus and to openably and closably close the opening portion 21 of the container body 2.

Two examples of preferable forms of the hinge portion 4 are shown in FIG. The hinge part 4 of FIG. 3 (a) is formed by providing grooves on both upper and lower surfaces of the connecting part, and the hinge part 4 of FIG. 3 (b) is formed by providing grooves only on the lower surface of the connecting part. ing. The upper side in FIG. 3 is the inner side (valley side) when the connecting portion 31 is bent. The hinge portion 4 is formed thinner than the other portions of the connecting portion 31 in any of the forms shown in FIG. The thickness T1 in the thinnest part of the hinge part 4 is 0.05 mm or more, and 5% to 100% of the thickness T2 of the other part of the coupling part 31 from the viewpoint of easy bendability and excellent durability. %, Particularly preferably 15% to 80%. In addition, the density of the hinge portions 4 is set from the viewpoint of obtaining easy bendability and excellent durability.
The density is higher than that of the other part, and is preferably 1.05 to 20 times, more preferably 2 to 20 times, and particularly preferably 2 to 5 times the density of the other part in the connecting portion. Hinge part 4
Density of is 0.4~2.0g / cm ^3. The density of the hinge portion is the maximum density of the hinge portion, and is a value calculated by measuring the thickness and weight per a certain area.

From the viewpoint of obtaining excellent bendability and durability, the tensile strength of the hinge portion 4 is preferably 5 MPa or more, and the specific compressive strength of the hinge portion 4 is 100 N · m ^2.
/ G or more is preferable. From the same viewpoint, the width of the hinge portion 4 (width in the direction connecting the container body 2 and the lid 3) is preferably 0.2 mm or more, and particularly preferably 1 mm or more. The width of the hinge portion 4 refers to the minimum width of the groove located on the outer side during bending, and in the hinge portion of FIG. 3A, the width W1 of the innermost portion of the groove on the lower side in the figure. 3B, the width W3 is the innermost width of the groove. Further, it is preferable that the corner portion in the groove indicated by “CorR” in FIG. 3 be chamfered or rounded. Further, preferable dimensions of each part in the hinge part shown in FIG. 3 are as follows. It is preferable that the width W2 of the surface portion of the groove, which is the inside when the hinge portion 4 in FIG. 3A is bent, is 1 mm or more.
Further, the width W3 of the largest part of the hinge portion in FIG. 3 (b) is preferably 0.2 mm or more, and is preferably the width W4 or less of the surface portion of the groove. The width W4 is preferably 1 mm or more.

Each of the container body 2 and the lid 3 is made of pulp as a main raw material and is formed by pulp molding. Of course, it may be formed from 100% pulp. When other materials are used in addition to the pulp, the amount of the other materials is preferably 1 to 70% by weight, and particularly preferably 5 to 50% by weight. Other materials include inorganic substances such as talc and kaolinite, inorganic fibers such as glass fibers and carbon fibers, powders or fibers of synthetic resins such as polyolefins, non-wood or vegetable fibers, and polysaccharides.

As described above, the hollow container 1 of the present embodiment has the lid body 3 manufactured separately from the container body 2, and the lid body 3 is fixed to the container body 2. Can be manufactured without using, and can be manufactured with high productivity and economically. Further, since the lid body 3 is made of pulp mold and the hinge portion 4 is formed in the connecting portion 31 as a thin and high-density portion, the hinge portion 4 can be formed even if the lid body 3 is repeatedly opened and closed. No inconvenience such as disconnection occurs. For this reason, the hollow container 1 is preferably used as a container in which it is necessary to repeatedly take out the contents little by little. Further, since the container body 2 and the lid body 3 are made of pulp mold, it is easy to dispose of them, and it is possible to manufacture waste paper as a raw material, which is economically excellent.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the method for producing a hollow container of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 by taking the production of the hollow container 1 of the above embodiment as an example. The manufacturing method of the present embodiment is a method of manufacturing the hollow container 1, wherein the connecting portion 31 is integrally molded with the lid body 3 by a papermaking method, and the hinge portion 4 is a molding intermediate body after papermaking and dehydration. A part of the forming part of the connecting part 3 is compressed and compressed.
Here, the mold intermediate refers to a laminated body of pulp fibers that has been given a certain shape through a papermaking / dewatering step, and includes a molded body after a pressurizing / drying step. Further, the forming portion of the connecting portion 3 refers to a portion which finally becomes the connecting portion 3.

The container body 2 and the lid 3 are each manufactured by a pulp molding method, and are preferably manufactured by depositing pulp on the inner surface of the cavity of a mold having a cavity inside. 4A to 4D sequentially show steps of manufacturing the container body 2 by such a method, specifically, (a) is a papermaking step, and (b) is a core insertion step. , (C) is a pressurizing step, (d) opens the mold,
This is a mold release process of taking out the container body.

In manufacturing the container body 2, first, referring to FIG.
As shown in (a), a pair of split molds 11 and 12 are butted against each other to inject the pulp slurry into a mold 10 in which a cavity 13 having a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the container body 2 to be molded is formed. Each split mold 11, the outer surface and the cavity 13 and a plurality of communication holes Ru is communicating 14
Are provided respectively. The inner surfaces of the split molds 11 and 12 are covered with a net having a mesh of a predetermined size.

Next, the inside of the cavity 13 is depressurized by sucking from the outside of the split molds 11 and 12, and the moisture in the pulp slurry is sucked and pulp fibers are deposited on the inner surface of the cavity 13. As a result, a pulp layer 15 in which pulp fibers are deposited is formed on the inner surface of the cavity 13.

When the pulp layer 15 having a predetermined thickness is formed,
The injection of the pulp slurry is stopped, the inside of the cavity 13 is sucked and depressurized, and the pulp layer 15 is further dehydrated. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4B, the inside of the cavity 13 is sucked and depressurized, and the elastic, expandable and contractible hollow core 16 is inserted into the cavity 13. Core 1
6 is formed of urethane, fluorine-based rubber, silicone-based rubber, elastomer or the like having excellent tensile strength, impact resilience and elasticity. Further, the core 16 may be a hollow bag shape.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the core 16
A pressurized fluid is supplied into the core 16 to expand the core 16, and the expanded core 16 presses the pulp layer 15 against the inner surface of the cavity 13. Then, the pulp layer 15 becomes the expanded core 1
It is pressed against the inner surface of the cavity 13 by 6, and the inner surface shape of the cavity 13 is transferred to the pulp layer 15. Thus, in this manufacturing method, even if the shape of the inner surface of the cavity 13 is complicated by pressing the pulp layer 15 against the inner surface of the cavity 13 from the inside of the cavity 13,
The shape of the inner surface of the cavity 13 is accurately transferred to the pulp layer 15. Moreover, unlike the conventional manufacturing method, since it is not necessary to use a bonding step, the finally obtained hollow container 1 does not have a joint and a thick portion due to bonding. As a result, the strength of the obtained hollow container is increased and the appearance is improved. The pressurized fluid used to expand the core 16 is
For example, compressed air (heating air), oil (heating oil), and various other liquids are used. Further, the pressure for supplying the pressurized fluid is preferably 0.01 to 5 MPa, and particularly preferably 0.1 to 3 MPa.

When the shape of the inner surface of the cavity 13 is sufficiently transferred to the pulp layer 15 and the pulp layer 15 can be dehydrated to a predetermined water content, as shown in FIG. Pull out. Then, the core 16 contracts and returns to the original size. Then, the contracted core 16 is taken out from the cavity 13, and the mold 10 is further opened to take out an intermediate body 15 'of a wet molded body having a predetermined water content.

The removed intermediate 15 'is then subjected to a heating / drying process. In the heating / drying process, the same operations as in the papermaking process shown in FIG. 4 are performed except that the papermaking / dehydration is not performed. That is, first, a pair of split molds are butted against each other to form a cavity having a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the hollow container 1 to be molded. The above-mentioned intermediate body in a wet state in a mold heated to a predetermined temperature. Load 15 '.

Next, a core similar to the core 16 used in the papermaking step is inserted into the intermediate body, and a pressurized fluid is supplied into the core to expand the core, and the expanded core The core presses the intermediate body against the inner surface of the cavity. The material of the core and the supply pressure of the pressurized fluid can be the same as those used in the above paper making step. In this way, the intermediate is heated and dried. When the intermediate is sufficiently dried, the pressurized fluid in the core is removed, and the core is contracted and taken out. Further, the mold is opened to take out the molded body 1.

Although the method of manufacturing the container body 2 by depositing pulp on the inner surface of the cavity of the mold having the cavity therein has been described above, the lid body 3 is also almost the same as that of the container body 2. It can be manufactured through the steps of. That is, the steps from paper making / dewatering to pressure / drying are carried out in the same manner as the respective steps in the production of the container body 2. However, as the mold, a mold composed of a pair of split molds forming a cavity having a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the lid body 3 to be molded is used. After the pressurizing / drying step, the pressurized fluid in the core is removed and the contracted core is taken out from the cavity in the same manner as the mold releasing step in manufacturing the container body 2.

Then, the mold intermediate after the pressing / drying step is taken out from the mold and placed on another member, or the mold intermediate after the pressing / drying step is placed on the inner surface of one split mold. In the state of being adhered to, the part of the forming part of the connecting part 31 in the mold intermediate is pressed and compressed. Thereby, the hinge part 4 is formed. As shown in FIG. 5, the pressurization and compression are performed by pressing a part of the forming portion 7 of the connecting portion 31 in the mold intermediate body by the protrusion 8 having a sectional shape corresponding to the shape of the hinge portion 4. preferable. Note that FIG. 5 shows the formation of the hinge portion of FIG. The lid body 3 manufactured in this manner is attached to the container body 2 via the connecting portion 31 so that the lid body 3 can be detachably fitted to the fitting portion 22 of the container body 2 with the hinge portion 4 as a rotation axis. Fixed. According to the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the hollow container 1 of the above embodiment can be efficiently manufactured in this manner. Then, if the hinge portion 4 is formed by pressurizing and compressing a part of the forming portion of the connecting portion 31 in the molded body that has undergone the papermaking / dewatering step, the hinge portion 4 that is thinner and denser than the other portions can be obtained. It can be easily formed on the connecting portion 31 of the lid 3.

The lid 3 is a die for papermaking such as a die in which a net having a mesh is stretched on the surface of a die substrate or a porous die, and the inner surface of the die for papermaking is used. A pulp layer is formed by depositing pulp on the mold, and the mold intermediate after dehydration by a known method is transferred to a pair of female molds or male molds, and then males corresponding to the female molds or male molds are transferred. It can also be manufactured by pressing and drying with a mold or a female mold. In this case, the connecting portion 3 in the mold intermediate after pressure drying
The hinge part 4 may be formed by pressurizing and compressing a part of the forming part of No. 1, or a protrusion for forming the hinge part 4 may be provided in a part of the die for pressurizing and drying. Sometimes, the hinge portion 4 may be formed by compressing under pressure. When forming the hinge portion 4 during pressure drying, a movable pressure portion is provided in a part of the mold, and the hinge portion 4 is formed by pressing with the pressure portion at an appropriate time during pressure drying. May be. The hollow container 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment can be efficiently manufactured also by such a manufacturing method.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, the connecting portion 31 is not limited in its form and number as long as it can connect the lid 3 and the container body 2. For example, the pair of connecting portions 31 may be provided separately in the container body 2. The method of fixing the connecting portion 31 to the container body 2 is not particularly limited as long as the connecting portion 31 can be fixed to the container body 2. For example, the adhesive portion 31a of the connecting portion 31 is directly attached to the outer surface of the container body 2 with an adhesive. Alternatively, the container body 2 may be provided with a fitting insertion hole portion, and a part of the connecting portion 31 may be fitted into the fitting insertion hole portion and fixed. Alternatively, the container body 2 and the lid body 3 may be connected by a tape made of paper or the like without forming the connecting portion 31. Further, the fixing portion of the connecting portion 31 may be any portion of the container body 2 as long as the lid body 3 can be fixed so that the opening 21 of the container body 2 can be opened and closed.

The outer surface of the container body 2 or the lid 3 and / or
Alternatively, a plastic layer, a coating layer, or the like may be provided on the inner surface to further increase the strength, effectively prevent leakage of contents, or provide decoration. Further, the hollow container of the present invention may be a bottle-shaped container in which the opening area of the opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the body .

[0031]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a hollow container which does not require a large mold and can be manufactured economically with high productivity. Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a hollow container manufacturing method capable of efficiently manufacturing a hollow container having excellent durability, in which the space between the lid and the housing portion is unlikely to be cut even if the opening / closing operation is repeated. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a hollow container of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the hollow container shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a preferable hinge portion configuration.

4 (a) to 4 (d) are process diagrams sequentially showing a process of manufacturing a container body of the hollow container of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method for forming a hinge portion in one embodiment of the method for manufacturing a hollow container according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 hollow container 2 container body 21 opening 3 lid 31 Connection 4 Hinge part

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hollow container comprising a pulp mold container body having an opening and a pulp mold lid for opening and closing the opening of the container body, wherein the lid is the container body. It is manufactured as a separate body from the, or
Is fixed to the container body via a connecting part having a hinge part made of pulp mold integrally formed with the lid by a papermaking method, and the hinge part is a thin and high-density part in the connecting part. The innermost part is chamfered or rounded.
It has a shape, and the density of the hinge part is 0.4 to 2.0 g / cm ^3.
Ri, the container body is a fitting portion and a body portion the cover body is fitted
And the opening is formed at the upper end of the fitting portion.
The container body at the boundary between the fitting portion and the body.
Steps are formed over the entire circumference of the
The peripheral edge of the lower end of the lid comes into contact with the stepped portion.
Hollow container, characterized in Rukoto have. 2. The thinnest portion of the hinge portion has a thickness of 0.05 mm or more, and the thickness is 15% to 80% of the thickness of the other portion of the connecting portion. Hollow container. 3. The density of the hinge portion is 1.05 to 20 times higher than the density of other portions in the connecting portion.
Or the hollow container according to 2. 4. A method for producing a hollow container according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion is formed integrally with by Riue Kifutatai in papermaking method, to obtain a mold intermediate was further dehydrated, and then the Mall
The intermediate body for pressure drying with a movable pressure unit.
Was loaded into a mold, the upper part of the formation portion of the connecting <br/> forming portion during pressurization drying of the mold intermediate body by pressure compressed by the pressure portion
A method of manufacturing a hollow container for forming a hinge portion .