JP2008044645A - Food containers and methods for opening food containers - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily open a lid of a container when a container is condensed, when a fingertip is wet with water, or even an elderly person or a handicapped person with weak fingertip force.
A resin film-like lid member 20 is heat-sealed to a flange portion 15 of a container body 10 in a sealed state, and the lid member 20 on the flange portion 15 or a portion outside the flange portion 15 is removed from the outside. A structure in which a hole 30 is formed in one of the lid members 20 and an opening assisting member such as a toothpick or a fruit fork is hooked in the hole 30 to facilitate the peeling of the lid material from the container body 10. The hole 30 is one of a circle having a maximum dimension of about 4 mm or less, an ellipse, an ellipse, and a rectangle with rounded corners.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention is sealed by sealing a resin film-like lid on a container body made of a resin film or sheet in order to preserve and protect the contents in the food packaging field where the moisture content exceeds 20%. The present invention also relates to a so-called easy open type sealed packaging container that can be easily opened during use.

The easy-open type sealed packaging container is required to have a stable sealing property for the preservation and protection of the contents and to be easily opened at the time of use. Easy-open type sealed packaging containers usually have an opening so that opening can be easily started, and round cup-shaped items such as cups have a convex part on the flange. In the case of a rectangular main body shape such as the one described above, an opening is formed by making wide use of the flange portion of the corner.

In a soft gas pack packaging package such as a tray formed with a sheet of 0.5 mm or less or a soft film, an unsealed part is usually provided in the sealing part of the flange part, and the lid material and bottom material of the unsealed part are provided. It is used as if you grab both and open it. In addition, a knob (tab) is provided on the lid, and the knob is grasped with a finger to facilitate peeling.

In the case of a tray-like container, a combination of a container body with a high peel strength and a lid material, for example, a peel strength of 800 g to 2000 g / 15 mm is generally used in order to maintain sealing performance with a limited seal width of the flange portion. It requires a lot of fingertips to open. There was a problem that it was difficult for elderly people, women and girls, and people with disabilities to open.

As a packaging container that can be easily opened, it is specially designed to provide two or more opening openings in the corner, and to provide notches or notches as necessary to perform lid material peeling operation in two or more stages along the flange. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-096787 has been proposed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-302158 proposes an easy-open packaging container having an unsealed part (unjoined part) serving as an opening at the corner of the flange, and one or more convex parts provided on the unjoined part. Has been.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2006-131263 and 2004-182292 are provided with a slit or slit-shaped through-hole in the vicinity of the seal part of the flange part and the cover material to improve the holding power at the time of resealing. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-285881 has been proposed as a structure provided with a cut in the vicinity of the flange portion and the seal portion of the lid member.
JP 2005-096787 A JP 2002-302158 A JP 2006-131263 A JP 2004-182292 A JP 2003-285881 A

However, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, if a notch or notch is not used in combination, the lid material portion pinched with a finger slips and is difficult to open for elderly people or people with disabilities. In particular, when the container is condensed from the refrigerator, or when the fingertip is wet during cooking, the pinched lid material slides and is difficult to open.
Patent Document 3 has a different object and configuration from the present invention, and the cuts are arranged in the inner direction of the flange portion.

  Patent Document 4 differs from the present invention in the purpose and configuration of the slit-shaped through-hole disposed in the lid. And the slit-shaped through-hole in patent document 4 is not hooked on a flange part outer edge, unless it provides over a long range of about 25 mm or more in circular arc shape along a flange part outer edge. When the toothpick or the fruit knife is hooked on the slit-shaped through hole and the cover material is peeled off, the toothpick or the fruit knife is detached from the slit-shaped through hole and cannot be hooked well. Or there was a possibility that the lid material may be torn or torn from the end of the slit-like through hole.

The breaks in Patent Document 5 are intended for hot water cutting properties, and are different in purpose and configuration from the present invention.
Furthermore, the containers of Patent Documents 3 to 5 do not hermetically package foods having a water content exceeding 20% or foods close to liquid, such as tofu, pudding, water sheep cake, jelly, yogurt, mozuku. The food stored in the container has a moisture content of 20% or less, and is a fairly dry food such as instant noodles that are fed with hot water after opening. Furthermore, the lid materials in Patent Documents 3 to 5 have a weak bonding force with the container and can be opened relatively easily.

In the present invention, tofu, pudding, chicken ramie, anmitsu, jelly, yogurt, tokoroten, mozuku, chawanmushi, fried, konnyaku, rice, boiled food, pickles, etc. It is intended to be sealed so that it can be stored for a predetermined period and to be easily opened. Especially when the container is condensed, or when the fingertip is wet with water and it is slippery even when the lid is gripped, or when the fingertip force is weak or the handicapped is a toothpick, cooking skewer, The object is to enable easy opening using any one of the opening assisting members of the fruit fork.

A food container having a moisture content of more than 20% according to the present invention is obtained by joining a resin film-like lid material in a sealed state to the open end surface of the bottomed container, and from the lid material on the open end surface or the open end surface. A hole for hooking any one of a toothpick, a skewer for cooking, and a fork for fruits is made in either one of the lids on the outside of the lid to facilitate the peeling of the lid. If the container is condensed, the fingertip is wet with water, or the elderly or the handicapped person with weak fingertip force, toothpick, cooking skewer, fruit fork, etc. Can be opened easily using the opening assisting member (claim 1)

Furthermore, food containers with a water content of more than 20% according to the present invention are round, oval, oval, and round at the corners with a maximum hole size of about 4 mm or less so that the lid does not tear. It is characterized by being selected from one of the rectangles, and the area of the unsealed opening of the container flange or the tab allowance (tab area) when pinching the end of the lid with fingers can be made smaller than before. . That is, the material cost of the container and the lid can be reduced. (Claim 2)

Furthermore, in the method for opening a food container according to the present invention, a resin film-like lid member is joined in a sealed state to the opening end surface of the bottomed container, and the lid member on the opening end surface or outside the opening end surface. A small hole having a maximum dimension of about 4 mm or less is drilled in either one of the lid members at the part that is detached, and one of a toothpick, a cooking skewer, and a fruit fork is hooked into the hole. It is characterized by peeling off the lid material, which causes condensation of the container, when the fingertip is wet with water, or when the fingertip force is weak or elderly or handicapped But it can be opened easily. Moreover, the material cost of the container and the lid can be reduced. (Claim 3)

With the above structure, the food container of the present invention has a water content of 20% in the container such as tofu, pudding, soy crab, anmitsu, jelly, yogurt, tokoroten, mozuku, chawanmushi, fried, konjac, rice, boiled food, pickles. It seals foods that exceed or are near liquid and can be easily opened. Especially if the container is condensed, or if the fingertip is wet with water and it is slippery even if the lid is gripped, or if the fingertip force is weak or an elderly person with limited fingertips, toothpick, cooking skewer, fruit Can be opened easily using an opening assisting member such as a fork.
In addition, the area of the unsealed opening of the container flange can be reduced, or the tab allowance (tab area) when the end of the lid is grasped with a finger can be made smaller than before, and the material costs of the container and the lid can be reduced.

The food containers having a water content exceeding 20% according to the present invention are as described above. The material of the container main body is not particularly limited as long as the lid member 5 can be bonded in an easily peelable state, and a material used as a container main body of a normal easy open type container may be used. As such a material, for example, a polyester resin such as A-PET, PET-G (manufactured by Eastman Kodak), a sheet made of a polyolefin resin such as polyvinyl chloride resin, polypropylene or polyethylene, polystyrene, or the like, or And a sheet obtained by laminating these resins with an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, polyvinylidene chloride, and the like.

Further, the shape of the container body of the present invention may be arbitrarily configured. For example, the container body may have a rectangular, circular or oval container body provided with corners. The size of the container body is not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the use of the packaging container.
A lid member is joined (adhered) to the flange portion disposed on the opening end surface of the container body by heat sealing, ultrasonic welding, or the like. The width of the heat seal is not particularly limited, and can be appropriately selected according to the use and the weight of the contents, etc., but usually 2 to 15 mm, particularly 3 in view of hermeticity and handling properties. About 10 mm is suitable.

The unsealed portion is preferably a substantially triangular shape corresponding to the shape of the two corners of the container body and the flange shape of the corner. The size is not particularly limited, and it is desirable that the size be a trigger for lifting the lid. It is obvious that the shape of the unsealed portion is not limited to a substantially triangular shape and may be any shape.

The material of the lid is not particularly limited as long as it can be joined to the flange part of the container body in an easily peelable state, and a material used as a lid for a normal easy open type container can be used. As such a material, for example, a laminated material such as a stretched polyethylene terephthalate film, a stretched polypropylene film, a stretched nylon film or the like and a sealing layer having an easy peel property, or an aluminum foil, ethylene as necessary A laminate obtained by laminating a vinyl alcohol copolymer layer, an inorganic vapor deposition layer, and the like can be given.

The thickness of the lid member is not particularly limited, but usually 30 to 100 μm, particularly about 40 to 70 μm is preferable in consideration of sealing properties, handling properties, and the like.

The method for manufacturing the container main body and the lid is not particularly limited. For example, the container main body is manufactured by calendering, extrusion, coextrusion, or the like, by sheet molding such as vacuum molding or pressure molding. Is done. The lid material can be manufactured by a known manufacturing method such as an extrusion laminating method or a dry laminating method using the above-mentioned stretched film base material having an easy peel property. In particular, by adopting the extrusion laminating method, the lid material can be thinly formed, which is advantageous in terms of cost. On the other hand, the extrusion laminate is easily curled to the sealant side because a high temperature is applied to the surface on which the sealant is formed.

Here, the method of forming the easy peel joint so that the flange portion of the container main body and the lid member are in an easily peeled state is not particularly limited, and a known method can be adopted. As a method, for example, a container is formed of a polypropylene resin, a sealing layer of a lid material is formed of a polyethylene resin, and easy peeling is expressed at an interface. For example, a method of developing easy peeling between seal layers, a method of forming a sealing layer with a low cohesive force in the middle when forming a sealing layer of a cover material in multiple layers, and causing this seal layer to cohesively break down to develop easy peeling. A method can be mentioned.

As described above, the holes drilled in the non-sealed portion of the lid member are provided to facilitate the peeling of the lid member. It is preferable that the hole has a maximum dimension of about 4 mm or less, preferably 1 mm to 3 mm, selected from a circle, an ellipse, an ellipse, and a rectangle with rounded corners to prevent tearing. It is preferable that the perforated place is either one of the non-sealed portion (see FIG. 1) of the opening end face flange portion or the part (see FIG. 3) that is outside from the opening end face. It is obvious that any means such as laser processing or press processing may be used as the punching means.
In addition, although an arbitrary member may be used for the opening assistance member used for peeling of the cover material, it is preferable to use any one of a toothpick, a cooking skewer, a fruit fork, a cone-shaped member, and a bowl-shaped member.

Hereinafter, a food container according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an essential part of a food container according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the essential part of FIG. The principal part top view of a container and FIG. 4 show the principal part side view of FIG. 3 which made one part a cross section.

1 and 2, a food container 100 includes a bottomed container body 10 and a lid member 20 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, and a substantially rectangular annular shape having a width of about 4 mm on a flange portion 15 disposed on an opening end surface. It joins by the heat seal part 40, and a foodstuff is sealed in a container. And the substantially triangular non-sealing part 50 was arrange | positioned in two places of the container corner | angular part, and it was set as the opening opening. Further, a hole 30 having a diameter of about 2.5 mm is formed in the non-sealed portion 50 by laser processing so that the lid member 20 can be easily peeled off. If the lid 20 is peeled off by hooking the tip of the fruit fork into the hole 30, it can be easily opened even if the fingertip is weak. Even if the fingertip is wet with water or the container surface is condensed, the fruit fork will not come off the finger.
The bottomed container body 10 is molded from a polypropylene resin having a thickness of about 150 μm, and the lid material 20 is a film sheet having a thickness of about 50 μm, and a sealing layer is formed from a polyethylene resin and easily peeled off at the interface. Was expressed.

3 and 4, a food container 200 includes a substantially cylindrical container main body 210 and a lid member 220, and is joined to a flange part 215 disposed on the opening end face by an annular heat seal part 240 having a width of about 3 mm. The food is sealed inside. Then, the lid member 220 was extended to the outside of the container body 210 to form a substantially triangular tab 250. The tab 250 serves as a tab allowance for opening. Then, a hole 230 having a diameter of about 2.5 mm is formed in the tab 250 by press work so that the lid member 220 can be easily peeled off. If the tip of the toothpick is hooked in the hole 230 and the lid member 220 is peeled off, it can be easily opened even if the fingertip force is weak. Even if the fingertip is wet with water or the container surface is condensed, the toothpick will not slip off the finger.
Also in this example, the constituent materials of the container body 210 and the lid member 220 are the same as those of the container 100 (FIG. 1).

The present invention can be used as a food container having a relatively low water content, such as instant noodles that are fed with hot water in addition to a food container having a water content exceeding 20%. Moreover, by arranging a small hole at the end of the cover sheet placed directly on the butter or vegetable oil in the container, it can be easily peeled off by hooking with a toothpick or the like, and the hands do not become dirty. The same is true if a small hole is drilled in the ice cream cover lid. Furthermore, it can also be used for toys such as pharmaceuticals, minicars, etc., and containers for sealing various daily necessities such as watches and accessories.

The principal part top view of the container for foodstuffs in one Example of this invention 1 is a side view of the main part of FIG. The principal part top view of the container for foodstuffs in another Example of this invention 3 is a side view of an essential part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10, 210 Container body 15, 215 Flange part 20, 220 Lid member 30, 230 Hole 40, 240 Heat seal part 50 Non-seal part 100, 200 Food container 250 Tab

Claims (3)

A lid member in the form of a resin film is joined in a sealed state to the opening end surface of the bottomed container, and a toothpick or dish is attached to either the lid member on the opening end surface or the lid member at a portion outside the opening end surface. A food container having a water content of more than 20%, wherein a hole through which any one of a skewer and a fruit fork is hooked is provided to facilitate peeling of the lid. The moisture content according to claim 1, characterized in that the water content is 20% selected from a circle, an ellipse, an ellipse, or a rectangle with rounded corners having a maximum hole size of about 4 mm or less. Food containers that exceed. A lid member in the form of a resin film is joined in a sealed state to the opening end surface of the bottomed container, and either the lid member on the opening end surface of the lid member or the lid member at a portion outside the opening end surface is removed. A small hole having a maximum dimension of about 4 mm or less is formed, and any one of a toothpick, a cooking skewer, and a fruit fork is hooked into the hole to peel off the lid. How to open food containers.

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