US20220250797A1

US20220250797A1 - Inner folding structure of lunch box

Info

Publication number: US20220250797A1
Application number: US17/574,499
Authority: US
Inventors: Yen-Hsi Tuan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-02-09
Filing date: 2022-01-12
Publication date: 2022-08-11
Also published as: JP7308566B2; TWI756051B; DE102022100685A1; JP2022122254A; CN114903264A; TW202231228A; DE102022100685B4

Abstract

An inner folding structure of lunch box mainly has a body made of a soft material, the body has a peripheral wall made of the soft material and defining an accommodating space by surrounding the accommodating space, and a bottom wall of the same material as the peripheral wall and integrally formed with the peripheral wall, one end of the peripheral wall is connected to the bottom wall, and another end of the peripheral wall is formed with an opening communicating with the accommodating space. A direction in which the opening extends toward the bottom wall is a supporting force direction, the peripheral wall has an inner surface facing the accommodating space, and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, the inner surface is recessed with a plurality of folding grooves around the accommodating space, and the outer surface extends straight and flatly along the supporting force direction.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of Invention

The invention relates to the technical field of folding containers, and more particularly relates to an inner folding structure of lunch box.

Description of Related Art

At present, various types of containers with folding effect, such as drinking cup, lunch box, storage box used to hold food, store items or commodities are commonly available on the market, in order to reduce their volumes for portability or convenience of storing away when not in use, foldable containers made of silicone material have been widely used in various fields.
Among them, foldable drinking cup or tableware is widely known, especially in the promotion of environmental protection nowadays, many people will bring their own environmental protection cups or environmental protection bowls when they go out. In order to reduce the volume after use for portability, the folding container not only is made of soft material, but also folding grooves are provided around the outer surface and the inner surface of the container so that the container can be folded smoothly.
The conventional folding container is usually recessed with a circle of folding grooves on the outer surface, and a circle of folding grooves on the inner surface of the container, however, the structure of the position where the folding grooves are recessed is relatively fragile, when the container is expanded and being used, the position recessed with the folding grooves of the folding container is relatively easy to deform, causing the container to be less stable when standing.
In view of this, it is indeed necessary to provide a technical means to solve the problem of unstable standing when the folding container is expanded and being used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to solve the problem of instability in standing when the conventional folding container is expanded and used.
In order to solve the aforementioned problem, the invention provides an inner folding structure of lunch box comprising:
a body with a peripheral wall defining an accommodating space by surrounding the accommodating space, and a bottom wall extending from a bottom of the peripheral wall, one end of the peripheral wall is connected to the bottom wall, another end of the peripheral wall is formed with an opening communicating with the accommodating space, a perimeter of the opening is greater than a perimeter of the bottom wall, the peripheral wall has an inner surface facing the accommodating space and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, a direction in which the outer surface extends to a periphery of the bottom wall is a supporting force direction, a supporting angle is sandwiched between the supporting force direction and the bottom wall, the peripheral wall is at least divided into a first section, a second section and a third section, wherein, the inner surface of the first section of the peripheral wall forms the opening, one end of the third section of the peripheral wall is connected with the periphery of the bottom wall, the first section of the peripheral wall and the second section of the peripheral wall are connected by a first folding portion, the second section of the peripheral wall and the third section of the peripheral wall are connected by a second folding portion, the outer surface of the first section, the outer surface of the second section and the outer surface of the third section are all flat and straight, the supporting angle is sandwiched between the outer surface of the first section, the outer surface of the second section, the outer surface of the third section and the bottom wall, the outer surface of the first folding portion and the outer surface of the second folding portion are also flat and straight, and the supporting angle is sandwiched between the outer surface of the first folding portion and the second folding portion and the bottom wall;
when the body is in an unfolded state, the outer surface of the first section, the outer surface of the second section, and the outer surface of the third section of the peripheral wall as well as the outer surface of the first folding portion and the outer surface of the second folding portion are on a same straight line, an included angle between the outer surface of the first section, the outer surface of the second section, the outer surface of the third section and the bottom wall is the supporting angle, an included angle between the outer surface of the first folding portion and the second folding portion and the bottom wall is the supporting angle, when the body is in a folded state, the first folding portion and the second folding portion are deformed, and the first section, the second section, and the third section are maintained in a state where the inside and outside overlap at a same height.
In one preferred embodiment, the inner surface of the first folding portion and the inner surface of the second folding portion are in the form of grooves, a notch of the groove of the first folding portion is larger than a notch of the groove of the second folding portion, the notch of the second folding portion is deeper than the notch of the first folding portion, wherein, when the body is in the folded state, the second section of the peripheral wall is folded back, the second section of the peripheral wall will enter the notch of the first folding portion without causing interference, and the second folding portion is folded at a position of the outer surface, so that the notch of the second folding portion is stretched and the outer surface of the second section of the peripheral wall and the outer surface of the third section of the peripheral wall are close to each other.
In one preferred embodiment, the supporting angle is 90 to 120 degrees.
In one preferred embodiment, the first section of the peripheral wall is made of a hard material; the second section, the third section and the bottom wall are made of a soft material.
In one preferred embodiment, the first section, the second section, and the third section of the peripheral wall are made of a hard material, and the first folding portion and the second folding portion are made of a soft material.
In one preferred embodiment, the bottom wall is made of a hard material.
In one preferred embodiment, the body is made of a soft material.
In one preferred embodiment, the peripheral wall extends from the periphery of the bottom wall along the supporting force direction, so that the peripheral wall extends straight along the supporting force direction, a quantity of the folding grooves is two, and the two folding grooves are arranged on the inner surface along the supporting force direction.
In one preferred embodiment, the peripheral wall has an expanded state that makes the accommodating space in a complete state, and a folded state in which each of the folding grooves is bent to fold up the peripheral wall, when the peripheral wall is in the expanded state, the peripheral wall extends along the supporting force direction and forms the accommodating space by completely surrounding the accommodating space, when the bottom wall is placed on a plane flatly, a position of the bottom wall in contact with the plane defines a horizontal plane, a supporting angle is sandwiched between the horizontal plane and the inner surface of the peripheral wall, and the supporting angle is an obtuse angle.
Since only the inner surface of the invention is recessed with the folding grooves, an integrity of the outer surface can be maintained, not only allowing a force applied on the peripheral wall to be completely transmitted to the bottom wall along the supporting force direction, so that more force can be transmitted to the bottom wall to bear, but also reducing the force that the peripheral wall needs to bear, thereby reducing deformation of the peripheral wall. Furthermore, since only the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the invention is recessed with the folding grooves, an integrity of the outer surface can be maintained, and the outer surface can be completely plane and does not deform easily.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention in one preferred embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the invention in one preferred embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view of the invention in one preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention in a folded state in one preferred embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the invention in a folded state in one preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3, the invention is an inner folding structure of lunch box mainly having a body 10 made of a soft material, silicone material is preferably selected to be used as the soft material, but the soft material is not limited to silicone, any other soft materials also capable of achieving a folding effect should be applicable to the manufacture of the body 10 of the invention.
The body 10 has a peripheral wall 12 made of the soft material and defining an accommodating space 11 by surrounding the accommodating space 11, and a bottom wall 13 extending from a bottom of the peripheral wall 12 and integrally formed with the peripheral wall 12, one end of the peripheral wall 12 is connected to the bottom wall 13, and another end of the peripheral wall 12 is formed with an opening 14 communicating with the accommodating space 11. A perimeter of the opening 14 is greater than a perimeter of the bottom wall 13, the peripheral wall 12 has an inner surface 121 facing the accommodating space 11 and an outer surface 122 opposite to the inner surface 121, a direction in which the outer surface 122 extends to the bottom wall 13 is a supporting force direction F, and a supporting angle θ is sandwiched between the supporting force direction F and the bottom wall 13. The peripheral wall 12 is at least divided into a first section 12A, a second section 12B and a third section 12C, wherein, the inner surface 121 of the first section 12A of the peripheral wall 12 forms the opening 14, one end of the third section 12C of the peripheral wall 12 is connected with a periphery of the bottom wall 13, the first section 12A of the peripheral wall 12 and the second section 12B of the peripheral wall 12 are connected by a first folding portion 15A, and the second section 12B of the peripheral wall 12 and the third section 12C of the peripheral wall 12 are connected by a second folding portion 15B. The outer surface 122 of the first section 12A, the outer surface 122 of the second section 12B and the outer surface 122 of the third section 12C are all flat and straight, the supporting angle θ is sandwiched between the outer surface 122 of the first section 12A, the outer surface 122 of the second section 12B, the outer surface 122 of the third section 12C and the bottom wall 13, the outer surface 122 of the first folding portion 15A and the outer surface 122 of the second folding portion 15B are also flat and straight, and the supporting angle θ is sandwiched between the outer surface 122 of the first folding portion 15A and the second folding portion 15B and the bottom wall 13. The inner surface 121 is recessed with a plurality of folding grooves 15 around the accommodating space 11, and the outer surface 122 extends straight and flatly along the supporting force direction F.
When the body 10 is in an unfolded state, the outer surface 122 of the first section 12A, the outer surface 122 of the second section 12B, and the outer surface 122 of the third section 12C of the peripheral wall 12 as well as the outer surface 122 of the first folding portion 15A and the outer surface 122 of the second folding portion 15B are on a same straight line, an included angle between the outer surface 122 of the first section 12A, the outer surface 122 of the second section 12B, the outer surface 122 of the third section 12C and the bottom wall is the supporting angle θ, and an included angle between the outer surface 122 of the first folding portion 15A and the second folding portion 15B and the bottom wall is the supporting angle θ. When the body 10 is in a folded state, the first folding portion 15A and the second folding portion 15B are deformed, and the first section 12A, the second section 12B, and the third section 12C are maintained in a state where the inside and outside overlap at a same height.
The inner surface 121 of the first folding portion 15A and the inner surface 121 of the second folding portion 15B are in the form of grooves, a notch of the groove of the first folding portion 15A is larger than a notch of the groove of the second folding portion 15B, and the notch of the second folding portion 15B is deeper than the notch of the first folding portion 15A. Wherein, when the body 10 is in the folded state, the second section 12B of the peripheral wall 12 is folded back, the second section 12B of the peripheral wall 12 will enter the notch of the first folding portion 15A without causing interference, and the second folding portion 15B is folded at a position of the outer surface, so that the notch of the second folding portion 15B is stretched and the outer surface of the second section 12B of the peripheral wall 12 and the outer surface of the third section 12C of the peripheral wall 12 are close to each other. In a first embodiment, the first section 12A of the peripheral wall 12 is made of a hard material; the second section 12B, the third section 12C and the bottom wall are made of a soft material. In a second embodiment, the first section 12A, the second section 12B, and the third section 12C of the peripheral wall 12 are made of a hard material, and the first folding portion 15A and the second folding portion 15B are made of a soft material. In a third embodiment, the bottom wall is made of a hard material. In a fourth embodiment, the body 10 is made of a soft material.
In this embodiment, the peripheral wall 12 extends from the periphery of the bottom wall 13 along the supporting force direction F, so that the peripheral wall 12 extends straight along the supporting force direction F, a quantity of the folding grooves 15 is two, and the two folding grooves 15 are arranged on the inner surface 121 along the supporting force direction F, so that the peripheral wall 12 can be distorted and folded at a position where the folding grooves 15 are provided, and the peripheral wall 12 has an expanded state Q1 that makes the accommodating space 11 in a complete state, and a folded state Q2 in which each of the folding grooves 15 is bent to fold up the peripheral wall 12 as shown in FIG. 4.
Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3, when the peripheral wall 12 is in the expanded state Q1, the peripheral wall 12 extends along the supporting force direction F and forms the accommodating space 11 by completely surrounding the accommodating space 11, when the bottom wall 13 is placed on a plane flatly, a position of the bottom wall 13 in contact with the plane defines a horizontal plane X, the supporting angle θ is sandwiched between the horizontal plane X and the inner surface 121 of the peripheral wall 12, and the supporting angle θ is an obtuse angle, and the obtuse angle is an angle greater than 90 degrees.
The above is the structural configuration and connection relationship of the invention in one preferred embodiment. A way of using the invention and efficacies the invention is capable of producing are as follows.
Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 3, when the peripheral wall 12 is in the expanded state Q1, the peripheral wall 12 extends along the supporting force direction F, because the supporting angle θ is sandwiched between the inner surface 121 of the peripheral wall 12 and the horizontal plane X, the peripheral wall 12 is caused to be in an inclined state.
Please refer to FIG. 3, when a user applies pressure from the opening 14 of the peripheral wall 12 toward the bottom wall 13, a force is transmitted from the opening 14 of the peripheral wall 12 toward the bottom wall 13 along the supporting force direction F. Since the outer surface 122 of the peripheral wall 12 extends straight along the supporting force direction F, the force can be smoothly transmitted from the peripheral wall 12 to the bottom wall 13 directly along the supporting force direction F.
It is worth noting that since the outer surface 122 smoothly extends along the supporting force direction F, a force applied on the peripheral wall 12 can be smoothly transmitted to the bottom wall 13 along the extending direction, thereby greatly reducing deformation of the peripheral wall 12. The reason why the peripheral wall 12 is not easily deformed will be described in detail below. Each of the folding grooves 15 is recessed on the inner surface 121 only, so that each of the folding grooves 15 has a weak point 151 closest to the outer surface 122, and the weak point 151 in each of the folding grooves 15 is closer to the outer surface 122 than other positions of each of the folding grooves 15, and therefore a position of the weak point 151 forms a thinnest area between the inner surface 121 and the outer surface 122. Since each of the folding grooves 15 is recessed on the inner surface 121, when a force is transmitted from the opening 14 of the peripheral wall 12 and passes through each of the folding grooves 15, each of the folding grooves 15 will bend from a position of the weak point 151 toward the outer surface 122. Because the outer surface 122 extends straight along the supporting force direction F, the outer surface 122 is a complete plane and is not easily deformed, and deformation of the inner surface 121 caused by bending from the weak point 151 toward the outer surface 122 is offset at a position close to the outer surface 122, thereby achieving an effect of reducing deformation of the peripheral wall 12.
Since only the inner surface 121 of the invention is recessed with the folding grooves 15, an integrity of the outer surface 122 can be maintained, not only allowing a force applied on the peripheral wall 12 to be completely transmitted to the bottom wall 13 along the supporting force direction F, so that more force can be transmitted to the bottom wall 13 to bear, but also reducing the force that the peripheral wall 12 needs to bear, thereby reducing deformation of the peripheral wall 12. Furthermore, since only the inner surface 121 of the peripheral wall 12 of the invention is recessed with the folding grooves 15, an integrity of the outer surface 122 can be maintained, and the outer surface 122 can be completely plane and does not deform easily.
In summary, the invention is capable of effectively solving the drawbacks of the prior art, and can be easily understood and implemented by those having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. However, the above description is only the preferred embodiments of the invention, and should be construed as exemplary rather than as limitative of the invention, with many variations and modifications being readily attainable by a person of average skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An inner folding structure of lunch box comprising:

a body with a peripheral wall defining an accommodating space by surrounding the accommodating space, and a bottom wall extending from a bottom of the peripheral wall, one end of the peripheral wall being connected to the bottom wall, another end of the peripheral wall being formed with an opening communicating with the accommodating space, a perimeter of the opening being greater than a perimeter of the bottom wall, the peripheral wall having an inner surface facing the accommodating space and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface, a direction in which the outer surface extending to a periphery of the bottom wall being a supporting force direction, a supporting angle being sandwiched between the supporting force direction and the bottom wall, the peripheral wall being at least divided into a first section, a second section and a third section, wherein, the inner surface of the first section of the peripheral wall forms the opening, one end of the third section of the peripheral wall is connected with the periphery of the bottom wall, the first section of the peripheral wall and the second section of the peripheral wall are connected by a first folding portion, the second section of the peripheral wall and the third section of the peripheral wall are connected by a second folding portion, the outer surface of the first section, the outer surface of the second section and the outer surface of the third section are all flat and straight, the supporting angle is sandwiched between the outer surface of the first section, the outer surface of the second section, the outer surface of the third section and the bottom wall, the outer surface of the first folding portion and the outer surface of the second folding portion are also flat and straight, and the supporting angle is sandwiched between the outer surface of the first folding portion and the second folding portion and the bottom wall;

when the body is in an unfolded state, the outer surface of the first section, the outer surface of the second section, and the outer surface of the third section of the peripheral wall as well as the outer surface of the first folding portion and the outer surface of the second folding portion are on a same straight line, an included angle between the outer surface of the first section, the outer surface of the second section, the outer surface of the third section and the bottom wall is the supporting angle, an included angle between the outer surface of the first folding portion and the second folding portion and the bottom wall is the supporting angle, when the body is in a folded state, the first folding portion and the second folding portion are deformed, and the first section, the second section, and the third section are maintained in a state where the inside and outside overlap at a same height.

2. The inner folding structure of lunch box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner surface of the first folding portion and the inner surface of the second folding portion are in the form of grooves, a notch of the groove of the first folding portion is larger than a notch of the groove of the second folding portion, the notch of the second folding portion is deeper than the notch of the first folding portion, wherein, when the body is in the folded state, the second section of the peripheral wall is folded back, the second section of the peripheral wall will enter the notch of the first folding portion without causing interference, and the second folding portion is folded at a position of the outer surface, so that the notch of the second folding portion is stretched and the outer surface of the second section of the peripheral wall and the outer surface of the third section of the peripheral wall are close to each other.

3. The inner folding structure of lunch box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supporting angle is 90 to 120 degrees.

4. The inner folding structure of lunch box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first section of the peripheral wall is made of a hard material; the second section, the third section and the bottom wall are made of a soft material.

5. The inner folding structure of lunch box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first section, the second section, and the third section of the peripheral wall are made of a hard material, and the first folding portion and the second folding portion are made of a soft material.

6. The inner folding structure of lunch box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom wall is made of a hard material.

7. The inner folding structure of lunch box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body is made of a soft material.

8. The inner folding structure of lunch box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the peripheral wall extends from the periphery of the bottom wall along the supporting force direction, so that the peripheral wall extends straight along the supporting force direction, the inner surface is recessed with a plurality of folding grooves around the accommodating space, a quantity of the folding grooves is two, and the two folding grooves are arranged on the inner surface along the supporting force direction.

9. The inner folding structure of lunch box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner surface is recessed with a plurality of folding grooves around the accommodating space, the peripheral wall has an expanded state that makes the accommodating space in a complete state, and a folded state in which each of the folding grooves is bent to fold up the peripheral wall, when the peripheral wall is in the expanded state, the peripheral wall extends along the supporting force direction and forms the accommodating space by completely surrounding the accommodating space, when the bottom wall is placed on a plane flatly, a position of the bottom wall in contact with the plane defines a horizontal plane, a supporting angle is sandwiched between the horizontal plane and the inner surface of the peripheral wall, and the supporting angle is an obtuse angle.