Exterior container and bag-in-box provided with the same

Abstract

To provide an exterior container that can suppress contents from being insufficiently poured out, while maintaining appearance performance, and a bag-in-box provided with the same.SOLUTION: An exterior container 10 according to the present invention stores an interior container 3 provided with a pouring-out part 31 that pours out contents S. The exterior container 10 includes: a front face part 11 and back face part 13 opposing to each other in a depth direction Y; a pair of side surface parts 15 and 15 opposing to each other in a width direction X; an upper surface part 17 and a bottom surface part 19 opposing to each other in a vertical direction Z; and a support plate 6 arranged to overlap with the bottom surface part 19 in the plate. An insertion part 20 through which the pouring-out part 31 is inserted can be formed in the front surface part 11. A lid part 22 that can be opened and closed is formed in the upper face part 17. A pull-out piece 5, which extends from an end part at the back surface 13 side toward the upper surface part 17 and is pulled out through the lid part 22 to be able to maintain the support plate 6 in a forward-bending state, is continuously provided in the support plate 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an outer container and a bag-in-box having the outer container. [Background technology]

[0002] A bag-in-box is known that includes a flexible inner container that contains a liquid or other content therein, and an outer container that contains the inner container. The bag-in-box is generally configured so that a required amount of the content can be poured out through a pouring portion provided in the inner container. From the viewpoint of facilitating the pouring out of the content, various studies have been conducted on the configuration of the outer container.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an outer box having a band-shaped body, a pair of inner and outer flaps for the top lid, and a pair of inner and outer flaps for the bottom lid, and is configured such that a folded connecting piece is interposed at the point where the front panel on the bottom lid side and the inner flaps for the bottom lid are connected to form an inclined surface on the bottom lid side of the front panel, so that the entire box is inclined toward the front side.

[0004] Patent Document 2 discloses a packaging box having a bottom surface with a pair of outer flaps connected via fold lines below one of the front / rear or left / right side panels, and a pair of inner flaps connected via fold lines below the other of the front / rear or left / right side panels and folded into the inner side of the outer flaps, wherein at least one of the pair of outer flaps is formed with a bottom-raising flap for pushing one or both of the pair of inner flaps inward, and the inner flaps pushed up by the bottom-raising flap form a slope.

[0005] Patent Document 3 discloses an outer box that houses an inner box, the inner box being rotatable around the connecting part between the front panel and the bottom panel, and at least one of a part of the inner box or a part of the outer box being deformed to form a locking piece, with the locking piece being present in the gap between the inner box and the outer box, causing the inner box to be in an inclined state.

[0006] Patent document 4 discloses a packaging container having a bottom lid made of multiple overlapping bottom flaps, in which one of the left or right bottom flaps connected to the side panel is provided with a convex body forming portion capable of forming a convex body having a ridge line parallel to the bottom edge of the back panel, and the other bottom flap is formed with a slit portion into which a tip can be inserted to form a convex body. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5075744 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6256247 [Patent Document 3] Patent No. 6963482 [Patent Document 4] JP 2020-111341 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The outer containers used in the bag-in-boxes of Patent Documents 1, 3, and 4 mentioned above tilt the inner container to prevent the contents from remaining when the remaining amount in the inner container becomes low. These outer containers tilt the entire outer container to tilt the inner container, which results in insufficient appearance and space saving of the hexahedral outer container. Moreover, the outer container of Patent Document 2 is partially broken to form the inclined surface, which results in insufficient appearance of the outer container.

[0009] The present invention relates to providing an outer container capable of suppressing residual pouring of contents while maintaining the appearance, and a bag-in-box including the outer container. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The present invention relates to an outer container that houses an inner container having a spout for pouring out a content, and has a depth direction and a width direction perpendicular to the depth direction. In one embodiment, the outer container includes a front portion and a back portion facing each other in the depth direction, a pair of side portions facing each other in the width direction, a top portion and a bottom portion facing each other in the vertical direction, and a support plate arranged internally overlapping the bottom portion, and it is preferable that an insertion portion through which the pouring portion can be inserted is formed in the front portion. In one embodiment, the upper surface portion is preferably provided with an openable and closable lid portion. In one embodiment, it is preferable that the support plate is provided with a pull-out piece extending from the end on the rear surface side toward the upper surface side and capable of maintaining the support plate in a forward tilted position by pulling it out through the lid portion.

[0011] The present invention also relates to a bag-in-box. In one embodiment, the bag-in-box preferably includes the outer container and the inner container accommodated in the outer container. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the outer container of the present invention and the bag-in-box equipped with the same, it is possible to suppress the amount of content remaining after pouring while maintaining the appearance. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a bag-in-box equipped with an outer container of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bag-in-box shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from above. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inside of the outer container shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the front. [Figure 4] 4(a) and (b) are views corresponding to FIG. 2 and illustrating the operation of pulling out the pull-out piece shown in FIG. 3 from the cover portion. [Diagram 5] 5(a) and (b) are diagrams showing the state of the support plate following the operation shown in FIG. 4, and are cross-sectional views taken along the depth direction of the outer container. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the support structure shown in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a plan view of a blank for forming the outer container shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 and showing another embodiment of the outer container according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] The present invention will now be described based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of an outer container 10 according to the present invention and a bag-in-box 1 equipped with the outer container 10. The bag-in-box 1 includes an outer container 10 and an inner container 3 accommodated in the outer container 10. The inner container 3 of the bag-in-box 1 includes an inner main body 30 consisting of a bag or pouch formed from a flexible sheet, and a pouring portion 31 attached to the inner main body 30 (see FIG. 5). Examples of the flexible sheet material forming the inner main body 30 include synthetic resin sheet materials such as polyethylene, nylon, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and sheet materials laminated with these materials. The interior main body 30 contains the contents S therein. The contents S may be, for example, a liquid or a powder. Examples of the liquid contents S include liquid hair care products such as shampoo, hair conditioner, and hair rinse, liquid soaps such as body soap and hand soap, liquid detergents for clothes and dishes, fabric softeners and bleaches, liquid cleaners for bathrooms, toilets, and floors, liquid cosmetics, liquid beverages, foods, medicines, and engine oils. The contents S may also be high-viscosity liquids such as creams. When the contents are powders, examples of the contents S include powdered soap and powdered bleach.

[0015] The pouring part 31 attached to the inner main body part 30 of this embodiment is a cock-type pouring member (see FIG. 1) having a spout part 32 for pouring the contents S to the outside of the inner container 3 and a pipe part 33 that connects the inside of the spout part 32 with the inside of the inner main body part 30, and has an internal flow path that connects with the inside of the inner main body part 30. The pouring part 31 is provided with an opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes the flow path with a valve, and is capable of pouring a desired amount of contents to the outside of the inner container 3. The pouring portion 31 is a molded product made of synthetic resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene, and is preferably formed by injection molding.

[0016] The outer container 10 provided in the bag-in-box 1 is a container made of paper such as cardboard or thick paper, and has a hollow hexahedral shape with an internal storage space for storing the inner container 3. When placed with a bottom surface portion 19 (described later) as the bottom and a front surface portion 11 (described later) as the front, the outer container 10 has a depth direction Y, a width direction X perpendicular to the depth direction Y, and a vertical direction Z perpendicular to the depth direction Y and the width direction X. The vertical direction Z coincides with the vertical direction (height direction).

[0017] The outer container 10 has a front portion 11, a back portion 13 facing the front portion 11 in the depth direction Y, a pair of side portions 15, 15 disposed between the front portion 11 and the back portion 13 and facing each other in the width direction X, and a top portion 17 and a bottom portion 19 facing each other in the up-down direction Z, and these plate-like portions 11, 13, 15, 15, 17, 19 define a storage space for the inner container 3 (see FIG. 1). More specifically, the front portion 11 and the back portion 13 facing each other in the depth direction Y and the pair of side portions 15, 15 facing each other in the width direction X form a rectangular prism that rises from the periphery of the bottom portion 19 and extends in the up-down direction Z, with the top portion 17 closing an upper opening of the rectangular prism and the bottom portion 19 closing a lower opening of the rectangular prism.

[0018] The front part 11 is adapted to form an insertion part 20 through which the pouring part 31 of the inner container 3 is inserted. In this embodiment, the insertion part 20 is composed of an insertion flap part 20a that is continuous with the front part 11 and a circular insertion opening 20b that is formed below the insertion flap part 20a when the bag-in-box 1 is in use. The insertion flap part 20a has a substantially pentagonal shape that protrudes downward, and the upper edge part of the insertion flap part 20a is connected to the front part 11. The insertion flap part 20a is rotatable around the upper edge part as a rotation axis. In addition, the lower part of the insertion flap part 20a is cut out along the upper part of the periphery of the insertion opening 20b. The spouting portion 31 is exposed to the outside of the outer container 10 by inserting the pipe portion 33 into the insertion opening 20b (see FIG. 1). In addition, when the bag-in-box 1 is in use, the opening formed by turning up the insertion flap portion 20a communicates with the insertion opening 20b, making it possible to widen the opening portion of the insertion portion 20.

[0019] Before use, the insertion flap portion 20a and the insertion opening 20b are surrounded by easy-to-break lines (not shown) along their peripheries, and the insertion flap portion 20a and the insertion opening 20b can be formed by breaking the front portion 11 along the easy-to-break lines. The easy-to-break lines are formed by perforations.

[0020] In the present embodiment, a pair of side portions 15, 15 are each formed with a handle opening 26 extending in the depth direction Y and a visual opening 27 extending in the up-down direction Z. The side portion 15 is also formed with a flap portion 26a connected to the side portion 15 via the upper edge of the handle opening 26. The handle opening 26 is an opening through which a hand or the like is inserted when carrying the bag-in-box 1. The visual opening 27 is an opening for visually checking the remaining amount of the contents S in the inner container 3 when the bag-in-box 1 is used. Before the bag-in-box 1 is used, these openings 26, 27 are also areas surrounded by easy-to-break lines along the periphery of the openings, and these openings 26, 27 can be formed by breaking the side portion 15 along the easy-to-break lines.

[0021] An openable and closable lid portion 22 is formed on the top surface portion 17. In this embodiment, the top surface portion 17 has the lid portion 22 formed on the rear surface portion 13 side in the depth direction Y. The lid portion 22 in this embodiment is a substantially rectangular portion formed by partially breaking off the top surface portion 17, and closes an upper opening 22a formed along the periphery of the lid portion 22. The lid portion 22 has a connecting portion 25 connecting to the top surface portion 17, and an engagement piece 23 protruding toward the side opposite the connecting portion 25 (see FIG. 2). In the depth direction Y, the position of the edge of the engagement piece 23 on the rear surface portion 13 side substantially coincides with the position of the edge of the top surface portion 17 on the rear surface portion 13 side. In the lid portion 22, the connecting portion 25 and the engagement piece 23 face each other in the depth direction Y. The lid portion 22 is rotatable about the connecting portion 25 as a rotation axis, thereby closing the upper opening 22a in an openable and closable manner. Furthermore, the lid portion 22 of this embodiment has a lid-side opening 24 on the side of the connecting portion 25. By inserting a finger into the lid-side opening 24, the lid portion 22 can be opened and closed more easily.

[0022] The rear portion 13 of this embodiment is formed by stacking and fixing four connecting plates, namely, an upper connecting plate 17a connected to the upper portion 17, a bottom connecting plate 19a connected to the bottom portion 19, and a pair of side connecting plates 15a connected to the side portion 15. Specifically, the upper connecting plate 17a and the bottom connecting plate 19a are folded inside the outer container 10, and a pair of side connecting plates 15a are stacked on the outer surface side of the folded plates (see FIG. 3). That is, the pair of side connecting plates 15a form the outer surface of the rear portion 13.

[0023] The outer container 10 includes a support plate 6 arranged inside the container 10 so as to overlap the bottom surface portion 19 (see FIG. 3). The support plate 6 is a plate-like member overlapped on the inner surface of the bottom surface portion 19, and has a width smaller than that of the bottom surface portion 19. A pull-out piece 5 extending from the end of the back surface portion 13 side toward the top surface portion 17 is connected to the support plate 6. The pull-out piece 5 is a plate-like portion continuing from the end of the support plate 6 on the back surface portion 13 side, and the pull-out piece 5 stands up from the support plate 6 by bending the boundary between the plate-like portion and the support plate 6 along the width direction X. The pull-out piece 5 extends in the vertical direction Z so as to face the back surface portion 13. The pull-out piece 5 may be in contact with the back surface portion 13, or may not be in contact with the back surface portion 13. In the bag-in-box 1, the inner container 3 is placed on a support plate 6 (see FIG. 5(a)).

[0024] In the outer container 10 of this embodiment, the lid 22 can be opened as shown in Figs. 4(a) and (b) to pull out the pull-out piece 5 from the upper opening 22a. The pull-out piece 5 is in a state where its upper part is pulled out from the upper opening 22a (see Fig. 4(b)). In other words, the pull-out piece 5 can be pulled out to the outside of the outer container 10 through the upper opening 22a. As a result, the support plate 6 connected to the pull-out piece 5 is tilted forward from a horizontal state (see Figs. 5(a) and (b)). The horizontal state means that the central part of the width direction X of the support plate 6 is in a state aligned with the horizontal direction (see Fig. 5(a)). The forward tilt state means that the central part of the width direction X of the support plate 6 is in a state in which the end on the front part 11 side is tilted downward and the end on the back part 13 side is tilted upward (see Fig. 5(b)). In this embodiment, the "central part of the width direction X of the support plate 6" is formed by the bottom surface facing part 60 described later.

[0025] In the outer container 10 of this embodiment, the support plate 6 is maintained in a forward tilted state by pulling out the pull-out piece 5 via the lid portion 22, and the inner container 3 placed on the support plate 6 can also be in a forward tilted state tilted toward the front portion 11 (see FIG. 5(b)). As a result, even if the remaining amount of the contents S in the inner container 3 is small, the contents S can be efficiently collected toward the pouring portion 31, and the remaining poured contents can be efficiently reduced. Note that, in the bag-in-box 1 of this embodiment, when the amount of the contents S in the inner container 3 is sufficient, the contents S can be poured out from the pouring portion 31 without the support plate 6 being in a forward tilted state (see FIG. 5(a)). Furthermore, because the support plate 6 is housed inside the outer container 10, the appearance of the outer container 10 is not significantly changed, and the inner container 3 can be tilted forward without tilting the bottom surface portion 19 of the outer container 10 itself. This allows the appearance of the outer container 10 to be maintained, and there is no need to provide a separate working space for tilting the inner container 3 forward. In this way, the outer container of this embodiment can maintain its appearance, save space, and reduce the amount of content S remaining after pouring.

[0026] From the viewpoint of further suppressing residual liquid of the contents S, the forward tilt angle θ1 (see FIG. 5(b)) of the support plate 6 accompanying the pulling out of the pull-out piece 5 is preferably 10° or more, more preferably 30° or more. There is no particular upper limit to the forward tilt angle θ1, but the upper limit is preferably less than 90° in view of the structures of the pull-out piece 5 and the support plate 6. That is, the forward tilt angle θ1 is preferably 10° or more and less than 90°, more preferably 30° or more and less than 90°. The forward inclination angle θ1 of the support plate 6 is the inclination angle of the central portion of the support plate 6 in the width direction X with respect to the horizontal direction when the upper portion of the pull-out piece 5 is pulled out from the upper opening 22a (see FIG. 5(b)).

[0027] The drawer piece 5 of this embodiment has a drawer handle opening 51 at the upper part. The drawer handle opening 51 is an opening for inserting fingers when pulling out the drawer piece 5 from the upper opening 22a. This makes it easier to pull out the drawer piece 5 (see FIG. 4(b)).

[0028] The drawer piece 5 of this embodiment has an engaged portion 53 at a position spaced downward from the upper end of the drawer piece 5, more specifically, at a position spaced downward from the drawer handle opening 51 (see FIG. 3). The engaged portion 53 is an opening extending in the width direction X. The engaged portion 53 can engage with the engaging piece 23 of the lid portion 22. Specifically, the engaging piece 23 is inserted into the engaged portion 53 (opening), whereby the two are engaged. With this configuration, the drawn-out state of the drawer piece 5 can be stably maintained (see FIG. 4(b)). In order to ensure a more reliable engagement between the engaging piece 23 and the engaged portion 53, the length L9 (see Figure 3) of the engaged portion 53 in the vertical direction Z is preferably 100% or more and 250% or less, and more preferably 150% or more and 200% or less, of the thickness of the engaging piece 23.

[0029] In the drawer piece 5 of this embodiment, an easy-to-break line 54 extending in the width direction X is formed (see FIG. 3). The easy-to-break line 54 is formed by a perforation, and by breaking the easy-to-break line 54, the portion of the drawer piece 5 above the easy-to-break line 54 can be cut off. As a result, after the drawer piece 5 is pulled out through the lid part 22, the portion of the drawer piece 5 pulled out upward from the upper opening 22a can be cut off, thereby further improving space saving. When an easy-to-break line 54 is formed in the drawer piece 5, it is preferable that the easy-to-break line 54 is located above the engaged portion 53 in the vertical direction Z, and it is more preferable that the easy-to-break line 54 is located between the drawer handle opening 51 and the engaged portion 53.

[0030] In order to make it easier to pull out the pull-out piece 5 from the upper opening 22a, the length L5 of the pull-out piece 5 in the vertical direction Z is preferably 60% or more, more preferably 80% or more, and preferably 98% or less, more preferably 96% or less, of the length L2 of the outer container 10 in the vertical direction Z, and is preferably 60% or more and 98% or less, more preferably 80% or more and 96% or less. From the same viewpoint as above, the difference between the length L5 of the pull-out piece 5 in the vertical direction Z and the length L2 of the outer container 10 in the vertical direction Z is preferably 11 mm or less, and more preferably 6 mm or less.

[0031] In order to further stabilize the forward tilted state of the support plate 6, the width W5 (see FIG. 3) of the drawer piece 5 is preferably 40% or more, more preferably 50% or more, and preferably 95% or less, more preferably 80% or less, of the width W6 (see FIG. 3) of the support plate 6, and is preferably 40% or more and 95% or less, more preferably 50% or more and 80% or less.

[0032] The support plate 6 of this embodiment is configured to include a bottom surface facing portion 60 that faces the bottom surface portion 19 and extends along the horizontal direction, and a side support forming portion 65 that forms a side support portion 62 described later (see FIG. 6). The support plate 6 has side support portions 62, 62 and a central support portion 61 sandwiched between the side support portions 62, 62. That is, the support plate 6 has the central support portion 61 located at the center in the width direction X, and side support portions 62, 62 located on both sides of the central support portion 61 in the width direction (see FIG. 6). The side support portions 62, 62 are formed by bending the side support forming portions 65 located on both sides of the width direction X of the bottom surface facing portion 60 inward in the width direction X and fixing them to the bottom surface facing portion 60. The central support portion 61 is formed by a central portion in the width direction X of the bottom surface facing portion 60. An insertion opening 66 is formed in the central portion in the width direction X of this bottom surface facing portion 60. The side support portions 62, 62 have side inclined surfaces B1 that incline downward toward the center in the width direction X. With this configuration, the contents S in the inner container 3 can be collected between the side inclined surfaces B1 in the width direction X and introduced into the pouring portion 31, thereby further suppressing liquid residue. The side inclined surfaces B1 are formed by bending the sides of the support plate 6, more specifically, the side support forming portions 65.

[0033] The side support forming part 65 of this embodiment has an inclined surface part 63 forming the side inclined surface B1, an insertion part 67 inserted into an insertion opening 66 formed in the bottom surface facing part 60, and an upright part 64 standing from the bottom surface facing part 60 and facing the side surface part 15. In the side support part 62, the inclined surface part 63 has a side edge on the inner side in the width direction X connected to the insertion part 67, and a side edge on the outer side in the width direction X connected to the upper end edge of the upright part 64. The upright part 64 has a lower end edge connected to a side edge on the outer side in the width direction X of the bottom surface facing part 60. Between the insertion part 67 and the inclined surface part 63, between the inclined surface part 63 and the upright part 64, and between the upright part 64 and the bottom surface facing part 60, respectively, bent parts are formed along the depth direction Y. By folding the side support forming portion 65 inward in the width direction X along these folding portions and inserting the insertion portion 67 into the insertion opening 66, a triangular prism-shaped support structure extending in the depth direction Y is formed. That is, the side support portion 62 of this embodiment has a triangular prism-shaped support structure extending in the depth direction Y below the side inclined surface B1. This makes it possible to stably maintain the side inclined surface B1 against the weight of the inner container 3 containing the contents S, and also makes it possible to concentrate the contents S on the pouring portion 31 side, thereby further suppressing liquid residue.

[0034] From the viewpoint of further stabilizing the inclination of the side inclined surface B1 and further suppressing liquid residue, the inclination angle θ2 (see FIG. 6) of the side inclined surface B1 with respect to the horizontal direction is preferably 10° or more, more preferably 20° or more. There is no particular upper limit to the inclination angle θ2, but from the viewpoint of more stably supporting the interior body portion 30, the upper limit is preferably less than 80°, more preferably 60° or less. That is, the inclination angle θ2 is preferably 10° or more and less than 80°, more preferably 20° or more and 60° or less.

[0035] It is preferable that the length L7 (see FIG. 6) of the side support part 62 in the depth direction Y is shorter than the distance L1 (see FIG. 5(a)) between the rear part 13 and the front part 11. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the inclined surface part 63 forming the side inclined surface B1 from interfering with the front part 11 when the support plate 6 is tilted forward. From the viewpoint of further suppressing such interference and from the viewpoint of collecting the content S in the inner container 3 by the pouring part 31, the length L7 (see FIG. 6) of the side support part 62 in the depth direction Y is preferably 30% or more, more preferably 50% or more, and preferably 90% or less, and also preferably 30% or more and 90% or less, and more preferably 50% or more and 90% or less, of the distance L1 [see FIG. 5(a)] between the back part 13 and the front part 11 in the depth direction Y. The length L7 of the side support part 62 in the depth direction Y is the length of the side inclined surface B1 in the depth direction Y (see FIG. 6).

[0036] The outer container 10 of this embodiment is formed using one blank 4 shown in Fig. 7. Such a blank 4 can be easily obtained by punching and cutting a sheet of paper material so that the outer container 10 has a predetermined shape when it is unfolded.

[0037] The blank 4 is subjected to creasing such as creasing, cutting, etc. to form the sections 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 defined by the folded sections, and is also provided at appropriate locations with openings such as the lid section 22, the handle opening 26, and the viewing opening 27. By assembling such blanks 4, it is possible to easily manufacture the outer container 10 having the three-dimensional shape shown in Fig. 1.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 7, the blank 4 of this embodiment has a horizontal direction X1 corresponding to the width direction X and a vertical direction Y1 corresponding to the depth direction Y, and is equipped with an L-shaped main body forming portion 4B and a T-shaped inner forming portion 4A. The main body forming section 4B forms the main body of the outer container 10. The main body forming section 4B is divided by the folding section into a front section 11, a pair of side sections 15, an upper section 17, a bottom section 19, and an upper connecting plate 17a, a bottom connecting plate 19a, and a pair of side connecting plates 15a, 15a that form the rear section 13. The side connecting plate 15a is connected to each of the pair of side sections 15 via a folding section on the outer side in the vertical direction Y1. The bottom connecting plate 19a is connected to the outer side in the vertical direction Y1 via a folding section on the bottom section 19. The upper joint section 17b is connected to the outer side in the horizontal direction X1 via a folding section, and the upper connecting plate 17a is connected to the outer side in the vertical direction Y1 via a folding section. The upper surface portion 17 has an edge portion along the lateral direction X1 connected to the front surface portion 11 via a bent portion. A front joint portion 11a is connected to the front surface portion 11 via a bent portion on each side in the lateral direction X1.

[0039] The main body forming portion 4B has a pair of side surface portions 15, 15 connected to both lateral edges in the lateral direction X1 of the bottom surface portion 19 via bent portions extending in the longitudinal direction Y1. The outer end in the lateral direction X1 of one side surface portion 15 forms the outer end in the lateral direction X1 of the main body forming portion 4B, and the outer end in the lateral direction X1 of the other side surface portion 15 is connected to the top surface portion 17 via a bent portion extending in the longitudinal direction Y1. The main body forming portion 4B has a side portion 15, a bottom portion 19, a side portion 15, and a top portion 17 arranged along the horizontal direction X1, and on the outer side of these in the vertical direction Y1, a side connecting plate 15a, a bottom connecting plate 19a, a side connecting plate 15a, and a top connecting plate 17a are arranged along the horizontal direction X1. The main body forming portion 4B has an upper surface portion 17 and a front surface portion 11 arranged along the vertical direction Y1.

[0040] The internal forming portion 4A includes a bottom surface facing portion 60, upright portions 64 adjacent to both sides of the bottom surface facing portion 60 in the horizontal direction X1, an inclined surface portion 63 adjacent to the upright portion 64 on the outer side in the horizontal direction X1, and an insertion portion 67 adjacent to the upright portion 63 on the outer side in the horizontal direction X1. The internal forming portion 4A includes the insertion portion 67, the inclined surface portion 63, and the upright portion 64, which are connected in this order in line symmetry from the outer side in the horizontal direction X1 toward the bottom surface facing portion 60, with respect to a central axis that passes through the center of the bottom surface facing portion 60 and runs along the vertical direction Y1. Between the insertion portion 67 and the inclined surface portion 63, between the inclined surface portion 63 and the upright portion 64, and between the upright portion 64 and the bottom surface facing portion 60, respectively, bent portions extending in the vertical direction Y1 are formed. A pair of insertion openings 66, 66 extending in the vertical direction Y1 are formed in the center of the bottom surface facing portion 60 in the horizontal direction X1. The length of the insertion opening 66 in the vertical direction Y1 corresponds to the length of the insertion portion 67 in the vertical direction Y1.

[0041] The internal forming portion 4A is on the opposite side to the main body forming portion 4B in the vertical direction Y1, and has a drawer piece 5 extending outward in the vertical direction Y1 from the bottom surface facing portion 60. In the drawer piece 5, an engaged portion 53 and a drawer handle opening 51 are formed spaced apart in the vertical direction Y1. The inner forming portion 4A has an intervening continuous portion 68 between the bottom surface facing portion 60 and the bottom surface portion 19 of the main body forming portion 4B. The intervening continuous portion 68 is connected to an end edge portion of the bottom surface facing portion 60 on the main body forming portion 4B side in the vertical direction Y1, and is connected to an end edge portion of the bottom surface portion 19 on the inner forming portion 4A side in the vertical direction Y1.

[0042] A method for producing a bag-in-box 1 having an outer container 10 and an inner container 3 will be described using a blank 4 shown in FIG. The main body forming portion 4B of the blank 4 is folded at the bent portion between the bottom surface portion 19 and the side surface portion 15 so that the pair of side surface portions 15, 15 stand up from the bottom surface portion 19. Next, the bent portion between the top surface portion 17 and the side surface portion 15 is folded so that the top surface portion 17 spans between the upper edges of the pair of side surface portions 15, 15. At this time, the top surface joint portion 17b is joined to the inner surface of the side surface portion 15 on the outer end side in the horizontal direction X1. For such joining, a known joining means such as an adhesive can be used. Next, the bottom surface connecting plate 19a, the top surface connecting plate 17a, and the pair of side surface connecting plates 15a are folded inward in the vertical direction Y1, and the outer surface of the bottom surface connecting plate 19a and the inner surface of the side surface connecting plate 15a are joined with an adhesive or the like, and the outer surface of the top surface connecting plate 17a and the inner surface of the side surface connecting plate 15a are joined with an adhesive or the like. That is, these connecting plates are fixed in an overlapping state, whereby the rear portion 13 is formed.

[0043] Next, the standing portion 64 and the inclined surface portion 63 in the inner forming portion 4A are folded back toward the center side of the horizontal direction X1 of the bottom surface facing portion 60, and the folded portion between the standing portion 64 and the inclined surface portion 63 is mountain-folded, and then the insertion portion 67 is inserted into the insertion opening 66 of the bottom surface facing portion 60. This forms the side support portion 62 having a triangular prism-shaped support structure formed by the inclined surface portion 63, the standing portion 64, and the bottom surface facing portion 60. Next, the interposed continuous portion 68 is folded back toward the bottom surface portion 19, and the bottom surface facing portion 60 on which the side support portion 62 is formed is overlapped with the bottom surface portion 19, and the drawer piece 5 is made to stand up from the bottom surface facing portion 60 along the back surface portion 13. This forms the drawer piece 5 and the support plate 6.

[0044] Next, the inner container 3 is placed on the support plate 6 with the pouring portion 31 facing the front side. Next, the front joint portions 11a connected to both sides of the front portion 11 in the horizontal direction X1 are joined to the inner surface of the side portion 15 by a known joining means to fix the front portion 11. That is, the opening formed by the edges of the pair of side portions 15, 15, the top portion 17, and the bottom portion 19 on the front portion 11 side in the vertical direction Y1 (depth direction Y) is closed by the front portion 11. An adhesive tape or the like may be attached to the outer surface of the front portion 11 to more stably close the opening by the front portion 11. The bag-in-box 1 of this embodiment can be manufactured by the above method. The bag-in-box 1 of this embodiment is in a pre-use state (pre-opened state) in which the inner container 3 is contained in the outer container 10 that does not have any openings such as an insertion opening, and is distributed in this state.

[0045] When the bag-in-box 1 of this embodiment is used for the first time, i.e., when it is opened, the front part 11 is broken along the easy-to-break line to form the insertion flap part 20a and the insertion opening 20b. This forms the insertion part 20 in the front part 11. Next, the insertion flap part 20a is turned up to form an opening, and the spouting part 31 is passed through the opening, and the tube part 33 of the spouting part 31 is inserted through the insertion opening 20b, exposing the spouting part 31 from the front part 11 through the insertion part 20. This operation makes the bag-in-box 1 in a state where the contents S can be poured out through the spouting part 31.

[0046] The outer container and the bag-in-box having the outer container of the present invention are not limited to the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 7. Another embodiment of the outer container and the bag-in-box having the outer container according to the present invention will be described below. In the following, the other embodiment will be described mainly with respect to components different from the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 7, and similar components will be given the same reference numerals and will not be described. For components that are not particularly described, the description of the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 7 will be applied as appropriate.

[0047] In the bag-in-box 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment, the outer container 10 is provided with a pull-out piece 5 having a single engaged part 53, but this is not limited thereto. In the bag-in-box 1a shown in FIG. 8, the outer container 10 is provided with a pull-out piece 5a having a plurality of engaged parts 53. Specifically, the pull-out piece 5a shown in FIG. 8 has a plurality of engaged parts 53 spaced apart in the vertical direction Z. With this configuration, the degree of pulling out the pull-out piece 5 via the lid part 22 can be adjusted in multiple stages, and therefore the forward tilt angle of the support plate 6 in the forward tilted state (not shown in FIG. 8) can also be adjusted in multiple stages. In order to make such adjustment easier, the pull-out piece 5a has two or more and four or less engaged portions 53 spaced apart in the up-down direction Z.

[0048] In order to make it easier to adjust the forward tilt angle according to the remaining amount of contents S, the difference in the forward tilt angle of the support plate 6 when the engaging piece 23 of the lid portion 22 is engaged with different engaged portions 53 adjacent to each other in the vertical direction Z is preferably 6° or more, and more preferably 9° or more.

[0049] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be modified as appropriate. In addition, the above-described embodiments may be combined. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the rear surface portion 13 is formed by overlapping the upper connecting plate 17a, the bottom connecting plate 19a, and the pair of side connecting plates 15a, 15a, but the rear surface portion 13 may be a single plate-like portion, similar to the front surface portion 11 and the side surface portion 15. Also, the bottom surface portion 19 or the upper surface portion 17 may be formed by overlapping a plurality of connecting plates. Furthermore, the support plate 6 may not have the side support portion 62 having the side inclined surface B1. For example, the support plate 6 may be formed of the bottom surface opposing portion 60 only. Furthermore, when the support plate 6 has the side support portion 62, it may not have a triangular prism-shaped support structure below the side inclined surface B1. For example, the bottom surface facing portion 60 may have a V-shape with the center portion in the width direction X as the bottom portion and both side portions in the width direction X rising obliquely from the center portion. In such a configuration, both side portions in the width direction X of the bottom surface facing portion 60 become the inclined surface portions 63 that form the side inclined surface B1. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 1,1a Bag in box 3 Inner packaging 30 Interior body part 31 Pour section 32 Spout section 33 Pipe section 10 Outer packaging 11 Front section 11a Front joint 13 Back part 15 Side part 15a Side connecting plate 17 Top part 17a Top connecting plate 17b Upper joint 19 Bottom part 19a Bottom connecting plate 20 Insertion part 20a Insertion flap part 20b Insertion opening 22 Lid 22a Upper opening 23 Engagement piece 24 Lid side opening 25 Connection part 26 Handle opening 27 Viewing opening 5,5a Drawer piece 51 Handle opening 53 Engaged part 54 Easy-to-break line 6 Support plate 60 Bottom facing part 61 Central support part 62 Side support 63 Slope section 64 Standing part 65 Side support formation 66 Insertion opening 67 Insertion part 68 Intervening continuity 4 Blank 4A Internal forming part 4B Body forming part B1 Side inclined surface S Contents X Width direction Y Depth direction Z vertical direction X1 Horizontal Y1 Vertical θ1 Forward tilt angle θ2 Tilt angle

Claims

1. An outer container that houses an inner container having a pouring portion for pouring out contents, and has a depth direction and a width direction perpendicular to the depth direction, The container includes a front portion and a back portion that face each other in the depth direction, a pair of side portions that face each other in the width direction, a top portion and a bottom portion that face each other in the vertical direction, and a support plate that is arranged internally and overlaps with the bottom portion, and an insertion portion through which the spout portion is inserted can be formed in the front portion, The top surface is formed with an openable and closable lid, The support plate is provided with a pull-out piece that extends from the end on the rear surface side toward the top surface and can maintain the support plate in a forward tilted position by being pulled out through the lid portion.

2. the support plate has a central support portion located at the center in the width direction and side support portions located on both sides of the central support portion in the width direction, 2. The outer container according to claim 1, wherein the side support portion has a side inclined surface that slopes downward toward the center in the width direction, and the side inclined surface is formed by bending a side portion of the support plate.

3. The outer container according to claim 2 , wherein the side support portion has a triangular prism-shaped support structure extending in the depth direction below the side inclined surface.

4. The outer container according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the side support portion has a length in the depth direction that is shorter than a distance between the rear portion and the front portion.

5. the lid portion is rotatable about a connecting portion with the upper surface portion as a rotation axis, and has an engagement piece that protrudes toward an opposite side from the connecting portion, The outer container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pull-out piece has an engaging portion at a position spaced downward from the upper end of the pull-out piece, which engages with the engaging piece to maintain the pull-out state of the pull-out piece.

6. The outer container according to claim 5 , wherein the pull-out piece has a plurality of the engagement portions spaced apart in the vertical direction.

7. The outer container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pull-out piece has an easy-to-break line formed thereon that allows the portion pulled upward from the lid portion to be separated.

8. A bag-in-box comprising the outer container according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and the inner container housed in the outer container.

Images