Container and composite container

Abstract

To provide a container that can store articles which may be affected by vibration or impact and can also save time and effort when storing articles.SOLUTION: A container 1 includes: a ceiling wall 2 with an opening 3; a peripheral wall 4 connected to the ceiling wall 2 and extending downward; a loading part 7 capable of loading an article B and located inside the opening 3; and an elastic part 8 connecting the loading part 7 to the ceiling wall 2 and elastically deforming downward when the article B is loaded on the loading part 7.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a container for storing items (for example, fruits, vegetables, various parts, etc.), and a composite container including a plurality of such containers. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, containers such as those described in Patent Document 1 have been used as containers for storing various items. When storing items in this type of container, additional members may be added depending on the type of item. For example, when storing fruits or vegetables that are easily damaged by vibration or impact, a cushioning material such as a sponge may be laid inside the container, and the fruits or the like may be placed on the cushioning material. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 62-113033 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, even if the above-mentioned cushioning material is used, adjacent items may collide with each other due to vibrations during transportation. For this reason, when storing items that may become unusable even with a small scratch, such as fruits and vegetables used to decorate sweets or dishes, specifications with additional cushioning material may not be usable. In addition, it is necessary to lay cushioning material on the container, which is time-consuming when storing items.

[0005] In view of these points, the present invention aims to provide a container that can suitably store items that may be affected by vibration, impact, etc., and that can reduce the effort required to store the items compared to conventional methods, and a composite container that includes multiple such containers. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention includes a top wall having an opening; A peripheral wall connected to the top wall and extending downward; A placement portion on which an article can be placed and which is located inside the opening; The container is provided with an elastic portion that connects the mounting portion and the top wall and elastically deforms downward when an article is placed on the mounting portion.

[0007] The upper surface of the mounting portion is preferably a concave surface that is recessed downward.

[0008] The present invention also provides a composite container comprising a plurality of the above-described containers, The peripheral wall of the container has a first engagement portion, The other peripheral wall of the other container adjacent to one of the containers is also a composite container having a second engagement portion that engages with the first engagement portion. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The container of the present invention has a peripheral wall that is connected to the top wall and extends downward. The placement section on which an item can be placed is connected to the top wall by an elastic section, and the elastic section is configured to elastically deform downward when an item is placed on the placement section. In other words, when the elastic section is in an elastically deformed state, the item placed on the placement section is surrounded by the peripheral wall, which prevents an external object from directly contacting the item. Even if vibration or impact is applied to the container, the elastic section makes it difficult for the vibration or impact to be transmitted to the placement section, so that even items that are easily affected by vibration, etc. can be suitably stored. Furthermore, since there is no need to perform tasks such as laying cushioning material on the container as in the past, the effort required for storing items can be reduced. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a container according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the container shown in FIG. [Figure 3A]3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 3B] FIG. 3B is a partial enlarged view of part B shown in FIG. 3A. [Figure 4] 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which an article is placed on the placement portion. FIG. [Diagram 5] 2 is a cross-sectional view of a composite container having four of the containers shown in FIG. 1 arranged in series. [Figure 6] 2 is a plan view of a composite container having two containers shown in FIG. 1 arranged vertically and horizontally in plan view. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, one embodiment of a container (container 1) according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification and the like, the up-down direction refers to the direction along the illustrated axis O, with the side on which the top wall 2 shown in FIG. 3A is located being the "upper" side and the opposite side being the "lower" side. The radial direction refers to the direction perpendicular to the axis O in a plane perpendicular to the axis O, and the circumferential direction refers to the direction rotating around the axis O in this plane.

[0012] In this embodiment, the container 1 is formed by injection molding of molten synthetic resin. As shown in Fig. 1, the container 1 of this embodiment has an overall cubic shape.

[0013] 1 and 2, the container 1 has a top wall 2. The top wall 2 in this embodiment is plate-like and shaped to be square in plan view. A circular opening 3 is provided in the center of the top wall 2, penetrating the top wall 2 in the vertical direction (thickness direction).

[0014] The peripheral wall 4 is provided on the outer edge of the top wall 2 and extends downward. The peripheral wall 4 in this embodiment is cylindrical and shaped to be square in plan view. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the planar portions constituting the peripheral wall 4 are referred to as peripheral wall portions 4a to 4d. The peripheral wall portions 4a and 4b, the peripheral wall portions 4b and 4c, the peripheral wall portions 4c and 4d, and the peripheral wall portions 4d and 4a are disposed at an angle of about 90° in plan view. The lower side of the peripheral wall 4 is open as shown in FIG. 3. Here, the lower opening of the peripheral wall 4 is referred to as a lower opening 4e.

[0015] A first engagement portion 5 is provided at the center of the peripheral wall portions 4a, 4b so as to protrude outward from the outer periphery of the peripheral wall portions 4a, 4b. A second engagement portion 6 is provided at the center of the peripheral wall portions 4c, 4d so as to penetrate the peripheral wall portions 4c, 4d in the thickness direction.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 3B, the first engagement portion 5 of this embodiment includes a protruding portion 5a that is rectangular in side view, and a flange portion 5b that is provided at the tip of the protruding portion 5a and is rectangular and one size larger than the protruding portion 5a. The second engagement portion 6 of this embodiment is shaped to be a rectangular through hole in side view. The first engagement portion 5 is engaged with a second engagement portion 6 of another container 1 as described later, and the protruding portion 5a is shaped to be one size smaller than the second engagement portion 6 as shown in Fig. 3B, and the flange portion 5b is shaped to be one size larger than the second engagement portion 6.

[0017] A mounting portion 7 is provided inside the opening 3. The mounting portion 7 in this embodiment is shaped to form a part of a spherical shell, and has a circular shape in a plan view as shown in FIG. 2, and extends downward in an arc shape in a cross-sectional view from the side as shown in FIG. 4. That is, the upper surface of the mounting portion 7 in this embodiment is a concave surface that is recessed downward. In the initial state before being used as the container 1, the mounting portion 7 is located at a height where the outer edge of the mounting portion 7 is substantially aligned with the top wall 2 as shown in FIG. 3A.

[0018] An elastic portion 8 is provided inside the opening 3. The elastic portion 8 in this embodiment is composed of a plurality of elastically deformable arms 8a. In the initial state before use as the container 1, the arms 8a are located at a height that is substantially aligned with the top wall 2 as shown in FIG. 3A. The arms 8a have a shape that combines a portion that extends in an arc shape in a plan view and a portion that extends radially inward as shown in FIG. 2, and one end of the arms 8a is integrally connected to the top wall 2 and the other end is integrally connected to the placement portion 7.

[0019] When storing an object B (for example, fruit that becomes spherical) in the container 1 that takes such a shape, the object B is placed on the placement portion 7. As a result, a downward force is applied to the placement portion 7 due to the weight of the object B, and the arm 8a is elastically deformed so as to be stretched downward as shown in FIG. 4. That is, since the object B placed on the placement portion 7 is surrounded by the peripheral wall 4, it is possible to prevent a problem in which an external object directly contacts the object B. In addition, the placement portion 7 is elastically supported by the elastic portion 8. That is, even if vibration or impact is applied to the container 1, the vibration or impact is not easily transmitted to the placement portion 7, so that even an object B that is easily affected by vibration or the like can be suitably stored. And since the upper surface of the placement portion 7 is a concave surface that is concave downward, it is possible to effectively prevent a problem in which the object B falls off the placement portion 7 even if vibration or impact is applied to the container 1.

[0020] Furthermore, when the item B is stored in the container 1, the upper side of the item B is open through the opening 3, and there is no bottom wall or the like provided below the peripheral wall 4, so the lower side of the item B is also open through the lower opening 4e. Furthermore, the peripheral wall 4 is provided with a second engagement portion 6 which is a through hole. In other words, since the periphery of the item B is open, the item B can be easily cooled when the container 1 is placed in a refrigerator or the like. To remove the item B from the container 1, it is sufficient to insert a finger through the lower opening 4e and push up the item B, so that the item B can be easily removed.

[0021] When storing a plurality of articles B, it is preferable to use a composite container having a plurality of containers 1 (for example, the composite container 20 shown in FIG. 5). The composite container 20 shown in the figure has four of the above-mentioned containers 1 arranged in series. When used as the composite container 20, it is preferable to engage the first engagement portion 5 of one container 1 with the second engagement portion 6 of the other container 1. As described above, the flange portion 5b of the first engagement portion 5 is formed to be one size larger than the second engagement portion 6, and the engagement state between the first engagement portion 5 and the second engagement portion 6 is maintained during general handling, so that the composite container 20 can be handled as a whole.

[0022] The composite container 20 of this embodiment includes a sleeve 21 made of, for example, paper. The sleeve 21 is generally rectangular parallelepiped-shaped and cylindrical with an open side. By inserting the composite container 20 through the opening of the sleeve 21, the composite container 20 can be surrounded by the sleeve 21, which can prevent the container 1 from unintentionally separating during transportation of the composite container 20, for example.

[0023] When a force is applied to the composite container 20 in the longitudinal direction, the first engaging portion 5 and the second engaging portion 6 are disengaged, and the containers 1 can be separated. Therefore, even if the composite container 20 is too long to store in a refrigerator or the like, for example, the containers 1 can be separated to fit the space of the refrigerator or the like for easy storage.

[0024] The container 1 can also be configured as a composite container 30 shown in Fig. 6, for example. The composite container 30 has two containers 1 arranged vertically and horizontally in a plan view. In the composite container 30, each container 1 is engaged with a first engagement portion 5 and a second engagement portion 6, so that the composite container 30 can be handled as a whole. Also in the composite container 30, the containers 1 can be separated by applying a force in a predetermined direction.

[0025] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the spirit of the present invention described in the claims unless otherwise specifically limited in the above description. For example, the configuration of the above-mentioned embodiment can be appropriately added or deleted, and the configuration of one embodiment can be applied to another embodiment. Furthermore, the effects of the above-mentioned embodiment are merely examples of the effects resulting from the present invention, and do not mean that the effects of the present invention are limited to the above-mentioned effects.

[0026] For example, the shapes of the top wall 2 and the peripheral wall 4 are not limited to those shown in the drawings, and may be, for example, a disk-shaped top wall and a cylindrical peripheral wall. Furthermore, the mounting portion 7 is not limited to a surface having a concave upper surface that is concave downward, and may be a flat surface.

[0027] Furthermore, item B is not limited to the above-mentioned fruits and vegetables, but may be, for example, various parts that are easily damaged (such as light bulbs and computer parts). The size of item B to be stored is not limited to small items, but may be relatively large items such as peaches. In this case, the size of container 1 may be increased to match item B. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1: Container 2: Ceiling wall 3:Aperture 4: Peripheral wall 4a: Peripheral wall part 4b: Peripheral wall part 4c: Peripheral wall part 4d: Peripheral wall part 4e: Bottom opening 5: First engaging part 5a:Protrusion 5b: Flange part 6:Second engagement part 7: Placement section 8: Elastic part 8a: Arm 20: Composite container 21: Sleeve 30: Composite container B:Goods O: Axis

Claims

1. A top wall having an opening; A peripheral wall connected to the top wall and extending downward; A placement portion on which an article can be placed and which is located inside the opening; A container comprising an elastic portion connecting the mounting portion and the top wall, the elastic portion elastically deforming downward when an article is placed on the mounting portion.

2. 2. The container according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the mounting portion is a concave surface that is recessed downward.

3. A composite container comprising a plurality of containers according to claim 1 or 2, The peripheral wall of the container has a first engagement portion, A composite container, wherein the peripheral wall of another container adjacent to one of the containers has a second engagement portion that engages with the first engagement portion.

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