Double container

Abstract

To provide a double-walled container with a simple structure that allows for easy replacement of the refill container. [Solution] The double container 1 comprises a refill container 2 and a container body 3 having an opening 3c into which the refill container 2 can be inserted. The container body 3 further comprises a bottom 3b formed integrally with the opening 3c. The bottom 3b has a push-up portion 31 that can push up the refill container 2 inserted into the container body 3 by the elastic deformation of the bottom 3b.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a double container.

Background Art

[0002] As a double container, there is one that can reuse the container body itself by providing a refill container and a container body that can be detachably attached to the refill container, and replacing the refill container with no contents with a new refill container. For this reason, as a conventional double container, there is known one provided with a lifting mechanism for lifting the refill container on the container body for the purpose of facilitating the replacement of the refill container (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, since the above-mentioned conventional double container lifts the refill container by a lifting mechanism constituted by a plurality of parts provided on the container body, for example, the number of parts increases, and the structure of the container body, and thus the entire double container, becomes complicated. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the conventional double container in that the replacement of the refill container is performed with a complicated structure.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a double container capable of easily replacing a refill container with a simple structure.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] (1) The double container of the present invention comprises a refill container and a container body having an opening into which the refill container can be inserted, the container body further comprises a bottom integrally formed with the opening, and the bottom of the container body comprises a push-up portion that can push up the refill container inserted into the container body by elastic deformation of the bottom of the container body.

[0007] (2) In the double container of (1) above, the bottom of the container body further comprises an annular grounding portion and an annular diameter-reducing portion that decreases in diameter upward as it extends radially inward from the annular grounding portion, and the push-up portion may be positioned above the annular grounding portion together with the annular diameter-reducing portion.

[0008] (3) In the double container of (2) above, it is preferable that the bottom of the container body further comprises an annular folded portion that is folded back so as to protrude upward between the push-up portion and the annular grounding portion.

[0009] (4) In the double container of (2) or (3) above, it is preferable that the diameter-reduced portion is composed of a plurality of different diameter-reduced portions.

[0010] (5) In the double container of (1) above, the bottom of the container body further comprises an annular grounding portion and an annular reduced diameter portion that decreases in diameter upward as it extends radially inward from the annular grounding portion, and the push-up portion may decrease in diameter downward as it extends radially inward from the annular reduced diameter portion.

[0011] (6) In any one of the double containers described in (1) to (5) above, it is preferable that the refill container has an engaging portion that removably engages with the mouth of the container body from the upper side of the container body.

[0012] (7) In any one of the double-walled containers described in (1) to (6) above, the container body is preferably a blow-molded container.

[0013] (8) In any one of the double containers described in (1) to (7) above, the refill container is preferably a wide-mouthed container. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a double-walled container with a simple structure that allows for easy replacement of the refill container. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a side view showing a double-walled container, one embodiment of the present invention, with its lid, in a partial cross-section. [Figure 2] This figure shows the double-walled container from Figure 1 with the lid removed. [Figure 3] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating the process of removing the refill container from the double container. [Figure 4] This is an enlarged cross-sectional view schematically showing a modified example of a container body that can be used in the double-walled container of the present invention, focusing on the bottom of the container body. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] A double-walled container, which is an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0017] Figure 1 shows a double-walled container 1, which is one embodiment of the present invention, in a partial cross-section along with a lid 4. The double-walled container 1 comprises a refill container 2 and a container body 3 having an opening 3c into which the refill container 2 can be inserted. In this disclosure, the double-walled container 1 is a refillable container in which the refill container 2 can be attached to and detached from the container body 3. In Figure 1, the double-walled container 1 is fitted with a lid 4. Figure 2 shows only the double-walled container 1 with the lid 4 removed.

[0018] Here, in the figure, reference numeral O denotes the central axis of the double container 1. In the present disclosure, the central axes of the refill container 2 and the container body 3 are the same axis as the central axis O. Also, in the present disclosure, the "vertical direction" refers to the direction extending along the central axis O. In particular, in the present disclosure, among the vertical directions, the mouth portion 2c of the refill container 2 (the mouth portion 3c of the container body 3), that is, the side where the mouth portion of the double container 1 is disposed, is defined as the "upper side", and the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 (the bottom portion 2b of the refill container 2), that is, the side where the bottom of the double container 1 is disposed, is defined as the "lower side". Also, "annular" refers to a state of extending annularly in the circumferential direction around the central axis O.

[0019] In the present disclosure, the refill container 2 is a wide-mouth container (also referred to as a "jar container"). The refill container 2 includes a body portion 2a formed by a cylindrical wall surrounding the central axis O. In the present disclosure, the body portion 2a corresponds to the inner body portion of the double container 1. The lower end of the body portion 2a is closed by a bottom portion 2b. The bottom portion 2b is integrally formed with the body portion 2a. In the present disclosure, the bottom portion 2b corresponds to the inner bottom of the double container 1. Also, in the present disclosure, the upper end portion of the body portion 2a is the mouth portion 2c of the refill container 2. In the present disclosure, the mouth portion 2c corresponds to a part of the mouth portion of the double container 1 and corresponds to the upper side portion of the mouth portion of the double container 1.

[0020] In the present disclosure, the refill container 2 is a cup-shaped container. In the present disclosure, the inner peripheral surface of the refill container 2 is configured by an inner peripheral surface without a step from the mouth portion 2c to the body portion 2a. Inside the refill container 2, an accommodation space S2 capable of accommodating contents (not shown) is formed. The accommodation space S2 is open to the outside through an opening A2 formed radially inside the mouth portion 2c. In the accommodation space S2, for example, cosmetics, foods, drugs, etc. can be accommodated as the contents.

[0021] In addition, in the present disclosure, the refill container 2 includes an engaging portion 2e that is removably engaged with the mouth portion 3c of the container body 3 from above the container body 3. Here, "engagement" means that two elements are fixed to each other, such as "fitting" or "locking by unevenness". In the present disclosure, the refill container 2 further includes an annular flange 2d extending radially outward from the body portion 2a. The engaging portion 2e is a cylindrical engaging portion that is arranged at a radial distance from the body portion 2a and extends downward from the flange 2d.

[0022] As described later, the refill container 2 is pushed up by the pushing-up portion 31 of the container body 3, so it is preferable that the refill container 2 has shape retention against the pushing-up force of the pushing-up portion 31. For this reason, in the present disclosure, the refill container 2 is made of a synthetic resin such as a polyolefin-based resin, a polyester-based resin, or a polystyrene-based resin, and is formed by injection molding. However, the manufacturing method of the refill container 2 is not limited to injection molding.

[0023] In the present disclosure, the mouth portion 3c of the container body 3 corresponds to a portion that constitutes the mouth portion of the double container 1 together with the mouth portion 2c of the refill container 2, and corresponds to the lower portion of the mouth portion of the double container 1. In the present disclosure, the mouth portion 3c has an opening A3 into which the body portion 2a of the refill container 2 can be inserted. Inside the container body 3, a storage space S3 capable of storing the body portion 2a of the refill container 2 is formed. The storage space S3 is open through the opening A3.

[0024] In the present disclosure, the container body 3 includes a body portion 3a formed by a cylindrical wall surrounding the central axis O. In the present disclosure, the body portion 3a corresponds to the outer body portion of the double container 1. Further, in the present disclosure, the container body 3 includes an annular shoulder portion 3d connected to the mouth portion 3c and the body portion 3a. In the present disclosure, the shoulder portion 3d extends in the radial direction and is integrally formed with each of the lower end of the mouth portion 3c and the upper end of the body portion 3a. In the present disclosure, the shoulder portion 3d corresponds to the shoulder portion of the double container 1.

[0025] In this disclosure, the container body 3 further comprises a bottom portion 3b formed integrally with the opening portion 3c. In this disclosure, the lower end of the body portion 3a of the container body 3 is closed by the bottom portion 3b. The bottom portion 3b is formed integrally with the body portion 3a. In this disclosure, the bottom portion 3b corresponds to the outer bottom of the double-walled container 1.

[0026] The bottom 3b of the container body 3 is provided with a push-up portion 31 that can push up the refill container 2 inserted into the opening 3c of the container body 3 by the elastic deformation of the bottom 3b of the container body 3.

[0027] In this disclosure, the container body 3 is made of a synthetic resin such as a polyolefin, polyester, or polystyrene, and is a blow-molded container formed by blow molding. However, the container body 3 can be molded by methods other than blow molding, such as injection molding.

[0028] In this disclosure, the wall thickness tb of the bottom 3b of the container body 3 is thinner than the wall thickness ta of the body 3a. This allows the bottom 3b to be elastically deformed relative to the body 3a. In this disclosure, the bottom 3b further comprises a heel portion 35 connected to the body 3a. As shown in Figure 2, in this disclosure, the wall thickness tb of the bottom 3b is thinner than the wall thickness ta of the body 3a from the heel portion 35 to the push-up portion 31. In this disclosure, because the bottom 3b is thin overall, pushing the push-up portion 31 upwards allows the bottom 3b to be deformed upward overall.

[0029] In this disclosure, the bottom 3b of the container body 3 further comprises an annular grounding portion 32 and an annular diameter-reducing portion 33 that decreases in diameter upward as it extends radially inward from the annular grounding portion 32. As shown in Figure 2, the push-up portion 31 is positioned above the grounding portion 32 together with the diameter-reducing portion 33. As a result, in this disclosure, the area around the push-up portion 31 does not come into contact with the grounding surface, such as a table surface, even when the double container 1 is in contact with the grounding surface.

[0030] In addition, in this disclosure, the bottom 3b of the container body 3 further includes an annular folded portion 34 that is folded back so as to protrude upward between the push-up portion 31 and the contact portion 32. The folded portion 34 is folded back so as to protrude convexly upward, forming an annular groove 34a on the lower side. As a result, in this disclosure, the bottom 3b of the container body 3 is more elastically deformable with respect to the folded portion 34.

[0031] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the reduced diameter portion 33 is composed of multiple different reduced diameter portions. The multiple reduced diameter portions have different reduction ratios (as shown in Figure 2, the angle of inclination of the reduced diameter portion 33 on the acute side with respect to the horizontal plane (bottom surface) in the plane containing the central axis O), which allows for the formation of multiple bent portions as described later. However, it is sufficient that the reduction ratios of at least adjacent reduced diameter portions are different. Therefore, some of the multiple reduced diameter portions may have the same reduction ratio. As a result, in this disclosure, the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 is more elastically deformable, with the multiple bent portions formed by the provision of multiple reduced diameter portions as the starting points.

[0032] In this disclosure, the diameter-reduced portion 33 is composed of three diameter-reduced portions: a first diameter-reduced portion 33a, a second diameter-reduced portion 33b, and a third diameter-reduced portion 33c.

[0033] In this disclosure, the first diameter-reduced portion 33a is connected to the ground contact portion 32. In this disclosure, the first diameter-reduced portion 33a is linearly inclined by reducing its diameter at a constant reduction ratio (angle of inclination). As a result, the first diameter-reduced portion 33a is reduced in diameter upward as it moves radially inward relative to the ground contact portion 32.

[0034] In this disclosure, the folded portion 34 is provided on the first diameter-reduced portion 33a. In this disclosure, the folded portion 34 is folded back so as to protrude upward relative to the first diameter-reduced portion 33a. As a result, the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 further includes an annular bent portion 36a protruding downward between the first diameter-reduced portion 33a and the folded portion 34.

[0035] On the other hand, in this disclosure, the second diameter-reduced portion 33b is connected to the first diameter-reduced portion 33a. In this disclosure, the second diameter-reduced portion 33b, like the first diameter-reduced portion 33a, is linearly inclined by reducing in diameter at a constant reduction ratio (angle of inclination). However, in this disclosure, the reduction ratio (angle of inclination) of the second diameter-reduced portion 33b is greater than the reduction ratio (angle of inclination) of the first diameter-reduced portion 33a. As a result, the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 further includes an annular bent portion 36b that protrudes downward between the first diameter-reduced portion 33a and the second diameter-reduced portion 33b.

[0036] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the third diameter-reduced portion 33c is connected to the second diameter-reduced portion 33b. In this disclosure, the third diameter-reduced portion 33c is curved in a convex shape that is radially inward and downward due to reduction in diameter at different reduction ratios (angles of inclination). However, in this disclosure, the reduction ratio (angle of inclination) of the third diameter-reduced portion 33c is smaller than the reduction ratio (angle of inclination) of the second diameter-reduced portion 33b at a position adjacent to the second diameter-reduced portion 33b. As a result, the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 further includes an annular bent portion 37a that protrudes upward between the second diameter-reduced portion 33b and the third diameter-reduced portion 33c.

[0037] In addition, in this disclosure, the third diameter-reducing portion 33c is connected to the push-up portion 31. In this disclosure, the push-up portion 31 is a flat push-up portion parallel to the horizontal plane (bottom surface). That is, in this disclosure, the diameter reduction ratio (angle of inclination) of the push-up portion 31 is smaller than the diameter reduction ratio (angle of inclination) of the third diameter-reducing portion 33c. As a result, the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 further includes an annular bent portion 37b that protrudes upward between the push-up portion 31 and the third diameter-reducing portion 33c.

[0038] As described above, in this disclosure, the diameter-reduced portion 33 is composed of three diameter-reduced portions: a first diameter-reduced portion 33a, a second diameter-reduced portion 33b, and a third diameter-reduced portion 33c. As a result, in this disclosure, the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 is more elastically deformable from the multiple bent portions (36a~b, 37a~b) formed by the provision of the three diameter-reduced portions: the first diameter-reduced portion 33a, the second diameter-reduced portion 33b, and the third diameter-reduced portion 33c.

[0039] As shown in Figure 2, in this disclosure, an engaging cylinder 3e is provided at the mouth 3c of the container body 3. In this disclosure, the refill container 2 can be detachably attached to the container body 3 by engaging the engaging cylinder 3e of the container body 3 between the body portion 2a and the engaging portion 2e. In this disclosure, the engaging cylinder 3e of the container body 3 has a projection that protrudes radially outward, and this projection is fitted (undercut fitted) to a projection provided on the engaging portion 2e of the refill container 2. Therefore, the refill container 2 can be stably housed in the housing space S3 formed in the container body 3 by inserting the body portion 2a through the opening A3 formed in the mouth 3c of the container body 3, and then engaging the engaging cylinder 3e of the container body 3 between the body portion 2a and the engaging portion 2e. As a result, the double container 1 is formed as a double container in which the refill container 2 is housed in the container body 3.

[0040] As shown in Figure 1, in this disclosure, the lid 4 comprises a top wall 4a that can be positioned on the upper side of the double container 1, a mounting cylinder 4b that extends downward from the outer edge of the top wall 4a, and a packing 4c positioned below the top wall 4a. In this disclosure, the lid 4 can close the mouth 2c of the refill container 2 by attaching the mounting cylinder 4b to the mouth 3c of the container body 3. In this case, the opening A2 formed in the mouth 2c of the refill container 2 is closed in a liquid-tight state by the packing 4c being in close contact with the upper end of the mouth 2c.

[0041] In this disclosure, the lid 4 is removably attached to the mouth 3c of the container body 3 by screw connection between a female thread 4s formed on the inner circumferential surface of the mounting cylinder 4b and a male thread 3s formed on the outer circumferential surface of the mouth 3c of the container body 3. However, the lid 4 may be removably attached to the mouth 3c of the container body 3 by means other than screw connection, such as a groove-and-groove fitting. Furthermore, in this disclosure, the container body 3 further includes a neck ring 3f. In this disclosure, the male thread 3s is located in a region above the neck ring 3f.

[0042] As shown in Figure 2, the contents of the double container 1 can be removed from the storage space S2 through the opening A2 of the refill container 2 by removing the lid 4.

[0043] After the contents have been used up, the refill container 2 is removed from the container body 3. In this disclosure, when removing the refill container 2, the push-up portion 31 provided on the bottom 3b of the container body 3 is pushed upward. At this time, as shown in Figure 3, the push-up portion 31 is pressed against the bottom 2b of the refill container 2 inserted into the container body 3 by the elastic deformation of the bottom 3b, thereby pushing up the refill container 2. This pushing up of the refill container 2 releases the engagement between the engagement portion 2e of the refill container 2 and the engagement cylinder 3e of the container body 3, allowing the used refill container 2 to be easily removed from the container body 3.

[0044] Furthermore, in this disclosure, after releasing the pressure on the push-up portion 31, the push-up portion 31 can be automatically returned to its initial position before being pushed in, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 3, by the restoring force of the bottom portion 3b.

[0045] The engaging portion 2e of the new refill container 2 can be engaged with the engaging cylinder 3e of the container body 3 by inserting the body 2a of the refill container 2 through the opening A3 formed in the mouth 3c of the container body 3 from the bottom 2b. Therefore, the new refill container 2 can be easily attached to the container body 3 by simply inserting it through the opening A3 formed in the mouth 3c of the container body 3 and then applying just enough force to engage the engaging portion 2e of the refill container 2 with the engaging cylinder 3e of the container body 3.

[0046] Therefore, with the double container 1 of this disclosure, it is possible to easily replace the refill container 2 with a simple structure that only requires making the bottom 2b of the container body 3 elastically deformable.

[0047] In particular, in this disclosure, the bottom 3b of the container body 3 is further provided with a folded portion 34 between the push-up portion 31 and the contact portion 32. As a result, the bottom 3b of the container body 3 is more elastically deformable with respect to the folded portion 34, making it easier to replace the refill container 2.

[0048] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the push-up portion 31 is positioned above the contact portion 32, together with the diameter-reducing portion 33. In this case, by preventing the area around the push-up portion 31 from contacting a contact surface such as a table surface, it is possible to prevent the user from unintentionally removing the refill container 2.

[0049] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the diameter-reduced portion 33 is composed of multiple different diameter-reduced portions (33a to 33c). In this case, the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 becomes more elastically deformable from the multiple bent portions (36a to b, 37a to b) formed by the provision of multiple diameter-reduced portions (33a to 33c), making it easier to replace the refill container 2.

[0050] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the refill container 2 is provided with an engaging portion 2e that removably engages with the opening 3c of the container body 3 from the upper side of the container body 3. In this case, the refill container 2 can be easily attached to and detached from the container body 3 by moving it up and down relative to the container body 3.

[0051] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the container body 3 is a blow-molded container. In this case, the bottom 3b of the container body 3 can be easily made thinner. Therefore, if the container body 3 is a blow-molded container, the container body 3, and by extension the double-walled container 1, can be easily manufactured.

[0052] Furthermore, in this disclosure, the refill container 2 is a wide-mouth container. A specific example of a wide-mouth container is one in which the diameter r1 of the inner surface of the opening A2 of the mouth portion 2c is 1 / 2 or more of the diameter r2 of the inner surface of the body portion 2a (R2 / 2 ≤ R1). In this case, the double-walled container 1 can be a double-walled container in which a large volume of contents is secured relative to the size of the container body 3. In particular, in this disclosure, the refill container 2 is a cup-shaped wide-mouth container with R1 = R2. In this case, the contents of the double-walled container 1 can be secured to the maximum capacity. However, the refill container 2 only needs to have a body portion 2a that can be inserted into the opening A3 formed in the mouth portion 3c of the container body 3. For this reason, the refill container 2 may be a bottle container having a shoulder portion between the mouth portion and the body portion.

[0053] Figure 4 schematically shows a modified example of the container body 3 that can be used in the double-walled container of the present invention, focusing on the bottom 3b of the container body 3. In the following description, parts that are substantially the same as those of the double-walled container 1 described in Figure 1, etc., will be omitted from the description.

[0054] In this disclosure, the bottom 3b of the container body 3 further comprises, in addition to the push-up portion 31, an annular grounding portion 32 and an annular reduced-diameter portion 33 that decreases in diameter upward as it extends radially inward from the annular grounding portion 32. In this disclosure, the push-up portion 31 decreases in diameter downward as it extends radially inward from the reduced-diameter portion 33. In this disclosure, the push-up portion 31 has a dome shape that is convex downward. In this disclosure, the bottom 3b further comprises an annular bent portion 38 that protrudes upward between the push-up portion 31 and the reduced-diameter portion 33.

[0055] In this disclosure, when the push-up portion 31 is pushed upward, it can be reversed upward with respect to the annular bend portion 38, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 4. As a result, as shown in Figure 4, the push-up portion 31, which has been reversed upward, can press against the bottom portion 2b of the refill container 2, similar to the double container 1 in Figure 1, thereby pushing up the refill container 2. Furthermore, in this disclosure, the push-up portion 31 can be automatically returned to its initial position, shown by the solid line, by the downward pressure on the refill container 2 when the refill container 2 is inserted into the container body 3.

[0056] Therefore, even when the container body 3 shown in Figure 4 is used as the container body 3, it is still possible to easily replace the refill container 2 with a simple structure.

[0057] Claim 5 (Effect) In particular, in this disclosure, the push-up portion 31 can be reversed upwards with respect to the bent portion 38, making it possible to easily replace the refill container 2 with a simpler structure.

[0058] As described above, exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in this disclosure, the folded portion 34 provided on the bottom portion 3b of the container body 3 is provided on the reduced diameter portion 33 between the push-up portion 31 and the grounding portion 32, but it can be provided between the grounding portion 32 and the reduced diameter portion 33. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0059] 1: Double-walled container, 2: Refill container (wide-mouth container), 2a: Body, 2b: Bottom, 2c: Mouth, 2e: Engaging part, 3: Container body, 3a: Body, 3b: Bottom, 3c: Mouth, 3d: Shoulder, 3e: Engaging cylinder, 3f: Neck ring, 3s: Male thread, 31: Push-up part, 32: Annular contact part, 33: Annular diameter reduction part, 33a: First diameter reduction part, 33b: Second diameter reduction part, 33c: Third diameter reduction part, 34: Annular folded part, 34a: Annular groove, 35: Heel part, 36a: Bent part, 36b: Bent part, 37a: Bent part, 37b: Bent part, 38: Bent part, 4: Lid, 4a: Top wall, 4b: Mounting cylinder, 4s: female thread, A2: opening, A3: opening, S2: storage space, S3: storage space

Claims

1. It comprises a refill container and a container body having an opening into which the refill container can be inserted. The container body further comprises a bottom portion formed integrally with the opening portion, and the bottom portion of the container body is provided with a push-up portion that can push up the refill container inserted into the container body by the elastic deformation of the bottom portion of the container body, thus forming a double container.

2. The bottom of the container body further comprises an annular contact portion and an annular tapered portion that tapers upward as it extends radially inward from the annular contact portion. The double container according to claim 1, wherein the push-up portion is positioned above the annular grounding portion together with the annular diameter-reducing portion.

3. The double container according to claim 2, wherein the bottom of the container body further comprises an annular folded portion that protrudes upward between the push-up portion and the annular contact portion.

4. The double-walled container according to claim 2, wherein the diameter-reducing portion is composed of a plurality of different diameter-reducing portions.

5. The bottom of the container body further comprises an annular contact portion and an annular tapered portion that tapers upward as it extends radially inward from the annular contact portion. The double container according to claim 1, wherein the upward-pushing portion is tapered downwards as it extends radially inward from the annular tapered portion.

6. The double container according to claim 1, wherein the refill container is provided with an engaging portion that removably engages with the mouth of the container body from the upper side of the container body.

7. The container body is a blow-molded container, as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The refill container is a wide-mouthed container, as described in claim 1.

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