Containers, solid objects in containers, information transmission systems

Abstract

By creating uneven surfaces on the contents through the container, new value is provided. [Solution] The container 1 comprises a container body 10 configured to contain contents 3 inside, and an information display unit 20 located inside the container body 10, which has a raised and recessed shape representing a code that is optically readable by a machine and indicates information, and is configured so that the raised and recessed shape is transferred to the contents 3.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a container, a solid content contained in the container, and an information transmission system using the same.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a container for forming uneven surfaces such as patterns and characters on soft foods such as tofu and pudding. Such uneven surfaces have a visual change and are interesting. In addition, by providing a concave surface on the upper surface of the tofu, it serves as a soy sauce reservoir and is convenient.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide new value by providing unevenness on the content by means of a container.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, the container includes a container body configured to accommodate a content inside, and an uneven shape representing a code configured to be optically read by a machine inside the container body, the code indicating information, and an information presenting unit configured such that the uneven shape is transferred to the content.

Effects of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, new value can be provided by providing unevenness on the content by means of a container.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the external appearance of a container according to one embodiment, and is a view of the container from above so that the inside of the container is visible. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the external appearance of a container according to one embodiment, and is a view taken from above with the container inverted so that the bottom surface of the container is visible. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of a containerized solid product with its contents placed inside a container according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the contents after they have been removed from a container according to one embodiment. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information transmission system using a container according to one embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] One embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment relates to a container configured to add an information display function to the contents it contains. The information is presented by a raised and recessed shape, and the container is configured so that this raised and recessed shape is transferred to the contents.

[0009] [container] Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views showing an example of the external appearance of the container 1 according to this embodiment. Figure 1 is a view of the container 1 from above, showing the inside of the container 1. Figure 2 is a view of the container 1 upside down, showing the bottom of the container 1.

[0010] As shown in these figures, the container body 10 of container 1 has a bottom 11, side portions 12 surrounding the bottom 11, and an opening 13 provided at the top. The opening 13 has an area greater than or equal to the bottom 11.

[0011] An information display section 20 is provided at the bottom 11. The information display section 20 has an uneven shape provided at least on the inside of the container 1. These unevennesses represent codes indicating information and constitute a code section 21.

[0012] The code is a code that is represented in two colors, such as white and black, and is configured to be optically read by a machine. The code may be a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code. One-dimensional codes may include barcodes, for example. Two-dimensional codes may include matrix codes and stacked codes. Matrix codes may include QR Code (registered trademark) and DataMatrix Code (registered trademark), for example. Stacked codes may include PDF417, for example. The unevenness of the code portion 21 is formed such that one of the areas represented in the two colors of the code corresponds to a recess and the other corresponds to a convex part. In the example shown in Figures 1 and 2, the code is a QR code.

[0013] [Contents] Figure 3 shows a container of solid matter 5 with contents 3 placed inside container 1. In this example, the opening 13 of container 1 is sealed with a sheet 51.

[0014] The contents 3 contained in container 1 solidify after being placed in the container body 10 in a fluid state. Alternatively, the contents 3 may solidify after being poured into the container body 10 in a fluid state. Or, the contents 3 may be placed in the container body 10 in a solid state, then made fluid by, for example, heating, and then placed in the container body 10 in a fluid state, after which it solidifies again. Therefore, the uneven shape of the code section 21 is transferred to the portion of the contents 3 that comes into contact with the information display section 20 of container 1.

[0015] Figure 4 shows the contents 3 after being removed from container 1. As shown in this figure, the portion of contents 3 that was in contact with the information display section 20 of container 1 has a textured surface 31 formed on it, with the textured shape of the information display section 20 transferred to it.

[0016] The content 3 can be anything as long as it solidifies after being placed in the container body 10 in a fluid state. The content 3 may be, for example, a food such as tofu or chocolate. Also, the content 3 may be, for example, a non-food such as soap or a candle.

[0017] [Code reading] Devices that read codes as described above and convert them into character information and the like are generally known. For code reading, for example, an information terminal such as a smartphone may be used. That is, a smartphone with a code reader app installed may be used to photograph the code with the built-in camera, and the information indicated by the code may be displayed on the display of the smartphone. Similarly, for the solid product 5 in a container of the present embodiment, when the code is optically read using a device, the information indicated by the code can be displayed by the device.

[0018] For example, when the content 3 is tofu, it can be handled as follows. By turning the solid product 5 in the container upside down, the tofu, which is the content 3, can be taken out of the container 1 and served on a plate or the like. At this time, the concavo-convex portions 31 of the content 3 are arranged on the upper side. When eating the tofu, soy sauce can be poured onto the concavo-convex portions 31 on the upper surface of the tofu. The soy sauce flows into the concave portions of the concavo-convex portions 31 and hardly remains on the convex portions. As a result, the convex portions become the white color of the tofu, and the concave portions become the black color of the soy sauce. In this state, when using the code reader function of the smartphone, the information indicated by the code can be read by the smartphone.

[0019] When the information indicated by the code is, for example, the material of the tofu, for example, a consumer who eats the tofu can read the code with a smartphone, and the material of the tofu will be displayed on the smartphone, and the consumer can know the material of the tofu.

[0020] [Information transmission system] As described above, for example, the information presented to the consumer by reading with a smartphone or the like does not necessarily have to be directly shown in the code. For example, the transmission information to be presented is stored in the server, and the code may show information for reading the transmission information stored in the server, such as a URL corresponding to the information.

[0021] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of an information transmission system 100 using such a method. As described above, the transmission information 162 presented to the consumer 140 via the solid content 5 in the container is recorded in the server 160. An information terminal 142 such as a smartphone used by the consumer 140 can be connected to the server 160 via an information communication network 150 such as the Internet.

[0022] The consumer 140 takes out the content 3 from the solid content 5 in the container and photographs the code formed by the concave and convex portions 31 of the content 3 using the information terminal 142. The information terminal 142 recognizes the photographed code by its barcode reader function and acquires a URL. The information terminal 142 reads out the transmission information 162 recorded in the server 160 via the information communication network 150 based on the acquired URL, for example, by a web browser, and displays the transmission information 162 on its display.

[0023] The information 162 presented to the consumer 140 may, but is not limited to, be prepared by the container solids manufacturer 170 that manufactures the container solids 5 and recorded on the server 160. As shown in Figure 5, the information 162 presented to the consumer 140 may also be prepared by the information provider 180 and recorded on the server 160. The information provider 180 provides the container solids manufacturer 170 that manufactures the container solids 5 with information such as a URL related to the information 162 and requests that it be included in the code of the container solids 5. For example, the information 162 may be an advertisement, and the information provider 180 may be an advertiser. The container solids manufacturer 170 may receive compensation from the information provider 180 for including information about the advertisement in the container solids 5. The information provider 180 may also be an agent that receives requests from advertisers. In this way, the container solids manufacturer 170 can obtain not only the price of the product but also compensation from the information provider 180 by selling the container solids 5.

[0024] [Solid food in a container] The contents 3 of the containerized solid 5 can be anything as long as it solidifies after being placed in the container body 10 while still fluid. There are several possible methods for optically reading the code on the uneven surface 31 of the contents 3, which has the uneven shape of the code section 21 of the container body 10 transferred to it.

[0025] For example, when the contents 3 are tofu, as described above, the white tofu is topped with black soy sauce, resulting in a code that is represented in two colors and can be optically read by a machine. In this way, the contents 3 may be configured such that after being removed from the container 1 and placed with the uneven portion 31 facing upwards, liquid is poured into the recesses of the uneven portion 31. In this case, in the container 1, the information display section 20 is provided at the bottom 11 of the container body 10, and an opening 13 having an area greater than or equal to the bottom 11 is provided at the top of the container body 10. This is preferable because the contents 3 can be easily removed from the container 1 through the opening 13 and placed with the uneven portion 31 facing upwards.

[0026] Content 3 is not limited to tofu; it could be any food item topped with a sauce of a different color from Content 3, such as jelly topped with fruit sauce or pudding topped with caramel sauce.

[0027] Furthermore, the contents 3 may have different surface colors in the recessed and raised parts of the uneven surface 31 when placed in the container 1. For example, when the contents 3 is chocolate, it may be white chocolate and milk chocolate. Similarly, the contents 3 may be, for example, pudding filled with caramel sauce.

[0028] In these cases, the contents 3 of one color can be poured into a recess that forms the code portion 21 of the information display portion 20 at the bottom 11 of the container body 10 and allowed to solidify, and then the contents 3 of the other color can be poured into the container body 10 and allowed to solidify. When the contents 3 are removed from the container 1, the uneven portion 31 forms a two-color code, so it can be read optically as a code by a machine.

[0029] Furthermore, the contents 3 may be monochromatic, and the ridges and depressions of the ridges and depressions 31 may have sufficient height and depth, so that the depressions cast shadows and can be optically read as a code by a machine.

[0030] [Information presented] The information presented to the consumer 140 using the code may be information relating to the contents 3. This information may be directly indicated on the raised or recessed parts 31 of the contents 3. Alternatively, this information may be recorded as transmission information 162 on the server 160, and information such as a URL for reading the transmission information 162 may be indicated on the raised or recessed parts 31 of the contents 3.

[0031] Information regarding Contents 3 may include, for example, the manufacturer, manufacturing plant, ingredients, additives, manufacturing date, nutritional information, allergens, etc. Alternatively, information regarding Contents 3 may include, for example, instructions for use, cooking methods, and a manufacturer's profile.

[0032] For example, information that is normally printed on the container can be read by the user even when the contents 3 are removed from the container and placed in a state where they can be used immediately. For example, information on food served in a restaurant can also be read.

[0033] Furthermore, the information presented to the consumer 140 using the code may not be directly related to the contents 3. This information may be, for example, an advertisement unrelated to the contents 3. This information may also be, for example, a lottery result, and the consumer 140 may enjoy winning or losing by reading the code using the information terminal 142. This information may also be, for example, information used in a game, and for example, at a party, containerized solids 5 may be distributed to each of the multiple consumers 140, and a game may be played using these.

[0034] Thus, the information presented to the consumer 140 using the code may be information related to the contents 3, information unrelated to the contents 3, or any other type of information.

[0035] [Container manufacturing method] Container 1 is made of, for example, synthetic resin and can be manufactured by various methods. For example, container 1 can be formed by sheet molding. Sheet molding may be performed by vacuum forming, pressure forming, or any other method. For example, when the code is a QR code, container 1 can be easily formed with, for example, a sheet thickness of about 0.3 mm, a length and width dimension of the code portion 21 of about 50 mm, a length and width dimension of one cell of about 2 mm, and a depth of indentation of about 0.5 mm. Container 1 is not limited to sheet molding and can be formed by various molding methods such as blow molding and injection molding. The shape of container 1 can be any shape.

[0036] For example, if blow molding or injection molding is used, the information display section 20 may be provided not only on the bottom of the container body 10, but also on the sides, etc. The method by which the contents 3 are removed from the container 1 can be any method. For example, the container 1 may be configured to be divided into two parts so that the contents 3 can be removed.

[0037] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1: Container, 10: Container body, 11: Bottom, 12: Side, 13: Opening, 20: Information display section, 21: Code section 3: Contents, 31: Uneven part 5: Solid food in a container, 51: Sheet 100: Information transmission system, 140: Consumer, 142: Information terminal, 150: Information and communication network, 160: Server, 162: Information transmitted, 170: Manufacturer of solid products in containers, 180: Information provider

Claims

1. A container body configured to hold contents inside, The inside of the container body has an information display section having a raised and recessed shape that represents a code that indicates information and is configured to be optically readable by a machine, and the raised and recessed shape is configured to be transferred to the contents. A container equipped with [something].

2. The container according to claim 1, The contents, which have an uneven surface on which the uneven shape of the information display section is transferred, are placed in the container body in a fluid state and then solidify. A solid food in a container equipped with [a specific feature / equipment].

3. The contents are a solid in a container according to claim 2, wherein the surface color differs between the recessed and raised parts of the uneven portion.

4. The information display unit is provided at the bottom of the container body. The upper part of the container body is provided with an opening having an area greater than or equal to that of the bottom, The contents are removed from the container through the opening and placed with the uneven portion facing upwards, after which liquid is poured into the recesses of the uneven portion. The containerized solid matter according to claim 2.

5. The information indicated by the code is information relating to the contents, as described in claim 2.

6. The container according to claim 1, The server that stored the transmission information and Equipped with, The code indicates information for reading the transmission information stored on the server. Information transmission system.

7. A containerized solid according to claim 2, The server that stored the transmission information and Equipped with, The code indicates information for reading the transmission information stored on the server. Information transmission system.

8. The information transmission system according to claim 7, wherein the transmitted information is information relating to the contents.

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