Paper cups

Abstract

To provide a paper cup having a structure that can be easily flattened and spread out after use for easy disposal without significantly changing the manufacturing process of conventional paper cups. [Solution] The device comprises a body member 13 formed by rolling up a fan-shaped body paper 11 and having a cylindrical body portion 13a tapering from one side to the other, and a top curl portion 13b in which the periphery of one side opening 11a of the body portion 13a is curled outward in a circular shape, and a bottom member 14 joined to the other side opening 11b of the body portion 13a, and is configured so that when the top curl portion 13b is opened to expose the end of one side opening 11a of the body paper 11, the body paper 11 can be torn along the radial direction of the body paper 11 from the edge of the exposed one side opening 11a.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to paper cups. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, as paper cups (hereinafter referred to as "paper cups"), ice cream cups filled with ice cream and vending cups for carrying coffee, soup, etc. are known.

[0003] Paper cups used for ice cream and vending machines are generally constructed as containers with excellent crush resistance. Therefore, after use, paper cups cannot be easily crushed to reduce their volume, and tend to be bulky.

[0004] Incidentally, there is known a paper cup in which a spiral cut-out perforation is provided in a body member, and the ice cream inside can be taken out by tearing the body member along the cut-out perforation (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Jikko No. 58-11685 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, the paper cup exemplified in Patent Document 1 requires the creation of complex spiral perforations that run around the body twice in the circumferential direction, which poses a manufacturing process that significantly changes the conventional paper cup manufacturing process, resulting in problems such as complex processing and high costs. Also, it is cumbersome to tear the body along the spiral perforations.

[0007] Therefore, a technical problem arises that must be solved in order to provide a paper cup that is easily unfolded and easily reduced in volume after use, and the present invention aims to solve this problem. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the paper cup of the present invention provides a paper cup comprising a body member formed by rolling up a fan-shaped body paper, the body member having a cylindrical body portion tapering from one side to the other, and a top curl portion in which the periphery of one side opening of the body portion is curled outward in a circular shape, and a bottom member joined to the other side opening of the body portion, and which is configured such that when the top curl portion is opened to expose the end of the one side opening of the body paper, the body paper can be torn along the radial direction of the body paper from the edge of the exposed one side end.

[0009] In addition, it is preferable that the paper cup of the present invention has a tear starting point formed at the one side opening, which is the starting point for tearing the body paper along the radial direction.

[0010] In addition, in the paper cup according to the present invention, it is preferable that the tearing starting point is located near the overlapping portion where both end edges of the body paper are overlapped. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to this invention, a paper cup can be provided that is easily unfolded and easily reduced in volume after use. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B show an example of a paper cup according to an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a side view, (b) is a plan view, and (c) is a side view cross-sectionally taken along line AA in (b). [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic example of a process for manufacturing the paper cup. [Figure 3]The figures show an example of the procedure for cutting and unfolding the body of the same paper cup, where (a) shows the paper cup before the body is cut, (b) shows the paper cup in a straight line as the work of cutting the body begins toward the other end, and (c) shows the paper cup in a state where the body paper has been cut to the other end and is beginning to unfold into a sheet. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] An embodiment of the paper cup of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the following examples, when referring to the number, value, amount, range, etc. of components, unless otherwise specified or when it is clearly limited to a specific number in principle, the number is not limited to that specific number and may be more or less than the specific number.

[0014] Furthermore, when referring to the shape or positional relationship of components, etc., it includes things that are substantially similar or approximate to those shapes, etc., unless otherwise specified or when it is clearly considered otherwise in principle.

[0015] In addition, the drawings may exaggerate characteristic parts to make the features easier to understand, and the dimensional proportions of the components may not be the same as in reality. In addition, in cross-sectional views, hatching of some components may be omitted to make the cross-sectional structure of the components easier to understand.

[0016] In the following description, the expressions indicating directions such as up, down, left, and right are not absolute, but are appropriate when each part of the paper cup of the present invention is in the position shown in the drawing, but if the position changes, they should be interpreted accordingly. Furthermore, the same symbols are used for the same elements throughout the description of the embodiment.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows a paper cup 10 according to the present invention, where (a) is a side view, (b) is a plan view, and (c) is a side view taken along line AB in (b).

[0018] Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram that shows a schematic example of a process for manufacturing a paper cup 10, and the paper cup 10 is formed through the steps shown in (a) to (g) of Figure 2. The structure of the paper cup 10 will be explained in the order of steps A to E shown in (a) to (g) of Figure 2.

[0019] In step A, a fan-shaped body paper 11 as shown in FIG. 2(a) and a disk-shaped bottom paper 12 as shown in FIG. 2(b) are prepared. Both sides of the body paper 11 and both sides of the bottom paper 12 are waterproofed by laminating a polyethylene (PE) layer, for example. The body paper 11 has a predetermined width of glue tab 11e at one edge 11a and the other edge 11b, extending from the upper end (which will become the one-side opening 11A) to the lower end (which will become the other-side opening 11B). The glue tab 11e at the one edge 11a of the body paper 11 is located on the inner surface of the body paper 11, while the glue tab 11e at the other edge 11b is located on the outer surface of the body paper 11. A tear start point 16 is provided at the upper end (which will become the one-side opening 11A) of the body paper 11, adjacent to the glue tab 11e at the other edge 11b.

[0020] The shape of the tearing starting point 16 may be any shape, such as a V-shaped notch extending from the upper end side, which becomes the opening 11A on one side, to the lower end side, which becomes the opening 11B on the other side, or a linear notch. In this embodiment, the tearing starting point 16 is provided as a V-shaped notch.

[0021] In step B, the overlapping margin 11e on one edge 11a of the body paper 11 is overlapped with the overlapping margin 11e on the other edge 11b to form a joint (overlapped portion 11c). As a result, the body paper 11 becomes a cylindrical body member 13 that tapers downward and has a body portion 13a between one opening 11A and the other opening 11B, as shown in Figure 2(c). In the body member 13 formed in this way, a tear starting point 16 is located immediately to the side of the overlapping portion 11c. Meanwhile, the bottom paper 12 is squeezed to form a bottom member 14 with its outer peripheral edge 12a standing downward, as shown in Figure 2(d).

[0022] In step C, as shown in Figure 2(e), the bottom member 14, with its outer peripheral edge 12a standing downward, is dropped from above into the tapered body member 13. Then, the outer peripheral edge 12a of the bottom member 14 is butted against the lower inner surface of the body member 13, and the outer surface of the outer peripheral edge 12a of the bottom member 14 is joined to the lower inner surface of the body member 13 to form the annular leg portion 15.

[0023] In step D, as shown in (f) of Figure 2, the other side opening 11B of the body member 13 is bent inward to cover the outer peripheral edge portion 12a of the bottom member 14, and the other side opening 11B of the body member 13 is joined to the inner surface of the outer peripheral edge portion 12a of the bottom member 14.

[0024] In step E, as shown in Figure 2(g), the periphery of one side opening 11A of the body member 13 is rolled outward to form the top curl portion 13b. Note that the tear start point 16 provided on the upper end side of the body paper 11 is rolled into the back side of the top curl portion 13b (the body portion 13a side) and hidden when the top curl portion 13b is formed. In this way, the paper cup 10 shown in Figure 1 is formed.

[0025] The paper cup 10 formed in this way can be filled with ice cream and used as an ice cream cup, or as a vending cup for carrying coffee, soup, etc. Furthermore, the opening 11A on one side of the paper cup 10 can be sealed by attaching a sheet material 17 as shown in Figure 1(c) if necessary after the contents have been filled.

[0026] In addition, a method for reducing the volume of the paper cup 10 formed in this manner by unfolding it into the body member 13 and the bottom member 14 as needed and returning each to a state close to a sheet, until it is discarded or recycled after use, will be explained using Figure 3.

[0027] Figure 3(a) shows the state of the paper cup 10 just after use and before its volume is reduced. To tear and unfold the body member 13 from this state, as shown in Figure 3(b), at the location of the tearing starting point 16 of the top curled portion 13b (one-side opening 11A), a portion of the top curled portion 13b is rolled up in the direction of arrow R, exposing the tearing starting point 16 at the rolled-up location. Once the tearing starting point 16 is exposed at the unrolled location, the unrolled portion of the top curled portion 13b is pulled strongly on both the left and right sides of the tearing starting point 16, i.e., in the directions indicated by arrows F.

[0028] Furthermore, when one side opening 11A is pulled strongly to the left and right around tearing starting point 16 at the rewinding location, the tip of the cut from tearing starting point 16 tears from one side opening 11A toward the other side opening 11B. In this case, because tearing starting point 16 is located adjacent to strong overlapping portion 11c where the glue margin 11e of one end edge 11a of body paper 11 is overlapped and joined to the glue margin 11e of the other end edge 11b, the tearing force on body paper 11 is applied linearly to body member 13 along strong overlapping portion 11c, and body member 13 can be torn relatively cleanly along overlapping portion 11c.

[0029] Further tearing can be performed up to the bottom end 11d shown in Figure 3(c). Once the body paper 11 has been torn down to the bottom end 11d (the other-side opening 11B), the top curl portion 13b and the folded-back portion of the other-side opening 11B are flattened, and the body member 13 is further moved in the direction shown by arrow Pb along the outer periphery of the bottom member 14. This movement allows the body member 13 to be peeled off from the bottom member 14, and the body member 13 and the bottom member 14 can be separated individually. After separation, the body member 13 and the bottom member 14 can also be unfolded into individual sheets.

[0030] Therefore, with the paper cup 10 of this invention, after use, the body member 13 and the bottom member 14 can be separated and unfolded individually as needed to reduce the volume. In addition, this can be easily achieved by simply providing a tearing point 16 on a conventional paper cup without significantly changing the shape of the conventional paper cup.

[0031] In addition, cutting the body member 13 of the paper cup 10 is not limited to when reducing the volume of the paper cup 10, but can also be used in cases where, for example, ice cream packed in an ice cream cup has frozen hard and is difficult to remove from the cup, cutting the paper cup 10 allows it to be removed smoothly.

[0032] Furthermore, the present invention can be modified or combined in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it is natural that the present invention covers such modifications and combinations. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 10: Paper cups 11: Trunk paper, 11A: One side opening, 11B: Other side opening, 11c: Overlapping part, 11d: Lower end, 11e: Glue allowance 12: bottom paper, 12a: outer edge 13: body member, 13a: body portion, 13b: top curl portion 14:Bottom member 15: Circular leg 16: Tearing point

Claims

1. a body member formed by winding a fan-shaped body paper and including a cylindrical body portion tapering from one side to the other, and a top curl portion in which the periphery of an opening on one side of the body portion is curled outward in a circular shape; a bottom member joined to the other side opening of the body portion; Equipped with This paper cup is configured so that when the top curl portion is opened and the end of the one-side opening of the body paper is exposed, the body paper can be torn along the radial direction of the body paper from the exposed edge of the one-side opening.

2. 2. The paper cup according to claim 1, wherein a tearing starting point is formed at the one side opening, from which the body paper is torn along the radial direction.

3. 3. The paper cup according to claim 2, wherein the tearing starting point is located near an overlapping portion where both end edges of the body paper are overlapped.

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