container

Abstract

To provide a container allowing to easily confirm that the time limit set to a content containing moisture is approaching.SOLUTION: A container 1 includes an inner layer 2, an indicator layer 3, a moisture conditioning layer 4 and an outer layer 5, in this order, each of which is formed of a resin material. The inner layer 2 has moisture permeability, and the moisture conditioning layer 4 contains a material absorbing moisture until reaching an equilibrium state, and the indicator layer 3 contains a material which changes a color by absorbing moisture, and at least a part of the outer layer 5 and the moisture conditioning layer 4 has light transmissivity to enable at least a part of the indicator layer 3 to be visually recognized from outside.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a container. [Background technology]

[0002] Foods, medicines, and other contents that are stored in containers and distributed are generally set with a predetermined expiration date such as a best-before date, expiry date, expiration date, or use-by date, which is printed on the container itself or a label (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-313940 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Conventionally, the expiration date as described above was merely printed, so the expiration date could not be confirmed unless the container was picked up and checked, which meant that the expiration date would pass without the user realizing it, resulting in wasteful disposal.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a container that makes it easy to check that the expiration date set for the contents containing water is approaching. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The container of the present invention comprises: A bottle-shaped container formed by blow molding, The inner layer, indicator layer, humidity control layer and outer layer are each made of a resin material in this order. Layered all around the inner layer is moisture-permeable, the humidity-regulating layer contains a material that absorbs moisture to an equilibrium state, the indicator layer contains a material that changes color upon absorbing moisture, and at least a portion of the outer layer and the humidity-regulating layer is translucent, allowing at least a portion of the indicator layer to be visible from the outside.

[0007] In the above configuration, the container of the present invention is preferably a container having a comparison marker that displays a color on the outside that corresponds to the color that the indicator layer displays on the outside when the expiration date set for the contents arrives. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a container that makes it easy to check that the expiration date set for the contents containing water is approaching. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is an external view showing a container according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along line B-B. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] 1 to 3, in one embodiment of the present invention, a container 1 has an inner layer 2, an indicator layer 3, a humidity control layer 4, and an outer layer 5, each made of a resin material, arranged in this order from the inside to the outside of the container, to form an internal space S for accommodating moisture-containing contents (not shown). The container 1 also has a comparison marker 6.

[0012] The contents are not particularly limited as long as they contain moisture, and may be, for example, food, medicine, cosmetics, etc. The contents are set with a predetermined expiration date such as a best-before date, expiry date, expiration date, or use-by date.

[0013] The container 1 has a cylindrical mouth 1a extending along a central axis O, a cylindrical body 1b connected to the lower end of the mouth 1a, and a bottom 1c connected to the lower end of the body 1b. Note that the mouth 1a and the body 1b may have a tubular shape other than a cylindrical shape, such as a rectangular tubular shape.

[0014] For ease of explanation, the direction along the central axis O is also referred to as the vertical direction, the direction from the body 1b toward the mouth 1a along the vertical direction is also referred to as the upward direction, and the opposite direction is also referred to as the downward direction.

[0015] The mouth portion 1a is configured so that a cap member (not shown) that seals the internal space S can be attached via a threaded portion. Note that the mouth portion 1a may also be configured so that the cap member can be attached via a locking structure other than a threaded portion. The cap member may be a cylindrical, topped opening and closing cap that can be attached and detached to the mouth portion 1a, a pouring cap having a pouring outlet through which the contents can be poured, an attachment cap for attaching a pump that can discharge the contents to the mouth portion 1a, or any other cap.

[0016] The container 1 has a bottle shape with the body 1b being wider than the mouth 1a. The container 1 is not limited to a bottle shape, and may be configured, for example, to be cup-shaped. The mouth 1a is not limited to being sealed with a cap member, and for example, if the container 1 is cup-shaped, the mouth 1a may be sealed with a sheet material.

[0017] The container 1 can be formed, for example, by blow molding such as biaxial stretch blow molding or extrusion blow molding. Note that various molding methods can be used to form the container 1, depending on the shape of the container 1, as long as they allow for a layered structure, such as injection molding, thermoforming (sheet molding), and extrusion molding. The container 1 may also be configured to have a container body having an inner layer 2, indicator layer 3, humidity-conditioning layer 4, and outer layer 5, and a label such as a shrink label or an in-mold label.

[0018] The inner layer 2 is not particularly limited as long as it is made of a resin material and has moisture permeability, and can be made of, for example, polyethylene such as low density polyethylene (LDPE).

[0019] The indicator layer 3 is formed from a resin material, contains a material that changes color upon moisture absorption, and is not particularly limited as long as it is moisture permeable; for example, it can be formed from polyethylene containing cobalt chloride. The material that changes color upon moisture absorption may be a metal salt other than cobalt chloride, such as copper sulfate, or a material other than a metal salt. The indicator layer 3 can change its color by absorbing moisture that permeates through the inner layer 2 from the moist contents and reaches the indicator layer 3. The indicator layer 3 also allows moisture to permeate toward the humidity-regulating layer 4.

[0020] In this application, "color change" means a change in hue (for example, a change from blue to red), a change in saturation (a change in the degree to which the color is not whitish), a change in brightness (a change in the shade), or any combination thereof.

[0021] The humidity-conditioning layer 4 is formed from a resin material, contains a material that absorbs moisture to an equilibrium state, and is not particularly limited as long as it has the translucency described below. For example, it can be formed from polyethylene containing a moisture-absorbing filler (humidity conditioner). The humidity-conditioning layer 4 can retain a certain amount of moisture by absorbing moisture that penetrates the inner layer 2 and indicator layer 3 from the moist contents and reaches the humidity-conditioning layer 4 to an equilibrium state. This makes it possible to suppress changes in humidity in the indicator layer 3.

[0022] The outer layer 5 is made of a resin material and is not particularly limited as long as it has the translucency described below, and can be made of, for example, polyethylene such as low-density polyethylene.

[0023] At least a portion of the outer layer 5 and the humidity-conditioning layer 4 has translucency that allows at least a portion of the indicator layer 3 to be visible from the outside. For example, the entire outer layer 5 and the humidity-conditioning layer 4 may be configured to be translucent, allowing the entire indicator layer 3 to be visible from the outside. Alternatively, at least one of the outer layer 5 and the humidity-conditioning layer 4 may have a locally translucent window portion, allowing a portion of the indicator layer 3 to be visible from the outside through the window portion. The shape of the window portion is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a stripe or polka dot pattern. Alternatively, for example, the entire outer layer 5 and the humidity-conditioning layer 4 may be translucent, and an opaque portion for forming the window portion may be formed by, for example, painting, vapor deposition, a shrink label, an in-mold label, or the like. The indicator layer 3 may be provided in the shape of a strip extending vertically.

[0024] In the above-described configuration including the inner layer 2, indicator layer 3, humidity-conditioning layer 4, and outer layer 5, the humidity-conditioning layer 4 is located outside the indicator layer 3. This suppresses the influence of the humidity of the external atmosphere on the correlation between the time it takes for moisture to penetrate the indicator layer 3 from the contents and the amount of color change in the indicator layer 3 visible from the outside, even if the outer layer 5 is moisture-permeable. Therefore, the color displayed by the indicator layer 3 to the outside when the specified expiration date set for the contents arrives can be made nearly constant. It is preferable that the outer layer 5 be thick enough to sufficiently suppress moisture permeability or be made of a material with low moisture permeability. A moisture barrier layer may be provided between the humidity-conditioning layer 4 and the outer layer 5 or outside the outer layer 5.

[0025] The comparative marker 6 shows a color to the outside that corresponds to the color that the indicator layer 3 shows to the outside when the specified expiration date set for the contents arrives. Therefore, the user can easily confirm that the specified expiration date is approaching by comparing the color of the indicator layer 3 with the color of the comparative marker 6 from the outside.

[0026] The color that the indicator layer 3 shows to the outside when the above-mentioned predetermined time limit has arrived can be set by, for example, the material and thickness of the inner layer 2.

[0027] When the window portion is provided, it is preferable to provide the comparison marker 6 adjacent to the window portion. The shape of the comparison marker 6 is not limited to a stripe as shown in the figure, and it may be, for example, a polka dot pattern. The comparison marker 6 is not limited to being provided on the outer surface of the container 1 as shown in the figure, and may be provided, for example, on a label or on any layer constituting the container 1. Furthermore, the comparison marker 6 may not be provided on the container 1, but may be provided on packaging such as a paper box that contains the container 1, or on an instruction manual, etc.

[0028] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0029] Therefore, the container 1 of the above-described embodiment can be modified as long as it is a container 1 that has, in this order, an inner layer 2, an indicator layer 3, a humidity control layer 4, and an outer layer 5, each of which is made of a resin material, wherein the inner layer 2 is moisture permeable, the humidity control layer 4 contains a material that absorbs moisture to an equilibrium state, the indicator layer 3 contains a material that changes color upon absorbing moisture, and at least a portion of the outer layer 5 and the humidity control layer 4 is translucent, making at least a portion of the indicator layer 3 visible from the outside.

[0030] In addition, the container 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment is preferably a container 1 having the above-mentioned configuration, which has a comparison marker 6 that displays a color on the outside corresponding to the color displayed on the outside by the indicator layer 3 when the expiration date set for the contents arrives. [Example]

[0031] As an example, a bottle-shaped container was manufactured as shown in Figures 1-3, with a 100 μm-thick inner layer made of low-density polyethylene, a 250 μm-thick indicator layer made of polyethylene containing 30% cobalt chloride, a 100 μm-thick humidity-regulating layer made of polyethylene containing a humidity-regulating agent (Sasaki Chemical Co., Ltd., S-KID (trademark) approximately 30% drop type), and a 700 μm-thick outer layer made of low-density polyethylene. The number of days required for the appearance of the container to change from blue to purple to red was measured. The external ambient temperature was 40°C, and the container was left empty and uncapped (i.e., the humidity conditions inside and outside the container were the same).

[0032] As a comparative example, a container similar to that of the example was produced except that no humidity-conditioning layer was provided and the thickness of the outer layer was set to 800 μm, and the number of days was examined in the same manner as in the example. The results are shown in Table 1. [Table 1]

[0033] As shown in Table 1, by providing the humidity-conditioning layer, the difference in the number of days required for discoloration caused by differences in humidity in the external atmosphere could be improved from 11 days to 4 days. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1 container 1a Mouth 1b Torso 1c bottom 2. Inner layer 3 Indicator Layer 4. Humidity-regulating layer 5 Outer layer 6 Comparison Markers O center axis S interior space

Claims

1. A bottle-shaped container formed by blow molding, The device has an inner layer, an indicator layer, a humidity control layer, and an outer layer, each of which is made of a resin material, laminated in this order around the entire periphery, The inner layer is moisture permeable, the humidity-conditioning layer includes a material that absorbs moisture to an equilibrium state; the indicator layer includes a material that changes color upon absorbing moisture, The container, wherein at least a portion of the outer layer and the humidity-conditioning layer are translucent, allowing at least a portion of the indicator layer to be visible from the outside.

2. 2. The container according to claim 1, further comprising a comparative marker that displays a color on its exterior that corresponds to the color displayed on the exterior by the indicator layer when the expiration date set for the contents has been reached.

Images