Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1640291B1/en
Timestamp: 2020-02-25 16:34:15
Document Index: 385477748

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19']

EP1640291B1 - Container for dispensation of wet tissues - Google Patents
Container for dispensation of wet tissues Download PDF
EP1640291B1
EP1640291B1 EP05108544A EP05108544A EP1640291B1 EP 1640291 B1 EP1640291 B1 EP 1640291B1 EP 05108544 A EP05108544 A EP 05108544A EP 05108544 A EP05108544 A EP 05108544A EP 1640291 B1 EP1640291 B1 EP 1640291B1
EP05108544A
EP1640291A1 (en
Takeshi Uni-Charm Corp. Technical Center Bando
2004-09-22 Priority to JP2004275173 priority Critical
2005-09-07 Priority to JP2005259914A priority patent/JP4791111B2/en
2005-09-16 Application filed by Uni-Charm Corp filed Critical Uni-Charm Corp
2006-03-29 Publication of EP1640291A1 publication Critical patent/EP1640291A1/en
2010-03-24 Publication of EP1640291B1 publication Critical patent/EP1640291B1/en
210000001519 tissues Anatomy 0 claims description title 133
This invention relates to a container for dispensation of wet tissues packing a plurality of wet tissues stacked one upon another so as to be pulled out from the container one by one,
There have already been proposed refillable containers for a tissue package containing therein a plurality of wet tissues stacked one upon another. One of the containers is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1996-72949 ( JP 80 72 949 ) (hereinafter REFERENCE), which has a top wall formed with an opening allowing the wet tissues to be pulled out from the container one by one and a lid allowing the top wall inclusive of the opening to be opened and to shut- The top wall has its peripheral edge detachably fitted into respective top edges of side edges. The lid is swingable in a back and forth direction of the container on a hinge formed integrally with the peripheral edge of the top wall. The lid may be disengaged from the side walls to remove the top wall and thereby the container may be refilled with a new tissue package. After the container has been refilled with the new tissue package, the top wall may be fitted again in the respective upper edges of the side walls.
EP-A-0006709 discloses a container for dispensing wet tissues having an open-topped, tub-like container body closed by a closure. The closure comprises two superimposed diaphragms each having an opening therein completely out of register with the other, at least one of the openings being resiliently sealed by the other diaphragm. The tissue is drawn from the container through the two openings. An outer closure cap has a swingable lid secured to the inner diaphragm by an integral hinge.
US-A-5938069 discloses a dispenser for dispensing individual telephone disinfecting towelettes. The dispenser includes a cylindrical shell including a sealed bottom side and a top side including a recess therein and a cover connected thereto by a hinge mechanism for releasably sealing the recess. The dispenser further includes a device for dividing the dispenser into first and second sections, hermetically sealing the plurality of telephone disinfecting towelettes within the second section whereby a top one of the plurality of telephone disinfecting towelettes extends through the dividing device and into the first section where it may be removed from the dispenser through the recess.
DE 101 39 852 A1 discloses a box comprising all technical features of the preamble of claim 1, especially for wet tissues packed in bags, consisting of an upwardly-open container and having a central opening through which the wet tissues can be pulled out, and an inner lid hinged to the outer lid so as to cover the opening when the inner lid is closed. The opening of the outer lid is narrowed by a flexible plastic flap which is bendable upward as the wet tissue is pulled out of the container.
EP 1336576 A1 discloses a container for inter-folded tissue sheets having an opening provided in the top wall of the container for removal of the tissue sheets from the container. The opening is provided with elongated projections extending from the edges of the opening. The projections are part of at least two sheets of material attached to the outer side of the top wall and at least one projection of a first sheet is arranged to overlap at least one projection of an adjacent sheet in their inactive positions. The function of the projections is to support a tissue sheet in its presented position and to prevent the central portion of the tissue sheet from sagging or collapsing.
In view of the problem as has been described above, it is an object of this invention to provide a container for dispensation of wet tissues improved so that the part of the wet tissue reliably collapses toward the hinge for the lid lest the wet tissue should prevent the lid from being reliably shut down.
According to this invention, there is provided a container according to claim 1.
This invention may include preferred embodiments as follows:-
The covering portion including the distal portion of the flap is divided into first and second portions, and a second concave space is defined between the first and second portions so as to curve toward the proximal portion, and a central opening is defined between the first and second concave spaces.
The container body including the top wall comprises a reinforcing frame having a rigidity higher than that of the container body including the top wall and surrounding the opening. The reinforcing frame is integrated with the top wall. The lid has a rigidity higher than that of the container body including the top wall and is contiguous to the reinforcing frame with the hinge.
The container according to this invention is advantageous in aspects as follows: The elastically flexible flap causes a part of the wet tissue exposed through the opening to collapse toward the hinge of the lid and therefore the part of the wet tissue will not collapse toward the side opposite to the hinge. In addition, even if the wet tissue is exposed outward over a relatively large extent through the opening, the part of the wet tissue will not reliably collapse toward the hinge and there is no anxiety that the part of the wet tissue might protrude outward beyond a peripheral edge of the lid. The container is free from an apprehension that the part of the wet tissue exposed through the opening might prevent the lid from being reliably shut down. There is no possibility also that the lid might be shut down with the part of the wet tissue wedged between the top wall and the periphery of the lid.
The distal portion of the flap lying on the opening's periphery extending in the vicinity of the hinge of the lid is advantageous in aspects as follows: The part of the wet tissue exposed outward through the opening is reliably held between the opening's periphery and the distal portion of the flap so as to collapse toward the hinge of the lid without any anxiety that the part of the wet tissue might collapse toward the side opposite to the hinge. In addition, the part of the wet tissue exposed outward through the opening is held between the opening's periphery and the distal portion of the flap.
An embodiment of this invention wherein the opening has concave space, the cover portion of the flap has the second concave space and the central opening is defined between the first and second concave spaces is advantageous in aspects as follows: Such features facilitate the user to insert the fingers through the first concave space or the central opening into the container body and to hold an uppermost one of the wet tissue packed within the container body.
The invention will be described, by way of examples, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a container for dispensation of wet tissues as a first embodiment of this invention;
Details of a container for dispensation of wet tissues according to this invention will be more fully understood from the description given hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a container 10 for dispensation of wet tissues with a lid 17 opened, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the container 10 with a plate assembly 24, 25 as well as a package 20 for wet tissues removed from the container 10 and Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the plate assembly 24, 25 dismounted from the container 10. In Figs. 1 and 2, a vertical direction is indicated by an arrow L, a transverse direction is indicated by an arrow M (in Fig. 1 alone) and a back-and-forth direction is indicated by an arrow N. In Figs. 1 and 2, a part 19A of an individual wet tissue 19 is exposed outward from the container 10 through an opening 38.
The top wall 11 consists of a peripheral region 21 formed from a flexible plastic sheet and first and second plates 24, 25 underlie the top wall 11. The top wall 11 is centrally formed with a rectangular through-hole 26 and parts of the plate assembly 24, 25 extend in the through-hale 26. The top wall 11 further includes a reinforcing frame 27 surrounding the through-hole 26. The reinforcing frame 27 is made of a plastic material having a rigidity higher than that of the container body including the top wall 11 and fixed to the upper surface of the top wall 11. The lid 17 has a protuberant edge 35 formed on an inner surface of the lid 17, a protuberance 35a formed in a front side middle portion of the protuberant edge 35 and a pick-up tab 17A formed at a distal portion of the lid 17. The reinforcing frame 27 is formed on its inner peripheral edge 28 with a protuberance 28a engaged with the protuberance 35a when the lid 17 has been shut. The bottom wall 12 is made of a flexible plastic sheet. The front and rear side walls 13, 14 as well as the right and left side walls 15, 16 are made of a nonwoven fabric 29. The top and bottom walls 11, 12 and the side walls 13, 14, 15, 16 are connected one with another by stitching these walls together.
The lid 17 is made of a plastic material having a flexural rigidity higher than that of the top wall 11 in the form of a rectangle which is relatively long in the transverse direction. The lid 17 is on a hinge 34 in a back and forth direction of the container body 10A. The hinge 34 is provided integrally with the reinforcing frame 27 and therefore with the top wall 11. The protuberance 35a of the lid 17 comes in snap engagement with the protuberance 28a of the reinforcing frame 27 from below as the lid 17 is swingable in the forth direction from the position shown in Fig. 1. In this way, the lid 17 is retained at its shut down position. The lid 17 will be swingable upward in the back direction from this shut down position to disengage the protuberances 28a, 35a from each other and thereby to open the lid 17.
The flap 40 is elastically bendable on the proximal portion 42 by a press-up of the wet tissue 19 which exerts against the flap 10, as the part 19A of the wet tissue 19 is exposed outward through the opening 38. The flap 40 is restorable under its elasticity toward the hinge 34, i.e., onto the opening 38 as the part 19A of the wet tissue 19 gets free. The part 19A of the wet tissue 19 exposed outward through the opening 38 is held between the opening's periphery 41 and the distal portion 45 of the flap 40 so as to collapse toward the hinge 31.
To pull the individual wet tissues 19 out from the container body 10A one by one, the part 19A of the wet tissue 19 exposed outward through the opening 38 is held by the fingers and pulled upward in the vertical direction against a frictional resistance between the opening's periphery 41 and the wet tissue 19 being in contact with this periphery 41. As shown in Fig. 4, the flap 40 is elastically bendable upward on the proximal portion 42 by a press-up of the part 19A of the wet tissue 19 which exerts against the flap 40 and the wet tissue 19 is more and more exposed outward through the opening 38 as the wet tissue 19 is pulled upward. A wet tissue 19 immediately underlying this wet tissue 19 is partially exposed through the opening 38 as the preceding wet tissue 19 is completely pulled out from the container body 10A. In this manner, the individual wet tissues 19 can be pulled out from the container body 10A one by one. The flap 40 is restorable under its elasticity toward the hinge 34, i.e., onto the opening 38 every time each of the wet tissues 19 has been pulled out from the container body 10A-The part 19A of the wet tissue 19 exposed outward through the opening 38 is held between the opening's periphery 41 and the distal portion 45. of the flap 40 so as to collapse toward the hinge 34. After the wet tissue 19 has been pulled out from the container body 10A in this manner, it is important to shut the lid 17 down and thereby to close the opening 38 as well as the opening's periphery 41 in order to protect the wet tissues 19 remaining within the packing space 18 from being dried. After the wet tissues 19 within the package 20 have been used up, the slider 33 may be moved so as to disengage the zipper tapes 31, 32 from each other to open the packing space 18 and then a new package 20 may be put into the packing space 18.
The container 10 allows the user to insert the fingers through the central opening 50 into the packing space 18 and to hold the wet tissues 19 packed within the space 18 without any anxiety that the distal portion 15 of the flap 10 might prevent the fingers from reliably holding the uppermost wet tissue 19- In other words, it is ensured that the uppermost tissue 19 can be held without bending the flap 40 upward in the vertical direction. In this way, the container 10 allows the uppermost wet tissue 19 to be easily pulled out from the packing space 18. Additionally, even if the uppermost wet tissue 19 retreats into the packing space 18 during use of the container 10, such tissue 19 can be easily pulled out from the container body 10A through the central opening 50.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a container 10 for dispensation of wet tissues with a rid 17 opened as a second embodiment of this invention and Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in Fig. 6.
The container 10 includes a container body 10B and the lid 17. The container body 10B is formed by rectangular top and bottom walls 11, 12 opposed to each other in the vertical direction, rectangular front and rear side walls 13, 14 extending in the vertical direction so as to be opposed to each other in the back-and-forth direction, rectangular right and left side walls 15, 16 extending in the vertical direction so as to be opposed to each other in the transverse direction. The lid 17 is mounted on the top wall 11- The container body 10B has a hexahedron including these walls 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 which are substantially orthogonal one to another. These walls 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 of the container body 10B defines inside thereof a packing space 18 for a package 20 containing a plurality of wet tissues 19. The container body 10B and the lid 17 are made from relatively rigid plastic materials.
A significant portion of the top wall 11 lies at a level lower than that of respective upper edges 53 of the side walls 13, 14, 15, 16. The top wall 11 has its peripheral edge 56 detachably fitted on the respective upper edges 53 of the side walls 13, 14, 15, 16. The top wall 11 is centrally formed with an opening 38 which is elongated in the transverse direction so that the wet tissues 19 can be pulled out one by one from the container body 10B through this opening 38. The lid 17 has a front side protuberant edge 55 bended inward, a dent 55a formed in the front side middle portion of the front side protuberant edge 55 and a pick-up tab 17A formed on the front side upper surface of the lid 17. The top wall 11 is formed on an inner surface of the peripheral edge 56 with a protuberance 56a engaged with the dent 55a when the lid 17 has been shut. The top wall 11 is provided with an elastically flexible flap 40 causing a part 19A of the uppermost wet tissue 19 exposed outward from the container body 10B through the opening 38 to collapse toward a hinge 34 of the lid 17.
The lid 17 is swingable in a back and forth direction on a hinge 34 formed integrally with the peripheral edge 56 of the top wall 11. The protuberance 56a engages with the dent 55a as the lid 17 is swingable in the forth direction from the position shown in Fig. 6. In this way, the lid 17 is refined at its shut down position. The lid 17 will be swingable in the back direction from this shut down position to disengage the protuberance 56a and the dent 55a from each other and thereby to open the lid 17. The lid 17 is able to cover the opening 38 and a periphery 41 of the opening 38.
The container 10 is used in a sequence as follows: To set the tissue package 20 in the container body 10B, the top wall 11 is disengaged from the side walls 13, 14, 15, 16 and thereby the top wall 11 is removed from the container body 10B. Then, the package 20 is put into the packing space 18 so that a slit 52 through which the uppermost wet tissue 19 is pulled out from the container body 10B may remain exposed, followed by engaging the top wall 11 with the side walls 13, 14, 15, 16 again. Then the lid 17 is opened and the flap 40 is held by the user's fingers. The flap 40 held by the fingers in this manner is elastically bendable upward to expose the opening 38 and the part 19A of the wet tissue 19 is exposed outward from the container body 10B through the opening 38. Now the lid 17 is shut down. Upon leaving the flap 40 free from the fingers after the part 19A has been exposed, the flap 40 is restorable under its elasticity 50 as to cover the opening 38. The part 19A of the wet tissue 19 exposed through the opening 38 is held between the opening's periphery 41 and the distal portion 45 of the flap 40 and maintained collapsing toward the hinge 34.
To pull the individual wet tissues 19 out from the container 10 one by one, the lid 17 is opened, the part 19A of the wet tissue 19 exposed outward through the opening 38 is held by the- fingers and pulled upward against a frictional resistance between the edge of the opening' s periphery 41 and the wet tissue 19 being in contact with this edge of the periphery 41. The flap 40 is elastically bendable upward on the proximal portion 42 by a press-up of the wet tissue 19 and the wet tissue 19 is more and more exposed outward through the opening 38 as the wet tissue 19 is pulled upward. The wet tissue 19 immediately underlying this wet tissue 19 is partially exposed through the opening 38 as the preceding wet tissue 19 is completely pulled out from the container 10. In this manner, the individual wet tissues 19 can be pulled out from the container 10 one by one. The flap 40 is restorable under its elasticity onto the opening 38 every time each of the wet tissues 19 has been pulled out from the container 10. The part 19A of the wet tissue 19 exposed outward through the opening 38 is held between the opening's periphery 41 and the distal portion 45 of the flap 40 so as to collapse toward the hinge 34.
A container (10) for dispensation of wet tissues (19) comprising:
a container body (10A) having a top wall (11) formed with an opening (38) allowing wet tissues (19) to be pulled out from said container body (10A) one by one; and
a lid (17) being swingable in a back and forth direction of said container body (10A) on a hinge (34) with which said lid (17) is contiguous to said top wall (11) so that said opening (38) and a periphery (28) of said opening (38) are covered;
said container body (10A) further comprising an elastically flexible flap (40) having a proximal portion (42) on an opposite side of said opening (38) to said hinge (34),
extending onto said opening (38) from said proximal portion (42) toward said hinge (34) so as to be elastically bendable upward by an upward pressing of said wet tissue (19) against said flap (40) as said wet tissue (19) is pulled out from said container body (10A),
said flap comprising a covering portion (44) lying above said opening (38) and a distal portion (45) being contiguous to said covering portion (44); CHARACTERISED IN THAT
said distal portion (45) lies between said top wall (11) and said lid (17), and in that the distal portion extends beyond said opening (38) so that said distal portion (45) lies on a periphery of said opening (38) in a vicinity of said hinge (34), such that a part (19A) of said wet tissue (19) exposed outward through said opening (38) is held between said periphery (41) and said distal portion (45) and maintained collapsed toward said hinge (34) under an elasticity of said flap (40).
The container according to claim 1, wherein said opening (38) has a first concave space (46) toward said hinge (34).
The container according to claim 2, wherein said covering portion (44) including said distal portion (45) of said flap (40) is divided into first and second portions, a second concave space (47) is defined between said first and second portions so as to curve toward said proximal portion (42); and a central opening (50) is defined by said first and second concave spaces (46, 47).
EP05108544A 2004-09-22 2005-09-16 Container for dispensation of wet tissues Active EP1640291B1 (en)
EP1640291A1 EP1640291A1 (en) 2006-03-29
EP1640291B1 true EP1640291B1 (en) 2010-03-24
EP05108544A Active EP1640291B1 (en) 2004-09-22 2005-09-16 Container for dispensation of wet tissues
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2005-09-07 JP JP2005259914A patent/JP4791111B2/en active Active
2005-09-16 DE DE602005020096T patent/DE602005020096D1/en active Active
2005-09-16 EP EP05108544A patent/EP1640291B1/en active Active
2005-09-20 TW TW094132456A patent/TWI296601B/zh active
2005-09-20 US US11/229,545 patent/US7172093B2/en active Active
2005-09-21 CN CNA2005101315283A patent/CN1781823A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
2005-09-22 KR KR1020050088200A patent/KR101228661B1/en active IP Right Grant
EP1640291A1 (en) 2006-03-29
US7172093B2 (en) 2007-02-06
US20060060598A1 (en) 2006-03-23
DE602005020096D1 (en) 2010-05-06
KR101228661B1 (en) 2013-01-31
JP2006117320A (en) 2006-05-11
CN1781823A (en) 2006-06-07
KR20060051534A (en) 2006-05-19
TW200624346A (en) 2006-07-16
JP4791111B2 (en) 2011-10-12
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JP4898863B2 (en) 2012-03-21 Storage device for shaving razors, cartridges or other stored items
JP3746901B2 (en) 2006-02-22 Openable / closable container
JP4565692B2 (en) 2010-10-20 Wet tissue storage container and its combination
TW548225B (en) 2003-08-21 Packing container
US20030024919A1 (en) 2003-02-06 Holder for a dispenser package
KR101168430B1 (en) 2012-07-25 Storage case for holding a wet sheet package
JP3318166B2 (en) 2002-08-26 Wet tissue package
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