Patent Description:
Conventionally, as illustrated in Patent Literature <NUM> and Patent Literature <NUM>, erectable-type containers have been provided.

Since the erectable-type containers can be kept compact until use, it is convenient without being bulky in transportation, inventory management and the like.

Further background art is provided in <CIT>, which discloses a wooden container having a side plate formed by forming a veneer into a frame shape with the main surfaces facing inward and outward, and a bottom plate made of veneer arranged on the inside of the side plate near the lower end of the side plate.

However, when food is placed in the container, moisture and oil tend to seep out of the container from a joint of a member since most of the foods contain moisture and oil. Therefore, there is a demand for a container that can preventing the moisture and oil contained in contents from seeping out or leaking out of the container.

Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an erectable-type container having excellent durability.

The present invention is a food container as defined in Claim <NUM> of the appended claims. Details of certain embodiments are set out in the dependent claims.

A food container according to the present invention includes a flat bottom part, and a side part forming a box-shaped storage with the bottom part, wherein a cross section appearing on a periphery of the bottom part is sealed with an insoluble sealing material which prevents moisture infiltration, and wherein the side part is adhered to the bottom part by adhesive or the sealing material interposed between the cross section appearing on the periphery of the bottom part. The container is made of woody material.

Further, the bottom part may be circular, and the side part may be annular.

Further, the side part may be formed by engaging a belt-shaped body having a first engagement on one end and a second engagement on another end.

Further, the first engagement and the second engagement may be adhered at a part to engage by an adhesive.

Further, the side part may be tapered so as to expand a diameter in a direction opposite to the bottom part.

The side part may be adhered to the bottom part so that a fiber direction of the woody material is parallel to the bottom part.

According to the container of the present invention, even if food or the like containing water or oil is stored, the water or oil of the food does not seep out or leak out of the container, and the container has excellent durability.

A container according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the container according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a bottom part <NUM> and a side part <NUM>, bonded to each other. The bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> forms a concave storage 1a having an upper opening, and contents such as food and the like are contained in the storage 1a.

The bottom part <NUM> is a circular bottom plate and forms a box-shaped storage 1a with the side part <NUM>.

The bottom part <NUM> has a thickness capable of withstanding a weight of contents such as food stored in the storage 1a.

Further, the bottom part <NUM> may be formed by a single flat plate-like bottom plate, or may be formed by stacking a plurality of bottom plates.

The side part <NUM> forms the box-shaped storage 1a with the bottom part <NUM>.

This side part <NUM> is a belt-shaped body having an engagement protrusion <NUM> as a first engagement on one end and an engagement recess <NUM> as a second engagement on another end. By engaging the engagement protrusion <NUM> with the engagement recess <NUM>, while bending entirely, the side part <NUM> is formed into an annular or cylindrical shape.

As described below, the side part <NUM>, for example, is made of woody material and has flexibility. Thus, when the engagement protrusion <NUM> and the engagement recess <NUM> are not engaged with each other, it can be stored as a flat belt-like member. On the other hand, when it is erected to be used, it can be entirely bent to form an annular shape so that the engagement protrusion <NUM> is engaged with the engagement recess <NUM>.

Among circular openings formed at upper and lower ends by the side part <NUM> formed in the annular shape, at least the opening on a side where the bottom part <NUM> is attached has the same diameter as that of the bottom part <NUM>. As a result, one end side of the opening of the side part <NUM> is closed by the bottom part <NUM> without any gap.

Shapes of the engagement protrusion <NUM> and the engagement recess <NUM> are not particularly limited and other shapes may be used.

Further, since an engaged part of the engagement protrusion <NUM> and the engagement recess <NUM> may be adhered by an adhesive, seeping and leaking of the moisture and the like from the engaged part can be prevented as a result.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the side part <NUM> protrudes slightly downward from the bottom part <NUM>, and a part protruding forms a leg part <NUM>. In the present embodiment, a reinforcing piece <NUM> to reinforce the leg part <NUM> is adhered from inside.

As a result of a provision of the leg part <NUM>, when the container <NUM> is placed on a platform, such as a table, the leg part <NUM> comes into contact with the platform and the bottom part <NUM> does not come into contact with the platform.

The leg part <NUM> is suitable for use with a lid <NUM>, as illustrated in <FIG>, placed on the container <NUM>. In other words, a circular fitting recess 1b is formed inside of the leg part <NUM>. On the other hand, a fitting protrusion 13a projecting upward is provided above the lid <NUM> in accordance with a shape of the circular fitting recess 1b. When a plurality of the containers <NUM> are stacked with the lid covers the container <NUM>, the fitting recess 1b fits to the fitting protrusion 13a. As a result, when the containers <NUM> are stacked, the stacked containers <NUM> do not slide down side ways, and it is convenient not to collapse when carried or stored in a stacked state.

The container <NUM> is made of woody material.

Since both the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> are constituted by woody material, a thin side part <NUM> has flexibility and can be annularly bent to engage the engagement protrusion <NUM> with the engagement recess <NUM>. In addition, a person who picks up the container <NUM> can be given an environment-friendly and soft atmosphere.

Since both the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> are constituted by woody material, moisture is easily infiltrated from the cross section of the woody material in the fiber direction. In other words, the moisture is likely to infiltrate from the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM>.

Therefore, as illustrated in <FIG>, the cross section appearing on the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM> is sealed with an insoluble sealing material S which is not soluble in water. The sealing material S may be, for example, an acrylic resin. By sealing the cross section of the woody material in this manner, it is possible to effectively prevent moisture, oil or the like, of the food as the contents from seeping into the bottom part <NUM>.

Regardless of the example illustrated in <FIG>, the cross section appearing in a width direction of the side part <NUM> may be sealed with the sealing material S.

Moreover, the side part <NUM> is preferably provided so that the fiber direction of the woody material is parallel to the bottom part <NUM>. In the present embodiment, a longitudinal direction of the side part <NUM> and the fiber direction of the woody material are matched.

As a result, moisture or the like contained in the contents of the food or the like is prevented from seeping into joint parts between the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> along the fiber direction, and durability can be ensured.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the side part <NUM> is adhered to the bottom part <NUM> by an adhesive B interposed between an inner peripheral surface 12a and the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM>. When the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> are adhered to each other, the side part <NUM> stands substantially perpendicular to the bottom part <NUM>. An adhered part is a position biased to the one end side of the opening among the inner peripheral surface 12a of the side part <NUM>, thereby the storage 1a is formed.

The periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM> is sealed by the sealing material S, and the adhesive B is adhered to the sealing material S. However, since the sealing material S itself, such as an acrylic resin, has adhesiveness, the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM> can be sealed by the sealing material S without using the adhesive B separately from the sealing material S, and the bottom part <NUM> can be adhered to the side part <NUM>. In addition, a water-repellent or insoluble material is preferably used for the adhesive B in a similar manner as the sealing material S.

Further, in the example of <FIG>, the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM> is adhered to a part slightly inside from an end of the width direction among the inner peripheral surface 12a of the side part <NUM> and the leg part <NUM> is provided. However, as illustrated in <FIG>, if the leg part <NUM> is not provided, the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM> can be adhered to the end of the width direction among the inner peripheral surface 12a of the side part <NUM>.

When the side part <NUM> and the bottom part <NUM> are adhered, for example, the adhesive is applied to the periphery 11a of the bottom11 whose periphery 11a is sealed by the sealing material S in advance. Then, the side part <NUM> in which the engagement protrusion <NUM> and the engagement recess <NUM> are not engaged is wrapped around the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM> to adhere the inner peripheral surface 12a of the side part <NUM>, and the engagement protrusion <NUM> and the engagement recess <NUM> are engaged. When the side part <NUM> is wrapped around the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM> to adhere, the storage 1a is formed so that the bottom part <NUM> is adhered to a place biased to one end side of the opening among the inner peripheral surface 12a of the side part <NUM>.

Types of the adhesive are not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use the adhesive which does not affect the contents of the food.

According to the container <NUM> of the present embodiment, even when the food or the like including moisture and oil is stored in the storage 1a, moisture and oil of the food or the like does not seep out or leak out of the container and is excellent in durability. In particular, moisture or the like in the contents of the food or the like tends to seep out from the joint part between the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM>, but since the periphery 11a of the bottom part <NUM> and the inner peripheral surface 12a of the side part <NUM> are adhered with the adhesive, moisture does not easily accumulate and seep out, and it demonstrates higher durability.

A thin waterproof film or sheet may be laminated on surfaces of the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM>, particularly on a surface contact with the contents. Thereby, this can prevent moisture and oil from permeating from the surfaces of the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM>.

<FIG> and <FIG> illustrates a container <NUM> according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

As in the case of the container <NUM>, the container <NUM> includes a bottom part <NUM> and a side part <NUM>, and the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> adhered to each other form a storage 2a for storing the contents. The container <NUM> also has the same structure as the container <NUM> at following points that it has a leg part <NUM> reinforced by a reinforcing piece <NUM>, the side part <NUM> is engaged with an engagement protrusion <NUM> and an engagement recess <NUM>, and it is made of woody material.

In this embodiment, the side part <NUM> is provided with a taper so that its diameter expands in a direction opposite to the bottom part <NUM>. In other words, the side part <NUM> opening at both ends has a larger diameter of an opening on an opposite side than a diameter of an opening where the bottom part <NUM> is attached.

Therefore, the storage 2a of one container <NUM> can store other containers <NUM> by stacking a plurality of the containers <NUM>. As a result, even when the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> are adhered to be erected, it is not bulky to store the container <NUM> as a stock or transport the container <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, in the container <NUM>, a periphery 21a of the bottom part <NUM> is also sealed by the sealing material S, and an inner peripheral surface 22a of the side part <NUM> is adhered to the periphery 21a of the bottom part <NUM>.

As a result of tapering the side part <NUM> of the container <NUM>, a substantially V-shaped groove part G is formed between the side part <NUM> and the bottom part <NUM>, having a constant thickness. In this embodiment, the adhesive B is applied so as to fill at least this groove part G, the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> are adhered, and the groove part G is filled, so that it is possible to avoid leaving a dent where moisture, oil, and the like, is easily accumulated at a joint part of the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM>. As a result, even in the container <NUM> having the side part <NUM> tapered, it is also possible to prevent that a cross section of the bottom part <NUM> appears, and the moisture and the like seeps out or leaks out from the joint part of the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM>.

The container <NUM> according to the second embodiment may be provided with a lid similar to the lid <NUM> of the first embodiment in accordance with the shape of the container <NUM>. In addition, the surface of the bottom part <NUM> and the side part <NUM> may be laminated with a waterproof sheet or film.

The containers <NUM> and <NUM> according to the present embodiments described above have circular bottom parts <NUM> and <NUM>, and the containers <NUM> and <NUM> themselves are substantially cylindrical with one end closed, but the bottom part may be in shapes such as a rectangular shape, an oval shape, or a polygonal shape, in other embodiments.

As an example, <FIG> illustrates a container <NUM> having a rectangular shaped bottom part <NUM>.

This container <NUM> is constituted with the rectangular shaped bottom part <NUM> and a rectangular frame shaped side part <NUM>.

The side part <NUM> is a belt-shaped body having an engagement protrusion <NUM> as a first engagement on one end and an engagement recess <NUM> as a second engagement on another end. By bending at appropriate parts according to the shape of the bottom part <NUM> and engaging the engagement protrusion <NUM> with the engagement recess <NUM>, the side part <NUM> is formed as a rectangular frame shape.

This side part <NUM> is adhered to the bottom part <NUM> by the adhesive B interposed between a periphery 31a of the bottom part <NUM>. An adhered part is a position biased to the one end side of the opening among an inner peripheral surface 32a of the side part <NUM>, thereby the storage storing the contents is formed.

Claim 1:
A food container (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising:
a flat bottom part (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>); and
a side part (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) forming a box-shaped storage with the bottom part (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>);
wherein a cross section appearing on a periphery (11a, 21a, 31a) of the bottom part (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is sealed with an insoluble sealing material (S) which prevents moisture infiltration, and
wherein the side part (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is adhered to the bottom part (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) by adhesive (B) or the sealing material (S) interposed between the cross section appearing on the periphery (11a, 21a, 31a) of the bottom part (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), and
wherein the container (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) is made of woody material.