Patent ID: 7457564

Claim:
A container holding device, comprising: a container holding member for holding a container that is configured to be detachably attached to the container holding member, wherein the container includes a soft, bag-shaped member that stores contents, and shrinks as external pressure is applied or internal pressure is reduced, the container holding member configured to move between a first position that is a position at which the container is attached to or detached from the container holding member and a second position that is a position at which the contents of the container is configured to be discharged; a moving unit that moves the container holding member between the first position and the second position; and an external pressurizing unit that applies external pressure to the bag-shaped member at least while the container holding member is at the first position and the second position so that the bag-shaped member shrinks when the contents are being discharged, wherein the external pressurizing unit applies a lower pressure to the bag-shaped member when the container holding member is at the first position than when the container holding member is at the second position.