U.S. patent application number 10/173008 was filed with the patent office on 2003-01-09 for synthetic resin liquid container.
This patent application is currently assigned to Gosho Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Higuchi, Mitsuo.
Application Number | 20030006240 10/173008 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25411651 |
Filed Date | 2003-01-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030006240 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Higuchi, Mitsuo |
January 9, 2003 |
Synthetic resin liquid container
Abstract
A synthetic resin liquid container for containing drinking
water, juice, milk and other liquids is provided. The synthetic
resin liquid container has a body that can substantially reduce its
volume when a vertical and/or twisting stress is applied to the
body, and a form-retaining means to be used after compression of
the container body for keeping it compressed.
Inventors: |
Higuchi, Mitsuo; (Yamanashi,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
REED SMITH LLP
Suite 1400
3110 Fairview Park Drive
Falls Church
VA
22042
US
|
Assignee: |
Gosho Co., Ltd.
|
Family ID: |
25411651 |
Appl. No.: |
10/173008 |
Filed: |
June 18, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10173008 |
Jun 18, 2002 |
|
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|
09899854 |
Jul 9, 2001 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
220/667 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 55/16 20130101;
B65D 1/0292 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/667 |
International
Class: |
B65D 006/08; B65D
008/18 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A synthetic resin liquid container comprising: a container body
having a bottom, an opening, a side wall which is made of a
flexible and relatively hard plastic synthetic resin, and a form
that resists oscillation and vertical stress during transport with
liquid therein and facilitates operation of substantially reducing
the volume of the container body by applying a vertical and/or
twisting force when the liquid has been emptied from the body; cap
member for covering the opening; and retainer means for retaining a
reduced portion of the container body in a reduced state, wherein
the side wall includes an upper portion and a lower body portion,
the upper portion having a resilient neck portion and a taper
portion, and the lower body portion having one spiral oblique
hollow groove extending between two end rims of the lower body
portion.
2. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 1,
wherein the side wall is thin and the groove on the lower body
portion is so spirally arranged thereby facilitating an operation
of substantially reducing the volume of container body.
3. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 2,
wherein said lower body portion comprises sequentially reduced
radiuses from both upper and bottom end rims of the lower body
portion toward the middle of the lower body portion.
4. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 1,
wherein the groove is a recess.
5. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 1,
wherein said container body further comprises a belt attached to
the opening of the container body, and the best is in turn
connected to a cap, for an aid in keeping the container
compressed.
6. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 1,
wherein said opening of the container body can be embedded into the
container body by pressing the opening for keeping the container
compressed, for an aid in keeping the container compressed.
7. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 1,
wherein the retainer means is shorter than the height of the
container body and has a retaining body with at least two legs
suspended from the neck portion, each leg having a claw portion
which engages with the groove or a rim of the bottom of the
container body for retaining the reduced container body.
8. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 1,
wherein the retainer means is provided on the lower body portion,
and the retainer means has a retaining body with at least two legs
which are shorter than the side wall of the container body, each of
the legs extends in upward direction and has at least one claw that
can be engaged with the groove or a rim of the bottom of the
container body to retain the reduced portion of the container
body.
9. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 1,
wherein a height of said upper portion being approximately equal to
one-fourth of a height of the container body.
10. The synthetic resin liquid container according to claim 1,
wherein a height of said upper portion being equal to one-fourth of
a height of the container body.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a synthetic resin liquid
container for containing drinking water, juice, milk and other
liquids.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Today, it is said that an ordinary family produces garbage
at an average of 800 g per day. And the total amount of garbage
produced by not only families but also plants and offices all over
the world may reach astronomical figures. Therefore, waste disposal
is one of the biggest social issues of today. Recently, synthetic
resin containers called "mini bottles" have come into wide use and
demand for such bottles has dramatically increased. In fact, the
amount of waste mini bottles occupies not less than 15% of the
above-described total amount of garbage, as the Director General of
the Environment Agency reported.
[0005] Therefore, recycling these synthetic resin containers, which
are difficult to incinerate, has been suggested. And now, separate
collection of garbage is generally carried out by separating
garbage into several categories such as "food garbage", "synthetic
resin container" and others.
[0006] The problem is to collect empty synthetic resin containers
since such containers are bulky and thus occupy a lot of space so
that transporting these empty containers is like carrying air.
Further, the fact that recycling service companies are generally
paid based on the weight of garbage they recovered may contribute
to their unwillingness for collecting such containers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to
provide a synthetic resin container that can be sufficiently
resistant to intense oscillation during transport while containig
liquid therein and can substantially reduce its volume when it is
empty and collected as garbage, thereby enabling transporting much
larger number of containers at one time.
[0008] A synthetic resin liquid container is provided which has a
body that can substantially reduce its volume when a vertical
and/or twisting stress is applied to the body, and a form-retaining
means to be used after compression of the container body for
keeping it compressed.
[0009] In one aspect of the present invention, the container body
comprises a relatively hard and thin side wall with
accordion-shaped contour formed on its surface, and sequentially
reduced radiuses from both the upper and bottom ends toward the
middle of the body, for facilitating operation of substantially
reducing the volume of container as described above.
[0010] In another aspect of the present invention, the container
body comprises a plurality of longitudinal grooves on the surface
of its side wall, and a star-shaped cross section, for facilitating
operation of substantially reducing the volume of container as
described above.
[0011] In still another aspect of the present invention, the
container body comprises a relatively hard and thin side wall, and
a number of continuous or non-continuous oblique grooves on the
side wall, for facilitating operation of substantially reducing the
volume of container as described above.
[0012] In still another aspect of the present invention, the
container body comprises a relatively thin side wall and a number
of recesses formed thereon, for facilitating operation of
substantially reducing the volume of container as described
above.
[0013] In still another aspect of the present invention, the
container body further comprises a belt attached to the opening of
the container body, and the belt is in turn connected to a cap, for
an aid in keeping the container compressed.
[0014] In still another aspect of the present invention, the
opening of the container body can be embedded into the container
body by pressing the opening for keeping the container
compressed.
[0015] In still another aspect of the present invention, the
container body also comprises a retainer means which is shorter
than the height of the body and has a plurality of legs suspended
from the neck portion of the body, with each leg having a claw
portion at the tip which engages with the rim of the bottom of the
container body for retaining the substantially reduced volume of
the container body.
[0016] Alternatively, in still another aspect of the present
invention, the container body also has a retainer member provided
on the lower portion of the body, the retainer member having a
sidewall which is shorter than that of the body, extends in upward
direction and has, at the circumferential rim of the side wall
thereof, a claw that can be engaged with the top of side wall of
the container body.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 shows a front view of the container body of the
present invention according to Example 1.
[0018] FIG. 2 shows a front view of the container body of the
present invention according to Example 2.
[0019] FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the container body
cut from FIG. 2, line a-a.
[0020] FIG. 4 shows a front view of the container body of the
present invention according to Example 2.
[0021] FIG. 5 shows an expanded view of a portion in the dashed
line circle shown in FIG. 2.
[0022] FIG. 6 shows a front view of the containers with
substantially reduced volume which are arranged for space saving
according to Example 2.
[0023] FIG. 7 shows a front view of the container body of the
present invention according to Example 3.
[0024] FIG. 8 shows a front view of the container body of the
present invention according to Example 4.
[0025] FIG. 9 shows a front view of the container in a compressed
state which is provided with a means for retaining its
substantially reduced volume according to Example 1.
[0026] FIG. 10 shows a belt which permanently connects the cap and
the container body.
[0027] FIG. 11 shows a front view of the container body in a
compressed state which is provided with a means for retaining its
substantially reduced volume according to Example 5.
[0028] FIG. 12 shows a front view of the container body according
to Example 5 in its normal state, which is provided with a means
for retaining its substantially reduced volume once the container
is compressed.
[0029] FIG. 13 shows a front view of the container body according
to Example 5 in its compressed state, which is provided with a
means for retaining its substantially reduced volume once the
container is compressed.
[0030] FIG. 14 shows a front view of the container body according
to Example 6 in its normal state, which is provided with a means
for retaining its substantially reduced volume once the container
is compressed.
[0031] FIG. 15 shows a front view of the container body according
to Example 2 in its compressed state, which is provided with a
means for retaining its substantially reduced volume once the
container is compressed.
[0032] FIG. 16 shows a front view of the container body according
to Example 7 in its compressed state, which is provided with a
means for retaining its substantially reduced volume once the
container is compressed.
[0033] FIG. 17 shows a front view of retaining means for retaining
a container body compressed according to Example 8.
[0034] FIG. 18 shows a front view of the container which has such a
configuration that it may have substantially reduced volume when
compressed according to Example 8.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
EXAMPLE 1
[0035] FIG. 1 shows a liquid container body (1) made of flexible
plastic synthetic resin, and a relatively hard opening (2) with
reduced radius provided at the top of the body (1). FIG. 1 also
shows a cap member (3) covering the opening (2).
[0036] The container body (1) has a surrounding side wall (4) which
is provided with an accordion-shaped contour (5) on its surface
between the opening (2) and the bottom of the body (1) across the
height of the container body (1).
[0037] For use, the container body (1) may be filled with liquid
such as mineral water using any conventional means, and then sealed
with a cap member (3) before it is put on a market. Such a filled
container body (1) may be transported almost safely even under
oscillation since the accordion like contour (5) of the side wall
(4) may provide a buffering function.
[0038] Now, the container body (1) is emptied and compressed into a
direction toward the middle of the body (1). The container may be
easily compressed due to flexibility and plasticity of the
container body (1) as well as the accordion-shaped contour (5) of
the side wall (4).
[0039] Alternatively, the container body (1) may be placed on the
ground and then crushed by foot if the container body cannot be
squashed easily by hand.
[0040] The squashed container body (1) may have thus sufficiently
reduced volume.
[0041] The present inventors put conventional green tea bottles
(500 ml; height 21 cm.times.radius 7 cm.o slashed.) which are
commercially available to the test, by compressing the bottles
after making their side walls (4) an accordion-shaped contour (5)
as that of the present invention. The results showed that all the
container bodies (1) tested were compressed to one-fourth of its
original height, which was equal to 5 cm or less. These heights
were equal to about two-fold (2L) of those of the relatively hard
taper portions (11) of respective container bodies (1), the taper
portions (11) being provided just below the opening (2) of the
container body (1).
[0042] It should be easily understood that such compressed bottles
may be easily transported for, for example, recycling since their
size are now one-fourth or smaller than their original size. The
problem is whether the container bodies (1) can be kept in a
compression form prior and during transportation. Various
containers made of different materials were tested for this point
though results showed that some were kept compressed for a long
period of time, others for several hours, and even others had only
very short period of time such as a few minutes and soon to tend to
recover their original shapes.
[0043] Accordingly, the container body (1) is capped again with a
cap member (3) at the opening (2) to prevent air introduction into
the container body (1) after compression, as shown in FIG. 9, so
that the container body (1) can keep its compressed form.
[0044] However, a capping member (3) may often be discarded or lost
after detached from the container body (1) and thus cannot be
capped with a cap member (3) after compression of the container
body (1).
[0045] Accordingly, improvement in the present invention is to
attach the capping member (3) permanently to the container body
(1). For example, FIG. 10 shows a belt (6) which is made of thin,
flexible, plastic resin plate, the plate with openings (7) and (8)
close to both ends. The cap (3) has a circumferential side wall and
a dovetail groove (9) on the periphery of the sidewall. One of the
above-described openings (7) provided in the belt (6) is fitted
into the dovetail groove (9) while the other (8) is fitted into the
proximal end of screw portion (10) provided on the outer surface of
the opening (2) of the container body (1).
[0046] As a result, the cap (3) is permanently fixed to the
container body (1) so that it may not be lost after once detached.
Thus, the container body (1) can be kept compressed by recapping
with the cap (3) on the opening of the container body (1) after
compression.
[0047] As already described above, the compressed body (1) has a
height equal to about two-fold (2L) of that of the taper portion
(5) (L). In another embodiment, the container body (1) may be
further compressed into smaller size.
[0048] In this example, as shown in FIG. 11, the taper portion (11)
and opening (2) of the container body (1), and optionally a loosely
fitted cap (3) are flipped into the container body (1) when the
container body (1) is compressed such that these parts may be
accommodated in the container body. As a result, neither the taper
(11) nor the cap may not contribute to the height of the compressed
container body (1) so that the body height may be reduced to the
same height as those of taper portion (11) and/or cap (L1), thus
greatly reducing the bulk of the container.
EXAMPLE 2
[0049] In alternative embodiment, the container body (1) may be
compressed by applying a horizontal force (not a vertical force) in
order to substantially reduce the volume of the container body
(1).
[0050] Particularly, as shown in FIG. 2, the container body (1) may
have a plurality of grooves (12) provided on the outer surface
thereof with each groove running into the longitudinal direction
and being evenly spaced each other. The container body (1) has a
star-shaped cross-section (13) as shown in FIG. 3.
[0051] Alternatively, a number of oblique grooves (14) may be
formed on the side wall of the container body for horizontal
compression as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.
[0052] In summary, the emptied container bodies (1) shown in FIGS.
2 to 5 could be reduced to a size equal to one-third of their
original sizes by compressing of the container body (1) them in
such a similar manner as laundry is squeezed to remove
moisture.
[0053] The container body (1) may be capped with a cap (3) after
compressed to keep it compressed as described above. A lot of
compressed containers (1) can be transported by arranging them in a
line with each containers (1) being placed upside down shown in
FIG. 6.
EXAMPLE 3
[0054] In another embodiment, the container body (1) may be
compressed by applying both vertical and horizontal forces.
[0055] Particularly, the container body (1) has a number of
recesses such as oblique grooves (15) formed on the surrounding
wall (4) thereof as shown in FIG. 7, or a continuous spiral groove
(16) on the side wall thereof arranged with each parallel line
spaced each other in a oblique but relatively horizontal direction
as shown in FIG. 8. Of course, in the case of the container body
(1) in FIG. 8 the groove (16) can be discontinuous.
[0056] Thus, an empty container body (1) may be easily compressed
merely by applying a vertical pressure since, due to such
configuration, not only vertical force but also another force in
turning direction are generated and transmitted to the container
body (1) such that synthetic force of the two may easily press the
container body down.
EXAMPLE 4
[0057] Various other examples of means for keeping the container
body (1) in a compressed form may be contemplated. For example,
cover members (17) are shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, which are fitted
on the lower portion of container body (1).
[0058] These cover members (17) are generally manufactured from the
same material as the container body (1), and may be sold along with
the container body (1) containing liquid therein. The cover member
(17) is shaped like a bowl with a claw (18) extruding inwardly at
the upper open rim.
[0059] Thus, once compressed in vertical direction the empty
container body (1) is accommodated in the cover member (17) so that
the empty container body (1) can keep its compression form.
[0060] One example is shown in FIG. 13 in which the container body
(1) has an accordion-shaped contour (5) on the side wall (4)
thereof. In this example, the top protrusion of the accordion
contour (5)--i.e., the protrusion (19) of the accordion contour (5)
just below the taper portion (11)--will engage with the claw (18)
of the cover (17). Accordingly, it is important to make the height
or depth of the cover member (17) equal to that of the container
body (1) in a maximally compressed state.
[0061] Preferably, the top protrusion (19) of the container body
(1) may have a larger radius than other protrusions in the same
accordion contour as shown in FIG. 12.
[0062] In this case, the container body (1) may have an accordion
contour with each protrusion therein having successively reduced
radiuses toward the middle portion (20) across the container length
such that the side wall of the container body (1) may be almost
evenly and horizontally folded to be accommodated in the next cover
member (17) when the container body (1) is pressed into the cover
member (17) as shown in FIG. 14, thus enabling easy compressing
operation of the container. The cover member (17) may be formed as
a tube or another form such that it has a discontinuous side wall
with a hole or holes (23) from that of the as shown in FIG. 16.
EXAMPLE 5
[0063] The cover member (15) may be one which is fit into the lower
portion of the container body (1) as described above, or a retainer
(24) generally manufactured from the same material as the container
body (1) in any form such as those shown in FIGS. 16 to 18.
[0064] For example, the retainer (24) may comprise a disk having a
hole (25) at its center in which the opening (2) of the container
body (1) can fit, and a plurality of leg members (26) under the
disk. The leg members (26) can be bumped into engagement with the
side wall of the container body (1), and has a claw member (27) at
their ends which is adjusted to fit on the container body (1).
[0065] Typically the retainer (24) may be put on the market
together with the container body (1). When emptied container body
(1) is compressed, the claw members (27) of the retainer (24) are
engaged with the bottom surface of the container body (1) thereby
enabling the container to keep its compression form.
[0066] In summary, the present invention could provide
substantially reduced volume of an after-used container body,
resulting in saving garbage storage space, thereby enabling a large
amount of after-used containers to be transported at one time. This
space-saving contributes to expansion of recycling such
containers.
[0067] Further, the container body of the present invention is
provided with a retainer means for keeping its compression form so
that once compressed the container may not return to its normal
shape.
[0068] The above examples are provided to illustrate the invention
but not limit its scope. Other variations of the invention will be
readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and are
encompassed by the appended claims.
* * * * *