Patent Application
20160121259
The present invention relates to an absorbent-containing container which houses an absorbent for absorbing a gas such as oxygen.
To prevent deterioration due to oxidation or moisture absorption of, for example, food products, pharmaceutical drugs, medical supplies, cosmetic products, metal products, and electronic products, an oxygen absorbent or a desiccant is enclosed in the packaging bodies of these products. Depending on the intended use, the packaging body of a product comes in a bag shape or a bottle shape. In the case of a bottle-shaped packaging body, because of its narrow inlet, a desiccant or an oxygen absorbent housed in a bag is difficult to feed into the packaging body; therefore, it is housed instead in a small container (canister container) of a definite shape and fed into the packaging body (see Patent Literature 1). Since the oxygen absorbent or the desiccant serves to remove oxygen or water vapor inside the packaging body of a product, the canister container is required to allow air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container.
The above-mentioned canister containers are divided into a paper lid type and a permeable pore lid type as shown in
On the other hand, a permeable pore lid-type container 200 shown in
Moreover, since the container main body is molded from a resin, the above containers 100, 200 are costly as a whole.
The present invention has been devised in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost absorbent-containing container which houses an absorbent for absorbing a gas such as oxygen, and can house an absorbent which reacts with a gas to expand as well as can house an absorbent which has a small diameter or whose diameter decreases without leakage, while securing air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container.
The present invention for achieving the above object is an absorbent-containing container which houses an absorbent for absorbing a gas, the absorbent-containing container including: a lid body; and a bottomed-cylindrical container main body having an opening in an upper surface which is covered by the lid body. The lid body is fitted in the opening with an outer peripheral portion of the lid body being bent upward and held in contact with an inner peripheral layer of the container main body. An upper end portion of the container main body is bent from above the lid body toward the lid body to grip the outer peripheral portion of the lid body. A paper layer is used for at least either an inner peripheral layer of the container main body or an inner layer of the lid body.
According to the above configuration, it is possible to realize a low-cost absorbent-containing container which can house an absorbent which reacts with a gas to expand as well as can house an absorbent which has a small diameter or whose diameter decreases without leakage, while securing air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container.
The container main body may have a paper layer.
The container main body and the lid body may be made of a multilayered paper having a non-porous water-impermeable layer. In this case, it is possible to suppress leakage of moisture inside the container to the outside. Thus, the absorbent-containing container of the present invention can be suitably used for an absorbent which requires moisture during absorption.
The container main body may have an cylindrical part which has an opening in a lower surface, and a bottom part which covers the opening in the lower surface; a lower end portion of the cylindrical part may be bent inward; the bottom part may be disposed on the lower end portion of the cylindrical part; and the cylindrical part and the bottom part may be bonded with each other with an adhesive. In this case, the container main body is easy to manufacture, and the cost can be reduced.
The absorbent may be a desiccant and/or an oxygen absorbent.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a low-cost absorbent-containing container which houses an absorbent for absorbing a gas such as oxygen, and can house an absorbent which reacts with a gas to expand as well as can house an absorbent which has a small diameter or whose diameter decreases without leakage, while securing air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container.
In the following, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same components will be given the same reference signs and a repeated description thereof will be omitted. Unless otherwise noted, words referring to a positional relation such as upper, lower, left, and right are based on the positional relation shown in the drawings. Moreover, the actual dimensional ratio is not limited to the ratio shown in the drawings. The following embodiment is merely an example for describing the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.
The absorbent-containing container 1 shown in
For example, the container main body 10 has a bottomed-cylindrical shape with an upper opening 20 covered by the lid body 11. The lid body 11 has a thin disc shape as shown in
An upper end part portion 10a of the container main body 10 is bent inward, which is toward the lid body 11 side, from above the lid body 11 to grip the outer peripheral portion 11a of the lid body 11. Meanwhile, a leading end 10b of the upper end portion 10a of the container main body 10 is exposed to the outside of the container 1.
For example, the container main body 10 has a cylindrical part 30 and a bottom part 31 as separate bodies. A lower end portion 30a of the cylindrical part 30 is bent inward. Similarly to the lid body 11, the bottom part 31 has a thin disc shape, and is formed by bending upward an outer peripheral portion 31a of a circular plate having a larger diameter than the inner diameter of the container main body 10. The bottom part 31 is fitted in the cylindrical part 30, and is disposed on the lower end portion 30a of the cylindrical part 30. The bottom part 31 and the lower end portion 30a of the cylindrical part 30 are bonded with each other with an adhesive 40.
As shown in
To manufacture the container 1 having the above configuration, first, a predetermined amount of absorbent A such as an oxygen absorbent is put in the container main body 10 from the upper opening 20. Next, the lid body 11 is fitted into the upper opening 20 with the outer peripheral portion 11a of the lid body 11 being held in contact with the inner peripheral wall of the container main body 10. At this point, the lid body 11 is installed at a desired level on the inner peripheral wall of the container main body 10. For example, to allow for expansion of the absorbent A, the lid body 1 is installed at a predetermined distance above the absorbent A. Then, the upper end portion 10a of the container main body 10 is bent inward to grip the outer peripheral portion 11a of the lid body 11. Thus, the absorbent A is housed inside the container 1.
The container 1 housing the absorbent A is used by being put in a hermetic container or a hermetic bag in which, for example, a food product, pharmaceutical drug, or medical supply is placed.
According to the container 1 of this embodiment, since the upper end portion 10a of the container main body 10 is bent inward to grip the outer peripheral portion 11a of the lid body 11, the clearances Q, R are left between the container main body 10 and the lid body 11. Since the paper layer 50 is used as the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 and the paper layer 60 is used as the inner layer of the lid body 11 while these paper layers 50, 60 are exposed to the clearance Q, air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container 1 can be secured through the paper layers 50 and 60, the clearance Q and the clearance R. The outer peripheral portion 11a of the lid body 11 is fitted in the upper opening 20 while being held in contact with the inner peripheral wall of the container main body 10, and the lid body 11 can be installed at an arbitrary level in the container main body 10. Thus, the lid body 11 can be retained at a position above the upper surface of the absorbent A, so that an absorbent A which reacts with a gas to expand can also be suitably housed. Moreover, since the upper end portion 10a of the container main body 10 grips the outer peripheral portion 11a of the lid body 11, it is possible to house an absorbent A which has a small diameter or whose diameter decreases without leakage. Since the paper layers are used for the container main body 10 and the lid body 11, the low-cost container 1 can be realized.
In particular, since the paper layer 50 is used as the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 in this embodiment, there is direct communication between the inside and the outside of the container 1 through the paper layer 50, and air permeation can be secured more reliably.
In this embodiment, since the container main body 10 includes the paper layer which has low shape followability, the clearances Q, R are likely to be left between the container main body 10 and the lid body 11 when the upper end portion 10a is bent, so that air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container 1 can be enhanced. It is preferable that the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 and the upper layer of the lid body 11 are made of different materials, as it lowers the bondability between these layers and a clearance is likely to be left.
Since the container main body 10 and the lid body 11 are made of a multilayered paper having a non-porous water-impermeable layer, leakage of moisture inside the container 1 to the outside can be suppressed. Thus, the container 1 can be suitably used for an absorbent A which requires moisture during absorption, and in this case, a longer life and higher absorption efficiency of the absorbent A can be achieved.
The container main body 10 includes the cylindrical part 30 which has the opening in the lower surface and the bottom part 31 which covers the opening in the lower surface. The lower end portion 30a of the cylindrical part 30 is bent inward, the bottom part 31 is disposed on the lower end portion 30a of the cylindrical part 30, and the cylindrical part 30 and the bottom part 31 are bonded with each other through the adhesive 40. Thus, the container main body 10 is easy to manufacture, and the cost can be reduced.
In this embodiment, as shown in
The dimensions of the container 1 described in the above embodiment may be, for example, 5 mm to 100 mm, preferably 8 mm to 80 mm, in height, and 5 mm to 50 mm, preferably 8 mm to 30 mm, in outer diameter.
While the absorbent A is not particularly limited as long as it absorbs a gas, the absorbent A may be an absorbent which reacts with a gas to expand. For example, the absorbent A may be a desiccant which reacts with water vapor to expand, or an oxygen absorbent which reacts with oxygen to expand. The size of the absorbent A is not particularly limited, and a powder material having a grain size of 0.1 mm or less or a granular material having a grain size of approximately 0.1 to 10 mm can be used, or a molded body of the powder material or the granular material molded into the shape of a tablet etc. can also be used. The grain size of a powder material or a granular material is preferably 0.1 μm to 3000 μm, more preferably 1 μm to 1500 μm, and even more preferably 5 μm to 1000 μm, when being fed into the container 1.
While the type of the desiccant as the absorbent A is not particularly limited, a desiccant which can adsorb moisture and hold the solid state after adsorption of the moisture is preferable. The container of the present invention can also be suitably used for a desiccant which reacts with water vapor to expand or refine. Examples of such a desiccant include alkaline earth metal oxides such as MgO, CaO, and BaO. As these desiccants react with water to expand, even when the desiccant is molded into tablets etc., the shape of the molded body may break and generate fine powders of approximately 1 to 3 μm. Even in this case, leakage of solid matters A can be prevented by using the container 1.
The oxygen absorbent (oxygen scavenger) as the absorbent A is not particularly limited as long as it is a composition having the function of removing oxygen in air through oxidation reaction, adsorption, etc. For example, oxygen absorbent compositions having, as a base compound for oxygen absorption reaction, a metal powder such as an iron powder, a reducing inorganic substance such as an iron compound, a polyhydric phenol, a polyhydric alcohol, an unsaturated fatty acid compound, a reducing organic substance such as ascorbic acid or ascorbate, a resin composition containing a resin and/or oligomer having a carbon-carbon unsaturated bond and a transition metal catalyst, or a metal complex. Of these examples, an oxygen absorbent composition which has an iron powder excellent in oxygen scavenging performance as the base compound is preferable, and in particular, an oxygen absorbent composition composed of an iron powder being the base compound and a metallic halide which promotes oxygen absorption reaction has excellent oxygen scavenging performance. The iron powder used for the oxygen absorbent composition is not particularly limited as long as it can cause an oxygen scavenging reaction, and iron powders normally used as an oxygen absorbent can be used. The metallic halide used for the oxygen absorbent composition is not particularly limited, and examples include alkaline metal or alkaline earth metal chlorides, bromides, and iodides.
Thus, the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. It is clear that those skilled in the art can conceive ideas for various examples of changes and modifications within the scope of the concept described in the claims, and it is understood that such examples belong duly to the technical scope of the present invention.
For example, while the paper layers 50, 60 are used as the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 and the inner layer of the lid body 11 in the above embodiment, the paper layer may be used for only one of these layers. For example, the paper layer 50 may be used for only the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10, and the inner layer of the lid body 11 may be another type of layer such as a water-impermeable PP layer. In this case, no paper layer needs to be used for the lid body 11. Alternatively, the paper layer 60 may be used for only the inner layer of the lid body 11, and the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 may be another type of layer. In this case, a water-impermeable PP layer may be used as the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10, and a paper layer may be used as the outer layer. In this case, no paper layer needs to be used for the container main body 10. In both cases, air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container 1 can be secured through the paper layer of the container main body 10 or the lid body 11 and the clearance Q and the clearance R. When the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 is the paper layer 50, air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container 1 can be secured directly through the paper layer 50.
For example, the container main body 10 has the cylindrical part 30 and the bottom part 31 as separate bodies in the above embodiment, but these parts may be integral. While the bottom part 31 is bonded to the container main body 10 with the adhesive 40 in the above embodiment, as shown in
While the desiccant and the oxygen absorbent have been mainly shown as examples of the absorbent A, the absorbent A is not limited to these examples, and the present invention is applicable to other absorbents as well. The present invention is also applicable to a case where a plurality of types of absorbents are housed in the container 1 as the absorbent A.
An aqueous solution of 25 g of calcium chloride dissolved in 25 g of water was impregnated into 150 g of powdered zeolite to produce a moisturizer. To this moisturizer, 100 g of an iron powder (containing 50 mass % of grains of 45 μm or smaller) and 1 g of activated carbon were added and the resultant was mixed in a mortar to obtain an oxygen scavenger composition A.
A sample having the same configuration as the container 1 shown in
The sample was let stand inside a hermetic gas barrier container having an air volume of 150 ml, at a temperature of 25° C. and unregulated humidity, and the time taken for the oxygen concentration to decrease below 0.1 volume % (oxygen scavenging time) was measured. Another sample was let stand inside a hermetic gas barrier container having an air volume of 500 ml, at a temperature of 25° C. and unregulated humidity, and the amount of oxygen absorbed in the sample was measured 24 hours later. Moreover, five of the same containers were placed in a plastic bag and manually shaken up and down for 15 seconds to visually evaluate whether leakage of solid matters occurred. Results of these evaluations are shown in Table 1.
An evaluation on oxygen scavenging performance and an evaluation on whether leakage of solid matters occurs were performed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the lid body 11 had a three-layer structure of PP, paper, and PET layers in this order from the innermost layer, with the lamination of the innermost paper layer omitted. Results of these evaluations are shown in Table 1.
An evaluation on oxygen scavenging performance and an evaluation on whether leakage of solid matters occurs were performed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the container main body 10 had a three-layer structure of PP, paper, and PET layers in this order from the innermost peripheral layer, with the lamination of the innermost peripheral paper layer omitted. Results of these evaluations are shown in Table 1.
An evaluation on oxygen scavenging performance and an evaluation on whether leakage of solid matters occurs were performed in the same manner as in Example 3, except that the lid body 11 had a three-layer structure of PP, paper, and PET layers in this order from the innermost layer, with the lamination of the innermost paper layer omitted. Results of these evaluations are shown in Table 1.
It has been demonstrated that in Examples 1 to 3, where the paper layer was used for at least either the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 or the inner layer of the lid body 11, the oxygen scavenging time is significantly shorter, the amount of oxygen absorbed in 24 hours is larger, and the oxygen absorption speed is higher than those of Comparative example 1 where the PP layer was used for both the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 and the inner layer of the lid body 11. It has been demonstrated that adequate air permeation can be secured if a paper layer is used for at least either the inner peripheral layer of the container main body 10 or the inner layer of the lid body 11.
The absorbent-containing container of the present invention is an absorbent-containing container which houses an absorbent for absorbing a gas such as oxygen, and is useful when housing an absorbent which reacts with a gas to expand as well as an absorbent which has a small diameter or whose diameter decreases without leakage, while securing air permeation between the inside and the outside of the container.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-130868 | Jun 2013 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2014/065360 | 6/10/2014 | WO | 00 |
