Patent Application
20240327088
The present invention relates to a stick container.
For example, an aojiru composition is in the form of powder that contains powder of green stems and leaves such as barley, and is usually dissolved or dispersed in a liquid such as water to be drunk as aojiru. The aojiru composition is known as a health food because dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, and the like are rich. The aojiru may be also called as “green juice” or “green drink”.
An usage amount of the aojiru composition at one time is sealed in a stick container. Here, various types of stick containers for foods and the like are known. Although not related to an aojiru composition, Patent Literature 1 describes a container in which end portions on both sides of a long film in a long side direction are melted and bonded back to form a cylindrical shape, at least one of the end portions is further sealed by a melted portion melted in an inverted L-shape to form a bag portion, and a tear line connecting tip ends of two sides of the inverted L-shaped melted portion is formed. Patent Literature 2 describes that two unsealing operation portions are provided, and the unsealing operation portion can be selected according to an application. Patent Literature 2 further describes a container in which a step portion is provided in a melted portion, a side edge of a container main body includes a first unsealing operation portion on a side of a partial width accommodation portion, and a second unsealing operation portion on a side of an entire width accommodation portion, and a cross-sectional area in an axis-orthogonal direction of the accommodation portion at a position where tearing is performed from the first unsealing operation portion is smaller than a cross-sectional area in the axis-orthogonal direction of the accommodation portion at a position where tearing is performed from the second unsealing operation portion.
In recent years, there are various needs for an aojiru composition in a stick container, and among them, there is a need to carry the aojiru composition as an aojiru beverage in a PET bottle after opening, by pouring the aojiru composition into the PET bottle.
However, in a case where an aojiru composition having a predetermined bulk specific gravity or less is accommodated in the stick container in the related art, when the aojiru composition is poured into an opening of the PET bottle, aojiru composition powder, which is a content, may be scattered without entering the opening. Further, even when the entire opening of the stick container is inserted into the opening of the PET bottle to pour the aojiru composition into the PET bottle in order to avoid scattering of the aojiru composition, a tip end of the container is squeezed and the aojiru composition does not get out of the container.
On the other hand, the stick containers in the related art as described in Patent Literatures 1 and 2 do not study a problem of pouring the composition having a bulk specific gravity equal to or less than a predetermined value into the PET bottle.
There is provided a stick container including: a container main body in which one end region and another end region in an axial direction of a cylindrical body made of a flexible material are sealed by a first sealing region and a second sealing region, respectively, and that has a longitudinal direction in the axial direction. The first sealing region has a first sealing portion and a second sealing portion disposed along a width direction of the container, and the first sealing portion has a longer sealing length in the longitudinal direction than the second sealing portion. The container main body has, in a non-sealing portion located on a side of the second sealing region of the second sealing portion and on a lateral side in the width direction with respect to the first sealing portion, a tear guide portion that allows the non-sealing portion to be torn along the width direction. An opening is formed by tearing the non-sealing portion from the tear guide portion, and an opening width of the opening is set to 0.4 or more of an entire width of the container.
In the stick container according to another aspect, an end edge of the first sealing region has an inclined portion that is inclined such that a sealing length in the longitudinal direction of the first sealing region decreases from a side of the first sealing portion toward a side of the second sealing portion along the width direction of the container.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the end edge of the first sealing region has a stepped shape extending outward in the width direction from both ends of the inclined portion, the first sealing region is formed such that a width of a portion located on a side of the first sealing portion of the inclined portion is smaller than a width of a portion located on a side of the second sealing portion of the inclined portion.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the opening width is 0.43 or more of the entire width of the container.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the opening width is 0.46 or more of the entire width of the container.
In the stick container according to another aspect, a ratio of a width of a portion of the first sealing portion other than the inclined portion to a width of the second sealing portion is 0.1 or more and 0.8 or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the ratio of the width of the portion of the first sealing portion other than the inclined portion to the width of the second sealing portion is 0.15 or more and 0.7 or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, a ratio of the opening width to the entire width of the container is 0.9 or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the ratio of the opening width to the entire width of the container is 0.8 or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the opening width of the opening is 15 mm or more and 30 mm or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the stick container is configured to accommodate a composition having a bulk specific gravity of 0.5 g/cm3 or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the stick container is configured to accommodate the composition having the bulk specific gravity of 0.45 g/cm3 or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the stick container is configured to accommodate the composition having the bulk specific gravity of 0.4 g/cm3 or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the stick container is configured to accommodate the composition having the bulk specific gravity of 0.35 g/cm3 or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the bulk specific gravity of the composition is 0.10 g/cm3 or more.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the stick container is configured to accommodate a composition having an average particle diameter of 5 μm or more and 350 μm or less.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the stick container is configured to accommodate an aojiru composition.
In the stick container according to another aspect, a ratio of a green stem and/or leaf in the aojiru composition is 20 mass % or more.
In the stick container according to another aspect, the green stem and/or leaf is dried and pulverized powder of a stem and/or leaf of barley.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on preferred embodiments thereof. In the following description, a stick container containing an aojiru composition is exemplified, however, the stick container according to the present invention may be applied not only to the aojiru composition but also to other compositions.
A stick container 8 containing an aojiru composition (hereinafter, also referred to as “container 8”) of the present invention is shown in
As shown in
First, an aojiru composition accommodated in the accommodation portion 13 will be described. The aojiru composition is powdery. In the present invention, the term “powdery” includes granular.
The composition such as the aojiru composition tends to scatter. The present invention has a technical significance of suppressing scattering by using the stick container 8 having a specific shape for the composition that tends to scatter. As a result of study by the present inventors, it has been found that, in the stick container 8 containing the composition, the composition can be poured in a short time without being scattered at an opening 16 of the PET bottle by setting an opening width W4 of the opening 16 (a length in a Y direction of the opening 16 (see
The bulk specific gravity in the present invention can be measured using, for example, a powder property evaluation device (powder tester® PT-X, manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation).
An amount of the composition accommodated in one stick container 8 is preferably 0.1 to 10 g, and more preferably 1 to 5 g from a viewpoint that this amount is suitable for drinking as an usage amount at one time.
The aojiru composition contains powder of the green stems and/or leaves as aojiru materials. Hereinafter, the stems and/or leaves are also simply referred to as “stems and leaves”. Examples of the green stems and leaves, which are the aojiru materials, include one or a combination of two or more of barley, kale, ashitaba, mulberry trees, sweet potatoes, kuma bamboo grass, mugwort, Peucedanum japonicum, moringa, or the like. As the green stems and leaves, the stems and/or leaves of the barley are desirable in that they are high in dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins and have palatability.
The powder of the green stems and leaves, which are the aojiru materials, is preferably dried powder (hereinafter, also referred to as “dried and pulverized powder”) obtained by drying and pulverizing green stems and/or leaves or a granulated product thereof in terms of a small bulk specific gravity and a large technical significance of using a container having a specific shape of the present invention, and is particularly preferably the dried and pulverized powder in terms of scattering tendency and a large technical significance of using the container having the specific shape of the present invention. Further, the dried and pulverized powder is also preferable in that dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins are superior to those in press juice powder and extract powder.
A known method in the related art can be used to obtain the dried and pulverized powder of the green stems and leaves. A method of combining a drying treatment with a pulverizing treatment of the green stems and leaves can be used as such a method. Either the drying treatment or the pulverizing treatment may be performed first, but it is preferable to perform the drying treatment first in terms of production efficiency. In the step of drying and pulverizing treatments, the method of combining the drying treatment with the pulverizing treatment may be further combined with one or two or more kinds of treatments selected from treatments such as a blanching treatment and a sterilization treatment, if necessary. Further, the number of times of performing the pulverizing treatment may be one, or a combination of two or more times, but it is preferable to combine a fine pulverizing treatment in which the stems and leaves are pulverized more finely, after a coarse pulverizing treatment, in terms of production efficiency.
The blanching treatment is a treatment for maintaining green of the stems and leaves vividly, and examples of the method of the blanching treatment include a hot water treatment, a steaming treatment, or the like.
The drying treatment is not particularly limited, but is preferably, for example, a treatment in which drying is performed such that a water content of the green stems and leaves is 10 mass % or less, particularly 8 mass % or less. The drying treatment may be performed by any method known to a person skilled in the art, such as hot air drying, high-pressure vapor drying, electromagnetic wave drying, and freeze drying.
Examples of the pulverizing treatment include a treatment in which pulverization is performed by any method generally used by a person skilled in the art using a device or equipment for pulverization such as a crusher, a mill, a blender, a stone mill, and a jet mill. The pulverized green stems and leaves are sieved as necessary.
Examples of a granulation step of the green stem and leaf powder obtained as described above include a method of granulating the green stem and leaf powder pulverized as described above by a fluidized bed granulation method, an extrusion granulation method, a transfer granulation method, a stirring granulation method, or the like.
A ratio of the green stems and/or leaves in the aojiru composition is usually 20 mass % or more. It is preferable that the ratio of the green stems and/or leaves in the aojiru composition is high in that the green stems and/or leaves tend to scatter in a container in the related art at the time of pouring into the PET bottle or the like, the technical significance of using the container having the specific shape in the present invention is high, the palatability is high, and a nutrient function is excellent. From this viewpoint, the ratio of the green stems and/or leaves in the aojiru composition is preferably 25 mass % or more, more preferably 30 mass % or more, and may be 100 mass %.
When the aojiru composition contains other components other than the green stems and/or leaves, the other components may contain, for example, a protein, dietary fiber such as water-soluble dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, a plant or a plant processed product, and microorganisms such as algae, lactic acid bacteria and yeast. Further, if necessary, the other components may include saccharides such as dextrin and starch, an oligosaccharide, a sweetener, an acidulant, a colorant, a thickener, a brightener, an excipient, a nutritional supplement, a binder, a lubricant, a stabilizer, a diluent, an extender, an emulsifier, a food additive, and a seasoning, which are generally used in a food field.
Regarding a particle size of the aojiru composition, a volume cumulative particle diameter (hereinafter, also referred to as “average particle diameter”) in a cumulative volume of 50% is preferably 3 μm or more, more preferably 5 μm or more, and particularly preferably 7 μm or more, in terms of enabling transfer in a short time to the PET bottle while suppressing scattering. The volume cumulative particle diameter in the cumulative volume of 50% is preferably 400 μm or less, more preferably 350 μm or less, and particularly preferably 300 μm or less in terms of dispersibility in a liquid such as water.
Further, in a case where the aojiru composition is dried and pulverized powder, as a particle size distribution of the aojiru composition, when a particle size in a cumulative volume of 10% measured by a laser diffraction type particle size distribution method is D10, the particle size in the cumulative volume of 50% is D50, and a particle size in a cumulative volume of 90% is D90, a value of (D90−D10)/D50 is preferably 1 or more and 5 or less, and more preferably 1.5 or more and 4 or less. The aojiru composition having such a sharp particle size distribution can flow more easily and can be easily poured into the PET bottle or the like.
The volume cumulative particle diameter can be measured by, for example, a particle size distribution measuring device based on a laser diffraction and scattering method as a measurement principle.
In a case where the aojiru composition is not the granulated product, and the particle size distribution of the aojiru composition is measured using a micro electromagnetic vibration sieve machine (model number: M-2, manufactured by Tsutsui Rikagaku Kikai Co., Ltd.) different from the device described above, a particle size distribution having a particle diameter of 106 μm or less is preferably 50 mass % or more, more preferably 60 mass % or more, and particularly preferably 70 mass % or more of the total.
In a case where the aojiru composition is the granulated product, and the particle size distribution of the aojiru composition is measured using an electric sieve vibrator (micro vibro sifter M-2, manufactured by Tsutsui Rikagaku Kikai Co., Ltd.), a particle size distribution having a particle diameter of 300 μm or less is preferably 50 mass % or more, more preferably 60 mass % or more, and particularly preferably 70 mass % or more of the total.
An angle of repose of the aojiru composition is preferably 35° or more, more preferably 40° or more, in terms of easy pouring of the aojiru composition into the PET bottle or the like in the short time. The angle of repose can be measured by a method described in an example to be described later.
The aojiru composition having the average particle diameter, the angle of repose, the particle size distribution, and the bulk specific gravity described above can be obtained by a method for producing green stem and leaf powder or granules using the green stem and leaf powder, for example, by adjusting fine pulverization conditions such as a jet mill in the case of the dried and pulverized powder.
The stick container 8 will be described in more detail.
As shown in
As shown in
From the viewpoint of accommodating the composition and the ease of enclosing the composition in the container at the time of production, the entire width W of the container (
In view of the ease of use and appearance of the container 8, a size of the accommodation portion 13, and the like, an entire length L (
For example, a ratio (L/W) of the entire length L to the entire width W of the container is not limited, but preferably, for example, two or more, particularly preferably three or more, in terms of easily setting a desirable opening width while accommodating a sufficient amount of the composition.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The container main body 1 of the stick container 8 has the tear guide portion 15 capable of tearing the non-sealing portion 14 along the width direction Y. and the opening 16 is formed as shown in
As shown in
The inclined portion 17a preferably has a linear shape extending obliquely with respect to the width direction Y in that the composition is easily discharged. In the example shown in
As shown in
Such a stepped shape has an advantage that, for example, compared to the case where the inclined portion 17a extends to the end edge 8b, the composition can be smoothly poured into the PET bottle or the like without causing accumulation while increasing a sealing strength.
An angle α (
When the end edge 10a of the first sealing region 10 on the accommodation portion 13 side has the stepped shape extending outward in the width direction from both the ends of the inclined portion 17a, the first sealing region 10 is formed such that the width W1 of a portion located on the first sealing portion side of the inclined portion 17a, that is, on the end edge 8b side is smaller than the width W2 of a portion located on the second sealing portion side of the inclined portion 17a, that is, on the end edge 8a side. In this way, the composition can be easily discharged, and at the same time, it is possible to maximize a capacity of the accommodation portion and to increase an area of the first sealing region 10 and maintain the sealing strength.
A ratio W5/W of the width W5 of the inclined portion 17a to the entire width W of the container is preferably 0.1 or more and 0.6 or less in terms of maintaining the sealing strength while expanding the accommodation portion.
A ratio W1/W2 of the width W1 of the portion of the first sealing portion other than the inclined portion to the width W2 of the second sealing portion 12 is preferably 0.05 or more and 0.8 or less in terms of easily setting a ratio of the opening width W4 of the opening 16 to the entire width W to the above range while balancing the sealing strength and a capacity of the accommodation portion, and more preferably 0.1 or more and 0.7 or less.
As shown in
As shown in
A ratio W4/W of the opening width W4 to the entire width W of the container is preferably 0.9 or less, and more preferably 0.8 or less in terms of more reliably suppressing scattering. The opening width W4 of the opening 16 is preferably 15 mm or more and 30 mm or less in terms of suppressing scattering of the composition when the composition is poured into the PET bottle and reducing the time required for the pouring.
A ratio W4/W2 of the opening width W4 to the width W2 of the second sealing portion 12 is preferably 1 or more and 1.7 or less in terms of more reliably suppressing scattering, and more preferably 1 or more and 1.5 or less. An expression “W4/W2=1” refers to a state in which the tear guide portion 15 is located at the portion that is in contact with the end edge of the second sealing portion 12 on the second sealing region 20 side (the end edge indicated by the reference numeral 12a in the example of
Further, as shown in
A ratio L4/L1 of a length L4 from the upper side end edge 8c of the first sealing region 10 to the height of the tear guide portion 15 to the sealing length L1 of the first sealing portion 11 is preferably 0.3 or more and 0.9 or less in terms of ease of setting the opening width, and more preferably 0.4 or more and 0.8 or less.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the examples. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified. “%” and “part” represent mass % and parts by mass, respectively.
The powder tester® PT-X, manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation, was used to acquire the bulk specific gravity in accordance with the following procedures a to d.
The average particle diameter of the aojiru composition was measured under the following conditions by using a laser micro-sizer LMS-3000 manufactured by Seishin Enterprise Co., Ltd., which is a laser diffraction and scattering type particle diameter distribution measuring device, when the aojiru composition was dried and pulverized powder.
With regard to the particle size distribution, sieves of 200 mesh (opening size: 75 μm), 150 mesh (opening size: 106 μm), 60 mesh (opening size: 250 μm), and 32 mesh (opening size: 470 μm) were sequentially stacked on a receiver from below, and 10 g of the sample was placed on the uppermost sieve and capped, and then the sieves were vibrated for five minutes using the micro electromagnetic vibration sieve machine (model number: M-2, manufactured by Tsutsui Rikagaku Kikai Co., Ltd.). Next, a weight of the granulated product remaining in each sieve was measured, and indicated by the ratio of the granulated product to the total mass.
The powder tester® PT-X, manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation, was used to measure the angle of repose. Sample powder was vibrated at an amplitude of 0.5 mm using a funnel having an opening (diameters in an upper portion: 75 mm, in a lower portion: 7 mm), and was deposited from a height of 7.5 cm as a specimen (powder) on a circular table having a diameter of 8 cm. At this time, the specimen was deposited to such an extent that the deposit overflowed from an end portion of the table. A value of an angle formed between a ridge line of a cone of the deposit (the specimen) deposited on the table and a circular table surface measured with laser light was defined as an angle of repose of the powder.
The stems and leaves of the barley cut at a height of about 30 cm were used. A pretreatment was performed in which the stems and leaves were washed with water, adhered mud and the like were removed, and were cut to a size of about 2 cm to 10 cm. The pretreated stems and leaves were subjected to the blanching treatment only once with hot water at 80 to 100° C. for 90 to 180 seconds, and then cooled with cold water. Subsequently, the obtained stems and leaves were dried in a dryer for 20 minutes to 180 minutes with warm air at 80 to 135° C. until the water content became 5 mass % or less.
The dried stems and leaves were coarsely pulverized to a size of about 1 mm using a mixer, and then were finely pulverized using a jet mill pulverizer to produce green stem and leave powder (dried and pulverized powder) of barley. The bulk specific gravity was 0.205 g/cm3, the average particle diameter was 21 μm, the value of (D90−D10)/D50 was 1.5 or more and 4 or less, the particle size distribution was 106 μm, 98 mass % passing, and the angle of repose was 560. The water content was 3.7 mass %.
In the stick container 8 shown in
In the stick container 8, the accommodation portion contained 3 g of the stem and leave powder of the barley produced in Production Example 1.
A stick container was the same as Example 1 except that the width W2 of the second sealing portion 12 in the stick container shown in
A stick container was the same as Example 1 except that the width W2 of the second sealing portion 12 in the stick container shown in
In place of the stick container shown in
In place of Production Example 1, which is the aojiru composition, starch was used and sealed in the stick container 8. The starch had a bulk specific gravity of 0.59 g/cm, an average particle diameter of 28 μm, a particle size distribution of 106 μm, 99 mass % passing, and an angle of repose of 52°. The water content was 15.5 mass %.
In the containers of examples and comparative examples, the opening was formed by tearing the entire width of the container along the tear guide portion 15 in the width direction. The ratio of the opening width W4 to the entire width W of the container is shown in Table 1.
Further, as for the container of each of examples and comparative examples, container transfer to the PET bottle (opening inner diameter: 21 mm) was performed as it is in the manner shown in
As shown in the evaluation results of Example 1 shown in Table 1, it can be seen that the green stem and leaf powder of the barley can be transferred to the PET bottle in the short time by the stick container of the present invention of Example 1 without being scattered. In contrast, in Comparative Example 1 in which an opening width was smaller than that of the present invention, it took time to pour the aojiru composition, and in Comparative Example 2, when an entire opening of the stick container 8′ was inserted into the opening of the PET bottle, the opening of the stick container 8′ was narrowed, and the aojiru composition could not get out of the container 8′. In Comparative Example 3 in which the entire width of the container was used as the opening, the aojiru composition was scattered outside the opening of the PET bottle when the content was poured. Further, in Comparative Example 4 in which starch was used instead of powder of young barley leaves as the aojiru composition, the transfer to the PET bottle was not possible. From the above results, it is found that the stick container of the present invention can transfer the composition such as the aojiru composition to the PET bottle without scattering the composition in the short time.
As seen from the above exemplification, the present invention can transfer powder of a composition to a PET bottle in a short time without scattering the powder by using a stick container in which an opening width is limited by sealing portions different in sealing lengths in a longitudinal direction depending on positions thereof in a width direction, and a ratio of the opening width to an entire width of the container is 0.4 or more.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a stick container that can pour a composition, which is a content, into an opening of a PET bottle in a short time without scattering the composition.
