WO2006137674A1

WO2006137674A1 - Squeeze vessel assembly with a double lid cap which has a net structure and the manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2006137674A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/002367
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ho-Sung Ahn
Original assignee: Ho-Sung Ahn
Priority date: 2005-06-20
Filing date: 2006-06-20
Publication date: 2006-12-28
Also published as: KR20060133494A

Abstract

A double lid cap in which a lid having a net structure is provided underneath a membrane cap to be sealed to a flange of a squeeze vessel for preventing suffocation accidents caused by conventional mini-cup jelly products. To absolutely prevent a jelly lump from being sucked into the mouth all at once, if the membrane cap sealed to the squeeze vessel to protect the contents is peeled off, the net lid overlapped underneath the membrane cap acts to allow the contents to be divided finely in the course of being extruded from the vessel while preventing extrusion of frozen contents. This configuration guarantees use convenience and intake safety of consumers, in particular, children or old and feeble people, and results in a reduction in manufacturing costs as well as creation of new and replacement demands.

Description

[Description] [Invention Title]

SQUEEZE VESSEL ASSEMBLY WITH A DOUBLE LID CAP WHICH HAS A NET STRUCTURE AND THE MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a double lid cap in which a lid having a net structure is provided underneath a membrane cap to be sealed to a flange of a squeeze vessel, and more particularly, to an assembly of a squeeze vessel and double lid cap having a net structure in which a double lid cap mechanism including a membrane cap and net-shaped lid having different structures and functions from each other can guarantee division of contents into multiple pieces based on a net shape as well as stable storage of the contents, thereby achieving real-time dividing extrusion of the contents and consequently, convenience and safety to all consumers, and method for manufacturing the squeeze vessel assembly.

[Background Art]

When surfing about "Jelly" in domestic and foreign internet portal sites, huge amounts of data can be found in each site.

However, the found data is almost entirely limited to news dealing with fatal accidents caused upon intake of jelly and warnings emphasizing special notices for children or old and feeble persons, rather than marketing-related data about differentiated tastes and flavers, such as quality or taste per various groups of jelly products, etc., that are provided by respective relevant businesses.

In particular, mini-cup jelly products commercialized at a market are designed to stimulate curiosity of children by virtue of a tiny size, sweet taste and tempting color thereof and therefore, have a possibility to cause unexpected suffocation accidents.

Definite counterplans of Korean relevant authorities enforced at present are generally summarized to the followings. Firstly, there is a measure for provisionally preventing manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale of dangerous jelly products, in particular, mini-cup jelly products having a diameter of 4.5cm or less. A second measure is to induce relevant manufacturers and importers to withdraw the problematic products of their own accord and to continuously control exhibition and sale of the problematic products in shops. Thirdly, there is an attempt to offer a fundamental measure through scientific analysis of various harmful factors in relation with physical properties, size, etc. of jelly as well as collection of various opinions and ideas. However, all the above mentioned measures and attempts are somewhat ambiguous and insufficient to completely solve the problems of jelly products. Suffocation accidents caused upon intake of food are very dangerous to special consumer groups including children or old and feeble persons and may occur at any time. Therefore, with a passive measure to inform customers to have a special care, it is difficult to obtain a reliable fundamental solution.

Even in all other nations of the world, similarly, there are no special measures for solving the above described problems caused by mini-cup jelly products.

In the case of the European Union (EU), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) already indicated the hardness, shape, size and intake methods of jelly as dangerous factors of mini-cup jelly products, and submitted examination opinions in that mini-cup jelly products have the risk of suffocation regardless of kinds of food additives as well as the risk of suffocation is not limited to children. Based on the examination opinions, the European Union took an action to prevent the sale and importation of mini-cup jelly products and food additives used in the manufacture thereof throughout members of the EU. Also, in the case of United States of America, the Food Safety and Applied

Nutrition (CFSAN) and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) belonging to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigated the latent risk of suffocation caused by mini-cup jelly products containing food additives. Based on the investigation results, the FDA concluded that physical characteristics of the mini- cup jelly products have the risk of suffocation to children, and took an action to prevent the importation of circular jelly products having a diameter of 4.5cm or less as well as non-circular products having a length of 3.1cm or less so long as these products do not pass various physical tests. In addition, other countries including Canada, Australia, etc. took the same action as U.S.A.

As stated above, mini-cup jelly products are marketable to special consumer groups and the demand thereof is increasing year by year. Nevertheless, counterplans for eliminating the harmful factors of mini-cup jelly products presented by the respective countries including developed countries are not so serious, and only prevent the production, sale, and importation of the jelly products without presenting fundamental solutions. These counterplans forcibly suppress the spontaneously generated demand of markets.

With recent statistical data, a yearly demand of mini-cup jelly products in Korea occupies a great portion of the market demand, and approximately two hundred million or more of jelly products including imported products are sold. Accordingly, preventing the manufacture and sale of mini-cup jelly products may increase the industrial damage to relevant manufactures, material suppliers, distributors, etc.

Suffocation accidents, which are caused by mini-cup jelly products and, in particular, involve children, may be considered as inevitable accidents because children are underdeveloped both in mind and body and thus have a throat narrower than that of the adult, and first of all, children have awkward action and insufficient self-control and cannot recognize the danger of products even if they can comprehend warnings requiring attention.

With the prior art, mini jelly vessels should be shaped and structured to cause slimy and soft jelly lumps to instantaneously enter the consumer's mouth, and this causes the consumer to unintentionally swallow the jelly lump whole due to a sucking action, resulting in a probability of blocking of the throat. Accordingly, emphasizing that the jelly lump should be eaten while cutting off it little by little rather than swallowing it whole in order to prevent suffocation accidents is a vague and impracticable proposition inconsistent with reality, and is difficult to evoke sympathy of people. Moreover, when considering a recent sale promotion behavior to advertise freezing jelly for the sake of better taste, it is difficult to imagine who on earth would cut off and eat the frozen jelly lump little by little for their safety.

As a conventional solution, it has been proposed to add food additives, such as carrageenan, agar, xanthan-gum, arginate, etc., to obtain jelly having a lower hardness than that of jelly including konjac or glucomannan as food additives. Although it has been advertised that lowering the hardness of jelly has the effect of preventing physical harm of mini-cup jelly products and these products having the reduced hardness have no risk of accidents, actually, suffocation accidents by the products containing agar were reported and thus, such an advertisement has to be criticized.

Also, although it is believed that mini-cup jelly products having a square or other polygonal shape except for a circular, conical and elliptical shapes are safe even if they have a size of 4.5cm or less, this size of products also must be swallowed instantaneously and thus, have a limit in safety. The safety risk of mini-cup jelly products may depend on the structure and shape of jelly vessels, physical properties of jelly, and recognition of consumers.

Accordingly, the following measures may be taken by relevant authorities. Firstly, the sale of products that use a vessel having a size of 4.5cm or more, or products that have a size of 4.5cm or less, but have a reduced hardness and toughness and increased brittleness may be allowed. Secondly, it may be possible to obligate the addition of phrases warning the risk of swallowing frozen jelly whole and suffocation therefrom and encouraging to chew jelly finely.

Actually, conditional sale of mini-cup jelly products has always been allowed to relevant businesses in the Korean market, on the basis of the judgment that the mini-cup jelly products fulfill the above described requirements.

Specifically, in the case of mini-cup jelly products having a size of 4.5cm or less, the sale thereof is allowed under conditions that the mini-cup jelly products contain no konjac or glucomannan and have a hardness of 7N or less, and are subjected to a physical property analyzer test, forward extrusion test, compression test, drilling test, cohesion test, etc., and warning phrases are marked thereon. However, these kinds of products still have the following problems.

Firstly, as stated above, since fatal accidents by products containing an extracted agar additive rather than extracted konjac or glucomannan additive were reported, it is difficult to completely neglect the possibility of accidents.

Specifically, differently from general products adapted to scoop jelly with a spoon, mini-cup jelly products are designed to be swallowed whole. Therefore, even if the jelly has a relatively low hardness as a result of a compression test, it still has the risk of accidents in accordance with intake conditions and environments.

Secondly, if any curious person, in particular, child tries to freeze mini-cup jelly product in a refrigerator, the products having a hardness of 7N or less are also dangerous.

Thirdly, there still remains a doubt in that warning phrases highlighting the importance of safe intake for preventing suffocation accidents are efficient to infant and children despite of the fact that infant and children have a high risk of suffocation. In conclusion, the products conditionally allowed in sale still have the risk of other mini-cup jelly products and therefore, the above measures are temporary expedient measures shifting the responsibility of safety to consumers.

Ultimately, it is impossible to obtain a fundamental solution for suffocation accidents by mini-cup jelly products with administrative managements of relevant authorities and more efficient solutions have to be proposed by relevant manufactures.

In the prior art, a variety of technologies related to jelly vessels have been known.

In one of the known technologies, to prevent suffocation accidents caused when a consumer sucks and swallows a jelly lump received in a vessel instantaneously, a partition having a predetermined shape is used to divide an interior space of the vessel, so as to divide the jelly lump into small pieces.

In general, a cup is defined as a vessel having a depth more than a half a diameter of the vessel. In consideration of formability for mass production, competitive price, efficient production line, distribution efficiency, etc., a predetermined amount of cups are mass produced in real time by vacuum and pressure forming using a multilayered pneumatic extrusion sheet, foamed C-PET sheet, or the like. The cups produced as stated above are mainly used for the packing of various foods, such as jelly, ice-cream and other edible ice, cream, jam, bean curd, and other seasoned food. Accordingly, all mini-cups used as jelly vessels in all the countries are also produced by vacuum or pressure forming and thus, have restrictions in shape and structure.

FIGS. 17a, 17b and 17c are schematic views of the prior art. As shown in FIG. 17a, there is known a jelly vessel comprising a partition 66a produced by thermoforming. The partition 66a, however, increases the surface area of a sheet inside the jelly vessel and thus, there is a necessity for increasing the thickness of the sheet, resulting in an unnecessary increase in price of the jelly vessel. Also, the partition is insufficient to finely divide jelly received in the vessel because it has a limit to divide the interior space of the vessel into several parts. A non-continuous partition 66b as shown in FIG. 17b has a structure that cannot be obtained by thermoforming and be produced only by injection molding. Accordingly, the non-continuous partition is unsuitable for mass production in view of the production efficiency and manufacturing cost of individual unit products. Referring to FIG. 17c, a partition 66c having a predetermined height is provided only along an inner circumference of an upper-end opening of a vessel. The conventional vessel using the partition 66c, however, cannot be manufactured by any one of both injection molding and thermoforming and is only an imaginary vessel that can exist only as a drawing. For the above described reasons, the known technologies have a fundamental weak point in commercialization and fail to fulfill requirements of the relevant authorities, etc.

[Disclosure of Invention] [Technical Problem]

In the case of mini-cup jelly products having a diameter of 4.5cm or less that receive a consumer safety warning due to domestic and foreign safety verification problems, the sale allowance of the products have been repeatedly criticized until recently, but no relevant authorities and businesses dared to propose fundamental solution.

It can be said that a series of conventional vague solutions, which simply propose a reduction in the hardness of jelly or marking warning phrases on a vessel surface despite a high possibility of suffocation accidents, have a lack of social responsibility and moral marketing custom, and invade the boundary of law regarding security of a consumer' s life.

[Technical Solution]

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems shifting all responsibility of accidents to consumers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a double lid cap in which a lid having a net structure is provided underneath a membrane cap to be sealed to a flange of a squeeze vessel, thereby absolutely preventing a jelly lump from being sucked into the mouth all at once and allowing the jelly lump to be naturally divided into fine pieces when being extruded from the vessel in accordance with the consumer's intension. Accordingly, when anyone sucks jelly by applying the mouth to the vessel or presses a lateral side of the vessel after peeling the membrane cap from the vessel, the jelly can be cut and divided due to effect of a net lid having a predetermined mesh size and shape, thereby guaranteeing the intake safety of consumers in any situation. [Advantageous Effects]

With the above described present invention, even in the case of contents, such as jelly, etc., having a relatively high hardness, the contents can be divided finely and easily extruded from a squeeze vessel as soon as the consumer grips the squeeze vessel or applies his/her mouth to the squeeze vessel to suck the jelly. Also, when the contents are frozen, the present invention causes the extrusion of the contents to be impossible before the content defrosts by virtue of a natural safe- locking mechanism. Therefore, the present invention can provide a fundamental solution against suffocation accidents. The present invention is also applicable to various food groups because the present invention is not limited by the size of a vessel. Accordingly, the present invention can guarantee safety of life to all consumers, in particular, children and old and feeble persons.

Products obtained by the present invention have no necessity of warning phrases and thus, can fulfill desires of relevant authorities and businesses as well as consumers. Also, according to the present invention, it is unnecessary to provide a squeeze vessel with partitions. This results in a reduction in manufacturing costs as well as creation of new and replacement demands in markets.

[Description of Drawings]

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the general configuration of a squeeze vessel assembly according to the present invention, illustrating a membrane cap partially peeled from a squeeze vessel;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the important parts of the present invention;

FIGS. 3a and 3b are enlarged perspective views of the circles of FIG.1; FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line X-X of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line Y-Y of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the circle of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating an alternative configuration of a sealing flange provided at the squeeze vessel according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view illustrating the use state of the present invention;

FIGS. 9a, 9b and 9c are explanatory views illustrating sequential division and extrusion of contents due to effect of compression according to the present invention;

FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c are plan views, respectively, illustrating a square net lid, honeycomb net lid, and diamond-shaped net lid according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11a, l ib and l ie are plan views, respectively, illustrating a punched square net lid, punched honeycomb net lid, and punched diamond-shaped net lid according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view illustrating individual transfer of a net lid and membrane cap film according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view illustrating simultaneous transfer of a net lid and membrane cap film overlapped with each other according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 14a, 14b, 14c and 14d are process views illustrating a thermoforming process of the squeeze vessel according to the present invention;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view illustrating individual transfer, sealing, trimming and cutting of the net lid and membrane cap film according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view illustrating simultaneous transfer, sealing, trimming and cutting of the net lid and membrane cap film according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and FIGS. 17a, 17b and 17c are schematic views of the prior art. [Best Mode]

To achieve the above described object of the present invention, the present invention provides a squeeze vessel assembly including a double Hd cap of a net structure comprising: a squeeze vessel having at least one squeeze indentation continuously formed in a vertical direction of a body thereof and a sealing flange formed at an upper end thereof; and a double lid cap including a membrane cap formed with a peel flap and a net lid overlapped underneath the membrane cap, the double lid cap being trimmed and cut so as to be heat sealed to the flange of the squeeze vessel, thereby achieving efficient division and extrusion of contents as occasion demands.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Mode for Invention]

The following detailed embodiments describe a squeeze vessel assembly including a double lid cap that has a net structure and a method for manufacturing the same for a better understanding of the present invention and the present invention is not limited to the description thereof. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrating a squeeze vessel assembly of the present invention, a squeeze vessel 10 is assembled with a double lid cap 40 and in turn, the double lid cap 40 includes a net lid 20 and membrane cap 30.

Considering the configuration of the squeeze vessel 10 in detail, it has a predetermined diameter and depth, and has press indentations 17a and 17b formed at opposite positions of an outer circumference thereof and one or more squeezing indentations 15a and 15b defining valleys 14a and 14b and a ridge 13 continuously formed in a vertical direction throughout the center of the squeeze vessel 10.

The squeeze vessel 10 further has a sealing flange 12 formed at an upper end thereof. The net lid 20 having a net structure is formed by coupling plastic wires 23, each having a predetermined thickness or diameter, with one another by predetermined intervals, to obtain a desired net width and shape.

The membrane cap 30 is formed of an aluminum foil or deposited laminate film having a predetermined thickness. The membrane cap 30 has a sealing portion 35 formed along a circumference thereof and a peel flap 33 extending outward from a part of the sealing portion 35 to have a predetermined shape and size.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative configuration of the sealing flange 12 provided at the upper end of the squeeze vessel 10. In the alternative configuration, the sealing flange 12 is provided with a grip flap 19, to allow the sealing flange 12 to have the same outer contour as that of the double lid cap 40.

As shown in FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c, according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the net lid 20 is continuously formed by coupling the plastic wires 23 with one another to have a predetermined width and shape as well as a uniform density. Referring to FIG. 10a illustrating one example, a net lid 20a having a square mesh pattern may be continuously formed with a predetermined density.

Referring to FIG. 10b illustrating another example, a net lid 20b having a honeycomb mesh pattern may be continuously formed with a predetermined density.

Referring to FIG. 10c illustrating yet another example, a net lid 20c having a diamond-shaped mesh pattern may be continuously formed with a predetermined density.

As shown in FIGS. 11a, l ib and l ie, according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a net lid 25 may be continuously formed by punching holes in a sheet to have a predetermined width and shape. In the present invention, punched portions 26a, 26b or 26c are successively arranged at predetermined positions of the net lid 25.

Referring to FIG. 11a illustrating one example, a punched net lid 25a may be continuously formed to have a predetermined width in such a manner that the plurality of punched portions 26a, each having a square mesh pattern, are successively arranged at predetermined positions.

Referring to FIG. 1 Ib illustrating another example, a punched net lid 25b may be continuously formed to have a predetermined width in such a manner that the plurality of punched portions 26b, each having a honeycomb mesh pattern, are successively arranged at predetermined positions.

Referring to FIG. l ie illustrating yet another example, a punched net lid 25c may be continuously formed to have a predetermined width in such a manner that the plurality of punched portions 26c, each having a diamond-shaped mesh pattern, are successively arranged at predetermined positions.

In both the above described preferred embodiments of the present invention, final configurations of their net lids are similar to each other and a difference therebetween is only in the methods of forming the net lids. In the former embodiment, the net lid 20 is completed by coupling the plastic wires 23 having a predetermined thickness with one another in known various netting methods. In the latter embodiment, the net lid 25 is completed by punching holes having a predetermined mesh pattern in a sheet having a predetermined thickness at predetermined intervals.

Referring to FIG. 12 illustrating a manufacturing method according to a first embodiment of the present invention, a membrane cap film 75, which has a predetermined width and is printed with a plurality of membrane caps 30, is unwound from a membrane cap film spool 70. Also, the net lid 20, which is produced by coupling the plastic wires 23 with one another at predetermined intervals to have a predetermined shape and the same width as that of the membrane cap film 75, is unwound from a net lid spool 50. Thereby, the membrane cap film 75 and net lid 20 can be transferred individually in a double roll manner.

Referring to FIG. 13 illustrating a manufacturing method according to a second embodiment of the present invention, although the manufacturing method of the present embodiment is almost similar to that of the first embodiment, the net lid 20 is overlapped underneath the membrane cap film 75 having the predetermined width to produce a double lid cap film 95 in an initial raw film processing step. The double lid cap film 95 is unwound from a double lid cap film spool 90 in a single roll transfer manner.

In the course of overlapping the membrane cap film 75 with the net lid 20 to produce the double lid cap film 95, side-edge sealing members 73, each having a predetermined width and length, are continuously or discontinuously provided along opposite side edges of the membrane cap film 75. The side-edge sealing members 73 serve to bond the membrane cap film 75 and net lid 20 to each other, thereby preventing unintentional separation therebetween during transfer thereof.

To intake contents (for example, food such as soft and viscous jelly paste, etc.) received in the squeeze vessel assembly having the above described configuration, as shown in FIG. 1 or 7, in a state wherein the body of the squeeze vessel 10 or grip flap 19 is gripped by one hand, the peel flap 33 of the membrane cap 30 is pulled vertically by the other hand to be peeled off, such that an opening of the squeeze vessel 10 is exposed to the outside.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 3b, the net lid 20 and membrane cap 30 are overlapped and bonded together to the sealing flange 12 of the squeeze vessel 10, in which contents 45 are filled, by thermal compression. Specifically, the net lid 20 may be first bonded to the sealing flange 12 and then, the membrane cap 30 may be overlapped on the net lid 20 so as to be sequentially bonded thereto. Alternatively, both the net lid 20 and membrane cap 30 may be bonded simultaneously to the sealing flange 12. In both the cases, the membrane cap 30 can be peeled independently because the membrane cap 30 is simply disposed on the upper end of the squeeze vessel 10. The net lid 20 cannot be peeled from the sealing flange 12 bonded thereto by thermal compression because both the sealing flange 12 and net lid 20 have the same thick sheet thickness as each other (generally, a thick sheet has a thickness of 0.25mm or more) and are made of same or similar plastic materials.

As shown in FIG. 3b, if a strong pressure sufficient to deform the plastic wire 23 is selectively applied to the plastic wire 23 by thermal compression, the plastic wire 23 is deformed into a compressed wire 24 having a width larger than the diameter of the plastic wire 23, so as to keep the net lid 20 in a bonded state without the risk of movement.

With the use of the net lid 20, even when the membrane cap 30, which is made of an aluminum composite film and is thinner relative to the net lid 20, is bonded to the net lid 20, a peeling force between the net lid 20 and the sealing flange 12 is considerably stronger than that between the net lid 20 and the membrane cap 30. Accordingly, the consumer can peel only the membrane cap 30.

The membrane cap 30, prior to being peeled, serves as a protective membrane for shielding the contents 45 from impurities outside. After the membrane cap 30 is peeled from the net lid 20 overlapped and bonded underneath thereof, the contents 45 can be cut and divided into several pieces having a predetermined shape by an external pressure and suction force due to effect of the net lid 20.

In a detailed embodiment explaining the production of the net lid 20 according to the present invention, a constituent material of the plastic wire 23 may be determined based on the material of the squeeze vessel 10, and may be one material selected from among PP, PE, nylon, and combinations thereof in consideration of various requirements. Preferably, a high-strength and high- elasticity material having a superior tensile strength and elasticity may be used. For example, the plastic wire 23 may be made of a single material or chemically synthesized from several materials, or may be produced by coating a nylon core with PP, PE, or the like.

In the case of the net lids 20a, 20b and 20c formed of the plastic wires 23 as shown in FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c, the plastic wires 23, each having a predetermined diameter and extending continuously in a longitudinal direction thereof, may be coupled with one another in known various technologies, to obtain a net structure.

Preferably, the diameter of the plastic wires 23 is freely determined in a range of approximately 0.5~lmm based on given empirical conditions obtained from various experiments, such as a viscous hardness of the contents 45, a size of the squeeze vessel 10, etc.

To guarantee the consumer's safety, preferably, the plastic wires 23 constituting the net structure are coupled with one another at an interval of approximately 10mm regardless of the size of the squeeze vessel 10.

As shown in FIG. 3 a, the plastic wire 23 has a cross section selected from among various shapes.

For example, the plastic wire 23 may have a triangular, square, diamond- shaped, circular cross section, etc., and preferably, the plastic wire 23 may have a circular or elliptical shape based on given empirical conditions.

In the case of the punched net lids 25a, 25b and 25c as shown in FIGS. 11a, l ib and l ie, they are configured to obtain a net structure by using various known technologies. For example, the punched portions 26a, 26b and 26c may be formed in various shapes to be successively arranged by use of a punching roller, laser punching machine, ultrasonic punching machine, or the like, based on given conditions, such as the thickness and material of the sheet, etc.

As shown in FIG. 8, if the press indentations 17a and 17b formed at opposite sides of the squeeze vessel 10 are gradually pressed by a grip force, as shown in FIGS. 9a, 9b and 9c illustrating sequential division and extrusion of the contents 45 in explanatory views, the contents 45 can be divided into several pieces while being extruded from the squeeze vessel 10 due to effect of the net lid 20 and a pressure force applied thereto. That is, the extruding contents 45 can be cut by the net lid 20 based on the mesh pattern of the net lid 20.

Explaining the constriction principle of the squeeze vessel 10 depending on the consumer's pressure force with reference to FIG. 4 in cross sectional view, the squeeze vessel 10 having one or more squeeze indentations 15a and 15b is adapted to receive the pressure force in a transversal direction based on a vector value headed by the press indentations 17a and 17b to thereby be constricted in the transversal direction.

Specifically, as the squeeze vessel 10 is pressed, the constriction angle of the valleys 14a and 14b and ridge 13 decreases gradually until it reaches a limit value. The interior volume of the squeeze vessel 10 decreases in proportion to the decrease of the constriction angle, thereby causing the contents 45 received in the squeeze vessel 10 to be naturally extruded out of the squeeze vessel 10 as much as the decreased interior volume. Simultaneously with being extruded, the contents 45 are cut and divided by the cobwebbed net lid 20 that is integrated to the opening of the squeeze vessel 10 by thermal compression.

Then, if the squeeze vessel 10 reaches a constriction limit incapable of further extruding the contents 45, the consumer can remove the contents 45 by putting his/her mouth to the opening of the squeezable vessel 10 without continuing to press the vessel 10.

In this case, a part of the contents, which are already cut into several pieces having a predetermined size, can be directly swallowed, and the remaining part of the contents still remaining in the squeeze vessel 10 can be sucked by putting the mouth to the opening of the squeeze vessel 10. With the suction operation, the remaining contents 45 is also cut and finely divided in the form of the net lid 20 in the same operation mechanism as the above description, thereby being completely sucked into the consumer's mouth.

Accordingly, even if the consumer, such as a child, and old or feeble person, sucks and swallows the contents all at once, the present invention has the effect of completely preventing the swallowed contents 45 from having the form of a lump and consequently, preventing blocking of the throat. With experiments repeatedly performed by inventors of the present invention, it was proved that the present invention is able to achieve a very satisfactory result when being applied to products that are prohibited for sale because the products have a relatively high hardness due to konjac or glucomannan additives. That is, the present invention can put an end to the criticism related to the safety of mini-cup jelly products.

Also, since it is unnecessary to delimit the viscous hardness of contents to 7N or less for the reason of intake safety, the present invention has the effect of preventing deterioration in taste caused when the hardness of contents is excessively low. Ultimately, the present invention can completely solve all problems of mini-cup jelly products that are being disputed due to differences between the positions of many domestic and foreign relevant authorities, businesses, and consumer associations.

Firstly, the present invention enables the safe intake of a mini-cup jelly product having a diameter of 4.5cm or less and therefore, the criticism about the cup diameter becomes meaningless. Secondly, since the safe intake of jelly products containing food additives that have a relatively high hardness, such as konjac, glucomannan, or the like, is possible, the criticism about a somewhat vague standard in that a product having a hardness of 7N or less is safe also becomes meaningless. Thirdly, in the case of frozen jelly, the net lid 20 of the present invention can act to prevent extrusion of the frozen jelly so as not to swallow the frozen jelly whole. Therefore, there is no probability of potential accidents caused by intake of the frozen jelly.

Fourthly, since the present invention already proposes fundamental solutions about problems of the prior art in accordance with their purpose as stated above, disputing where and how to mark warning phrases on products and ensuring the consumer's recognition of what the warning phrases mean are wasteful.

The squeeze vessel 10 according to the present invention can be manufactured by thermoforming. The thermoforming includes a variety of sheet processing technologies, such as a vacuum forming, pressure forming, matched mold forming, and combinations thereof.

Explaining the method for manufacturing the squeeze vessel 10 in sequence with reference to FIGS. 14a, 14b, 14c and 14d, if a vessel forming sheet 100 obtained by extrusion molding is fed to a forming machine, the fed vessel forming sheet 100 is completely clamped in a mold 98 having a predetermined shape. Then, the clamped vessel forming sheet 100 is heated to a forming temperature, followed by a shaping process using vacuum inhalation, air press, or the like.

The thermoforming is performed at a relatively low pressure (conventionally, a pressure of 1—10 atmospheres) as compared to other processes, such as blow molding, injection molding, injection blow molding, etc. This enables the use of a mold made of low-strength and low-cost materials as well as mass production of the vessel. Accordingly, the thermoforming can achieve a considerable reduction in production price per unit product.

Now, the problems of conventional jelly vessels 96 using one of partitions 66a, 66b and 66c as shown in FIGS. 17a, 17b and 17c are explained. First, in the case of the jelly vessel as shown in FIG. 17a, although it can be manufactured by thermoforming a single elongated sheet, the use of the partition 66a causes an increase in the overall surface area of the vessel, resulting in insufficient division and extrusion of jelly and thereby, increasing the price of the vessel forming sheet 100 by up to approximately 30%. Furthermore, if a plurality of partitions 66a are provided to extrude a smaller size of jelly, the thickness of the vessel forming sheet 100 increases, thereby causing deterioration in production efficiency in proportion to the increased thickness.

In the case of the jelly vessels as shown in FIGS. 17b and 17c, since the jelly vessel cannot be formed by use of the single elongated vessel forming sheet 100, the application of thermoforming is impossible. Also, since the partitions 66b and 66c take a non-continuous shape, the jelly vessels 96 do not allow stacking thereof and have a severe structural defect in association with the transfer and filling of empty jelly vessels. Since mini-cup jelly products have a low sale price per unit product, if it is not manufactured with a very efficient production system, i.e. the efficiency of packing is not high, the production and sale of mini-cup jelly products are impossible because of the burden of manufacturing costs. Therefore, production of the vessel using thermoforming is an essential precondition of the present invention. Accordingly, numerous disposable vessels for packing groups of food, such as jelly, sweet paste, sauce, liquid-phase cream, ice cream and other edible ice, jam, seasoned food, bean curd, pea jelly, etc., are manufactured by the thermoforming method without exception.

For example, a plastic sheet having a predetermined width and thickness is processed such that vessels are continuously formed in two or more lines.

As stated above, the above described examples of the prior art have a severe structural defect in production and as such find it impossible to access domestic and foreign relevant markets.

On the other hand, the squeeze vessel 10 of the present invention has a physical/engineering force-balance mechanism and extremely ergonomic structure to divide the contents 45 using the net lid 20 having a predetermined thickness and shape, rather than using a partition. As a result, the present invention can guarantee the consumer's convenience and safety, and provide a relevant production industry with a highly synergistic effect because the present invention is directly applicable to production facilities of relevant businesses. Specifically, since the present invention enables the contents 45 to be easily divided and extruded as numerous pieces while keeping a constant inner surface area of the squeeze vessel 10, the squeeze vessel 10 can be manufactured while keeping the thickness of the vessel forming sheet 100 per unit area, causing no increase in manufacturing costs. Also, the vessel of the present invention can be mass produced by using a known vessel manufacturing method and thus, is applicable to a variety of disposable vessel product groups.

In the present invention, a method for filling the contents 45 in the squeeze vessel 10, heat sealing the net lid 20 to the membrane cap 30, and trimming and cutting the bonded net lid 20 and membrane cap 30 or double lid cap 40 may be slightly modified as shown in the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 15 illustrating the method for manufacturing a finished product according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the squeeze vessel 10 is primarily vacuum formed based on a process using a vacuum forming system, followed by trimming and cutting.

A plurality of squeeze vessels 10 formed as stated above are aligned in a vessel holder of an automatic cup sealing system having passed through an initial tuning course. Then, if the contents 45 are filled in the respective squeeze vessels 10 by operation of a filling system, the squeeze vessels 10 are sealed while sequentially passing through the sealing system.

For the sealing of the squeeze vessels 10, the net lid 20 is unwound from the net lid spool 50 in accordance with rotation of the spool 50 and simultaneously, the membrane cap film 75 is unwound from the membrane cap film spool 70 in accordance with rotation of the spool 70, achieving individual transfer of both the net lid 20 and membrane cap film 75.

As heat sealing heads of the sealing system are concentrically positioned with the sealing flanges 12 of the squeeze vessels 10, the heat sealing heads are also aligned in a line with the membrane cap film 75 and sealing tuning portions 21a, 21b and 21c of the net lid 20 between the heat sealing heads and the sealing flanges 12 as shown in FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c. Thereby, the squeeze vessels 10 are completely sealed through a pressure heat sealing as shown in FIG. 6.

Subsequently, if the membrane cap film 75 is bonded to the sealing flanges 12 of the squeeze vessels 10 in which the contents 45 are filled, the outer contour of each printed pattern on the membrane cap film 75 is trimmed by a trimming unit and concentrically positioned with the squeeze vessels 10 with a high accuracy. Simultaneously with the trimming and cutting of the membrane cap film 75, the net lid 20, which is overlapped underneath the membrane cap film 75, is cut, to output a finished product as shown in FIG. 1 or 7.

Referring to FIG. 16 illustrating the method for manufacturing a finished product according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the squeeze vessel 10 is primarily vacuum formed based on a process using a vacuum forming system, followed by trimming and cutting.

A plurality of squeeze vessels 10 formed as stated above are aligned in a vessel holder of an automatic cup sealing system having passed through an initial tuning course. Then, if the contents 45 are filled in the respective squeeze vessels 10 by operation of a filling system, the squeeze vessels 10 are sealed while sequentially passing through a sealing system.

For the sealing of the squeeze vessels 10, the double lid cap film 95 is unwound from the double lid cap film spool 90 to be transferred forward. Then, as the heat sealing heads of the sealing system are concentrically positioned with the sealing flanges 12 of the squeeze vessels 10, the heat sealing heads are aligned in a line with both the membrane cap film 75 and the net lid 20 overlapped with each other. Thereby, the squeeze vessels 10 are completely sealed through a pressure heat sealing as shown in FIG. 6.

In the above described detailed embodiments of the present invention, a high-frequency heat sealing or ultrasonic heat sealing may be employed in accordance with conditions of the net lid 20.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

[Claim 11 A squeeze vessel assembly including a double lid cap that has a net structure comprising: a squeeze vessel having a predetermined diameter and depth and formed at an upper end thereof with a sealing flange extending by a predetermined width; a press indentation formed at an outer circumference of the vessel; at least one squeeze indentation continuously formed in an outer sidewall surface and bottom surface of the vessel along a height direction of the vessel; a membrane cap having a sealing portion formed at an edge thereof to be coupled to the sealing flange of the vessel so as to seal the vessel; a peel flap extending from a part of the sealing portion of the membrane cap; and a net lid located between the upper end of the vessel and the membrane cap and having a net structure to be bonded to the sealing flange of the vessel.

[Claim 2] The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the net lid is overlapped underneath the membrane cap to have the same area as each other so as to constitute the double lid cap along with the membrane cap, and the net lid and membrane cap are sequentially or simultaneously bonded to the sealing flange of the vessel.

[Claim 3] The assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the net lid is not separated from the sealing flange of the vessel when the membrane cap is separated from the sealing flange of the vessel.

[Claim 4] The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the sealing flange of the vessel is configured to have an outer circumference equal or similar to that of the double lid cap.

[Claim 5] The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the vessel is made of a material that is deformable upon receiving an external force.

[Claim 6] The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the squeeze indentation includes at least one valley and ridge and is configured to be reduced in width as the press indentation is pressed by a grip force, so as to cause a reduction in an inner volume of the vessel.

[Claim 7] The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the net lid includes a plurality of plastic wires vertically and horizontally coupled with one another.

[Claim 8] The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the net lid includes a plurality of plastic wires coupled with one another in a predetermined pattern.

[Claim 9] The assembly according to claim 8, wherein the net lid has a honeycomb mesh pattern.

[Claim 10] The assembly according to claim 8, wherein the net lid has a diamond-shaped mesh pattern.

[Claim 11 ] The assembly according to claim 1, wherein the net Hd has a net structure defined by punching holes in a synthetic resin sheet in a predetermined pattern.

[Claim 12] The assembly according to claim 11, wherein the punched holes of the net lid have a square mesh pattern.

[Claim 13] The assembly according to claim 11, wherein the punched holes of the net Hd have a honeycomb mesh pattern.

[Claim 14] The assembly according to claim 11, wherein the punched holes of the net Hd have a diamond-shaped mesh pattern.

[Claim 15] A method for manufacturing a squeeze vessel assembly including a double lid cap that has a net structure comprising: filling contents in a squeeze vessel having a predetermined diameter and depth and including a sealing flange formed at an upper end thereof, a press indentation formed at an outer circumference thereof and at least one squeeze indentation continuously formed in an outer sidewall surface and bottom surface thereof; unwinding a net lid and membrane cap film from respective spools and feeding them to a position above the squeeze vessel; aligning only the net lid or both the net lid and membrane cap film together with a position of the squeeze vessel; and bonding the net lid to the sealing flange of the squeeze vessel and subsequently, bonding the membrane cap film to the sealing flange after overlapping the membrane cap on the net lid, or bonding both the net lid and membrane cap film together to the sealing flange of the squeeze vessel after overlapping them with each other, so as to seal the squeeze vessel.

[Claim 16] The method according to claim 15, wherein, after bonding the membrane cap film to the sealing flange after overlapping the membrane cap on the net lid, or bonding both the net lid and membrane cap film together to the sealing flange, the method further comprises: trimming outer circumferential edges of the membrane cap film and net lid by use of a trimming unit.

[Claim 17] A method for manufacturing a squeeze vessel assembly including a double lid cap that has a net structure comprising: filling contents in a squeeze vessel having a predetermined diameter and depth and including a sealing flange formed at an upper end thereof, a press indentation formed at an outer circumference thereof and at least one squeeze indentation continuously formed in an outer sidewall surface and bottom surface thereof; unwinding a net lid and membrane cap film from a single spool and feeding them to a position above the squeeze vessel; aligning the net lid and membrane cap film with a position of the squeeze vessel; and bonding both the net lid and membrane cap film overlapped with each other to the sealing flange of the squeeze vessel, so as to seal the squeeze vessel.

[Claim 18] The method according to claim 17, wherein, after the bonding of the net lid and membrane cap film to the sealing flange of the squeeze vessel, the method further comprises: trimming outer circumferential edges of the membrane cap film and net lid by use of a trimming unit.

[Claim 19] The method according to claim 17, wherein each of the net lid and membrane cap film is continuously or discontinuously formed, at opposite side edges thereof, with side edge sealing members, to prevent separation between the net lid and the membrane cap film during transfer thereof.