PACKAGED ARTICLE

Abstract

 A packaging case is provided wherein a sheet-like food can be easily taken out to be eaten even when one hand is filled with something as well as the sheet-like foods can be held compactly. A package holding a sheet-like food 1 wrapped with a wrapper, such as chewing gums or chocolates, in the packaging case is characterized in that the wrapper can be opened by cutting perforations 5 between an extracting portion 6 and a fixing portion 7 to extract the extracting portion 6, and the each sheet-like food 1 is fixed to packaging cases 8 and 31 with the fixing portion 7 of the wrapper.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a package holding sheet-like foods, such as chewing gums or chocolates.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Japanese Patent No. 3955355 and Japanese Patent No. 3955356 describe such a package. A packaging case described in these documents holds sheet-like foods compactly in two tiers in a state where the sheet-like foods are upright and the foods in a back row become higher than those in a front one by providing steps. Consequently, since the sheet-like foods in the packaging case are higher in the back row than in the front row, it is easy to take them out. Additionally, since the sheet-like foods are tentatively fixed in the packaging case, contents in the back row is prevented from shaking, for example, when a sheet-like food in the front row is taken out. An individual sheet-like food that is taken out is eaten by peeling off a wrapper thereof.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0003] However, in a conventional packaging case, since the wrapper of the individual sheet-like food that is taken out must be peeled off when eating it, it is practically difficult to eat the food when one hand is filled with something.

[0004] The present invention aims at providing a packaging case from which the sheet-like foods can be easily taken out to be eaten even when one hand is filled with something as well as in which the sheet-like foods are held compactly.

[0005] The package holding the sheet-like foods wrapped with the wrappers in the packaging case according to the present invention is characterized in that the wrapper is comprised of an extracting portion and a fixing portion, and can be opened by cutting perforations between the extracting portion and the fixing portion to extract the extracting portion, and further, the wrapper is fixed to the packaging case with the fixing portion thereof.

[0006] With the package according to the present invention, the sheet-like foods can be easily taken out to be eaten even when one hand is filled with something as well as the sheet-like foods are held compactly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] 

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a package in an open state according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the package in the open state;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view in a state where an extracting portion of a wrapper wrapping a sheet-like food is extracted and the sheet-like food held in the package is taken out;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the package in the open state;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the package in a closed state;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a package in an open state according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the package in the open state;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view in a state where an extracting portion of a wrapper wrapping a sheet-like food is extracted and the sheet-like food held in the package is taken out;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the package in the open state; and

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the package in a closed state.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0008] Embodiments of the present invention will be described now. A long side direction of a sheet-like food will be called a "vertical direction" in the following description. Vertical directions of a wrapper wrapping the sheet-like food and a packaging case holding the sheet-like food also indicate respective long side directions thereof as well as in the case of the above-described sheet-like food. Additionally, seen from a main sheet, a direction where the held sheet-like foods are present is called a front of the package, while a direction where they are not is a back thereof. This front-back direction is also applied to each component constituting the package, such as the sheet-like foods and the packaging case.

[0009] The package holding the sheet-like foods wrapped with the wrappers (hereinafter also referred to as simply "sheet-like food") in the packaging case according to the present invention is characterized in that the wrapper is composed of an extracting portion and a fixing portion, and can be opened by cutting perforations between the extracting portion and the fixing portion to extract the extracting portion, and further, the wrapper is fixed to the packaging case with the fixing portion thereof.

[0010] The packaging case is composed of a polygonal-shaped main sheet, a cover sheet connected with an upper side of the main sheet, and a supporting sheet connected with a lower side of the main sheet, and then the main sheet and the supporting sheet form a holding portion for holding the sheet-like foods, and further, the fixing portion of the wrapper may fix to an inner surface of the holding portion to thereby keep the sheet-like foods in the packaging case.

[0011] The main sheet may be a quadrangle.

[0012] The sheet-like foods held in the holding portion is arranged in a plurality of rows at a main sheet side and a cover sheet side, and a fixing portion in a row near the main sheet may be fixed to the main sheet in the holding portion, while a fixing portion in a row near the cover sheet to a frame sheet in the holding portion.

[0013] The supporting sheet may be composed of side sheets connected with the main sheet to thereby form thickness of the holding portion and frame sheets that are connected with the side sheet and that support so that the sheet-like foods contacting the side sheets are held at corners forming with the side sheets and the main sheet.

[0014] The side sheets may be provided on at least three sides of the main sheet with which the cover sheet is not connected.

[0015] The cover sheet may be composed of a connecting sheet connected with the upper side of the main sheet, and a front sheet connected with the connecting sheet to thereby cover and protect the sheet-like foods.

[0016] The package holding the sheet-like foods wrapped with the wrappers in the packaging case according to the present invention is composed of two polygonal-shaped main sheets that close mutually to thereby form a food holding room for holding the sheet-like foods, and the supporting sheets connected with free end edges of the main sheets, and then the supporting sheets may be folded to contact the main sheets, so that they may cooperate with the main sheets to fix the fixing portion.

[0017] The main sheets may be quadrangles.

[0018] At least one supporting sheet may constitute a spacer that forms enough thickness to hold the sheet-like foods when the both main sheets are closed to thereby form the food holding room.

[0019] The supporting sheet constituting the spacer may be composed of a presser sheet that is located in the free end edges of the supporting sheet and that contacts the main sheet to fix the fixing portion, a lower base sheet that is connected with the main sheet and forms the thickness of the spacer, a cover backing sheet that is connected with the lower base sheet and that is opposed to the presser sheet to form the spacer, and an upper base sheet that is connected between the presser sheet and the cover backing sheet.

[0020] The supporting sheet not constituting the spacer may be composed of the presser sheet that contacts the main sheet and that cooperates with the main sheet to fix the fixing portion.

[0021] The sheet-like foods whose fixing portions are fixed with the both main sheets cooperating with the each supporting sheet may constitute a plurality of rows when the both main sheets are closed to each other to thereby form the food holding room.

[0022] An engaging hole and an engaging piece for engaging with each other may be formed in the supporting sheets, respectively so that the closed both main sheets to form the food holding room may not dissociate from each other.

[First embodiment]

[0023] The present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

[0024] Numeral 1 in the drawings indicates a sheet-like food, such as chewing gums or chocolates, showing a state of not being wrapped with a wrapper.

[0025] Numeral 2 indicates the sheet-like food wrapped with the wrapper for wrapping the sheet-like food, the wrapper being composed of a single material, such as paper, polypropylene, or aluminum, or lamination thereof, and an outer periphery of a sheet-like food 1 is preferably rolled with a vertical direction as an axis, and then upper and lower ends 3 and 4 are folded to thereby wrap the sheet-like food 1. On a position slightly lower than a center in the vertical direction of the wrapper wrapping the sheet-like food, perforations 5 are formed. An upper portion from the perforations of the wrapper is called an extracting portion 6 and a lower one a fixing portion 7.

[0026] A frame sheet 11 is connected with a lower edge of a main sheet 9 through a base sheet 10, and also a frame sheet 13 a left edge of the main sheet 9 through a side sheet 12, while a frame sheet 15 a right edge of the main sheet 9 through a side sheet 14. Supporting sheets are composed of the base sheet 10 or the side sheets 12 and 14, and the frame sheets 11 or 13 and 15 connected with them, respectively. A space surrounded with the base sheet 10, the side sheets 12 and 14, and the frame sheets 11, 13, and 15 constitutes a holding portion 20 of wrapped sheet-like foods 2.

[0027] A front sheet 17 is connected with an upper edge of the main sheet 9 through a connecting sheet 16. A cover sheet is composed of the connecting sheet 16 and the front sheet 17. The cover sheet may be composed of only the front sheet excluding the connecting sheet. Numeral 18 indicates an engaging piece provided at a tip of the front sheet 17, and numeral 19 indicates an engaging hole that is opened on the above-described frame sheet 11 and that makes the engaging piece 18 engage with itself when the cover sheet is closed.

[0028] The fixing portion 7 is fixed to a surface of the main sheet 9 constituting an inner surface of the holding portion 20 of this packaging case 8, or a surface of the supporting sheet, especially of the frame sheet 11 (hereinafter referred to as a "constituting inner surface" of the each sheet).

[0029] The wrapped sheet-like food 2 can be held in the holding portion 20 in a state where it is tiered in a plurality of rows in front and back, for example, in two rows. The held wrapped sheet-like food 2 is fixed to the packaging case 8 with the fixing portion 7 thereof. The wrapped sheet-like food 2 held forwards in the packaging case 8 is preferably fixed to the surface of the frame sheet 11, while the wrapped sheet-like food 2 backwards is preferably fixed to the surface of the main sheet 9. Specifically, the sheet-like food 1 in a forward row (hereinafter referred to as a "front row") fixes a front surface 7a of the fixing portion 7 to the constituting inner surface of the frame sheet 11, while the sheet-like food 1 in a backward row (hereinafter referred to as a "back row") fixes a back surface 7b of the fixing portion 7 to the constituting inner surface of the main sheet 9. Additionally, the back surface 7b of the fixing portion 7 in the front row and the front surface 7a of the fixing portion 7 in the back row can be suitably fixed to each other as required.

[0030] Fixation of the fixing portion 7 can be performed by adhesion with adhesive or an adhesive tape or welding.

[0031] The package 100 is closed by making the engaging piece 18 of the front sheet 17 engage with the engaging hole 19, and thereby becomes a compact thin sheet holding the sheet-like food 1 in two tiers (FIG. 5).

[0032] By making thickness of the holding portion 20 thinner, namely, in the first embodiment, by narrowing widths of the base sheet 10, the side sheets 12 and 14, and the connecting sheet 16, the package holding the sheet-like food 2 only in one row can be made. In this case, the front surface of the fixing portion 7 can be fixed to the constituting inner surface of the frame sheet 11 and/or the back surface thereof can be fixed to the constituting inner surface of the main sheet 9.

[0033] By gathering to draw an upper portion of the wrapped sheet-like food 2 together with the extracting portion 6 of the wrapper, the perforations 5 are cut and thereby the sheet-like food 1 can be taken out in an exposed state. Alternatively only the extracting portion 6 of the wrapper is drawn out. As a result of this, since the sheet-like food 1 is exposed in the packaging case, and can be taken out upwardly, it can be picked up with fingers or held in a mouth directly to be taken out, and thus, even when one hand is filled with something, it can be taken out easily to eat.

[0034] As described above, the package 100 according to the present embodiment is a thin sheet that is easy to carry keeping in a pocket or a bag in a closed state, since the each sheet-like food 1 is fixed to the packaging case 8 and in addition, it is closed, it is not scattered in the pocket or the bag when carrying it. Additionally, taking out the sheet-like food 1 is also extremely easy to perform.

[Second embodiment]

[0035] The present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 10.

[0036] In a packaging case 31 of the package 200 according to the present embodiment, as well as a cover backing sheet 34, an upper base sheet 35 and a presser sheet 36 are connected in turn with a lower edge of one main sheet 32 through a lower base sheet 33, another main sheet 38 that also functions as a front sheet (hereinafter also referred to as "cover sheet") is connected with an upper edge of the main sheet 32 through a connecting sheet 37. Namely, the supporting sheet is composed of the lower base sheet 33, the cover backing sheet 34, the upper base sheet 35, and the presser sheet 36. Additionally, if the main sheets 32 and 38 are large enough to completely engage an engaging piece with an engaging hole that will be described hereinafter in a state where the wrapped sheet-like food 2 is held, a configuration without providing the connecting sheet 37 is also possible.

[0037] A presser sheet 39 is connected with a free end edge of the cover sheet 38. This presser sheet 39 not constituting a spacer that will be described hereinafter independently constitutes the supporting sheet connected with the main sheet 38.

[0038] Numeral 40 is the engaging piece that is formed in a center of the presser sheet, and that is located in the free end edge of the main sheet 38, while numeral 41 is the engaging hole that is opened on the cover backing sheet 34 and that makes the engaging piece 40 engage with itself when the main sheet 38 is closed.

[0039] This packaging case 31 is assembled in such a way that the above-described sheet is assembled, namely, the lower base sheet 33, the cover backing sheet 34, the upper base sheet 35 and the presser sheet 36 are folded to thereby form a hollow frame-shaped spacer 42, and further, the presser sheet 39 that is connected with the cover sheet 38 having the free end edge without the spacer is folded.

[0040] When assembling it, the wrapped sheet-like foods 2 are adhered, with an end of the fixing portion 7 thereof held between the presser sheet 36 and the main sheet 32 similar to the case of the first embodiment, and with it held between the cover sheet 38 and the presser sheet 39, respectively, and thereby the wrapped sheet-like foods 2 are fixed to be held.

[0041] By closing the cover sheet 38 and making the engaging piece 40 engage with the engaging hole 41, the package 200 is a compact thin sheet holding the wrapped sheet-like foods 2 fixed to the presser sheet 36 connected with the main sheet 32 and the presser sheet 39 connected with the cover sheet 38 in a state of being two-tiered (FIG. 10). It is to be noted that by fixing the wrapped sheet-like foods 2 so that it may form a plurality of rows in front and back in at least one main sheet 32, or 38 as in the case of the first embodiment, the wrapped sheet-like food 2 may be tiered in three or more rows. In this case, the each fixing portion is fixed overlappingly between the each main sheet with which the respective wrapped sheet-like foods 2 are given and the presser sheet accompanying the each main sheet.

[0042] As a result, since the sheet-like food 1 can be taken out upwardly, it can be picked up with fingers or held in a mouth directly to be taken out, and thus, even when one hand is filled with something, it can be taken out easily to eat. When eating the sheet-like food 1, by opening a cover sheet 38 and a gathering to draw an upper portion of the wrapped sheet-like food 2 together with the extracting portion 6 of the wrapper, the perforations 5 are cut and thereby the sheet-like food 1 can be taken out in an exposed state. Alternatively only the extracting portion 6 of the wrapper is drawn out. As a result of this, since the sheet-like food 1 is exposed in the packaging case, and can be taken out upwardly, it can be picked up with fingers or held in a mouth directly to be taken out, and thus, even when one hand is filled with something, it can be taken out easily to eat.

[0043] As described above, the package 200, similar to the package 100, is a thin sheet that is easy to carry keeping in a pocket or a bag in a closed state, since the each wrapped sheet-like food 2 is fixed to the packaging case 31 and in addition, it is closed, it is not scattered in the pocket or the bag when carrying it. Additionally, taking out the sheet-like food 1 is also extremely easy to perform.

[0044] This application claims priority from the Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-15908, filed on January 28, 2008, the contents of which is incorporated by citation herein.

Claims

1. A package holding sheet-like foods wrapped with wrappers in a packaging case, characterized in that the wrapper comprises an extracting portion and a fixing portion and can be opened by cutting perforations between the extracting portion and the fixing portion to extract the extracting portion, and the wrapper is fixed to the packaging case with the fixing portion thereof.

2. The package according to claim 1, characterized in that the packaging case comprises a polygonal-shaped main sheet, a cover sheet connected with an upper side of the main sheet, and a supporting sheet connected with a lower side of the main sheet,
and then the main sheet and the supporting sheet form a holding portion for holding the sheet-like foods, and further, the fixing portion of the wrapper fixes to an inner surface of the holding portion to thereby keep the sheet-like foods in the packaging case.

3. The package according to claim 2, wherein the main sheet is a quadrangle.

4. The package according to claim 2, characterized in that the sheet-like foods held in the holding portion are arranged in a plurality of rows at a main sheet side and a cover sheet side, and a fixing portion in a row near the main sheet is fixed to the main sheet in the holding portion, while a fixing portion in a row near the cover sheet is fixed to a frame sheet in the holding portion.

5. The package according to claim 2, characterized in that the supporting sheet comprises side sheets connected with the main sheet to thereby form thickness of the holding portion and frame sheets that are connected with the side sheets and that support so that the sheet-like foods contacting the side sheets are held at corners forming with the side sheets and the main sheet.

6. The package according to claim 5, characterized in that the side sheets are provided on at least three sides of the main sheet with which the cover sheet is not connected.

7. The package according to claim 2, characterized in that the cover sheet comprises a connecting sheet connected with the upper side of the main sheet, and a front sheet connected with the connecting sheet to thereby cover and protect the sheet-like foods.

8. The package according to claim 1, characterized in that the packaging case comprises two polygonal-shaped main sheets that close mutually to form a food holding room for holding the sheet-like foods, and the supporting sheets connected with free end edges of the main sheets, and then the supporting sheets are folded to contact the main sheets, so that they may cooperate with the main sheets to fix the fixing portion.

9. The package according to claim 8, wherein the main sheets are quadrangles.

10. The package according to claim 8, characterized in that at least one supporting sheet constitutes a spacer that forms enough thickness to hold the sheet-like foods when the both main sheets are closed to thereby form the food holding room.

11. The package according to claim 10, characterized in that the supporting sheet constituting the spacer comprises a presser sheet that is located in the free end edge of the supporting sheet and that contacts the main sheet to fix the fixing portion, a lower base sheet that is connected with the main sheet and forms the thickness of the spacer, a cover backing sheet that is connected with the lower base sheet and that is opposed to the presser sheet to form the spacer, and an upper base sheet that is connected between the presser sheet and the cover backing sheet.

12. The package according to claim 10, characterized in that the supporting sheet not constituting the spacer comprises a presser sheet that contacts the main sheet and that cooperates with the main sheet to fix the fixing portion.

13. The package according to claim 8, characterized in that the sheet-like foods whose fixing portion is fixed with both the main sheets cooperating with each supporting sheet constitute a plurality of rows when the both main sheets are closed to each other to thereby form the food holding room.

14. The package according to claim 8, characterized in that the connecting sheet is provided between the two main sheets.

15. The package according to claim 8, wherein an engaging hole and an engaging piece for engaging with each other are formed in the supporting sheets, respectively so that the closed both main sheets to form the food holding room may not dissociate from each other.

Drawing