WO2006070771A1

WO2006070771A1 - Packaging for wet tissue

Info

Publication number: WO2006070771A1
Application number: PCT/JP2005/023837
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ikuya Saito; Sachi Sugiura
Original assignee: Uni-Charm Corporation
Priority date: 2004-12-28
Filing date: 2005-12-20
Publication date: 2006-07-06
Also published as: TWI286528B; KR20060076199A; CN1796246A; TW200626440A; KR101187503B1; JP4763279B2; JP2006182444A; CN101087726A

Abstract

A wet tissue packaging allows easy dispensing of wet tissue and is suitable for a vertical placement type. The wet tissue packaging comprises a soft packaging which stores multiple pieces of wet tissue and has a first opening region formed for dispensing wet tissue pieces, and an outer container for storing the soft packaging which has a second opening region for dispensing a wet tissue piece, with a flap having at least one pair of tongue-shaped members further formed from the left and right side portions of the second opening region toward the inside of the opening region.

Description

DESCRIPTION PACKAGING FOR WET TISSUE

TECHINICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a packaging for wet tissues, and more specifically, relates to a packaging formed of a thin-walled film soft packaging for storing multiple wet tissue pieces, and relates to a rigid container for storing the soft packaging.

This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-381329 , filed on 28 December 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND ART

Regarding soft packaging for storing contents containing moisture such as wet tissues, soft packaging is being studied which are easy to carry, easy to dispense the contents therefrom, and resealable so as to prevent drying of the wet tissue remaining therein for subsequent use. As such a soft packaging, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Sho 56-99974 (Patent Document 1) discloses a sealing bag for cosmetic fiberous material or the like in which a slit is formed in a main bag member to form an opening and a lid is provided thereupon by an adhesive agent so as to be removable by peeling, and discloses a thin-walled film soft packaging having an opening which allows the user to reseal the thin- opening. On the other hand, as for rigid containers for storing wet tissue, containers are commercially available which enable wet tissues cut into individual pieces to be stacked in a folded and interleaved manner, i.e., in the so-called pop-up arrangement, which allows the user to consecutively pull out wet tissues therefrom.

In this case, a study was made regarding the pull-out opening structure with a special form to create resistance at the time of pulling out, so that the wet tissue can be pulled out one at a time in a consistent manner. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 8- 104377 (Patent Document 2) discloses symmetrical resistance protrusions opposing each other extending toward the_, center portion of the opening region. Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-40361 (Patent Document 3) discloses an extraction opening structure in which two sets of flaps having different shapes and facing one another are extended toward the inside of the opening, and are formed symmetrically with respect to the center point of the opening. Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11-180460 (Patent Document 4) discloses an extraction opening having a pair of first flaps extending to the extraction opening side, and a pair of second flaps opposing the first flaps respectively.

The container in Patent Document 2 is a so-called vertical placement structure in which the sheet stack is stored vertically, and accordingly is advantageous in not taking up placement space as compared with a flat placement configuration. However, sheets are extracted from an opening positioned in the top face of the container by pulling in the vertical direction, so normally, the positional relation between the opening and the edge of the sheet to be extracted first is offset, making it difficult for the user to insert a finger from the opening and pluck out a first sheet. Accordingly, there is the need to remove the upper lid and guide the wet tissue to the opening. However, there has been the problem that contamination with germs is highly probable and accordingly this arrangement is unsanitary, since it requires the pulling out of an entire sheet for a great distance and guiding the sheet to the opening while touching the sheet with the hand.

Also, each sheet has a predetermined amount of overlap, with a structure such that, upon the first sheet being extracted, the edge of the second sheet is dragged by the overlapping portion to be exposed from the opening. However, with the container in Patent Document 2, there has been the problem that, at the time of extracting sheets, the closer to the opening the sheet is, the smaller the overlapping region of the sheet and the next sheet is since the sheets are extracted in a direction vertical to the direction of overlapping, and accordingly the edge of the next sheet is not exposed in a reliable manner at the time of extracting sheets.

Also, in Patent Documents 3 and 4 are disclosed structures using a packaging storing a stack of individually cut sheets which are folded overlapping, with the sheets being extracted from a relatively wide opening positioned on the top face of the container; however, there have been problems of difficulty in carrying and also requiring more placement space, since the shape is a flat shape wherein the stored sheets are placed horizontally.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made in light of the above problems, and accordingly, it is an object thereof to provide a packaging which is suitable as a vertical placement type which requires little placement area and is easy to carry, and furthermore, which allows wet tissues to be easily extracted one at a time in a reliable manner.

More specifically, the present invention provides a wet tissue packaging having the following configuration.

In a first aspect of the present invention, a wet tissue packaging includes: a soft packaging for storing a plurality of wet tissue pieces which are folded and stacked such that a part of a wet tissue piece is overlapped with a part of another wet tissue piece, the soft packaging having a first opening region formed for extracting the wet tissue pieces; and a rigid outer container for storing the soft packaging, the outer container having a second opening formed near a position corresponding to the first opening region of the soft packaging in a state of the soft packaging being stored therein, for extracting the wet tissue pieces, further having a lid member capable of opening and closing which covers the second opening region; in which the second opening region is either formed at the upper portion of a side face of the outer container, or is continuously formed from the upper portion of the side face on to an upper face; and in which a flap for applying resistance to the wet tissue pieces is further formed from an edge of the second opening region toward the inside of the second opening region.

With the wet tissue packaging according to the present invention, the flap generates friction with the wet tissue being extracted, so the wet tissue pieces can be easily separated one at a time. Accordingly, the wet tissue can be extracted in a stable manner regardless of the direction of extracting the wet tissue or the number of sheets of wet tissue remaining.

Furthermore, the first opening region of the soft packaging in the stored state and the second opening region of the outer container match, so the wet tissue pieces can be extracted easily. The second opening region of the outer container is either formed at the upper portion of a side face of the outer container, or is continuously formed from the upper portion of the side face onto the upper face, thereby enabling extracting from the upper portion of the side face rather than the upper face (top face) of the outer container, thereby enabling extracting from the front of the container even in cases of vertical placement, yielding particularly excellent extractability. Note that an arrangement wherein the second opening region of the outer container is formed continuously from the upper portion of the side face to the upper face allows the fingers to be inserted more easily, further improving extractability. Note that the "upper portion of a side face" as used in the present invention means at least the second opening region being formed at a position higher than 1/2 of the height of the outer container at the side face thereof. Also, "soft packaging" means a packaging formed of a thin-walled film soft packaging material, and "rigid outer container" means a container which does not deform under common levels of external pressure, such as a molded plastic article. Also, "left and right side portions of opening region" means the sides of the opening region along the longitudinal direction of the outer container.

In a second aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to the first aspect of the present invention, the plural wet tissue pieces are stored so as to be oriented vertically.

With this arrangement, the soft packaging can be stored in the outer container in the vertical placement state as it is, so little placement area is needed, and a vertical placement type wet tissue packaging which is easy to carry can be provided.

In a third aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to the first aspect or the second aspect of the present invention, the flap includes at least one pair of tongue-shaped members formed from the left and right side portions of the second opening region toward the inside of the second opening region.

According to this arrangement, tongue-shaped members are formed from the left and right side portions of the second opening region, increasing friction with the wet tissue being extracted, facilitating separating of the sheets one at a time,

In a fourth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to the third aspect of the present invention, the pair of tongue-shaped members is situated such that the tongue-shaped members do not overlap one another, with spacing of at least 1 mm or more between the tongue- shaped members.

According to this arrangement, spacing of 1 mm or more is provided between the tongue-shaped members, so there is no trouble of wet tissue jamming between the tongue-shaped members, yielding good extractability of the wet tissue.

In a fifth aspect the wet tissue packaging of _%the present invention according to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, the pair of tongue-shaped members is disposed such that the tongue-shaped members do not overlap one another and so as to form a slit, with the length of the slit being 3 mm or more.

According to this arrangement, a slit is formed with a length of 3 mm or more, so sufficient friction resistance is obtained between the flap and the wet tissue, yielding good extractability of the wet tissue.

In a sixth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to any one of the third through fifth aspects of the present invention, the pair of tongue- shaped members is formed such that both tongue-shaped members are formed toward the upper edge portion or lower edge portion of the second opening region. According to this arrangement, the wet tissue is guided to the upper edge portion or lower edge portion following the direction of inclination of the flap. Accordingly, the distance over which the wet tissue rubs against the flap is increased, and friction resistance increases, so the wet tissue sheets can be separated one from another suitably. Particularly with an arrangement wherein the outer container is placed vertically, forming the pair of tongue-shaped members in a shape splaying toward the top of the container allows the wet tissue to be guided to the lower edge portion of the second opening region, so that separating of the wet tissue sheets one from another can be performed even smoother. Note that "upper edge portion or lower edge portion"_^ means the sides of the opening region along the direction orthogonal to the lateral direction. Also, "formed toward the upper edge portion or lower edge portion of the second opening region" means that the tongue-shaped members are extended in a shape splaying toward to the top or the bottom.

In a seventh aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to any one of the third through sixth aspects of the present invention, one tongue-shaped member of the flap is formed with different elasticity from that of the other tongue-shaped member.

According to this arrangement, the tongue-shaped member with high elasticity serves as a guiding member for guiding the wet tissue to the flap, and the tongue-shaped member with the low elasticity serves as a holding member to prevent the wet tissue from falling out of the flap. This works advantageously regarding separation of pieces of the wet tissue, and furthermore, the following wet tissue piece also is nipped by the flap, and is held at an appropriate length. Due to the distance relation between the position of the second opening region and the overlapping of the wet tissue, the wet tissue is pulled toward the bottom of the second opening region. Accordingly, the tongue-shaped members are preferably formed so that the upper side tongue-shaped member has high elasticity and the lower side tongue-shaped member has low elasticity.

In an eighth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, one tongue-shaped member of the flap is formed longer than the other tongue-shaped member.

According to this arrangement, the length of one tongue- shaped member and the other tongue-shaped member differ, so tongue-shaped members with different elasticity are formed. Accordingly, the tongue-shaped member with strong elasticity serves as a guiding member for guiding the wet tissue between the tongue-shaped members, and the tongue-shaped member with the low elasticity serves as a holding member to prevent the wet tissue from falling out of the flap. Furthermore, at the time of consecutively extracting wet tissue, the following wet tissue piece also is nipped by the flap, and is held at an appropriate length.

In a ninth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to any one of the third through eighth aspects of the present invention, at least one of the pair of tongue-shaped members is formed so as to cross a tissue extracting line situated at the frontmost row of the wet tissue pieces in the folded state thereof, which is one side thereof.

According to this arrangement, when extracting wet tissue from the tissue extracting line, the wet tissue curves in a wave-like manner at the time of passing between the tongue- shaped members by contact with the tongue-shaped members. Accordingly, the distance over which the wet tissue piece and the flap rub becomes longer. Consequently, the friction resistance also increases, which is advantageous in separating the stacked wet tissue pieces one from another. Furthermore, increased friction resistance causes the wet tissue _%pieces to be held between the tongue-shaped members more readily, so the wet tissue to be extracted next also interacts with the flap in the same way, and is held at a suitable length.

In a tenth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, one of the pair of tongue-shaped members is formed so as to cross the tissue extracting line, and the other is formed so as to not cross the tissue extracting line.

According to this arrangement, the wet tissue readily crosses the other tongue-shaped member formed so as to not cross the tissue extracting line, thereby serving as a guide for guiding the wet tissue to the flap. Also, the one tongue- shaped member formed so as to cross the tissue extracting line serves as a holder to make the wet tissue falling out from the flap more difficult. Accordingly, this is advantageous in separating the stacked wet tissue pieces one from another, and furthermore, the wet tissue to be extracted next also interacts with the flap in the same way, and is held at a suitable length. Due to the distance relationship between the position of the second opening region and the overlapping of the wet tissue, the wet tissue is pulled toward the bottom of the second opening region. Accordingly, the flap is preferably formed so that the upper side tongue-shaped member does not cross the tissue extracting line and the lower side tongue- shaped member crosses the tissue extracting line.

In an eleventh aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to the first or second aspects of the present invention, the flap has a swirl shape.

According to this arrangement, the flap has a swirl shape, so extracting the wet tissue from the center of the swirl generates friction around the extracted wet tissue, thereby facilitating separating sheets from one another.

Note that "swirl shape" in the present invention means a shape surrounding the perimeter of an arbitrary point as the center thereof within the second opening region.

In a twelfth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to any one of the first through eleventh aspects of the present invention, the flap is provided at the lower portion of a side face of the outer container, at the second opening region.

According to this arrangement, extracting the wet tissue generates friction with the flap, and furthermore, the wet tissue is extracted while rubbing against near the lower edge portion of the second opening region, thereby facilitating separating sheets from one another.

In a thirteenth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to any one of the first through eleventh aspects of the present invention, the flap is provided at the upper portion of a side face of the outer container, at the second opening region.

According to this arrangement, pulling the wet tissue upwards from the container in an extreme manner causes the friction with the lower edge portion of the second opening region to decrease, but the flap is formed above the second opening region, which cause friction therewith, facilitating separation of the wet tissue.

In a fourteenth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to any one of the first through eleventh aspects of the present invention, one of the flap is provided at the lower portion and another of the flap is provided at the upper portion of a side face of the outer container, at the second opening region.

According to this arrangement, the flap is formed at each of both the upper edge and the lower edge, which creates friction therewith regardless of which direction the wet tissue is pulled in, facilitating separation of the wet tissue.

In a fifteenth aspect of the wet tissue packaging of the present invention according to any one of the first through eleventh aspects of the present invention, one of the flap is provided at the side face and another of the flap is provided at the upper face of the outer container, at the second opening region.

According to this arrangement, the flap is formed at the upper face of the second opening region, so friction is generated even when extracting the wet tissue from the upper face, facilitating separation of the wet tissue.

According to the present invention, a packaging is provided which requires little placement area, is suitable as a vertical placement type which is easy to carry, and furthermore allows for easy extracting of wet tissue, and allows stable extracting one sheet at a time regardless of the direction of extracting the wet tissue and the number of sheets remaining.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a wet tissue packaging according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an outer container in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a soft packaging in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the stacked state of wet tissue pieces stored in the soft packaging in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the state of the soft packaging being stored in the outer container.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the soft packaging before being stored in the outer container.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view along X-X' in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8A is an enlarged frontal view of around a second opening region in Fig. 2.

Fig. 8B is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating another example of flap. Fig. 8C is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 9 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 10 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 11 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 12 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 13 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 14 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 15 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 16 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 17 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 18 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 19 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 20 is an enlarged frontal view of around the second opening region, illustrating yet another example of flap. Fig. 21 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of a wet tissue packaging according to the present invention. Fig. 22 is a perspective view illustrating yet another embodiment of a wet tissue packaging according to the present invention.

PREFERRED MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that in the following embodiments, components which are the same will be denoted with the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted or simplified. Overall Configuration of Wet Tissue Packaging

Fig. 1 through Fig. 8 are diagrams illustrating an example of an embodiment of a wet tissue packaging according to the present invention, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an overview of the overall wet tissue packaging, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an outer container in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a soft packaging in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the stacked state of wet tissue pieces stored in the soft packaging in Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the state of the soft packaging being stored in the outer container, Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the soft packaging before being stored in the outer container, Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view along X- X' in Fig. 1, and Fig. 8A is an enlarged frontal view of around a second opening region in Fig. 2.

As shown in Fig. 1, this wet tissue packaging 300 is primarily made up of a rigid outer container 100 and a soft packaging 200 storing multiple wet tissue pieces stored in this outer container 100. As shown in Fig. 5, the soft packaging 200 has multiple wet tissue pieces inserted from the bottom of the outer container 100 with the wet tissue pieces in an erect state, i.e., in the so-called vertical placement state, and then sealed off with a bottom lid 120. Configuration of Outer Container

As shown in Fig. 2, the outer container 100 is primarily made up of a main unit 110 for storing the soft packaging 200, and the bottom lid 120 capable of being fit to the bottom of the main unit 110 in an airtight manner, the main unit 110 being formed in a hollow generally-rectangular parallelepiped shape defined by a front face 111, left side face 112, right side face 113, rear face 114, and top face 115. Note that with the present invention, the size of the outer container 100 is not particularly restricted. Nor is the shape restricted to a rectangular parallelepiped, and may be a cylindrical or polygonal post shape.

A second opening region 130 for extracting wet tissue pieces is formed from the upper portion of the front face 111 of the main unit 110 to the upper face 115. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 7, a flap having a pair of tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 are formed within the second opening region 130, from left and right side portions 130a of the second opening region 130 toward the second opening region 130, so as to apply resistance to the wet tissue piece to be extracted such that the wet tissue pieces can be extracted one sheet at a time in a stable manner, thereby consequently forming a third opening region 170 which is the wet tissue extracting opening.

Furthermore, a lid member 140 capable of being opened and closed is provided to the second opening region 130 so as to cover the second opening region 130 in an airtight manner, this lid member 140 being vertically movable on a hinge 141 serving as a point of support.

A button 150 is provided below a lower edge portion 131 of the second opening region 130 so as to open and close the lid member 140 by a retaining portion 142 on the tip of the lid member 140 engaging with the lower edge portion 131. Also, a spring member, which .is not shown, is provided to the hinge portion 141 so as to press the lid member 140 upwards, and upon operating the button 150 so as to makes disengagement therebetween, the lid member 140 moves upwards such that the second opening region 130 is exposed.

The outer container 100 is preferably a molded plastic article, and can be obtained by injection molding or the like using polypropylene resin (PP), for example. The resin to be used is not restricted in particular, and in- addition to polypropylene resin and polyethylene resin (PE), also suitably used are polystyrene resin (PS) , ABS resin, elastomer, polyester resin (PET), nylon resin (PA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), etc. Also, the molding method thereof is also not particularly restricted.

The second opening region 130 needs to be formed above a position which is 1/2 of the height of the outer container 100 In the event that the second opening region 130 is formed below the position of 1/2 of the height of the outer container 100, there is little friction between the second opening region and the wet tissue pieces, so resistance applied to the wet tissue pieces is small, meaning that separation of the wet tissue pieces becomes unstable, and multiple wet tissue pieces come out at once. Also, the shape of the third opening region 170 is not restricted to the elliptical shape as shown in Fig. 2, and may be a circle or square, for example.

Also, it is sufficient for the second opening region 130 to be formed at the upper portion of at least one side face, and may be formed continuously from the front face 111 to the upper face 115 as with this embodiment, or may be formed on the upper portion of the front face 111 alone. Also, this may be formed continuously from the front face 111 to the right side face 113 or left side face 112. Forming this so as to straddle two or more faces allows the opening portion into which the fingers are placed to be formed wider over multiple faces, so plucking out the wet tissue pieces is facilitated, further improving ease of extraction. Flap Structure

As shown in Fig. 8A, the tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 of the flap are formed from the left and right side faces 130a of the second opening region 130 toward the bottom of the container. The closest distance between the tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 is preferably 1 mm or more. In the event that this distance is less than 1 mm, trouble occurs such as wet tissue becoming jammed between the tongue-shaped members, making extraction of the wet tissue difficult. Also, the tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 may be integrally extended from the left and right side faces 130a of the second opening region 130, or may be separate members attached within the second opening region 130.

Also, at least one of the pair of tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 is preferably formed so as to overlap a tissue extracting line 253. In Fig. 8A, one tongue-shaped member 161 has the tip thereof formed so as to not reach above the tissue extracting line 253, and the other tongue-shaped member 162 has the tip thereof formed so as to cross the tissue extracting line 253.

Also, the tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 are formed only below the second opening region 130, and not above (on the top face) . Accordingly, the advantages of the present invention can be had even without forming the third opening region continuously from the upper portion of the side face to the upper face. In this case, the area of the third opening region can be formed with a smaller area, thereby increasing airtightness.

With this embodiment, the elasticity of the tongue-shaped member 161 to the left side of the drawing is greater and the elasticity of the tongue-shaped member 162 to the right side is smaller, due to the difference in length and width of the left and right tongue-shaped members. In this way, the pair of tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 forming the flap preferably have different elasticity between the left and fight tongue- shaped members, due to the shape, thickness, material, etc., thereof. Due to such a shape, the tongue-shaped member with high elasticity (i.e., hard) serves as a guiding member for guiding the wet tissue to between the tongue-shaped members, and the tongue-shaped member with the low elasticity (i.e., soft) serves as a holding member to prevent the wet tissue from falling out of the flap. Holding the wet tissue in this way works advantageously regarding separation of pieces of the wet tissue. Furthermore, at the time of consecutively extracting wet tissue, the following wet tissue piece also is nipped between the tongue-shaped members, so the length of the following wet tissue piece held between the tongue-shaped members can be made to be an appropriate length. Other Examples of Flaps

The shapes shown in Fig. 8B through Fig. 20 can be given as examples for other embodiment of the flap.

With the outer container lOOr shown in Fig. 8B, the tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 are formed from the left and right side portions of the second opening region, and another tongue-shaped member 163 from the lower side to form the flap. As the friction resistance applied from the tongue-shaped members increases, the wet tissue seeks to pass through a portion where it receives less friction resistance. Particularly, with Fig. 8A, pulling out the wet tissue horizontally acts to move the wet tissue downwards, so the wet tissue comes out from between the tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 and is extracted only from below the tongue-shaped member 162 within the third opening region 170. Accordingly, increased friction resistance applied from the pair of tongue- shaped members alone does not always provide sufficient effects. Thus, providing another tongue-shaped member 163 to increase the friction resistance can prevent the wet tissue from coming out to the lower side.

With the outer container 100s shown in Fig. 8C, the left and right tongue-shaped members 161s and 162s are formed so as to have a slit portion 190 therebetween. The slit length W of this slit portion 190 is the distance over which the tip of the tongue-shaped member 161s and the side of the tongue- shaped member 162s are generally parallel. This slit length W is preferably 3 mm or more, and 20 mm or less. In the event that this is less than 3 mm, sufficient friction resistance is not obtained between the tongue-shaped members 161s and 162s, and extracting of the wet tissue becomes difficult. Also, in the event that this exceeds 20 mm, the flap become sp large that the third opening region becomes narrow, and extracting of the wet tissue is difficult at the time of starting use.

With the outer container 110a shown in Fig. 9, both the left and right tongue-shaped members 161a and 162a are formed so as to not reach the tissue extracting line 253. Thus, the left and right tongue-shaped members 161a and 162a may be formed so as to not reach the tissue extracting line 253.

With the outer container 110b shown in Fig. 10, the left and right tongue-shaped members 161b and 162b are formed parallel to the bottom of the container, and furthermore, are formed so as to not reach the tissue extracting line 253.

With the outer container 110c shown in Fig. 11, the left and right tongue-shaped members are formed with an opposite positional relationship as to that in Fig. 8A, with the above tongue-shaped member 161c crossing the tissue extracting line 253, and the lower tongue-shaped member 162c so as to not reach the tissue extracting line 253.

With the outer container 11Od shown in Fig. 12, the left and right tongue-shaped members 161d and 162d are formed parallel to the bottom of the container, and with one tongue- shaped member 162d alone formed so as to reach the tissue extracting line 253.

With the outer container llOe shown in Fig. 13, the left and right tongue-shaped members lβle and 162e are formed slanting toward the upper face of the container.

With the outer container llOf shown in Fig. 14, two sets of pair of tongue-shaped members 161f and 162f are formed slanting toward the bottom of the container, with on,ly one tongue-shaped member 162f of the each pairs formed so as to reach the tissue extracting line 253.

With the outer container llOg shown in Fig. 15, two sets of gentle wave-like tongue-shaped members 161g and 162g are formed.

With the outer container 11Oh shown in Fig. 16, four sets of pair of tongue-shaped members 161h and 162h are formed parallel to the bottom of the container, with generally slit- shaped forms.

With the outer container 11Oi shown in Fig. 17, one set of tongue-shaped members 161i and 162i is formed parallel to the bottom of the container, with the edge of each of the tongue-shaped members formed in an L-shape.

With the outer container 11Oj shown in Fig. 18, the flap shown in Fig. 8A are provided to the upper side of the side portions of the second opening region, with one set of tongue- shaped members 161j and 162j formed slanting toward the upper face of the container.

With the outer container 110k shown in Fig. 19, two sets of pair of tongue-shaped members 161k, 162k, 163k, and 164k are provided to the upper side and lower side of the side portions of the second opening region, the tongue-shaped members 161k and 162k provided to the lower side are formed slanting toward the bottom of the container, and the tongue- shaped members 163k and 164k provided to the upper side are formed slanting toward the upper face of the container.

With the outer container llOp shown in Fig. 20, a flap 161p is formed from the right side of the second opening region, and is formed in a swirl shape within the second opening region. A tissue extracting portion 18Op is formed continuously from the opening region above the flap 161p. Accordingly, the wet tissue can be easily set to the flap 161p at the time of initial setting, or even in the event that the wet tissue has fallen down inside the container during use. Configuration of Soft Packaging

As shown in Fig. 3, the soft packaging 200 is a pillow- shaped soft packaging formed of a laminated film 210 made up of a soft packaging material. Reference numerals 231 and 232 in Fig. 3 denote top and bottom side seals respectively, and a vertical seal (back seal) portion, which is not shown, exists at the center portion of the back side in Fig. 3. A first opening region 215 is formed from a portion corresponding to the generally middle portion of the plane of the wet tissue over to the side seal portion 232, whereby a part of the wet tissue piece is exposed.

Folded and stacked multiple wet tissues 250 are stored within the soft packaging 200, and Fig. 4 illustrates an example of the stacked structure of each of the wet tissue pieces 251 and 252. Fig. 4 shows a part of the wet tissue piece 251 being folded is a Z-like shape so as to overlap with another wet tissue piece 252, and the subsequent wet tissue pieces are also stacked such that the wet tissue pieces above and below overlap in order. Note that the stacked structure is not particularly restricted, and may be a C-like shape or W- like shape, or may be a combination thereof. In other words, any way of stacking is satisfactory as long as each ,of the wet tissue pieces are overlapping so as to have the function called "pop-up" in which sheets can be extracted continuously.

The sheet material used for the wet tissue 250 is preferably nonwoven cloth or paper formed of absorbent fibers. Also, the wet tissue 250 may be impregnated with a substance in which alcohol, disinfectant, cleanser, moisturizer, or the like, is included as suitable.

The method for forming the first opening region 215 in the soft packaging 200 as shown in Fig. 3 is not restricted in particular, and for example, a soft packaging 200a such as shown in Fig. 6 may be used. As shown in Fig. 6, an incision 211 is made in a U-like shape on the upper face of a laminated film 210 of the soft packaging 200a. The area on the inner side of the U-like shape is the portion which is raised up by peeling the lid member 220 up later. The lid member 220 having a tongue 212 is adhered so as to cover this region, and an unshown adhesive layer is provided on the lower face of the lid member except for the tongue 212 portion thereof. The laminated film 210 and the lid member 220 are adhered by this adhesive layer so as to be peelable.

Two parallel tearing guide means 260 are provided extending from the ending points of the U-like shape of the incision 211 on the upper face of the laminated film 210, continuing to the side seal portion 232. With the present embodiment, the tearing guide means 260 are given as imaginary lines, but in reality, the orientation of the stretch film forming the laminated film 210 matches the direction of the imaginary lines, so that the stretch film orientation serves as the tearing guide means 260.

It is sufficient that the incision 211 be formed so as to create the first opening region 215, and the shape and length of the incision 211 is not particularly restricted. The size of the first opening region 215 which serves as the extracting opening can be determined as suitable according to the size of the soft packaging 200a, and the size and shape of the wet tissue to be extracted. Also, in the present embodiment, the incision 211 is a continuous line formed all the way through the film 210, but the incision 211 does not necessarily have to be a continuous line, and may be formed as a dotted line instead.

With the present embodiment, the tearing guide means 260 are given as imaginary lines, but in reality, the orientation of the stretch film matches the direction of the imaginary lines, so that the stretch film orientation serves as the tearing guide means 260. Specifically, it is suitable for the base layer of the laminated film 210 to be a stretch film, more preferably uniaxial or biaxial drawn film, and most particularly preferable is uniaxial drawn film which has so- called easy-tear properties (straight cutting properties) . Conventionally known and commercially available stretch films can be used. The tearing guide means 260 are not restricted to the above drawing orientation, and an incision may be made on the laminated film 210. In this case, the incision may be formed so as to go through the laminated film 210, or may be in a so-called half-cut state, the half-cut being more preferably to maintain the airtightness of the overaj.1 soft packaging. Note that half-cutting can be formed in the base layer alone for example, by known methods such as laser irradiation, half-punching with a mechanical punching blade, etc.

The lid member 220 is formed of a film or sheet having ductility and flexibility, and while examples can be given for the pressure-sensitive adhesive agent forming the adhesive layer such as acrylic pastes, polyvinyl chloride compositions including a plasticizer, graft copolymers wherein a vinyl chloride monomer is graft polymerized to an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, and so forth, the adhesive agent is not restricted to any particular one.

Now, the soft packaging 200 shown in Fig. 3 is obtained by peeling the lid member 220 away from the soft packaging 200a shown in Fig. 6 from the tongue 212 side of the lid member 220. First, upon peeling away the lid member 220, the area within the incision 211 of the laminated film 210 which is adhered by the adhesive agent layer on the rear face of the lid member 220 is cut loose and lifted up. Thus, an opening is formed on the upper face of the laminated film 210 and the contents can be visually recognized. Next, continuing peeling away of the lid member 220 tears open the laminated film 210 along the two parallel imaginary lines 260 formed continuing from the end portions of the U-shaped incision 211, whereby a greater first opening region 215 can be formed from the incision 211 to the side seal portion 232, as shown in Fig. 3. Operation of the Wet Tissue Packaging

Next, the positional relationship between the first opening region and the second opening region will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the wet tissue packaging as viewed from the side shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in Fig. 7, a feature of the present invention is that the second opening region A from which the wet tissue is extracted from the outer container 100 is provided above the side face of the outer container 100 and tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 of the flap are extended from the lower sides of the second opening region 130. Also, the lower edge of the first opening region B of the soft packaging 200 is situated below the lower edge 131 of the second opening A.

Now, upon pulling out the front-most wet tissue piece 251 at the front face 111 side of the outer container, the next wet tissue piece 252 is pulled out by the overlapping portion, but the overlapping portion between the wet tissue pieces clings fast due to the surface tension of the moisture (chemical liquid) present between the wet tissue pieces, so a suitable resistance has to be provided to separate the wet tissue pieces one from another; otherwise, several wet tissue pieces will come out one after another.

With this wet tissue packaging 300, the second opening region A is provided above the side face of the outer container 100. Accordingly, at the time of extracting a wet tissue piece 251, the greater part of the overlapping portion of the wet tissue stored within the container is situated below the lower edge portion 171 of the third opening region, so the wet tissue piece 251 is pulled downwards. In₁ this case, as shown in Fig. 7, the wet tissue piece 251 is always subjected to rubbing friction against the lower edge portion 171 of the third opening region of the outer container 100, so the wet tissue piece 251 and the following wet tissue piece 252 can be separated by this resistance.

This operation works in a reliable manner, since in addition to providing the second opening region A for extracting the wet tissue from the outer container 100 above the side face of the outer container 100, the lower edge portion 251a of the first opening region B of the soft packaging 200 is situated below the lower edge portion 171 of the third opening.

That is to say, with an arrangement wherein the lower edge portion 215a of the first opening region B of the soft packaging 200 is situated above the lower edge portion 171 of the third opening, the rubbing at the time of extracting a wet

Λ tissue 251 occurs not at the lower edge portion 171 of the third opening region but rather at the lower edge portion 215a of the soft packaging 200. The lower edge portion 215a is an edge face formed on the soft packaging film, and accordingly is extremely thin and has little rigidity (hardness) . Accordingly, the friction resistance with the wet tissue 251 is insufficient, meaning that the separating effects of the wet tissue pieces are insufficient.

On the other hand, with an arrangement wherein the lower edge portion 215a of the soft packaging 200 is placed too far downwards, the opening region of the soft packaging 200 becomes too great, which may impair the airtightness,. This is also undesirable since the exposed portion of the wet tissue is too great, which increases the possibility of cross- contamination with germs and so forth. Accordingly, the position of the lower edge portion 215a of the soft packaging 200 is preferably at the same position as the lower edge 131 of the outer container or 5 to 15 mm lower. Operation of the Flap

As described above, the wet tissue pieces are pulled toward the bottom of the container, and accordingly, the wet tissue pieces are guided to the flap. As shown in Fig. 8, in the event that the flap is formed toward the lower edge of the second opening region, the distance over which the wet tissue pieces and the flap rub becomes longer, so friction resistance increases, and the wet tissue pieces can be separated one from another as is suitable. Also, in the event that one of the tongue-shaped members of the flap is formed to cross the tissue extracting line 253, the wet tissue curves in a wave-like manner at the time of passing between the tongue-shaped member 161 and the tongue - shaped member 162. Accordingly, the distance over which the wet tissue piece and the flap rub becomes longer, so friction resistance increases, and the wet tissue pieces can be separated one from another. Furthermore, increased friction resistance causes the wet tissue pieces to be held between the tongue-shaped members more readily, so the wet tissue to be extracted next also interacts with the tongue-shaped members in the same way, and is suitably held.

In particular, in the event that the upper tongue-shaped member 161 alone is formed so as to not reach the tissue extracting line 253, the wet tissue piece first crosses the tongue-shaped member 161, and is readily guided in between the tongue-shaped members. On the other hand, the tongue-shaped member 162 situated below is formed so as to cross the tissue extracting line 253, and accordingly functions as a holding member whereby the wet tissue piece does not readily fall away from the tongue-shaped members, unlike the tongue-shaped member 161. Accordingly, separating of the wet tissue pieces is easier, and the wet tissue to be extracted next also interacts with the flap in the same way, and is suitably held.

The flap is particularly effective in cases in which the wet tissue piece is pulled upwards as to the bottom of the container, cases in which the number of remaining wet -tissue pieces is small, and so forth. In the event of pulling upwards, the rubbing force between the wet tissue piece and the third opening region lower edge portion 171 deteriorates. Also, in the case in which the number of remaining wet tissue pieces is small, the angle between the third opening region 171 and the wet tissue is at an obtuse angle, so rubbing force deteriorates. This is because in such cases, the friction resistance at the lower edge portion of the second opening decreases, and the sheets cannot be extracted one at a time in a stable manner.

Also, pulling the wet tissue upwards from the container in an extreme manner causes the friction with the third opening region lower edge portion 171 to decrease. However, forming the flap above the second opening region as _%shown in Fig. 18 and Fig. 19 causes friction between the wet tissue and the flap, facilitating separation. Also, forming the flap at each of both the upper edge and the lower edge creates friction with the flap regardless of which direction the wet tissue is pulled in, thereby facilitating separation of the wet tissue pieces from one another.

Also, in the event that the friction resistance between the tongue-shaped members of the flap increases, the wet tissue tends to pass through at a portion where the fiction resistance is low. In particular, in the event of pulling the wet tissue out horizontally, the wet tissue is subjected to force heading downwards, and accordingly falls out from between the tongue-shaped members 161 and 162 and the wet tissue is extracted from the lower side of the tongue-shaped member 162 within the third opening region 170. In such a case, forming the tongue-shaped member 163 on the lower side of the second opening region 130 generates resistance friction between the tongue-shaped members 162 and 163, thereby preventing the wet tissue from coming loose toward the lower side of the flap.

In Fig. 20, the wet tissue is extracted from above the flap 161p of the third opening region 170, and is guided to the tissue extraction portion 18Op by following the flap 161p, and the wet tissue is extracted. Accordingly, resistance friction is generated with the surrounding flap, so the wet tissue pieces can be suitably separated one from another. Also, once the wet tissue enters the tissue extraction portion 18Op, it is extracted only from the tissue extraction portion 18Op, so even in the event that the wet tissue is pulled upwards at the time of extraction, resistance can be applied thereto in a sure manner.

The flap lβlp is movable due to its own elasticity, so upon extracting the wet tissue, force is applied to the front side due to the resistance of the wet tissue, causing the flap 161p itself to bow. The flap 16Ip acts in the direction of trying to pull the wet tissue back toward the inside of the container, to release that force. Accordingly, friction resistance can be applied to the wet tissue in a reliable manner.

In Fig. 17, the wet tissue is extracted from the upper side of the tongue-shaped member 161i of the flap of the third opening region 170, and is guided to a tissue extracting portion 18Oi between the tongue-shaped members 161i and 162i by following the tongue-shaped member 161i. The wet tissue pieces can be suitably separated one from another due to the friction resistance generated with the surrounding tongue- shaped members lβli and 162i.

The tongue-shaped members 16Ii and 162i are particularly- effective in the event that the friction resistance generated between the wet tissue and the tongue-shaped members 16Ii and 162i is too great. As shown in Fig. 17, with an arrangement wherein the tissue extracting portion 18Oi is formed of the tongue-shaped members lβli and 162i, the tissue extracting portion 18Oi is deformed due to the bowing of the tongue- shaped members 161i and 162i in the event that excessive resistance occurs. That is to say, as the tongue-shaped members lβli and 162i bow toward the front side, the small- hole shape of the tissue extracting portion 18Oi is deformed, and the wet tissue can be released. Note that the elasticity of the tongue-shaped members lβli and 162i leading to the tissue extracting portion 18Oi being deformed can be set as suitable depending on the width, length, and thickens of the tongue-shaped members. Other Embodiments

Fig. 21 illustrates another embodiment of the wet tissue packaging according to the present invention. The wet tissue packaging 300m according to this embodiment differs from the above-described embodiment in that a flap is also formed on the upper portion of the second opening region.

In this way, with the present invention, the flap may be formed not only on the side portion of the second opening region but on the upper face portion as well. The same advantages as with extracting the wet tissue from the side portion can be obtained with this arrangement of extracting the wet tissue from the upper face.

Fig. 22 illustrates another embodiment of the wet tissue packaging according to the present invention. The wet tissue packaging 30On according to this embodiment differs from the above-described embodiment in that the outer container 100' is to be placed flat, and that the second opening region 130 is formed from the side thereof to the upper face.

Thus, with the present invention, the placement arrangement of the wet tissue packaging is not restricted to vertical placement, and may be a flat placement arrangement as well. In this case, the placement area increases over that of vertical placement, so the same effects and advantages as with the case of vertical placement can be obtained regarding the extractability of the wet tissue, which is a feature of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The wet tissue packaging according to the present invention allows easy extracting of wet tissue which is the content thereof, and particularly can be suitably used as a vertical placement type container.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated above, it is to be understood that they are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered to be limiting. Additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered to be limited by the foregoing description and is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A wet tissue packaging comprising: a soft packaging for storing a plurality of wet tissue pieces which are folded and stacked such that a part of a wet tissue piece is overlapped with a part of another wet tissue piece, said soft packaging having a first opening region formed for extracting said wet tissue pieces; and a rigid outer container for storing said soft packaging, said outer container having a second opening formed near a position corresponding to said first opening region of said soft packaging in a state of said soft packaging being stored therein, for extracting said wet tissue pieces, further having a lid member capable of being opened and closed which covers said second opening region; wherein said second opening region is either formed at the upper portion of a side face of said outer container, or is continuously formed from said upper portion of the side face to the upper face; and wherein a flap for applying resistance to said wet tissue pieces are further formed from an edge of said second opening region toward the inside of said second opening region.

2. The wet tissue packaging according to Claim 1, wherein said plurality of wet tissue pieces are stored so as to be oriented vertically.

3. The wet tissue packaging according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said flap includes at least one pair of tongue-shaped members formed from the left and right side portions of said second opening region toward the inside of said second opening region.

4. The wet tissue packaging according to Claim 3, wherein said pair of tongue-shaped members is situated such that the tongue-shaped members do not overlap one another, with a spacing of at least 1 mm between said tongue-shaped members.

5. The wet tissue packaging according to Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein said pair of tongue-shaped members is situated such that the tongue-shaped members do not overlap one another and so as to form a slit, with the length of said slit being at least 3 mm.

6. The wet tissue packaging according to any one of Claims 3 through 5, wherein said pair of tongue-shaped members is formed such that both tongue-shaped members are formed toward the upper edge portion or lower edge portion of said second opening region.

7. The wet tissue packaging according to any one of Claims 3 through 6, wherein one tongue-shaped member of said flap is formed with different elasticity from that of the other tongue-shaped member.

8. The wet tissue packaging according to Claim 7, wherein one tongue-shaped member of said flap is formed longer than the other tongue-shaped member.

9. The wet tissue packaging according to any one of Claims 3 through 8, wherein at least one of said pair of tongue-shaped members is formed so as to cross a tissue extracting line situated at the frontmost row of said wet tissue pieces in the folded state thereof, which is one side thereof.

10. The wet tissue packaging according to Claim 9, wherein one of said pair of tongue-shaped members is formed so as to cross said tissue extracting line, and the other is formed so as to not cross said tissue extracting line.

11. The wet tissue packaging according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein said flap have a swirl shape.

12. The wet tissue packaging according to any one of Claims 1 through 11, wherein said flap is provided at the lower portion of a side face of said outer container, at said second opening region.

13. The wet tissue packaging according to any one of Claims 1 through 11, wherein said flap is provided at the upper portion of a side face of said outer container, at said second opening region.

14. The wet tissue packaging according to any one of Claims 1 through 11, wherein one of said flap is provided at the lower portion and another of said flap is provided at the upper portion of a side face of said outer container, at said second opening region.

15. The wet tissue packaging according to any one of Claims 1 through 11, wherein one of said flaps is provided at the side face and another of said flap is provided at the upper face of said outer container, at said second opening region.