US-12622539-B2 - Holder

US12622539B2US 12622539 B2US12622539 B2US 12622539B2US-12622539-B2

Abstract

A holder houses a container of a fluid to be conveyed. The holder has a holder body having a bottom wall and a first side wall extending upward from a peripheral edge of the bottom wall, and a lid body having a top surface and a second side wall extending downward from a peripheral edge of the top surface. The lid body opens and closes an upper opening defined by an upper end of the first side wall. In a state where the container is housed in the holder, the upper end of the first side wall and a lower end of the second side wall are positioned below an upper end of the container, the top surface or the second side wall is in contact with the container or has a gap with the container such that the container is suppressed to tilt at a particular angle or more.

Inventors

Kunihiko Tanaka
Naoki Sakamoto

Assignees

KURA SUSHI, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240924
Priority Date: 20230926

Claims (16)

1 . A holder that houses a container for a fluid, the holder comprising: a holder body having a bottom wall and a first side wall extending upward from a peripheral edge of the bottom wall, the first side wall having an upper end that defines an upper opening of the holder body; and a lid body having a top surface and a second side wall extending downward from a peripheral edge of the top surface, the lid body configured to selectively open and close the upper opening, the second side wall having a first taper angle at a first circumferential location and a second taper angle at a second circumferential location positioned diametrically opposite the first circumferential location, the second taper angle being different from the first taper angle, wherein when the container is housed in the holder, the upper end of the first side wall and a lower end of the second side wall are positioned below an upper end of the container, an area of the top surface is smaller than an area of the upper opening, and at least one of the top surface or the second side wall is in contact with the container or is configured to have a gap with the container such that the container is restricted from tilting more than a threshold angle so as to prevent or suppress spillage or tipping.
2 . The holder according to claim 1 , wherein the holder houses a first container or a second container as the container, when the holder houses the first container, a lower end portion and an upper end portion of the first container are in contact respectively with the bottom wall of the holder body and the top surface of the lid body, and when the holder houses the second container, a lower end portion of the second container is in contact with the bottom wall of the holder body, and an upper portion of the second container is positioned at a prescribed distance or less from at least one of the top surface or the second side wall of the lid body.
3 . The holder according to claim 1 , wherein the second side wall has an expanding portion that expands from the top surface, and the expanding portion is configured not to interfere with the container when the lid body opens by rotating about an end portion of the lid body opposite to the expanding portion.
4 . The holder according to claim 1 , wherein the lid body further includes a third side wall that surrounds an upper end portion of the first side wall and a locking member that is configured to be movable relative to the third side wall, and the locking member switches between a locked state to fix the lid body to the holder body and a released state to allow the lid body to be removed from the holder body.
5 . The holder according to claim 4 , wherein the lid body further includes a lid peripheral portion extending between the lower end of the second side wall and an upper end of the third side wall, and the lid peripheral portion has a portion that defines a groove.
6 . The holder according to claim 5 , wherein the locking member being spaced from the lower end of the second side wall by the lid peripheral portion.
7 . The holder according to claim 4 , wherein the first circumferential location is positioned between the second circumferential location and the locking member, and the second taper angle is greater than the first taper angle.
8 . The holder according to claim 1 , wherein the fluid is a soft food or a beverage.
9 . A holder that houses a container for a fluid, the holder comprising: a holder body having a bottom wall and a first side wall extending upward from a peripheral edge of the bottom wall, the first side wall having an upper end that defines an upper opening of the holder body; and a lid body having a top surface, a second side wall extending downward from a peripheral edge of the top surface, a third side wall, a lid peripheral portion extending between a lower end of the second side wall and an upper end of the third side wall, and a locking member configured to selectively open and close the upper opening, the locking member being spaced from the lower end of the second side wall by the lid peripheral portion, wherein when the container is housed in the holder, the upper end of the first side wall and a lower end of the second side wall are positioned below an upper end of the container, an area of the top surface is smaller than an area of the upper opening, and at least one of the top surface or the second side wall is positioned close to the container such that the container is held within the holder so as to prevent or suppress spillage or tipping.
10 . The holder according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one of the top surface or the second side wall is in contact with the container.
11 . The holder according to claim 9 , wherein the fluid is a soft food or a beverage.
12 . The holder of claim 9 , wherein the second side wall of the lid body having circumferentially asymmetric taper angles.
13 . A holder, comprising: a container for a fluid; a holder body having a bottom wall and a first side wall extending upward from a peripheral edge of the bottom wall, the first side wall having an upper end that defines an upper opening of the holder body; and a lid body having a top surface and a second side wall extending downward from a peripheral edge of the top surface, the lid body configured to selectively open and close the upper opening, the second side wall having a first taper angle at a first circumferential location and a second taper angle at a second circumferential location positioned diametrically opposite the first circumferential location, the second taper angle being different from the first taper angle, wherein when the container is housed in the holder body, the upper end of the first side wall and a lower end of the second side wall are positioned below an upper end of the container, an area of the top surface is smaller than an area of the upper opening, and the holder body has a size such that the container is held within the holder so as to prevent or suppress spillage or tipping.
14 . The holder of claim 13 , wherein the lid body further includes a third side wall that surrounds an upper end portion of the first side wall and a locking member that is configured to be movable relative to the third side wall.
15 . The holder according to claim 14 , wherein the first circumferential location is positioned between the second circumferential location and the locking member, and the second taper angle is greater than the first taper angle.
16 . The holder according to claim 14 , wherein the locking member being spaced from the lower end of the second side wall by a lid peripheral portion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-162912 filed on Sep. 26, 2023, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a holder. BACKGROUND ART JP2022-016238A discloses a housing body with a lid body, which houses a container on which a food and/or beverage item is to be placed. The housing body is assumed to be used in a restaurant equipped with a food and/or beverage item transport apparatus. The food and/or beverage item transport apparatus has a conveyance path that revolves along seats for customers in the restaurant. The food and/or beverage item on the container is placed on the conveyance path to be conveyed to the seats. Typically, the house body is preferably used in a restaurant generally called a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, in which sushi on dishes are placed on the conveyance path and provided to the seats. In a restaurant as described above, not only sushi but also menu items such as steamed egg custard, soup in a bowl, and beverages are provided on a daily basis. Such a soft food or a beverage, which is in a container such as a “bowl” or a drink cup, may be put in a deep dish, placed on the conveyance path, and conveyed to the seats. Customers at the seats can take out desired deep dishes from the conveyance path, and thereby obtain the food or the beverage in the container. However, since the container housing the soft food or the beverage has a certain depth, the container tends to be instable. For this reason, for example, when a customer at a seat holds and takes out the deep dish from the conveyance path, there is some possibility that the container of the soft food or the beverage may topple down or the container being about to topple may fall down out of the deep dish. SUMMARY One objective of the present disclosure is to provide a holder which enables to suppress a container for a fluid to topple. A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to a holder that houses a container for a fluid, the holder having: a holder body having a bottom wall and a first side wall extending upward from a peripheral edge of the bottom wall, the first side wall having an upper end that defines an upper opening of the holder body; anda lid body having a top surface and a second side wall extending downward from a peripheral edge of the top surface, the lid body configured to selectively open and close the upper opening,in which when the container is housed in the holder, the upper end of the first side wall and a lower end of the second side wall are positioned below an upper end of the container,an area of the top surface is smaller than an area of the upper opening, andat least one of the top surface or the second side wall is in contact with the container or is configured to have a gap with the container such that the container is suppressed to tilt at a particular angle or more. A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to the holder according to the first aspect, in which the holder houses a first container or a second container as the container,when the holder houses the first container, a lower end portion and an upper end portion of the first container are in contact respectively with the bottom wall of the holder body and the top surface of the lid body, andwhen the holder house the second container, a lower end portion of the second container is in contact with the bottom wall of the holder body, and an upper portion of the second container is positioned at a prescribed distance or less from at least one of the top surface or the second side wall of the lid body. A third aspect of the present disclosure relates to the holder according to the first or second aspect, in which the second side wall has an expanding portion that expands from the second side wall, andthe expanding portion is configured not to interfere with the container when the lid body opens by rotating about an end portion of the lid body opposite to the expanding portion. A fourth aspect of the present disclosure relates to the holder according to any one of the first to third aspects, in which the lid body further includes a third side wall that surrounds an upper end portion of the first side wall and a locking member that is configured to bee movable relative to the third side wall, andthe locking member switches between a locked state to fix the lid body to the holder body and a released state to allow the lid body to be removed from the holder body. A fifth aspect of the present disclosure relates to the holder according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, in which the lid body further includes a lid peripheral portion continuously extending between the lower end of the second side wall and an upper end of the third side wall, andthe lid peripheral portion has a portion that defines a groove. According to the present disc