EP4083342A1 - Method for producing a wc basket with a gel-like substance - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing a toilet basket (1) with at least one container (10) containing a gel-like toilet active substance (40), the container (10) having a first container half (11) and a second Has container half (12), comprising the following method steps: a) producing the first container half (11) and the second container half (12) of the container (10); b) filling the first container half (11) with the gel-like WC active substance (40) in a free-flowing state; and c) assembling the first container half (11) and the second container half (12) to form the container (10). The invention is characterized in that the first container half (11) and the second container half (12) are joined together before they are filled with the gel-like toilet ingredient (40) and the toilet ingredient (40) flows through an opening (16) is filled in the second container half (12).

Description

The invention relates to a method for producing a toilet basket with at least one container containing a gel-like toilet active substance, the container having a first container half and a second container half.

From the DE 10 2013 105 316 A1 such a toilet basket is known in which the first container half and the second container half are produced in an injection molding process. After the container halves have been manufactured, a scented gel is filled into the first container half. The first container half and the second container half are connected to one another via a film hinge and thus form a one-piece injection molded part. The second container half is folded onto the first container half by a folding movement about the folding axis of the film hinge, as a result of which the container for the scented gel is closed.

Also from the DE 20 2015 103 798 U1 a toilet basket is known in which the container for receiving the toilet agent is also formed by a first container half and a second container half. The container halves are produced here by thermoforming and stamping a film. A toilet gel in the liquid state is filled into the first hemispherical container half. The second half of the container is then folded onto the hemispherical half of the container. In this case, only the second half of the container has openings through which the flushing water can then flow into and out of the container in the later position of use in a toilet bowl.

Polypropylene (PP) is usually used to manufacture an injection-moulded toilet seat. Recycled PP can only be used to a very limited extent for the injection-moulded toilet bowl, as the PP recyclate is currently difficult to obtain in good quality with regard to optical transparency and aesthetics are an important means of communication in marketing. The possibilities of reducing the weight of injection-moulded toilet baskets have also been largely exhausted, making it difficult to further reduce the consumption of resources and, as a result, to increase the sustainability of the toilet basket.

Although the recyclate of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is of high quality and clean, PET can only be used to a limited extent for the injection molding of toilet baskets. PET and recycled PET, on the other hand, can be used very well for thermoforming toilet baskets. In addition, significant material savings can be achieved with thermoforming compared to injection molding.

Due to its translucent gel phase, a gel-like WC active ingredient has a particularly attractive appearance compared to a solid WC active ingredient. Since the gel-like toilet active substance is usually filled into the container in a free-flowing or liquid state, filling the container is not unproblematic. For example, the fill quantity of the gel-like toilet active substance is limited by the (partial) volume of the first half of the container. Otherwise, the active ingredient in the toilet, which is still free-flowing, would overflow during filling and could lead to undesirable soiling. Also, the first half of the container must not have any openings through which the free-flowing, gel-like toilet active substance would escape when it is filled.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a process for the production of a toilet bowl filled with a gel-like toilet active substance which is easy to carry out and is as sustainable as possible.

This object is achieved by a method according to claim 1. Embodiments of the invention can be taken from the subclaims to claim 1.

According to the invention it is provided that the joining of the first container half and the second container half takes place before filling with the gel-like toilet active substance. The toilet agent is filled through an opening in the second half of the container. The first half of the container should preferably be designed in such a way that it has no openings, gaps or the like through which the toilet agent, which is flowable at least during filling and can harden later, can escape in an uncontrolled manner. Since the two halves of the container are joined together before filling, a larger amount of toilet agent can be filled. Not only the volume of the first container half, but also at least part of the volume of the second container half can be used. If the opening in the second container half, through which the PC agent is filled into the container, is in an upper area of the second container half during filling and the first container half is arranged below the second container half, the second container half can also be completely filled with the Gel-like toilet active substance to be filled. Thus, the total volume or the capacity of the container can be optimally utilized. This leads to a toilet basket which, in relation to the material used to produce the two container halves, can hold a comparatively large amount of gel-like toilet active ingredient.

Before filling, the first half of the container and the second half of the container can be connected to one another in a sealed manner by placing a joining surface of the second half of the container on a joining surface of the first half of the container and then connecting the joining surfaces to one another. The joining surfaces can be connected by sealing, welding or gluing. The connection of the joining surfaces must be so tight that when filling the container halves connected to one another in this way, the gel-like toilet active substance cannot escape on the wing surfaces.

The term "container half" is not to be understood in such a way that the volume of the first container half has to correspond to the volume of the second container half. The container halves can therefore be of different sizes and shapes.

In one embodiment, the first half of the container and the second half of the container are thermoformed in one piece from a plastic film, preferably made of PET. During thermoforming, the two halves of the container are preferably next to one another. For the subsequent assembly of the two container halves, the second container half can be pivoted about an axis of a joint, so that the container is closed by this pivoting movement. The pivoting movement preferably has a pivoting angle of 180°. The pivoting movement should be a relative movement between the first half of the container and the second half of the container. The second half of the container could also be stationary and only the first half of the container moves.

A ratio of the volume of the first half of the container to the volume of the second half of the container can be 0.7 to 1.3, preferably 0.8 to 1.2. Due to the roughly the same volume, the material for the first half of the container is stretched to a comparable extent during thermoforming as the material for the second half of the container, resulting in the same or similar wall thicknesses. The total volume of the container is preferably 8 to 14 cc. If the toilet basket has x containers, the total volume is x times 8 to 14 ccm. With four containers, this would result in a total volume of the toilet basket of 32 to 56 ccm.

The thermoforming of the first container half and the second container half can be separated in time and place from the subsequent joining of the two container halves. So it is conceivable that after thermoforming and any separation of the container halves from residues of the plastic film, for example by punching, the container halves are temporarily stored. The assembly of the first container half and the second container half and the subsequent filling of the container formed in this way then takes place later. Alternatively, the thermoforming, the joining of the two halves of the container and the subsequent filling can also be carried out in one production line.

The opening in the second container half is preferably produced by a stamping process. This punching process is preferably carried out when the second half of the container is still in the deep-drawing mold, through which the second half of the container is given its shape during thermoforming. The punching of the opening can be done simultaneously with the step of separating the thermoformed container halves from remnants of the plastic film.

The opening in the second half of the container, through which the gel-like active ingredient in the toilet gets into the container during filling, can be the only opening in the container. The opening is to be dimensioned in such a way that on the one hand the container can be filled without any problems and on the other hand when the toilet basket is in use in a toilet bowl there is a sufficient but not too intensive exchange of the toilet active substance with the flushing water in the toilet.

After filling, the opening can be closed with a removable cover. This cover protects the active ingredient in the toilet from environmental influences. The cover prevents the toilet active substance from drying out (too much) or changing its properties in a negative way in the event of prolonged storage. The cover is preferably removed only immediately before the toilet basket is inserted into the toilet bowl.

In one exemplary embodiment, the second container half essentially has the shape of a body with a base area and lateral surface, with the opening being provided on the base area of the body. The opening can essentially extend over the entire base area of the body. The proportion of the area of the opening in the total area of the base area is preferably 70 to 90%. The body can be a cylinder, for example, the base of which can be round or elliptical. Another embodiment of the body is a prism with an angular base. The angular base has a number of corners, for example four or six corners.

The opening can be delimited by a peripheral edge which can have a width of 0.5 to 5 mm. The width of the rim is preferably 1 to 3 mm. If a cover film is used as a cover, it can be placed on the peripheral edge and attached to the peripheral edge in a suitable manner. For example, the cover film can have an adhesive layer through which the cover film adheres to the peripheral edge.

The base with the opening can be inclined to a main or central axis of the body. The body can have a slightly conical shape, which facilitates the demolding of the second container half from the deep-drawing mold. A height of the body can be 20 to 30 mm. If the body is a cylinder, a diameter of the base area can assume values between 20 and 30 mm.

The first container half preferably has a substantially hemispherical shape. With a given material for the thermoforming of the first half of the container, the hemisphere results in a very favorable ratio of the surface area of the half of the container to its volume. Correspondingly, the container can be composed of a hemispherical container half and a cylindrical container half, the radius of the hemisphere corresponding to the radius of the cylinder corresponds. In the case of a conical cylinder, the radius of the cylinder in the plane where the cylinder adjoins the hemisphere may be equal to the radius of the hemisphere. Preferred values for the radius are in the range from 10 to 20 mm.

The first container half can also be shaped in any other way. For example, this can also be a cylinder or a prism.

Figur 1

ein WC-Körbchen in Einsatzlage in einem Toilettenbecken;

Figur 2

das WC-Körbchen der Figur 1 in einem aufgeklappten Zustand;

Figur 3

das WC-Körbchen in einer Ansicht entlang der Linie III-III in Figur 2;

Figur 4

das WC-Körbchen in einer Ansicht entlang der Linie IV-IV in Figur 3.

The invention is explained in more detail on the basis of an exemplary embodiment illustrated in the figures. Show it:

figure 1

a toilet basket deployed in a toilet bowl;

figure 2

the toilet basket figure 1 in an unfolded state;

figure 3

the toilet basket in a view along the line III-III in figure 2 ;

figure 4

the toilet basket in a view along line IV-IV in figure 3 .

figure 1 shows a toilet basket, which is denoted in its entirety by 1. The toilet basket 1 comprises a container 10 and a holding device 50, with which the toilet basket 1 is attached to a toilet bowl 2. The toilet bowl 2 is in figure 1 shown only partially. An adhesive layer 51 is provided at the upper end of the holding device 50 as a fastening means. The toilet basket 1 can be detachably attached to the toilet bowl 2 by the adhesive layer 51 . The holding device 50 can have other fastening means such as a U-shaped bracket which is hung over the upper edge of the toilet bowl 2 .

In the container 10 there is a gel-like toilet active substance 40 which almost completely fills the interior of the container 10 . A filling line of the gel-like WC active substance 40 is denoted by 41 .

The container 10 comprises a first hemispherical container half 11 and a second container half 12. The second container half 12 has the shape of a conical cylinder or a truncated cone. A base 13 of the cylinder 12 or of the container half 12 is inclined to a central axis 14 . An angle of inclination 15 between the base 13 and a plane perpendicular to the central axis 14 is 20° in the exemplary embodiment shown here. The angle of inclination 15 can also assume other values, for example it can be in a range between 10 and 30°. The radius of the hemispherical container half 11 corresponds to the radius that the cylinder 12 has in the plane of the holding device 50 . Thus, the first container half 11 merges into the conical cylinder 12 without any discontinuities or offsets.

An opening 16 is provided on the base 13, which figure 1 not good, but especially in figure 3 is clearly recognizable. Flushing water enters the container 10 through this opening 16 and can thereby dissolve the gel-like toilet active ingredient 40 . The solid arrows 3 are intended to indicate the flow of flushing water from the upper edge of the toilet bowl 2 through the opening 16 into the container 10 . The dashed arrows 4 outline the flow of the flushing water enriched with the gel-like toilet active ingredient from the container 10 and along the inner wall of the toilet bowl 2. With a larger angle of inclination 15, more flushing water tends to enter the container 10, causing the toilet active ingredient 40 to flush more and is dissolved by the rinsing water.

the Figures 2 to 4 clarify how that in figure 1 illustrated toilet basket 1 is produced. figure 2 shows the toilet basket 1 in an unfolded and not filled state. The figures 3 and 4 it can be seen that the toilet basket 1 has a plurality of first container halves 11 arranged next to one another and a plurality of second container halves 12 which can be joined together to form four containers.

The container halves 11, 12 are thermoformed from a plastic film. A transparent PET film is preferably used in this case. The PET film is placed over a deep-drawing form. The PET film is then drawn or pressed into the deep-drawing mold using suitable measures (stamp, vacuum) and thereby adopts the contour of the deep-drawing mold. Then the PET film or the thermoformed container halves 11, 12 are punched out. In particular, the opening 16 is punched out. But also recesses 17 between the individual first container halves 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d and the second container halves 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d (see figure 4 ) are formed in this step. The composite of the four container halves 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d arranged next to one another can be folded about a folding axis 18 onto the corresponding composite of the container halves 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d. Remaining areas of the PET film along the folding axis that have not been punched out are denoted by 19 and form a firm hinge between the composite of the first container halves 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d and the composite of the second container halves 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d .

As figure 3 can be seen, the second container halves 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d have different heights. The outer container halves 12a, 12d have a height H which is somewhat smaller than the height of the inner container halves 12b, 12c. The height of the outer container halves can be 15 to 25 mm, preferably 18 to 20 mm. The height H of the inner container halves 12b, 12c is preferably 1 to 2 mm greater and is 20 to 22 mm in one embodiment. Due to the slightly drawn-in outer container halves 12a, 12d, the toilet basket nestles better against the usually convexly curved toilet bowl 2.

After folding by 180°, the container halves 11, 12 of each container 12 face each other and delimit a closed receiving space for the toilet agent 40. The The only open area of the closed container 10 is the opening 16. It is delimited by a peripheral edge 20 which has a width R _B (see figure 4 ) from 1.5 to 2 mm.

The plane in which the container halves 11, 12 come to rest against one another after they have been folded through 180° is referred to below as the joining plane. Again figure 1 can be removed, a joining surface 22 of the second container half 12 lies flat on a joining surface 21 of the first container half 11 in the joining plane. The joining surfaces 21, 22 are tightly connected to one another, so that when the container 10 is being filled, the toilet active ingredient (fragrance, cleaning substance, combination thereof) that is still flowable or liquid cannot escape from the container 10 at the joining plane between the container halves 11, 12.

The joining surface 21 of the first container half 11 merges seamlessly into the holding device 50, which is only figure 1 is fully shown. Since the joining surfaces 21, 22 and the holding device 50 are not stretched or expanded during thermoforming, and only to a small extent, the thermoformed toilet bowl has the greatest wall thicknesses here. This leads to a stable bond between the container halves 11, 12, especially since the wall thickness is locally doubled by the joining surfaces 21, 22 lying on top of one another.

After the joining surfaces 21, 22 have been connected to one another, the containers 10 are filled until they are sufficiently filled. Preferably, the amount of gel-like toilet active ingredient 40 in each container is 80% to 100% of the total volume of each container 10. Each container 10 can have the same amount of gel-like toilet ingredient. It is also possible, in comparison to the inner, slightly larger containers 10b, 10c, to fill the outer containers 10a, 10d with a little less of the toilet agent, so that each container is filled equally in relation to its total volume.

After filling is complete, a peel-off film is stuck onto the peripheral edge, which serves to close the opening 16 and to protect the contents of the container from environmental influences. Immediately before using the toilet basket 1, this peel-off film is removed. This peel-off film is not shown in the figures.

The surrounding edge requires a certain minimum area so that the peel-off film adheres well to the second half of the container. However, if the edge 20 is designed too wide, the opening 16 can become too small. If the opening 16 is too small, too little flushing water gets into the container 10, which can lead to problems in dissolving the toilet agent 40.

Good adhesion between the peel-off film and the edge 20 can also be achieved if there is sufficient contact pressure when the peel-off film is applied to the edge 20 . There is a risk here that if the contact pressure is too high, the thin-walled second container half 12 will buckle on the lateral surface. To prevent or counteract buckling, the second Have container half on the lateral surface reinforcing structures such as a reinforcing rib. The reinforcement rib can extend along the central axis of the cylinder. Such a reinforcing rib is in figure 3 indicated by the dashed lines 23. It goes without saying that several such reinforcing ribs—preferably equally distributed—can be distributed on the circumference of the lateral surface.

Spacers 24 are formed on the outer container halves 12a, 12b. They serve to define a distance between two toilet baskets 1 that are stacked on top of one another and are in the unfolded state. The toilet baskets can thus be stored temporarily in a stack to save space, without the risk of a toilet basket becoming jammed in the stack and being unable to be separated from other toilet baskets. The spacers 24 can be omitted in particular when the thermoforming of the container halves 11, 12, the assembly of the container halves 11, 12 to form a closed container 10 and the filling of the container 10 takes place in quick succession on a production line.

Reference List

1

toilet basket

2

toilet bowl

3

arrow (rinse water)

4

arrow (flushing water enriched with toilet agent)

10

container

11

first half of the container

12

second half of the container

13

Floor space

14

central axis

15

tilt angle

16

opening

17

recess

18

folding axle

19

remaining areas

20

edge

21

mating surface

22

mating surface

23

reinforcing rib

24

spacers

40

WC active substance

41

fill line

50

holding device

51

adhesive layer

Claims (12)

Method for producing a toilet basket (1) with at least one container (10) containing a gel-like toilet active substance (40), the container (10) having a first container half (11) and a second container half (12) has, comprising the following process steps: a. Manufacturing the first container half (11) and the second container half (12) of the container (10), b. Filling the first half of the container (11) with the gel-like active toilet ingredient (40) in a free-flowing state, c. Assembling the first container half (11) and the second container half (12) to form the container (10), characterized in that the first container half (11) and the second container half (12) are joined together before filling with the gel-like WC active substance (40) and the WC active substance (40) through an opening (16) in the second container half (12) is filled. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that before filling, the first container half (11) and the second container half (12) are connected to one another in a sealed manner by a joining surface (22) of the second container half (12) being placed on a joining surface (21) of the first Container half (11) is arranged and then the joining surfaces (21, 22) are connected to one another. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first container half (11) and the second container half (12) lying next to one another are thermoformed in one piece from a plastic film in one process step, with the second container half being used for the subsequent assembly of the container halves (11, 12). (12) relative to the first container half (11) is pivoted about a folding axis (18). Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the opening (16) in the second container half (12) is produced by a punching process. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the opening (16) is closed by a removable cover after filling. Method according to Claim 6, characterized in that the removable cover is only pulled off immediately before the toilet basket (1) is used. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the second container half (12) is substantially in the form of a body with a base and Has lateral surface, wherein the opening (16) is provided on the base (13) of the body. Method according to Claim 7, characterized in that the opening (16) extends substantially over the entire base (13) of the body. Method according to Claim 8, characterized in that the opening (16) is delimited by a peripheral edge (20) which has a width (R _B ) of 0.5 to 5 mm. Method according to Claim 9, characterized in that a covering film which is applied to the peripheral edge (20) is used as the covering. A method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the base (13) is inclined to a main or central axis (14) of the body. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the first container half (11) is substantially hemispherical in shape.

Images