AU2008100153A4

AU2008100153A4 - A produce container assembly

Info

Publication number: AU2008100153A4
Application number: AU2008100153A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Lam
Original assignee: Multisteps Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Multisteps Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2008-02-19
Filing date: 2008-02-19
Publication date: 2008-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2016-02-19
Also published as: AU2008100153B4

Description

AUSTRALIA

FB RICE CO Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys Patents Act 1990 MULTISTEPS PTY LTD COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: A produce container assembly The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- 00 2 SA produce container assembly Field of the Invention SThe present invention relates to produce container assemblies.

Background of the Invention Cc A produce container, in particular for fresh produce, normally has a receptacle and a lid. The lid may be a separate item which is detachable from the receptacle or O basket.

In consideration of transportation costs and handling, it is desirable for produce 00 containers to be light-weight but, in order for the produce to be adequately protected, containers also need to have a degree of strength and crush resistance. Such containers may be mass produced from plastics using moulds. In mass production, features of the container that reduce the amount of plastics used in producing the container while maintaining the strength of the container are desirable as they reduce the cost per unit in producing the container. Other factors that influence the production cost per unit include wear on equipment used to manufacture the containers and the need for maintenance or repairs of moulds and tools used in the production process.

Summary of the Invention According to the invention, there is provided a produce container assembly which includes: a receptacle which defines a mouth circumscribed by a rim, the rim having a first, outwardly extending flange; a lid releasably attachable to the receptacle to close off the mouth, the lid having a stepped skirt portion to overlie and interact with the rim of the receptacle to retain the lid on the receptacle and a second, outwardly extending flange projecting from the skirt portion of the lid to bear against the first flange when the lid is mounted on the receptacle; and at least one opening tab defined by an offset portion of the second flange, the opening tab being gripped in use to facilitate removal of the lid from the receptacle, at least a part of a transition between the at least one opening tab and the remainder of the second flange being substantially curved.

By "substantially curved" is meant that each end of the opening tab is joined to the remainder of the second flange by a part of the second flange which has a continuous bend without an angular portion.

00 3 The substantially curved part of the transition may be joined to the remainder of d the second flange by a further portion which may be angular.

The rim of the receptacle may include a recessed formation at a position complementary to the at least one opening tab.

The rim of the receptacle may include a reinforced portion from which the first C€ flange of the rim extends. The reinforced portion may be defined by a lip of the receptacle being folded over on itself. The reinforced portion may have a height above O the flange to accommodate a locking formation without significantly weakening the 0rim. The height of the reinforced portion of the rim of the receptacle above the first oO flange may be about 3 mm to 7 mm.

Brief description of the drawings Exemplary embodiments of a produce container assembly are now described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:- FIG. 1 shows a three dimensional view of a produce container assembly in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 shows a front view of the assembly of FIG. 1 with the lid partially opened; FIG. 3 shows an enlargement of the area within the dashed circle A in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 shows a front view of the assembly of FIG. 1 with the lid closed; FIG. 5 shows a three dimensional view of a produce container assembly in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention; FIG. 6 shows a three dimensional view of the assembly of FIG. 5 with the lid closed; and FIG. 7 shows a front view of the assembly of FIG. 5 with the lid closed.

Detailed description of exemplary embodiments In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 generally designates a first embodiment of a produce container assembly. The produce container assembly 10 includes a receptacle 12 for receiving produce (not shown in the figures). The receptacle 12 defines a mouth 14 through which produce can be placed into or removed from the receptacle 12. The mouth 14 is circumscribed by a rim 16. The rim 16 has a first, outwardly extending flange 18.

The assembly 10 includes a lid 22 which is releasably attachable to the receptacle 12 to close off the mouth 14. Figure 4 shows the produce container assembly 10 with the lid 22 in the closed position.

00 4 ,I The lid 22 has a stepped skirt portion 24 to overlie and interact with the rim 16 of the receptacle 12 to retain the lid 22 on the receptacle 12. A second, outwardly Sextending flange 26 projects from the skirt portion 24 of the lid 22 to bear against the first flange 18 when the lid 22 is in its closed position.

The rim 16 of the receptacle 12 includes a reinforced portion 25 from which the Cc first flange 18 extends. The height of the reinforced portion 25 from the first flange 18 to an operatively uppermost part of the rim 16 is approximately 3 mm to 7 mm, Spreferably about 4 mm to 6 mm, and optimally about 5 mm. The reinforced portion is defined by a lip of the receptacle 12 being folded over on itself.

00 The stepped skirt portion 24 of the lid 22 defines a shoulder 23 which bears N, against a top surface 27 of the rim 16 when the lid 22 is mounted on the receptacle 12.

As can best be seen in FIG. 1, the assembly 10 further includes three opening tabs 28. Each opening tab 28 is defined by an offset portion 30 of the second flange 26.

By "offset" is meant that the second flange 26 lies in a plane and the offset portion lies out of that plane. The opening tab 28 is gripped in use to facilitate removal of the lid 22 from the receptacle 12.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a part 31 of a transition 32 between the opening tab 28 and the remainder of the second flange 26 is substantially curved.

By "substantially curved" is meant that each end of the opening tab 28 is joined to the remainder of the second flange 26 by at least a part of the second flange 26 which has a continuous bend without an angular portion.

More particularly, the substantially curved part 31 approximates a part of an ellipse.

In the production process, when forming the edge of the second flange 26 by cutting, due to the direction of movement of the cutting blade, the cutting edge of the cutting blade makes contact with the opening tab 28 and the part 31 of the transition 32 at each end of the opening tab 28 before making contact with the remainder of the second flange 26. As the part 31 of the transition 32 between the opening tab 28 and the remainder of the second flange 26 is substantially curved and is without an angular portion, as shown in FIG. 3, there is less resistance by the part 31 of the transition 32 to the cutting edge of the blade. As there is less resistance, there is less distortion of the second flange 26 during cutting and a better finish is obtained. In addition, as there is no sharp discontinuity in the region of each part 31, there is less likelihood of the cutting edge of the cutting blade being damaged resulting in an increased longevity of the cutting blade.

00 As best seen in FIGS. 2 to 4, in this first embodiment, the substantially curved part 31 of the transition 32 is joined to the remainder of the second flange 26 by an Sangular portion 34 (that is, the end of the transition 32 away from the opening tab 28 is joined to the remainder of the second flange 26 by the angular portion 34). This angular portion 34 assists in reinforcing the transition 32 and the opening tab 28 when Cc the lid 22 is in the closed position shown in FIG. 4 with the second flange 26 bearing _on the first flange 18. The portion 34, because it faces the direction of movement of the cutting blade, has a reduced likelihood of damaging the cutting blade.

0As best seen in FIG. 1, a recessed formation 36 is formed in the rim 16 of the 00 receptacle 12 at a position complementary to each opening tab 28. The recessed N, formation 36 further facilitates release of the lid 22 from the receptacle 12. In more detail, as can be seen in FIG. 4, when the mouth 14 is closed by the lid 22, the recessed formation 36 and the opening tab 28 together define an opening 38 which further facilitates manual release of the lid 22 from the receptacle 12. In addition, this opening 38 allows for ventilation of the interior of the assembly The lid 22 is hingedly attached to the receptacle 12 via a hinge 40. The lid 22 and the receptacle 12 have complementary locking formations 42, 44 for releasably locking the lid 22 to the receptacle 12. The locking formations 42 of the lid 22 are in the form of spaced lugs 46 carried on the lid 22. The locking formations 44 of the receptacle 12 are aligned recesses 48 carried on the receptacle 12 in which the lugs 46 are removably received. The height of the reinforced portion 25 of the rim 16, as described above, facilitates positioning of the recesses 48 in the reinforced portion without significantly weakening the rim 16. This improves the crush resistance of the assembly 10 and, in so doing, improves stackability. Thus, the recesses 48 are arranged in the reinforced portion 25 as far as possible from the top surface 27 of the rim 16 of the receptacle 12. Ideally, an operatively lower edge of each recess 48 lies substantially flush with the flange 18 of the rim 16 of the receptacle 12. Due to the presence of a substantial amount of material above each recess 48, the structural integrity of the rim 16 is improved. This has the added advantage that, because distortion of the locking formations 44 is reduced, the likelihood of the lid 22 parting from the receptacle 12 is reduced.

As described above, when the lid 22 is closed, the second flange 26 bears on the first flange 18 and the lugs 46 are received in the recesses 48, locking the lid in position. With this arrangement, when a number of closed produce container assemblies 10 are arranged side-by-side, for example, during transportation of produce or when the produce container assemblies 10 filled with produce are on display for sale, 00 6 there is less likelihood of the lid 22 being forced from the receptacle 12 due to snagging on a neighbouring container assembly 10. This is because it is less likely that the flanges of a neighbouring assembly will penetrate between the first flange 18 and the _second flange 26 and, as a result of relative movement, cause the lid 22 to part from the receptacle 12.

Cc FIGS. 5 to 7 show a second embodiment of a produce container assembly 210 in _accordance with the present invention. In FIGS. 5 to 7, features which are the same as O those of the first embodiment are indicated with the same reference numerals preceded 0by the numeral 2. In this embodiment, the assembly 210 is generally cubiform. As 00 with the first embodiment, the lid 222 has a second flange 226 and the second flange N, 226 has three opening tabs 228, each opening tab 228 being defined by an offset portion 230.

In the embodiments shown in the figures, each assembly 10, 210 has three opening tabs 28, 228, with each opening tab 28, 228 defined by an offset portion 230. The present invention is not limited to this arrangement. The assembly 10, 210 may have a single opening tab 28, 228 formed, for example, in the second flange 26, 226 of the lid 22, 222 on the side opposite the hinge 40, 240. In another embodiment, the lid is not hingedly attached to the receptacle by a hinge, and an opening tab is formed on each side of the lid.

In the embodiments shown in the figures, a recessed formation 36, 236 is formed in the rim 16, 216 of the receptacle 12, 212 at a position complementary to each opening tab 28, 228 of the lid 22, 222. The present invention is not limited to this arrangement. It is not necessary to have such recessed formations formed in the rim of the receptacle and, for example, the rim may have a uniform and continuous height. In addition, in embodiments which have a plurality of opening tabs, it is also possible to have recessed formations formed at positions complementary to only one or some of the opening tabs. The shape of the recessed formation 36, 236 is also not limited and, as can be seen in the figures, for example, the profile of the recessed formation 36 in the first embodiment is different to the profile of the recessed formation 236 in the second embodiment. Likewise, the shape of the part 31 may vary as desired and depending on the length of the tabs 28, 228 and the size of the assembly 10, 210.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as broadly described.

The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

2. The produce container assembly according to claim 1, wherein the rim of the receptacle includes a recessed formation at a position complementary to the at least one opening tab.
3. The produce container assembly according to one of the preceding claims in which the rim of the receptacle includes a reinforced portion from which the first flange of the rim extends, the reinforced portion having a height above the first flange to accommodate a locking formation without significantly weakening the rim.
4. The produce container assembly according to claim 3 in which the height of the reinforced portion of the rim of the receptacle above the first flange is about 3 mm to 7 mm. A produce container assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.