AU2014253520A1 - Tamper evident container - Google Patents

Abstract

Documentl3-23/10/2014 A tamper evident container, including a tub and a lid fitted to the tub, wherein the lid includes one frangible tamper evident tab and the tub includes another frangible tamper 5 evident tab, an inner one of the tamper evident tabs is required to be broken to open the lid, and an outer one of the tamper evident tabs is required to be broken to access the inner tamper evident tab to break said inner tamper evident tab. 'U

Description

Domenmtl1-23/10/2014 TAMPER EVIDENT CONTAINER Field of the Invention 5 The invention relates to a tamper evident container which, for example, may be used for containing edible products at a point of sale. More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a tamper evident container made of plastic by a process of injection moulding or thermoforming. 10 Background of the Invention It is known to provide a tamper evident container which may be used for containing edible product at a point of sale, the container being "tamper evident" so as to provide to a consumer a quality indicator which assures the consumer that the container has not yet 15 been opened. The container may be injection moulded from plastic. However, the applicant has identified that there are problems with existing tamper evident containers, including that existing containers may inadvertently have the tamper evident seal damaged such that the goods are no longer able to be sold even though the 20 container may not have been opened. It has also been identified that many existing tamper evident containers may be opened without activating the tamper evident feature such that it may not be evident to a purchaser that the container has been tampered with. Accordingly, the applicant has identified that it would be advantageous for there to be provided a more secure form of tamper evident feature on a tamper evident container. 25 Examples of the invention seek to provide an improved tamper evident container which overcomes or at least alleviates disadvantages associated with existing tamper evident containers. 30 Domenmtll1-23/10/2014 -2 Summary of the Invention In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a tamper evident container, including a tub and a lid fitted to the tub, wherein the lid includes one frangible 5 tamper evident tab and the tub includes another frangible tamper evident tab, an inner one of the tamper evident tabs is required to be broken to open the lid, and an outer one of the tamper evident tabs is required to be broken to access the inner tamper evident tab to break said inner tamper evident tab. 10 Preferably, said inner tamper evident tab is formed as a unitary construction with the lid, with a frangible connection between the inner tamper evident tab and the lid. Preferably, said outer tamper evident tab is formed as a unitary construction with the tub, with a frangible connection between the outer tamper evident tab and the tub. 15 Preferably, the inner tamper evident tab is located beneath the outer tamper evident tab. In a preferred form, the lid is re-closable on the tub. More preferably, the lid is 20 resiliently pressed onto a rim of the tub to close the container. Preferably, pulling away both tabs exposes a gripping part of the lid to be gripped in opening the lid. 25 It is preferred that the inner tab is pulled in one direction to break away the inner tab from the lid, and the outer tab is pulled in an opposite direction to break away the outer tab from the tub. Preferably, the lid is hingedly mounted to the tub. 30 Documnt1-23/10/2014 -3 Preferably, the tub has a flange which surrounds an outer periphery of the lid to prevent opening of the lid without breaking the tabs. Brief Description of the Drawings 5 The invention is described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure la shows a front view (and a detailed front view) of a tamper evident 10 container in accordance with the present invention, shown with an outer tamper evident tab intact; Figure lb shows a front view of the tamper evident container (and a detailed view), showing an inner tamper evident tab intact with the outer tamper evident tab being removed; 15 Figure lc shows a front view of the tamper evident container (and a detailed view), showing a gripping part exposed by removal of both the inner and outer tamper evident tabs; 20 Figure 2a shows a perspective view of the container shown in Figure la; Figure 2b shows a perspective view of the container shown in Figure 1b; Figure 2c shows a perspective view of the container shown in Figure 1c; 25 Figure 3a shows a sectional view of the container with both inner and outer tamper evident tabs intact; Figure 3b shows a detailed view of a portion of Figure 3a; 30 Figure 4a shows a cut-away perspective view of the container; and Documnt1-23/10/2014 -4 Figure 4b shows detail of a portion of the view shown in Figure 4a. Detailed Description 5 With reference to Figures la to 4b, there is shown a tamper evident container which has a plurality of tamper evident tabs which need to be broken off separately, and consecutively, to remove a lid from the container. Accordingly, the container provides a secure and reliable indicator to show a consumer whether the container has previously 10 been opened, which prevents or at least reduces the likelihood of accidental removal of the tamper evident tabs. Advantageously, the two-stage tamper evidence of the present invention eradicates, or at least reduces, the ability for the container to be opened without this being visually evident. The container may be formed of plastic (for example, polypropylene or polyethylene) by a process of injection moulding. Alternatively, other 15 processes (such as thermoforming, for example) may be used to form the container, and materials other than plastic may be used. More specifically, with reference to Figures la to 1c, there is provided a tamper evident container 10, including a tub 12 and a lid 14 fitted to the tub 12. The lid 14 20 includes one frangible tamper evident tab 16 and the tub 12 includes another frangible tamper evident tab 18. An inner one of the tamper evident tabs is required to be broken to open the lid 14 and an outer one of the taper evident tabs is required to be broken to access the inner tamper evident tab to break said inner tamper evident tab. With reference to the drawings, Figure la shows the outer tamper evident tab 18 which is broken off to expose 25 the inner tamper evident tab 16 (see Figure 1b) which in turn is broken off to expose the lid 14 (see Figure 1c) to enable the lid 14 to be removed from the tub 12. The inner tamper evident tab 16 is integrally formed as a unitary construction with the lid 14, with a frangible connection 20 (see Figure 3b) between the inner tamper evident 30 tab 16 and the lid 14. Similarly, the outer tamper evident tab 18 is integrally formed as Documnt1-23/10/2014 -5 unitary construction with the tub 12, with a frangible connection 22 (see Figure 3b) between the outer tamper evident tab 18 and the tub 12. The inner tamper evident tab 16 is located beneath the outer tamper evident tab 18, 5 as shown in Figures 3a to 4b. In this way, it is necessary to remove the outer tamper evident tab 18 in order to access the inner tamper evident tab 16. Figures 2a to 2c show perspective views of the tamper evident container 10 shown in the same states depicted in Figures la, lb and 1c. 10 The lid 14 may be arranged as a re-closable lid on the tub 12, and the lid 14 may be resiliently pressed onto a rim 24 of the tub 12 to close the container 10. The lid 14 and the tub 12 may be formed of plastic material, with the frangible connections 20, 22 of a sufficiently thin cross-sectional depth to enable the inner tamper evident tab 16 and the 15 outer tamper evident tab 18 to be readily removable by the fingers of a user without requiring specific tools. The strength of the frangible connections 20, 22 may be arranged to prevent breaking of the tabs 16, 18 by young children. With reference to Figure lc and Figure 2c, pulling away both tabs 16, 18 may 20 expose a gripping part 26 of the lid 14 to be gripped by a user in opening the lid 14. With reference to the arrows shown on the inner tab 16 and the outer tab 18, the inner tab 16 may be pulled in one direction to break away the inner tab 16 from the lid 14, and the outer tab 18 may be pulled in an opposite direction to break away the outer tab 18 from the tub 12. In this way, breaking of both of the tabs requires movement in two opposite directions 25 such that inadvertent breaking of both of the tabs is unlikely. The lid 14 may be hingedly mounted to the tub 12 to facilitate re-closing of the lid 14 during consumption of the product contained in the tamper evident container 10 and the tub 12 may have a flange 28 which surrounds an outer periphery of the lid 14 to prevent 30 opening of the lid 14 without breaking the tabs 16, 18.

Domenmtl1-23/10/2014 -6 It will be appreciated that although the specification mentions that the container may be made from plastic (for example, polypropylene or polyethylene) in a process of injection moulding, alternative materials and processes may be used. In one form, the hinge may be formed from a bendable plastic connection, in which case the forming of the 5 container needs to be carefully designed/controlled such that the hinge will bend correctly without breaking (with an appropriate level of force), and the frangible connections will break (with an appropriate level of force). Where the tub/lid are formed as unitary parts, this may be achieved through tool design to ensure correct thickness of the material for the desired material behaviour, ensuring that the frangible connections and the hinge will 10 perform as required. While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art that various 15 changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any of the above described exemplary embodiments. The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived 20 from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates. 25 Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and 'comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

Claims (11)

1. A tamper evident container, including a tub and a lid fitted to the tub, wherein the lid includes one frangible tamper evident tab and the tub includes another frangible 5 tamper evident tab, an inner one of the tamper evident tabs is required to be broken to open the lid, and an outer one of the tamper evident tabs is required to be broken to access the inner tamper evident tab to break said inner tamper evident tab.

2. A tamper evident container as claimed in claim 1, wherein said inner tamper 10 evident tab is formed as a unitary construction with the lid, with a frangible connection between the inner tamper evident tab and the lid.

3. A tamper evident container as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said outer tamper evident tab is formed as a unitary construction with the tub, with a frangible 15 connection between the outer tamper evident tab and the tub.

4. A tamper evident container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the inner tamper evident tab is located beneath the outer tamper evident tab. 20

5. A tamper evident container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the lid is re-closable on the tub.

6. A tamper evident container as claimed in claim 5, wherein the lid is resiliently pressed onto a rim of the tub to close the container. 25

7. A tamper evident container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein pulling away both tabs exposes a gripping part of the lid to be gripped in opening the lid.

8. A tamper evident container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the 30 inner tab is pulled in one direction to break away the inner tab from the lid, and the outer tab is pulled in an opposite direction to break away the outer tab from the tub. Docun tl2-23/10/2014

9. A tamper evident container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the lid is hingedly mounted to the tub. 5

10. A tamper evident container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the tub has a flange which surrounds an outer periphery of the lid to prevent opening of the lid without breaking the tabs.

11. A tamper evident container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference 10 to the accompanying drawings.