EP0412876A1 - Seal locking device for a container and container using it - Google Patents

Abstract

Such a locking device, especially for a paint tin, is of the type comprising a containing body (2) of which a completely open one (5) of its ends is capable of being closed by a removable recessed lid (6), by means of a peripheral ring (7) able to interact closely, on the one hand with a rim (8) of the open end (5) of the containing body (2), and, on the other hand, with the said lid (6) in order to provide the sealed locking in combination with the said lid (6). According to the invention, it is characterised in that the peripheral ring (7) is arranged entirely on the outer edge of the open end (5) of the body (2), outside the latter and in the immediate vicinity of the rim (8) with which it interacts. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a device for hermetically closing a container and more particularly paint cans or tubs with full opening.

Conventionally, the closure of such containers is effected by crimped lids. Lids are also known which are provided with peripheral lateral tabs folded under a rim of the body of the container.

Lids of the re-entrant type have also been proposed, implying a recess of the re-entrant part of the cover into the container, the security of the closure being obtained by rubbing this re-entrant part against the internal walls of the container.

Such closure covers commonly used in this field have drawbacks. First, after the first opening, the closure of the container is no longer hermetic, so that the remaining product can deteriorate until it becomes unusable. Known devices also present handling dangers, for example risks of cuts by the user.

To overcome these various drawbacks, it has been proposed (see for example patent FR-1,395,943) closing devices using an intermediate ring made of plastic elastically mounted overlapping on the upper edge of the body to ensure in combination with the lid closing the container by means of elastic locking means produced on said ring.

In addition, such plastic rings make it possible to integrate, thanks to molding techniques, suspension elements for introduction of the ends of a grip handle, whereas until then these elements consisted of metal cabochons to be welded. on the body of the container, hence additional operations and above all risks of oxidation of the walls of said container.

Many of these devices with an intermediate ring made of plastic, if they have practically solved the aforementioned drawbacks, have on the other hand created others, revealed by use.

Indeed, such intermediate rings of plastic material interposed between body and cover and mounted overlapping on the rim of said body, necessarily have a part located outside the body and a part located inside the body. The latter will therefore be in direct contact with the content, the paint in this case, during storage. If there is a cover of the re-entrant type of sufficient height to protect the internal part of the plastic ring in storage, the aforementioned drawbacks remain during filling and use. The ring must be protected from contact with paint in an absolute way because we often encounter an incompatibility of the plastic material with certain constituents of paints for example, organic products, aromatic solvents, such as esters or ketones, which have the effect of modifying the mechanical characteristics of said ring.

The present invention aims to remedy these drawbacks by absolutely isolating the ring from the contents of the container while providing a secure seal.

To this end, it relates to a device for hermetically closing a container, in particular a pot or paint tray, of the type comprising a container body, one of its ends of which is fully open and capable of being closed by a removable re-entrant cover, by means of a peripheral ring able to cooperate closely on the one hand with a rim of the open end and on the other hand with said lid to ensure in combination with the latter the hermetic closure of the container, characterized in that the peripheral ring is disposed entirely on the outer periphery of the open end of the body, outside the latter and in the immediate vicinity of the rim with which it cooperates.

The present invention also relates to the characteristics below considered in isolation or according to all of their possible technical combinations.

According to another characteristic of the invention, means for axially retaining the ring on the container body are constituted by an internal peripheral flange of the ring capable of snap-in elastically during mounting in at least two opposite housings each delimited by a part lower edge, an upper part of an external projection of the container body and the same external wall thereof constituting the bottom of the housings.

In addition, the projection constituting a part of the axial retaining housing of the ring is obtained by stamping the material of the container body, in a direction substantially parallel to the edge of said body and is broken down into two parts leaving a passage between them. not stamped.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the container body is of trunk-pyramidal shape with rectangular section with rounded angles or with circular section, the large base of which constitutes its open end and the small base, the bottom, the ring, the section of which has a shape corresponding substantially to that of the body, being, during assembly, introduced from the bottom to its retaining position in the vicinity of the rim.

In this way, it will occur, after elastic snap-fastening of the ring on its retaining means, a tightening of the latter on the body.

Such a ring thus formed is advantageously obtained by molding of plastic material and release molds are such as to make them stackable and distributable automatically.

According to another characteristic of the invention, elastic snap-fastening means of the cover on the ring consist of hook-shaped projecting parts extending to an upper part of said ring, directed towards the inside thereof by following its peripheral profile and under which is susceptible to come to lodge on an edge of the cover, which comes to bear on the rim of the container body.

According to a preferred embodiment, the edge of the cover is extended by a peripheral end zone of section in the form of a chute, the free end of which is directed for mounting in a direction opposite to that of the hooks of the ring, with which said end zone cooperates in locking.

Advantageously, the rim of the open end of the body is a rolled outwardly turned obtained by conformation of said open end.

In order to allow easy gripping of the container, the ring comprises, obtained from molding with it, two suspension suspension pins for the container, arranged in opposition and constituted by two housings in the form of open buttonholes at the bottom of which are capable of accommodating the ends free from a handle.

Finally, an overcap can be provided which covers the upper part of the closed container and comprises parts respectively capable of simultaneously exerting axial pressure on the cover and lateral pressure on the upper part of the ring in the vicinity of the hooks after attachment to said Ring.

Such an overcap is fixed to the ring by elastic snap-fastening of a peripheral internal bead obtained at the free end of the open engagement part of said overcap in a plurality of retaining housings obtained from material at the lower external part of the ring. .

Although in the present description it has been mentioned that the rim of the container body is a rolled rim just as the elastic snap of the overcap is a bead, the person skilled in the art will understand that these parts can also be constituted by flat or partially curved rims, their function being that of constitute support and attachment surfaces.

• La Figure 1 représente un récipient muni d'un dispositif de fermeture selon l'invention vu pour partie en coupe axiale et pour partie en élévation.
• La Figure 2 représente une vue de détail en coupe selon la ligne III-III de la Figure 3 à plus grande échelle, montrant les relations entre les bords, du corps, de la bague, du couvercle et du surcouvercle.
• La Figure 3 montre une vue de dessus partielle de la Figure 1 selon un mode de réalisation de récipient à section rectangulaire.
• La Figure 4 montre une vue de dessus partielle de la Figure 1 selon un mode de réalisation du récipient à section circulaire.
• La Figure 5 est une vue en plan d'une bague périphé­rique selon l'invention, rectangulaire à titre d'exemple.
• La Figure 6 est une vue de côté de la bague selon la Figure 5, vue pour partie en coupe selon la ligne V-V et pour partie en élévation.
• La Figure 7 est une vue de dessus partielle d'un couvercle.
• La Figure 8 représente une vue de détail en coupe selon la ligne III-III de la Figure 3 à plus grande échelle, montrant les relations entre les bords, du corps, de la bague, du couvercle et du surcouvercle selon une variante de réalisation du couvercle.

The invention will be further illustrated without being in any way limited by the description which follows, given with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• Figure 1 shows a container provided with a closure device according to the invention seen partly in axial section and partly in elevation.
• Figure 2 shows a detail view in section along line III-III of Figure 3 on a larger scale, showing the relationships between the edges, of the body, of the ring, of the cover and of the over-cover.
• Figure 3 shows a partial top view of Figure 1 according to an embodiment of container with rectangular section.
• Figure 4 shows a partial top view of Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the container with circular section.
• Figure 5 is a plan view of a peripheral ring according to the invention, rectangular by way of example.
• Figure 6 is a side view of the ring according to Figure 5, partly seen in section along the line VV and partly in elevation.
• Figure 7 is a partial top view of a cover.
• Figure 8 shows a detail view in section along line III-III of Figure 3 on a larger scale, showing the relationships between the edges, of the body, of the ring, of the cover and of the overlay according to an alternative embodiment of the lid.

The closing device shown in Figure 1 generally shows a container 1, in particular a paint tray of the type comprising a body containing 2 consisting in a known manner of a lateral envelope in this case of rectangular section issuing from or attached to a bottom 4 to one of its ends, the other opposite end constituting a total opening 5 capable of being closed by a re-entrant, removable cover 6 interlocking by friction in the container body 2, its fixing being made effective by means of a peripheral ring 7 made capable of cooperating closely on the one hand with a rim 8 of the open end 5 of the body containing 2 and on the other hand with said cover 6 in order to ensure the hermetic closure of the container 1 in combination.

According to the invention, the peripheral ring 7 is disposed entirely on the outer periphery 2a near the open end 5 of the body 2, outside the plane of said end 5 and adjacent the rim 8 with which it cooperates in such a way as to completely escape the product during the filling operation and also after closing the re-entrant cover 6.

In a first embodiment, the body containing 2 is in the form of a pyramid trunk with rectangular section and rounded corners 10, the large base of which is constituted by its open end 5 and its small base by the bottom 4 also constituting the side d 'introduction going from bottom to top during assembly, of the ring 7, which ring has a cross section corresponding to that of the body 2 defined above and its dimensions substantially smaller than those of the opening 5 so as to be immobilized by clamping when it comes into abutment under the rim 8 serving as a peripheral stop.

The ring 7 thus arranged is retained axially on the body 2 by means constituted by an internal peripheral flange 11 obtained by molding of plastic material with the ring 7, of dimensions such as to be able snap in when mounting in housings 12, each of them being delimited by three elements, namely: a lower part 8 has the rim 8, an upper part 13 has an external projection 13 of the body containing 2 set the external wall 2 a same of said body 2 constituting the bottom of each housing 12.

The projection 13, constitutive part of the housing 12, is advantageously obtained by stamping the material of the body 2, preferably metallic, parallel to the flange 8 by forming a semi-circular section to form a gentle slope for passage, then sliding towards a position of final immobilization in the housings 12.

In a preferred embodiment shown in Figure 1 in a rectangular configuration, the projections 13 are four in number and located on the rounded corners 10 on the same plane. Each projection 13 is broken down into two parts (not shown) leaving between them a non-stamped part located on a generatrix of the rounded edge 10 to allow the passage of one of the ribs 14 for reinforcing the ring 7 located perpendicularly under the flange 11 to constitute reinforcement brackets for the latter relative to a belt 15 of the ring 2.

The ring 2 thus designed and thus arranged and fixed on the container body 2 is able to receive the closure cover 6 by means of elastic snap-fastening means.

These means are constituted by a plurality of hook-shaped projecting parts 16 obtained at an upper part of said ring 2, directed towards the inside of the latter by following its peripheral profile and connected together by a web 21 at least. in its rectilinear parts. These hooks 16 comprise spoilers 17 able to retract elastically when a peripheral end zone 18 of the cover 6 passes, forming a chute 19, and directed, in an axial mounting direction, in a direction opposite to that of the spoilers 17 with which said peripheral end region forming an edge cooperates after returning to the initial position.

According to an alternative embodiment (FIG. 8), the end zone 18A of the cover 6A forms a roll cooperating in an identical manner with the spoilers 17 of the ring 7, but offering the advantage of providing the user with protection against cuts.

A peripheral seal 20 can be interposed, for better sealing, between the flange 8 and the cover 6, so as to undergo elastic compression during assembly. In the present embodiment, the rim 8 of the body 2 is a roll 22 facing outwards obtained by shaping the open end 5.

Given the obtaining of the ring 7 by molding of plastic material, it is advantageous to provide during the same operation two suspension mumps 23 of the container 1 arranged in opposition as shown in FIG. 5, and constituted by two housings, in the form of buttonholes 24 and at the bottom of which are able to accommodate the free ends 25 of a handle 26 after passage of a narrowing 27 of the buttonholes 24, elastically deformable.

According to another characteristic of the invention, a metal overcap 28 covers the upper part of the container 1 as defined above and closed by the cover 6. Such an overcap 28 includes data A and B respectively capable of exerting pressure simultaneously axial on the cover 6 in A and a lateral lateral pressure on the upper part of the ring 7 in B, in the vicinity of the hooks 16, after fixing of the overcap 28 on said ring 2 being effected by elastic snap-fastening of an internal peripheral bead 29, in this case also a roll, obtained at the free end 30 of the open engagement part of said overcap, in a plurality of retaining housings 31 constituted by protrusions 32 mating with the ring 7 at its lower part 7 a .

The advantage resulting from an overcap obtained in metallic material lies in the fact of being able to allow the user to place his roller or his brush there during a break.

As shown in Figure 2, a space 32 is provided between the overcap 28 and the cover 6 in order to form a compartment intended to receive for example technical documentation concerning the product.

The container 1A shown in FIG. 4 essentially differs from the previous embodiment in that its section is circular and that the means for axial retention of the ring and elastic snap-fastening of the cover are, as well as the means for locking the over-cover, evenly distributed in a circular fashion.

Finally, it should be noted that each of the constituent parts of the container 1, namely: the body 2, the ring 7, the cover 6 and the overcap 28 are stackable and distributable automatically. As regards the body 2 and to avoid its jamming during stacking in the empty state, ribs 33 are provided at the four corners of said body 2.

In addition, and with the exclusion of the body 2, the cover 6 and the over-cover 28, advantageously metallic in the present example, all the other parts are obtained by molding of plastic material.

The reference signs inserted after the technical characteristics mentioned in the claims are intended only to facilitate the understanding of the latter and in no way limit their scope.

Claims (18)

1. A device for hermetically closing a container (1), in particular a pot or paint tray, of the type comprising a container body (2), one of its ends of which is fully open (5) is capable of being closed by a removable retractable cover (6), by means of a peripheral ring (7) capable of cooperating closely on the one hand with a flange (8) of the open end (5) and on the other hand with said cover ( 6) to ensure in combination therewith the hermetic closure of the container (1), characterized in that the peripheral ring (7) and disposed entirely on the outer periphery of the open end (5) of the body (2), outside the latter and in the immediate vicinity of the flange (8) with which it cooperates. 2. Closure device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means for axially retaining the ring (7) on the container body (2). 3. Closure device according to claim 2, characterized in that the axial retaining means consist of an internal peripheral flange (11) of the ring (7) capable of snap-in elastically during mounting in at least two opposite housings ( 12) each delimited by a lower part (8 a ) of the rim (8), an upper part (13 a ) of an external projection (13) of the container body (2), the same external wall (2 a ) of that -this constituting the bottom of said housing (12). 4. Closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises means for elastic snap-fastening of the cover (6) on the ring (7). 5. Closure device according to claim 4, characterized in that the elastic snap-fastening means consist of projecting parts (16) in the form of spoilers (17) extending to an upper part of said ring (7), directed inward of it by following its peripheral profile and under which is likely to be housed on an edge (19) of the cover (6), which comes to bear on the flange (8) of the container body (2). 6. Closure device according to one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that a seal (20) ets interposed between the flange (8) and the edge (19) of the cover. 7. Closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the edge (19) of the cover (6) is extended by a peripheral end zone (18) of section in the form of a chute, the l the free end is directed to mounting in a direction opposite to that of the hooks (16) of the ring (7) with which said end zone (18) cooperates in locking. 8. Closure device according to claim 7, characterized in that the peripheral free end (18A) of the cover (6A) is formed by a roll. 9. Closure device according to any one of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that the projection (13) constituting a part of the axial retaining housing of the ring (7) is obtained by stamping the material of the body container (2), in a direction substantially parallel to the flange (8) of said body (2). 10. Closure device according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that the projection (13) breaks down into two parts leaving between them a non-pressed passage. 11. A closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the container body (2) is of truncated pyramid with rectangular section with rounded angles or with circular section, the large base of which constitutes its end. open (5) and the small base, the bottom (4), the ring (7) whose section has a shape corresponding substantially to that of the body (2), being, during assembly, introduced from the bottom to its position retainer in the vicinity of the flange (8). 12. Closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the ring (7) has dimensions such that it can pass through the bottom (4) and exert a clamping effect when it is retained axially in the vicinity of the flange (8). 13. Closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the protruding parts (16) in the form of a hook (17) are interconnected by a web (21). 14. Closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that on the side facing the container body (2, the ring (7) has a plurality of ribs (14) coming to bear against the wall outside of the body (2) when the ring is mounted. 15. Closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the ring (7) comprises, obtained by molding with it, two suspension mumps (23) of the container (1), arranged in opposition and consisting of two open buttonhole housings (24) at the bottom of which are capable of accommodating the free ends (25) of a handle (26). 16. Closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that an overcap (28) covers the upper part of the closed container (1) and has bearing surfaces (A and B) respectively capable of exercising simultaneously an axial pressure (A) on the cover (6) and a lateral pressure (B) on the upper part of the ring (7) in the vicinity of the hooks (17) after attachment to said ring. 17. Closure device according to claim 16, characterized in that the fixing of the overcap (28) on the ring (7) is effected by elastic snap-fastening of a peripheral internal bead (29) obtained at the free end (30 ) of the open part of engagement of said overcap key (28) in a plurality of retaining housings (31) obtained from material at the lower external part (7 a ) of the ring (7). 18. Container, in particular a pot or paint tray, comprising a closure device according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

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