GB1583862A

GB1583862A - Lidded container

Info

Publication number: GB1583862A
Application number: GB2213976A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Drg Inc
Current assignee: Drg Inc
Priority date: 1977-08-24
Filing date: 1977-08-24
Publication date: 1981-02-04

Description

(54) LIDDED CONTAINER (71) We, DRG (UK) LIMITED, of 1 Redcliffe Street, Bristol, BS99 7QY, a British Company, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to lidded containers in which the lid is permanently or semi-permanently secured to the receptacle of the container, and particularly to the type of lidded container where the lid is attached the the receptacle of the container by a hinge.

The problem to be faced is that it is often desired to form a lid of a material different from the receptacle of the container and in many cases it is desirable to have the lid transparent so that the contents of the container can be seen. This brings difficulty in the adequate securing of the lid to the container by means of a hinge. Unless one uses separate hinge elements which are individually secured to the receptacle and the lid (a process which is extremely undesirable from the point of view of manufacturing time and cost) there is the difficulty of assembling the lid to the receptacle. This is desirably done without the use of additional elements.

If the receptacle and lid are to be formed in the same material it will be possible to use a material which has desirable properties of flexion so that an integral hinge portion may be formed in it; but when as is frequently desired the receptacle and lid have to have different mechanical or physical properties, (a common one has been mentioned being that the lid shall be transparent) there are serious problems in providing this desired permanent or semi-permanent connection of the two without undesirably complex process steps.

According to the invention we provide a container comprising a receptacle member and a lid member, one said member having a wall which is of a resilient material resistant to flexional fatigue and which includes an integral hinge allowing flexion of a portion of the wall relative to the rest of said one member, the other said member having a tongue which is received in a pocket in an edge of said wall portion in a snap-fit engagement, the wall material flexing resiliently to provide the snap fit. Preferably the receptacle member has the hinged wall portion and the lid member has the tongue.

Preferably the tongue has a projection which is lateral to the direction of insertion of the tongue, and there is in the pocket an undercut or indented portion for reception of and engagement with the projection to provide the snap-fit engagement.

A preferred material for the receptacle is an opaque plastics material which is more flexible than the lid, while that for the lid is a transparent plastics material which is more rigid than the receptacle.

A particular embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification, wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the container embodied as a box for containing darts, Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line II-II of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial perspective, view sectioned on the same line.

A container which is a box for darts has a receptacle 1 with notched internal dividing walls 2 for the reception and positioning of individual darts in the receptacle. It has a transparent lid 3 which is hinged to the receptacle along one side wall 4 of the receptacle. It is secured to that side wall in a permanent or semipermanent coupling. By "semi-permanent" we mean that although the coupling may be broken by effort and manipulation it is not of the type where it is intended to allow easy separation of the lid from the receptacle. The side wall 4 has an integral hinge formed by a line of thinning 5 so that the lid may be pivoted open or shut it being shown partly open in Fig. 1 and shut in Fig. 2. In the shut position an inner skirt 6 on the lid fits snugly within the other side walls of the receptacle.

The coupling between the lid and the wail 4 is formed by a plurality of tongues 7 projecting downwardly from the lid and fitting into a pocket formed by a slit 8 formed in the thickness of the wall and whose entrance is in the upper edge of the wall. Each tongue has a sideways projection 9 extending from it in the outward direction of the container. Each projection is in the form of a barb having an in dined lead-in surface 10 and a stop surface 11 which is normal to the direction of insertion of the tongue into the slit, or which could be undercut.

The slit has a plurality of ledges one for each tongue and adapted to engage the stop surface 11 of each projection 9. In the present embodiment these are provided by windows 12 penetrating from the outside surfaces of the wall 4 to the slit 8.

The receptacle 1 is made of a plastics material known for its resistance to flexional fatigue such as a polypropylene and this is a comparatively flexible tough material. It can be seen that this property of the material allows tthe permanent coupling to be formed by the pushing in of the tongues 7 into the slit 8 with the outward distortion of the uppermost portion 13 of the wall above the window 12 as the projection 9 passes behind it until the projection is received in the window 12 and its stop surface 11 seats against the ledge formed by the upper edge of that window. It is the same property of the material which allows it to be formed with an integral hinge and allows it to be utilised for this coupling. Thus the recap tacle may be made as a unitary one-piece whole.However, the same qualities of herdness which are desirable in a lid and which are commonly associated with clarity of transparency are suitable for the formation of the comparatively thin tongues 7 and of the hard projections 9.

The product as described is a container having a permanently or semi-permanently attached lid of which the material of the receptacle may be widely selected from materials suitable for its purpose while the material of the lid may be widely selected from materials suitable for that purpose.

The receptacle on one hand and the lid on the other may be formed in single but separate operations and may be joined together by a single and simple assembly process.

The hinge is moulded in its closed position and in this form the lid will always endeavour to return to the closed position.

In doing so there is no need to incorporate a locking lug. The hinge could be moulded in its open position, a locking lug being provided to hold the lid in a closed position.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A container comprising a receptacle member and a lid member, one said member having a wall which is of a resilient material resistant to flexional fatigue and which includes an integral hinge allowing flexion of a portion of the wall relative to the rest of said one member, the other said member having a tongue which is received in a pocket in an edge of said wall portion in a snap-fit engagement, the wall material flexing resiliently to provide the snap fit.

2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the receptacle member has the hinged wall portion and the lid member has the tongue.

3. A container according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the tongue has a projection which is lateral to the direction of insertion of the tongue, and there is in the pocket an undercut or indented portion for reception of and engagement with the projection to provide the snapfit engagement.

4. A container according to claim 3 wherein the projection has an inclined lead-in surface to facilitate insertion into the pocket.

5. A container according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the undercut portion in the pocket provides a ledge and the projection has an engagement surface for engaging the ledge which engagement surface is undercut or normal to the direction of insertion of the tongue.

6. A container according to any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein the undercut portion in the pocket is a window projecting from the pocket to an outside surface of the wall portion.

7. A container according to any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein the receptacle is of an opaque plastics material which is more flexible than the lid, and the lid is of a transparent plastics material which is rigid than the rceptacle.

8. A container according to any one of the preceding claims having a plurality of said tongues spaced apart on said other member.

9. A container according to any one of

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. being shown partly open in Fig. 1 and shut in Fig. 2. In the shut position an inner skirt 6 on the lid fits snugly within the other side walls of the receptacle. The coupling between the lid and the wail 4 is formed by a plurality of tongues 7 projecting downwardly from the lid and fitting into a pocket formed by a slit 8 formed in the thickness of the wall and whose entrance is in the upper edge of the wall. Each tongue has a sideways projection 9 extending from it in the outward direction of the container. Each projection is in the form of a barb having an in dined lead-in surface 10 and a stop surface 11 which is normal to the direction of insertion of the tongue into the slit, or which could be undercut. The slit has a plurality of ledges one for each tongue and adapted to engage the stop surface 11 of each projection 9. In the present embodiment these are provided by windows 12 penetrating from the outside surfaces of the wall 4 to the slit 8. The receptacle 1 is made of a plastics material known for its resistance to flexional fatigue such as a polypropylene and this is a comparatively flexible tough material. It can be seen that this property of the material allows tthe permanent coupling to be formed by the pushing in of the tongues 7 into the slit 8 with the outward distortion of the uppermost portion 13 of the wall above the window 12 as the projection 9 passes behind it until the projection is received in the window 12 and its stop surface 11 seats against the ledge formed by the upper edge of that window. It is the same property of the material which allows it to be formed with an integral hinge and allows it to be utilised for this coupling. Thus the recap tacle may be made as a unitary one-piece whole.However, the same qualities of herdness which are desirable in a lid and which are commonly associated with clarity of transparency are suitable for the formation of the comparatively thin tongues 7 and of the hard projections 9. The product as described is a container having a permanently or semi-permanently attached lid of which the material of the receptacle may be widely selected from materials suitable for its purpose while the material of the lid may be widely selected from materials suitable for that purpose. The receptacle on one hand and the lid on the other may be formed in single but separate operations and may be joined together by a single and simple assembly process. The hinge is moulded in its closed position and in this form the lid will always endeavour to return to the closed position. In doing so there is no need to incorporate a locking lug. The hinge could be moulded in its open position, a locking lug being provided to hold the lid in a closed position. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A container comprising a receptacle member and a lid member, one said member having a wall which is of a resilient material resistant to flexional fatigue and which includes an integral hinge allowing flexion of a portion of the wall relative to the rest of said one member, the other said member having a tongue which is received in a pocket in an edge of said wall portion in a snap-fit engagement, the wall material flexing resiliently to provide the snap fit.

9. A container according to any one of

the preceding claims wherein the material of the member having said integral hinge is polypropylene.

10. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the hinge is moulded in its closed position so that the lid tends to return resiliently to its closed position.

11. A container as described herein with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification.