GB2120217A - Storage vessel closure - Google Patents

Abstract

A seal between a preserving jar (10) and its closure is provided by the cooperation of an upper rim (11) of the jar, the rim having a convex sealing ridge (12) which in section is formed as a rounded wedge, a resilient (rubber) sealing ring (22) and a lid (16) having a supporting rim (17) and a centring projection (20). Spring clamps (25) hold the lid on the jar. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Storage vessel closure The present invention relatesto a storage vessel and has particular reference to the vessel closure.

Preserving jars or containers are known in the art in many forms. There is, for example, a so-called grooved glass container. In this container the lid or cover is provided at its downwardly extending rim with a sealing lip. The sealing surface is formed as a circumferential groove on an outwardly projecting flange of the container. The upwardly curved cover forms an increased head chamber in the container which can contain a large quantity of oxygen. As a result of this, oxidation of the stored product reduces its vitamin content and affects the taste and appearance thereof. For opening the container, a rubber ring between the lid and the container is difficult to remove, and because of its deformation by the groove it is considerably limited in its further utilization.

There is also a so-called French preserving jar which is also known as a bracket-closure jar in which both the cover and the container are provided with outer circumferential wire rings. The wire rings remain constantly connected with one another by a wire hinge and can be opened and closed by a wire lever closure located opposite to the wire hinge. The sealing lip is formed here on the outer rim of the container. The sealing surface is provided on the cover and formed as a cone, onto which the rubber ring is pulled. With this sealing surface, which is conically shaped and covered with the rubber ring, the cover presses from an incline onto the inner rim of the glass, whereas the pressure is produced by the above-described wire lever closure.The unavoidable ovality during the manufacture of the cover and container must be compensated for in the closure of this type by a particularly thick, materialconsuming rubber ring and a strong pressure by the wire-lever closure. Since, as recognized from experience, the housewife cannot release this wire-lever closure after the preserving process, control of the properties of the contents during storage of the filled container in practice cannot be provided. Difficulties including injury to the hands and damage to kitchen towels occur also during cleaning of the cover, the container and the wire-lever closure, which are fixedly connected with each other by the hinge of the wire-lever closure. In a closure of this type there is also a large head chamber which results in the above-described disadvantages similarly to the groove container.

There is also known a preserving jar or container with a sheet cover, and a separate screwthread closure. In this closure, the sealing lip of the container and the sealing surface are provided in the form of a filling of latex in a circular depression of the cover. This metal cover is utilized only once, since for opening of the container it must be pushed up. With this closure, the screw ring, which is supplied for each individual container as a closure component for pressing the cover onto the container prior to and during the preserving process, ends its function after the preserving process and cannot be removed by the housewife and screwed on again. As a result of this, a control of the properties of the contents during storage of the filled containercanot be provided in practice.

In most cases of preserving, the cover is pressed with interposition of a rubber ring by a tensioning ring, a spring clamp, or the like, onto the container.

The evacuation produced by heating in the container causes the cover to be pressed by the outer atmospheric pressure onto the container so that the holding clamps can be removed. It is thereby advisable to remove these holding clamps after preserving or after cooling of the preserved product, inasmuch as, in the event of a not completely sterile cooked or a decomposed preserve, gases form in the container and release the tight abutment of the cover against the container. Thereby when the cover lies loose or relatively loose on the container, it is easier for the user to recognize that the preserved product is damaged and as a rule inedible.For the abovementioned reasons, the container with forced closure, such as a wire-lever closure or a screw closure constantly pressed by mechanical means against the container, is disadvantageous since it does not prevent formation of gases during storage, which usually takes place with a loosely applied cover.

Since with the above-mentioned covers mounted with forced closure the control is not possible, there is a danger that the inedible preserved product is consumed.

Flat-rimmed jars are also used as preserving jars.

In these containers the sealing lip is arranged on the cover. A circumferential projection is formed in direction inwardly near the sealing lip and extends into the interior of the container. The outer diameter of this projection is considerably smaller than the inner diameter of the neck of the container. Thereby centering of the cover relative to the container is impossible. The raised up cover provides over the container an increased head chamber with the above-described disadvantages.

In the so-called massive rim glass container, the sealing lip is also provided on the cover and, in contrast to the above-mentioned flat-rimmed container, the centering rim is formed not on the cover but instead at the inner side on the sealing surface of the container. In this container, the upwardly drawn cover also provides an increased head chamber with the above-mentioned disadvantages for the preserved product. It is not simple to clean the sealing surface and the centering rim. The flat-rimmed container and the massive rim container are easy to open, inasmuch as the rubber ring lies flat on the sealing suface. This also makes possible a multiple use of the rubber ring.The flat-rim container and the massive rim container have, however, a considerable disadvantage that the sealing surface of the container must be ground after manufacture for the following reasons: Wide-neck vessels, which include preserving jars in view of their diameter, height and thin wall thickness, cannot be formed in one working step. For their production the so-called press-blow process is used. The glass drops fall in a preform and are pressed there by a plunger, wherein only neck and mouth parts of the container assume their correct shape. The not yet finished intermediate body, which is called by a glass maker a parison, is formed in a second mould by air pressure or by vacuum, or both, into the final shape of the container.During insertion of the parison into the second mould, it often happens that because of the transport the temperature or other condition of the preformed glass neck, changes in its shape occur and the sealing surface does not have the required planarity. Thus, it is required to grind the sealing surface of the container in a subsequent working step to make it planar.

Finally, a household bottle with flat grooved seal is also known, in which both the container and the cover are provided with a sealing surface with several centrally arranged grooves. The disadvantage of this construction is that both the cover and the rubber ring do not lie centrally on the container with the required security. When the sealing grooves in the glass or the cover inersect in their position, a reliable closure is no longer guaranteed.

From the article "Verpackungsrundschau", No.8, 1954, page 378, an industrial glass container closure is known, which has a cover of aluminium with an elastic special rubber injected on its inner sides and overlapping the rim of the container so as to be secured at an undercut of the container rim. The rubber of the cover seals the flat end surface and the upper part of the curved container outer rim connected therewith. Because of the constantly fixed seat of the cover, this closure is not suitable for a preserving jar.

German Gebrauchsmuster 1,736,913 discloses a closure for a preserving jar which has a cover of a bendable thermoplastic synthetic plastic material with a curved rim extending downwardly from the front side of the cover. This rim extends not over the upper rim of the container, but instead over a circumferential groove located thereinbelow, and finally has an outwardly directed circumferential rim.

U.S. patent specification 3,556,338 discloses a preserving jar which has an outwardly projecting circular upper rim with a cover which is composed of an elastic material, particuiarly polyethylene, placed over this rim. The cover tightly lies on the inner surface, the flat upper surface, and the outer surface of the container rim.

There is accordingly a need for a closure for preserving jars which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art and which has a simple shape, can be manufactured in a cost-economical manner, and is reliable in use.

According to the present invention there is provided a storage vessel comprising a jar provided at the rim of its opening with a convex sealing ridge, a removable lid closing the opening and securable to the jar by clamping means, and a resilient sealing ring disposed between the sealing ridge and the lid, the lid having a support surface supporting the lid on the sealing ring and a projection which faces the interior of the jar and which has a circumferential surface portion bounding the support surface and arranged to centre and retain the sealing ring and to centre the lid relative to an inner edge of the rim of the jar.

In a preferred embodiment, the vessel closure is provided by the upper rim of the jar, which has a sealing lip which in its section is formed as a strongly rounded wedge, a supporting rim formed on the lid, and a projection on the side of the lid facing towards the jar, the projection having an encircling outer edge arranged so that it laterally limits the supporting rim, centres and holds a rubber ring between the lid and the jar, and centres the lid in the inner edge of the jar, so that relative displacement of the lid and jar, which could hinder closing of the latter, is excluded. With such a closure, the rubber ring supporting surface is arranged not on the container as is conventional, but instead on the cover. This provides the advantage that this supporting surface can be pressed during manufacture of the cover with a glass press.Thereby, a subsequent costly grinding of the supporting surface is not necessary. A further advantage is that the sealing lip at the upper rim of the jar is formed in section as a strongly rounded wedge or ridge so that the jar during its production and cooling is continuously protected from deformation and buckling. As a result, the closing security of the jar is increased.

Also, this arrangement eliminates spcial holding clamps which pose a danger when used by a housewife as continuous forced closure. The jar can be opened easily, and without an additional tool, by pulling the ring in horizontal direction. This pulling of the rubber ring is so delicate that it can be used many times. The projection at the lower side of the lid serves as a centering and holding rim for the rubber ring and additionally centres the lid with the placed-on rubber ring on the jar, so that in a simple manner it is possible to prevent relative displacement between the lid and the jar which can otherwise hinder closing of the latter.The rim of the jar can additionally serve for retention of an encircling tie and selectably serve as a holding edge for an overlapping cover of plastics material to cover the jar, after opening but without complete removal of the contents, in a refrigerator.

Preferably, the sealing ridge of the upper rim has a crown which is rounded with a radius of substantially between 1.5 and 3 millimetres, advantageously 2 millimetres.

The supporting rim of the lid can be flat. Alternatively, the lid can have a recess which is located opposite to the ridge of the jar. It is advantageous if the recess has in a section a radius of curvature which is greater than the radius of curvature of the ridge. It is also advantageous if the surface of the ridge has a radius of curvature of approximately 1.5 millimetres and the surface of the recess in the lid has a radius of curvature of approximately 3 millimetres.

If the recess is ring-shaped and concave, not only the ridge engages the rubber ring, but also the rubber ring lies over the circumference of the ridge so that an increase in the flat-shaped abutment and therefore improved sealing between the ridge and the rubber ring is provided. The curvature of the recess also increases the sealing between the cover and the rubber ring. The convex curvature of the ridge with a small radius and the concave curvature of the recess with a greater radius improves removal of the rubber ring as compared with the flat cover rim.

Preferably, the ridge of the jar and the recess in the lid each have a surface which in section is a circular line extending over an angular range of approximately 90".

The surface of the rim of the jar may be provided at both sides of the ridge with surfaces curved oppositely thereto.

For preference the lid is provided in its central region nearthe supporting rim and at its upper side with a depression which forms, with equal or approximately equal wall thickness of the lid, the projection at the lower side of the lid. Because of this depression, the cover is of stable shape so that during its production it cannot deform or warp.

Simultaneously, a favourably reduced head chamber is formed in the jar.

Expediently, the lid is provided with upper and lower depressions, wherein the upper depression has a diameter which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the projection at the lower side of the lid for centering the lid in the jar. This feature provides for slide-free and simultaneously space-saving stacking of such lids one on the other. A further feature is that the lower or inner depression can have a diameter which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the jar at its lower edge. Thereby, a laterally slide-free stacking of the bottoms of the containers on the lids is guaranteed.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a sectional side view of a preserving jar with a lid, a rubber sealing ring and a holding clamp, according to one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view showing two stacked lids with rubber rings; Figure 3 is a sectional view of part of a jar placed on the lid of a lower jar; Figure 4 is a sectional view, to an enlarged scale, of the upper rim of the jar and a part of the supported lid with the rubber ring; Figure 5 is a view substantially corresponding to the view of Figure 4, but showing part of a jar and lid of another embodiment of the invention; and Figure 6 is a view corresponding to the view of Figure 5, but additionally showing a rubber ring between the jar and the lid.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a glass preserving jar 10. This jar can have any desired width, height or shape of its inner chamber, the same as or different from those of the jar shown in Figure 1. It can be produced by a press-blow process and have an upper indented opening edge. It is advantageous to form the jar as shown in Figure 1, since it provides for easy filling of the jar with the products to be preserved and also easy removal of the lid.

The jar 10 has an upper encircling rim 11 provided with an outwardly directed flange and an encircling sealing lip or ridge 12 at its upper side. The ridge 12 has a cross-section shaped as an upwardly rounded wedge. This can be clearly seen from Figure 4, which shows to enlarged scale the upperwedge-shaped rim of the jar, a lid 16, and a rubber ring 22 located therebetween. In accordance with the embodiment of Figure 4, the ridge crown is rounded with a radius R of approximately 2 millimetres. This means that the rounded crown of the ridge is pressed into a piece of the rubber ring 22 in closed condition of the jar, as will be described hereinbelow.

The above-described sealing ridge of the jar provides for the utilization of the jar the advantage that after filling of the food to be preserved, it can be cleaned quickly and without leaving residual matter, and thereby an increased security for closing of the container is provided. At the same time, this sealing ridge, which is not conventional for preserving jars, has the advantage that it is very stable against damage to its sealing rim, and rim damage when it does occur can be easily recognized by simple and continuous feeling with a finger. In general, damage affecting the sealing function is effective only when it takes place in the crown of the rounded ridge.

A curved circumferential surface 12a on the flange 11 immediately follows the sealing ridge of the jar. A side surface 1 lea with a rounded edge 11 b follows the surface 12a and merges into a lower horizontal supporting surface 13.

Finally, an inner cylindrical portion 14follows the rounded ridge-shaped upper side of the rim 11. The cylindrical portion 14 is connected with an inclined portion 15 which is located underneath and inclined in direction toward the interior of the container.

The lid 16 is of glass and is manufactured by being pressed with a press. It has a supporting rim 17 which extends in its plane and serves as a sealing surface. The cover has also a first depression 18 formed at its upper side near the supporting rim 17, and a second depression 19. It is to be understood that both depressions can be produced with a die in one working step. The depression 19 forms a projection 20 at the lower side of the lid, the thickness of the lid remaining constant or approximately constant.

The circumferential outer edge 21 of the projection 20 forms a lateral boundary of the flat supporting rim 17, and a centering and holding edge for the rubber ring 22, as well as centering the lid 16 on the inner edge 14, 15 of the jar 10. Thereby displacement between the lid 16 and the jar 10, which hinders a closure, is excluded. This means that the formation of the outer edge of the projection 20 of the lid insertable into the container and the inner wail of the upper rim of the jar can be manufactured with relatively close tolerances, i.e. small distances between the respective parts.

Figure 5 shows, similarly to Figure 4, the rounded ridge 12 with an upper surface which is defined by a circular line in a cross section and has a radius R1 equal to between 1.5 and 3 millimetres. The circular line extends over an angle a of approximately 90".

The surfaces 1 2a and 1 2b, with inverted sense of direction, immediately follow the circular upper side of the ridge 12 at both its sides. In other words, it can be provided that the the circularly convex ridge 12, as considered in cross section, adjoins at both its sides the concave surfaces 1 2a and 1 2b.

The lid 16 has a rim 17 with a supporting surface formed with a recess which surrounds the opposite ridge of the rim 11 of the jar in a ring-like manner.

This surface, which is identified with reference numeral 17', extends in its cross-section along a circular line which has a radius R2 and which extends over an angle ,8 of approximately 90".

As can be seen from Figure 6, the rubber ring 22 is arranged between the ridge 12 and the surface 17' of the recess in the rim 17. The ridge is partially pressed from below into the rubber ring 22. Figure 6 also shows that the recess in the rim 17 presses the rubber ring around the ridge, so that a large supporting surface for the rubber ring is available on the ridge and extends in accordance with Figure 5 over the above-mentiond angle a. Since the rubber ring 22 has a ring-like abutment against the recess in the rim 17, it provides for a good sealing.

In spite of the fact that the rubber ring has a curved shape to follow in a ring-like manner the shape of the ridge 12 and the recess in the rim 17, it can be pulled off, despite high sealing, very simply and with low force application.

The radius R1 of the convex upper surface of the ridge 12 is 1.5 millimetres in this embodiment. With a thickness of the rubber ring of 1 millimetre, the radius R2 of the concavely curved upper surface of the recess in the rim 17 is equal to 3 millimetres.

The projection 20, which is formed by the depression 19 at the upper side of the lid and is inserted into the jar, is formed to be of such depth that the properly dimensioned rubber ring cannot slide off from the wall 21 b, so that the housewife can place the lid with a ring by a simple handgrip.

The reference 21a identifies a centering cone of the lid.

The centering cone 21 a, which represents a depression at the outer side of the lid, provides several additional functions. The depression 18 makes possible, after previous cleaning of the lid in hot water and subsequent placement in preparation for preserving, nesting of the lids as shown in Figure 2 for space-saving and damage-free arrangement of the loose lids for their storage in a household. The depression 19 also makes possible a slide-free and space-saving placement of the jar in the cooking pot or, in the case of industrial cooking, in autoclaves.

Thereby, improved space utilization of the boiler and improved energy utilization are achieved. There is also the advantage of being able to arrange the jars in a stack in the case of storage in households or placement on shelves at commercial points of sale.

Contrary to the known lids which have an additional so-called head chamber above the preserved product, the lid of the described embodiments of the present invention has, because of the depessions 18 and 19, a centering cone extending into the jar and providing a considerable decrease of the head chamber in the latter. Thereby the oxygen quantity above the preserved product, which conventionally results in oxidation of the vitamin content and decreases in the quality of taste and appearance of the preserved product, is considerably reduced.

A further advantage of the provision of depressions 18 and 19 in the lid is that a substantially vertical side wall 23, or the bottom of the depression 19 connected therewith, or a substantially vertical wall 24, or the directly connected bottom of the depression 18 provide together with the undercut 13 at the lower side of the rim 11 a good support and hold for securing spring clamps 25. The latter can be composed of, for example, a spring steel or springy plastics material. Two such spring clamps are sufficient, as a rule, in preserving process.

The depressions 18 and 19 in the upper side of the lid have the effectthat, during production and subsequent cooling, the lid is very shape-stable because of the shape obtained thereby, and as a result of this the surface 17 of the rubber ring support remains free from deformation and in its original form. Thereby, no working of it by grinding is required.

While the foregoing embodiments concern closures for glass peserving jars, there is no limitation to this and modifications and structural changes can be made without departing in any way from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (17)

1. A storage vessel comprising a jar provided at the rim of its opening with a convex sealing ridge, a removable lid closing the opening and securable to the jar by clamping means, and a resilient sealing ring disposed between the sealing ridge and the lid, the lid having a support surface supporting the lid on the sealing ring and a projection which faces the interior of the jar and which has a circumferential surface portion bounding the support surface and arranged to centre and retain the sealing ring and to centre the lid relative to an inner edge of the rim of the jar.

2. A storage vessel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the radius of curvature of the sealing ridge is from 1.5 to 3.0 millimetres.

3. A storage vessel as claimed in claim 2, wherein the radius is substantially 2.0 millimetres.

4. A storage vessel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support surface is flat.

5. A storage vessel as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the support surface defines a recess opposite the sealing ridge.

6. A storage vessel as claimed in claim 5, wherein the support surface defines a concave recess having a radius of curvature larger than that of the sealing ridge.

7. A storage vessel as claimed in claim 6, wherein the radius of curvature of the sealing ridge is substantially 1.5 millimetres and the radius of curvature of the recess is substantially 3.0 millimetres.

8. A storage vessel as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the recess is concave and in cross-section the surface of the recess and the surface of the ridge each extend over an angular range of substantially 90".

9. A storage vessel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rim is provided with a respective concave surface portion adjoining the sealing ridge at each side thereof.

10. A storage vessel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the lid is provided in a central region thereof and at a side remote from the projection with a depression which is so disposed that the thickness of the lid in the region of the projection is substantially the same as the thickness of the rest of the lid.

11. A storage vessel as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the circumferential surface portion of the projection comprises a frustroconical centering section arranged at the free end of the projection and a substantially cylindrical part adjoining the frustro-conical part and the support surface.

12. A storage vessel as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the lid is provided at a side thereof remote from the projection with a depression comprising two relatively stepped portions.

13. A storage vessel as claimed in claim 12, wherein one of the portions of the depression has a larger diameter and a smaller depth than the other portion.

14. A storage vessel as claimed in claim 13, wherein the diameter of said one portion of the depression is slightly larger than the maximum diameter of the projection.

15. A storage vessel as claimed in either claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the diameter of said other portion of the depression is slightly larger than the diameter of the jar at its base.

16. A storage vessel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.

17. A storage vessel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.