GB2398058A - Compartmented can - Google Patents

Abstract

A can eg for drinks or materials to be mixed is divided into compartments. A longitudinal or generally L-sectioned partition may be provided, an integral partition may be formed by forming a sheet into a generally S-shaped cross section (Fig.3), or two generally half-moon sectioned components may be attached to one another. Ring pulls may be provided.

Description

-1- 2398058 Speitze Container [Technical Field] This invention relates to

a Speitze Container (pronounced Shpaytzee) [Background] Tin canned products have been around since the 1800's and the worldwide consumer drinks market has grown substantially since the advent of the aluminium can and ring pull in 1963, however the can's flexibility is limited to holding just one liquid or ingredient, e.g. a soft drink and once it is opened the contents need to be consumed or discarded as the unit is not re-sealable.

Tin and Aluminium cans are restricted to containing a single ingredient; there is therefore an opportunity to extend the design by some simple modifications to the existing designs and by introducing a new design which allows the contents to be retrieved as independent quantities or together for mixing.

These new designs might provide a low cost alternative to re-sealable glass or plastic bottles because the contents maybe consumed or used individually.

[Essential Technical The new design takes an existing Alumunium or Tin container design and in Features] the first and second examples, introduces a foodstuff-friendly plastic, aluminium or tin centre partition which provides two separate compartments within the same container offering separation to two amounts of a substance or liquid.

The third example uses the existing pressed Aluminium can design but by pressing two half-moon shaped containers rather than a singular tube, they may be fixed together and a lid added.

The fourth design is more relevant to the Tin Can market and uses a modified folding process to create two compartments from the same sheet of tin.

Although the designs are ideal for the consumer drinks and canned foodstuffs markets, they lend themselves to other markets where two substances might be provided in the same container but should not be mixed until needed or can be used in smaller quantities, e.g. food stuffs, industrial products, petrochemicals.

[Example] The specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: Figure I shows in perspective, the container with a single vertical partition and as this is a drinks container, it has two ring pulls, one above each chamber. For markets other than the consumer drinks market, a blank 'lid' may be pressed on, which can be opened using a regular can opener before mixing the contents.

Referring to the drawing, it can be seen that the container follows the typical profile of the existing drink or food can-type containers but in this example is identified as a drinks container by the existence of two ring-pulls allowing access to the contents of each chamber.

The contents of each chamber may be extracted and in this case for the consumer drinks market, drunk separately or mixed together to provide a different drink.

The partition can be inserted into the can before the lid is attached and fixed in place using aluminium or tin 'welding' for metallic partitions or food-safe adhesives for any of the three type of partitions.

The drinks 'lid' has two ring pulls formed into it during manufacture.

The container can be dressed in the same way as existing drinks or food containers as the design does not change its size or shape.

Figure 2 shows an alternative design which uses a pressed or moulded partition offering a vertical 'wall' and horizontal 'floor', the height of the wall' allows the volume of the second compartment to be adjusted to suit the required amount of contents in each compartment.

Figure 3 shows another alternative to the first design, using two 'halfmoon' containers manufactured in the same way as the current drinks containers are, i.e. through a die and press method, which are then 'glued' together, before the dual ring-pull lid is fixed.

Figure 4 shows a new design which is more applicable to the tin can market and offers two compartments by folding the sheet of tin into a letter 'S' (as seen in plan view) before welding the edges and adding a 'lid' and base'.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 show how the containers may be manufactured and offer an indication of how the container would look in plan view.

Claims (8)

1. [Claims] 1. A container wherein there is a partition wall defining two

   compartments, within the same container.
2. 2. A container as in claim 1 which uses a dual ring pull lid to access both compartments.
3. 3. A container as in claim I which uses a 'blank' lid which can be removed giving access to both compartments'
4. 4. A container as in claim 1, which is formed using an additional partition to segment the container into two compartments
5. 5. A container as in claim 4 which uses different a different size partition providing adjustable volumes for each compartment.
6. 6. A container as in claim I which is formed by fixing together two halfmoon' cross section containers to provide two compartments in one container.
7. 7. A container as in claim I which is formed folding material into a letter S cross-section and sealing.
8. 8. A container substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.