JP2023512568A - Container with hinged lid and pressure relief valve - Google Patents

Abstract

A body (10) and a lid (11) connected to the body by a hinge (12) and made of an elastomeric material configured to contact a corresponding surface (85) of the body when the lid is closed. a lid (11) comprising a sealed gasket (21) and a relief valve (40) integral with the sealing gasket (21) and configured to allow air to escape under pressure within the container. .

Description

The present invention relates to a container comprising a body and a lid connected to the body via a hinge.

The present invention relates in particular, but not exclusively, to a container adapted to be used as a refill for a cosmetic compact and contained in a case with a cover.

These containers should be capable of being stored in a relatively sealed condition to prevent volatile compounds from escaping from the cosmetics contained in the container.

Some containers are not completely hermetically sealed and must be kept in sealed pouches during storage.

Other containers, such as the container disclosed in US Pat. The sealing means in this document comprise a lid provided with a spring-biased valve with an actuating lever. When the user lifts the lever to open the container, the valve opens and air can enter the container. At rest, the valve is maintained in the closed configuration by a spring. Such containers are relatively complex to manufacture and operate.

US Pat. No. 5,300,003 discloses a cosmetic compact having a lid with a relief valve that snaps into the opening of the lid.

A need remains for a container that can achieve the desired seal in the closed configuration while overcoming some or all of the deficiencies of the prior art discussed above.

Korean Registered Utility Model No. 20-0478096 Korean Registered Utility Model No. 200354451

Exemplary embodiments of the invention include:
the main body;
a lid connected to the body, preferably by a hinge, comprising:
a sealing gasket made of an elastomeric material configured to contact a corresponding surface of the body when the lid is closed;
A container comprising a lid comprising a sealing gasket and a relief valve integral with the container and configured to allow air to escape under pressure within the container.

The present invention allows containers to be manufactured more easily while preventing unwanted pressure build-up inside the container. Air under pressure may escape at any time through a relief valve without the need for a complicated lever mechanism. Further, the relief valve is simple to manufacture as it can be molded with the gasket in one step.

With the present invention, the gasket may be configured to provide good sealing contact with the body of the container, thus, in some circumstances, keeping the product in place for extended periods of time without the need to keep the container in a sealed pouch prior to use. can be stored If desired, the container may be placed in a sealed pouch to further improve sealing.

The valve preferably comprises at least one slot that is closed at rest and opens under the pressure of air within the container. This slot may be less than 3 mm in length. Preferably there is only one slot. The slots may be mechanically cut after the valve molding process. The gasket is preferably made of TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer).

The valve preferably has a dome that is concave towards the interior of the container. This dome shape causes the valve to act as a one-way valve, allowing air under pressure to move from the interior of the vessel to the exterior, and from the exterior to the interior when the pressure inside is lower than the pressure outside. impede the movement of the air to some extent.

The lid preferably comprises a support connected to the hinge and a sealing assembly fixed to the support and comprising said gasket. The support may define a housing for receiving the applicator pad.

The sealing assembly may comprise a mounting ring secured to the support and a bottom plate connected to the mounting ring via an annular gasket. The bottom plate preferably comprises an opening through which the valve extends, said opening being preferably circular. The diameter of such openings may range from 6 mm to 10 mm. The valve may have a thicker rim portion that may lie flush with the lower outer surface of the bottom plate. The apex of the dome may lie flush with the upper outer surface of the bottom plate.

The bottom plate may have a recess facing the interior of the container. The valve may extend only partially within said recess. The valve is preferably offset from the center.

The lid may comprise tongues configured to snap onto corresponding reliefs of the body.

The body preferably houses cosmetics such as foundation. The cosmetic product may be a liquid that impregnates the porous substrate.

The invention also relates to a cosmetic compact comprising a base and a cover adapted to house the container of the invention. The container may act as a refill and be removed after being emptied and replaced with a new container.

The cover is preferably hinged to the base about an axis of rotation that is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the hinge of the container.

Further advantages of the present invention will become apparent when reading the detailed description while considering the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of an exemplary cosmetic compact made in accordance with the present invention in a closed configuration; FIG. Figure 2 shows the compact of Figure 1 in an open configuration; Fig. 3 shows the compact with the cover removed; FIG. 4 shows the separated container; Fig. 10 is a bottom view of the sealing assembly; FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along VI-VI of FIG. 5; FIG. 7 shows a detail of FIG. 6;

The cosmetic compact 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a base 2 defining a housing for receiving a container 3 containing cosmetics (not shown).

Compact 1 comprises cover 4 connected to base 2 via hinge 9 . The cover 4 may hold a mirror 6 on its inner surface as shown.

The container 3 constitutes a refill, which may be removed from the base 2 and replaced with a new refill.

For this purpose the base 2 is hollow so that when opening the cover 4 the user can reach the bottom of the container 3 and push the container 3 out of the base.

As shown in Figure 4, the container 3 may be provided with a groove 8 around its perimeter and the base 2 has a corresponding tongue (not shown) that snaps into said groove when the container 3 is inserted into the base. without).

The base 2 may be provided with a latch 7 which maintains the cover 4 in the closed position until the latch is pushed, as is usual in products of this kind.

The container 3 comprises a body 10 and a lid 11 connected to the body 10 via a hinge 12 .

Lid 11 comprises a tongue 13 opposite hinge 12 configured to snap into a corresponding groove in body 10 when lid 11 is closed.

The container 3 is received in the base 2 at a predetermined angular orientation due to the hinges 12 and tongues 13 being inserted into the recesses 80 and 81 of the base 2 respectively. The orientation of the container 3 is such that the rotation axis of the lid 11 and the rotation axis of the cover 4 are perpendicular to each other.

Thus, after the cover 4 has been pivoted backwards, the user may open the container 3 by pivoting the lid 11 laterally as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lid 11 comprises a cup-shaped support 14 defining a housing 15 for receiving an applicator pad 82 that a user can grasp with his fingers to apply the product.

Support 14 includes a top wall 16 that covers a portion of housing 15 to maintain applicator pad 82 within housing 15 while cover 4 is opened and compact 1 is handled.

Lid 11 includes a seal assembly 20 below support 14, which is shown separately in FIGS. 5-7.

Seal assembly 20 includes an annular gasket 21 extending between top mounting ring 22 and bottom plate 23 .

Mounting ring 22 and bottom plate 23 are made of the same relatively rigid plastic material such as polypropylene (PP), while gasket 21 is made of an elastomeric material such as thermoplastic elastomer (TPE).

The mounting ring 22, bottom plate 23 and gasket 21 are preferably made by a double injection process, in which an elastomeric material is molded over the other material after injecting the other material.

As shown in FIG. 7, mounting ring 22 includes an annular ridge 24 on the outer circumference of mounting ring 22 configured to snap into corresponding grooves in support 14 . The mounting ring 22 may be fixed on the support 14 in any other way, for example glued or welded to the support 14 .

Bottom plate 23 has a central depression 27 surrounded by a peripheral region 28 , the outer diameter of central depression 27 being less than the outer diameter of gasket 21 .

Gasket 21 is sandwiched between top 30 and bottom 31 of perimeter region 28 .

Gasket 21 is connected to inner surface 84 of mounting ring 22 .

Gasket 21 has an outer surface 34 configured to closely contact body 10 when lid 11 is closed.

The outer surface 34 may be slightly convex in cross-section as shown in FIG. 7, or may have any other contour configured to provide the desired seal, such as an annular boss. .

Gasket 21 may be applied on inner surface 37 opposite outer surface 34 . When the lid 11 is closed, some air remains trapped in the container 3 due to the tight contact between the gasket 21 and the corresponding sheet 85 on the body 10 .

The holding force of the snap engagement by the tongue 13 against the corresponding relief of the tongue 13 on the body 10 is rather weak and, unless the container 3 according to the invention is provided with a relief valve 40, the pressure of the air trapped in the container 3 is reduced. is not prevented from pushing the lid 11 open.

Relief valve 40 extends through a corresponding opening 41 in bottom plate 23 and has a dome 60 concave towards the interior of container 3 . Dome 60 is connected at its perimeter to a thicker rim 61 which may lie flush with the outer surface of bottom 31 as shown.

The apex 87 of the dome 60 may be substantially coplanar with the outer surface 86 of the top 30 and the central region of the bottom plate 23, as shown in FIG.

Relief valve 40 includes a slot 43 extending through the top of the dome. This slot 43 remains closed as long as the pressure inside the container 3 does not exceed a predetermined value. The dome 60 deforms in response to the buildup of pressure within the container 3, opening the slots 43 thus allowing air under pressure to escape to the outside.

Relief valve 40 is preferably made of the same elastomeric material as gasket 21 during the dual injection process.

Opening 41 is adjacent peripheral region 28 and relief valve 40 is connected to the portion of gasket 21 sandwiched between top 30 and bottom 31 of peripheral region 28 .

In this way, the elastomeric material can easily flow through the area of the opening 41 to mold the relief valve 40 during the double injection process.

The walls of the bottom plate 23 are chamfered to connect the recess 27 to the bottom 31 of the surrounding area 28 .

Valve 40 extends partially within recess 27 .

As shown in FIG. 5, bottom plate 23 includes a raised semi-circular portion 68 that surrounds the portion of valve 40 that lies radially inward of the circular contour of recess 27 . The semi-circular portion 68 is also chamfered and is continuous with the chamfer of the peripheral region 28 .

The injection point of the bottom plate 23 may be located in its center.

Bottom plate 23 may include a gate 50 for injecting elastomeric material during the double injection process.

This gate 50 may be located on the bottom 31 of the peripheral region 28 opposite the relief valve 40 .

The diameter of the opening 41 ranges from 6 mm to 10 mm, and may be 8 mm, for example.

The diameter of dome 60 is smaller than the diameter of opening 41 by, for example, 2 mm.

This invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but encompasses numerous variants. For example, lid 11 may be made differently. Seal assembly 20 may be connected to applicator pad support 14 differently.

1 cosmetic compact 2 base 3 container 4 cover 6 mirror 7 latch 8 groove 9 hinge 10 body 11 lid 12 hinge 13 tongue 14 support 15 housing 16 top wall 20 seal assembly 21 gasket 22 mounting ring 23 bottom plate 24 ridge 27 central recess 28 peripheral region 30 top 31 bottom 34 outer surface 37 inner surface 40 relief valve 41 opening 43 slot 50 gate 60 dome 61 rim 68 semicircular portion 80, 81 indentation 82 applicator pad 84 inner surface 85 seat 87 apex

Claims (15)

a container (3),
a body (10);
a lid (11) connected to said body by a hinge (12);
with
The lid is
a sealing gasket (21) made of an elastomeric material configured to contact a corresponding surface (85) of the body when the lid is closed;
a relief valve (40) integral with said sealing gasket (21) and configured to allow air to escape under pressure within said container;
a container (3). 2. Container according to claim 1, wherein the valve (40) comprises at least one slot (43) which is closed at rest and opens under the pressure of the air in the container. 3. Container according to claim 2, wherein the slot (43) is less than 3 mm in length. 4. Container according to claim 2 or 3, comprising only one slot (43). A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said gasket (21) is made of TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer). A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the valve (40) has a dome (60) concave towards the interior of the container (3). The lid (11) comprises a support (14) connected to the hinge (12) and a sealing assembly (20) fixed to the support (14) and comprising the gasket (21). Item 7. The container according to any one of Items 1 to 6. Said sealing assembly (20) comprises a mounting ring (22) fixed to said support (14) and a bottom plate (23) connected to said mounting ring (22) via said annular gasket (21). 8. The container of claim 7, comprising: 9. Container according to claim 8, wherein the bottom plate (23) comprises an opening (41) through which the valve (40) extends, the opening (41) being preferably circular. 10. The claim 8 or 9, wherein the bottom plate (23) has a recess (27) facing the interior of the container and the valve (40) extends only partly within the recess (27). container. The valve (40) preferably comprises a thicker rim (61) lying flush with the lower outer surface of the bottom plate and the apex of the dome (60) is preferably aligned with the upper outer surface of the bottom plate. 11. A container according to any one of claims 6 and 8-10, which is coplanar. A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the valve (40) is off-center. 12. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the lid (11) comprises a tongue (13) adapted to be snapped onto a corresponding relief of the body (10). 13. Container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body (10) contains a cosmetic product. A cosmetic compact comprising a base (2) and a cover (4) adapted to house a container according to any one of claims 1-13.

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