MXPA00013009A - Container with lid having interrupted reinforcement bead - Google Patents

Abstract

A resilient microwavable container (10) including a bowl (12) and a selectively detachable snap on lid (14). The lid includes a sealing lip including an outwardly extending rigid tab member (40) and a body (30) including a substantially annular reinforcing bead (90) which is interrupted (92) adjacent to the tab member. The combination of the rigid tab member in association with the interrupted annular bead allows for readily removing the lid from the bowl when desired with a low separation force.

Description

REC I P IT EN T OU IT IS A COVER THAT HAS A REINFORCEMENT REINFORCEMENT I NTERRU M P IDO TECHNICAL FIELD ICO The present invention relates generally to a container useful for storing and transporting articles such as food and, more particularly, to a container that includes a ta ón and a selectively removable lid that includes a reinforcement order. interrupted to help disengage the cap from the bowl.

DESCRIBE THE STATE OF THE ICA TECHNIQUE Containers, particularly those used to reheat food in a microwave oven, should generally be relatively inexpensive and easy to use.

Additionally, such containers must be versatile in their use, that is, able to withstand drastically different environments such as when the container is transferred from the refrigerator or freezer to an oven in my roundabout, for example. With respect to these microwave containers, one main object in the art has been to provide a good one between the lid and the bowl. However, many of the known sealable microwave containers are considered to be necessarily complicated with respect to the sealing assembly.

For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,377,860 requires a double seal arrangement specifically formed along the sel edge. designer According to this patent, the base and the cap both require a tapered frusto-conical seal area disposed inwardly and an edge extending downward and outward with equalizing cut-outs. Although a high integrity seal can be achieved, it is believed that high separation forces are unnecessarily required to detach the lid from the bowl. This, in turn, makes such containers more susceptible to spillage which is highly undesirable. Heretofore, the elastic microwave containers have generally included a relatively flimsy cap and eyebrow construction (when an eyebrow member is present) which requires separation forces greater than those necessary to detach the lid from the bowl. A different approach is adopted in the Irish Patent No. 54357 which describes a lid for a container that is essentially flat on the surface of the container apart from an asymmetrical surface profile to aid the stowage. The lid, however, curls on this side of this container and under a lip. One eyebrow is attached to the lower edge of the curl under the perimeter of the lid. This eyebrow has a brand line which allows it to be easily torn. The tearing, once initiated, spreads rapidly from the eyebrow to the dependent perimeter of the lid allowing the entire lower part of the perimeter to be removed. This weakens the grip between the lid and the container allowing the lid to be easily removed as a whole. With such an arrangement there is no longer any necessary winding of the lid to detach it. Although such an arrangement reduces the possibility of spillage, it is unsatisfactory that a part of the lid actually has to be removed to achieve the weakening necessary for separation. The technique has largely failed to consider how the structure of an intact lid, taken together with the sealing assembly, affects the magnitude of the separation forces required to detach the lid from the bowl.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a container that includes a bowl and a selectively peelable lid that includes a rigid box member that allows relatively easy attachment and detachment of the lid. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a high volume, low cost production container made from an elastic material. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an elastic container which is useful in several environments such as refrigerator freezers and microwave ovens. The foregoing objects are achieved by providing a container that includes a bowl and a selectively removable lid according to claims 1 to 9 below. The assembly can be made of an elastic polymeric material. The components are matched in an interference fit ratio. The cap portion generally includes a body having a peripheral seal lip and a relatively rigid eyebrow extending therefrom. Disposed inwardly from the peripheral seal lip along the body of the cap is a substantially annular reinforcing flange which is interrupted in the vicinity of the rigid eyebrow member. Although the annular reinforcing flange serves to make the lid body harder, the interruption is provided to allow flexibility of the sealing lip and body along the sealing area adjacent to the eyebrow member to help overcome the interference fit initially between the bowl and the lid. Once the seal is broken, the total stiffness of the lid that is augmented by the flange allows for easy removal of the bowl. The containers of the present invention can be thermoformed economically from any of a number of known thermoplastic resins including, but not limited to polyamides, polyacrylics, polyarylates, polycarbonates, polyesters, polyetherimides, polyetherketones, polyolefins, polyphenylenes, polyvinyl chlorides, and several polymers of styrene and liquid crystal, among others. The various aspects, objects and advantages of the present invention will become even more apparent from a review of the following description of the drawings and the invention in detail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a container assembly including a selectively removable bowl and lid made in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; Figure .2 is a partial sectional view of the container of Figure 1 taken along line 2-2; Figure 3 is a top view of a first embodiment of the lid according to the teachings of the present invention; Figure 4 is a partial top view of a second embodiment of the lid according to the teachings of the present invention; Figure 5 is a partial top view of the third embodiment of the lid according to the teachings of the present invention; MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Referring generally to Figure 1, there is shown a container 10 that includes a bowl 12 and a selectively detachable lid 14 formed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. From the beginning, it should be noted that although the container is generally illustrated as being of a rectangular configuration, the container may be of several other configurations such as round, oval or square as a non-limiting example. The bowl 12 generally includes a bottom 16 and a continuous side wall 18 extending vertically from the bottom. Integrally connected to the vertically extending side wall is an L-shaped lip 20 which includes a first leg 24 extending outwardly from the side wall and a second leg 26 extending downwardly from the first leg. As can be seen more clearly with reference to Figure 2, the upper portion 22 of the side wall 18 preferably includes an inwardly extending annular knot 28 which helps to make the seal coupling between the lid and the bowl. As will be described, he will go further in more detail. The lid 14 generally includes a disc-shaped central body 30 having a peripherally disposed lip 32 which overlaps a portion of the lip 20 provided in the bowl upon joining. The lip 32 generally has an inverted U-shape in cross section that includes a first leg 34 which extends from the body, a second leg 36 and a network 38 disposed therebetween as shown more clearly in Figure 2. Thus, by attaching the lid 14 to the bowl 12, the first leg 34 advances over the annular knot 28 until the seal point 5 engages with the inner surface of the side wall to provide an interference fit between the lid and the bowl. Extending outward from the second leg of the lip 32 is a rigid eyebrow member 40 designed to resist bending at the point of attachment with the sealing lip. The lid 14 is also generally provided with a substantially annular reinforcing flange 90 extending upwardly from the cap body and spaced inward from the lip 32. The reinforcing flange 90 extends continuously around the cap except for one area of interruption 92 occurring along the body adjacent the eyebrow member 40. The annular flange 90 finishes slightly within the outermost points where the peripheral edge 44 of the eyebrow member 40 terminates in the sealing lip 32, ie, within the confines of imaginary lines 100 extending from the diverging edges 44, 44 'of the eyebrow member 40 as illustrated in Figure 3. It should also be noted that the interruption area can be reduced if desired which in turn slightly increases the removal force necessary to detach the bowl lid. The interruption may be continuous as shown in the embodiment of Figure 3 or may include a plurality of spaced-apart segments 94 as shown in Figure 5. Preferably, the substantially annular flange 90 is spaced in relatively close proximity to the lip 32 sealing. In this regard, the annular flange 90 should be spaced between 0.5 cm and 6.0 cm from the edge 96 of the sealing lip 32.

As will be described in more detail below, it is the combination of the interrupted reinforcement flange 90 and the eyebrow member 40 which serves to reduce the separation force required to overcome the interference fit between the lid and the bowl in compunction with other microwave containers known in the art. The rigid eyebrow member 40 which is substantially triangular in shape as shown in Figure 2 includes a floor 42 and a peripheral edge 44. The floor 42 is provided with a plurality of spaced apart vertical ribs 46 including a first rib 50 disposed along a longitudinal centerline drawn through the eyebrow as designated by the reference numeral 48. Arranged on opposite sides of the first rib, are second and third ribs 52 and 54, respectively, which extend angularly away from each other. the longitudinal centerline 48. Each of the ribs are defined by rather abrupt edges that further increase the structural rigidity of the eyebrow member. The ribs are placed in specific locations to maximize the rigidity of the eyebrow and thereby increase the transfer of separation forces from the eyebrow member to the sealing region, i.e. increasing the releasability of the bowl lid when desired. For example, the first rib 50 includes a first transverse edge relative to the floor that extends at an angle of between about 3o to about 7 ° from the longitudinal center line and a second transverse edge extending at an angle of between about 3 ° to about -7 ° from the longitudinal center line. Thus, the first rib is generally trapezoidal in shape. The second rib 52 includes a first transverse edge that extends at an angle of between about 8 ° to about 12 ° from the longitudinal centerline 48 and a second transverse edge that extends at an angle of between about 20 ° to about 40 ° from the longitudinal center line .. The third rib 54 which is a mirror image of the second rib 52 described above extends at an angle of between about -8 ° to about -12 ° along a first transverse edge and in an angle of between about -20 ° to about -40 ° from the longitudinal centerline along a second transverse edge. Thus, as shown and described with respect to the preferred angular orientations, the second and third ribs extend angularly away from the longitudinal center line and are substantially triangular in shape. It should be noted that the designations of negative degrees (-°) in relation to the longitudinal centerline are used in the present for clarity and to emphasize that the second and third ribs are preferably mirror images of one another. As such, one skilled in the art will readily recognize, for example, that -3 ° is equivalent to 357 ° and -7 ° is equivalent to 353 ° using standard spoke expressions. Each of the vertical ribs includes a first end 70 ending close to the lip 32 and a second end 72 ending close to the peripheral edge 44 of the eyebrow. The vertical ribs are generally inclined upwardly from the second end towards the first end at an average inclination of between about 12 ° to 18 ° so that the ribs are joined to the lip 32 near the joint 76 between the eyebrow 38 and second leg 36. The peripheral edge of the eyebrow member preferably includes a downwardly facing flange 74 that extends below the floor 42 and thus provides a barrier to prevent the thumb or finger of a user from sliding out of the eyebrow member. To remove the lid 14 from the bowl 12, the user pulls up the eyebrow member 40. As this is done, the separation forces are transferred from the rigid eyebrow member 40, due to its stiffness, the lip 32 is sealed and the portion of the body 98 which are somewhat flexible due to the interruption area 92 in the annular flange 90 and the elastic nature of the polymeric material employed. The resultant seal of the interference fit is initially overcome along the corner of the container. As the user continues to pull the eyebrow member 40, the remainder of the lid is easily released due to the rigidity provided around the periphery of the lid by the annular rim 90. Thus, as it should be understood upon reviewing the above, the container of the present invention offers a high quality seal due to the interference fit between the lid and bowl and also allows easy detachment of the lid when desired. As noted, although the lid and the bowl can be thermoformed from any of a number of different polymeric materials, it is considered preferable that a polypropylene homopolymer optionally includes a slip agent. Using a polypropylene homopolymer, the lid and the bowl can be thermoformed to have an average thickness of between 0.254 to 1.27 mm and still offer the necessary structural integrity.

APL INDUSTRIAL CABILITY These containers can be manufactured at low cost to provide economical storage containers which can be reused or disposed of after use.

Claims (15)

1. RE IVI ND ICAC IONS 1. A container including a bowl and a selectively removable lid, said lid comprising: a body and a peripheral sealing lip extending from said body along a leading edge thereof; and a rigid eyebrow member extending from said sealing lip along a peripheral edge thereof; a substantially annular reinforcing flange disposed along said body inwardly from said sealing lip, said reinforcing flange including an interruption area disposed along said body adjacent said eyebrow member. The lid of claim 1, wherein said reinforcing bead extends upwardly from said body. The lid of claim 1, wherein said interruption area includes at least one segment of reinforcing flange separated from said reinforcing flange. The lid of claim 1, wherein said reinforcing rim is spaced between about 0.5 cm to about 6.0 cm from the leading edge of said peripheral sealing lip. The lid of claim 1, wherein said eyebrow member includes a plurality of spaced apart vertical ribs. The lid of claim 5, wherein said plurality of spaced apart vertical ribs includes a first rib disposed along a longitudinal center line and at least one other rib extending angularly away from said longitudinal center line. The lid of claim 5, wherein said vertical ribs include a first end terminating close to said sealing lip and a second end terminating close to the peripheral edge of said eyebrow member. The lid of claim 7, wherein said vertical ribs are inclined upwardly from said second end toward said first end. 9. An elastic microwave container comprising: a bowl including a bottom, a container side wall extending upwardly from said bottom to define a bowl cavity and a lip extending from said side wall; and a selectively peelable cap that includes a generally disc-shaped central body having a peripheral sealing lip that includes a rigid eyebrow member extending outwardly, said body; characterized in that the lip includes a substantially annular reinforcing flange disposed inwardly from said sealing lip, said annular flange including an interruption disposed along said body adjacent said eyebrow member to assist with this in the removal of the cap of the container. The container of claim 9, wherein said reinforcing bead extends upwardly from said body. eleven . The container of claim 9, wherein said interruption includes at least one segment of reinforcing flange separated from said reinforcing flange. 12. The container of claim 9, wherein said c-member (ja) includes a plurality of spaced apart vertical ribs 13. The container of claim 12, wherein said plurality of spaced apart vertical ribs includes a first rib disposed thereon. along a longitudinal center line and at least one other rib extending angularly away from said longitudinal center line 14. The container of claim 12, wherein said vertical ribs include a first end terminating proximate said sealing lip and a second end ending near the peripheral edge of said eyebrow member 15. The container of claim 14, wherein said vertical ribs are inclined upwardly from said second end toward said first end.