NZ550241A - Container with portion adjacent to aperture that is deformable to allow handle flange to be moved inwardly and then into aperture - Google Patents

Abstract

A container has a portion 12, typically a skirt portion on a pail, that has an aperture 14 to receive a carry handle which has a handle 22 connected to a flange 20 via a shaft 4. In order to install the carry handle the container portion below the aperture 13 is resiliently deformable inwardly so that the flange inwardly and then upwardly to be captured by the container portion 12.

Description

t 550241 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No: 550241 Date: 29 September 2006 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION CARRY HANDLE FOR A CONTAINER AND A CONTAINER THAT INCLUDES SUCH HANDLE We, VISCOUNT PLASTICS (NZ) LIMITED, a company duly incorporated under the laws of New Zealand at the registered address of 8 Vestey Drive, Mt Wellington, Auckland, New Zealand, 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: . / _ 550241 The present invention relates to a carry handles for containers and containers that include such handles.

There are various types of prior art containers, both for domestic and industrial use, that have handles attached. Typically, handles are provided in the form of U-shaped plastic straps with engaging lugs at opposite ends. The engaging lugs are received in apertures formed in the wall of the container or in a skirt surrounding the container.

US5344041 discloses a system for allowing handles of this type to be attached to the wall of a container. The system described in US5344041 has many advantages, however, it still requires a relatively large aperture to be formed in the wall of the container and requires considerable force to snap fit the handle into engagement with a retaining portion of the aperture. This is because the flange on the handle needs to be manipulated to be angled in under the upper lips of the aperture of the container. The geometry and/or rigidity of the handle may not always allow for this angling due to interference with parts of the container. Likewise the lips are of a rigid yet flexible material. Once the flange is angled under the lips, the handle needs to be forced in and upwards to be driven home. This is not convenient.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a carry handles for containers and containers that include such handles to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

Accordingly in a first aspect the present invention consists in a container adapted to receive a carry handle comprising a handle and a connecting portion comprising a flange and a shaft that extends between and connecting the handle and flange, the container comprising: a container wall that includes a) an aperture through the container wall wherein the aperture is of a shape to prevent a passing of the flange there through in a direction parallel to the normal of the surface of the wall adjacent the aperture, and b) a flexible wall portion adjacent to the aperture, the flexible wall portion deformable to allow the flange of the handle to be slid into the aperture in a direction substantially parallel to the container wall, the flexible wall portion capable of resuming substantially its original position and shape to capture the connecting portion and prevent its removal from the aperture. 550241 Preferably the container wall is a skirt surrounding the main containment region defining portion of the container.

Preferably the container wall has a free edge, and the flexible wall portion is positioned between the aperture and the free edge.

Preferably the container wall is formed from a flexible plastics material.

Preferably the plastic is polypropylene or high density polyethylene.

Preferably the flexible wall portion is adjacent to a base portion of the aperture that is wider than the width across part of the aperture above said base portion.

Preferably the aperture is substantially T-shaped.

Preferably the aperture is non-circular in shape.

Preferably the free edge of the container wall is at a bottom of the container wall.

In another aspect the present invention consists in a container as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying representations.

The invention may also be said to broadly consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more of said parts, elements or features.

Where specific integers are mentioned herein which have no equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

As used herein the term "and/or" means "and" or "or", or both.

As used herein "(s)" following a noun means the plural and/or singular forms of the noun.

The term "comprising" as used in this specification means "consisting at least in part of3. When interpreting statements in this specification which include that term, the features, prefaced by that term in each statement, all need to be present but other features can also be present. Related terms such as "comprise" and "comprised" are to be interpreted in the same manner.

In this specification where reference has been made to patent specifications, other external documents, or other sources of information, this is generally for the purpose of providing a context for discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construed as an admission ^>8rty Ofj^ 2 7 FEB 2009 550241 that such documents, or such sources of information, in any jurisdiction, are prior art, or form part of the common general knowledge in the art.

Examples of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure la shows a side view of a container in accordance with the present invention without a handle attached; Figure lb shows an enlarged view of the aperture formed in the container for receiving the handle; Figure 2 shows a cross section of a handle for use in the present invention; Figure 3 shows a view of the flexible portion of the container wall from below; and Figure 4 shows a view of the handle attached to the container from below.

Figure 1 shows a side view of a container 10 in accordance with the present invention but without a handle attached. The container may be generally cylindrical and formed of a plastics material. However, any shaped container can be used in conjunction with the handle and many different materials may be used. The container 10 may include a lid for covering an open end of the container body but this is not shown. The container also includes a skirt 12 provided around the rim of the open end. An aperture 14 is formed in the skirt for receiving a handle. A corresponding aperture is formed on the opposite side of the container, which cannot be seen in the view of Figure 1. The aperture extends through the skirt but does not extend through the underlying wall of the container. The skirt is spaced from the wall of the container 10 but is attached to the container at its top edge and may also be supported by a series of vertically extending supporting ribs 19.

Figure lb shows an enlarged view of the aperture 14 shown in Figure la. The aperture 14 is substantially T-shaped. At one end of the aperture is a wide portion 16. A central trunk portion 17 of the aperture extends vertically from the centre of the wide portion 16. The wide portion 16 of the aperture is formed proximate to a free edge of the skirt. The size of the portion 13 of the skirt between the free edge of the skirt and the wide portion of the aperture is such that it has some flexibility. In particular, the flexible portion 13 of the skirt can be deflected towards the body of the container 10. This is shown in Figure 3. otfe 17 FEB Z089 550241 The flexibility of the flexible portion 13 is dependent on a number of parameters. The most significant parameters are the material used for the flexible portion, the thickness of the flexible portion and the proximity of the aperture 14 to a free edge Of the skirt. The closer the free edge of the skirt and the wide portion of the aperture are, the more flexible the portion 13 will be. The position of any supporting ribs 19 may also be a factor. By choosing these parameters, a desired balance between flexibility and strength can be achieved.

The typical plastics materials used for containers, polyethylene or high density polypropylene, have some inherent flexibility and so it is not necessary to use a separate material for the flexible portion 13.

A cross-section of a suitable handle for use in the present invendon is shown in Figure 2. The handle comprises a flange 20, shaft 21 and a main handle strap 22. The flange is dimensioned such that it cannot pass through the aperture 14 in the skirt of the container unless either the flange 20 is deformed or the aperture 14 is deformed. The shaft 21 of the handle is dimensioned such that it can pass through the aperture 14 and is able to rotate within the aperture.

Insertion of the handle in to the aperture 14 is achieved by pressing the flange onto the flexible portion 13 of the skirt, as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 shows the position of the supporting ribs 19 that provide some strength and rigidity to the skirt 12. The flexible portion 13 of the skirt is deflected towards the main container wall by the flange 20. The flange 20 can then be slid parallel to the skirt 12, in the direction indicated by arrow 40, so that the shaft 21 of the handle passes into the circular portion 17 of the aperture 14, as shown in Figure 4. The flange 20 is then positioned between the skirt 12 and the container wall. The shaft 21 of the handle is slid into the aperture 14 in a direction away from the flexible portion 13 of the skirt until the flange 20 is clear of the flexible portion 13. The flexible portion 13 can then resume its original shape and position, as illustrated in Figure 5. The handle is then retained in the aperture 14 and is unable to be removed from the aperture without either the flange 20 or the skirt 12 (including the flexible portion) surrounding the aperture 14 being deformed in some way.

This method of inserting the handle does not involve an angling of the flange of the handle into the aperture. 550241 In the example described above, the aperture 14 is formed in a skirt that is spaced from the body of the container. However, the present invention is equally applicable to containers having no skirt or a skirt formed against the container body; the aperture 14 would then be formed through the container wall. However, the provision of a skirt is beneficial not only to provide strength but also to allow the contents of the container to be sealed.

The aperture shown in Figure 1 to 4 is substantially T-shaped. However, almost any shape could be used, provided that the flange on the handle can slide in from one end but will be retained in the aperture once the flexible portion resumes its original shape. The portion of the aperture 14 that is adjacent the flexible portion 13 of the skirt should be at least as wide as the flange. Preferably, the portion of the aperture 14 that is adjacent the flexible portion 13 of the skirt is the widest portion of the aperture. The invention allows the aperture to be made relatively small, while still allowing the flange to slide in. This means that the skirt can be made with a low vertical height yet still offer a locking ability to the handle. This provides material savings benefits. The invention also results in the handle being retained more reliably than in prior systems as the portion that is displaced to allow the flange to be received (eg the flexible portion) established the interference with the flange and the shaft to positively retains the handle in the aperture. With flexible portion is sufficiently flexible to allow it to deform under mild pressure being applied thereto by the flange. This means that no excessive force needs to be applied by a person to fix a handle to the container.

It is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the described embodiments and therefore the numerous variations and modifications may be made to these embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention and set out in the specification.

Claims (10)

4 550241 -7- What we claim is

1. A container adapted to receive a catty handle comprising a handle and a connecting portion comprising a flange and a shaft that extends between and connecting the handle and flange, the container comprising: a container wall that includes a) an aperture through the container wall wherein the aperture is of a shape to prevent a passing of the flange there through in a direction parallel to the normal of the surface of the wall adjacent the aperture, and b) a flexible wall portion adjacent to the aperture, the flexible wall portion deformable to allow the flange of the handle to be slid into the aperture in a direction substantially parallel to the container wall, the flexible wall portion capable of resuming substantially its original position and shape to capture the connecting portion and prevent its removal from the aperture.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein the container wall is a skirt surrounding the main containment region defining portion of the container.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the container wall has a free edge, and the flexible wall portion is positioned between the aperture and the free edge.

4. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the container wall is formed from a flexible plastics material.

5. A container as claimed in claim 4 wherein the plastic is polypropylene or high density polyethylene.

6. A container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the flexible wall portion is adjacent to a base portion of the aperture that is wider than the width across part of the aperture above said base portion.

7. A container as claimed in claim any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the aperture is substantially T-shaped.

8. A container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the aperture is non-circular in shape.

9. A container as claimed in claim 3 wherein the free edge of the container wall is at a bottom of the container wall.

10. A container as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying representations. L)ATED THIS 2l ^ OF AJ Park per M a H^r AGENTS FOR TH^APlilCANT