US2202084A - Metal container - Google Patents

Description

May 28, 1940 E. BOURLAND -2,202,084

METAL CONTAINER Filed May 19, 1957 Patented May 28, 1940 2,202,084c METAL CONTAINER Eli Bourland, Philadelphia, Pa., assigner to Crown Can Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 19, 1937, Serial No. 143,593 Y 4 Claims.

.elicient in operation and may be economically included in the container structure;

Numerous types of locking means have heretofore been provided to secure the cover of a metal container upon the container body, but

most or such locking means have projected outwardly from the Wall of the container. Obviously, when the locking means projects outwardly from the container body, the skirt of the con-l tainer cover will be bulged outwardly with the result that a close seal will not be provided between the inner wall of the cover skirt and the underlying po-rtion of the container body.

An important object of the invention is to provide a locking means for metal containers which will not affect the seal between the container body and the container cover.

Another disadvantage of locking means fo metal containers as heretofore produced has been that the locking means` was of such design that the container cover could not be` applied to the container body unless it was firstv carefully positioned with respect to the locking means upon the container body, since if it were not positioned in proper manner, the locking means on the A body and cover would become jammed with respeci; to each other.

Another objectoi the invention is to provide a metalvcontainer including locking means of such type that the cover may be moved into locked 4D position upon the container body from practically any position with respect to the container body, andV which is-also designed in such manner that no liamming can occur.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawing, wherein 1 Figure l is aside eleva-tion of the container of the pre-sent invention;

Figure 2 a view in side elevation showing the cover spaced slightly above the container body;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3 3 or Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the cover spaced slightly above the container body; and

(Cl. 22o-40) Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view' showing the cover in locked position upon the container body.

The numeral Eil designates the body of the container and the numeral i l indicates the con- 5 tainer cover.- The body of the container preferably has its top edge rolled inwardly as indicated in Figure 5 to form a strengthening bead l2, and a strengthening shoulder i3 is also formed about the wall of the container body at a point spaced 10 somewhat below the upper edge bead l2. The container cover il may have an outwardly rolled bead it at the lower edge of its skirt l5, and the upper portion of the skirt is preferably knurled as indicated at it to enable the cover to be l5 readily turned with respect to the container body..

At spaced points about the extreme upper portion of the container body it, that is, between the strengthening shoulder edge bead i12-,locking means generally indicated by the numeral i8 are provided. Four such locking means as indicated in Figure 3 are ordinarily suiiicient, but this number may be varied as desired. 25

Each locking means i8 comprises an entrance pocket 2t, one or more locking pockets 2l and an abutment 22. The pockets 2li and 2| are formed by forcing the metal of the container' body inwardly as best shown in Figures V3 to 5, but 30 the abutment projects outwardly from the sur-` face of thebody, the abutment 22 thus being the only portion of the locking means l'vvhich extends outwardly from the periphery of the container. wardly along the side wall `of the container and opens to the upper edge of the latter, one side wall 23 being inclined inwardly and downwardly, that is, toward the locking pocket 2l, to serve as a guide, and its opposite wall 24 extends longi- 40 y tudinally of the container body. The vertical wall correspondingly spaced from the rst locking 50 i pocket. The abutment 2i is closely adjacent the v near end of the last locking pocket so that it will serve as a stopfor a locking lug onvthe container cover seated in that pocket 2 I.

The container cover ll has locking lugs 28 55 y i3 and theupper 20 The entrance pocket i8 extends 11D- 35 l formed in its skirt i5, the locking lugs being so spaced that they maybe engaged with the locking means I8 provided on the container body. The locking lugs 28 are also so spacedv from the top wall of the container cover Il that when the underside of the top wall bears upon the bead l2 at the upper edge of the container body, the lugs 28 will be in horizontal alignment with the locking pockets 2|. Furthermore, the locking lugs 28 are of such size that when they are seated in the locking pockets 2l they will closely t therein and thereby prevent the cover ll from moving relative to the container body.

As shown in Figure 2, the upper ends of the entrance pockets 2B of the locking means I8 are of such width circumferentially of the container body that the locking lugs 28 may be readily positioned in the entrance pockets.

In use, as indicated in Figure 2, the cover Il may be so positioned with respect to the container body Il! that each locking lug 2B will be above and in alignment with an entrance pocket 20 on the container body. Downward movement of the cover H will bring each lug 28 against the lower wall of the entrance pocket 20, the lug being guided clockwise (to the left in Figure 2) toward the locking pocket 2l by the inclined wall 23 of the entrance pocket. Further rotation of the cover in a clockwise direction will cause each locking lug28 to pass into the under-cut portion 25 of the entrance pocket, and, with sucient turning force applied to the cover, the locking ,lug will move over the surface of the container body and into the adjacent locking pocket 2l. If more than one locking pocket is provided, the cover may be turned to position the lug 28 in the last pocket, further movement in a clockwise direction'then being prevented by the contact of @the lug with the abutment 22.

It will be noted that with the locking lug 28 seated in a locking pocket 2l, the only element of the structure which will in any way tend to vary the circumferential symmetry of the cover skirt l5 will be the abutment 22 and, in actual practice, this lug projects so slightly from the periphery of the container body surface that there can be no distortion of the cover such as would affect the close seal of the cover with respect to the container body. It is well known that where the locking elements provided on the container body project from the wall of the latter, the cover, when in closed position upon the container body, is substantially bent or distorted with respect to the container body, thereby markedly aii'ecting the seal between the body and the cover.

It will be noted that even if the locking lugs 28 are not initially positioned in alignment with the .entrance pockets 2G, the cover H may readily be moved downwardly upon the container body, since no large number of projecting surfaces are provided upon the body to hinder such movement. For example, in the present invention, the

A'locking lugs may be moved downwardly over any lportion of the upper surface of the container body, and when the cover l i is turned suiiciently in a clockwise direction, the lugs 2B will come in contact with the abutments 22, indicating to the user that the cover is in locked position upon the body. It will also be noted that when the lugs 28 are positioned in the locking pockets 2|, the cover cannot be jammed with respect to the container body, as is frequently the case with locking structures including oppositely facing projections on the container body and container cover, respectively.

The provision of abutments 22 to limit the movement of the container cover to locked position is most advantageous because the resistance against further turning movement resulting from the contact of the lugs 28 with the abutments 22 is suicient to advise the user that the cover is in locked position. In structures where the locking means on the container comprises a series of outwardly projecting protuberances, all projecting to a like extent from the container body surface, the user has noway of knowing that the container cover is in final locked position withrespect to the container, and will frequently turn the container cover past the last of the locking means. When this occurs, the cover must be turned in a reverse direction to lock it with respect to the container body.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction shown in the drawing; also, that the phraseology employed in the specification is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

I claim:

1. A metal container comprising a container body and a container cover, the body having a plurality of locking means spaced about its upper end, each of the locking means comprising an entrance pocket in the outer surface of the container body opening to the upper edge of the latter, a locking pocket circumferentially spaced with respect to the entrance pocket, and an abutment projecting outwardly from the surface of the container body at the side of the locking pocket distant from the entrance pocket, the container cover having a plurality of inwardly projecting lugs formed on the skirt thereof, said lugs being so spaced that one will be arranged for alignment with each of the locking means on the container body.

2. A metal container comprising a container body and a container cover, the body being provided with a plurality of locking means spaced about its upper end, each comprising an entrance pocket in the outer surface of the container body opening to the upper edge of the latter, one side wall of the pocket being downwardly and inwardly inclined, a locking pocket circumferentially spaced from the opposite side wall of the entrance pocket and of less width longitudinally of the container body, and an abutment projecting outwardly from the wall of the container body adjacent the far side of the locking pocket, the container cover having a plurality of inwardly projecting lugs formed on the skirt thereof, said lugs being so spaced that one will be arranged for alignment with each of the locking means on the container body.

3. A metal container comprising a container body and a container cover, the body being provided with a plurality of locking means spaced about its upper end, each comprising an entrance pocket in the outer surface of the container body and opening to the upper edge of the latter, one side wall of the pocket being downwardly and inwardly inclined, the opposite side of the pocket having a circumferential extension therefrom, a locking pocket circumferentially spaced from the extension of the entrance pocket and of the same width longitudinally of the container body as the extension, and an abutment projecting outwardly from the surface of the container body at the side of the locking pocket distant from the entrance pocket, the container cover having a pocket havinga circumferential extension therefrom, and a locking pocket circumferentially spaced from the extension of the entrance pocket and of the same width longitudinally of the container body as the extension, the container cover having a plurality of inwardly projecting lugs formed on the skirt thereof, said lugs being so spaced that one will be arranged for alignment with each of the locking means on the container body.

ELI BOURLAND.

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