US2261330A

US2261330A - Container closure

Info

Publication number: US2261330A
Application number: US318856A
Authority: US
Inventors: Billeter Robert; John W Giffin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1940-02-14
Filing date: 1940-02-14
Publication date: 1941-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 1958-11-04

Description

Nov. 4, 1941.

R. BILLETER ET AL CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Feb. 14, 1940 IHYEHT uns HUBERT BILLETER JHN M 'C-I'FFIH CE.. my*

HTTURHEH Pawnee Nov. 4, 194i 'uNiTEo sm'ras.` PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER CLOSURE Robert einem, Burlingame, and John w. Gimn,

' San Francisco, Calif.'

Application February 14, 1940, Serial No. 318,856 `l `2 Claims.

- to the use of a tear-strip formed on the side of a can.

A further object of the invention is t provide a can end which will prevent particles of metal or other foreign matter from entering the contents of the can.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tear-strip opening can wherein the contents of the can will not be spilled d uring the opening operation.

A further object of the invention is to produce va device of this character which may be applied to any standard form of can or container with'- out materially altering its construction, and a device vwhich `may be incorporated in the construction of the completed can without adding materially to itsvcost.

A further object of the invention is to produce a-device of this character which will not slow up production, and one which will conform to all standard sanitary regulations.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for guiding the tear-strip during the tearing operation.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

Inthe accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 "is a top Vplan view of a can constructed.

in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig.V 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the tear-strip wound upon a key;

j Fig. 4. is a cross sectional view'taken on the arrows and on an enlarged scale; l

Fig. A5 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view, showing the free end of the tongue;

Fig 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the. line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Y line d-d of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the Fig. 8 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale, showing the tear-strip removed;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a modied form of key; and

' Fig. 10 is aplan view of the tear tongue.v

Containers, particularly cans -such as commonly employed in packing fruits and vegetables, consist of a metal tubular shell and a bottom portion to which is secured the top in any approved manner, usually by 'seaming the top to the side wall of the container, These cans are usually opened by employing a can opener which cuts the metal on. the top so as to give access to the interior of the can. This form of opening permits chips of metal and other foreign substances to pass into the can and thus contaminate the contents thereof. Some cans are opened by employing a tear-strip which is formed on the outer wall of thecontainer. Such a tear-strip does not permit liquids to be packed for the reason that the tear-strip must be an appreciable distance down from the top of the can, and too large an air space would be left in the can. This type of can is usuallyemployed for packing dried proclucts, such as coffee, w erein` a second band is used within the can and extends above where the tear-strip breaks olf.

Applicants have devised an end for a can, which end pieceV may be employed with any standard form of can or container upon which the end may be secured and employs in its construction a tear-strip which when removed permits the`end of the can to be lifted outwardly,

leaving the level of the contents slightly below the top of the can and, at the same time, preventingany metal Ichips from falling can.

In referring to the drawing wherein is shown a preferred embodiment of our invention, we will assume lthat'ourv improved end has been attached to an ordinary cylindrical tin can having a bot- Fig. is a cross sectional view taken on the line 'l-l of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows:

tom therein and that the numeral 5 designates the side wall of the can; and it is here understood that the drawing is greatly exaggerated in order to illustrate the principle involved and that, in reality, the can, being made of thin sheet metal. commonly employed in tin cans, would have quite a different appearance.

Our closure consists of a blank drawn so as toprovide a depressed disc-like portion 6 surrounded by an annular wall l and having a fiange 8, which is seamed to the side wall of the can as illustrated in Fig. 2. 'In this figure, it will be noted that this annular ywall l telescopes into into the through this slot the reduced end I3 of the tongue I4 is passed so as to lie outside the periphery of the telescoping portion, while the Wide portion I6 of the tongue lies adjacent the inner periphery of the telescoping portion or annular wall 1. Solder I1 is sweated into the slot I2 so as to secure the end I3 of the tongue, seal thev slot, and Vsecure a portion of the inner end of thev tongue, the purpose of which will be later seen.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will be now noted that 'the wide portion I6 of the tongue overlies the upper scoring. This feature permits the beading chuck and roller to pass over the tongue without any danger of breaking the scoring in the sealing operation.

In use, a forked key I8 is preferably employed, which 'key is positioned on top of the can, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the said key engaging the end of the tongue. By a tearing action the tongue is pulled away from its rst soldered engagement, and then the tear-strip follows until the key has made a complete revolution of the top of the canhwinding the tear-strip thereon, as illustrated in Figs. 3. and 4. As the key and the tear-strip contact the end of the can, it will be apparent that a very even Winding of the tear-strip on the` key will result, and, ac-

cordingly, a much better opening of the can repletely from around the can, a small/portion of' the solder will still `hold the tear-strip to the `that various changes relative to the material,

size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In a closure for a container, an end piece having a depressed portion teiescoping into the end of the container, the telescoped portion being scored on its inner periphery to form a tear-strip, said tear-strip having an opening formed therethrough, and a tongue of substantially the same width as the tear strip extending through said opening, the portion of said tongue lying within said depressed portion being wider than the portion lying outside said depressed portion and extending above the top edge of the tear-strip and overlying the scoring of the tear-strip nearest the end of the container.

2. In a closure for a container, an end piece having a depressed portion telescoping into the end of the container, said telescoped portion being scored on its inner periphery to form a tear-strip, said tear-strip having an opening formed therethrough, a tongue of substantially the same width as the tear-strip extending through said opening. the portion of said tongue lying within said depressed portion being wider than the portion lying outside said 4depressed portion, and extending above ythe top edge of the tear-strip and overlying the scoring of the tearstrip nearest the end ofthe container.

ROBERT BmLE'rER. JOHN w. einem'.`