US2754009A - Holders for containers - Google Patents

Description

July 10, 1956 J. F. KENNEDY 2,754,009

HQLDER FOR CONTAINERS Filed April 13, 1951 g s t 's t 1 FIG. I.

July 10, 1956 J. F. KENNEDY 2,754,009 HOLDER FOR CONTAINERS Filed April 15. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent:

HOLDERS FOR CONTAINERS Jerome Francis Kennedy, London, England Application April 13, 1951, Serial No. 229,439 Claims priority, application Great Britain April 17, 1950 Claims. (Cl. 21174) This invention relates to holders for containers, such asv those of the circular mouthed jar or bottle type, which have. downwardly facing bearing surfaces, such as peripheral flanges adjacent to the topsor mouths thereof, adapted to be supported upon co-operating bearing surfaces forming part of the holder, and to combinations of such holders with forms of container particularly adapted to be suspended therein. In holders of this type, as exemplified by my Patent No. 2,480,411, the container may be inserted into position in the holder with its mouth in engagement with a separate lid or closure member and caused to come into close seating engagement with the same, upon being pushed sufliciently far into the holder, the parts being so shaped or constructed that the closure will then be effected by wedging action.

The present invention has for an object the provision of improved devices of this character, and more par ticularly the provision of such devices of relatively simple construction, whereby closure and sealing of the container mouth, and insertion of the container into, and its withdrawal from, the holder may be accomplished in a particularly effective manner.

In a holder according to the present invention for supporting a plurality of open mouthed containers, of the type having lateral projections adjacent the mouths thereof, in combination with a plurality of circular rotatable lids for the containers, the holder is formed with at least one downwardly facing anti-friction abutment surface, to engage the upper surfaces of the lids, and including means on said holder for supporting the lids beneath said abutment surface in a manner permitting the lids to rotate relatively to said holder on substantially vertical axes, and upward facing bearing surfaces on said holder to cooperate with the downward facing bearing surfaces. on the lateral projections on each of said COD? tainers, the bearing surfaces on the holder being in the form of a series of pairs of spaced supports, to permit each container to be inserted laterally between each of said pairs of supports with its mouth below the-respective lid, and with the cooperating bearing surfaces in supporting engagement, at least one of the two engaging bearing surfaces on opposite sides of each container being inclined upwardly towards the general plane of said abutment surface, such that movement of eachv container relative to the holder in one direction causes the container to rise towards said abutment surface and to make progressively tighter sealing engagement with said lid while reverse movement of the container disengages the container from tight engagement with the lid, and permits the container to be withdrawn laterally from the holder. The action referred to may be performed by several specifically different constructions, included within my invention, in one of which the runners on the holder engage the inclined flange of a screw necked container, while in another specific form of construction the runners are so shaped and spaced as to engage a container flange parallel to the mouth thereof, in such a manner as.

2, to enablethe seating and sealing and withdrawing operations referred to, to be carried out. The closure means referred to above may, in some forms of construction, be an independent rotatable disc, adapted to be mounted above the supporting runners of the holder and to be engaged'tightly by the container mouth on one side and the holder on the other, when the container is in held and sealed position, or, in other constructional forms, it may embody a similar rotatable disc which is also slidable laterally in the direction of insertion of the container into the holder.

In order that the invention may be understood more clearly attention is directed to'the accompanying drawings, illustrating some of the forms in which the invention may be carried into effect. In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is afront elevation ofone form of holder with a container and an independent rotatable lid mounted in container-sealing position therein;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same partly shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on-line 33 'of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 3, except that the container is shown in the initial position of being inserted into the holder;

Fig. 5? is a front elevation of a second form of the invention, in which a container having a screw-threaded neck flange extending about the upper cylindrical por tion thereof is shown in position when first inserted in theholder;

Fig. 6, isiasimilarview, but showing the container in its final sealed position in the holder;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line 77 in Fig. 5.

Referring firstto Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings, the sup port plate 2 is adapted to. extend horizontally from a wall or other vertical surface to which is can be secured. The runners 1, I extend downwardly in parallel relation from the plate 2 and may be joined together by a horizontal member 1a which is. secured to the under-surface 2a of support 2; Runners 1, 1 and member 1a preferably constitute a unitary construction which may be stamped from sheet metal.

Runners, 1, 1 are shaped to provide upper and lower runways, respectively, for a separate lid 5 and the peripheral flange 3 around the top or mouth of container 4, the lid and container mouth both being circular in shape. The upper runway portions of the runners are formed with downwardly extending portions 1d spaced apart sutficiently to receivev the peripheral edge of the lid 5 between them with a fairly loose fit, these downwardly extending portions being bent inwardly as shown at- 1c, to provide upwardly facing bearing surfaces, upon which the down.- wardly facing bearing surface 51) of the lid may be slidably. supported. The runners again extend downwardly from the inner edges of the flanges 10 to provide portions 1e spaced apart sufiiciently to accommodate the vertical peripheral surface of the. container flange 3, these latter downwardly extending runner portions being bent inwardly at their lower edges to provide the upwardly facing bearing surfaces 112, upon which the downwardly fac-. ing bearing surface. 3a of. the container flange 3 may be slidably supported.

It will thus be seen that the lid 5 may be slidably and rotatably supported in the upper runway, and that the container may be pushed into supported position by inserting its peripheral flange 3 into the lower runway, so that the bearing surface 3:: of this flange will be slidably and rotatably supported on flanges 1b of the runners; The-front ends 1 of these flanges 1b are prefer ably bent down and belled, asshown, to facilitate entry of the container flange 3 into supported position upon flanges 1b. and. disengagement of the container from the runners and the lid, upon withdrawal of the container.

The flanges 1c of the runners, upon which the lid is supported, may be substantially parallel to the horizontal shelf 2 and transverse portion 1a of the runner construction, throughout their lengths from front to rear. The flanges 1b upon which the container flange is supported, however, slope upwardly from front to rear, towards the plane of the flanges 1c, as is to be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, so that the mouth of a container, pushed back upon flanges 1b may be wedged into position against the lid, as will presently be explained.

The lid 5 in the form of the invention now being de scribed, may be of moulded plastic material, having a smooth upper surface. It is provided on its lower side with a downwardly extending perimetrical flange 517 so that a recess 9, of circular cross section, is provided within this flange 5b. This recess has fitted therein a lining member 10, preferably formed of a material such as cork, to form a seating surface for the mouth of a container. This lining material should be of such a character that the mouth of a container may be brought into accurate co-planar contact with it and also of such character that, when a container having its mouth pressed against it is rotated about its own axis, greater friction will be exerted between the mouth of the container and this seating material than is exerted, at the same time, between the upper surface 5a of the lid, and the support surfaces 215 and 20 against which this lid. surface is pressed. Cork, with its slight resilience and binding surface, answers these requirements. A seating surface of ground glass or the like may, however, be found preferable in some cases. The recess 9 is of a diameter such that the container flange 3 will fit snugly within its boundary flange Sb, this flange extending down a short distance below the lower surface of the lining material 10.

Means preferably are provided to prevent the unintentional removal of the lid from the holder. of construction now being described a central circular recess 6 is provided in the upper surface of the lid, this tapering upwards and outwards at its outer edge in a kind of circular ramp 6a until it meets a flat perirnetral band 5a around the top of the lid. This latter constitutes a bearing surface which bears against the bearing surfaces 2!), 2c of the upper plate 2, when the container 4, after engaging the lid 5, is pushed into the supported position on the runners 1, as is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

A downwardly directed boss or protuberances 8 is pressed or struck out of the transverse member 1a, which connects the pair of runners 1, 1, and it will be seen that this lies within the recess 6 of the lid 5 when the corntainer is in the supported position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. When the container 4 is withdrawn, the lid 5 will be carried forward with the container mouth until it reaches the position shown in Fig. 4, when the ramp 6a impinges against and partly rides over the boss 8, thus forcing the rear of the lid 5 downwards, and so wedging the lid between the boss 8, the bearing surface 2b of the supporting plate 2, and the flange 1c of the runners 1. The lid 5 is by this means prevented from being unintentionally entirely withdrawn from the holder when the container is withdrawn. It is at the same time held in the semi-out position shown in Fig. 4, in readiness of the next insertion of the container.

As an auxiliary or alternative means for preventing the unintentional extraction of the lid 5 from the holder, a pair of lugs 11 may be provided, to project forwardly and inwardly from the front of the upper part 1d of each runner 1, as shown, the distance between the same, at their nearest points, being slightly less than the exterior diameter of the lid 5. Thus, as the lid 5 is carried forward with the container, on removing of the latter from the holder, it will be caught between the lugs 11 near its horizontal axis and be prevented from further forward movement unless sufficient force is exerted to spring In the form them apart, which the resilience of the material will permit.

The above remarks as to the entire removal of the lid apply in case the lugs 11 are alone relied on as detaining means for the lid, the boss, being omitted. If, on the other hand, the boss 8 alone is used as detaining means, the ramp 6a must be forced over the boss 8, which the resilience of the material permits. If both the lugs 11, 11 and the boss 8 (together with the lid construction including the recess 6 and ramp 6a) are employed, it is obvious that the lid may be removed by pulling the same outwardly with sufficient force both to force the ramp 6!: over boss 3 and to spring the lugs 11, 11 apart. The removal of the lid together with the container 4 can be effected in any such case, the lid being held firmly on the mouth 7 of the container during the Withdrawal.

The action of engagement of a container in, and its removal from, a holder, will now be described. The lid being in the semi-out position shown in Fig. 4, the mouth of the container may be moved rearwardly towards and between the runners I, when the flange 3 of the container will be guided by the lead-in lf into the lower runway between the outer guiding surfaces 1e and above the supporting flange 1b. The mouth of the container will then slide across the peripheral flange 5b of the lid and into the circular recess 9 of the lid wherefrom the container mouth will be closely contained within the flange 5b and in engagement with the lining or seating material 10, such as cork, as above described. Further rearward movement of the container will carry the lid with it, the lower bearing surface 3a of the flange 3 of the container riding up the rearwardly rising bearing surface 1b of the runners, and thereby causing the mouth 7 of the container to be carried progressively nearer to support plate 2. The continuation of this movement will cause the co-planar close seating engagement of the mouth 7 against the cork seating 10 because of the wedging action of the relatively inclined bearing surfaces 2b and 20,

above the lid 5 and 1b, under the flange 3 of the container, respectively.

it will be noted that the peripheral flange 5b of the lid projects downwardly a sufficient distance below the bottom of the cork seating 18 to prevent the rear edge of the mouth 7 from overshooting the seating 10, and escaping rearwardly past the back edge of the flange 5b, as the container is pushed home into the holder. Flange 511 on the other hand must not be of such depth as to cause any difliculty in inserting the flange 3 of the container between the front edge thereof and of the bearing surface 111 of the runners, when the container is being inserted into the holder, the lid 5 being in the semi-out position shown in Fig. 4, or in causing any difficulty in freeing the container flange 3 from this lid flange 5b when the lid has been drawn out to the Fig. 4 position, upon the removal of the container from the holder. The flange 5!; further is of such a depth as almost to fill the gap between the bearing surfaces 211, 2c of the support plate and the bearing surface 10 of the runners, so as to be able to slide freely forward and back between these surfaces. Proper proportions for the parts can be determined readily, with the above considerations in mind.

The preferred construction, as shown, embodies the upper and lower runways, in which the runner flange 10, which supports the lid, is at a higher level than the runner flange 1b, which supports the container flange. This obviates the difliculty that, if the lid flange and the container flange were supported at the same level, the lid flange 5!) would have to be correspondingly and undesirably, deeper.

In the description of the invention, so far, reference has only been made to straight line movements of the container and the lid, rearwardly and forwardly along the runners. It should, however, be observed that, in the embodiment of the invention now being described, the lid 5 is circular, and being of a suliiciently loose fit between the' side portions 1d of the runners is thus capable ofbeing rotated about its vertical axis, when in supported position, as is also the. container, the neck 4 and theflange 3- of which are also circular. Because of this construction, a rotary movement may be given to the container, as well as a back and forward movement, when inserting the same into or removing it from the holder with improved results, as will now be explained.

The bearing surfaces 5a of the lid, and 2b, 2c,.of the support, are smooth and non-resilient, in comparison with the cork or other suitable seating surface of the lid, with which surface the container mouth 7 tends to bind, and there is therefore less frictional resistance to movement between the same than there is to movement between the container mouth 7 and the cork seating 10. Consequently, once the mouth 7 is in seating engagement with the cork surface it), rotation of the container about its. vertical axis will cause the lid to rotate with it. It istherefore possible, when the container is being brought into close seated position in the holder, and its mouth has been inserted into the flange 5b of the lid, to rotate the same by hand about its vertical axis, at the same. time as it is being pushed rearwardly. it. is found that this action causes the mouth 7 to be jammed against the cork seating 10 in a tighter relationship than wouldbe achieved by a similar force exerted in a straight rearward push. Conversely, a similar rotation of the container, accompanied by gentle forward pressure thereon, Will release the mouth 7 and the lid 5 very readily from en. gagement, even when tightly wedged. together. between the runners 1. and the support plate 2, whereas a straightforward pull alone would not succeed in releasing. the. same without the exertion of considerably greater force.

This effect seems to be due to the fact that,.onpushing and turning the container and lid into seatedposition, some point on the edge of flange 3 of the container will. come into sufliciently binding engagement with the adja-, cent support surface to act as a fulcrum, about which the remainder of the turning system will swing, thus obtainingthe advantage of a lever action, while, when the container is thereafter rotated in the opposite direction by placing the hand at the rear of the container and rotating the latter from rear to front, to release the same, the container and lid will swing about this point of tighter engagement, obtaining leverage to release the opposite side of the container, and then to cause the portion. of the container at such engaged point also to roll out of binding engagement. It will be appreciated thereby that, provided the lid is caused to be rotatedwith the container on. withdrawal, a rear to front hand rotation oflthecontainer will disengage the frictional surfaces of the. lid 5. and flange 3, binding against support plate 2 and runners. 1, respectively, and so initiate forward sliding movement.v (A comparable example is the way in which. the withdrawal of a tight champagne cork may be facilitated by giving it an initial or simultaneous twist.)

It will be observed that in this construction, sincethe lid 5 is separate and circular and can rotate between the guide elements 1d of the runners, while making virtually a point contact only at one side or the other with the same, liability of a sliding lid to bind against or between its guide means is obviated. And, of course, the possibility of the container itself becoming badly jammed. in the holder is, inthe same way, prevented.

The action above described may be aided by locating one of the bearing flanges 1b of the runners 1, which support the flange 3 of the container, at a slightly higher level, or arranging the same at a slightly steeper incline, than the other runner. Thus, the left hand runner may be provided with a supporting flange at a slightly higher level than the flange 1b of the right hand runner. In either case, when the container is seated in the holder, the flange 3. of the container will be squeezed more tightly on the side which is on the higher level or which rises at the steeper incline, than on the opposite side, when the container. has beeninserted far. enough .into the. holder to have thiseflect. take place. Thus, referringto. Fig. 4, friction of the container flangev 3. against its left hand bearing flange will at this time. be greater than its friction against its right handbearing flange 1b and rotation of the container about its vertical'axis from right-to left will cause the flange. 3. to roll forward on its. left or slightly tighter runner, being somewhat heldback thereby while sliding forward on the right or. slightly easier runner, and so tend to move out oftheholder, whilea reverse rotating movement ofthe container will'tend to drive the container further into the holder. (The term left or. right refers to a view front the front).

In the preferred construction, the connecting member 1aof the runner. unit is secured to the underside of the support 2 and is let into the same so that the upper. surface of the lid 5, when. inposition in the holder, is prevented from touching any partof this. connecting member 1a other than the'boss 8.. The. area of the upper lid surface in frictionalcontactwith. the under-sideof support plate 2 is thereby. reduced. Also, if connecting member 1a is secured to support plate 2, at: points somewhat. removed from the downwardly extendingrunner portions 1, I, the fact that. the. lidis slightly spaced: away from runner portion 1a will make it possiblefor the runners to give downwardly slightly under. any excessive strain (since they are formed of. sheet metal andare therefore some.- whatresilient), at least a suflicientamount to compensate for any irregularity in level. or inclination of the bearing flanges 15 of they runners. and to ensure the container mouth-7 makingcoplanar engagement with the seating 10 when. the container is moved. sufficiently far into the holder.

The support plate. 2. preferably ispressed from sheet metal so as to providefront and rear. bearing surfaces 2b,

and 2cfor the lid, as shown. The rear supportv portion 20, may, if desired, be inclined downwardly at a steeper angle,,from front to rear, than the. front support portion 211; asisshown in Fig. 4. The result of this is that the rear or inward portion of the lid, as itmoves over bearing surface 20, will be forced downwardly by the inclination thereof, into tighter contact with the rear portion of the container mouth.

It' will be observed that the container flange 3 is convexly curved or bevelled onits outer edge 3a, thus making the sameto rock slightly upon its. bearing surfaces 1b, so that. the mouth 7 of the container will be caused more readily to adopt the-plane of the seating surface 10 when forced against it. 7

Av second form of theinvention will now be described in connection with Figs, 5 m7: of the drawings. Inthis case the holder. is, designed. for use. with cylindrical containers. or containers having, cylindrical neck portions, which are provided with helical flanges or the like, and for such containers being intended in their ordinary use, to be closed by having similarly internally threaded tops screwed. thereon. More broadly speaking, the holder in this form of my invention is adapted for use with containers having flanges thereon which are inclined at an angle to the seating plane of the container mouth, the container becoming firmly seated in the holder upon insertion and rotation of the container because of the wedging effect due to the-relativeinclination of the container flange. or flanges totlie. seating plane of a rotatable closure member positioned-between a support plate, backing the same, and the engaging holder flanges, supporting the container.

Referring to Figs. 5 to 7, the supporting plate 20 has blanked and formed out of the same or secured to its bottom face a pair of parallel spaced apart brackets or runners 21, 21, having inwardly directed flanges 21b, which are adapted to engage under the helical flanges of the container. A rotatable lid 30 is provided beneathsupporting plate 20. It may be removably secured in position, so that it can readily be taken out and replaced,

7 when worn, by providing the runner members 21 with upper inwardly directed flanges 210, similar to the flanges 1c, in the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, and supporting it, that is, this lid, by inserting it in position upon these flanges 21c, the edges of the lid seating closely Within the channels thus formed.

The displacement of lid 30 upon the insertion or withdrawal of the container, is prevented, in the construction illustrated, by the provision of tongues 31, 31 and 31a, 31a, extending from the front and rear ends of brackets 21, and curved to embrace front and rear portions of lid 30, respectively.

In this form of construction, the container 24 is of the type provided with a number of partial helical flanges 23b, 23c, 23d, and 23e running around the neck, these being equally spaced apart around the neck and each of the same being in an exactly similar position as all of the others in relation to the plane of the mouth 7 of the container. That is to say, these partial flanges are similar and similarly positioned portions of parallel helices. The bearing flanges 21b of brackets 21 may be substantially horizontal and equidistant from the surface of the lid 30.

The container, therefore, is mounted in the holder by pushing it therein while holding it in a position in which the higher portions of two oppositely disposed container flanges, for example, 23b and 23d, engage above the opposite supporting flanges 21b of the holder, as is shown in Fig. 5. The container is then rotated from left to right, as if screwing it up towards the lid 30, which causes lower portions of the container flanges 23b and 23d progressive- 1y to engage the bearing flanges 21b. The mouth 7 of the container is thereby caused to rise until it is pressed tightly against lid 30, as is shown in Fig. 6. The removal of the container is effected by the opposite or un-screwing rotation and then withdrawing it forwardly.

The helical flanges 23b, 23c, 23d, 23c may be of such length that they do not overlap one another, but leave a gap or vertical passage 24b between each of their adjacent ends, which passage may be of sufiicient width to enable the same to be pushed up vertically past the bearing flanges 21b of the brackets without the flanges 23b, 23c, 23d, 23:: fouling the flanges 21b. In such case the container may be inserted vertically until the mouth 7 engages the seating 10, when the container may be rotated from left to right until two of the helical flanges, say, 23b, 23d, wedge against the bearing flanges 2111. It is, however, considered preferable that the gap 2412, if any, be sufliciently narrow, or that the bearing flanges 2151 be made to converge rearwardly, as shown at 21bx, in such a manner, as to prevent the possibility of the container inadvertently dropping vertically out of the holder.

As to the constructions described, it is obvious from the drawings that series of pairs of runners, such as those described, may be secured in parallel relation to a single support plate 2, so as to support an equal number of containers therein, while the support plate 2 may itself be screwed to the under side of an existing shelf, or the like, or be secured to a vertical surface by means of brackets affixed to one of its edges. Obviously also, the runner construction may be integral with support 2, if desired, as shown in Fig. 7. One form of wall bracket 12 for securing a holder to a vertical surface is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and has an end plate 13 with a front lug 14 projecting at right angles to the end plate, to fit into a tunnel-shaped front edge 2e of the support plate 2, while rear lugs 15 and 16 are adapted to be screwed to a vertical surface through screw holes 19 therein.

' The holder may also be incorporated in a portable fitment adapted to be stood on a table. The supporting plate is then preferably inclined on a rearward cant, whereby the withdrawal of the container occurs in a slightly upward direction. The weight of the fitment or stand together with the containers may thus be used to render superfluous the securing of the holder to a fixed surface.

The invention is not confined to the embodiments illustrated but may be carried out in any manner falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A holder for supporting a plurality of open mouthed containers of the type having lateral projections adjacent the mouths thereof, in combination with a plurality of circular rotatable lids for the containers, the holder being formed with at least one dovtmwardly facing anti-friction abutment surface to engage the upper surfaces of the lids, and including means on said holder for supporting the lids beneath said abutment surface in a manner permitting the lids to rotate relatively to said holder on substantially vertical axes, and upward facing bearing surfaces on said holder to cooperate with the downward facing bearing surfaces on the lateral projections on each of said containers, the bearing surfaces on the holder being in the form of a series of pairs of spaced supports, to permit each container to be inserted laterally between each of said pairs of supports with its mouth below the respective lid, and with the cooperating bearing surfaces in supporting engagement, at least one of the two engaging bearing surfaces on opposite sides of each container being inclined upwardly towards the general plane of said abutment surface, such that movement of each container relative to the holder in one direction causes the container to rise towards said abutment surface and to make progressively tighter sealing engagement with said lid, while reverse movement of the container disengages the container from tight engagement with the lid, and permits the container to be withdrawn laterally from the holder.

2. A holder as claimed in claim 1 in which the part of the under surface of the lid contained within the annular portion of said surface which engages the mouth of the respective container when in sealing engagement therewith, lies at least level with the plane containing the rim of the mouth of the container.

3. A holder as claimed in claim 1 in which each pair of supports is in the form of a pair of parallel spaced ramps inclined upwardly and rearwardly towards the plane of the abutment surface.

4. A holder as claimed in claim 1 including detent means provided on said holder to prevent each lid being withdrawn accidentally.

5. A holder for supporting a plurality of open mouthed containers of the type having lateral projections adjacent the mouths thereof, in combination with a plurality of circular rotatable lids for the containers, the holder being formed and provided with means by which it may be located on a fixed surface, and with at least one downwardly facing anti-friction abutment to engage the upper surfaces of the lids, and including means on said holder for supporting the lids beneath said abutment surface in a manner permitting the lids to rotate relatively to said holder on substantially vertical axes, and upward facing bearing surfaces on said holder cooperating with the downward facing bearing surfaces on the lateral projections of each of said containers, the bearing surfaces on the holder being in the form of a series of pairs of spaced supports, which are clear in front elevation of the front profile of the respective containers in the general horizontal position of insertion, to permit each container to be inserted laterally between each of said pairs of supports with its mouth below the respective lid, and with the co-operating bearing surfaces in supporting engagement, at least one of the two engaging bearing surfaces on opposite sides of each container being inclined upwardly towards the general plane of said abutment, such that movement of each container relative to the holder in one direction causes the container to rise towards said abutment and to make progressively tighter sealing engagement with said lid while reverse movement of the container disengages the container from tight engagement with the lid, and permits the container to be withdrawn laterally from the holder.

6. A holder for mounting to an independent structure for the purpose of suspending therefrom a plurality of open mouthed containers of the type having lateral projections adjacent the mouths thereof, in combination with a plurality of rotatable lids for closing the containers, with at least one anti-friction abutment to engage the upper surfaces of the lids, and including means on said holder for supporting the lids beneath said abutment in a manner permitting the lids to rotate relatively to said holder on substantially vertical axes, and upwardly facing bearing surfaces on the holder to co-operate with downwardly facing bearing surfaces on the lateral projections of the containers, the bearing surfaces on the holder being in the form of a series of pairs of spaced supports, the horizontal distance between each pair of supports being less than the distance between oppositely disposed peripheral edges of said lateral projections on individual containers to be suspended but greater than the exterior measurement of said containers taken immediately below said projections, to permit each container to be inserted laterally in a generally horizontal direction between one of said pairs of supports with its mouth below the respective lid and with the co-operating bearing surfaces in supporting engagement, said supports also being spaced, at least at one point thereon, from the general plane of the engaging surface of said abutment a distance which is equal to the combined thickness of such portions of the supported container and lid sealing the same, measured from under one said projection at the point of engagement with the respective support to the nearest point on the general plane of engagement between said lid and abutment, at least one of the two engaging bearing surfaces on opposite sides of each container being inclined upwardly towards the general plane of said abutment such that combined rotational and lateral movement of a container, supported and sealed in tight seating engagement in the holder, disengages the container from such tight engagement with the lid and bolder and permits the lidless container to be withdrawn.

7. A holder for supporting a plurality of open mouthed containers of the type having external screwthread formations adjacent the mouths thereof, in combination with a plurality of circular rotatable lids for the containers, the holder being formed with at least one downwardly facing anti-friction abutment surface to engage the upper surfaces of the lids, and including means on said holder for supporting the lids beneath said abutment surface in a manner permitting the lids to rotate relatively to said holder on substantially vertical axes, and upward facing bearing surfaces on said holder to cooperate with the downward facing bearing surfaces on the screwthread formations on each of said containers, the bearing surfaces on the holder being in the form of a series of pairs of spaced supports, to permit each container to be inserted laterally between each of said pairs of supports with its mouth below the respective lid, and with the cooperating bearing surfaces in supporting engagement, such that rotational movement of each container relative to the holder in one direction causes the container to rise towards said abutment surface and to make progressively tighter sealing engagement with said lid, while reverse movement of the container disengages the container from tight engagement with the lid, and permits the container to be withdrawn laterally from the holder.

8. A holder as claimed in claim 7 in which the part of the under surface of the lid contained within the annular portion of said surface which engages the mouth of the respective container when in sealing engagement therewith, lies at least level with the plane containing the rim of the mouth of the container.

9. A holder as claimed in claim 7 in which each pair of supports is in the form of a pair of parallel spaced ramps inclined upwardly and rearwardly towards the plane of the abutment surface.

10. A holder as claimed in claim 7 including detent means provided on said holder to prevent each lid being withdrawn accidentally.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 758,515 Fenn Apr. 26, 1904 1,216,110 Goodrow Feb. 13, 1917 1,462,370 Lykins July 17, 1923 1,853,808 Greenwood Apr. 12, 1932 2,021,065 Hurlburt Nov. 12, 1935 2,080,947 Ligeour May 18, 1937 2,188,227 Moore Jan. 23, 1940 2,480,411 Kennedy Aug. 30, 1949

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