US3115272A

US3115272A - Reclosure container

Info

Publication number: US3115272A
Application number: US78142A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fredette Joseph Henry
Original assignee: American Can Co
Current assignee: Primerica Inc
Priority date: 1960-12-23
Filing date: 1960-12-23
Publication date: 1963-12-24
Anticipated expiration: 1980-12-24

Description

United States Patent 3,115,272 RECLOSURE CONTAINER Joseph Henry Fredette, New York, N.Y., assignor to American Can Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 23, 1960, Ser. No. 78,142 1 Claim. (Cl. 220-94) The present invention relates to reclosure containers and more particularly to a hermetically sealed tear strip container having an imperforate top closure member which is provided with an easily assembled plastic handling knob.

Sheet metal tearing strip containers are used extensively for the packaging of many types of food and non-food products. Such containers are frequently made very attractive in appearance by means of a pleasing label design which is lithographed on their side walls. The present invention makes it possible to further enhance the attractiveness of this type of container by providing it with a plastic knob which is easily snapped into position in a recess formed in its top closure member and which is thereafter permanently retained in position to facilitate the handling of the closure member. The knob is preferably made of a hard flexible plastic such as polyacrylic resin or polystyrene resin which is attractive in both its clear and tinted forms. Thus, in addition to its function of affording greater convenience of handling, the knob adds considerably to the appearance of the container and is useful in contributing to. its identity factor, which is so import-ant in modern merchandising.

An object of the invention, therefore, is the provision of a hermetically sealed tear strip container which is provided with a handling knob which may be secured in place without requiring perforation of the container closure, and which adds to both the convenience and appearance of the container.

Another object is the provision of such a knob which may be easily pressed intoposition in the container closure member, and thus is adapted for easy assembly without complicated equipment.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring now to the drawings:

FlG-URE l is a perspective view of a tearing strip container embodying the priciples of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional detail, on a greatly enlarged scale, taken substantially along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, the lower portion of the container being broken away;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, on a reduced scale, of the container of FIG. 1 after the tearing strip has been removed and the closure member detached from the container body; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional detail, corresponding to FIG. 2, of a modified form of the invention.

As a preferred and exemplary embodiment of the instant invention, the drawing illustrates a sheet metal container which comprises a cylindrical tubular body which is formed with the usual side seam 12. A pair of spaced

circumferential score lines

14, 16 are formed in the body 10 adjacent its upper end to set off a removable tearing strip 18 which at one end terminates in a free tongue 20 adapted to be engaged by a can opening key (not shown) to facilitate the opening of the container.

An annular collar 22 is positioned within the body 10 inwardly of the tearing strip 18. The upper end of the collar 22 is formed into an inwardly turned hollow seating curl 24, while the lower marginal end portion 26 of 3,115,272 Patented Dec. 24, 1963 the collar 22 is expanded outwardly into an outwardly projecting body bead 28 to securely lock the collar 22 to the body 10.

The bottom of the body 10 is closed by means of a bottom closure member 30 which is preferably secured to the body 10 in a conventional double seam 32, while the upper end of the body 10 is closed by a top closure member 34 which is also secured to the body in a double seam 36.

The top closure member 34 is formed with an annular countersink wall 38 which forms the inner layer of the top double seam 36-. The lower portion of the countersink .wall 38 merges into a short horizontal step wall 40 which preferably seats on the collar curl 24, as best seen in FIG. 2. The step wall 40 in turn merges into a short depending annular wall 42 which forms the side wall of a large recess 44 which is formed in the top closure member 34. As best seen in FIG. 2, the annular recess Wall 42 friotionally engages the inside portion of the collar curl 24 to hold the top-closure member 34 in place thereon after the tearing strip 18 has been removed.

The annular recess wall 42 merges into horizontally extending annular wall 46 which forms a portion of the bottom wall of the large recess 44. The remaining, centrally disposed portion of the large recess 44 is formed into a second, smaller recess 48 which comprises a circular bottom wall 5% and an annular side wall 52 which depends from the inner edge of the annular wall 46. The upper portion of the wall 52 is formed into an inwardly projecting shoulder 54 which overhangs the lower portion of the wall 52 and provides the means for securing a closure handling knob 60 in place in the top closure member 34.

The knob 60 is preferably made from a suitable hard flexible plastic such as polyacrylic or polystyrene resin which may be either clear or tinted, depending on its desired esthetic qualities.

The knob 60 is hollow, being formed with a flat top wall 62 and an annular side wall 64 which is formed into a spring collet by a plurality of vertical slots 66 which divide it into a plurality of identical spring segments 68, each of which is capable of independent flexing movernent. Each spring segment 68 includes an arcuate vertical portion 70 and a generally horizontal foot portion 72 which extends radially from the bottom of the vertical portion 70 and at its outer edge is vertically bevelled to form a cam surface 74. As initially made, the knob 60 is formed from a single piece of plastic wherein the spring segments 68 are unflexed, and the diameter of the knob 60 as measured across the unfiexed spring segments 68 is somewhat larger than the diameter of the recess 48.

The knob 60 is assembled to the top closure member 34 by being positioned in vertical alignment above the recess 48 and pressed downwardly. This downward movement brings the cam surfaces 74 into contact with the recess shoulder 54, thus causing the spring segments 68 to flex inwardly and snap past the shoulder 54 and enter the recess 48. After passing the shoulder 54, the spring segments 64 expand outwardly to bring the outer edges of the foot portions 72 into engagement against the recess wall 52 beneath the shoulder 54. The recess 48 is preferably so dimensioned that the spring segments 68, in so expanding, do not return to their original unflexed positions, but are held in a partially inwardly flexed position so that they hold the knob 60 tightly in the recess 40.

It will be obvious that the knob 60 may be assembled to the top closure member either before or after the latter is seamed to the container body 10. After final assembly, the filled and sealed container is merchandised in the usual manner, and is opened by the ultimate consumer by removal of the tearing strip 18 to detach the top closure member 34 from the body 10. Thereafter, by grasping the knob 60, the consumer may readily remove the top closure member 34 from the container, as seen in FIG. 3. To reclose the container, the top closure member 34 need merely be positioned above the collar curl 24 and pressed into frictionally seated position thereon.

FIG. 4 discloses a somewhat modified form of the invention wherein the small recess 48 is omitted and a locking shoulder 80 is formed in the annular side Wall 42 of the large recess 44. In this form, the knob 60 is essentially similar in construction to the preferred form disclosed in FIGS. 1 to 3, except that the foot portions 72 of the spring segments 68 are radially elongated sufficiently so that they snap past the shoulder 80 and look therebeneath to hold the knob 60 in place when the knob is assembled to the top closure member. In this modified form, as in the preferred form, the spring segments 68 are held in slightly flexed position, after passing the shoulder 80, to more firmly retain the knob 60 against movement relative to the top closure member 34.

It will be obvious that instead of being formed as continuous beads, as seen in the drawings, the shoulders 54 or 80 which hold the knob 66) in place may be discontinuous and may comprise a plurality of spaced bead or lug segments beneath which the spring segments 68 engage.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

A reclosure container having an imperforate countersunk closure removably secured to the upper end of said container to provide a reclosure therefor,

the bottom wall of said reclosure having a knob-retaining recess bounded by an annular side wall,

said recess side wall having overhanging shoulder means at the top thereof, and

a knob formed of resilient plastic material including a top Wall and an annular series of spring segments formed integrally therewith and depending therefrom,

said spring segments forming a major portion of the side wall of said knob, and having an outer periphery of downwardly and inwardly tapered frustoconical configuration to facilitate manual grasping of said knob side wall,

each said segment having a laterally extending lower portion,

said knob at said segment lower portions having a diameter normally greater than that of said recess, said segment lower portions being disposed within said recess beneath said overhanging shoulder means to thereby retain said segment lower portions under positive compression in said recess to firmly secure said knob to said container closure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,299,321 Gerrard Apr. 1, 1919 1,642,478 Bardet et a1 Sept. 13, 1927 1,965,175 Dolan July 3, 1934 2,523,285 Erb Sept. 26, 1950 2,553,880 Stigler May 22, 1951