US3190481A

US3190481A - Container and closure therefor

Info

Publication number: US3190481A
Application number: US220290A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr William H Mcknight
Original assignee: Corning Glass Works
Current assignee: Corning Glass Works
Priority date: 1962-08-29
Filing date: 1962-08-29
Publication date: 1965-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 1982-06-22

Description

June 22, 1965 w. H. M KNIGHT, JR

CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Aug. 29, 1962 Illll INVENTOR. 4 410M 6 fif /M0607 ArroRNL-Y United States Patent 3,190,481 CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR William H. McKnight, Jr., Corning, N.Y., assignor to Corning Glass Works, Corning, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 220,290 2 Claims. (Cl. 215-39) The present invention relates to containers and to closures therefor, and more particularly to sealing closures for containers usually, but not necessarily composed of glass, in a fashion that the seals remain intact under substantial pressure as well as vacuum conditions within the containers.

So far as applicant is aware, in all closure-container combinations in which readily deformable sheet material has been embodied in the closures, the same have been in the form of plain flat or concavo-convex discs bridging the entire top surface of the container mouth bordering wall. Such covers are secured to the containers by being crimped or tooled down and around an under surface of an annular bead portion of the container bordering its mouth and with a gasket compressed between the cover and the container. This general form of closure while producing an effective pressure seal as applied to small mouthed containers, such as beverage bottles and the like, becomes less effective progressively with progressively larger mouthed containers such as tumblers and the like, particularly in larger sizes the use of such closures is limited to vacuum pack or very low pressure pack, because internal pressure tends to lift the lid 01f the sealing area.

According to the invention, the container is closed by a cover formed of readily formable sheet material having formed therein a shallow walled cup-like portion adapted to neatly fit into the container mouth and to jointly, with its bottom, substantially close such mouth. The wall of such cup-like portion extends radially over the mouth bordering portion of the container thence downwardly and inwardly and is under tension with its free edge pressed against the exterior under surface of the annular bead portion of the container bordering its mouth. As is customary, a sealing gasket is compressed between the top surface of the container and the oppositely disposed under surface of the cover. As will be appreciated, although internal pressures within the container may be sufficient to cause an outward bulging of the bottom of the central cup-like portion of the cover, it will have little effect on the sealed area because of the rigidity of its circumferentially confined surrounding wall and accordingly the pressure limiting factors reside solely in the ability of the container or cover material per se, to withstand such pressures rather than in the seal.

For a detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of a cover-container combination embodying the invention as it appears just before deforming the cover to seal the container mouth, and showing, partly in section, a tool suitable for so deforming the cover.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the showing of FIG. 1 with the seal completed by such tool.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral 11 designates a wide mouth glass container having a top 3,l9@,481 Patented June 22, 1965 oepning or mouth whose bordering wall internally is cylindrical or may be said to be parallel to the path of entrance thereinto, and whose top surface joins such wall about a convenient radius of curvature and then slants downwardly and is formed into a surrounding annular bead 13.

The cover comprises a sheet of readily deformable material which is formed into a shallow-walled cup-like portion, the bottom 14 jointly with its surrounding wall 15 being of a size and shape to neatly fit into and substantially close the opening in container 11, as illustrated. A radial extension 16 of the wall 15 passes over a compressible gasket 20 arranged between the top of the container and the under surface of the radial extension 16.

As indicated in FIG. 1, the extension 16, at its outer extremity, is initially formed into a channel 17 with the edge 21 facing a line of juncture approximately with the bottom of bead 13.

As shown in FIG. 2, however, it will be seen that in use, the cover has been deformed to press the material thereof and gasket 20 downwardly about the bead 13 with the material placed under tension with its edge 21 in engagement with the under side of head 13.

Such deformation of the cover can be readily effected by a tool 30 shown arranged thereover and which may be lowered down over the cover to the position shown in FIG. 2 in a conventional fashion to effect its necessary deformation.

In some instances, it may be desirable to exert downward pressure on the region 16 of the cover while deforming it. This may be done by equipping the tool 30 with a ring, similar to that arranged about a conventional glass pressing plunger, which would be carried by tool 30 and after engaging the cover, compress springs to resiliently engage such region of the cover before its actual deformation is initiated.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a wide-mouth glass container having a radially outwardly-extending annular bead portion bordering the open mouth portion of the container with the annular head portion having a substantially flat exterior under surface, a closure of readily deformable sheet material comprising, a shallow-walled cup-like portion having a substantially fiat continuous bottom portion complementarily positioned downwardly within and substantially closing said open mouth portion, said cuplike portion having a bounding wall portion extending upwardly about the periphery of said bottom portion, a radial continuation of said wall portion overlying the upper surface of said annular head, a tensioned U-shaped channel extending downwardly from said radial continuation, and a free edge of said U-shaped channel extending vertically upwardly in compressive abutment with the substantially fiat under surface of said annular bead portion to securely maintain the closure upon the container.

2. The combination with a wide-mouth glass container having a radially outwardly-extending annular bead portion bordering an open mouth portion of the container, wherein the annular head portion has a substantially flat exterior under surface, of a closure of sheet material comprising; a shallow-walled cup-like portion having a substantially flat continuous bottom portion and an upwardly-extending bounding wall portion complementarily positioned downwardly within and substantially closing said open mouth portion, said cup-like portion being in the form of a closed-ended cylinder with said bounding wall portion extending vertically upwardly adjacent the inner surface of said open mouth portion, said bounding wall portion having a radial continuation overlying the upper surface of said annular head, a continuous U-shaped channel extending downwardly in tension about the entire periphery of said radial continuation, and a free edge of said U-shaped channel extending vertically upwardly in compressive abutment with the sub stantially fiat under surface of said annular bead portion to securely maintain the closure upon the container.

4 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 4/59 Germany.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A WIDE-MOUTH GLASS CONTAINER HAVING A RADIALLY OUTWARDLY-EXTENDING ANNULAR BEAD PORTION BORDERING THE OPEN MOUTH PORTION OF THE CONTAINER WITH THE ANNULAR BEAD PORTION HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT EXTERIOR UNDER SURFACE, A CLOSURE OF READILY DEFORMABLE SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING, A SHALLOW-WALLED CUP-LIKE PORTION HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT CONTINUOUS BOTTOM PORTION COMPLEMENTARILY POSITIONED DOWNWARDLY WITHIN AND SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSING SAID OPEN MOUTH PORTION, SAID CUPLIKE PORTION HAVING A BOUNDING WALL PORTION EXTENDING UPWARDLY ABOUT THE PERIPHERY OF SAID BOTTOM PORTION, A RADIAL CONTINUATION OF SAID WALL PORTION OVERLYING THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID ANNULAR BEAD, A TENSIONED U-SHAPED CHANNEL EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID RADIAL CONTINUATION, AND A FREE EDGE OF SAID U-SHAPED CHANNEL EXTENDING VERTICALLY UPWARDLY IN COMPRESSIVE ABUTMENT WITH THE SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT UNDER SURFACE OF SAID ANNULAR BEAD PORTION TO SECURELY MAINTAIN THE CLOSURE UPON THE CONTAINER.