US3856171A

US3856171A - Cap for container

Info

Publication number: US3856171A
Application number: US00361632A
Authority: US
Inventors: A Rossi
Original assignee: Tropicana Products Inc
Current assignee: Tropicana Products Inc
Priority date: 1973-05-18
Filing date: 1973-05-18
Publication date: 1974-12-24
Anticipated expiration: 1991-12-24
Also published as: DE2422861A1

Abstract

A cap for closing said container includes a cover section comprised of a central flat portion and a sloping edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from said central flat portion. A generally inverted U-shaped seating section receives an upper lip section of the sidewall portion of said container. The seating section includes a generally upright wall portion which is integral at its lower end with, and somewhat rigidified by, the sloping edge portion of the cover section, and which has a length sufficient to project into the container on the inner side of the sidewall portion to a location adjacent an external interlock projection on the container. An outer, circumferentially extending, depending skirt portion embraces the outer side of the container sidewall. A tear strip portion of the skirt is contiguous with and depends from a main body of the skirt for a substantial circumferential extent of the main body, which extent terminates at a section of the main body thicker than, integral with and forming a circumferential continuation of the tear strip. An inwardly facing circumferentially extending sealing groove, defining the juncture of the main body and the tear strip depending therefrom, interlocks with an interlock projection of said container.

Description

United States-Patent 11 91 Rossi 11 11 1 3,856,171 [4 1 De c.2 4,1974

541 CAP FOR CONTAINER [75] Inventor: Anthony T. Rossi, Bradenton, Fla.

[73] Assignee: Tropicana Products, Inc.,

- Bradenton, Fla.

[22] Filed: May 18, 1973 [21]' Appl. No.2 361,632

[52] US. CL... 215/256, 215/320, 215/321, 220/60 [51] Int. Cl...;...' B65d 41/32 58 Field or searching 21'5/256,320, 321; 220/54, 220/27, 60; 150 5 [56] Y References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,595,420 7 1971 Miskin 215 256 3,753,511 8/1973 Ruch 215/256 Primary Examiner-George T. Hall Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from said central flat portion. A generally inverted U-shaped seating section receives an upper lip section of the sidewall portion of said container. The seating section includes a generally upright wall portion which is integral at its lower end with, and'somewhat rigidified by, the sloping edge portion of the cover section, and which has a length sufficient to project into the container on the inner side of the sidewall portion to a location adjacent an external interlock projection on the container. An outer, circumferentially-extending, depending skirt portion embraces the outer side of the container sidewall. A tear strip portion of the skirt is contiguous withand depends from a main bodyof the skirt for a substantial circumferential extent of the main body, which extent terminates at a section of the main body thicker than, integral with and forming a circumferential continuation of the tear strip. An inwardly facing circumferentially extending sealing groove, defining the juncture of the main body and the tear strip depending therefrom, in-

I terlocks with an interlock projection of said container.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures I J l I I PATENTED 3.856.171.

SHEET 1 OF 2 FIG. 1

CAP FOR CONTAINER BACKGROUND or INVENTION 7 lates to a novel cap forsuch containers wherein an adequate seal is obtainable without the need for sacrificing significant storage space within the container, and

wherein removal of the cap is facilitated.

For the purpose of facilitating removal of plastic caps from containers, it has been proposed in the past to employ a tear strip operable to separate a cap into sections adjacent an interlock between the cap. and a container projection. Reference may be had to Swiss Pat. No.

' 520,599, granted Mar. 31,1972, for an example of a proposal of this 'sort.

Although such caps .may be desirable for some purposes, they may not be entirely acceptable for a number of reasons. For example, in such arrangements it is proposed that the tear-off portion sever the cap into two sections, and that cap removal be facilitated by means of lever action of a projecting tab that overlies a depressed bottom portion of the cap. In addition, it is proposed that a bulged portion of a wall projecting from the depressed bottom be employed in press fit with the container adjacent the interlock.

it will be appreciated that the useof such a depressed bottom cap to facilitate cap removal through the agency of the projecting lever and to facilitate press fit at the interlock results in the sacrifice of at least some volume otherwise available within the container for storage of contents.

lt would,-therefore, be desirable to provide a novel container cap wherein an adequate seal may be obtained and cap removal may be facilitated, both without the need'for sacrificing significant container storage space' I v I It would be additionally desirable to provide such a cap wherein cap removal is facilitated through the use of a tear strip without the need for the provision of levers or the like. 1

In this connection, it is noted that a prior proposal in Us. Pat. No. 3,392,862. issued July 16, l968, discloses theuse of atab and tear'strip that is braced against complete tearing so that pulling of the tab itself may accomplish cap removal. Although such a proposed arrangement may again be adequate forv some purposes, it will be recognized that the lack of a seating interlock between the cap and the upper edge of the container ject to flexibility that might render the overall cap not entirely acceptable for sealing purposes.

It would. therefore. be desirable to retain the space advantages of a cover'section of a cap maintained essentially atthe upper end of a container, while also providing an interlock that is rigidified at an internal cap portion adjacent the interlock.

tion in turn includes a main body and a tear strip con- OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF A PREFERRED FORM OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to provide a novel capfor cans and other similar containers that will obviate or minimize disadvantages of the sort previously noted. 1

it is a particular object of the present invention to provide a novel container cap wherein an adequate seal may be obtained and cap removalv maybe facilitated, both without the need for sacrificing significant; con- .tainer storage space.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a cap wherein a tear strip facilitates cap removal without the need for reliance on levers or the like.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a cap wherein a seating portion of the cap is rigidified internally of the container adjacent an interlock between the cap and container.

A preferred form of the invention intended to'accomplish at least some of the foregoing objects comprises a cap for closing a container, with the cap including a cover section and a seating section. The cover section is comprised of a central, generally fiat portion, and a sloping edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from the central flat portion. When the cap is in position on the container, the central-fiat portion is maintained essentially at the upper end of the container so as to enable use of essentially the entire container volume for storage.

, The container includes a bottom wall portion, and a circumferentially extending sidewall portion terminating at an open upper end defining an upper container edge. A circumferentially extending interlock projection onthe sidewall portion of the container, adjacent its open upper end, faces outwardly of the sidewall por tion. This interlock projection divides the sidewall portion into an upper lipsection terminating in the upper container edge, and a lower section extending to the bottom wall portion of the container.

The seating section of the cap has a generally in-' verte'dU-shaped configuration'for receiving the upper lip section of the sidewall portion of the container. A generally upright wall portion of the seating section is integral at its lower end with thesloping edge portion of the cover section. This upright wall portion is of a length sufficient to project into the container on the inner side of the sidewall portion by substantially the depth of the container lip section, i.e., the depth corresponding to the location of the interlock projection on the container.

An outer, circumferentially extending, depending skirt portion of the seating section embraces the outer tiguous with and depending from the main body fora substantial circumferential extent of the mainbody. The circumferential extent of the tear strip terminates at a section of the main body thicker than, integral with, and forming a circumferential continuation of the tear strip.

An inwardly facing, circumferentially extending, seating groove defines the juncture of the main body of the skirt portion and the tear strip depending therefromQ'This groove serves to provide for interlocking withthe interlock projection of the container.

from the container;

tion and the seating groove. However, in the assembled.

condition, the cap maintains a positive seal that is enhanced by the rigidfying of the aforementioned upright wall portion of the seating section adjacent its bottom by means of the downwardly sloping edge portion of the cover. f j s For cap removal, an end portion of the tear strip functions as a tab connected to the main body of the skirt portion thereabove by means of easily torn connection strips. The tab may be pulled and the tear strip may be torn circumferentially about the cap until the juncture of the tear strip with a thickened portion of the skirt is reached. Further force applied to the tear strip in a slightly upward direction results in pulling the cap from the container. Thus, there is no need for grasping'of the cap in order to provide for itsremoval.

, ing section remains intact even after the tear strip is broken loose, so as to facilitate replacement of the cap on the container.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like elements, and in which:

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a cap according to the present invention assembled with a container;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar toFIG. l but de-' picting the severance of tab portion of a tear strip of the cap; 7

FIG. 3 is a further perspective view similar to FIG. 1 showing'the severance of the-remaining portion of the tear strip;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view'illustrating lifting of the cap with the permanently attached tear strip FIG. S'is an elevational assembly view partially in cross-section, depicting assembly of the cap and container;

FIG. 6 is a partial cross sectional view showing the major portion of the cap;

FIG. 7- is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 7 -7 of FIG. 4 and showing the thickened section I of the capskirt; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the bottom of the cap. 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The'cap 12'is somewhat more flexible and is preferably an integrally molded one-piece plastic member.

The container 10 includes a bottom wall portion 14 and a circumferentially extending sidewall portion 16. This sidewall portion 16 terminates at an open upper end of the container defining an upper container edge 18.

Adjacent itsopen upper end the container is provided with a circumferentially extending interlock projection 20 onthe container sidewall portion 16. This interlock projection 20 which has a generally right triangular configuration in cross-section (FIG. 5), faces outwardly of the sidewall portion 16 and divides that sidewall portion into an upper lip section 22 and a lower section 24.

' The lower section 24 extends to the bottom wall porradially outwardly from the central flat portion with which itis integral.

The seating seating section 28 of the cap 12 is of a generally inverted U-shaped configuration and is operable to receive the upper lip section 22 of the sidewall portion of the container 10. As best viewed in FIGS. 6 and 7, the seating section 28 includes a generally up right wall portion 34 integral at its lower endwith the sloping edge portion 32 of the cover section 36. This generally upright wall portion 34 is of a sufficient length to project into the container 10 on the inner side of the sidewall portion 24 of the container by substantially the depth of the lip section 22;

As' will thus be appreciated, the upright wall portion 34 of the seating section therefore has a lower end 35 that, upon assembly of the cap 12 with the container 10, terminates inside the container at substantially the level where the interlock projection 20 is located on the outside of the container. According to this arrangement, the gripping of the container adjacent the interlock projection 20 is facilitated by both the location of the lower end 35 of the upright wall portion 34 and its rigidity in assembled position, which rigidity is enhanced through the bracing provided by the integral sloping edge portion 32.

The seating section 28 of the cap 12 further includes a circumferentially'extending, depending skirt portion 36 integrally attached to the previously identified upright wall portion 34 by a generally flat circumferentially extending rib section 38. Upon assembly of the cap 12 with the container 10, the skirt portion 36 is operable to embrace the outer side of the container sidewall portion 16. The rib section 38 functions as a stop against-which the upper edge 18 of the container 10 may abut.

With particular reference to FIG. 8, it may be seen that the skirt portion 36 is comprised of a main body 38 and a tear strip 40, both of which extend circumferentially about the cap 12. The tear strip 40 is contiguous with ahd depends from the main body 38 for a substantial circumferential extent .of the main body 38,

which extent terminates at a section of the main body tial continuation of the tear strip 40. (See FIG. 7).

-An inwardly facing, circumferentially extending, seating groove 44 (FIG. 3) defines the juncture of the main body 38 and the tear strip 40 depending therefrom. This groove is generally V-shaped and is operable to interlock with the interlock projection of the container. Preferably, the upwardly sloping wall 46 of the V-shaped groove 44 is shaped to conformingly mate with a similar upwardly sloping wall 47 of the interlock projection 20 on the container 10.

Throughout the extent of the tear strip 40 and the previously mentioned thick portion 42 of the main body 38, the internal lower portion of the skirt 36 is generally outwardly sloping away from the central axis of the cap 12, as indicated at 48. During assembly of the cap 12 on the container 10, the slight outward slop ing facilitates reception of the container by the cap.

As the cap is pressed down over the upper edge of the container thereis sufficient resilient flexibility of the skirt 36 and the remaining portions of the seating section 28 to permit the interlock projection 20 to snap into the cap interlock groove 44. This flexibility is enhanced by the seating groove 44. The base of the groove 44 defines a skirt dimension of reduced cross-- section, indicated at 50, that may function generally as a pivot zone.

When interlocking occurs, the lip section 22 of the container is received in the generally U-shaped seating section 28 with the upp'eredge of the container 18 abu ting the upper wall of the generally U-shaped seating recess defined by the ridge 38. The mating reception of the container lip section 22 by the cap 12 may beconsider'ed to be an interference fit type reception between the upright wall 34 and the upper portion or the main body 38 of the skirt. Thus, the cap provides an adequate seal for the container.

At this juncture it may be noted that when the container portions are forcedfit into the mating cap portions so as to cause flexing of elements (possibly including some flexing of the upright wall 34), subsequent sealing ofthe cap is not significantly adversely affected by this flexing inasmuch as the generally upright wall 34 of the seating section 28 is somewhat rigidified adjacent its bottom 35 by the sloping edge portion 32 of the cover.

.This arrangement is, however, designed to allow some flexing of the upright wall portion 34 if such flexing is needed during assembly. Nevertheless, it will be seen that the sloping edge portion 32 provides a reaction force against forces acting on the lower end of the upright wall portion. This reaction force is desirably sufficient to insure return of the lower end 35 of the up- 52 is joined to the main body portion 38 of the skirt 36 thereabove by easily broken connecting strips 54.. The

right wall portion 34 into a gripping engagement with the inner side of the container sidewall'l6, adjacent the location where the interlock projection fits into the groove 44.

While providing such rigidity, the cap according to the present invention does not take up significant volume that would otherwise be available for storage within the container. in this connection, the raised central flat portion 30 of the cap is, when the cap is assembled on the container 10, located at substantially the upper end of the container.

Returning again to F IG. 1-, it will be seen that the end of the tear strip 40 is constituted by a tab 52. This tab circumferential end of the tab is also slightly spaced from and similarly connected to the thickened section 42 of the skirt so asl-to facilitate access to the tab when it becomes desirable to remove'the cap. At such time,

one need only grip the tap with the thumb and forefinger and apply tension to the tab sufficient to break the connecting strips 50 (See'FlG. 2).,

Continued tension results in a tearing away of the tear strip 40 about the base of the notch or groove 44 (See FIG. 3). In this connection it will be appreciated that the notch provides a weakening line to facilitate tearing the tear strip40. When the tear strip 40 has been circumferentially severed to its juncture point with the thickened portion 42 of the skirt, continued force applied to the tear strip by pulling the tap in a generally upward direction results in removal of the cap from the container 10 without the need to grasp the body of the cap (See FIG. 4). It will be appreciated that although the groove-44 extends entirely about the cap, the thickened portion 42 of the skirt is sufficiently thick to resist tearing at the groove, i.e., the zone 50 of reduced cross-section is thickerat the thickened cap portion 42.

If desired, the cap may be reused as for subsequent temporary closure of the container. In this connection, it will be realized that even after thepermanently attached tear strip 40 has been detached up to the thickened skirt portion 42, the bulk of the U-shaped seating section 28 remains generally intact so as to facilitate replacement of the cap on the container.

Although the invention has been described with reference to preferred forms thereof, it will be appreciated that additions, substitutions, modifications and deletions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed: 1. Apparatus comprising: a container including:

a bottom wall portion,

a circumferentially extending sidewall portion terminating at an open upper end defining an upper container edge, and

a circumferentially extending, interlock projection on said sidewall portion adjacent said open upper end of said container, said interlock projection facing outwardly of said sidewall portion and dividing said sidewall portion into: an upper, lip section terminating in saidupper container edge, and a lower section extending to said bottom wall portion of said container;- a cap for closingsaid container, said cap including:

a cover section comprising:

a central flat portion, and a sloping edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from said central flat portion, and

a generally inverted U-shaped seating section for receiving said upper lip section of said sidewall portion of said container, said seating section comprising:

a generally upright wall portion integral at its lower'end with said sloping edge portion of said v cover section and rigidified thereby at its juncture with said sloping edge portion, said generally upright wall portion being of a length sufficient to project into said container on the inner side of 'saidsidewall portion by substantially the depth of said lip section, and an outer, circumferentially extending, depending skirt portion for. embracing the outer side of said container sidewall portion, said skirt porti on including:

a main body,

a tear strip contiguous with and depending from said main body for a substantial circumferential extent of said main body, which extent terminates at a section of said main body thicker than, integral with and'forming a circumferential continuation of said tearstrip, v

entially extending interlock projection, said cap including:

acover'section comprising:-

a central flat portion, and asloping edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from saidcentral fiat portion, and I v a generally inverted U-shaped seating section for receiving an upper sidewall portion of said container,

said seating section comprising:

a generally upright wall portion integral at its lower end with said sloping edge portion of said cover section and rigidified thereby at its juncture with said sloping edge portion, said generally upright wall portion being of a length sufficient to project into said container on the inner side of said sidewall portion to the depth of said interlock projec-- tion, and

an outer, circumferentially extending, depending skirt portion for embracing the outer side of the container sidewall portion, said skirt portion including:

a main .body, I

a tear strip contiguous with and depending from said main body for a substantial circumferential extent of said main body, which extent terminates at a section of said main body thicker than, integral with and forming a circumferential continuation of said tear strip, and

. '8 an inwardly facing circumferentially extending groove, definingthe juncture of said main body and the tear strip depending therefrom, for interlocking withsaid interlock projection of said container; said rigidified juncture of said generally upright wall portion of said seating section and said sloping edge portion of said cover section being disposed adjacent said circumferentially extending interlock groove to enhance maintenance of a positive seal at the location of said interlock projection of said container and said groove of said cap. j

3. A cap for closing said container having a circumferentially extending interlock projection, said cap including: I 1

a cover section comprising:

a generally central raised portion, and

a sloping edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from said central raised portion, .and

a generally inverted U-shaped seating section for received an upper sidewall portion of said container, said seating section comprising: I

a wall portion integral with and extending upwardly from said sloping edge portion of said cover secan outer, circumferentially extending, depending skirt portion for embracing the outer sideof said container sidewall portion, said skirt portion including:

a main body, j i

a tear strip contiguous with and depending from 1 said main body for at least a substantial circumferential extent of said main body, and

a circumferentially extending seating recess, for

interlocking with said interlock projection of .said container, said'wall portion of said seating section being integral with said sloping edge portion of said cover section adjacent said seating recess; and being rigidified thereby at its juncture with. said sloping edge portion to enhance maintenance of a positive seal at the location of said interlock projection of said container and said groove of said cap.

cumferentially extending groove defining the juncture of said main body and the tear strip depending therefrom. 4 6. A cap according to claim 3 wherein: said seating recess comprises an inwardly facing, cir cumferentially extending groove defining the juncture of said main body and the tear strip depending therefrom.

Claims

1. Apparatus comprising: a container including: a bottom wall portion, a circumferentially extending sidewall portion terminating at an open upper end defining an upper container edge, and a circumferentially extending, interlock projection on said sidewall portion adjacent said open upper end of said container, said interlock projection facing outwardly of said sidewall portion and dividing said sidewall portion into: an upper, lip section terminating in said upper container edge, and a lower section extending to said bottom wall portion of said container; a cap for closing said container, said cap including: a cover section comprising: a central flat portion, and a sloping edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from said central flat portion, and a generally inverted U-shaped seating section for receiving said upper lip section of said sidewall portion of said container, said seating section comprising: a generally upright wall portion integral at its lower end with said sloping edge portion of said cover section and rigidified thereby at its juncture with said sloping edge portion, said generally upright wall portion being of a length sufficient to project into said container on the inner side of said sidewall portion by substantially the depth of said lip section, and an outer, circumferentially extending, depending skirt portion for embracing the outer side of said container sidewall portion, said skirt portion including: a main body, a tear strip contiguous with and depending from said main body for a substantial circumferential extent of said main body, which extent terminates at a section of said main body thicker than, integral with and forming a circumferential continuation of said tear strip, and an inwardly facing circumferentially extending groove, defining the juncture of said main body and the tear strip depending therefrom, for interlocking with said interlock projection of said container; said rigidified juncture of said generally upright wall portion of said seating section and said sloping edge portion of said cover section being disposed adjacent said circumferentially extending interlock groove to enhance maintenance of a positive seal at the location of said interlock projection of said container and said groove of said cap.

2. A cap for closing a container having a circumferentially extending interlock projection, said cap including: a cover section comprising: a central flat portion, and a sloping edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from said central flat portion, and a generally inverted U-shaped seating section for receiving an upper sidewall portion of said container, said seating section comprising: a generally upright wall portion integral at its lower end with said sloping edge portion of said cover section and rigidified thereby at its juncture with said sloping edge portion, said generally upright wall portion being of a length sufficient to project into said container on the inner side of said sidewall portion to the depth of said interlock projection, and an outer, circumferentially extending, depending skirt portion for embracing the outer side of the container sidewall portion, said skirt portion including: a main body, a tear strip contiguous with and depending from said main body for a substantial circumferential extent of said main body, which extent terminates at a section of said main body thicker than, integral with and forming a circumferential continuation of said tear strip, and an inwardly facing circumferentially extending groove, defining the juncture of said main body and the tear strip depending therefrom, foR interlocking with said interlock projection of said container; said rigidified juncture of said generally upright wall portion of said seating section and said sloping edge portion of said cover section being disposed adjacent said circumferentially extending interlock groove to enhance maintenance of a positive seal at the location of said interlock projection of said container and said groove of said cap.

3. A cap for closing said container having a circumferentially extending interlock projection, said cap including: a cover section comprising: a generally central raised portion, and a sloping edge portion sloping downwardly and radially outwardly from said central raised portion, and a generally inverted U-shaped seating section for received an upper sidewall portion of said container, said seating section comprising: a wall portion integral with and extending upwardly from said sloping edge portion of said cover section, an outer, circumferentially extending, depending skirt portion for embracing the outer side of said container sidewall portion, said skirt portion including: a main body, a tear strip contiguous with and depending from said main body for at least a substantial circumferential extent of said main body, and a circumferentially extending seating recess, for interlocking with said interlock projection of said container, said wall portion of said seating section being integral with said sloping edge portion of said cover section adjacent said seating recess; and being rigidified thereby at its juncture with said sloping edge portion to enhance maintenance of a positive seal at the location of said interlock projection of said container and said groove of said cap.

4. A cap according to claim 3 wherein: said tear strip is permanently attached to the remainder of said cap by a thickened section of said main body of said skirt portion.

5. A cap according to claim 4 wherein: said seating recess comprises an inwardly facing, circumferentially extending groove defining the juncture of said main body and the tear strip depending therefrom.

6. A cap according to claim 3 wherein: said seating recess comprises an inwardly facing, circumferentially extending groove defining the juncture of said main body and the tear strip depending therefrom.