WO2014003697A1

WO2014003697A1 - Container with a lid

Info

Publication number: WO2014003697A1
Application number: PCT/TR2013/000195
Authority: WO
Original assignee: Ceylan Barbaros
Priority date: 2012-06-27
Filing date: 2013-06-26
Publication date: 2014-01-03

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container (1) with a lid (2), said lid comprising a tear-off strip (14) to facilitate its removal from the container and being compatible with a durable leak-resistance sealing system.

Description

D E S C R I P C I O N

CONTAINER WITH A LID Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a container with a lid, said lid comprising a tear-off strip to facilitate its removal from the container and being compatible with a durable leak-resistance sealing system.

Background of the Invention

Package suitable for the transport of e.g. inflammable liquids require a very strict demands. They must pass internal pressure and hydraulic strict requirements for the packaging of dangerous goods under specific categories.

Conventional containers that meet the above mentioned criteria incorporate a resilient sealing member such as a silicon rubber O-ring seal, to achieve maximum seal by loading the said seal under compression on the junction position between the container and lid. However, the practice has demonstrated that the O-ring, usually made from synthetic rubber, does not guarantees that the container and lid assembly be able to withstand high lateral and vertical impacts.

The difficulty is that, lids with resilient sealing members are difficult to remove from the container. On the other hand, lids with tear-off strips facilitate the removal of the lid but when the tear-off strip is removed the retention and resealing of the lid on the container is not as would be desired. Moreover, other lids with tear-off strips intended to provide stronger sealing such the ones disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,735,337 may have the disadvantage that the tear-off strips are difficult to remove.

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a container and lid featured to overcome these problems.

It is a further related purpose of this invention to provide a closure that can incorporate a tear-off strip which will indicate whether or not the container has been initially opened and thus will provide a degree of assurance against premature tampering with the contents of the container, while such an improved closure still provides an effective sealing.

This tear-off strip should facilitate the first opening of the container but at the same time should leave the lid in conditions to firmly reclose the container again. Explanation of the Invention

The invention discloses an improved container with a lid, the container body having an open top with a rim thereon and upper and lower annular flanges extending radially outwards from an external wall of the container body, and the lid comprising a central disc-shaped portion and an inverted U shaped peripheral channel for receiving the rim of the container, said peripheral channel being defined by an inner leg connected to the central disc-shaped portion and an outer leg including upper and lower annular ribs formed therein in a relationship corresponding to the annular flanges of the container body, the annular ribs of the lid being snap- fastenable over the corresponding said annular flanges of the container body.

The invention is essentially characterized in that the outer leg of the lid comprises a circumferential notch along its outer and/or inner surface, which divide said outer. leg into an annular upper portion and an annular lower portion which becomes a tear-off strip upon separation thereof from the upper portion along the circumferential notch.

Additionally, the circumferential notch extends below the upper annular rib, except in at least one minor segment wherein the notch descents and is arranged below the lower annular rib, so that removal of the tear-off strip leaves a downwardly disposed gripping tab on the outer leg. Said gripping tab facilitates upward deflection of the lid and its removal.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the container body has a horizontal outwardly facing annular ledge below the lower annular flange which is extended overhanging reaching the lower end of the outer leg.

Advantageously the lower edge of the gripping tab is shaped so that when the tear-off strip is removed leaves a gap between the lower edge of the gripping tab and the annular ledge of the container, enabling that the gripping tab can be grasped and pulled outwardly.

Preferably, the gripping tab is dimensioned as to be comprised in a plane angle higher than 25°, said plane angle being formed by two imaginary straight lines in the plane of the central disc portion of the lid and intersecting at the center of said lid. Most preferably, the length of the outer perimeter of the gripping tab is 80 mm or less. In an embodiment, the tear-off strip has a downwardly oriented notch connecting the circumferential notch with the lower edge of the outer leg, defining a starting point to initiate the tearing away of the tear-off strip, wherein said downwardly oriented notch is diametrically opposite to the gripping tab.

According to another feature of the invention, the tear-off strip has a tear device next to the downwardly oriented notch. Preferably, the tear device is a hole.

In another aspect of the invention, the container body has a resilient sealing member that extends around the entire peripheral channel of the lid, and an open top with a rim which is configured such that there is no significant gap between the rim and the portion of the bottom wall of the peripheral channel facing said rim when the upper rib of the outer leg of the lid is tightly engaged upon the upper annular flange of the container, providing to the resilient member a constant compression irrespective of any subsequent load applied to the lid, particularly to the central disc-shaped portion of the lid.

In a preferred embodiment, on the underside of the bottom wall of the peripheral channel there is provided an annular downwardly oriented rib that configures together with the inner leg of the peripheral channel a reception groove for the rim, said reception groove being dimensioned such that the rim fits tightly onto the reception groove.

The invention envisages that the upper face of the upper annular flange of the container exhibits an annular projection adapted to compress the sealing member that is enclosed within the space delimited by the annular downwardly oriented rib, the bottom wall and the outer leg of the peripheral channel of the lid.

It is of interest that the distal end of the annular projection forms an acute angle.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 , is a side sectional view of the lid as secured onto a container;

Fig. 2, is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing the interlocking flanges between the lid and the container;

Fig. 3, is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing outer leg of the lid portion forming the gripping tab; and

Figs. 4a and 4b, are perspective views of front and rear sides of the container, respectively, with the lid. Detailed Description of the Invention

Referring to the drawing of Fig. 1 , this figure illustrates an injection moulded cylindrical container 1 body and injection moulded lid 2 which embodies the present invention.

The container 1 has an open top with a rim 3 thereon and two annular flanges, an upper annular flange 4a and a lower annular flange 4b, spaced apart and extending radially outwards from the external wall 17 of the container body. These annular flanges 4a, 4b provide to the container 1 a double lock as will be explained in more detail hereafter.

Spaced bellow the annular flanges 4a and 4b, is a circumferentially horizontal outwardly facing annular ledge 19. The annular ledge 9 is extended overhanging to reach the lower edge of an outer leg 9 of the lid 2, so the overhanging edge of said annular ledge 19 lies below the lower edge of the outer leg 9 without leaving a gap, as seen is Fig.1

The annular ledge 19 provides increased assurance that the content of the container cannot be reached without removing the tear-off strip.

The lid 2 is of the type comprising a central disc-shaped portion 5 and an inverted U shaped peripheral channel 6 for receiving the rim 3 of the container 1. The peripheral channel 6 is defined by an inner leg 7, connected to the central discshaped portion 5, a bottom wall 8 and an the previously presented outer leg 9.

The outer leg 9 includes two annular ribs, an upper rib 10a and a lower rib 10b, formed therein in a relationship corresponding to the spaced apart annular flanges 4a and 4b of the container body. As usual, the annular ribs 10a, 10b of the lid 2 are snap-fastenable over the corresponding said annular flanges 4a, 4b of the container body.

This outer leg 9 of the lid 2 further comprises a circumferential notch 12 or weakening line, which extends along the outer side of the outer leg 9 below the upper annular rib 10a and immediately above the lower annular rib 10b, dividing said outer leg 9 into an upper annular portion 13 of the outer leg and a lower annular tear-off strip portion 14 (see also Fig. 2).

It has to be noted that the circumferential notch 12 extends along the outer surface of the outer leg 9 above the lower annular rib 10b, except for one minor segment 20 located below the said lower annular rib 10b as seen in Fig. 3. Said notch segment 20 is arranged below the lower annular rib 10b but remains substantially above the edge of the outer leg 9 and consequently also above the annular ledge 19.

Therefore, the upper portion of the outer leg 13 includes entirely the upper annular rib 10a and is configured such that there is a portion wherein said upper portion of the outer leg 13 also comprises the lower annular rib 10b. This particular arrangement provides the upper portion of the outer leg 13 with a downwardly disposed gripping tap 15 when the tear-off strip 14 is removed. Accordingly, the gripping tab 15 includes portions of the two upper and lower annular ribs 10a and 10b. As usual, the upper and lower portions of the annular ribs 10a, 10b of the gripping tab 15 are snap-fastenable over the corresponding upper and lower annular flanges 4a, 4b of the container body.

In practice, there are two engagements each one formed by a couple of one annular flange and a corresponding rib. The first engagement in the lower level, formed by the lower rib 10b and the flange 4b, is stronger and makes the packaging performs as required. This first engagement also forms part of the tear-off strip 14, also known as peel-off band, so when the band is torn off the wider engagement is also removed.

A second engagement, formed by the upper rib 10a and the flange 4a, is designed to be weaker than the first one. The profile of their engagement surfaces, i.e. their angles and their depth, result in a friendly use when the lid has to be removed from the pail once the tear-off band is out.

In addition, the gripping tab 15 including the two portions of the annular ribs 10a and 10b formed therein does not reach the lower edge of the outer leg 9, so when the tear-off strip 14 is removed, the edge of the gripping tab 15 does not reach the annular ledge 19 leaving a gap between the lower edge of the gripping tab 15 and the annular ledge 19. Once the tear-off strip 14 is removed the gap formed between the gripping tab 15 and the annular ledge 19 facilitates the insertion of a finger or of a tool for the removal of the lid from the container.

For a container having 20 liters capacity, the inventors has selected a 300 mm diameter cylindrical bucket wherein the gripping tab 15, integrally formed in the upper annular portion 13 of the outer leg 9 of the lid 2, has a length of about 80 mm ideal to accommodate for fingers of a hand behind it during the opening of the container. This would represent an angle Z of approximately 25° formed by two imaginary straight lines in the plane of the central disc portion of the lid 2 intersecting at the center of said lid, as shown in Fig. 4b

Fig. 3 also shows that the opposite ends of the notch segment 20 are connected to the circumferential notch 12 along respective transitional notches 20a (only one of them being visible in Fig. 3) which extend obliquely to a vertical plane, said transitional notches 20a being linked to both the notch segment 20 and the circumferential notch 12 through radiused or chamfered corners, avoiding acute or straight angles.

As seen in Fig. 4a, the tear-off strip 14 has a downwardly disposed notch 25 descending from the circumferential notch 12 to the lower edge of the outer leg 9. Said vertical notch 25 is located diametrically opposite the gripping tap 15 (visible in Fig. 4b) and the notch segment 20 defining it in order to help initiate the tearing away of the tear-off strip 14 but avoiding an accidental opening of the container.

Additionally, the tear-off strip 14 has a tear device 16 located next to the vertical notch 25, said tear device 16 is a reinforced hole wherein a sharp or pointed tool can be inserted, such a screwdriver, to start tearing or peeling the tear-off strip 14 outwardly to break the notch 12 or weakening line along the outer leg 9 to remove the tear-off strip 14. The downwardly disposed gripping tap 15 will then be accessible and can be grasped and pulled outwardly to remove the lid.

The container 1 further comprises a resilient sealing member 12, made of a pressure sensitive hotmelt adhesive consisting essentially of a synthetic rubber, for example Technomelt 8797 provided by Teroson®, which extends around the entire peripheral channel 6 of the lid 2.

As will be appreciated in Fig. 1 , the rim 3 is configured such that there is no significant gap between the rim 3 and the bottom wall 8 of the peripheral channel 6 of the lid 2 when the said lid 2 is secured onto the container 2 in a sealed position, this is to say when the upper rib 10a of the outer leg 9 of the said peripheral channel 6 is tightly engaged upon its corresponding annular upper flange 4a of the container.

All the flanges and ribs described above are integrally made with the container and lid, respectively.

This particular arrangement provides to the resilient member 1 a constant compression irrespective of any subsequent load applied to the lid 2, particularly to the central disc-shaped portion 5 of the lid 2 when for example a stack of filled containers is formed over a bottom closed container.

A skilled in the arts knows that plastic parts made by injection are subject to shrinkage due to the moulding process itself (in addition to their own expansion/shrinkage due to temperature, hygroscopic effects and so on). Therefore engineers use to introduce small design tolerances that allow absorb these deviations and ensure the suitable coupling between container and lid engagement surfaces.

Thus, in the context of the present invention the lack of a significant gap must be construed as a lack of an intentional gap between the uppermost terminal edge of the rim 3 and the faced portion of the bottom wall 8 of the peripheral channel 6 of the lid. In practice, a gap equal or less than 0,2 mm it is considered a non significant gap.

As is shown in Fig. 1 , in the underside of the bottom wall 8 of the peripheral channel 6 there is an annular downwardly oriented rib 14 that configures, together with the inner leg 7 of the peripheral channel 6, a reception groove 23 for the rim 3. The reception groove 23 is dimensioned such that the rim 3 fits tightly onto the reception groove 23, contributing to the leak resistance of the lid 2. This tightly fitting performs in fact as a third sealing look for the container 1 and lid 2.

A forth sealing look is formed by the resilient sealing member 11 itself, confined in a space delimited by the annular downwardly oriented rib 22 of the bottom wall 8 of the peripheral channel 6 of the lid 2; the outermost portion of the said bottom wall 8 and the outer leg 9 of the mentioned peripheral channel 6 of the lid 2.

As seen in Fig. 1 , the upper face 21 of the upper annular flange 4a of the container 1 exhibits an annular projection 18, which forms an acute angle, adapted to compress the sealing member 11 and to favour the retention of the resilient sealing member 11 in its optimum place.

Optionally, the container 1 can comprise an external circumferential skirt 24.

Claims

1. - A container (1) with a lid (2), the lid comprising a central disc-shaped portion (5) and an inverted U shaped peripheral channel (6), said peripheral channel (6) being defined by an inner leg (7) connected to the central disc-shaped portion (5) and an outer leg (9) comprising at least an upper and a lower annular ribs (10a, 10b) formed therein, wherein the annular ribs (10a, 10b) of the lid (2) are respectively snap-fastenable over an upper and a lower annular flanges (4a, 4b) which extend radially outwards from an external wall (17) of the container body, characterized in that

the outer leg (9) of the lid further comprises a circumferential notch (12) extending along its outer and/or inner surface defining in said outer leg (9) an upper annular portion (13) and a lower annular tear-off strip (14), said notch (12) extending below the upper annular rib ( 0a) and immediately above the lower annular rib (10b) with the exception of at least one minor segment (20), that is arranged below the lower annular rib (10b) forming a downwardly oriented gripping tab (15) in said upper portion (13) of the outer leg (9).

2. - A container (1 ) with a lid (2) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the container body has an horizontal outwardly facing annular ledge (19) spaced bellow the lower annular flange (4b), which reaches the lower edge of the outer leg (9), and in that the lower edge of the gripping tab (15) is shaped so that when the tear-off strip (14) is removed leaves a gap between the lower edge of the gripping tab (15) and the annular ledge (19) of the container, enabling that the gripping tab (15) can be grasped and pulled outwardly.

3. - The container (1) with a lid (2) according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the minor segment (20) of the notch arranged below the lower annular rib (10b) is comprised in an angle not less than 25° formed by two imaginary straight lines in the plane of the central disc portion (5) of the lid (2) intersecting at the center of said lid.

4. - The container according to the previous claim, characterized in that the length of the outer perimeter of the gripping tab (15) is equal or less than 80 mm.

5. - The container (1 ) with a lid (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the tear-off strip (14) has a downwardly oriented notch (25) connecting the circumferential notch (12) with the lower edge of the outer leg (9), defining a starting point to initiate the tearing away of the tear-off strip (14), wherein said downwardly oriented notch (25) is diametrically opposite to the gripping tab (15).

6. - The container (1 ) with a lid (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the tear-off strip (14) has a tear device (16) next to the downwardly oriented notch (25).

7. - The container (1) with a lid (2) according to the previous claim, characterized in that the tear device (16) is a hole.

8. - The container (1 ) with a lid (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the container body has a resilient sealing member (1 1), which extends around the entire peripheral channel (6) of the lid, and an open top with a rim (3) which is configured such that there is no significant gap between the rim (3) and the portion of the bottom wall (8) of the peripheral channel (6) facing the said rim (3) when the upper rib (10a) of the outer leg (9) of the peripheral channel (6) is tightly engaged upon the upper annular flange (4a) of the container, providing to the resilient member (1 1 ) a constant compression irrespective of any subsequent load applied to the lid (2), particularly to the central disc-shaped portion (5) of the lid (2).

8. - A container (1) with a lid (2) according to claim 7, characterized in that on the underside of the bottom wall (8) of the peripheral channel (6) there is provided an annular downwardly oriented rib (22) that configures together with the inner leg (7) of the peripheral channel (6) a reception groove (23) for the rim (3), said reception groove (23) being dimensioned such that the rim (3) fits tightly onto the reception groove (23).

9. - A container (1 ) and a lid (2) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the upper face (21) of the upper annular flange (4a) of the container (1) exhibits an annular projection (18) adapted to compress the sealing member (1 1) that is enclosed within the space delimited by the annular downwardly oriented rib (22), the bottom wall (8) and the outer leg (9) of the peripheral channel (6) of the lid (2).

10.- A container (1) and a lid (2) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the distal end of the annular projection (18) forms an acute angle.