Containers used to store food and other items may include a sealable lid that forms a seal with the container to maintain quality and freshness of the food stored in the container. There are many different types of sealable lids. Some containers include a snap fit or friction fit lid to form a seal with a container. These lids can be difficult to secure to the container. Other lids include latches that engage the container to hold the lid to the container and maintain the seal between the lid and the container. Sometimes these latches can be difficult to operate. Also, for containers where the food is to be poured from the container, it can be difficult to design a lid that can easily open and properly seal against such a container.
In view of the foregoing, a container lid assembly includes a cover, a pivoting lid connected with the cover, and a lid gasket connected with the pivoting lid. The cover is configured to fit with an associated container and defines an opening through the cover. The pivoting lid is positioned in the opening in the cover. The pivoting lid is movable between an open position and a closed position. The lid gasket defines an upper surface and a lower surface. The upper surface and the lower surface of the lid gasket contacts the cover when the pivoting lid is in the closed position.
Another example of a container lid assembly includes a cover and a pivoting lid connected with the cover. The cover is configured to fit with an associated container and defines an opening through the cover. The pivoting lid is releasably connected with the cover and is positioned in the opening in the cover. The pivoting lid is movable between an open position and a closed position. The pivoting lid is slidably removable from the cover when the pivoting lid is in the open position.
Another example of a container lid assembly includes a cover, a pivoting lid connected with the cover, and a lid gasket connected with the pivoting lid. The cover is configured to fit with an associated container and includes a peripheral wall at least partially defining an opening through the cover. The pivoting lid is connected with the cover, positioned in the opening in the cover, and pivotable about a pivot axis. The lid gasket connects with the pivoting lid and seals against the cover on opposite sides of the pivot axis when the pivoting lid is in a closed position.
The cover 30 includes a peripheral sidewall 34 at least partially defining an opening 36 through the cover 30. The cover 30 also includes what will be referred to as a forward end 38 and a rear end 40. The terms “forward” and “rear” are used for ease of understanding of the figures depicted and with reference to how the container assembly 10 can be used; however, these directional terms are not meant to limit the container lid assembly 14 to any particular configuration unless specifically stated as such.
The peripheral sidewall 34 is generally vertically oriented as more clearly seen in
The cover 30 also includes a flange 54 that surrounds and extends outwardly from the peripheral wall 34. The shape of the flange 54 can change around the cover. For example, the shape of the flange 54 at the forward end 38 of the cover 30 differs from the shape of the flange 54 at the rear end 40 of the cover. The flange 54 covers the cover gasket 32 that is connected with the cover 30. As more clearly seen in
The cover 30 also includes an upper wall 62 that is generally horizontally disposed as compared to the peripheral sidewall 32. The upper wall 62 also at least partially defines the opening 36 in the cover 30. The upper wall 62 extends forwardly from the peripheral wall 34 along the rear end 40. An internal wall 64, which is generally vertically oriented, depends downwardly from the upper wall 62 and defines a rear boundary of the opening 36 in the cover 30. The internal wall 64 curves downwardly and rearwardly towards the rear end 40 of the cover 30 to define a rear sealing surface 66, which will be described in more detail below.
The cover 30 also includes components that cooperate with a pivoting lid 68 of the container lid assembly 14. These components are shown in
The cover 30 includes guide walls 70 (only one of which is visible in
The cover 30 also includes a stop elements 82 (only one of which is visible in
The cover 30 also includes a catch elements 86 (only one of which is visible in
The container lid assembly includes the cover 30, the pivoting lid 68 connected with the cover 30 and positioned in the opening 36 in the cover 30, and a lid gasket 100 connected with the pivoting lid. The pivoting lid 68 is movable between an open position, which is shown in
The pivoting lid 68 includes a top wall 120 that at least substantially covers the opening 36 in the cover 30 when the pivoting lid is in the closed position (see
The pivoting lid 68 also includes an upper ridge 130 and a lower ridge 132, which surround the pivoting lid 68. The upper ridge 130 and the lower ridge 132 define a channel 134, and the lid gasket 100 is received in this channel. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower ridge 132 includes a cutout 136 to facilitate attachment of the lid gasket 100 to the pivoting lid 68. Although not visible in
The lid 68 also includes side flanges 150 on each side of the lid. Only a portion of one of the side flanges 150 is visible in
The side flange 150 extends downwardly from the lower ridge 132 and is generally vertically oriented. The side flange includes a forward section 152 and a rear section 154 separated by a cutout 156. The forward section 152 is more flexible than the rear section 154 and is designed to flex inwardly and cooperate with the catch element 86 on the cover 30. With reference to
With reference back to
The pivoting lid 68 also includes a lid stop 170, which extends outwardly from the outer surface 166 of the forward section 152. The lid stop 170 is generally block-shaped and defines a contact surface 172. The contact surface 172 is on a lower side of the lid stop 170 and is angled with respect to the horizontal. The lid stop 170 is configured to cooperate with the cover 30 to prevent further movement of the pivoting lid 68 in a closing rotational direction beyond the closed position shown in
The pivoting lid 68 also includes a boss 180 on the side flange 150 positioned nearer the rear end 112 of the pivoting lid 68 as compared to the lid stop 170 and the elongate protuberance 162, which operates as a detent. In the illustrated embodiment, the boss is located on the rear section 154 of the side flange 150. As discussed above, the side flange 150 includes the cutout 156 and the boss 180 is positioned on one side of the cutout 156 and the lid stop 170 and the elongate protuberance 162, which operates as a detent, are positioned on an opposite side of the cutout 156. The boss 180 is coaxial with the pivot axis 114 of the pivoting lid 68. Each boss 180 is receivable in and releasable from a respective U-shaped guide wall 70 on the cover 30. The boss 180 is properly aligned with respect to the U-shaped guide wall 70 when an opening 182 defined by the boss receives the detent 78 disposed inside the guide wall 70.
The pivoting lid 68 is slidably removable from the cover 30. To slidably remove the pivoting lid 68 from the cover 30, the pivoting lid 68 is moved to the open position shown in
The U-shaped guide walls 70 and the cover 30 are oriented such that the pivoting lid 68 is removable from each U-shaped guide wall 70 when the pivoting lid is pulled in a direction coincident or parallel with the second line 186. The U-shaped guide wall 70 is aligned such that the straight leg sections 74, 76 are angled so as to be parallel with the arrow 190, which is parallel with the plane in which the lower section 122 of the top wall 120 resides when the pivoting lid 68 is in the open position. This allows for easy removal of the pivoting lid 68 from the cover 30. When the pivoting lid 68, however, is in positions other than the open position shown in
An operator can replace the lid 68 after it has been removed from the cover 30 by orienting the pivoting lid 68 in a manner similar to that shown in
The lid gasket 100 is connected with the pivoting lid 68. The lid gasket 100 is generally ring-shaped and follows the shape of the channel 134 formed in the pivoting lid 68. The lid gasket defines an upper surface 192 and a lower surface 194. Both the upper surface 192 and the lower surface 194 contact the cover 30 when the pivoting lid is in the closed position. The upper surface 192 of the lid gasket 100 positioned along the rear end 112 of the pivoting lid 68 contacts the cover 30 when the pivoting lid 68 is in the closed position. More particularly, the upper surface 192 of the lid gasket 100 positioned along the rear end 112 contacts the rear sealing surface 66 of the internal wall 64, which defines a rear boundary of the opening 36 in the cover 30. The lower surface 194 of the lid gasket 100 positioned along the forward end 110 of the pivoting lid 68 contacts the cover 30 when the pivoting lid 68 is in the closed position. The lower surface 194 of the lid gasket 110 contacts the interior surface 44 of the peripheral wall 34 along the forward end 38 of the cover 30 where the peripheral wall 34 curves outwardly toward the upper edge 48. The lid gasket 100 can also include a peripheral edge 196 that interconnects the upper surface 192 to the lower surface 194. The peripheral edge 196 of the lid gasket 190 contacts the interior surface 44 of the peripheral wall 34 between the forward end 38 of the cover to the internal wall 64 when the pivoting lid is in the closed position 68. As such, the lid gasket 100 can operate as a seal between the pivoting lid 68 and the cover 30 when the pivoting lid 68 is in the closed position.
The lid gasket 100 is shown as a flat gasket in the figures. The lid gasket 100 can take other configurations, for example a hollow compressible seal or foam type gasket. Such a lid gasket 100 could still seal against the cover 30 on opposite sides of the pivot axis 114 when the pivoting lid 68 is in the closed position.
A container assembly including a container lid assembly has been described above with particularity. Modifications and alterations will occur to those upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. The invention, however, is not limited to only the embodiments described above. Instead, the invention is broadly defined by the appended claims and the equivalents thereof. It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives or varieties thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.