CONTAINER THAT PREVENTS FROM AN ILLEGAL OPERATION AND CAN BE EASILY IDENTIFIED AFTER BEING ILLEGALLY OPERATED

Abstract

Disclosed is a container that prevents illegal operations and can be easily identified after being illegally operated. The container has a tension-breaking type buckle member having an annular tear line including connecting ribs and slits spaced apart from the annular tear line. A longitudinal line is defined by the middle point of the outer edge of the pull piece extending through the center point of the annular tear line, and the center of the annular tear line defines horizontal and longitudinal lines orthogonal to each other. The container further includes a weakening strength unit of tear line with a first weakening slit formed on both sides of the annular tear line close to the two sides of the pull tab. The extension length of the first weakening slit is between the angle range of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the horizontal line as the center point.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a container, and more particularly to a container that prevents illegal operations and can be easily identified after being illegally operated.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98

Thin-wall plastic containers (hereinafter referred to as “containers”) are normally produced by vacuum forming. There are a variety of such containers in the marketplace. They are made into different shapes, such as the shape of a box, a cup, or a bowl, and are very suitable to be used as packaging containers for instant food (e.g. cooked food or peeled fruits). Apart from the advantages of low production cost and recyclability, their transparent design allows consumers to clearly see the food held inside.

A conventional container usually has a box body and a cover body. The box body and the cover body can either be integrally formed, connected to each other on one side, or be separately formed. However, no matter in which form, in order for the cover body to seal the box body to keep the food fresh during exhibition, there are usually matching configurations of concave and convex portions on the box body and the cover body to fix them together. Such configurations facilitate packaging and allow repeated opening and closing.

As the box body and the cover body of a conventional container are fixed together only by the simple configurations of concave and convex portions, it may cause a problem that some consumers might maliciously open the packaging and such behaviors may not be easily discovered. Various measures are taken to cope with this problem. Some sellers use a stapler to bind the edges of the box body and cover body, and consumers need to remove the staples by themselves after they have bought the food product. However, in such cases, most consumers tend to open the container by force, resulting in damage of the box body or cover body by the staples, and the regret that the container cannot be repeatedly used.

Some other manufacturers have developed a kind of container that allows consumers to pull open the container only from a preset buckle portion and pull tab between the box body and cover body of the container. Once the pull tab is pulled open, the buckle portion will break due to the design of a ring tear line on its periphery and be retained in a slot, so that the market management or the checkout staff can identify if the container has been illegally opened. Such a conventional structural design allows repeated usage, and can avoid damages of other parts of the container. However, in actual applications, it is found that identification of illegal opening is still not easy. Even if the pull tab is pulled open, it may be recovered due to the elasticity of plastics, and because most containers are made of transparent plastics, the breakage of the buckle portion may not be easily identified. Hence, if someone maliciously opens the packaging and then closes the cover body to return the container to its original state, the pull tab may also be recovered to its original position and flat state. The transparency of the container will further make it difficult for market management and checkout staff to identify if the buckle portion has been opened. Therefore, such a design still has not perfectly solved the problem that illegal opening of the container cannot be easily identified.

On the other hand, in the conventional pull tab, the connecting ribs of the ring tear line are usually designed with even interval distributions. Therefore, when the pull tab is pulled, the resistance points are relatively evenly distributed. As a result, after opening, when the pull tab turns up under the resistance of the connecting ribs, it will have a smooth bending. Such a smooth bending state may add to the difficulty in identification of illegal opening. So the design should be improved.

Moreover, when the pull tab is pulled open, damages of the container may occur due to excessive resistance when the evenly distributed connecting ribs are too far away from the center point of the circle formed by the ring tear line. This problem will cause difficulty and inconvenience of opening of the container product.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a container that prevents illegal operations and can be easily identified after being illegally operated. It aims to make a breakthrough and creatively solve the technical problems in developing a new structural design of a container product that will be ideal and practical.

Based on the aforesaid object, the problem-solving technical features of the present invention lie in that the container comprises:

• • a box body, including an opening and a first joining edge configured around the opening;
  • a cover body, optionally covering the opening of the box body, the periphery of said cover body configured with a second joining edge to fit the first joining edge configured on the box body;
  • a pull tab, formed on the second joining edge of the cover body, protruding outward, said pull tab including an external end edge and two side edges;
  • a tension-breaking type buckle member, including a buckle convex portion configured on the pull tab, a buckling slot configured at a position on the box body for the buckle convex portion to align and fix, and a ring tear line configured on the periphery of the buckle convex portion, thus, when the pull tab is pulled, the ring tear line will break and leave the buckle convex portion in the buckling slot, said ring tear line including a plurality of connecting ribs circularly distributed with intervals, and a plurality of slits relatively formed between the neighboring connecting ribs in a hollowed-out state; moreover, the peripheral area of the buckle convex portion of the pull tab and the peripheral area of the buckling slot of the box body are pushed together face to face, under the face-to-face contacting state, the pull tab protrudes outside the first joining edge of the box body to facilitate pulling, whereas the ring tear line is correspondingly configured inside the first joining edge of the box body; furthermore, extending from the center point of external end edge of the pull tab to the center point of the circle formed by the ring tear line, a longitudinal line is defined, and the center of the ring tear line further defines a horizontal line, said horizontal line and said longitudinal line being orthogonal to each other;
  • a pull tab strength weakening portion, configured on the structure of the pull tab, formed in a flat state, capable of bending, wherein the ring tear line is configured around the periphery of the buckle convex portion at an interval, so that the pull tab strength weakening portion is constituted by the narrow area existing between the ring tear line and the side edge of the pull tab, said pull tab strength weakening portion being used to cause the pull tab to have a bent portion when pulled up, so that the pull tab will turn up for easy identification; and
  • a weakening strength unit of the tear line, at least including a first weakening slit, said first weakening slit formed on the two sides of the ring tear line close to the two side edges of the pull tab, the extension length of said first weakening slit being between the angle range of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the horizontal line as the center point.

The effects and advantages of the present invention mainly include the following:

• • 1. Through the differentiated interval configuration of the weakening slit of the weakening strength unit of the tear line, the strength weakening portion of the pull tab can have a bending state obviously different from other parts of the pull tab. This is a practical advantage and advance to enhance the effect of identification of opening.
  • 2. When the pull tab is pulled up, the special design of the weakening strength unit of the tear line can effective avoid damage of the pull tab due to excessive resistance at the connecting points of the ring tear line, and can therefore extend the life cycle of the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view 1 of a preferred embodiment of the container according to the invention, showing the state wherein the cover body is opened.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view 1 of a preferred embodiment of the container according to the invention, showing the state wherein the cover body is closed.

FIG. 3 is a top view corresponding to FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a 4-4 sectional view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the pull tab portion of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the pull tab according to the invention when it is not pulled up.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the pull tab according to the invention when it is pulled up.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 illustrate a preferred embodiment of a container that prevents illegal operations and can be easily identified after being illegally operated. However, such an embodiment is for the purpose of illustration only and is not intending to limit the scope of the invention.

The container comprises: a box body 10, including an opening 11 and a first joining edge 12 configured around the opening 11; a cover body 20, optionally covering the opening 11 of the box body 10, the periphery of said cover body 20 configured with a second joining edge 22 to fit the first joining edge 12 configured on the box body 10; a pull tab 30, formed on the second joining edge 22 of the cover body 20, protruding outward, said pull tab 30 including an external end edge 31 and two side edges 32; a tension-breaking type buckle member 40, including a buckle convex portion 41 configured on the pull tab 30, a buckling slot 42 configured at a position on the box body 10 for the buckle convex portion 41 to align and fix, and a ring tear line 43 configured on the periphery of the buckle convex portion 41, thus, when the pull tab 30 is pulled, the ring tear line 43 will break and leave the buckle convex portion 41 in the buckling slot 42, said ring tear line 43 including a plurality of connecting ribs 431 circularly distributed with intervals, and a plurality of slits 432 relatively formed between the neighboring connecting ribs 431 in a hollowed-out state. Moreover, the peripheral area of the buckle convex portion 41 of the pull tab 30 and the peripheral area of the buckling slot 42 of the box body 10 are pushed together face to face. Under the face-to-face contacting state, the pull tab 30 protrudes outside the first joining edge 12 of the box body 10 to facilitate pulling, whereas the ring tear line 43 is correspondingly configured inside the first joining edge 12 of the box body 10. Furthermore, extending from the center point of the external end edge 31 of the pull tab 30 to the center point of the circle formed by the ring tear line 43, a longitudinal line L1 is defined, and the center of the ring tear line 43 further defines a horizontal line L2, said horizontal line L2 and said longitudinal line L1 being orthogonal to each other. A pull tab strength weakening portion 50, configured on the structure of the pull tab 30, is formed in a flat state, capable of bending, wherein the ring tear line 43 is configured around the periphery of the buckle convex portion 41 at an interval, so that the pull tab strength weakening portion 50 is constituted by the narrow area existing between the ring tear line 43 and the side edge 32 of the pull tab 30, said pull tab strength weakening portion 50 being used to cause the pull tab 30 to have a bent portion when pulled up, so that the pull tab 30 will turn up for easy identification; a weakening strength unit of the tear line, at least including a first weakening slit 432a, said first weakening slit 432a formed on the two sides of the ring tear line 43 close to the two side edges 32 of the pull tab 30, the extension length of said first weakening slit 432a being between the angle range (θ1) of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the horizontal line L2 as the center point.

Based on the structural designs and technical features described above, the actual application of the present invention of a container that prevents from an illegal operation and can be easily identified after being illegally operated is as shown in FIG. 5. The differentiated intervals of the weakening slit of the weakening strength unit of the tear line will cause the strength weakening portion 50 of the pull tab to have a bending state different from other parts of the pull tab 30. That is to say, when the pull tab 30 is pulled up, as illustrated in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, there is a change of state. When acting on the section where the intervals between the connecting ribs 431 and slits 432 are normal, the pull tab 30 will curve upward to a certain degree under the resistance from the connecting ribs 431. However, when acting on the section corresponding to the first weakening slit 432a, the aforesaid resistance will suddenly disappear. As a result, during this section, the pull tab 30 will have an obviously different bending state. Then, when the pull tab 30 is continuously pulled up, crossing the first weakening slit 432a to another section where the intervals between the connecting ribs 431 and slits 432 are normal again, the pull tab 30 will have a different bending state again. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the bending of pull tab 30 from the front end to the rear end of the first weakening slit 432a will have an inconsistent curve, losing smoothness. Thus, from the outside, the pulled and up-turning state of the pull tab 30 can be clearly identified. On the other hand, when the pull tab 30 is pulled up, due to the design of the weakening strength unit of the tear line, the connecting ribs 431 will not be too far away from the longitudinal line L1, and there will no longer be the problem that the pull tab 30 may break under the excessive resistance from the connecting ribs 431 of the ring tear line 43, and the operation of the pull tab 30 will be more convenient and easier. In this respect, there is one point to be detailed: in the section where the first weakening slit 432a are formed on the two sides of the ring tear line 43, the conventional structure normally arranges 2 to 4 connecting ribs. However, in this section, according to tests carried out by the patent applicant, the resistance from the connecting ribs against the pulling of the pull tab 30 is the strongest, and it is the most difficult to break the connecting ribs. The reason is that, apart from the positions of the connecting ribs that are far away from the pulled position, causing inefficient transmission of the pulling force, the connecting ribs here will be kind of twisted under the pulling force, and the elastic and resilient plastics will not be easily broken under the twisting. Therefore, the resistance in this section is strongest and may cause cracking of the pull tab 30. This is why the present invention adopts the technical feature to form a first weakening slit 432a on the ring tear line 43 to overcome the existing problem.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the weakening strength unit of the tear line further includes a second weakening slit 432b, said second weakening slit 432b formed at the side of the ring tear line 43 close to the external end edge 31 of the pull tab 30, the extension length of the second weakening slit 432b being between the angle range (θ2) of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the longitudinal line L1 as the center point.

Referring to FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the weakening strength unit of the tear line further includes a third weakening slit 432c, said third weakening slit 432c formed at the side of the ring tear line 43 away from the external end edge 31 of the pull tab 30, the extension length of the third weakening slit 432c being between the angle range (θ3) of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the longitudinal line L1 as the center point.

Furthermore, the extension lengths of the first weakening slit 432a, the second weakening slit 432b and the third weakening slit 432c are equal to the distances between their respective neighboring connecting ribs 431. The descriptions here are to explain the different structural designs of the first weakening slit 432a, the second weakening slit 432b and the third weakening slit 432c from another perspective. In fact, they are all relatively defined by the intervals between two neighboring connecting ribs 431.

Claims

1. A container that prevents from an illegal operation and can be easily identified after being illegally operated, said container comprising: a box body, including an opening and a first joining edge configured around the opening;a cover body, optionally covering the opening of the box body, the periphery of said cover body configured with a second joining edge to fit the first joining edge configured on the box body;a pull tab, formed on the second joining edge of the cover body, protruding outward, said pull tab including an external end edge and two side edges;a tension-breaking type buckle member, including a buckle convex portion configured on the pull tab, a buckling slot configured at a position on the box body for the buckle convex portion to align and fix, and a ring tear line configured on the periphery of the buckle convex portion, thus, when the pull tab is pulled, the ring tear line will break and leave the buckle convex portion in the buckling slot, said ring tear line including a plurality of connecting ribs circularly distributed with intervals, and a plurality of slits relatively formed between the neighboring connecting ribs in a hollowed-out state; moreover, the peripheral area of the buckle convex portion of the pull tab and the peripheral area of the buckling slot of the box body are pushed together face to face, under the face-to-face contacting state, the pull tab protrudes outside the first joining edge of the box body to facilitate pulling, whereas the ring tear line is correspondingly configured inside the first joining edge of the box body; furthermore, extending from the center point of external end edge of the pull tab to the center point of the circle formed by the ring tear line, a longitudinal line is defined, and the center of the ring tear line further defines a horizontal line, said horizontal line and said longitudinal line being orthogonal to each other;a pull tab strength weakening portion, configured on the structure of the pull tab, formed in a flat state, capable of bending, wherein the ring tear line is configured around the periphery of the buckle convex portion at an interval, so that the pull tab strength weakening portion is constituted by the narrow area existing between the ring tear line and the side edge of the pull tab, said pull tab strength weakening portion being used to cause the pull tab to have a bent portion when pulled up, so that the pull tab will turn up for easy identification; anda weakening strength unit of the tear line, at least including a first weakening slit, said first weakening slit formed on the two sides of the ring tear line close to the two side edges of the pull tab, the extension length of said first weakening slit being between the angle range of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the horizontal line as the center point.

2. The container that prevents from an illegal operation and can be easily identified after being illegally operated defined in claim 1, wherein said weakening strength unit of the tear line further includes a second weakening slit, said second weakening slit formed at the side of the ring tear line close to the external end edge of the pull tab, the extension length of the second weakening slit being between the angle range of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the longitudinal line as the center point.

3. The container that prevents from an illegal operation and can be easily identified after being illegally operated defined in claim 1, wherein said weakening strength unit of the tear line further includes a third weakening slit, said third weakening slit formed at the side of the ring tear line away from the external end edge of the pull tab, the extension length of said third weakening slit being between the angle range of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the longitudinal line as the center point.

4. The container that prevents from an illegal operation and can be easily identified after being illegally operated defined in claim 2, wherein said weakening strength unit of the tear line further includes a third weakening slit, said third weakening slit formed at the side of the ring tear line away from the external end edge of the pull tab, the extension length of said third weakening slit being between the angle range of plus or minus 15 to 20 degrees with the longitudinal line as the center point.

5. The container that prevents from an illegal operation and can be easily identified after being illegally operated defined in claim 1, wherein the extension lengths of said first weakening slit and said second weakening slit are equal to the distances between their respective neighboring connecting ribs.