Patent Application
20130068766
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container, preferably in the form of a can with a lid. The object of the invention is to provide a container with improved characteristics regarding external influence.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are different container solutions for storage and transport of hazardous goods, for instance with some kind of fastening ring that keeps the lid and the container together even at excess pressure and gentle mechanical influence. There have, however, existed no good solutions for achieving simple closing of such containers, which at the same time counteracts deformation and/or involuntary opening of the container if it is exposed to influence in the form of blows or falls.
The invention is intended to solve the above problems regarding deformation or involuntary opening of a container exposed to external influence, as well as related problems regarding the opening function of the container lid.
The object of the present invention is to obtain a solution where a container with a lid can withstand external influence in the form of thrusts, blows, excess internal pressure and the like, while maintaining the sealing function of the container lid. This object is achieved with a container according to the invention.
Some embodiments relate to a container with a removable lid for sealing and opening a storage compartment in the container, which container is rotationally symmetrical with respect to a symmetry axis and has a circular bottom, the outer periphery of which is connected to a surrounding outer wall which at the top exhibits a circumventing rim element delimiting an opening in the upper surface of the container, the said first rim element co-operating with a second rim element, turned towards it, along the outer periphery of the lid, wherein the lid also comprises a circumventing U-shaped track, extending a predetermined way into the container and connecting the second rim element of the lid to an upper circular surface of the lid, and wherein the said U-shaped track has an outer wall, removably gripping the inner mantle surface of the cylindrical outer wall, wherein the container lid is provided with a protecting device, comprising a circumventing skirt, arranged to be placed in the U-shaped track, wherein the skirt is provided with at least one radial projection, extending over the whole width of the track, whereby a radial stiffening of the upper rim of the container and the lid are achieved to protect against external influence directed towards the said upper rim.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt is provided with at least one radial projection with an upper delimiting surface flush with the upper circular surface of the lid.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt is provided with at least one radial projection with an lower delimiting surface flush with the bottom of the U-shaped track.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt is provided with a radial projection that extends over the whole width of the V-shaped track.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt and the radial projection have an h-shaped cross-section.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt is provided with a plurality of radial projections with parallel side surfaces.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt is provided with radial projections with converging side surfaces.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt is provided with radial projections forming a framework in the V-shaped track.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt is snapped onto a contact surface in the U-shaped track.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt comprises an upper section which is snapped onto the said second rim element along the outer periphery of the lid.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the skirt comprises an upper section that is snapped onto the circumventing first rim element, wherein the first rim element is formed from an extended element of the mantle wall, which element is bent to form a radially extending element.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein the upper section of the skirt comprises an elastic safety ring, which is snapped onto the circumventing first rim element.
Other embodiments relate to a container, wherein at least the safety ring presents at least one weakened place arranged to be broken open for opening the container, when the weakened place is exposed to breaking forces greater than a determined maximum load.
In the following text such terms as “radial,” “axial” and the like are used with regard to a container which is rotationally symmetrical with respect to a central symmetry axis.
According to a first aspect the invention provides a container with a removable lid for sealing and opening a storage compartment in the container. The container is rotationally symmetrical with respect to a symmetry axis and has a circular bottom, the outer periphery of which is connected to a surrounding outer wall which at the top exhibits a circumventing first rim element delimiting an opening in the upper surface of the container. The first rim element co-operates with a second rim element, turned towards it, along the outer periphery of the lid. The lid further comprises a circumventing U-shaped track, which extends a predetermined way into the container and connects the second rim element of the lid to an upper circular surface of the lid. The U-shaped track has an upper outer rim connected to the second rim element, and its upper inner rim is connected to the said circular upper surface. At least a central part of the upper circular surface of the lid is situated in a plane arranged parallel to and between a plane through the second rim element and a plane through the lower surface of the track. The said U-shaped track comprises an outer wall, an inner wall and a lower bottom. The outer wall has an outer mantle surface, removably gripping the inner mantle surface of the cylindrical outer wall, whereby the lid is kept in place by being pressed a predetermined way down in the opening of the container.
The lid of the container is provided with a protecting device, which at least comprises a circumventing skirt, arranged to be placed in the U-shaped track. The skirt is provided with at least one radial projection that reaches over the whole width of the track, between its inner and outer walls in the radial direction. Hereby a radial stiffening of the upper rim of the container and the lid is achieved to protect against external influence directed towards the said upper rim.
The skirt is provided with at least one radial projection with an upper delimiting surface flush with the upper circular surface of the lid. At least one section of such a projection should preferably be arranged flush with the main direction of the central plane of the lid. In this way the force from e.g., a blow against the rim of the container can be transferred from its outer rim, via the protecting device, to the central part of the lid. Thereby a deformation of the outer rim of the container can be avoided. Alternatively the skirt can also be provided with at least one radial projection with a lower delimiting surface flush with the bottom of the U-shaped track. Such a protecting device may comprise a solid body, arranged to essentially fill the track, or a radial projection that extends over the whole width of the U-shaped track in one plane. Alternatively the protecting device may comprise at least one upper and one lower projection, extending radially in axially different planes over the whole width of the track. According to still another alternative the skirt and a radial projection may have an h-shaped cross-section.
According to a further example the skirt may be provided with a plurality of radial projections with parallel side surfaces or, alternatively, provided with radial projections with converging side surfaces.
According to a further example the skirt may be provided with radial projections 30 forming a framework in the U-shaped track. The term “framework” refers to a plurality of planar projections that extend in radial and/or tangential planes or in any chosen angle to these planes over the whole width of the U-shaped track. Such a framework may form a pattern in the form of triangles, squares, hexagons or a combination of these, extending radially downwards from the skirt. The said projections may pass through and/or be connected to one another to form a force receiving structure in the U-shaped track.
If the U-shaped track has a varying width in the radial direction, the said projections may also extend over the whole width of the track at least at the level of and/or in connection to a section of the U-shaped track which has a reduced width in the radial direction between the inner and the outer walls.
The protecting device is manufactured in a suitable way, e.g., by injection molding, and is pushed downwards onto the container to engage the track in the lid. Designing the protecting device in the form of profiled projections, as described above, can give substantial savings on weight and material.
The mounting of the protecting device on the container may for instance be done by snapping the skirt onto a contact surface in the U-shaped track. Such a contact surface may consist of a circumventing track or a corresponding elevation of the mantle surface of the 10 inner or outer walls of the U-shaped track. Alternatively, the skirt may comprise an upper section which is snapped onto at least the said second rim element along the outer periphery of the lid. A combination of these arrangements is also possible. Such a mounting may be used for a protecting device which is intended only to fill a track in the lid, alternatively to extend over the upper outer rim of the lid.
According to a preferred solution the skirt may comprise an upper section, which is snapped onto the circumventing first rim element of the container. The first element is preferably formed by an extended element of the mantle wall, which element is bent to form a radially projecting element. This bent element is arranged to co-operate with the said second rim element along the outer periphery of the lid. Such a mounting may be used for a protecting device which is intended to fill a track in the lid and to extend over the upper outer rim of the lid and down over the first rim element of the container.
The part of the upper section of the skirt that is snapped onto the circumventing first rim element may comprise an elastic safety ring, integrated with the protecting device. The safety ring is snapped onto the circumventing first rim element at the same time as the protecting device is pushed down in the U-shaped track in the lid. The elastic safety ring, which makes the lid safe from involuntary opening, is constructed as an annularly closed profile with a substantially U-shaped element forming an annular groove, open downwards. The said groove surrounds the first rim element of the container and the second rim element of the lid and keeps the lid on the container. An annular bulge, turned radially inwards, on the outer wall of the U-shaped element engages below the bent, radially projecting element of the first rim element of the can.
The protecting device with the integrated safety ring may present at least one weakened place, arranged to be broken open for opening the container, when the weakened place is exposed to breaking forces greater than a prescribed maximum load.
The safety ring may also present an intervention place for a breaking tool, such as a screw driver, in connection to the weakened place, to make it possible to break the safety ring open at the weakened part with a pivoting movement.
The weakened place is normally not visible to the naked eye, and the intervention place for the breaking tool consists preferably of a loop element of the safety ring, arranged on the outer side of the ring below the engaging bulge of the ring. The loop element may extend along the lower rim of the outer mantle surface of the outer wall of the U-shaped element and presents a through-going opening, which is open upwards and downwards. The weakened place is formed by manufacturing the safety ring by way of injection molding in an annular closed mold with one supply place for each weakened place. A space is preferably arranged between the inner side of the safety ring and the projecting element of the rim element of the opening to allow the safety ring to be pressed inwards at the time of a breaking movement.
The safety ring can preferably be integrated as a part of the protecting device, but it can also consist of a separate element which in safety mode is form locked onto the rim element of the lid by its profile shape with a surrounding upper rim element.
The lower surface and the diameter of the container and the upper surface and the diameter of the lid must be adapted to permit stacking of the containers.
To guarantee the function of the container different test methods are used, above all fall tests and hydraulic overpressure tests, which are usually performed when packages of this type are to be type tested. The test methods are described in a set of rules for transporting of hazardous goods (ADR-S from Myndigheten for samhallsskydd och beredskap, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency). The rules are comparatively complicated, but the method may be described briefly as follows.
The containers are dropped from a defined height and with a number of different fall angles. The containers are released with different fall angles over a solid surface in order to come down diagonally on the lid, diagonally on the bottom and flatly on the side. The fall tests must be performed over a fall plate from a predefined height, depending on which package group the container belongs to. For instance, for a metal container (package group 2), intended for fluid goods, the fall height is 1.2 meters. Three fall tests are to be performed, and a new package may be used for each test. The containers are during the test to be filled to the greatest permitted total weight (solid goods) or the greatest permitted density (fluid goods). The container may be harmed but must not leak after the fall in order to be approved.
In the hydraulic overpressure test the container is exposed to an inner overpressure during a predefined time, for instance 100 kPa during 5 minutes. During this time the container must not leak.
Both tests put great demands on the strength of the container and the lid and on the properties of the package.
The container and the lid according to the invention may be made from metal, such as tinplate, or a suitable plastic material. The container and the lid do not necessarily need to consist of the same material.
The invention will be further described in the following text with reference to examples, which are illustrated by the accompanying drawings and figures. The figures are schematic and in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The can 2 presents at its lower side a bottom 4, which is usually flat and connected to a circumventing outer wall 5, extending upwards from the bottom, which is usually slightly conical or optionally cylindrical. The connection with the bottom is for instance made conventionally by folding and soldering to get a tight connection. The outer wall 5 is closed by a plate joint (not shown). A handle loop 7 is in the example fastened to the outer wall 5 of the can 2.
The first rim element 6 of the can is best seen in
The first rim element 6 of the can is formed by bending the outer wall 5 near the top outwards to give a rounded ridge 9, for instance in the form of an are, which from there becomes an outer rim element 11 in an angle downwards from the ridge and radially outwards, which in the cross-section in the example shown is straight and which as a whole has the form of the mantle of a truncated cone, i.e. the outer rim element 11 is substantially conical.
This conical rim element 11 near the bottom becomes an annular ledge rim 12, extending towards and leaning to the mantle surface 13 of the can below the first rim element 6, which is rolled to a hidden rim end 14 to strengthen the construction as a whole.
The lid 3, shown in the cross-section in
The radial first projections 26 of the skirt 25 have an upper delimiting surface, which is flush or substantially flush with the upper circular surface 23 of the lid 3. At least a section of the first projection 26 should be arranged flush with or in the same plane as the main extension of the central plane 23 of the lid to give optimal stiffening. In this way the force from e.g. a blow against the upper rim of the container can be transmitted from its outer rim, via the protecting device 24, to the central part 23 of the lid. This counteracts deformation of the outer rim of the container. The skirt 25 of the aspect in
According to an alternative example the skirt may be provided with radial projections with converging side surfaces. According to a further example the skirt may also be provided with at least one radial projection with a lower delimiting surface flush with the bottom of the U-shaped track. Such a protecting device may comprise a solid body, arranged to substantially fill the track, or a radial third projection extending over the whole width of the U-shaped track. A radial third projection may comprise at least one upper and one lower projection, extending radially in axially different radial planes over the whole width of the track. According to a further alternative the skirt and a radial projection may have an h-shaped cross-section. In the latter cases the respective first and third projections may be connected to strengthening radial projections, extending radially into the U-shaped track. According to a further example the skirt may be provided with radial projections forming a framework in the U-shaped track. The term “framework” refers to a plurality of preferably planar projections extending in radial and/or tangential planes or in any chosen angle to these planes over the whole width of the U-shaped track. Such a framework may form a pattern in the form of triangles, squares, hexagons or a combination of these, extending radially outwards from the skirt. The said projections may pass through and/or be connected to one another to form a force receiving structure in the U-shaped track.
If the U-shaped track has varying width in the radial direction along its vertical length any of the said first or third projections may extend over the whole width of the track at least at the level of and/or in connection to a section of the U-shaped track that has reduced width in the radial direction between the inner and the outer walls.
The protecting device is manufactured in a suitable manner, e.g., by way of injection molding, and is pressed down onto the container to engage the track in the lid. Designing the protecting device in the form of profiled projections, as described above, can give substantial savings on weight and material.
The mounting of the protecting device 24 on the container can be performed by snapping the skirt in place with an upper section which is snapped onto at least the said second rim element along the outer periphery of the lid (not shown). Preferably, the upper section is snapped onto the first rim element 6 of the can, as shown in
The safety ring 34 is, as seen in the Figures, constructed as an annularly closed profile with a substantially U-shaped element 35, forming an annular groove 36, open downwards, which encloses the rim edges of the lid and of the container. On the outer side of the container 1 the U-shaped element 35 becomes an annular skirt 37, extending around the can, which on its inside 38 has a locking bulge 39, co-operating with the ledge rim 12 or nose, turned downwards and outwards, to lock the safety ring 34 and thus the lid 3 onto the can 2 in safety mode according to
According to the invention, the protecting device 24 with the safety ring 34 presents a weakened place 44, arranged to be broken open at great enough breaking forces to open the can and gain access to the contents in its inner compartment, but never at the forces the container must withstand during other handling of the jar and its contents, i.e., when the container is in closed safety mode, as shown in
The weakened place 44 is schematically shown in
To create the necessary breaking forces for breaking the protecting device 24 with the safety ring 34 open at the weakened place 44 there is, according to the invention, arranged an intervention place 47 for a breaking tool 48—e.g., a screwdriver, see
The weakened place 44 according to an advantageous aspect is formed by manufacturing the safety ring 34 by way of injection molding in a substantially closed mold with an annular cavity with a single supply place, ingate, for fluid thermoplastics, which is thus heated to fluid form. By choosing the ingate diametrically opposite the position of the intended weakened place and simultaneously evacuating the air at the weakened place, the annular mold will be filled with two simultaneous streams of fluid thermoplastics, flowing with the same mutual speed and eventually forming two substantially semi-circular ring halves, where the two fronts of the thermoplastic mass meet at the position of the intended weakened place and flow together there. This process is schematically shown in
The invention is not limited to the example described above and shown in the Figures but can be varied within the scope disclosed herein. For instance, the can and the lid can have another shape, e.g. an oval shape or a shape with several, e.g., four, corners, which are rounded. The mounting of the safety ring can be performed in different stages and is allowed by the co-operating conical surfaces 11 on the can 2 and the surface below the locking bulge 39. The safety ring may also be injection molded in place. This is appropriate for instance when the safety ring is fully integrated with the lid and injection molded onto the opening rim element of the lid, i.e., is stuck to the lid as long as the safety ring is not broken, at which time the ring should be easily removed. It is in principle possible to have two or more weakened places and two or more intervention places for the breaking tool, but it is not self-evident that the number of weakened places and of intervention places is the same. Two or more weakened places are formed e.g., if two or more supply places are arranged symmetrically in the mold, which gives a corresponding number of plastics streams meeting midway and together forming two or more weakened places. According to another alternative the protecting device and the safety ring can be pulled off by manually or with the help of a suitable tool lifting the outer part of the safety ring around the locking bulge of the container.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1150857-9 | Sep 2011 | SE | national |
