The invention relates to a fuel can, a cover lid formed by a sealing foil for such a fuel can, a sealing foil for the production of such a cover lid as well as the use of the fuel can as a heat and/or light source in accordance with the preambles of the independent claims.
Fuel cans with a fuel filling and a cover lid are widely used as small containers for providing fuel for burners for stoves and consist in a known design of an aluminum cup filled with a fuel paste with a peel-off foil cover, which for use is placed, after the foil lid has been removed, into a burner for a stove, which provides in the area of the surface of the fuel a burner opening and several air feed openings. These fuel cans are economical regarding the production and cause relative little waste, but need, however, a suitable burner for their intended use.
Also known are cans with a fuel paste filling which consist, similar to a paint can, of a tin plate can with a upwards converging opening and a clamping lid, whereby the converging opening serves, after the removal of the lid, as burner opening. By means of this, the fuel can indeed can directly be used as burner, but is, however, costly regarding the production and causes a relative big amount of waste.
Thus, it is the object to provide a fuel can and a cover lid for a fuel can which do not have the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior art or avoid these at least partly.
This object is met by the fuel can and the cover lid according to the independent claims.
In a first aspect of the invention, the fuel can, which is foreseen as non-returnable container for heating and/or lightening reasons, includes a cup or bowl like can body with a fuel-filling as well as a cover lid, which closes the can body tightly and is firmly connected to same, which can be obtained for instance by a welding or glueing of the, cover lid to the can body, in particular by a heat sealing thereof onto the can body or by border crimping. The cover lid comprises one or several predetermined breaking locations, at which one or several lid portion elements are connected in a material bonded manner, i.e. by forming a one-piece structure, by glueing or by welding or soldering, respectively, to the remainder of the cover lid, so that a partial or complete severing and/or detaching of these lid portions from the remainder of the cover lid or out of the same is possible manually and without the use of any tools and, thereby, one or several precisely defined openings in the cover lid are produced. The planar extent of these openings is distinctly smaller than the total surface of the cover lid or the surface of a fuel filling in the can body at a medium filling level, respectively. The predetermined breaking locations can be produced as areas weakened by a punching or removal of material or as glued areas. As fuel filling, all fillings are foreseen which provide after the severing or detaching of the lid portion elements at the opening produced thereby a fuel in a combustible state, and preferably in such a manner that it cannot be spilled at least at room temperature and immediately after the opening. Thereby, the fuel fillings must not necessarily be formed exclusively by the fuel, but can also include wicks and absorbent substrate materials for an immobilizing and/or as wicks for the fuel, which especially in such cases is meaningful, when fuels which are liquid at room temperature, e.g. diethylene glycol, are used. By the invention, fuel cans can be realized, which can directly be employed as heat source, e.g. as burner for a stove or as light source, with a desired rating and combustion duration, are economical to produce and safe in operation and cause little waste.
In a preferred embodiment of the fuel can, the predetermined breaking locations are designed in such a manner that the severable or detachable, respectively, cover lid portion(s) are not completely separated from the lid after a complete separating of the predetermined breaking locations, but remain undetachably connected to same. By means of this, all components of the fuel can remain together, which facilitates the disposal and additionally provides the possibility to re-close the partly used can at least provisorily.
In a further preferred embodiment of the fuel can, the cover lid is designed in such a manner that by a peeling-off of one or several lid portions elements designed as peeling-off foil elements, at least a part of the openings produced by the severing and/or detaching of lid portion elements can be uncovered, whereby it is preferred that such a peeling-off foil element extends uninterrupted across the entire cover lid. The peeling-off foil elements cover, therefore, openings in lid portions located underneath and can be peeled off by disconnecting their glued connection with the lid portions, which form the predetermined breaking locations, wherewith the openings are exposed. This design results in the advantage that the severable and/or detachable lid portion elements can be made of a material which is different from the remainder of the lid, which in use gets hot and thus leaves little choice regarding the selection oft the material, and that possible problems when disconnecting the material bond along the predetermined breaking location have practically no influence on the geometry of the opening to be exposed. It is also possible to use a multi-layer foil with a peel-off foil cover layer for the production of the cover lid and to locate the desired openings already in all layers of the foil except the peeling-off foil cover layer by a punching, so that upon the peeling-off of the peeling-off foil cover layer the punched portions are automatically removed from the openings.
In still a further preferred embodiment of the fuel can, the cover lid is designed in such a manner that at least a part of the openings can be produced by a detaching of partial areas from the actual cover lid, thus prior to their detaching are one-piece with the cover elements which define the openings to be produced. The wording “actual cover” denominates here the structural member(s), which after the removing of the severable or detachable cover portion elements remain at the can body and define the openings. By means of this, the advantage is gained that the cover lid can be made from a single layer of a semi-manufactured product, e.g. foil or sheet metal, wherewith especially simple and economical lids can be realized.
In yet a further preferred embodiment, the cover lid of the fuel can is designed in such a manner that by the severing or detaching, respectively, of single or several cover portion elements, one or several openings with differing geometries and areas of the openings can be produced selectively and/or the number of openings can selectively be set. By means of this, e.g. differing lid portion elements may be present, which depending from the desired duration of combustion and rating, can be severed or detached or also remain untouched. By means of this, it is possible to produce, in a simple manner, from the fuel can in accordance with the invention, depending from the specific fuel and other design, a heating and/or light source specifically adapted for the respective application.
Preferably, the cover lid of the fuel can according to the invention substantially consists of a foil or a sheet metal, in the latter case preferably of an aluminum sheet, because these materials are economically available as semi-finished products and can be processed to a cover lid according to the invention by only a few and relatively simple production steps. The term “substantially” is here to be understood that at least those areas of the cover lid, which after the removing of the severable or detachable, respectively, cover portion elements remain at the can body, are made of such a material.
If the cover lid consists, thereby, of a sealing foil which preferably is formed from several different material layers, it can be sealed onto a flange-like rim of the can body by simple means, wherewith a safe and leak-proof connection between cover lid and can body can be arrived at.
In this case it is preferred to use a sealing foil which includes besides the sealing layer at least two metal foils consisting preferably of aluminum, which are extensively interconnected with each other via a synthetic material layer, preferably polyethylene, located between them.
If, thereby, a first one of the two metal foils, preferably the one which faces away from the can body, is weakened or interrupted along the predetermined breaking location, whereas the other metal foil is continuous in the area of the predetermined breaking location, a fuel tight lid with a high strength and with a reliably seperable predetermined breaking location is arrived at.
At all embodiments, the lid portion elements, for an ease of the severing or detaching, preferably comprise opening aids, which preferably are designed as pulling flaps or pulling rings and preferably project over the outer boundary of the fuel can, e.g. as extension of the cover lid, so that they can be gripped by hand. In case of pulling flaps, grooves are preferably present at the transition from the flap into the actual lid which facilitate a start of the tearing apart at the predetermined breaking locations.
By advantage, the cover lid is designed in such a manner that upon the severing or detaching, respectively of the lid portion elements, an opening or openings with an opening pattern results which has two axis of symmetry, whereby it is preferred that the axis of symmetry substantially intersect in a vertical axis through the center of the can body. By means of this, it can be ensured that in operation an as symmetric as possible flame aspect is arrived at and an even combustion of the fuel contained in the can body occurs.
Preferrably, the cover lid is designed in such a manner that by the severing or detaching, respectively, of the lid portion elements an opening, in the claims denominated as central opening, can be produced in the area of the center of the fuel can, which has substantially the same shape like the surface of the fuel contained in the tin body, in particular at a medium filling level, and is concentrically arranged relative to same. This design provides the advantage that the limits of the fuel surface practically everywhere have the same distance to the limits of the central opening, which in operation serves as burner opening, wherewith a uniform combustion of the fuel is facilitated.
It is, thereby, preferred that the central opening is substantially circular or quadratic and preferably has an area which corresponds to at least 15%, preferably to at least 20% of the surface area of the fuel filling, in particular at a medium level of fill. By means of this, an even burner rating and a stable flame aspect is arrived at during the entire duration of combustion. The expression “substantially circular or quadratic” means that this opening has a shape which is circular or quadraticor is approximated to a circular or quadratic shape, in the case of the circular shape e.g. by a uniform polygon.
If additionally at least one strip-like opening element extends from the central opening radially outwards, which extends preferably up to the edge of the cover lid, it is possible to produce an opening pattern by a detaching of one single lid portion element, in which the central opening acts exclusively as burner opening, while the strip shaped opening element(s) serve as air supply openings. By means of this, an especially stable flame pattern and a high rating is arrived at.
It is, thereby, of advantage when the transition between the central opening and the strip like opening elements extending radially outwards is smooth or harmonic, respectively, because by this, abrupt changes of the shape, which could lead to problems during the severing at the predetermined breaking locations, can be avoided. It is especially preferred that the central opening forms together with a radially outwards extending strip-shaped opening element a pear-shaped lid portion element.
Preferably, the cover lid is designed in such a manner that by the severing or detaching of preferably exactly one lid portion element an opening pattern is arrived at in which two strip-shaped opening elements located opposite of each other by 180° extend from the central opening outwards. Such an arrangement facilitates a trouble-free detaching of the lid portion from the cover lid.
Similar advantages as those described above are arrived at-when upon the severing or detaching further small, preferably substantially circular openings can be produced in addition to the center opening, whereby it is preferred that these surround the central opening concentrically and with a uniform pitch.
When the cover lid is designed in such a manner that by the severing or detaching the material bond between the lid portion element and the adjacent lid area, which is sealing, is irreversibly abolished along the predetermined breaking location, partly used or opened, respectively, fuel cans can be distinguished in a simple way from new, closed ones.
For a can body, preferably a deep drawn cup or a deep drawn bowl of aluminum or tin plate is used, because such can bodies can be produced at low cost, generate little waste after use and furthermore can be recycled, whereby it is especially advantageous when the can body and the cover lid are made of substantially identical materials.
In a preferred embodiment of the fuel can, the fuel filling consists of a fuel paste with or without wick, preferably of a filling with a weight of 80 g to 100 g or 150 g to 300 g of thickened ethyl alcohol, isopropanol or methanol, whereby in this case due to the low ignition temperatures no wick is needed. Such fuel cans can excellently be used as burners for stoves.
In another preferred embodiment of the fuel can, the fuel filling consists of a fuel which is solid at room temperature with or without wick, whereby it is preferred to use polyethylene glycols, stearin, paraffin, hydrocarbon-derivates, waxes, waxe-like fuels or their derivates, respectively, or a mixture thereof with a wick. In particular when using fuel fillings with stearin and/or paraffin enriched with scents, it is possible to provide in this manner lightening means combined with an additional scent action, which can be stored in a unused state for a long time without being thereby detrimental to the scent action.
Preferably, the fuel filling consists of a liquid or solid fuel, which is immobilized by absorption in an absorbent, preferably cotton or fleece like material, such as e.g. mineral or glass wool, cellulose or cotton, i.e. can not be poured out when it is open. The absorbent material hereby preferably at the same time has the function of a wick, as far as such is necessary. By this design it is possible to safely use also fuels which are liquid at room temperature, such as diethylene glycol, or fuels which are solid at room temperature and become liquid during combustion, such as polyethylene glycol.
A second aspect of the invention refers to a cover lid made of sealing foil, preferably for a fuel can in accordance with the first aspect of the invention. Thereby, the sealing foil which forms the cover lid comprises a predetermined breaking location and includes, apart from the sealing layer, two metal foils, preferably of aluminum, which are extensively interconnected with each other via a synthetic material layer located between them, of which a first one is weakened or interrupted along the predetermined breaking location, whereas the second one is preferably continuous at the area of the predetermined breaking location. The synthetic material layer present between them and interconnecting them is preferably polyethylene (PE).
A third aspect of the invention refers to a sealing foil for the production of a cover lid according to the second aspect of the invention. The sealing foil thereby includes, in addition to the sealing layer, at least two metal foils which are extensively interconnected with each other via a synthetic material layer located between them, and specifically preferably two aluminum foils, which are interconnected with each other via a layer of polyethylene. Such sealing foils are specifically well suitable for the production of cover lids for fuel cans according to the first aspect of the invention, because they are fuel proof, can easily be mounted onto the can body and can easily be provided with a predetermined breaking location.
A fourth aspect of the invention refers to the use of the fuel can according to the first aspect of the invention as thermal, heat and/or light source, in particular as burner for a stove or as lamp.
Further embodiments, advantages and uses of the invention become apparent from the dependent claims and the now following description with reference to the drawings. There is shown in:
a a perspective view of a fuel can in accordance with the invention with a one-piece foil cover lid with a detachable subarea in the not opened state;
b a perspective view of the fuel can according to
The basic principle of the invention can be recognized by means of the
As can be seen in
As can be seen in
In the FIGS. 2 to 12, top views onto further fuel cans in accordance with the invention, also with cover lids 3 of a multilayer sealing foil with completely or partly detachable subareas 7 in the not opened state are illustrated, whereby
The FIGS. 3 to 10 illustrate respective top views onto fuel cans-of which the cover lid 3 comprises a single detachable cover portion element 7, whereby upon a detaching of same along the predetermined breaking location various opening patterns result, namely at the fuel cans illustrated in the FIGS. 3 to 7 opening patterns with only one axis of symmetry (
At the fuel can illustrated in
In contrast to all other illustrated fuel cans, the fuel can illustrated in
As can be taken from the predetermined breaking locations 6 illustrated by broken lines in
As can be taken from the predetermined breaking locations 6 illustrated by broken lines in
FIGS. 13 to 17 illustrate top views onto further fuel cans according to the invention, which in contrast to the previously shown are equipped with cover lids of sheet aluminum. Also here, the cover lids 3 include in the not opened state cover portion elements 7, 7a, 7b, which are designed each as subareas of the cover lid 3 which are detachable along a predetermined breaking location 6. The predetermined breaking locations 6 have been produced at these embodiments in that the metal sheet forming the cover lid 3 has been weakened along the lines illustrated by broken lines, in the present case by embossing of corresponding grooves in the surface of the metal sheet.
In order to facilitate a detaching of the cover portion elements, each cover portion element 7, 7a, 7b includes a pulling ring 9, by means of which, through a flapping upwards, first a portion of the cover portion element 7, 7a, 7b can be bent inwards towards the inside of the can under a rupturing of the sheet metal at a location of the predetermined breaking location 6, and thereafter the entire cover portion element 7 can be detached from the cover lid 3 by a pulling at the pulling ring 9 under a further separating along the predetermined breaking location 6. By means of this, the material bonded connection with the adjacent cover areas is irreversibly disconnected along the predetermined breaking locations 6, so that also here a re-closing of the opened fuel can is not possible and it can be recognized without any doubts as being already opened.
As can be taken from the predetermined breaking locations 6 illustrated by broken lines, the cover lids 3 of the fuel cans-illustrated in the FIGS. 13 to 16 in each case comprise exactly one completely detachable cover portion element 7, whereby they differ from each other regarding the shape or arrangement, respectively, of same (
The free shape illustrated in
As can be taken from the predetermined breaking locations 6 illustrated by broken lines in
FIGS. 18 to 21 illustrate top views onto further fuel cans according to the invention, at which the cover lids 3 are equipped with lid portion elements 7 with pulling tabs 8 structured as peel-off foil elements 5, which after the peeling off expose the openings in the cover lid which are indicated here by broken lines. The predetermined breaking locations 6 are formed in this embodiment by the glueing between the peel-off foil element 5 and the supporting surface and are, therefore, not directly visible in the top view.
At the fuel cans of
The lids of the fuel cans according to the
As can be derived by the continuous thin line in the lid surface in
Whereas preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the present invention it shall be clearly understood that the invention is not limited to same but can also otherwise be embodied within the scope of the following claims. In particular it is possible to combine various embodiments and various fuel fillings can be applied, with solid or liquid or gel-like fuels, respectively, whereby the fuel filling can include e.g. also absorbent carrier materials for an immoblilization and/or as wick for the fuel as well as also single wicks. Attention shall also be drawn to the fact that the invention is not limited to stoves, but encompasses fuel cans for all imagineable uses as thermal, heat and light source within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/IB02/03251 | Aug 2002 | WO | international |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/IB03/03562 | 8/8/2003 | WO | 8/18/2005 |