Patent Application
20090230177
Lids for food containers are well known in the art. Such lids may be attached to container receptacles in a variety of manners including a friction connection, a screw connection, a permanent connection, an adhesive connection and the like. Sometimes, the lid may be hingedly mounted to the receptacle to retain the lid connected to the receptacle when open.
In the manufacture of some food containers, the receptacle may be made from paperboard and have a seamed sidewall, a bottom connected to the sidewall, and an upper portion forming the open end of the receptacle having an upper rolled lip. The rolled lip provides some resistance to bending of the upper portion of the receptacle during use. However, one problem with such containers is inadequate strength particularly around its upper open end. Sometimes, the upper open end will collapse during use therefore causing spillage.
Another challenge with such containers is the ability to retain the container sealed against potential contamination. Often, a solution to this problem is to have a membrane sealed to an upper portion of the container overlying the access opening in addition to the lid. Such a structure, while providing a seal and tamper evidence, adds cost to the container and inconvenience in opening the container.
It would be desirable to have a lid structure configured for attachment to a paperboard receptacle where the lid structure provides a hinged connection between the moveable cover portion of the lid structure and the receptacle, provides adequate strength to the upper open end of the receptacle, and provides adequate tamper evidence. It would also be desirable to have a lid structure that is economical to manufacture and convenient to use.
The present invention provides a hinged lid structure that is configured for attachment to a paperboard receptacle. The lid structure includes a collar having inner and outer wall members that form a channel configured for receiving an upper rolled lip of a paperboard receptacle. The lid structure also includes a ring hingedly mounted to the collar. The ring has a skirt with an edge portion. The lid structure further includes a shield member that circumscribes at least a substantial portion of the collar and a removable tab. The shield member and removable tab provide tamper evidence and prevent access to the edge portion of the skirt until the removable tab is detached. After the tab is detached, the edge portion of the skirt is exposed to facilitate moving the ring from its closed position to an open position. The lid structure can also include a plurality of peripherally spaced apart webs extending between the outer wall member of the collar and the shield member. The webs provide structural rigidity to the collar and therefore strengthen the upper open end of the receptacle it is attached to. The lid structure can be molded as a single integral unit.
Like numbers throughout the various figures designate like or similar parts and/or construction.
The reference numeral I designates generally a container having a receptacle 2 and a lid structure 3. The receptacle 2 includes a sidewall 4 and bottom wall 5 and may be made of any suitable material such as a coated paperboard. The sidewall 4 has an upper open end portion 6 defining an access opening 7. The sidewall 4 may be tapered to provide for nesting and may be formed with a side seam 12 as is known in the art. The sidewall 4 may be formed by wrapping a blank about a mandrel and bonding side edge portions together to form the seam 12.
The sidewall 4 includes a rolled lip 15 formed at the upper end thereof. The rolled lip 15 may be formed by rolling an upper portion of the sidewall 4 as is known in the art. The rolled lip 15 has a top surface 8 that may be joined to the lid structure 3 as by adhesion or heat sealing the rolled lip 15. The rolled lip 15 has a top surface 17 and a bottom shoulder 18.
In the illustrated structure, the lid structure 3 includes a collar 25 configured to be secured to the sidewall 4. The collar 25 circumscribes at least a substantial portion of the upper perimeter of the sidewall 4 and has a channel 27 formed by an inner wall member 28, an outer wall member 29, and a bight portion 30. The collar 25 adds resistance to bending of the upper portion of the sidewall 4 and helps effect securement of the lid structure 3 to the receptacle 2. As shown, the collar 25 circumscribes the entirety of the perimeter of the sidewall 4 at the rolled lip 15. The collar 25 may be of a polymeric material and injection molded. The inner wall 28 provides an opening through the collar 25 which is substantially equal in size to the opening 6 formed by the sidewall 4 providing an unimpeded access opening to obtain access to the contents in the receptacle 2.
As best seen in
The lid structure 3 includes a ring designated generally 40. The ring 40 is hingedly mounted to the collar 25 as by one or more hinge members 43 of which two are shown. The hinge members 43 may be integrally formed between the collar 25 and ring 40 or may be mechanically attached to one and integral with the other. In a preferred embodiment, the hinge members 43 are integral and have a thinned area (not shown) to provide a “living hinge.” The thickness of such a thinned area may be in the order of 0.005 inches to 0.020 inches. The ring 40, as best seen in
The ring 40 may also be configured to receive a top wall 51. The top wall 51 can be secured to the flange 46 as with adhesion. The wall 51 may be paperboard with polymer coating in which event, the member 51 may be secured to the flange 46 via heat fusion. The container may be provided with indicia on the wall 51 and/or sidewall 4 for labeling compliance, decoration, marketing information and the like.
The lid 25 also includes a tamper evident shield structure 59 to prevent the opening of the lid 25 without providing evidence of the initial opening. The tamper evident shield structure 59 includes a shield member 63 and a removable tab 60. The shield member 63 circumscribes at least a substantial portion of the outer wall 29 and has a first end 64 and a second end 65. As illustrated in
As mentioned, the tamper evident shield structure 59 includes a removable tab 60. The removable tab 60 is positioned between the shield member 63 first and second ends 64, 65 to complete the peripheral channel 61 covering the entire edge portion 47 of the ring skirt 45. The removable tab 60 is integrally formed with either the shield member 63 or the ring 40. In the illustrated embodiment, the tab 60 is integral with the shield member 63 and is joined thereto at the faces 66 forming fracture zones 62. The fractures zones 62 must be broken or severed and the tab removed in order to gain access to the edge portion 47 of the skirt 45 for opening the ring 40. The type of polymer used to form the tab 60 is such as to provide for fracture at the zones 62 for complete removal of the tab 60. The separation zones 62 may be formed by thinned areas of molded polymeric material between the tab 60 and the shield member 63. The separation zones 62, 75 may be thinned areas to direct the fractures and can have a thickness of about one-half or less of the thickness of adjacent components.
The tab has a top edge 70 exposed for access by a user of the container 1. By bending the tab 60 outwardly and downwardly, the tab is fractured from its attachment to the shield member 63 at opposite end faces 66 thereof and also preferably fractured at separation zone 75 from its attachment to the shield member 63 exposing the edge portion 47 of the skirt 45. Once the tab 60 is removed, the user has access to the edge portion 47 and can move the ring 40 to an open position.
As shown in
Thus, there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel invention. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required.” Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present invention will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
