Patent Application
20170334610
The current invention relates to a container with a lid lever. More particularly, the current invention relates to providing a lid lever for a container for effectively detaching a lid mounted on the container without any damage.
The use of air tight containers for various industrial and domestic applications is very well documented. Various agro based and chemical industries use air tight containers for storing food products and chemicals. Air tight containers ensure that the substance stored inside the container retains its original properties and does not get spoiled. The lid of the container needs to be tightly engaged to the rim of the container so as to make the container air tight. Hand tools such as screw drivers are often used to open the lid of such containers since the lid is so tightly attached to the container. Using a screwdriver will in most cases damage the lid. While it is usually still possible to attach the lid to the container after opening, the damaged lid will result in a poorer seal.
Various methods and devices have been used in the past to provide lid levers which can be used to remove a lid while maintaining the air sealing property of the container. U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,208 by Curry J describes a foldable portion integrated within the skirt portion which makes it possible to reposition the cover on the container with maintained sealing action after the cover has been removed from the container. European Patent No 1,483,163 by Kjeld Nielsen talks about a flap which is manually pulled to lift the lid from the edge of the rim of the container.
In another example, a container has a skirt portion for providing stiffness to the rim portion of the lid as disclosed in European Patent No 1,052,183 by Holger Thorso. However, when the lid lever is introduced into the skirt container, the skirt portion is broken by cuts in the skirt portion allowing the lid lever to pivot outwardly towards the free end. These cuts effectively break the skirt portion and reduce the stiffening effect of the skirt portion which further reduces the sealing property of the container.
Another European Patent, No. 1,562,837 by Ronald Fischer describes an opening mechanism for a bucket where a more steady unlatching lifting movement of the lid is achieved. Similarly European Patent No 1,871,677 talks about a device for releasing the lid of the container. None of the prior art documents ensure structural integrity of the rim and the skirt of the container.
In other examples, lid levers are generally integrated within the skirt of the container as disclosed in for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,492 by Paul Bernard Mitchell. The patent discloses the use of lid levers to disengage a lid from the rim of the container. Many times people don't see the lid lever as it is integrated within the skirt and they then use screw drivers to force the lid open. When doing this they often deform the rim of the container, thereby reducing its effectiveness.
In light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need for providing an innovative lid lever mechanism for disengaging the lid from the container. Moreover there is a need for providing a lid lever which utilizes the effort of the user in lifting the lid rather than deforming the rim of the container.
An object of the present invention is to provide a container with an integrated lid lever where the lid lever is more effective than prior art containers with lid levers. The lid lever is integrated into the container between two cuts formed in a primary skirt. According to this specification, the word “cuts” should be interpreted to include weakened areas which can be broken when force is applied, for example perforations, lines having a very thin wall section, etc.
Another object of the present invention is to provide effective lifting of the lid by designing the lid lever such that it protrudes past an outer surface of the primary skirt of a container. This makes the lid lever more effective as well as making it more distinguishable from the primary skirt thereby making it easy to locate.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a lid lever which provides additional stiffness to the rim portion and the primary skirt of the container while detaching a lid therefrom.
According to the present invention, a container is provided according to the introductory portion of claim 1, wherein the lid lower edge engaging surface of the lid lever is arranged in such a way that the outer edge of the lid lower edge engaging surface of the lid lever extends outwardly past a circular line which is co-centric with and which has the same diameter as the outer edge of the lid lower edge engaging surface of the primary skirt.
An additional invention is disclosed in the additional independent claim 4. In this second invention, a container is provided according to the introductory portion of claim 4 with a secondary skirt in the area between the two cuts in the primary skirt. The primary skirt circumferentially surrounds and protects a rim portion of the container. The secondary skirt lightens the load taken by the rim portion of the container and primary skirt when the lid lever is pulled to detach a lid. The secondary skirt maintains the structural integrity of the lid, primary skirt and the rim portion of the container.
Additional advantageous embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims.
It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising/comprised of” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.
In the following, the present invention will be described in greater detail with reference to embodiments shown by the enclosed figures. It should be emphasized that the embodiments shown are used for example purposes only and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention.
As used in the specification and claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, the term “an article” may include a plurality of articles unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Those with ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements in the Figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the Figures may be exaggerated, relative to other elements, in order to improve the understanding of the present invention.
There may be additional components described in the current application that are not depicted on one of the described drawings. In the event such a component is described, but not depicted in a drawing, the absence of such a drawing should not be considered as an omission of such design from the specification.
Before describing the present invention in detail, it should be observed that the present invention utilizes a combination of system components which constitutes a container with an integrated lid lever for effectively disengaging a lid from a rim portion of the container. Accordingly, the components and the method steps have been represented, showing only specific details that are pertinent for an understanding of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the present invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the present invention.
A perspective view of a container 100 is shown in
The container 100 further includes a primary skirt 114 which extends downward from the rim portion 112 of the container 100 and covers the majority of the circumference of the container 100. The primary skirt 114 comprises an inner surface 116 and an outer surface 118. The primary skirt 114 includes a first set of ribs 120 which extends from the inner surface 116 of the primary skirt 114 to the outer surface 110 of the sidewall portion 104. The first set of ribs 120 are placed at regular intervals around the circumference of the container 100. The first set of ribs 120 fixedly attaches the primary skirt 114 to the outer surface 110 of the sidewall portion 104 providing additional stiffness to the rim portion 112.
The primary skirt 114 provides stiffness to the rim portion 112 of the container 100. The primary skirt 114 further includes a lid lower edge engaging surface 122 having an inner edge 124 and an outer edge 126 as shown in
The primary skirt 114 comprises a first cut 128, a second cut 130 and a lid lever 132 is then integrated between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130 as shown in
A perspective view of a portion between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130 is shown in
The secondary skirt 138 is positioned as a flange according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. A perspective sectional view of the portion between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130 along the X-X′ axis of
The secondary skirt 138 is integrated within the primary skirt 114 between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130. A first rib 120a of the first set of ribs 120 is adjacently placed beside the first cut 128 and a second rib 120b of the first set of ribs 120 is adjacently placed beside the second cut 130 respectively as shown in
Ribs from a second set of ribs 144 extend from an inner surface 140 of the secondary skirt 138 to the outer surface 110 of the sidewall portion 104. The second sets of ribs 144 along with the first set of ribs 120 provide additional stiffness to the rim portion 112 of the container 100. In the embodiment shown in the figures, see for example
The lid lever 132 includes at least one protrusion 148 at its lower edge to occupy the fingers of a user. The number of protrusions 148 can be one, two or three according to various embodiments of the present invention. However, it should be appreciated that in another embodiment there can be any number of protrusions 148. The lid is dislodged when the lid lever 132 is pulled laterally outward towards a free end by inserting fingers into the protrusions 148 without damaging the lid of the container 100.
The presence of the primary skirt 114, the secondary skirt 138 and the design of the lid lever 132 allows a user to effectively open the lid of the container 100 without any damage. The lid lever 132 exerts a load on the primary skirt 114 when it is laterally pulled outward to dislodge the lid. The secondary skirt 138 is configured to support the load exerted onto the primary skirt 114, thereby maintaining the stiffness of the rim portion 112. The secondary skirt 138 prevents deformation of the rim portion 112 and the primary skirt 114, thereby allowing more effective usage of the lid lever 132.
A sectional side view of the portion of the lid lever between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130 along the X-X′ axis of
A bottom view of the portion between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130 is shown in
The lid lever 132 also contains a lid lower edge engaging surface 122. The lid lower edge engaging surface 122 of the lid lever 132 comprises an inner edge and an outer edge 150. It should be noted that the inner edge 124 of the lid lower edge engaging surface 122 of the primary skirt 114 as well as the lid lever 132 coincide along the entire circumference of the container 100. The outer edge 126 of the lid lower edge engaging surface 122 of the primary skirt 114 covers the majority of the circumference of the container 100, but does not include the area between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130. The lid lower edge engaging surface 122 of the lid lever 132 extends past an imaginary circular line (not shown in figures) which is concentric with the outer edge 126 of the primary skirt 114. In other words it can be said that the imaginary circular line and the outer edge 126 are of the same diameter.
It can also be said that, the lid lower edge engaging surface 122 between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130, due to the presence of the lid lever 132 extends to the outer edge 150 as shown in
The inner surface 134 of the lid lever 132 and the inner surface 116 of the primary skirt 114 coincide as shown in
The extended part of the lid lever 132 i.e. the radial distance D′ gradually increases from the first cut 128 to a midpoint 154 of the portion of the lid lever 132 between the first cut 128 and the second cut 130 and then gradually decreases from the midpoint 154 to the second cut 130 as shown in
In the figures, the lid lever is shaped with a smooth arc shape. However in another embodiment, the lid lever 132 can be one of many different shapes. For example, in another embodiment, the lid lever could have a shape comprising double arcs, or one could imagine a square shape, etc. . . . .
It should be appreciated that the bottom portion 102, the sidewall portion 104, the primary skirt 114, the lid lever 132, and the secondary skirt 138 are all made of the same material according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the bottom portion 102, the sidewall portion 104, the primary skirt 114, the lid lever 132, and the secondary skirt 138 could all be integrally moulded in a single plastic injection moulding operation. The container 100 is preferably manufactured using moulded plastics material. However, the materials can vary with the method of manufacturing.
The present invention has been described herein with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application. Although selected embodiments have been illustrated and described in detail, it may be understood that various substitutions and alterations are possible. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the present teachings may recognize additional various substitutions and alterations are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and as defined by the following claim.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA 2014 70680 | Nov 2014 | DK | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2015/076001 | 11/8/2015 | WO | 00 |
