Patent Application
20070158354
The present invention relates to a lid for use with a container. The lid includes a button that assists in securing the lid to the container.
Plastic food containers have been used for years to store food products. Specialized plastic containers have been developed to improve the packaging of food products through lids with specialized rim structures that provide a better seal for storage of the food product. These rim structures require a pressing force to properly seal the lid to the container to avoid food spoilage.
Many plastic food containers include lids that must be sealed to the container. If such a lid is not fully and completely sealed to the container, then food spoilage may occur. The top surface of the lid may be slippery from condensation resulting from the refrigeration of the container. This may hinder the user when the user is sealing the container.
A lid for use with a plastic container is described herein. The lid comprises a printable surface and a button protruding from the printable surface, the button comprising a plurality of concentric circles, whereby pressing the button seals the lid to the plastic container. The button and the concentric circles improve the sealing of the lid to the plastic container. The printable surface is a planar region surrounding the button that may be printed with design, text, or other indicia.
A lid for use with a plastic container is described herein. The lid comprises a button that assists in securing the lid to the plastic container. The button is raised from the surface of the lid. The button includes a plurality of concentric circles raised from the button.
The button and the plurality of concentric circles provide many important advantages:
The button and the plurality of concentric circles assist the user in securing the lid to the container, namely, the button and the concentric circles provide a target for the user to press with their finger to actuate the sealing of the lid to the container. The user will visually note the button and will aim their hand and finger movement toward the button.
The concentric circles also provide a frictional gripping surface for the finger of the user. A pad of the finger of the user will frictionally hold against the concentric circles. This reduces the tendency for the finger to slip on the surface of the lid.
The raised design of the button also assists in transferring the pressing force supplied by the user concentrically throughout the lid and to the rim of the lid. This promotes a complete closure of the lid on the container, instead of leaving a portion of the rim of the lid unclosed and subjecting the food product in the container to spoilage.
In addition to helping to transfer the pressing force of the user, the button design also reduces the likelihood that the lid, when pressed, will contact the food product contained within the container. The appearance of the food product is important to consumers, and it is desired to not disturb the appearance of the food product by pressing on the lid and forcing the lid into the food. The button is raised from the remainder of the lid. This difference in height permits the user to press the button causing the lid to attach to the container without the lid contacting the food product within the container.
As discussed above, the concentric circles provide many advantages. In a preferred embodiment, the inclusion of four concentric circles provide said advantages and is still commercially feasible to manufacture. In other embodiments, fewer or additional concentric circles may be used.
The lid finds utility in food packaging containers, especially dairy packaging containers for butter, margarine, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc. The container and lid of the present disclosure may be used with a variety of different sized containers. Preferred embodiments include one-pound tubs and three-pound plastic tubs. However, the present invention is not limited by the particular contents of the container.
The lid and container may be constructed from a variety of plastic materials, such as polypropylene, low-density polyethylene, and high-density polyethylene. A particularly preferred material is polypropylene, since polypropylene provides a “popping” sound when the lid securely attaches to the container. The audible signal reassures the user that they have successfully attached the lid to the container.
The lid may be manufactured through conventional plastic forming techniques. Injection molding is one suitable technique. The injection molding process generally includes assembling a mold from one or more mold pieces that will ultimately form the plastic container or lid. Plastic resin is melted, and the melted plastic resin is then injected into the mold. After cooling, the mold is separated and the lid or container is ejected out of the mold.
The lid with the button design and the container may also be manufactured via thermal forming processes. Typically, a sheet of plastic material is heated and placed onto a vacuum mold. Vacuum suction draws the heated sheet into the mold. After cooling, the container is released from the mold.
In operation of the button, the user pushes the button, typically with their finger. The button transmits this pushing force concentrically to engage the rim of the lid onto the container. The button assists in transferring the pushing force.
As used herein, the term “button” refers to a raised portion of the lid that extends or protrudes from the remainder of the lid. Generally, the button will rise from the flat or planar surface of the remainder of the lid. The button is approximately circular in shape. The circular shape of the button concentrically transfers the pressing force of the user to the rim.
As used herein, the term “printable surface” refers to the generally flat or the generally planar region of the lid surrounding the button. The printable surface may include text, such as trademarks, product ingredients, nutritional data, designs, ornamentation, etc. The text may be applied to the printable surface by stamping, printing, ink application, etc.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the Figures. As shown in
As shown in
The perimeter of the button 50 is formed by a draft angle 200. The draft angle 200 is approximately 95 degrees to approximately 115 degrees from a printable surface 300 of the lid 10. The draft angle 200 allows the lid 10 to easily slip from a mold used in the manufacturing of the lid 10. The flat surface 110 is raised from the printable surface 300 by a first distance 225, which reduces the likelihood that pressing on the button 50 will cause the lid 10 to contact a food product in a container 500.
The printable surface 300 surrounds the button 50. The printable surface 300 provides a generally flat or planar region for text or other designs to be stamped, printed, or included in or on the printable surface 300. The printing of the printable surface 300 may be accomplished by cutting a hole in a pad of a printing plate. The hole in the printing plate allows the button 50 to protrude into the hole of the pad, and thus the button 50 does not interfere with the printing on the printable surface 300.
As shown in
The closure of the lid 10 will now be described. As the lid 10 is pressed onto the container rim 510, a lip 511 of the container rim 510 may temporarily deform toward the container 500 as an annular bump 431 of the perimeter 430 is pressed over the lip 511. At the same time, the perimeter 430 may also temporarily deform away from the container 500 as the annular bump 431 presses against the lip 511. The perimeter 430 of the rim 400 covers the container rim 510 of the container 500. This interaction of the components of the rim 400 and the container rim 510 seals the lid 10 to the container 500 to preserve the food product within the container 500. As described, a pressing force is needed to cause the lip 511 of the container rim 510 to temporarily deform and/or to cause the perimeter 430 to temporarily deform.
The top surface 425 of the rim 400 is in approximately the same place as the top surface 107 of the concentric circles 100. The second distance 350 is approximately the same as the first distance 225. The printable surface 300 is in a lower plane than both the top surface 107 and the top surface 425 of the rim 400.
This spatial relationship between the top surface 425 of the rim 400, the printable surface 300, and the top surface 107 of the concentric circles 100 assists in transferring the pressing force received by the button 50 through the printable surface 300 and to the rim 400. The transfer of the pressing force is needed to fully seal the rim 400 to the container 500. If the transfer of the pressing force is not accomplished, the user may have to close the container 500 by pressing on the rim 400 multiple times and in multiple places. The design of the present invention overcomes this disadvantage.
The button 50 provides many advantages. It provides a visual target or “bulls eye” for the user to press when sealing the lid 10. The button 50, with its concentric circles, provides a non-stick and non-slip surface for the user to press on the lid 10. The button 50 provides a target in the center of the container to help fully seal the lid 10 to the container. Further, the button 50 assists in concentrically transferring the pressing force to the lid 10 to cause the lid 10 to seal to the container 500.
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. It is accordingly intended that the claims shall cover all such modifications and applications that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
