Storage Box with Venting Option

Abstract

A storage box has a container with circumferential sidewall and upper rim. A cover is removably connected to the container. The cover, when placed in a closure position on the container, is resting on the rim. In the closure position, the cover is positioned on the container in a sealing position or in a closing position. The sidewall has a sidewall section with venting openings. The cover has a cover wall extending downward into the container interior. The cover wall is positioned where the sidewall section is located in the closure position. The cover wall is resting seal-tightly on an inner wall of the sidewall in the sealing position of the cover. The cover has venting passages. In the closing position of the cover, the venting passages extend from the container interior to the sidewall and open into the venting openings without the cover wall covering the venting openings.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a storage box with a container comprising a circumferentially extending sidewall and a removable cover, wherein the container has an upper circumferentially extending rim and the cover, in its closure position, is resting on the upper circumferentially extending rim and contacts seal-tightly a portion of the inner wall of the container with a cover wall of the cover.

DE 20 2005 020 035 U1 discloses a storage box of the aforementioned kind. The cover is designed such that it is capable of air-tightly closing the interior of the container in the closure position. In order to be able to vent the interior of the container (allowing air in or allowing air out), a closure element is inserted in the cover of the container that can be attached or removed as desired. In addition, a check valve is provided with which a vacuum is to be generated and maintained in the container.

The separate closure element is not optimal with regard to handling because, as a separate component, it might be lost. Producing the components requires additional expenditure for a separate mold and for assembly of the parts. Also, maintenance is more difficult because the component geometries of the closure element generate a lot of corners and edges where residues of food may collect that may be difficult to remove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage box of the aforementioned kind that is closeable but, as needed, can also be closed so as to enable venting for allowing gas in or out with minimal expenditure.

In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved for a storage container of the aforementioned kind in that the cover in the closure position can be placed onto the container in a sealing position or in a closing position, as needed; in that the sidewall is provided with one or more venting openings in a sidewall section into which a cover wall of the cover projects downwardly and which is contacted seal-tightly in the sealing position by the cover wall; and in that on the cover one or several venting passages are formed which, in the closing position of the cover, extend from the interior of the container to the sidewall of the container and that open into the venting opening or venting openings, without a seal-tight contact of the cover wall of the cover in the area of the venting passage.

According to the invention, the cover is placed conventionally in the closure position onto the container when the goods placed into the container are to be secured against falling out and/or are to be protected from undesirable contact with other objects. In contrast to the prior art, the user can now select whether the cover is to be positioned in a sealing position or in a closing position onto the container. The venting openings in the sidewall of the container provide the option that, even when the cover is secured on the container, gasses or even liquids and solids can be exchanged between the interior of the container and the environment. The cover is designed such that in the sealing position it is contacting with a cover wall seal-tightly a sidewall section of the container where the venting opening or venting openings are located so that, by means of the contacting cover wall of the cover, the venting openings are sealed off. In the closing position of the cover, the venting passages open at and into the venting openings so that the venting openings are not covered and a gas exchange or even exchange of liquids and solids between the interior of the container and the environment is still possible.

The sealing position thus differs from the closing position in that the container is not just generally closed by placing the cover onto the container wherein the venting openings are still in communication with the interior of the container through the venting passages formed in the cover, but the container is closed off such that the venting openings are also covered by one or several cover wall sections of the cover wall of the cover that are resting seal-tightly on the venting openings and, in this way, the venting openings are closed off so that gas exchange or exchange of liquids or solids through the venting openings is at least mostly prevented. In the sealing position, the interior is thus not necessarily completely sealed off relative to the environment but the contents of the container is however at least protected from splashing water and dust also cannot enter unhindered the interior of the container. This is the meaning of the term sealing position as used in the instant specification.

In the container, one or several venting openings can be provided. For venting purposes, it may be sufficient to form only a single venting opening in the container but it is also possible to provide several venting openings. They can have different sizes, shapes and positions on the container.

In order for the cover to selectively cover or not cover the venting openings in the sealing position and the closing position, it is required to arrange the venting openings in a sidewall section of the sidewall into which a cover wall of the cover projects at least in the sealing position. Depending on the position of the venting openings, the cover wall formed on the cover can thus project downwardly into the lower area of the container.

The term venting passages means a shaped section of the cover. The shaped section is such that the outwardly closed cover surface extends to a level at which, in the closing position of the cover, the cover surface at least in the area of the outer rim of the cover projects past the venting openings. Moreover, the cover in the mouth area of the venting passage has no cover wall section of the cover wall positioned at the venting openings which contacts seal-tightly the sidewall of the container in the area of the venting opening; accordingly, through the venting openings gas can flow into the container interior and out of the container interior. The cover can be configured such that each venting opening of the container has associated therewith its own venting passage. It is also possible however to embody the cover to have one venting passage for several venting openings of the container; then, in the intermediate space between the recesses in the cover wall where the venting passage opens into a venting opening, a skirt can be advantageously arranged in an area of the cover where in the sealing position of the cover it is resting seal-tightly on the corresponding venting opening.

By integration of the venting option into the housing (container) and the cover, a separate closure element is no longer needed. Additional mounting expenditure is eliminated because only the housing (container) part and the cover part are present. By integration of the venting openings into the sidewall of the housing (container), the complicated component geometries which are difficult to clean are eliminated also. Since no additional separate component in addition to the housing (container) and the cover is required, such an additional separate component cannot be lost. Cleaning of the components is simplified and the container has therefore hygienic advantages.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the venting openings are arranged in the upper area of the container. When escape of liquids from the container is to be made more difficult despite the venting openings, this arrangement is advantageous. In particular, the venting openings can be arranged immediately below the circumferentially extending rim.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the venting openings have a non-round shape. By providing a non-round shape which can be designed, for example, slot-shaped or elliptically shaped, the maximum width of the venting opening is limited, despite a larger surface area as a whole of the venting opening, in relation to its length so that the objects stored in the container, depending on their size and shape, cannot fall out easily from the container through the venting openings, even though a venting rate can be obtained which corresponds to the realized total surface area of the venting openings. The venting openings can also have a circular shape wherein then however the diameter of the openings in relation to the surface area of the venting openings can be greater than for a non-round configuration. Depending on the material to be stored in the container, this may be of no consequence however.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the longitudinal axes of the venting openings extend in horizontal direction. Due to the horizontal extension of the longitudinal axis, the venting openings in relation to their width have a reduced height. In particular when the venting openings are arranged in the upper area of the container and closer to the circumferentially extending rim, the protective function of the sidewall remains intact across almost the entire height. When the container is in horizontal position, liquids can hardly splash out of the container even when the container is moved because the liquid level is usually still below the lowermost edge of the venting openings even then.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the circumferentially extending upper rim has a non-round shape so that the cover can be placed only in certain positive-lockingly predetermined positions onto the container. Due to the non-round shape, the user is therefore forced to decide whether the cover is to be positioned in the sealing position or in the closing position onto the container because it is no possible to place the cover in just any placement position on the container. In case of round shapes of the circumferentially extending upper rim it would be possible, depending on the rotational position of the cover, to place the cover also in intermediate positions onto the container in which the venting openings would only be partially closed.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the cover can be locked on the container by locking (snap-on) connections and/or by closure elements. By means of the locking connections that can be activated simply by placement of the cover onto the container, the cover is secured in its closure position and can be detached only with a particular force expenditure from the container. By means of the locking action, the cover is in particular safely held in the sealing position in which gasses or liquids cannot pass unhindered into the container or out of the container because the cover wall sections of the cover wall of the cover are secured seal-tightly at the venting openings. Particular closure elements such as, for example, slidable bars, clamping flaps or the like require separate activation but can also provide an increased degree of safety with regard to accidental opening of the cover, in particular when several such closure elements are present.

According to one embodiment of the invention, on one side of the circumferentially extending sidewall several venting openings are arranged horizontally spaced apart from each other and the venting openings have a reduced width in comparison to the portions of the sidewall section of the sidewall interposed between them. With the reduced width of the venting openings in relation to the width of the interposed portions of the sidewall section of the sidewalls, it is possible to design the cover wall sections of the cover wall that are seal-tightly resting on the venting openings in the sealing position of the cover to be of such a width that they project with overlap past the venting openings in seal-tight contact so that seal-tightness is increased.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the container has a symmetric basic shape and the venting openings are positioned on opposite sides of the circumferentially extending sidewall and are not mirror-symmetrical to a line that connects the two sides at the center of the width of the sides. In such an arrangement of the venting openings in a symmetric container, the cover wall sections of the cover wall of the cover, which are in seal-tight contact in the sealing position, also must not be mirror-symmetrical to a line that connects the two sides at the center of the width of the sides when they are to be in seal-tight contact in the sealing position. In particular when the venting openings arranged on opposite sides of the circumferentially extending sidewall have no lateral offset relative to one another in relation to the line that connects the two sides at the center of their width, a configuration of the cover and of the container results in which the cover must only be rotated by 180 degrees about its vertical axis in order to move the cover from the sealing position into the closing position, and vice versa. As a symmetric basic shape, a rectangular shape is conceivable, for example.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the container and/or the cover are made of a transparent or translucent plastic material. Through the transparent or translucent plastic material, the user can recognize whether the cover has been placed in a sealing position or closing position onto the container.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the cover wall sections are arranged in a position on the cover such that in the sealing position they are resting seal-tightly at the venting openings and, upon rotation of the cover by 180 degrees about the vertical axis, do not cover and thus open up the venting openings. In this configuration, the venting function can be easily actuated by the user of the storage box because the user must only make a selection between one of two possibilities for positioning the cover on the container.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the cover wall sections have a greater width and height than the venting openings. Due to the greater dimensions of the cover wall sections an excellent covering action is ensured.

It is expressly noted that the afore described configurations of the invention taken alone, but also in any suitable combination with each other, can be combined with the subject matter of the independent claim inasmuch as this is not prevented by technical constraints.

Further modifications and preferred embodiments of the invention can be taken from the following description of the subject matter and from the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective bottom view of the storage box.

FIG. 2 is a perspective top view of the cover of the storage box.

FIG. 3 is a perspective top view of the storage box.

FIG. 4 is a section view of an open venting opening along the section line A-A of FIG. 3 with the cover in closing position.

FIG. 5 is a section view of the closed venting opening along the section line A-A of FIG. 3 with the cover in sealing position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 discloses a storage box 2 in a perspective bottom view. The storage box 2 has a container 4 into which food or other objects can be placed wherein the interior of the container 4 is laterally bounded by a sidewall 6 that ends in upward direction at the upper rim 8. The storage box 2 further comprises a cover 10 that is placed onto the upper rim 8. The storage box 2 can be put down with bottom 12 of the container 4 being placed onto a support surface.

The visible end face of the container 4 in FIG. 1 is provided below the upper rim 8 with four venting openings 14. The venting openings 14 are slot-shaped. In outward direction, the venting openings 14 are covered by the cover 10 and the bead-shaped projecting upper rim 8 so that they are not fully visible in the illustrated view.

FIG. 2 shows a cover 10 in a perspective top view. The cover 10 is provided with shaped venting passages 16. The venting passages 16 are not mirror-symmetrical relative to a line 18 that connects the two end faces or opposite sides at the center of their width. Between the venting passages 16 there are cover wall sections 20 of a cover wall which in the sealing position of the cover 10 are resting seal-tightly at the venting openings 14. The venting passages 16 as well as the cover wall sections 20 are positioned on opposite sides of the cover 10 each at the same location; accordingly, the arrangement of the venting passages 16 and the cover wall sections 20 is mirror-symmetrical relative to the transverse axis 22. When the cover 10 is rotated by 180 degrees about the vertical axis 24, a wall section 20 will be positioned where beforehand in the position of FIG. 2 a venting passage 16 was located; at the locations where in FIG. 2 the wall sections 20 are positioned, the venting passages 16 will be arranged after rotation by 180 degrees. Accordingly, by 180 degree rotation in the illustrated embodiment, the cover 10 is positioned either in the sealing position or in the closing position on the container 4 when the cover 10 is placed onto the container.

In FIG. 3, a perspective top view of the container 4 is shown. In this perspective view the inner walls of the container 4 are partially visible. In this view it can be seen that the upper rim 8 is designed as a circumferentially extending bead in that the sidewall 6 is downwardly bent by approximately 180 degrees in an arc shape. The container 4 has a parallelepipedal basic shape and the corners of the sidewall 6 and of the upper rim 8 are rounded. At both end faces of the container 4, in the transition area from the sidewall 6 to the upper rim 8, sidewall sections are provided that have two venting openings 14a and two venting openings 14b arranged on the left side of the connecting line 18 as well as two venting openings 14a′ and two venting openings 14b′ on the right side of the connecting line 18. As has already been explained in connection with the venting passages 16 and the cover wall sections 20 in the cover 10, the venting openings 14 and the intermediately positioned portions of the sidewall section of the sidewall 6 are not mirror-symmetrical to a line 18 that connects the two end faces at the center of their width. With a corresponding arrangement of the venting passages 16 and of the cover wall sections 20 in the cover 10, there is thus the option, depending on how the cover 10 is placed onto the container 4, to vent the interior of the container 4 by the venting openings 14 in the closing position or to prevent venting in the sealing position. While the arrangement of the venting openings 14a/14b is not mirror-symmetrical to the venting openings 14a′/14b′ for mirror imaging relative to the connecting line 18, the venting openings 14a, 14a′ are however mirror-symmetrical relative to the venting openings 14b, 14b′ with respect to the transverse axis 22.

In FIG. 4 a cross section view of the container 4 and the cover 10 along the section line A-A in FIG. 3 is shown. In the illustration of FIG. 4, the cover 10 is in the closing position in which by means of the venting opening 14 a free gas exchange between the interior of the container 4 and the outer environment is possible as indicated by the double-headed arrow. In the cross-sectional view the ramp can be seen clearly by means of which the level of the cover 10 is extending from the lower plane in the central area of the cover 10 into the higher plane of the cover rim. In the rim area the wall of the cover 10 thus projects in the closing position past the top edge of the venting opening 14 so that the latter in the closing position is not covered by the cover 10. In the view of FIG. 4, it is also shown that the cover wall section 20 in the closing position is resting seal-tightly on an inner wall surface of a portion of the sidewall section of the sidewall 6 which is located between neighboring venting openings 14 and is of a closed design.

In FIG. 5, the section view along the line A-A of FIG. 3 is shown when the cover 10 is in the sealing position. In the view of FIG. 5 one can see that now the cover wall section 20 of the cover 10 completely covers the entire area of the venting opening 14 and is resting seal-tightly on the sidewall 6 so that now a free gas exchange between the interior of the container 4 and the outer environment is not possible anymore. The venting passage 16 is now in a position in which it is positioned before the closed intermediate potion of the sidewall section of the sidewall 6 between two neighboring venting openings 14. Since the sidewall 6, as shown in FIG. 5, is of a closed design in this area of the venting passage 16, no gas (air) exchange between the interior of the container 4 and the environment takes place by means of the venting passage 16 in the sealing position of the cover 10. The venting opening 14 in the sealing position of the cover 10 is completely and gas-tightly covered across the entire surface area by the cover wall section 20.

The specification incorporates by reference the entire disclosure of European priority application 13 002 015 having a filing date of Apr. 17, 2013.

The invention is not limited to the afore described concrete embodiments. A person of skill in the art will modify the invention as disclosed and exemplified by the described embodiments in a way that appears suitable to the artisan for a particular application. While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

Claims

1. A storage box comprising: a container having a circumferentially extending sidewall with an upper circumferentially extending rim;a cover adapted to be removably connected to the container;wherein the cover, when placed in a closure position on the container, is resting on the upper circumferentially extending rim;wherein, in the closure position, the cover is adapted to be positioned on the container in a sealing position or in a closing position;wherein the circumferentially extending sidewall has a sidewall section with one or more venting openings;wherein the cover has a downwardly extending cover wall that extends downwardly into an interior of the container, wherein the cover wall is positioned where the sidewall section is located in the closure position;wherein the cover wall is resting seal-tightly on an inner wall surface of the sidewall section in the sealing position of the cover;wherein the cover has one or more venting passages;wherein, in the closing position of the cover, the one or more venting passages extend from the interior of the container to the circumferentially extending sidewall of the container and open into the one or more venting openings without the cover wall of the cover covering the one or more venting openings.

2. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein the one or more venting openings are arranged in the upper area of the container.

3. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein the one or more venting openings have a non-round shape.

4. The storage box according to claim 3, wherein a longitudinal axis of the one or more venting openings extends in a horizontal direction.

5. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein the circumferentially extending upper rim has a non-round shape so that the cover can be positioned only in positive-lockingly predetermined positions on the container.

6. The storage box according to claim 1, comprising locking connections that are adapted to lock the cover on the container.

7. The storage box according to claim 1, comprising locking elements that are adapted to lock the cover on the container.

8. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein on one side of the circumferentially extending sidewall several of the venting openings are arranged spaced apart from each other in a horizontal direction, wherein the venting openings have a width that is smaller than a width of portions of the sidewall section that are intermediately positioned between the venting openings.

9. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein the container has a symmetric basic shape, wherein the venting openings are positioned on opposite sides of the circumferentially extending sidewall and are arranged non-symmetrically relative to a line that connects the opposite sides at a center of a width of the opposite sides.

10. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein the container is made of transparent or translucent plastic material.

11. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein the cover is made of transparent or translucent plastic material.

12. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein the cover has two of said cover walls on opposite ends of the cover, wherein the cover walls are arranged on the cover such that, in the sealing position of the cover, the cover walls cover seal-tightly the one or more venting openings and, upon rotation of the cover about 180 degrees about a vertical axis, the cover walls do not cover the one or more venting openings.

13. The storage box according to claim 1, wherein the cover wall has cover wall sections extending between the venting passages, wherein the cover wall sections each have a width in the circumferential direction that is greater than a width of each one of the one or more venting openings in the circumferential direction, and wherein the cover wall sections each have a vertical height that is greater than a vertical height of each one of the one or more venting openings.