Field of the Invention
Our invention relates to storage container systems. More specifically, our invention relates to storage container systems that include a plurality of containers and lids, with the lids being capable of sealing the containers, and with sealed containers being stackable in compact arrangements.
Related Art
Plastic storage container systems have a wide variety of uses around a home. For example, plastic containers are often used to store food in a refrigerator or a cupboard. Plastic containers may also be used to store other things around the house, for example, small items in closets or tools in garages. In order to take up as little room as possible, container systems are often configured such that the sealed containers can stack on top of each other. In particular, the lids for the containers sometimes have special shapes or structures that enable the lids to be locked to the bottom of another container, thereby providing two containers locked together in a stacked arrangement. Further, the containers and/or lids of plastic container systems are also often configured to nest into each other when the containers are not sealed with lids and when the containers are not filled with items. This decreases the space that is required to store the containers and lids when they are not in use.
While container systems have been made to stack and/or to nest, most such container systems do not provide a plurality of different sized containers that can be stacked or nested together in a convenient and compact arrangements. Additionally, the locking arrangement between containers and lids in some stacking container systems can make it difficult to assemble or to disassemble the system in the stacked arrangement. This problem may be particularly acute when it is desired to remove just one of a plurality of stacked containers from a confined space such as a refrigerator. For example, if the top container of a stack is locked to the lid of another container below that top container, it can be difficult to disengage the top container from the stack when the stack is in a confined space.
With respect to the lids of the containers, it is often important that the lids create a tight seal against the containers so as to prevent, as much as possible, air from entering the containers. At the same time, it is also important that a user can easily form the seal with the lids, otherwise the user may inadvertently not fully seal the container, and the contents of the containers may spoil or be spilled. Thus, many different configurations of lids have been developed for sealing against plastic containers. Nevertheless, it is still relatively difficult for a user to effectively seal the lids against containers in many systems.
According to one aspect, our invention provides a container system. The container system includes a first container including a bottom wall, at least one sidewall, and an open top, with a plurality of indented recesses being formed in the bottom wall, a first lid configured to close the open top of the first container, a second container including a bottom wall, at least one sidewall, and an open top, and a second lid configured to close the open top of the second container, with a push indicator structure being formed at a center portion of the second lid, and with a plurality of registration bumps being formed about the push indicator structure. The first container is stackable on the second lid such that (i) each of the registration bumps in the second lid is aligned with an adjacent one of the recesses in the bottom wall of the first container and (ii) surfaces of the registration bumps are spaced from surfaces of the adjacent recesses.
According to another aspect, our invention provides a container system. The container system includes a first container including a bottom wall, at least one sidewall, and an open top, with an indented recess being formed in the bottom wall, a first lid configured to close the open top of the first container, a second container including a bottom wall, at least one sidewall, and an open top, and a second lid configured to close the open top of the second container, with a push indicator structure being formed at a center portion of the second lid, and with a plurality of registration bumps being formed about the push indicator structure. The first container is stackable on the second lid such that (i) each of the registration bumps of the second lid is aligned with an adjacent surface of the indented recess in the bottom wall of the first container and (ii) surfaces of the registration bumps are spaced from the adjacent surfaces of the recess, and the first container and the second container have different dimensions.
According to a further aspect, our invention provides a container system. The container system includes a container having a bottom wall, at least one sidewall, and an open top, with a rim extending from the at least one side wall adjacent to the open top, the rim including (i) a first surface extending outward from the at least one side wall and (ii) a second surface extending in a different direction than does the first surface. A lid is provided for sealing the open top of the container, with the lid including a first sealing portion for contacting an area of the inner surface of the at least one side wall and a second sealing portion contacting an area of the first surface of the rim. A tangent to the points of contact of the first sealing portion of the lid and the at least one sidewall and a tangent to the points of contact of the second sealing portion and the first surface of the rim cross at a point that is (i) above the container and (ii) within a projection of the extent of the at least one side wall of the container. When the lid seals the open top of the container, the first and second sealing portions of the lid contact the container and all of the other portions of the lid are spaced from the container.
According to still another aspect, our invention provides a container system that includes a container including a bottom wall, a plurality of sidewalls, and an open top, with an indented recess being formed in the bottom wall, and a lid configured to close the open top of the first container, with a push indicator structure being formed at a center portion of the lid, and with at least one registration bump being formed in the lid. A total surface area of the at least one registration bump is greater than a spatial area of the lid that is calculated as the length of the lid multiplied by the width of the lid.
Our invention relates to container systems that include containers and corresponding lids for sealing the containers. The containers and lids can be made from a variety of materials, and in particular, a wide variety of plastics. The containers can be used to store many different items, including liquid and solid food products.
The container and lid combinations 100, 200, 300, and 400 are modular in the sense that the combinations 100, 200, 300, and 400 have lengths and widths that are proportional to each other. More specifically, when the length and width of container 102 and lid 150 are designated as 1L and 1W, respectively, then the other containers 202, 302, and 402 and lids 250, 350, and 450 have lengths and widths that are about aL and bW, where a and b are integers. For example, the container 202 can have a length of about 2L and a width of about W, the container 302 can have a length 2L and a width 2W, and the container 402 can have a length 3L and a width 2W, and container 402 can have a length 3W and a width 2L. Although the round combination 500 does not have a defined length and width, the round container 502 is consistent with the modularity of the other combinations 100, 200, 300, and 400 inasmuch as it can be stacked in compact arrangements with the other combinations 100, 200, 300, and 400, as will be described below.
There are no specific limitations on the sizes of the containers 102, 202, 302, 402, and 502 and lids 150, 250, 350, 450, and 550, but rather the dimensions can be selected for particular applications. For example, when the rectangular containers 102, 202, 302, and 402 are intended to be used to store food, the length and width of the smallest container 102 can be selected for storing a particular product such as a sandwich. In such a case, the length and width of container 102 would be made slightly larger than the size of an ordinary piece of bread. In other embodiments, the container 302 with a 2L length and a 2W width can be sized for storing a sandwich. Given the modular functionality of the combinations 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500, once the length and width are selected for any one of the containers 102, 202, 302, 402, and 502, the lengths and widths of the other containers can be determined based on the proportionality described above. It should be noted, however, that while the sizes of the containers 102, 202, 302, 402, and 502 may be generally proportional, it is not a requirement that the dimensions fall into exact ratios. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the modular functionality of the container systems described herein can be achieved even if the dimensions of the containers vary slightly from exact ratios. In this regard, the proportionality of the lengths and widths, as indicated herein by 1L, 1W, 2L, 2W, etc., should be viewed as approximate and satisfied as long as the modularity functionality described herein is achieved. It should also be noted that numerous other container systems with different dimensions can be provided in addition to those shown in
There are no particular requirements or limitations for the height dimension of the containers 102, 202, 302, 402, and 502. In the embodiment depicted in
The configuration of container 302 with the foot region 316 surrounding the indented recess 314 provides a relatively level and stable surface at the bottom of the container 302. As will be described below, the recess 314 can be relatively shallow and need not extend deeply into the interior of the container 302. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, problems that may arise with other container bottom configurations, such as rocker bottoms or inadvertent doming in the recessed region, can be lessened using the configuration of containers according to our invention.
The combinations of containers and lids 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 can be manufactured using a wide variety of well-known techniques, including, for example, thermoforming, injection molding, or vacuum molding. Further, the container systems 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 can be formed from a wide variety of well-known polymeric materials, including, for example, low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (LDPE), polystyrene, crystalline polyethylene terephthalate, amorphous polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate, and polypropylene, as well as combinations thereof. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, with such materials the combinations of containers and lids 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 can be made in a wide range of transparencies and/or colors.
It should be noted that either of the sealing configurations shown in
The sealing configurations shown in
As described above, the lids of container systems according to our invention may include an indicator that directs a user to push on a center portion of the lid when sealing the lid to a container. For example, the lid 350 is provided with an indicator 357 at the center of the region 354. When the lid 350 is set to the open top 310 of the container 300, the user is directed to press the lid 350 at the indicator 357 in order to effect the sealing operation. That is, by pressing the lid 350 at the indicator 357, the sealing rim 352 may be forced to seal against the rim 312 of the container 300 in the manner shown in
In order to demonstrate the rigidity added that is added to the lids by the registration bumps, the amount that the lids deflect when being sealed to containers was determined in a series of tests. Properties of the six Lids A-F that were tested are shown in TABLE 1.
The deflection of Lids A-F was determined as the lids were sealed on corresponding containers. That is, the lids were pressed at a center portion so as to seal the lids on the corresponding container, with the amount that each of the lids moved downward being measured as “deflection.” For lids B and C, the corresponding containers had the same lengths and widths (corresponding to lengths and widths of lids B and C), but different heights. Similarly, for lids D and E, the corresponding containers had the same lengths and widths (corresponding to lengths and widths of lids D and E), but different heights. All of the lids and containers had the same type of sealing structures. The tests were conducted five times for each of lids A-F, with the average deflection at peak force, the maximum deflection at peak force, and the minimum deflection at peak force being determined for each lid. The results of these tests are shown in TABLE 2. Also shown in TABLE 2 are the average, maximum, and minimum peak forces that were used in the test to seal the lids to the containers.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the amount of deflection in the lids A-E is relatively small, and certainly smaller than corresponding lids having the same configuration without registration bumps. Along these lines, a further test was conducted where the stiffness of a lid having four registration bumps was compared to a lid of the same size without registration bumps. In this test, the two lids were subjected to vibrations at the same frequencies. The lid with the four registration bumps was found to vibrate in the same manner as the lid without registration bumps, but at about 28% higher frequencies for the same vibration. This indicates that the lid without registration bumps was much stiffer than the lid without registration bumps. Hence, the results of the vibration test are consistent with the results of the deflection tests in that the lid with the registration bumps demonstrated an added rigidity.
As can also be seen in
Notably, the registration bumps 356A, 356B, 356C, and 356D do not “lock” against the bottom walls 104 and 204 of the containers 102 and 202. In fact, the registration bumps 356A, 356B, 356C, and 356D need not be in contact with any of the sides of the indented recesses 108 and 208 when the containers 102 and 202 are stacked on lid 350. The containers 102 and 202 are, therefore, easily positioned to and removed from the lid 350. Additionally, because the bottom walls 104 and 204 of containers 102 and 202 are merely positioned by the registration bumps 356 and not locked to the registration bumps 356, the indented recesses 108 and 208 may be relatively shallow. In other container systems, when a locking type engagement is formed between the lid of one container and the bottom of another container, an indented structure formed in the bottom of the container must extended substantially into the interior of the container. Further, the indented structure in other container system must often have an intricate shape in order to effectively lock to the lid of the other container. The deeper indented structures will often take up more space on the interior of the container, and the intricate shapes may be more difficult to form. On the other hand, the relatively shallow and simply shaped indented recesses in the container systems according to our invention do not take up a substantial amount of the inside of the containers and are relatively easy to form when manufacturing the containers.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modular functionality demonstrated by the arrangements shown in
It should also be apparent from the foregoing description that although embodiments of the invention are described with registration bumps being provided on the lids of the containers and corresponding recesses on the bottom of containers, in other embodiments the structures could be flipped such that registration bumps are provided on the bottoms of the container while recesses are provided in the lids. With such flipped arrangements, the lids and containers would stack in the same manner as described herein.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, in view of the stacking configurations shown in
It should be noted that, while the stacking arrangements described above include two levels, i.e., one or more containers stacked on another container, the container systems according to our invention could have additional levels. For example, an embodiment includes a 1L length and 1W width container stacked on the lid of a 2L length and 2W width container and lid, with the stacked 2L length and 2W width container itself stacked on the lid of a 3L length and 2W width container. In a similar manner numerous multiple level arrangements can be formed with the inventive container systems. As one having ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate, other variations are certainly contemplated within the scope of our invention.
As shown in
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description, the container systems according to embodiments of our invention have numerous advantageous over other container systems. The inventive container systems may include a plurality of differently sized containers that can be stacked into highly compact arrangements. The compactly stacked arrangements are well-suited for confined spaces, such as refrigerators and cupboards. The lids for the container systems provide effective seals to the containers. At the same time, it easy for a user to seal the containers with the lids. When the containers are not sealed with the lids, the containers may be nested together, and the lids may be nested together, so as to take up a minimal amount of space. Further, the nested containers and nested lids do not become stuck together, and can therefore be easily separated.
Although this invention has been described in certain specific exemplary embodiments, many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure. It is, therefore, to be understood that this invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. Thus, the exemplary embodiments of the invention should be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive, and the scope of our invention to be determined by any claims supportable by this application and the equivalents thereof, rather than by the foregoing description.
The invention described herein can be used in the commercial production of plastic storage container systems. Such container systems have a wide variety of uses in homes and other locations, including the storage of food and other products.
This application is a continuation of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/798,506, filed Jul. 14, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/946,513, filed Jul. 19, 2013, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,108,766, on Aug. 18, 2015, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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