Patent Application
20110049155
The present invention relates to containers and more particularly to transportation rings of the type used to retain the lid on a can containing essentially hazardous and dangerous materials during shipping.
A transportation ring is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,705. This ring extends downwardly into the plug recess. A removable retaining device for cans is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,003. This device also extends into the U-shaped plug or lid recess. A reclosable vacuum container has the lid captured in a peripheral sealing cavity as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,330.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,554 shows a lid retaining collar which also has a portion which extends into the U-shaped plug or lid recess.
While the prior art devices extend into the U-shaped plug recess and onto the plug cover portion to operate adequately, the Applicant discovered it was not necessary to have these extensions to hold a lid or plug on a can to pass the applicable United Nations can testing requirements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,557 filed by the Applicant discloses such a transportation ring suitable for metal containers.
A new plastic container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,348 for “Plastic Paint Can.” While the transportation ring of the '557 patent works well for metal containers, it does not engage the top edge of the new plastic paint can. Further, the plastic paint cans are designed to facilitate stacking, and the transportation ring of the '557 patent does not include such features. The '557 and '348 patents are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference.
The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing a transportation ring affixed to a plastic paint can for the purpose of retaining the lid on the plastic paint can during transportation. The transportation ring snaps downward over the can rim and extends inwardly over the edge of the lid. The transportation ring includes an alignment ridge for cooperation with the bottom of the plastic paint can to facilitate stacking. The ring is preferably fabricated from a rigid plastic material.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a round transportation ring affixed to a plastic paint can. The plastic paint can includes a cylindrical can body, a round can bottom attached to the can body, round can rim attached to the can body, and a round lid. The round can rim is attached to the can body opposite to the can bottom and including a lid sealing ridge and an outer peripheral edge extending radially out beyond the can body. The round lid is removably attached to the can rim and includes a planar center portion for enclosing the contents of the plastic paint can and an outer channel portion for sealing with the lid sealing ridge. The round transportation ring is mounted to the plastic paint can and includes a lid retaining collar, a cylindrical outer ring portion, and a securing ridge. The lid retaining collar reaches inward over the outer channel portion of the lid for retaining the lid on the plastic paint can. The cylindrical outer ring portion reaches down over the can rim. The securing ridge is on an inside inner surface of the cylindrical outer ring portion residing below the outer peripheral edge of the can rim and has an inside diameter smaller than an outside of the outer peripheral edge thereby resisting removal of the transportation ring from the plastic paint can. The securing ridge includes a lower beveled portion at an angle A1 for sliding over a rim edge of the plastic paint can, a center cylindrical portion, and an upper beveled portion at an angle A2 for retaining the transportation ring on the plastic paint can where the angle A1 is smaller than the angle A2. The lower beveled portion is preferably at an angle A1 between 30 degrees and 50 degrees from the vertical and the upper beveled portion is preferably at an angle A2 between 50 degrees and 70 degrees from the vertical for retaining the transportation ring on the plastic paint can.
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:
a is a perspective view of the transportation ring according to the present invention.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.
A perspective view of a plastic paint can 10 is shown in
A perspective view of the plastic paint can 10 with a transportation ring 14 according to the present invention retaining the paint can lid 12 for shipping is shown in
A top view of the transportation ring 14 is shown in
An enlarged and dimensioned cross-sectional view of the transportation ring 14 taken along line 4-4 of
A detailed cross-sectional view a detail 6 of
The height H4 is preferably between 0.020 inches and 0.040 inches, and is more preferably between 0.025 inches and 0.035 inches, and is most preferably approximately 0.030 inches, the height H5 is preferably between 0.029 inches and 0.049 inches, and is more preferably between 0.034 inches and 0.044 inches, and is most preferably approximately 0.039 inches, and the height H6 is preferably between 0.067 inches and 0.087 inches, and is more preferably between 0.072 inches and 0.082 inches, and is most preferably approximately 0.077 inches. The angle A1 is preferably between 30 degrees and 50 degrees and is more preferably between 35 degrees and 45 degrees and is most preferably approximately 40 degrees and the angle A2 is preferably between 50 degrees and 70 degrees and is more preferably between 55 degrees and 65 degrees and is most preferably approximately 60 degrees. The width W3 is preferably between 0.030 inches and 0.050 inches, and is more preferably between 0.035 inches and 0.045 inches, and is most preferably approximately 0.040 inches and the height H7 is preferably between 0.390 inches and 0.410 inches, and is more preferably between 0.395 inches and 0.405 inches, and is most preferably approximately 0.400 inches.
A cross-sectional view of stacked plastic paint cans 10a and 10b showing the alignment ridge 16 of the transportation ring 14 according to the present invention is shown in
The transportation ring 14 is preferably made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE).
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.
