U.S. patent application number 10/688440 was filed with the patent office on 2004-05-06 for airtight container.
Invention is credited to Koo, Cha-II.
Application Number | 20040084464 10/688440 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32464385 |
Filed Date | 2004-05-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040084464 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Koo, Cha-II |
May 6, 2004 |
Airtight container
Abstract
Disclosed is an airtight container for keeping food etc. in
airtight state. The airtight container comprises a body 10 with an
opened upper surface; a lid 20 for covering the opened upper
surface of the body 10; and a locking portion having at least two
locking flanges 40 integrally pivotally coupled to the periphery of
the lid 20 through a thin hinge 44 formed at a connecting portion
connecting thereof with the lid 20, the locking flange 40 having a
hooking protrusion 42 formed on a lower surface thereof, and
hooking ribs 50 formed on an upper portion of the outer wall of the
body 10, each rib 50 engaging with the hooking protrusion of the
locking flange 40. Preferably, the hooking protrusion of the
locking flange 40 provided with a hooked end 43, and the hooking
rib provided with an accommodation groove 52 for for accommodating
the hooked end 43 of the hooking protrusion on lower surface
thereof. Thus, the hooking protrusion and the hooking rib can be
engaged more firmly.
Inventors: |
Koo, Cha-II; (Seoul,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSENTHAL & OSHA L.L.P.
1221 MCKINNEY AVENUE
SUITE 2800
HOUSTON
TX
77010
US
|
Family ID: |
32464385 |
Appl. No.: |
10/688440 |
Filed: |
October 17, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/784 ;
220/326 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 2543/00537
20130101; B65D 2543/00972 20130101; B65D 2543/00194 20130101; B65D
2543/005 20130101; B65D 2543/00296 20130101; B65D 43/0218 20130101;
B65D 2543/00555 20130101; B65D 45/18 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
220/784 ;
220/326 |
International
Class: |
B65D 041/18 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 29, 2002 |
KR |
20-2002-32195 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An airtight container comprising: a body with an opened upper
surface; a lid for covering said opened upper surface of said body;
and a locking portion having at least two locking flanges
integrally pivotally coupled to the periphery of said lid through a
thin hinge formed at a connecting portion connecting thereof with
said lid, said locking flange having a hooking protrusion formed on
lower surface thereof, and hooking ribs formed on an upper portion
of the outer wall of said body, each rib engaging with said hooking
protrusion of said locking flange.
2. The airtight container of claim 1, wherein said hooking
protrusion of said locking flange provided with a hooked end, and
said hooking rib provided with an accommodation groove for
accommodating said hooked end of said hooking protrusion on lower
surface thereof.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] Present invention relates to an airtight container for
keeping food etc. in airtight state.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Generally, various airtight containers are used to keep food
so that the food can be prevented from being perished and unique
smell of the food is prevented from being leaked outside. These
airtight containers have various size and shape, however these
airthight containers generally comprise a body with an opened upper
surface, a lid for covering the opened upper surface of the body,
and a packing attached to the lid for keeping airtightness of the
container.
[0005] However, it is difficult to disengage the lid from the body
and to ensure the tightness of the container by simply covering the
body with the lid having the attached packing. Therefore, it is
known a technique in which locking flanges are formed on a
periphery of a lid so that the lid can be easily disengaged from a
body and tightness can be improved.
[0006] Japanese Laid Open Utility Model S60-11249 discloses an
exemplary locking flanges formed on a periphery of a lid.
[0007] More particulary, locking flanges each provided with hooking
slot are pivotaly coupled to the periphery of the lid, and hooking
ribs each corresponding to the hooking slot of the locking flange
are protruded from an upper portion of an outer wall of a body.
Thus, the lid and the body are completely coupled by covering the
body with the lid and then pivoting the locking flanges downwardly
to engege the hooking ribs of the body with the hooking slots of
the locking flanges. In this state, airtightness of the container
can be fully ensured, and when opening the lid, the lid can be
easily disengaged from the body by pivoting the locking flanges
upwardly to disengage the hooking ribs of the body from the hooking
slots of the locking flanges and then pull the lid upwardly with
the locking flanges gripped.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide an
airtight container having a structure in that a hooking rib does
not protrude much longer from the outer wall of the body thereby
capable of improving convenience of using.
[0009] In order to accomplish the above mentioned object, an
airtight container according to the present invention comprises a
body with an opened upper surface; a lid for covering the opened
upper surface of the body; and a locking portion having at least
two locking flanges integrally pivotally coupled to the periphery
of the lid through a thin hinge formed at a connecting portion
connecting thereof with the lid, the locking flange having a
hooking protrusion formed on a lower surface thereof, and hooking
ribs formed on an upper portion of the outer wall of the body, each
rib engaging with the hooking protrusion of the locking flange.
[0010] Preferably, the hooking protrusion of the locking flange
provided with a hooked end, and the hooking rib provided with an
accommodation groove for for accommodating the hooked end of the
hooking protrusion on lower surface thereof. Thus, the hooking
protrusion and the hooking rib can be engaged more firmly.
[0011] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description of the present
invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide
further explanation of the present invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the present invention and are incorporated
in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate
embodiment(s) of the present invention and together with the
description serve to explain the principle of the present
invention. In the drawings:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an airtight container
according to the present invention,
[0014] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the airtight container
of FIG. 1, in which a body and a lid are disengaged, and
[0015] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the airtight container
of FIG. 1, in which the body and the lid are engaged.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate an embodiment of an airtight
container according to present invention.
[0017] As shown, the airtight container according to present
invention comprises a body 10, a lid 20 and a locking portion. The
body 10 has a box shape with an opened upper surface and
accommodates food etc. in an inner space thereof. In present
embodiment, the body 10 has a shape of a rectangular box, however
the body 10 does not limited in shape and may have various shape
such as a cylindrical shape or a triangular prism shape etc.
[0018] The lid 20 is a plate shaped member of which area is
slightly borad than an area of the upper surface of the body 10 to
cover the upper surface of the body 10. An accommodation groove 22
into which a top end of the body 10 is inserted is formed on a
lower surface of the lid, preferably a packing 30 is accommodated
therein. The packing 30 is an elastic member made of rubber or
plastics and used for improving an airtightness between the lid 20
and the body 10.
[0019] The locking portion have locking flanges 40 attached to the
periphery of the lid 20 and hooking ribs 50 formed on an upper
portion of the outer wall of the body 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the
locking flanges 40 are pivotally coupled to the periphery of the
lid 20, preferably formed integrally on the lid 20 with the same
material to the material of the lid 20, and connection portions
each connecting the lid 20 and locking flange 40 are formed thinly
thereby providing a hinge portion 44. The locking flange 40 is
provided with a hooking protrusion 42 on its lower surface, and an
tip end of the hooking protrusion 42 has a hooked shape. The
hooking rib 50 may be formed continuously along the outer wall of
the body 10, alternatively the hooking rib 50 may be formed
discontinuously only on the portion corresponding to the hooking
protrusion 42 of the locking flange 40. Preferably, the hooking rib
50 is formed continuously so as to minimize inconvenience due to an
interference during using. An accommodation groove 52 for
accommodating the hook 43 of the hooking protrusion 42 is formed on
the lower surface of the hooking rib 50.
[0020] In the above mentioned airtight container according to the
present invention, the lid 20 is firmly engaged with the body 10
and the inner space of the container is sealed by covering the
upper surface of the body 10 with the lid 20 so that the top end of
the body 10 is inserted into the accommodation groove 22 of the lid
20 in which the packing 30 is placed, and then pivoting the locking
flange 40 downwardly to engage the hooking protrusion 42 of the
locking flange 40 with the lower surface of the hooking rib 50
formed on the body 10, as shown in FIG. 3. In this state, the hook
43 of the hooking protrusion 42 is accommodated in the
accommodation groove 52 of the hooking rib 50, thus the hooking
protrusion 42 and the hooking rib 50 maintain the engagement more
firmly.
[0021] In the case of opening the lid 20, pull the locking flange
40 outwardly to disengage the hooking protrusion 42 from the
hooking rib 50, then lift the lid 20 upwardly with gripping the
locking flange 40. As a result, the inner space of the container is
opened and it is possible to put food in the container or to get
food out of the container.
[0022] According to the above mentioned airtight container of the
present invention, the locking flange and the hooking rib are
engaged by the hooking protrusion formed on the locking flange.
Therefore, the hooking rib is not much protruded outwardly. It can
be enough that a protrusion length of the hooking rib of the
present invention is about one-third of the length of conventional
hooking rib. Therefore, the disconvenience due to the interference
during using can be lessened, the disconvenience can be minimized
particulary if the hooking rib formed continuously along the outer
wall of the container.
[0023] The description of the present invention is intended to be
illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many
alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to
those skilled in the art.
* * * * *