Resilient Closure Having Invested Recess Securing Means

Abstract

A container and a closure member therefor, the outer surface of the container rim sloping outwardly and downwardly, the closure member being provided with an outer closure wall which is substantially vertical in its relaxed and undistorted state, but which, when placed upon the container, is stretched outwardly and downwardly by the outer surface of the rim whereby the outer closure wall exerts a radially inward force against the rim to improve the sealing relationship between the container and the closure member. A modified form of the invention involves a V-shaped groove in the rim and a complementary V-shaped ridge in the recess of the closure member so as to provide a wedging action when this modified closure member is placed over the modified container.

Description

The present invention relates to a container and a resilient closure member therefor. More particularly, the present invention relates to an intermating relationship between the container and the closure member so as to produce a seal superior to those heretofore produced.

The container itself can be of any cross-sectional shape such as square, rectangular, oval, polygonal, etc. However, as described herein, the container is preferably cylindrical and, thus, has a circular cross section which is also the shape of the cover or closure member. The upper opening of the container is defined by a rim whose inner surface merges with the inner surface of the container but whose outer surface is inclined downwardly and outwardly. The lower end of the outer surface of the rim intersects with a horizontal lip which connects at right angles to the outer surface of the container wall. The closure member is provided with a substantially circular or horizontal central portion which will conform in shape with the cross-sectional opening of the container itself. The outer edge of the flat circular portion of the closure member connects with an upwardly extending closure wall which, in turn, connects with a spaced and downwardly extending closure wall. The two closure walls are spaced from each other and form an inverted recess which is adapted to receive the rim of the container. Whereas the inner closure wall has a surface (with respect to the inverted recess) which conforms in size and shape with the inner surface of the rim, the outer closure wall is substantially vertical and its inner surface is spaced from the center of the closure member a distance equal to the distance from the center of the container to the uppermost portion of the outer surface of the rim.

The effect of the above-disclosed relationship is that the outer closure wall is stretched downwardly and outwardly when the closure member is placed over the container. In the relaxed and undistorted state, the outer closure wall is substantially vertical; in the unrelaxed and distorted state, when the closure member is on the container, the outer closure wall extends downwardly and outwardly such that its inner surface mates with the outer surface of the rim. However, this outer closure wall is stretched and the amount of stretching increases progressively downwardly with respect to this outer closure wall. Because of the tendency of this outer closure wall to return to its relaxed state, there is an inwardly directed pressure exerted by the outer closure wall against the rim, thus improving the sealing relationship between the closure member and the container. The protruding bead is locked beneath the horizontal lip so as to keep the closure member in place.

In another embodiment of the invention, the rim of the container is provided with a V-shaped groove and the closure member is provided with a downwardly projecting V-shaped ridge. The root dimension of the V-shaped ridge is slightly greater than the upper opening of the V-shaped groove such that a wedging action is provided when this closure member is placed upon its associated container.

Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a container and a closure member therefor wherein the outer surface of the container rim slopes outwardly and downwardly and wherein the closure member is provided with an outer closure wall which is substantially vertical in its relaxed and undistorted state but which, when placed upon the container, is stretched outwardly and downwardly by the outer surface of the rim whereby the outer closure wall exerts a radially inward force against the rim to improve the sealing relationship between the container and closure member.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container and closure member therefor as set forth above wherein the outer closure wall is provided with a bead at the lower end thereof to be received beneath a horizontal lip on the container rim to lock the closure member in place.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container and closure member therefor as described above wherein the container rim is provided with a V-shaped groove and the closure member is provided with a corresponding V-shaped ridge which is adapted to be received in the V-shaped groove, the relative dimensions of the ridge and groove being such as to produce a wedging action when the ridge is inserted into the groove.

Other and further objects and advantageous features of the present invention will hereinafter more fully appear in connection with a detailed description of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective showing a container with the closure member secured thereon;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the upper end of the container and closure member showing the intermating relationship between these two elements when the closure member is secured on the container;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the container and closure member separated from each other with the closure member being in a relaxed and undistorted state; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded view similar to FIG. 3 showing another modification of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows a container 5 which is generally cylindrical in shape and a circular cover 6 closing the upper end of the container. Although the container is described as being cylindrical and the cover as circular, it should be understood that the container could be square, oval, polygonal, or other suitable shape and the closure member or cover would have a complementary shape, providing the intermating relationship between the container and the closure member is substantially the same as that described hereinafter.

The closure member or cover should be resilient and should be more resilient than the container. The container itself can be made of metal, glass or relatively rigid plastic material. Preferably, however, the container is made of a high density polyethylene while the container closure or cover is made of a low density polyethylene.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the container 5 is shown as having a sidewall 7. This sidewall is substantially vertical and continuous around the container whether the latter be cylindrical or some other closed shape. The upper end of the sidewall 7 terminates in an enlarged peripheral rim 8 having an inner surface 9 which is inclined as shown but which merges with the inner surface of the sidewall 7. The rim of the container also has an outer surface 10 which slopes downwardly and outwardly from a point 11 at the upper edge of the rim to a point 12 where this outer surface intersects with a substantially horizontal lip 13. The lip 13 connects substantially at right angles to the outer surface of the sidewall 7. The cover or closure member 6 (see also FIG. 3) is provided with a flat or horizontal central portion 14 which connects at its outer edge with a closure wall 15. The closure wall 15 projects upwardly at 16 substantially vertically for a short distance and thereafter is inclined as at 17 terminating at its upper end in a flat horizontal portion 18.

The cover or closure member 6 is also provided with a second closure wall or skirt 19 which connects at its upper end with the horizontal portion 18 and which extends substantially vertically downwardly therefrom. The closure walls 15 and 19 define, between them, an inverted recess which, as will hereinafter appear, is adapted to receive the rim 8 of the container 5. The surface of the recess formed by the wall portion 16 is substantially cylindrical and conforms to the inner surface of the container wall 7. The portion of the inverted recess formed by the inclined wall 17 corresponds in size and shape with the inner surface 9 of the rim 8. The inner surface 20 of the recess formed by the closure wall 19, however, does not conform exactly to the size and shape of the outer surface 10 of the rim 8. Actually, the surface 20 is spaced from the center of the cover 6 at a distance substantially equal to the spacing of the point 11 from the longitudinal center of the container 5. The lower end of the skirt 19 is provided with an inwardly projecting bead 21 which will serve to lock the cover in place as will hereinafter appear.

In order to place the cover 6 on the container 5, the former is positioned over the latter so that the inverted recess is over the rim 8. By pushing down on the edge of the cover, the skirt or outer closure wall 19 will be stretched downwardly and outwardly; continued downward pushing on the edge of the cover 6 will result in the condition shown in FIG. 2 where the inner closure member 15 fits snugly against the inner surface of the rim 8 and the sidewall 7. The surface 20 will also fit snugly against the surface 10 of the rim 8 but the outer closure wall 19 will have to be stretched outwardly and downwardly in order to achieve this condition. The lowermost portion of the sidewall 19 is stretched the greatest amount and, hence, will be exerting the greatest pressure against the rim 8. The bead 21 will be located immediately beneath the horizontal lip 13 so as to lock the cover 6 in place on the container 5.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the container 25 is essentially the same as the container 5 previously described except that the upper rim 28 is provided with a V-shaped groove 27 at its upper edge between its inner surface 29 and its outer surface 30. The outer surface 30 extends from a point 31 at the upper edge of the rim 28 to a lower point 32 where this surface connects with a horizontal lip 33. The cover 26 is provided with a flat horizontal portion 34, an inner closure wall 35 and an outer closure wall 36 which connects at its upper end to the upper end of the inner closure wall 35 by means of the horizontal portion 37. The closure walls 35 and 36 form, between them, an inverted recess which will be adapted to receive the rim 28 of the container 25. Within this inverted recess, there is provided a downwardly projecting V-shaped ridge 38 which is slightly wider at its upper end than the upper opening of the V-shaped groove 27. The inner surface 39 of the skirt 36 is located at a distance from the center of the cover 26 which is substantially equal to the distance of the point 31 from the longitudinal center of the container 25. An inwardly projecting bead 40 located at the lower end of the skirt 36 so as to lock beneath the horizontal lip 33 as will hereinafter appear.

When placing the cover 26 on the container 25 of FIG. 4, the former is disposed over the latter such that the inverted recess is over the rim 28. By pushing downwardly on the edge of the cover 26, the inner surface of the closure wall 35 will fit smoothly and snugly against the inner surface 29 of the rim 28. The outer closure wall or skirt 36 will be stretched outwardly and downwardly with the lowermost portion of this skirt being stretched the greatest amount. Continued downward urging of the cover will result in a condition similar to that shown in FIG. 2 where the inner surface 39 of the closure wall 36 will be resting against the outer surface 30 of the rim 28 and with the inwardly projecting bead 40 being located under the flat lip 33. In the case of the FIG. 4 configuration, however, the V-shaped ridge 38 will be received within the V-shaped groove 27; since the root dimension of the ridge 38 is somewhat greater than the upper opening of the groove 27, this ridge will provide a wedging action in the groove so as to urge the surface 29 against the corresponding surface of the closure wall 35 and the surface 30 against the surface 39.

Whereas the present invention has been described in particular relation to the drawings attached hereto, it should be understood that other and further modifications, apart from those shown or suggested herein, may be made within the spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims

1. In combination; a container having an opening and a resilient closure member for the container opening; said container opening being defined by a substantially vertical and continuous sidewall and an enlarged peripheral rim at the upper end of said sidewall; said rim having an inner surface merging with the inner surface of said sidewall; said rim having an outer surface sloping downwardly and outwardly and terminating in a substantially horizontal lip connecting substantially at right angles to the outer surface of said sidewall of said container; said closure member having a substantially horizontal central portion; a first closure wall extending upwardly from and connecting at its lower end with said central portion; a second closure wall spaced outwardly from said first closure wall and connected at its upper end with said first closure wall; said first and second closure walls defining therebetween an inverted recess adapted to receive said container rim therein; the inner surface of said recess defined by said first closure wall conforming in size and shape with said inner surface of said rim; the inner surface of said recess defined by said second closure wall being substantially vertical in the relaxed and undistorted condition of said second closure wall and being spaced from the center of said closure member substantially equal to the distance from the center of said container to the upper edge of said outer surface of said rim; the inner surface of said recess defined by said second closure wall conforming in size and shape with said outer shape of said rim in the unrelaxed and distorted condition of said second closure wall when said rim is fully received within said recess whereby said second closure wall is stretched outwardly by said rim so as to be inclined downwardly and outwardly; and an inwardly projecting bead adjacent the lower end of said second closure wall adapted to be received directly beneath said horizontal lip when said rim is received in said

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said container rim is provided with a V-shaped groove at its upper edge between its inner and outer surfaces, and wherein said closure member is provided with a downwardly projecting V-shaped ridge between the upper ends of said first and second closure walls, whereby, when said rim is received within said recess, said ridge will be received within said groove for wedging the inner and outer surfaces of said rim against the first and second closure

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said container is substantially cylindrical and said closure member is substantially

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said container is made from high density polyethylene and said closure member is made from low density polyethylene.