U.S. patent number 3,565,146 [Application Number 04/836,714] was granted by the patent office on 1971-02-23 for reclosable receptacle.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Kalle Aktiengesellschaft, Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Federal. Invention is credited to Willi Arnolds.
United States Patent |
3,565,146 |
|
February 23, 1971 |
RECLOSABLE RECEPTACLE
Abstract
This invention relates to a receptacle made of rigid elastic
material and comprising a container having a flange and a cover
either integral therewith or separable therefrom and having at
least one cavity, the zones of the container flange serving for the
closure as well as the mating rim of the cover being provided with
a plurality of corresponding protuberances of equal dimensions,
positioned thereon similarly and substantially in the longitudinal
direction of the flange of the container and the rim of the cover,
formed from the planes of these margins and extending alternately
upwardly and downwardly from said planes without a horizontal
region of transition to said planes of the margins, and successive
protuberances extending upwardly or downwardly from said marginal
planes being undercut at least at the lateral surfaces opposite to
each other.
Inventors: |
Willi Arnolds (Recklinghausen,
DE) |
Assignee: |
Kalle Aktiengesellschaft,
Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Federal (N/A)
|
Family
ID: |
7272150 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/836,714 |
Filed: |
June 26, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/4.23;
220/4.24 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
43/0204 (20130101); B65D 2543/00805 (20130101); B65D
2543/0049 (20130101); B65D 2543/00546 (20130101); B65D
2543/00462 (20130101); B65D 2543/00351 (20130101); B65D
2543/00296 (20130101); B65D 2543/00527 (20130101); B65D
2543/00657 (20130101); B65D 2543/00194 (20130101); B65D
2543/00694 (20130101); B65D 2543/00768 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
43/02 (20060101); B65d 043/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;150/.5
;220/4(E),31(SR),60 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Donald F. Norton
Attorney, Agent or Firm: James E. Bryan
Claims
I claim:
1. A reclosable receptacle made of rigid elastic material and
comprising a container having a flange, a cover having a rim and at
least one cavity, the zones of the container flange serving for the
closure as well as the mating rim of the cover being provided with
a plurality of corresponding protuberances of equal dimensions,
positioned thereon similarly and substantially in the longitudinal
direction of the flange of the container and the rim of the cover,
formed from the planes of said flange and said rim and extending
alternately upwardly and downwardly from said planes without a
horizontal region of transition to said planes, and successive
protuberances extending upwardly or downwardly from said planes
being undercut at least at the lateral surfaces opposite to one
another.
2. A receptacle according to claim 1 in which the cover is
separable and has an outwardly extending cavity, the opening zone
of the container and that of the cavity in the cover being
rectangular, both opening zones having the same dimensions, and a
plurality of alternating protuberances in the flange of the
container and in the rim of the cover surrounding the opening zones
of the container and of the cavity in the cover in the form of a
rectangle.
3. A receptacle according to claim 1 in which the cover has an
outwardly extending cavity in the form of a longitudinally halved
hollow cylinder and the container has a cavity of the same shape,
the container flange and the rim of the cover being in the plane of
the opening zones of the container and the cavity in the cover.
4. A receptacle according to claim 1 in which the protuberances
have planar surfaces substantially parallel to the plane of the
flange and rim and are larger in the direction in which they are
linearly successively arranged than in the direction normal
thereto.
5. A receptacle according to claim 1 fabricated from rigid elastic
thermoplastic synthetic film.
6. A receptacle according to claim 5 in which the film has a
thickness in the range of 200 to 500.mu..
7. A receptacle according to claim 5 in which the film is
transparent.
8. A receptacle according to claim 5 in which the film is
transparent and impact-resistant.
9. A receptacle according to claim 5 in which the film is
transparent, impact-resistanct polyvinyl chloride film.
Description
This invention relates to a tightly reclosable receptacle for
various goods, particularly biscuits or sliced bread, consisting of
two parts which are either integral or separable from one another
and which, when joined together, surround a hollow space, the one
part being a container with a flange and the other part being a
cover which may be provided with one or more cavities.
In the following, the word flange means that part of the container
sidewalls which extends outwardly from the edge bounding the
opening zone of the container. The marginal zone of the cover
substantially corresponding in its width to the width of the flange
is designated, in the following, as the rim. When it is unnecessary
to distinguish between the flange and the rim, both are designated
as margins.
Receptacles are known which consist of two container parts
connected by means of roll hinges, for example, or of two separate
container parts which, when joined together with their flanges,
form a hollow space for the goods. Closure of the known containers
is performed either by means of a roll snap closure or by means of
snap fasteners. The first method requires a second working step
following the shaping of the container part or parts, in which the
closing means must be produced separately. The second closure means
is only a point-by-point closure means and thus is not tight. Other
receptacles of the mentioned type are known in which the closure of
the container parts is performed by means of rings rolled into the
material like ears, but it is also a point-by-point closure, the
production also requires a separate working step, and, furthermore,
such a closure means does not permit repeated opening and closing
of the container.
Other known containers of the mentioned type are closed by means of
loop tongs. This closure type, however, requires an additional
working step, does not guarantee tight closure since it has only a
point-by-point effect and also is not reclosable. Receptacles with
such a closure means, however, can be employed only up to a film
thickness of 150 .mu. since, above this film thickness, closure
difficulties occur caused by the film stiffness.
In the case of still other receptacles of the mentioned type,
closure is performed by means of wire clips or staples. Also in
this case, it is a point-by-point closure which does not permit
repeated closure and also requires an additional expenditure of
material.
There also are known receptacles which consist of a container with
a flange and a planar cover, closure between the container and the
cover being performed in the zone of the flange of the container
and the marginal zone of the cover by means of the mentioned known
closing means. Such known receptacles have the above-mentioned
disadvantages.
The present invention provides a repeatedly reopenable and again
tightly closable receptacle which does not have the disadvantages
of the known closable receptacles.
The novel receptacle is for various goods, particularly sliced
bread or biscuits, and comprises a container having a flange and a
cover integral therewith or separable therefrom and having at least
one cavity. The zones of the container flange serving for the
closure as well as the mating rim of the cover are provided with a
plurality of corresponding protuberances of equal dimensions, which
are positioned thereon similarly and substantially in the
longitudinal direction of the flange of the container and the rim
of the cover, formed from the planes of these margins and extending
alternately upwardly and downwardly from these planes without a
horizontal region of transition to the planes of the margins, with
successive protuberances extending upwardly or downwardly from the
marginal planes being undercut at least at the lateral surfaces
opposite to one another.
The receptacle of the present invention preferably has a shape such
that the container and the cover are separable from one
another.
According to another embodiment, the receptacle comprises a
container and a cover connected by means of a groove to enable the
two parts of the receptacle to be opened and closed. In this case,
the tooth-shaped protuberances extending upwardly and downwardly
from the plane of the flange of the container as well as from the
plane of the rim of the cover are formed only in the marginal zones
serving for closure.
In another variation of the receptacle, the container and the cover
are connected along a margin of the same length by means of one or
more roll hinges, the other margins serving for the closure of the
receptacle and being provided with the described protuberances.
In cases in which firm closure of the receptacle is not absolutely
necessary for packaging, it also is possible to employ the
protuberances only on two parallel opposite margins of the
container and the cover.
The protuberances may have different shapes, e.g. they may have
quadratic surfaces. It is particularly advantageous that they have
rectangular surfaces of which the longer lateral edges are two to
four times as long as the shorter lateral edges. It is also
advantageous that the linearly successively mounted protuberances
have planar horizontal surfaces parallel to the marginal plane. The
upper edges of the longer lateral surfaces of the protuberances
extend parallel to the boundary edge of the opening zone of the
container, the protuberances in the rim of the cover correspond in
this arrangement to those of the flange of the container.
Preferable is an embodiment of the container according to which the
longer lateral surfaces of the protuberances projecting upwardly
from the flange and plane extending towards the interior of the
container are in alignment with the inner surface of the wall of
the container. If the other characteristic features are maintained,
it is not absolutely necessary that the surfaces of the upwardly or
downwardly extending protuberances be planar.
Preferable is a receptacle according to the invention which
comprises a container with a flange and a cover with at least one
cavity which preferable is curved.
If the cover is provided with a cavity, the opening zone of the
container and the opening zone of the cavity may be correspondingly
angular or round opening zones, e.g. they may be quadratic,
rectangular, triangular or polygonal, but they also may be circular
or elliptical or kidney-shaped. Egg-shaped opening zones also are
possible. The invention also includes those receptacles in which
the boundary edge of the opening zone of the container or of the
cavity of the cover and the line along which the protuberances in
the flange or in the rim of the cover are positioned are not
parallel to one another, e.g. when the opening zone is round or
egg-shaped and the protuberances in the flange and in the rim of
the cover are positioned in a line surrounding a square within
which is the round or egg-shaped opening zone, and also those in
which the arrangement of the closing zone formed by the
protuberances succeeding in one line does not correspond to the
arrangement of the outer boundary line of the flange, e.g. when the
opening zone of the container is rectangular and the edge of the
closing zone following the opening zone takes such a course that
the outer boundary line of the flange is a circle.
When pressing the container and the cover with their margins
together with the application of slight pressure, closure of these
parts is effected whereby the protuberances extending upwardly from
the marginal plane of the container fit into spaces between two
successive protuberances extending upwardly from the marginal plane
of the cover and, vice versa, the protuberances extending upwardly
from the marginal plane of the cover engage into spaces between two
successive protuberances extending upwardly from the flange plane
of the container.
The special undercut shape of the protuberances, in which the
shortest distance between two successive protuberances positioned
on the margin and extending from the marginal plane in the same
direction perpendicularly thereto always is smaller by once to
twice the wall thickness of the protuberance than is the greatest
length of the protuberance, results in form-closed interlocking of
the protuberances of the container margin and of the cover margin
and thus to tight closure of the receptacle.
For better understanding this closing procedure, it is also
possible to so imagine the described arrangement of the
protuberances in the flange of the container and in the rim of the
cover that the protuberances extend upwardly only from a surface of
the margin the plane of which is parallel to and below the margin
plane. In this case, the depth of the protuberance part below the
plane of the margin corresponds to the height of the protuberance
projecting from the marginal plane.
The hollow space surrounded by the receptacle may have a cubic form
or also bent edges and curved surfaces, e.g. when it is a hollow
cylinder. It is also possible that the hollow space of the
container is surrounded by curved surfaces, e.g. when the container
is hemispherical and the cavity in the cover also has a
hemispherical shape and extends outwardly.
When the shape and the dimensions of the opening zone of the
container correspond to those of the cavity in the cover and when
the shape and the dimensions of the flange of the container
correspond to those of the rim of the cover, the shape of the
cavity, however, and the shape of the container may be different.
When the container has the same rectangular surface as has the
cavity in the cover, the container may have a cubic shape, for
example, and the cavity in the cover may have the shape of a
longitudinally cut hollow cylinder.
The receptacle of the invention is manufactured from sufficiently
rigid and sufficiently tough and elastic materials. It is of
particular advantage to manufacture the receptacle from synthetic
plastic material, more particularly from thermoplastic synthetic
film of sufficient toughness, elasticity, and stiffness.
Particularly suitable are films of polyolefins, more particularly
polyethylene as well as polystyrene films. Especially suitable,
however, are films of polyvinyl chloride. Impact-resistant
transparent films of polyvinyl chloride have proved particularly
suitable. Films of polyvinyl chloride also include copolymers and
polymer mixtures thereof as well as graft polymers which contain at
least 50 percent by weight of vinyl chloride or polyvinyl chloride
and up to 50 percent by weight of toughening copolymers or
high-polymer components.
Examples of such toughening constituents are chlorinated
polyolefins, particularly chlorinated polyethylene,
butadiene/acrylonitrile copolymers,
butadiene/acrylonitrile/polyvinyl graft polymers and copolymers,
polyacryl and polymethacryl polymers and
acyrlonitrile/butadiene/styrene polymers. It is advantageous to use
films of thicknesses above 150.mu.; particularly suitable are films
of thicknesses in the range from 200 to 500.mu..
It is also possible, of course, to use colored and/or printed films
of the mentioned type.
The manufacture of the receptacle of the invention is performed
particularly advantageously by thermoforming the films
employed.
The accompanying drawings illustrate an example of a special
container according to the invention and a receptacle composed of a
container and of a cover provided with a cavity, in which
drawings:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a container part with a rectangular
opening in the flange the outer boundary edge of which is parallel
to the edge of the container opening and
FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a special receptacle according to the
invention in which the container space has the shape of a
longitudinally halved hollow cylinder whereas the cavity of the
cover has a flattened top zone.
When the top zone of the cavity in the cover has such a shape that
it has a sufficiently large planar zone parallel to the plane of
the flange of the cover, this planar surface may be used as a
contact surface.
FIG. 3a is a cross section of a preferred form of the edge of a
special container part, in which the protuberance walls extending
inwardly are in alignment with the inner shell surface of the
hollow space of the container part. If the cover for such a
container has a cavity, its margin may be shaped as that of the
container or it may have such a margin as is shown in FIG. 3b for
another container variation.
FIG. 3b shows another possible arrangement of the protuberances in
the margin of a container part, the protuberances being positioned
approximately in the middle of the margin. The lateral surfaces of
the protuberances are substantially parallel to the inner edges of
the flange.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view looking from the interior of the
container and shows a section of a flange of a receptacle according
to FIGS. 1 and 3a.
In FIG. 1, numeral 1 indicates the hollow space of the container,
numeral 2 the flange of the container, and numeral 3 the planar
upward surface of a protuberance which is parallel as well as above
the plane of the flange; numeral 4 indicates a parallel surface
below the plane of the flange. This surface represents the planar
parallel surface below the marginal plane of a protuberance
extending downwardly from the flange plane.
In FIG. 2, numeral 2 indicates the flange of the container part 5
and of the cover 6, numeral 8 indicates the flattened top zone of
the cavity of the cover 6, numeral 9 indicates a protuberance
extending from the plane of the flange 2 of the cover 6 and numeral
11 indicates a protuberance extending from the plane of the flange
2 of the container 5, both extending downwardly i.e. in the
direction of the hollow space of the container 5 and of the cover
6, respectively, from the flange 2. Numerals 10 and 12 indicate
protuberances in the flange 2 of the container 5 and of the cover
6, which extend upwardly from the plane of these margins, whereas
the hollow spaces 5 and 6 extend downwardly from the plane of the
flange and that of the rim.
In FIG. 3a, the wall of the container is indicated by 5 and
numerals 10 and 11 have the meanings described with reference to
FIG. 2. The upwardly extending protuberance 10 follows in the
direction of view the protuberance 11 extending downwardly from the
flange plane.
In FIG. 3b, the wall of the container is indicated by 13, numeral 2
indicates the flange, numeral 14 indicates a protuberance extending
upwardly from the plane of the flange, and numeral 15 indicates a
protuberance extending downwardly from the same plane.
In FIG. 4, numeral 2 indicates the flange of a container, numeral
10 indicates a protuberance extending upwardly from the flange
plane, numeral 16 indicates the planar surface of this
protuberance, which extends above and parallel to the flange plane,
numeral 17 indicates the narrower lateral surface of the
protuberance 10, numeral 18 the wider lateral surface of the
protuberance 10, which extends towards the interior of the
container part.
Below an imaginary line defined by the flange plane, this wall
surface smoothly passes over into the inner wall surface 21 of the
hollow space of the container. Numeral 9 indicates a protuberance
extending downwardly from the flange plane, of which protuberance
the surface 19 parallel to and below the rim plane has an edge 20
which is followed by the wall surface 21 running downwardly.
Numeral 22 indicates the inner side of the lateral wall 23 of the
downward protuberance 9, which side is substantially perpendicular
to the surface of the flange and to the surface 19. Numeral 24
indicates the inner side of the narrower lateral surface of the
protuberance 9. The surfaces 17 and 24 pass over into one another
smoothly and as planes at the height of their imaginary separation
line defined by the flange plane. The angle formed by surface 17
and the flange plane is identical to the angle between the surface
19 and the surface 24.
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many
modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention
without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention
includes all such modifications.
* * * * *