U.S. patent number 3,733,002 [Application Number 05/080,086] was granted by the patent office on 1973-05-15 for sealed container.
Invention is credited to Masaaki Fujio.
United States Patent |
3,733,002 |
Fujio |
May 15, 1973 |
SEALED CONTAINER
Abstract
Sealed containers comprising in combination a cylindrical
packing member and a container having a closing means. The
cylindrical packing member is made from a heat-shrinkable synthetic
resin and has printed matter appearing thereon at the required
location. The packing member also contains a circumferential
tearing line, preferably perforated, at a location above the
printed matter. A heat-sensitive adhesive is applied on the inner
surface of the packing member at a location below the tearing line
and becomes tacky when the packing member is heated to a
temperature sufficient to cause the shrinking of said packing
member about the container whereby a closely fitting packing member
is formed about the container. When the upper portion is removed,
and lower portion containing the printed matter remains adhered to
the container.
Inventors: |
Fujio; Masaaki (Suita,
JA) |
Family
ID: |
22155173 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/080,086 |
Filed: |
October 12, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
215/12.2;
215/DIG.6; 206/497; 40/310 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
55/0854 (20130101); Y10S 215/06 (20130101); B65D
75/002 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
55/08 (20060101); B65D 55/02 (20060101); B65D
75/00 (20060101); B65d 011/16 () |
Field of
Search: |
;215/12R,DIG.6,38A,46A
;206/45.33,65S ;229/DIG.12,89,51TS ;156/86 ;40/310 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lowrance; George E.
Assistant Examiner: Marcus; Stephen
Claims
I claim:
1. A sealed container comprising in combination a cylindrical
packing member and a container, said container having a closing
means and said cylindrical packing member consisting essentially of
a heat-shrinkable synthetic resin and having printed matter thereon
at the required location and said packing member being provided
with a circumferential tearing line at a location above the printed
matter and a projecting tongue at its uppermost edge and
longitudinal tearing lines extended from the root of said tongue to
said circumferential tearing line, said packing member further
having a heat-sensitive adhesive applied on its inner surface at a
location below said tearing line and said adhesive becoming tacky
when said packing member is heated to a temperature sufficient to
cause the shrinking thereof thereby resulting in the formation of a
closely fitting packing member about said container.
2. A sealed container according to claim 1 wherein said
circumferential tearing line is perforated.
3. A sealed container according to claim 2 wherein said
heat-sensitive adhesive is applied onto the inner surface of said
cylindrical packing member in a striped pattern.
4. A sealed container according to claim 1 wherein the upper and
lower edge portions of the packing member is bent radially inwardly
so as to be closely fitted over the top circumference of said
closing means and the bottom circumference of the container.
5. A sealed container according to claim 1 wherein the height and
inner diameter of the cylindrical packing is slightly greater than
the height and maximum outer diameter of the container.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a sealed container
entirely enclosed within a heat-shrinkable packing material, and
more particularly, to an enacapsulated sealed container comprising
a heat-shrinkable synthetic resin packing member forming a closely
fitted protective package for the sealed container and the contents
thereof.
The sealed containers of the present invention are especially
useful for protecting the contents of the container against shock,
and even when the container is broken, it provides adequate
safeguards for preventing the scattering of glass, plastic,
etc.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
One of the primary objects of this invention is to provide a sealed
container wherein the closure member therefor, e.g., a stopper is
sealed within a packing member. In this regard, it is a further
object hereof to provide a sealer container, such as a bottle or
can, which is entirely enclosed within a packing member which has
been subjected to a temperature sufficient to cause the thermally
shrinkable material to encapsulate said container and protect said
container against damage due to any sudden shocks.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a sealed
container wherein labels and the like are either applied or printed
onto the packing member thereby avoiding the necessity of having to
apply labels on other printed matter directly onto the container
itself.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a sealed
container wherein the upper portion of the packing member upon
opening can be easily opened and torn off manually by breaking the
sealed condition.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a sealed
container wherein the lower part of the packing member upon which
the labels or printings are affixed thereto, remains attached to
the container when upper portion of the packing member is torn off
so that there is no fear that the contents and the directions for
use become indistinct and its appearance is spoiled.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, the sealed container of this invention comprises a
cylindrical a synthetic resin packing member capable of shrinking
tightly about a container when subjected to heat, said packing
member being labelled or printed thereon at the required location.
The packing member is provided with a circumferential perforated
tearing line at a point above the labelled or printed portion
appearing on said package. The packing member has a heat sensitive
adhesive applied on its inner surface at a point below the tearing
line which becomes activated, i.e., becomes tacky, upon being
subjected to raised temperatures which also simultaneously results
in the shrinking of the member about the container due to the
raised temperature thereby resulting in the packing member becoming
closely fitted over a bare container. The packing material is also
bound to the container by the temperature-sensitive adhesive placed
within said packing member.
The present invention will be better understood and objects other
than those set forth above will become apparent, when consideration
is given to the following detailed description. Such description
makes reference to the annexed drawings presenting preferred
illustrative embodiments of the invention, and wherein;
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sealed container of this
invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view of a container as illustrated in FIG. 1,
wherein the upper part of a packing member is torn off along a
tearing line and the remaining packing member is shown partially
broken away; and
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a packing member, as illustrated in
FIGS. 1 and 2 with a portion thereof being broken away for
convenience of explanation.
Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled
in the art which embody the principles of the invention and fall
within the spirit and scope thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
By referring to the drawings, the sealed container of the present
invention comprises a cylindrical packing member 1 consisting
essentially of a heat-shrinkable synthetic resin. According to a
preferred embodiment of this invention, the cylindrical packing
member has a height somewhat higher than that of a container 2
to-be-sealed and also has an inner diameter substantially larger
than maximum outer diameter of the container.
The cylindrical packing member 1 has a label or printed matter
affixed thereon at its lower location or point 3, just above which
there is provided a tearing line 4 of an example of which is a
perforated line 6 extending circumferentially about the
cylinder.
The cylindrical packing member 1 further has a heat sensitive
adhesive applied on its interior surface at the location below the
tearing line 4. The heat-sensitive adhesive 5 is kept in
non-adhesive condition at room temperature, but when subjected to
heat to cause the packing member 1 to shrink, the adhesive becomes
activated and assists in the bonding of the interior surface of the
packing member to the outer surface of container 2. It will be
understood that the adhesive may be applied in any desired pattern,
e.g., an entire coating, stripped coating or spotty coating.
Tongue 6 is projectingly provided on the upper edge of the
cylindrical packing member 1 from which a pair of parallel tearing
lines 7 and 7, for example, perforated lines which extend
longitudinally down to the circumferential tearing line 4.
It will be appreciated to those skilled in the art that tearing
lines 4, 7 and 7 respectively, can also be formed by notches of Vee
section, instead of perforated lines extending through the entire
thickness of packing member 1. Thus, the tearing lines 4, 7 and 7
may consist of a line of dents, each of which dents has a V-shaped
section extending from the one side of member 1 to a point close to
the other side of member 1, but is not perforated through member
1.
In the packing or sealing operation for preparing the sealed
containers of this invention, packing member 1 is fitted over the
bare container 2 with its upper and lower edge portions protruding
out the container 2. Thereafter, the packing member 1 is subjected
to a temperature sufficient to cause the shrinking of the packing
member whereby the packing member 1 becomes closely fitted over the
whole containers.
In this case, the upper and lower edges of the packing member 1 are
bent radially inwardly to securely embrace the top circumference of
a stopper of closing means 8 and the bottom circumference of the
container 2, respectively, while the main portion of the packing
member 1 is bound over the periphery of the container 2. In
addition, a heat-sensitive adhesive 5 is employed to bind the
packing member 1 to container 2 thereby producing a sealed
container as shown in FIG. 1.
With the sealed container being constructed as described above, the
container 2 is entirely enclosed within the packing member 1
consisting essentially of a synthetic resin so that it is
effectively protected against the shock and, even if the container
2 of glass is broken down, there is no fear that the fragments of
glass do not scatter.
As described above, the packing member 1 is provided with tearing
line 4 extended circumferentially thereof so that, upon drawing the
stopper 8 of the container 2, the upper part of the packing member
1 is easily stripped off along the tearing line 4 by simply
manually pulling the tongue 6 of the packing member. Thus, manual
pulling of tongue 6 causes the rupture of the packing member along
the longitudinal tearing lines 7, 7 to the tearing line 4 whereby
the packing member 1 is now ready for opening of the container
2.
The lower part of the packing member 1 upon which the labels or
printings 3 are affixed, is left bonded to container 2, so that
there is no fear that the contents and the directions for use of
the material within container 2 become indistinct and its
appearance is spoiled.
In accordance with this invention, the packing member 1 is labelled
or printed prior to encapsulating the container. Thus, it is not
necessary to affix the labels or prints onto the container and,
accordingly, this invention has an advantage of greatly saving
troublesome tasks.
It is believed that it will be readily apparent from the foregoing
description that the sealed container previously described
accomplished the objects as set forth at the outset of this
specification have been satisfied.
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