U.S. patent number 3,858,786 [Application Number 05/287,652] was granted by the patent office on 1975-01-07 for angular container, in particular an eating bowl, of flexible foil material.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Ohler Eisenwerk Theob. Pfeiffer. Invention is credited to Georg Vogt.
United States Patent |
3,858,786 |
Vogt |
January 7, 1975 |
ANGULAR CONTAINER, IN PARTICULAR AN EATING BOWL, OF FLEXIBLE FOIL
MATERIAL
Abstract
A dish, particularly one for the reception of food, wherein both
dish and cover are made from thin, flexible material and are of
polygonal plan shape. At least two opposed sides of the dish are
provided with flanges whose width increases from the ends of each
thereof toward the longitudinal midpoint thereof. The walls of the
dish may remain rectilinear or they may curve inwardly along the
edge of said flanges.
Inventors: |
Vogt; Georg (Finnentrop,
DT) |
Assignee: |
Ohler Eisenwerk Theob. Pfeiffer
(Plettenberg-Ohle, BRD, DT)
|
Family
ID: |
5846864 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/287,652 |
Filed: |
September 11, 1972 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S.
Class: |
220/574; D9/425;
220/657; 220/669 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
1/34 (20130101); A47G 19/03 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47G
19/00 (20060101); A47G 19/03 (20060101); B65D
1/34 (20060101); B65d 001/40 () |
Field of
Search: |
;220/72,74
;229/2.5,3.5MF ;D9/219 ;D7/1,76 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Price; William I.
Assistant Examiner: Farrow; Douglas B.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Woodhams, Blanchard and Flynn
Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. In a several sided container of flexible foil material,
particularly for reception and packaging of food, the container
having plural sidewalls and having laterally directed, beaded edge
shoulders formed on the sidewalls in bordering relation with the
container opening, said beaded edge shoulders having ends at
container corners, wherein at least some of the sidewalls tend to
arch outwardly by effect of material filling the container, the
improvement being comprised in that, at least on those of such
sidewalls tending to arch outwardly, the beaded edge shoulder
widens gradually in a direction toward the inside of the container
from the ends thereof to the lengthwise central zone thereof, the
outer edge of such beaded edge shoulder being straight, each said
widened beaded edge shoulder curving toward the inside of the
container, defining a curved inner edge on such beaded edge
shoulder, said sidewall provided with a said widening bead edge
shoulder including a nonplanar upper portion joined to and
following the inner edge of the bead edge shoulder and having a
substantially planar bottom portion joined to the base of the
container by a straight linear edge, wherein such bulging of the
sidewalls is eliminated.
2. A container according to Claim 1, in which the upper edge of the
latter sidewall curves concavely in conformance with the curved
inner edge of the adjoining bead edge shoulder, the curvature of
said sidewall being reduced downwardly therealong to achieve said
planar condition at the lower edge of said latter sidewall joined
to said base.
Description
This invention relates to a polygonal container, in particular a
food packaging receptacle, or eating bowl, of flexible foil
material having upper edge flanges, for example beaded edge
shoulders, on the side walls thereof, and particularly to a type
thereof in which at least some of such side walls tend to arch
outwardly to a greater or lesser degree depending on the length of
the shoulder in question, as a result of the filling material
introduced thereinto or when stacking filled containers.
Containers of the type above mentioned, in particular eating bowls,
are at present often manufactured of thin aluminum foil and must
have specific dimensions which are allowed to deviate only within
narrow tolerance limits due to the requirements of the systems of
transport, closing, thawing, heating and packing which are
conventionally used at the present time. These tolerance limits,
however, can be exceeded due to the above-mentioned outward arching
caused by the filling material and such makes it difficult or
impossible to sealingly close the container by means of a cover
associated therewith. Furthermore, there is an urgent economic
demand for stable containers due to the present attempts to
rationalize the treatment and manipulation of containers, for
example during transport, heat treatment and packing.
The mechanical strength of the beaded edge shoulders is very
important in this context. Previous attempts to satisfy this
economic demand were made by using harder and thicker foils. The
use of harder foils, however, led to technical problems and the use
of thicker foils led to cost problems which could only be solved by
compromises up to now.
The invention is primarily directed toward the developing of a
container of the type above-mentioned which can be manufactured at
a minimum cost and manipulated with conventional devices without
technical problems and which will assure optimum stability. This is
accomplished in accordance with the invention by designing at least
these beaded edge shoulders of the side walls which tend to arch
outwardly to have a width which increases from each end of a given
shoulder toward the midpoint of the shoulder.
By this simple design, which merely requires the corresponding
development of the tools for manufacturing the container, at least
those portions of the side walls which are located at the most
endangered region of the wall, namely the middle wall region, and
which tend most strongly to outward arching due to the pressure of
the filling material and, alternatively, to inward arching due to
forces exerted from the outside, have the greatest resistance to
loads exerted both from inside as well as from outside and if
desired even from the top. The container provides in this way the
economic objective of optimum stability. This also facilitates
closing of the container by means of a pre-fabricated cover. In the
case of manual or semi-automatic closing operations, a cover with
suitable pre-bent edges is applied to the container and is secured
by further bending the edge of the cover under the beaded edge
shoulders. The previously conventional beaded edge shoulders of
relatively small, uniform width were very often bent in by the
operators when closing the containers manually and resulted in the
disadvantages described above. These disadvantages were eliminated
by designing the shoulders to be wider, since they are not only
more resistant to bending but also offer a larger surface for
applying the covers manually.
It is further advantageous if each of the widened beaded edge
shoulders is curved toward the middle of the container. Where the
sidewall of the container follows the inner edge of the flange,
this construction will reduce the volume of the container by a
small amount which can be disregarded in practice, but the outer
dimensions of the container remain unaffected and this is essential
for further manipulation of the containers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One embodiment of the present invention will now be more fully
described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation of a container of the type
hereinbefore cited;
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan elevation of an area of the container in
accordance with FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a section on line III--III of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a section similar to FIG. 3 and showing a
modification.
There is shown in the drawing a rectangular container, for example
an eating bowl 1, of flexible foil material, for example aluminum
foil, with side walls 2 to 5 which diverge slightly from the base
of the container toward the container opening. The side walls are
each provided with an upper beaded edge shoulder 2a to 5a which
projects outwardly. The container 1 can be closed by a cover foil
6, for example aluminum foil as well, which is laid on the beaded
edge shoulders 2a to 5a and bent around the same until it comes to
rest on the under surfaces of the shoulder.
As can be seen, in particular in FIG. 2, the beaded edge shoulders
2a to 5a are each designed to have a width which increases from
both ends of the shoulder toward the central zone thereof and in
the illustrated embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 is curved in the
direction of the container middle. This causes the side walls 2 to
5 of the container to have a substantial resistance not only
against an outward arching of the container due to the filling
material; but also against further inward arching and, if needed,
even against forces exerted transversely to the plane of the
container cover 6 or the container base. The outer edge, however,
of each shoulder 2a to 5a extends in a straight line as
previously.
The sidewalls of the container may follow any of several
constructions consistent with the flange construction thus far
described. For example, among other possibilities, said side walls
may follow more or less closely along one edge of the flange i.e.,
bead edge shoulder, as the inner edge as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, as
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with a container having a base with
straight edges, a sidewall which is substantially planar adjacent
its lower edge juncture with the corresponding base edge, is
thereby nonplanar adjacent its upper edge juncture with the
nonlinear inner edge of the corresponding bead edge shoulder.
Alternatively, said sidewalls may remain, as previously, parallel
with the outer edge of the flange (FIG. 4).
The invention is not limited to the embodiment illustrated in the
formal drawings. For example, it would also be possible to design
the container with more or less than four side walls and/or to
design the latter with such differing lengths that they tend to
form an outward arch due to the filling material to a greater or
lesser degree depending on their respective lengths. In such a
case, only the beaded edge shoulders of the side walls of the
container which tend to arch would need to be designed with a width
which increases from both ends of the shoulder towards its middle.
This invention can also be readily employed in the case of
containers which have an upright edge arranged on the horizontal
flange.
* * * * *