Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi – Container making – Rigid container
Patent
1996-01-26
1999-09-14
Hail, III, Joseph J.
Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi
Container making
Rigid container
B65B 728
Patent
active
059514515
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an improved lid for containers, an improved disposable container and to an apparatus for sealing containers with the lid of the invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Containers of the general type to which this invention relates are usually employed for convenience foods and drinks such as ice cream, french fries and soft drinks. Containers of this type are usually intended for a single use and are then discarded. Although the containers are usually frusto conical in shape, they need not be of that shape. For example, sometimes containers of this type are of a truncated pyramidal shape. For containers of the frusto conical shape, lids of plastic material were provided. These lids were usually made of a material different from the material from which the container as a whole was made and this presented a difficulty from a re-cycling point of view. Typically, the lids had a main panel, a sealing groove and a peripheral flange. To position the lid onto a container it was necessary to press an upper peripheral lip of the container into the sealing groove. This tended to be a progressive process and required the user gradually run his fingers along the groove and press downwardly until the lid was completely in place.
Not only was the process of fitting the lid to the container difficult but the resultant sealed container could not readily be recycled in its entirety because the lid was made from a material different from the material employed for the container.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved lid, an improved container and an apparatus for fitting the lid to the container which at least minimises the disadvantages referred to above.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a lid for a container, the lid having a closure panel with an outer periphery and at least two tabs extending outwardly from and at spaced locations on the periphery, the tabs being coplanar with the closure panel and deformable out of the plane of the panel when mounted relative to a container.
According to another aspect, the invention provides a container to which the lid mentioned above having tabs may be attached, the container having an upper peripheral lip and a shoulder spaced from the lip by a predetermined distance corresponding to the length of the combined length of the tab and the thickness of the material from which the lid is made.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for fitting a lid to a container, the lid having a closure panel and at least two tabs extending therefrom and the container having a peripheral lip and a shoulder spaced from the lip by a predetermined distance, the apparatus including an applicator and a magazine for receiving a supply of lids and maintaining them in a predetermined orientation relative to the magazine, the magazine including guides for receiving the applicator, the applicator having recesses for receiving the tabs of a lid such that the applicator is able to pick up only one lid at a time and a lip receiving recess whereby, in use the applicator is adapted to pick up one lid from the magazine and to be pressed onto the lip of a container such that the tabs of the lid are bent out of the plane of the closure panel to thereby fit the lid to the container.
The lid has a closure panel and at least two tabs extending outwardly from the periphery of the panel. It is preferred that the panel be circular in shape although other shapes such as square or rectangular may also be employed. The tabs may be equally spaced around the periphery of the panel. Preferably, there may be more than two tabs and in which case, the tabs may be equally or unequally spaced around the periphery of the panel. In one embodiment the lid has four tabs equally spaced around the periphery of the panel. The tabs may have a rounded nose portion.
The lid may be made from any suitable material. Preferable, the lid is made from the same material as that f
REFERENCES:
patent: 1908216 (1933-05-01), Bergmann
patent: 3385741 (1968-05-01), Allen
patent: 3460314 (1969-08-01), Keas
patent: 3606136 (1971-09-01), Hegardt
patent: 4047473 (1977-09-01), Fletcher et al.
patent: 5016422 (1991-05-01), Popp et al.
Int'l Search Report, dated Jul. 24, 1994.
Hail III Joseph J.
L.A.S. Pty. Ltd.
Ojini Anthony
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