Receptacles – Container attachment or adjunct – Pressure relief means
Patent
1990-01-10
1991-06-25
Marcus, Stephen
Receptacles
Container attachment or adjunct
Pressure relief means
222 81, 222131, 220259, 220277, 220278, 220345, B65D 1744
Patent
active
050259458
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention is concerned with beverage containers of the kind which comprises an open topped vessel having a rectangular cross-section and being formed of a rigid, usually clear, material in which a sealed semi-rigid rectangular beverage container (known as an aseptic package) is to be placed, the cross-section of the bottom of the open topped vessel being substantially the same as that of the container that is to be placed thereon, and a hinged lid which has depending puncture means associated respectively with a vent hole and an outlet through which liquid can be poured from the container, the outlet and the vent hole being formed in the lid which is arranged so that the puncture means pierce the top of a sealed container placed within the open topped portion as the lid is closed, there being passages in each puncture means leading to the respective one of the outlet and the vent hole whereby liquid contained in the semi-rigid container can be poured through the outlet via the respective passage in the puncture means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,560 shows such a beverage container.
Beverage containers of the kind referred to cannot be stored with their end faces abutting if they are provided with a conventional handle. This means the number of such vessels that can be stored in a confined space, such as in an airliner, is limited and there is a lot of waste space between them. On the other hand such vessels can be difficult to hold if they have no handle, because the rigid plastics material from which they are usually formed becomes slippery if it gets wet as can happen.
An object of this invention is to provide such a container with effective means for holding it to pour beverage from it and which can be stacked closely.
According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a beverage container of the kind referred to wherein the open topped vessel tapers from its top to its bottom and has a recess formed in a side wall to receive fingers of a hand by which the container is gripped. Preferably there is such a recess in each of an opposed pair of side walls. The recesses may be serrated or profiled to form individual finger portions.
It is surprising that the inward projection that comprises the wall of such a recess does not obstruct the insertion of a semi-rigid beverage container into the open topped vessel in which that recess is formed. This is because, to facilitate stacking of similar containers one upon another, I have arranged that the open topped vessel is tapered towards its base to an extent which is greater than that which is usually required for plastics moulding purposes. As a result the recess is formed in a part of the open topped vessel having a larger cross-sectional area than the semi-rigid beverage container placed in it. Secondly the side walls of such semi-rigid containers are sufficiently flexible to be deformed as they pass the inward projection, the beverage, being a liquid, ensuring that the form of a semi-liquid container so deformed is restored once it has passed the projection.
Preferably the beverage container includes a closure member and constraining means on the lid whereby the closure member is constrained for sliding movement relative to and in contact with the lid between one position in which it closes the outlet and the vent hole and another position in which they are both open to allow a discharge of liquid from the container through the outlet. The closure member may be offset relative to the longitudinal axis of the lid so that it can be moved between said two positions. Conveniently the closure member is a flat elongate slider which is constrained by said constraining means for lengthwise rectilinear movement relative to the lid. Preferably locating ribs are provided at spaced locations on the upper portions of the inner surface of the longer side walls of the rectangular open topped vessel for locating a beverage container therein relative to the puncture means, so that the beverage container may be inserted either way round.
Each depending puncture means is p
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Castellano S.
Marcus Stephen
LandOfFree
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