Receptacles – Closures – Removable closure retained by ductile in situ deformation
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-01
2001-10-09
Cronin, Stephen K. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Closures
Removable closure retained by ductile in situ deformation
C220S284000, C220S324000, C029S413000, C029S415000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299013
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains generally to lid closures for use with cylindrical containers. More particularly, the invention pertains to metal lid closures having a plurality of lugs which are crimped for closing and sealing the ends of a pail or container, and to a method for making the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many types of prior art container lids have been devised for closing pails or containers. These container lids are generally applied to an open ended pail or container which has a curled annular rim formed about an open end. Prior art lids are generally disc-shaped and have a downwardly facing annular groove or channel adapted to receive the annular rim of the container. A series of lid lugs project downwardly from the annular channel of the lid for attaching the lid to the container rim. For example, lug lids for use with two and one half to seven gallon containers generally contain an even number of lugs on the order of 16 to 20 lugs, which are formed along a circumferential edge of the lid with spaces formed between the lugs. The lid is sealed to the container by use of a crimping tool to crimp the lugs about the annular rim of the container in a sealing arrangement.
These metal container lids are generally manufactured by blanking or punching a rectangular or square sheet of metal with a pattern comprising a plurality of unfolded container lids or blanks. For example, a typical prior art punch pattern is shown in
FIG. 1
, and comprises four closely spaced unfolded container lids which are symmetrical in shape. One major disadvantage of the prior art container lid design and punch pattern is that costly material is wasted in between the holes (i.e., the scrap skeleton) even though the blanks are closely spaced together. In addition, a larger sheet of material is required than necessary in order to produce a given number of container lids. This waste is a function of the container lid design and the amount of spacing allotted for adjacent blanks. Scrap material represents an expensive loss which is only partly recoverable and which requires additional resources to convert into a usable form. Another disadvantage of the prior art is that more time is wasted in gathering and transporting the scrap to recycling centers. Yet another disadvantage of the prior art is that paint used to coat the sheet prior to punching is wasted as well as the additional energy required to cure the paint on a larger sheet.
It is therefore desirable to provide an improved container lid design and blank pattern layout which reduces the amount of scrap material generated and thus results in considerable cost savings with very few drawbacks. It is further desirable to provide an improved container lid design and blank pattern layout which reduces the sheet size of the material while producing an equivalent number of lids.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the teaching of this invention a container lid is provided, together with a process for making the same in which the container lid is capable of beings inexpensively manufactured with minimal material waste being generated and while having the advantages enjoyed by prior art container lids.
The invention provides in one aspect a lug lid for sealing a container having an annular curved rim, the lug lid comprising a planar surface having an annular channel on the peripheral edge of said lid; a plurality of lugs projecting downwardly from an outer wall of the channel; one or more of said lugs being asymmetrically shaped relative to the other lugs; and a plurality of circumferential bases formed between adjacent lugs.
The lug lid provides in another aspect a lug lid comprising a planar surface having an annular channel on a peripheral edge of said lid; an odd number of lugs projecting from an outer wall of the channel with one or more of said lugs comprising a male lug; and a plurality of circumferential bases formed between adjacent lugs with one or more of said circumferential bases comprising a female mating gap.
The lug lid provides in yet another aspect of the invention an odd number of lid lugs having at least some of those lugs formed in a different shape than other lugs on that lid. The ends of the lugs maybe bent or curled to facilitate removal of the lid from the container.
The invention provides in another aspect a method for making a plurality of container lids comprising the steps of forming one or more lid blanks, each blank comprising a plurality of lugs on a peripheral edge of said blanks, a plurality of circumferential bases formed between each of said lugs, one or more of said lugs comprising a male lug, and one or more of said circumferential bases having a complementary female shape for mating with said male lug; arranging the lid blanks upon a sheet of material such that each of said male lug of an adjacent lid blank is aligned and positioned within said mating circumferential base of an adjacent lid blank; cutting the lid blanks from a sheet of material; and forming a container lid from each of said blanks.
The invention provides in yet another aspect a method for making container lids comprising the steps of: forming two or more lid blanks having a plurality of lugs on the peripheral edge of the blank, with a plurality of circumferential bases formed between each of said lugs, arranging the lid blanks upon said sheet of material such that one or more of said lugs of a lid blank art interlocked with respect to lugs of an adjacent blank; cuttingi a plurality of lid blanks from a sheet of material; and forming a container lid from each of said blanks.
The invention provides in still another aspect a container lid prepared by the method comprising the steps of forming a plurality of lid blanks, each said blank comprising a plurality of lugs on a peripheral edge of said lid, a plurality of circumferential bases formed between each of said lugs, one or more of said lugs comprising a male lug, and one or more of said circumferential bases having a complementary shape for mating with said male lug; arranging the lid blanks patterns upon a sheet of material such that said male lug of an adjacent lid blank is positioned within said complementary shaped circumferential base of an adjacent lid blank; cutting the arranged lid blanks from a sheet of material; and forming a container lid from each of said blanks.
The method in another aspect of the invention utilizes a specially configured sheet of material designed in conjunction with the configuration of the lid blanks substantially to maximize utilization of the sheet material. In one form, the sheet material has rectangular aligned end sections with an offset center portion, the offset being formed by a trapezoid of material being added to and extending outwardly from one margin of the sheet while a trapezoidal recess of the same size and shape is provided on the other margin. This material shape permits at least three rows of lid blanks to be positioned on the material, with the center row offset from the top and bottom rows to permit adjacent lug blanks in the rows to be more closely spaced to one another.
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Calfee Halter & Griswold LLP
Cleveland Steel Container Corporation
Cronin Stephen K.
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