Sheet metal container making – Apparatus to form container closure – Having means uniting pull tab to closure
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-11
2002-05-21
Gerrity, Stephen F. (Department: 3721)
Sheet metal container making
Apparatus to form container closure
Having means uniting pull tab to closure
C413S078000, C413S054000, C413S045000, C413S053000, C053S139500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06390749
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cover mountable to a beverage container and a mounting method and apparatus thereof, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a cover mountable to a beverage container and a mounting method and apparatus thereof, wherein the cover is mounted to an upper surface of a container end which is coupled to an upper end of the beverage container and on which a pull tab is installed to be used when opening a discharging hole defined in the upper surface of the container end, in a manner such that the cover can selectively close and open the discharging hole in a state that the discharging hole is initially opened.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a metal can is widely used as a beverage container throughout the world in view of its portability and storability. In general, the metal can is, as shown in
FIG. 1
, made of aluminum or a thin plate which is coated with aluminum. In its construction, the metal can comprises a body
10
which is formed to have a cylindrical configuration so that a beverage is accommodated therein, and a container end
20
which is coupled to an upper end of the body
10
.
The container end
20
is formed with a discharging hole
22
through which the beverage can be discharged out of the beverage container. A capping device for the discharging hole
22
is installed on the container end
20
. The capping device is composed of a seal plate
24
a
which is integrally formed with the container end
20
upon forming the container end
20
to close the discharging hole
22
, and a pull tab
24
b
which is securely installed on an upper surface of the container end
20
by a central pin
26
in a manner such that it can depress downward the seal plate
24
a
to result in pivoting movement of the seal plate
24
a
into the interior of the beverage container.
However, in the metal can constructed as mentioned above, once the discharging hole
22
is opened, it is impossible to reclose the discharging hole
22
. Therefore, in the case that a period of time is lapsed in a state wherein the beverage container is opened, foreign substances can enter into the beverage container to contaminate a beverage accommodated therein. Also, if a user moves while holding the can in his hand, the likelihood of liquid spillage from the beverage container is increased.
To cope with these problems, U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,039 discloses a container cover which is integrally and rotatably coupled to an upper surface of a beverage container by a central pin and has a seal depression, a straw insertion hole and a finger grip; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,763 discloses a beverage container cover which is detachably and rotatably coupled to an upper surface of a beverage container and is formed with a notch.
However, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,039 still suffers from defects in that the container cover is integrally coupled to the upper surface of the beverage container. Therefore, because the container cover must be necessarily coupled to the beverage container upon manufacturing the beverage container, a separate assembling process is required and the construction of an existing beverage container should be modified. Specifically, since the container cover cannot be detached from the beverage container, the container cover cannot but be a permanent feature of the beverage container and, as such, it cannot be removed or reused. In this regard, due to the fact that the container cover cannot be removed from the beverage container, it is impossible for a user to see a lower surface of the container cover, and thus, the container cover cannot be effectively used for other purposes, such as a game implement or a medium for providing free gifts.
While the U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,763 can solve more or less the defects induced in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,039, due to the fact that the container cover is detachably coupled to the upper surface of the beverage container, it also encounters a problem in that the container cover is only formed with the notch which can be selectively communicated with a discharging hole of the beverage container. Consequently, since additional convenience factors such as a straw insertion hole through which a straw can be inserted into the beverage container, a finger grip or the like are not provided, a higher grade of satisfaction cannot be rendered to a user. Further, in both of the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,717,039 and 4,852,763, if a lengthy period of time is lapsed while the beverage containers are circulated in the market in a state wherein the container cover is mounted to each beverage container, because potentially hazardous debris such as dust particles may be accumulated on an upper surface of the container cover, the debris can enter into the human body, whereby health conditions of the user can be deteriorated.
Also, because the straw insertion hole of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,039 is formed to have a predetermined diameter, in the case that a diameter of a commercially available straw does not correspond to the predetermined diameter of the straw insertion hole, the straw can play or float on the beverage rather than being fixedly maintained in place. In addition, in the case that a diameter of a commercially available straw corresponds to the predetermined diameter of the straw insertion hole, because the straw is inserted through the straw insertion hole in a vertical direction, a drinking angle of the straw cannot be easily changed, whereby a problem is caused in that the user must drink the beverage while tipping the beverage container.
On the other hand, in order to open the discharging hole
22
of the beverage container, while the pull tab
24
b
must be pulled upward thereby to depress the seal plate
24
a
downward, at this time, because the pull tab
24
b
is brought into nearly close contact with the upper surface of the container end of the beverage container, a fingernail of the user is likely to be broken or damaged in the course of pulling upward the pull tab
24
b
, whereby troublesomeness is caused in that the pull tab
24
b
cannot be easily pulled upward.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems occurring in the related art, and a primary object of the present invention is to provide a container cover mountable to a beverage container, which is selectively installed on an upper surface of the beverage container in a manner such that it can repeatedly close and open an opened discharging hole of the beverage container, thereby rendering a higher grade of satisfaction to a user who drinks a beverage accommodated in the beverage container, and which is constructed to have an advertisement printing zone on an upper surface thereof, thereby maximizing effectiveness of advertising.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a container cover mountable to a beverage container, which can prevent a fingernail of a user from being damaged in the course of manipulating a pull tab for opening a discharging hole of the beverage container, thereby allowing the discharging hole of the beverage container to be opened in an easier manner.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for mounting a container cover mountable to a beverage container, which enable the container cover to be rotatably coupled to a container end of the beverage container.
In order to achieve the primary object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container cover detachably mountable to an upper surface of a beverage container, the container cover comprising: a body formed to have substantially a disc-shaped configuration, the body being partly cut away from an edge toward a center thereof thereby to define a beverage discharging opening which has a predetermined width and a predetermined contour, the beverage discharging opening capable of being selectively communicated with a discharging hole of the beverage container as the body is r
Gerrity Stephen F.
Huynh Louis
Kangsan Technologies, Ltd.
Kinney & Lange , P.A.
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