Receptacles – Closures – With closure opening arrangements for means
Reexamination Certificate
1997-06-23
2003-08-12
Young, Lee (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Closures
With closure opening arrangements for means
C215S254000, C220S266000, C220S268000, C220S781000, C220S780000, C220S254800, C220S380000, C206S508000, C222S541900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06604647
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to containers in general, and specifically to apparatus and method for improved pouring of fluid from a container. A tearstrip opening is provided substantially at the intersection of two surfaces of a container assembly, such as near a corner formed at or near the edge of a container lid. Among other things, that tearstrip opening is useful for pouring materials from the container, or venting air into the container as the contents are poured out another opening. The invention permits a more complete amount of the fluid to be poured from the container, and provides beneficial control over the flowrate and/or direction of pouring, as compared to prior art pouring mechanisms.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Containers lids, especially those formed of plastic or similar materials, having “tearable” openings to permit removal of the container contents are well known. For example, although not necessarily relevant to the instant invention, coffee cup lids (such as provided by fast food restaurants) are commonly molded from thin plastic or similar material, and have one or more tearlines or areas formed therein to permit “tearing” an opening in the lid, whereby the coffee can be sipped through the opening while still keeping the coffee warm and while helping to reduce the risk of spilling.
Similar tearlines and related features also have been utilized on larger, more sturdy containers similar to the preferred embodiment of the invention, such as lids for conventional five-gallon injection-molded containers or the like. However, prior art container lids such as those shown in
FIGS. 1-3
typically place such openings at least some distance from the edge of the lid. Consequently, during pouring some amount of fluid (illustrated as fluid
1
in
FIG. 3
) is “trapped” inside such prior art containers, in the space between the opening and the nearest edge of the container. In addition to the economic consequences of using less than all of the contents of the container, the inability to achieve substantially complete removal of the contents may create environmental problems, particularly in applications where the container contents are hazardous materials.
Some such lids (such as the coffee cup lids discussed above) have “tearable” openings whereby a flap is torn from the very outer edge of the lid toward the center. While this arrangement typically permits fairly complete drainage of the coffee from the cup (in that it exposes the lip of the cup), it destroys the continuity of the hoop flange formed at the outer edge of the lid and is therefore not necessarily useful for more rugged applications (such as for shipping containers and lids). Among other things, that hoop flange can provide a gripping hoop force that helps retain the lid on the container, and destruction or reduction of that hoop force can make it more likely that the lid will become inadvertently dislodged from the container or cup.
In addition, even if such an approach were taken for more rugged containers (such as the aforementioned conventional injection-molded five-gallon pails), tearing the hoop flange can expose a sealing gasket (if one is used) and similar complex structure between the lid and the container. Therefore, besides weakening the hoop force holding the lid in engagement with the container, some of the fluid can be caught in and around the exposed gasket and related engagement structure, causing a wasteful, messy, and even dangerous condition.
Openings for pouring fluid from prior art containers can be fairly complex. For example, they may include flexible “pull-out” spouts such as spout
2
(FIGS.
1
and
3
). To use such a prior art pull-out spout
2
, a user grips the bendable outer ribs
3
of a cap
4
threadedly engaged with the spout
2
, pulls the ribs
4
(and correspondingly pulls the attached cap
3
and spout
2
) until the spout extends from the container (such extension is shown in FIG.
3
), and then unscrews and removes the cap
4
to open the spout for pouring (again,
FIG. 3
illustrates the spout
2
with the cap
4
removed). The steps can be reversed to reseal the container. While such spouts provide some benefits over the prior art “no-spout” lids described in the following paragraph, they still do not allow relatively more complete drainage of the container.
Other prior art openings include tearable portions having gripping tabs to initiate the tearing. For example,
FIG. 2
shows a screw-on cap
5
over a central tear-out portion (the tear-out portions is not shown because it is under the cap
5
). The user removes the cap
5
, tears the tear-out portion, and can then reseal the container by screwing the cap
5
back on.
In addition to not draining completely, such prior art container assemblies can also present several limitations with respect to a user's control over pouring. Container lids such as those shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, for example, will frequently “gulp” or “spit” contents out of their openings, particularly when the containers are initially full and there is no clear path for air to enter the container and replace the fluid as it is poured out (some containers include additional vent structures and openings that increase the cost and complexity of the container and do not completely solve the “gulping” problem, at least for initial pouring from full containers). This can lead to uneven and at least somewhat haphazard or imprecise pouring and spillage, which in turn result in economic loss, as well as environmental and health hazards in some applications. It can be especially difficult to obtain a small quantity of the fluid without wasting or spilling fluid, during “early pours” from such containers.
In addition, to be stackable (and especially to allow stacking of filled container and lid assemblies atop each other), prior art containers lids typically have any spout/fitment/drain openings “buried” so that they are generally flush with the upper surface of the lid (e.g., the pull-out spout
2
of
FIGS. 1 and 3
, as discussed above). This flush arrangement ensures that the spout
2
(in its retracted position) does not prevent or interfere with the stacking of another container on top of the lid. In effect, the prior art drain openings are relatively complicated structures because, at least in part, they must be retracted into the container to permit the desired stacking.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a container assembly with improved pouring features. The container of my invention is characterized by providing one or more tearstrip openings at or near the intersection of two surfaces of a container assembly, such as at the corner formed at the peripheral rim portion of a lid. In lid embodiments, the tearstrip opening is preferably substantially contiguous with the inner sidewall of a cooperating container. The tearstrip also preferably includes a tab member to facilitate gripping and tearing of the tearstrip.
Another object of my invention is to provide a stackable shipping container assembly with improved pouring features.
Another object of my invention is the provision of a container lid of the aforementioned character, in which at least one of the tearstrips is removable from the lid. Alternative embodiments include hinging the tearstrip to the lid (hinging is one of the ways the tearstrip would not be “removable”). Certain embodiments can include protective shrouds to prevent inadvertent dislodgment or tearing of the tearstrip, and resealing members such as screw-on caps.
A further object of my invention is thus to provide ecological and economic advantages over prior art containers and container and lid assemblies. Among other things, the benefits of reliably sealed transportation and handling of fluid are provided with less—or even zero—waste fluid unused and needing to be disposed, and the contents of the container (for which the user has paid) are more completely usable. As compared to the prior art spout devices, the costs of manufacturing the container are also reduce
Holland J. Mark
Hylton Robin
Ropak Corporation
Young Lee
LandOfFree
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