Receptacles – Closures – With closure opening arrangements for means
Patent
1987-03-25
1988-07-26
Hall, George T.
Receptacles
Closures
With closure opening arrangements for means
B65D 1734
Patent
active
047594640
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a container lid having a metal plate portion which can be torn off along a tear line by a pull tab to form an opening. More particularly, it is a container lid which can form an opening having a safe edge when its portion defining the opening is torn off.
BACKGROUND ART
There is known a container lid which can be opened by a pull tab. While this type of lid has mainly been used as the lid of a can holding a beverage, it has also come to be used for a can holding food which is usually of the type which can be opened fully or across the whole area of its lid. In either event, this type of lid has the advantage of being openable more easily and safely than the lid of any can of the conventional type which requires a can opener. However, an opening made by tearing off a lid portion along a tear line forms a sharp edge which is very likely to hurt the fingers or hands of the person who opens the can or touches it thereafter.
Therefore, various attempts have been made to obtain a safer container lid construction. Reference is made by way of example to Japanese Patent Publication No. 44077/1972 for the invention entitled "Metal Container Lid and a Method of Making the Same" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,298 for the invention entitled "Safe Opening Container Lid". They propose the container lids which can form an opening having a safe edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,402 is directed to the invention entitled "Easily Openable Container Lid38 . It discloses a lid which can not only form an opening having a safe edge, but can also form a safe edge about its portion which is removed to make the opening. However, it has no tear tab, but its removable portion is surrounded by a groove in which a piece of hard material can be inserted to raise the removable portion and remove it. It can be formed from a sheet of material having a relatively high degree of ductility, but is difficult to form from a sheet of iron.
Under these circumstances, it is an object of this invention to provide a container lid having a removable portion which presents a safe edge when torn off along a tear line to form an opening in the lid.
It is another object of this invention to provide a container lid having only a low pop value and a low tear value so that, when a tab is raised to tear off its removable portion along a tear line, it may require only a small amount of force and be torn off very easily and safely.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The basic concept of this invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the removable portion of a container lid according to this invention. The removable portion 1 of the lid is defined by a tear line 2 surrounding it. A tear tab 3 is provided on the removable portion 1 and has a tip 3a joined to the tear line 2.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of that part A of the lid through which the tear line 2 extends, and which constitutes a salient feature of this invention. The removable portion 1 is surrounded by an annular upwardly projecting wall 4 formed by folding a lid plate and having an inverted V-shaped cross section. The wall 4 comprises an outer portion and an inner portion. The outer portion has a bottom 5 which is located above the bottom 6 of the inner portion. The tear line 2 is provided at the bottom 5 of the outer portion.
The tip 3a of the tab 3 is so bent as to be complementary to the wall 4, extend thereover and be joined to the tear line 2, as shown in FIG. 1. However, the tip of the tab need not be bent, if the wall is not completely annular, but has a broken part in which the tip of the tab can be placed, as will hereinafter be described with reference to FIG. 10.
The removal of the removable portion 1 is started at that part 2a of the tear line 2 at which the tab 3 is provided. The tab 3 is raised to push down the wall 4, whereupon the tear line 2 is broken at the part 2a thereof. The presence of the wall 4 formed by folding the lid plate makes the lid higher in rigidity than any simply planar lid. Therefore
REFERENCES:
patent: 3747797 (1973-07-01), Goyner et al.
patent: 3993010 (1976-11-01), Taniuchi
patent: 4397402 (1983-08-01), Keiji
patent: 4565298 (1986-01-01), Taniuchi
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