Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Container Body With Two Shoulders
The present invention concerns a container body for a non-
round container having a lid beaded onto the upper edge, the
side wall of which is provided with a shoulder.
Unstackable container bodies have been known for a long time.
Thus, a cellulose container is disclosed in US 3,233,812 which
can be stacked and whose side wall has a supporting shoulder
in the corner areas.
US 4,366,696 shows a conical can body with a peripheral
profile having three bends whereby, seen from the bottom to
the top, the first bend with a first radius of the side wall
(seen in cross-section) gives a convex shape and the second
bend with a second radius gives it a concave shape. A third
bend leads the side wall outward again in a convex manner,
whereby the radius of this last bend is substantially greater
than that of the other two. As a result, according to the
patent, a profile is produced which shows a smooth surface and
which can be easily unstacked, whereby the stacked cans have
a selected distance from one another.
US 4,366,696 mentions that two-piece cans with an integral
bottom and side wall represent a preferred construction since
they solve problems relating to leakages of the beaded edge.
However, the can shown there has the disadvantage that, when
the shoulder formed by the noted bends is just below the upper
end of the side edge, the stack becomes too compact, so that
there are problems during unstacking (such as jamming and the
like) while, when the shoulder is lower, the stability is not
sufficient during beading, so that defective beaded edges can
result.
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It is the object of the present invention to create a
container body for a non-round container which is easily
stackable and unstackable on the one side, yet also has a
shape on the other side which makes it especially suitable for
beading on a lid because the beaded cover is good.
Surprisingly, it could be found that such container bodies
exhibit both an easy unstackability and also a good stability
when the lid is beaded on, the side wall of which is provided
with a shoulder consisting of a first shoulder and a second
shoulder, whereby the first shoulder is bent less sharply in
at least a part of those areas which are, viewed from the top,
elongated or less bent when compared to other parts, is
arranged closer to the upper edge of the container than the
second shoulder in the remaining areas and whereby the side
wall, at least in parts of the areas in which the first
shoulder is present, has lateral riffles, when viewed from the
side, said riffles extending essentially vertically above the
level at which the second shoulder is located. The run of the
lateral riffles up to above the level of the second shoulder
results in an extremely good wall rigidity, so that the force
of the beading tools transmitted to the side wall during
beading do not lead to its deformation.
The running of the f irst shoulder into the second shoulder may
be designed as desired. Thus, for example, the first shoulder
can be led in a curved manner to the second shoulder.
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According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a
metallic container body for a non-circular container having
curvatures, with a flanged lid on the upper edge, whose
side wall has two shoulders, wherein a first shoulder in at
least a part of first side wall areas, which seen in plan
view are elongated or in comparison to other segments, are
less strongly curved, is arranged closer to the upper edge
of the container than a second shoulder in the second side
wall areas, and wherein the side wall at least in partial
segments of the first side wall areas, in which the first
shoulder is present, has side flutes as seen in the side
elevation running substantially vertically, and wherein the
side flutes extend up above the height at which the second
shoulder is arranged.
The invention shall be described in greater detail in the
following with reference to exemplary drawings.
Figure 1 shows a part of a container body according to the
invention in a side view. The bottom surface 5
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goes over in one piece into a slightly outwardly
inclined side wall 2. The first shoulder la is
situated in the left part of the Figure which
shows, seen in the top view, a straight or only
slightly bent part of the container, while the
second shoulder lb can be seen in the right part
(more sharply bent, seen from the top), said second
shoulder extending less closely to the upper edge 3
of the container than the first shoulder. Not
quite up to the end of the area with shoulder la,
an area with lateral riffles 4 extends which end
above the level of the shoulder lb. The side wall
has, above the level of the second shoulder lb,
sections 2a, 2b, 2c, whereby the upper sections 2a,
2b above the shoulders la, lb are slanted outward
less sharply than the remaining part of the
shoulder 2. The transition 8 between the two
shoulders la, lb extends in a small curve.
Figure 2 represents an enlarged section from Figure 1 which
shows a lateral riffle 4. 7 designates the edge
which is formed by an obtuse angle deviating only
slightly from 1800 in the side wall 2.
Figure 3 shows side edges 2 of two container bodies 6, 6'
according to Figure 1, stacked into one another. A
side edge of each of the two container bodies 6, 6'
is shown, each having a first shoulder la and one
having a second shoulder lb placed above one
another. In this case, the side edge with the
shoulder la appears as a solid black stroke, while
shoulder lb is shown as an unfilled stroke. It can
also be seen here that, in this embodiment, the
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upper sections 2a, 2b and 2c of the side wall 2
have an identical slope and are slanted outward a
little less than the lower part of the side wall 2.
Furthermore, the geometry of a lateral riffle 4 can
also be seen, the run of which begins above the
shoulder lb in this embodiment and ends in the
middle between the levels of the two shoulders.
Figures
4 to 6 show further embodiments of the container body
which only differ from those shown in Figures 1 to
3 by the shape and height of the run of the riffle
4.
The invention is suitable for all container bodies which
in plan show at least one curvature, provided that there is
no exact circular shape. In particular, these include oval or
rounded container bodies elongated in another shape, such as
those for fish cans, but also those which have more or less
sharply rounded corners.
The container bodies may be made of any material desired,
provided that it is suitable for being beaded together with a
lid. These include, for example, all types of sheet metal or
coated metals, but also plastics or ma~erials made of natural
substances, perhaps appropriately modified, or materials which
have been treated or coated on the surface.
The bottom of the container body according to the invention
can be designed as desired, depending on the requirement, e.g.
it can be flat or also be curved inward or outward. The
bottom passes over into the side wall, whereby the two
aforementioned parts may be in one piece or joined by beaded
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or welded seams or otherwise from several parts. The side
wall can extend upward at right angles or be more or less
sharply slanted outward.
Due to the shape of the container body, it has areas, seen in
a top view, which are more sharply bent, as well as areas
which are less sharply bent or elongated. An oval,
conventional fish is, for example, more sharply bent at the
tear-open area and at the opposite side than in the areas
lying in between which, for the most part, are straight in
parts. A four-sided can with rounded corners has four sharply
bent areas while the areas in between are straight. The
container body according to the invention has a first
shoulder, in at least one part of the noted straight or less
sharply bent areas, said first shoulder being relatively close
to the upper edge of the container. A second shoulder, which
can be used as a supporting shoulder for stacking and
unstacking, extends in the more sharply bent areas. The first
shoulder can, for example, be spaced from the upper edge of
the container which is between 30% and 50% of the distance of
the second shoulder from the upper edge. Of course, other
dimensions are also possible, depending on the requirement.
At least in parts of the areas in which the first shoulder is
present, the side wall additionally has a riffle. In the side
view, this riffle extends essentially at right angles and
follows the slope of the wall. The lateral riffles extend
over the level at which the second shoulder is situated and
preferably ends about halfway up between the two shoulder
levels or in the level of the upper, first shoulder. By
raising the lateral riffles above the level of the second
shoulder, an improved wall stability results, so that it is
ensured during the interaction with the first shoulder,
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arranged just below the upper edge in the elongated or less
sharply bent areas, that, when beading the lid on, the cover
of the two parts is better and more secure than with
previously known container bodies.
In a preferred embodiment, at least one of the two shoulders
is formed in such a way that the side wall, seen in cross-
section and from top to bottom, first extends outward in an
arc-like manner and then inward in an arc-like manner. The
two radii used thereby can be identical or different. In a
special embodiment, the first arc-like segment with which the
side wall is led outward describes a smaller arc-like section
than the second segment. As a result, the side wall above the
shoulder has a slighter slope outward than the side wall below
the shoulder. If the lower part of the side wall is slanted
outward only very slightly, the aforementioned part of the
side wall which is above the shoulders may then also be made
e.g. at right angles to the bottom surface.
The embodiment of the arcs described above are especially
suitable for the second shoulder. It is especially preferred
that the side wall, seen from the top, in the elongated or
less sharply bent areas compared to other parts, is at the
level of the second shoulder and is bent inward obtusely with
an angle which is only a little less than 180 . It is
especially preferred that the selection of the radii and the
length of the arc-like sections of the second shoulder and the
selection of the obtuse angle present at the level of this
shoulder are coordinated to one another in the areas in which
the second shoulder is not present, in such a way that the
side wall has, at the level between the first and the second
shoulder, a constant angle to the lower area of the side wall
or to the bottom surface, irrespective thereof whether the
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can, in a top view, is bent sharply, less sharply or not at
all.
The preceding embodiments are, of course, made without
inclusion of the lateral riffles. It is clear that the
geometry changes at those points at which the side wall
rebounds inward due to the presence of a riffle.
The lateral riffles provided according to the invention may
have any shape desired, viewed from the top. They may, for
example, have a bent, round, oval, triangular, trapezoidal or
polygonal contour.
