Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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NESTABLE CONTAINER ~VING INTEGRAL HINGED LID
This invention relates to nestable containers with
integral lids~ and in particular to a container having a
lid which may be folded open against the rear wall of the
receptacle portion of the container and the container then
nested within a seond similar container with the lid
seated against the inside face of the rear wall of the
nesting container.
There are many forms of containers including lids
which are shaped to nest within one another for shipping
and storage purposes. Typically, when such a container
includes an integral lid, the containers are nested with
the receptacle portion of each container nested one within
; the other and the lids likewise nested one within the
other. Thus, a stack of nested containers having integral
lids in accordance with the prior art would, in a side
elevation, have the lids of the containers nested one
within the other and extending transversely outwardly from
a stack of container-s~
Often, it is desirable to avoid having the lid
extending outwardly from the container when stored. Thus,
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typically, the container lid is closed and the containers are stacked one
upon the o-ther. However, in this form, the containers do not nest and there-
fore a good deal of space is occupied by the stackecl containers.
The inVentioJI provides a nestable container fo~ned to be nested
within a second similar receiving container with the lid of the nested container
being opened against the container and also nested within ~he second container,
comprising
a. a receptacle having a base, an open top, and side walls extending
from said open top to said base, said side walls being tapered inwardly from
said open top to said base and said side walls defining therebetween the width
of the receptacle,
b. said receptacle having an expanded portion joined to said side
walls and extending from said open top toward said base~ said expanded portion
forming at least part of a rear wall for said receptacle and including a
distention in each said side wall, the width of said receptacie between said
distentions being the maximum width of said receptacle, and
c. a lid hingedly secured to the open top of said receptacle at
said rear wall, said lid being shaped to conform to said open top to cover
said open top to seal said receptacle when said lid is closed over said open
top, said lid further being shaped to co-extend with and lie substantially
against said rear wall when said lid is opened.
When closed, the lid is preferably shaped to be locked on the recep-
tacle. In accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, the receptacle
has an inwardly~angled neck about its open top and the lid has a peripheral
horder shaped to engage the neck in a snap~lock fashion when the lid is closed.
In a s~econd e~hqdi3nent~ thc loçk~ng of the lid to the receptacle is accom-
plished b~ an m ner peripheral groove in the receptacle adjacent the open top
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and a corresponding bead formed in the outer periphery of
the lid. The bead snaps into the peripheral groove when
the lid is closed. A shoulder may be included in the
receptacle adjacent to and beneath the groove to support
the lid when closed. A tab on the lid may be used to
facilitate opening of the container in this embodiment.
Other embodiments have flanges and especially shaped
mating configurations of the outer periphery of the lid
and the lip around the receptacle near the open top.
In the first embodiment of the invention, the lower
portion of the rear wall includes a transverse indentation
adjacent the base and the lid includes a protruding border
portion in registration with and engageable with the
indentation when the lid is opened co-extensive with the
rear wall. The border portion and indentation are shaped
such that the border portion is releasably retained within
the indentation. The lid thus held in place facilitates
nesting of like containers with the lid of each nested
container lying against the inner surface of the rear wall
of the adjacent nesting con~ainer.
In the first embodiment of the invention, a front
wall joins the side walls to complete the container. In
the second embodiment of the invention, the side walls are
curved toward one another and are joined to form a unitary
receptacle wall. In aIl embodiments of the invention, the
base is flat and the container itself is preferably
integrally formed of plastic with the hinge securement of
the lid to the receptacle being a living hinge.
The invention is described in greater detail in the
following description of the preferred embodiments, taken
in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
Figure l is a top plan view of one embodiment of a
container according to the invention with the container
lid being opened,
Figure 2 is a side elevational illustration of the
container of Figure l, showing the closure oE the
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container lid in a phantom fashion,
Figure 3 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional
illustration of the interlocking of the lid and receptacle
of the container of Figure 1 when the lid is closed,
Figure 4 is a side elevational illustration, with
portions in cross section, showing one container according
to Figure 1 with its lid secured against its rear wall and
nested within a second container shown partially in
phantom fashion,
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the container of
Figure 1 with the lid closed,
Figure 6 is a rear cross-sectional illustration
taken along lines 6-6 of Figure 4,
Figure 7 is an enlarged cross sectional
lS illustration of the interengagement of the lid and the
indentation of the rear wall of the receptacle taken along
lines 7-7 of Figure 6,
Fiyure 8 is a perspective view of a second
em~odiment of the invention, showing three of the
containers nested one within the other,
Figure 9 is a perspective view of one of the
~ containers of Figure 8 with the lid extending transversely
: outwardly from the receptacle poLtion of the container,
and
Figure 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional
illustration of the interengagement of the lid and
receptacle portion of the container of the second
embodiment of the invention when closed.
A first embodiment of a nestable container 10
according to the invention is shown in Figures 1 through
: 7. The container 10 includes a lid 12 which is hingedly
secured to a receptacle 14.
The receptacle 14 has an open top, a base 16,
opposite sides walls 18, a front wall 20, and a rear wall
22. The walls 18 through 22 are integrally joined to one
another and to the base 16. All of the walls 18 through
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22 are tapered inwardly from the open top of the
receptacle 14 to its base 16.
A neck 24 is formed in the receptacle 14 adjacent
its open top. ~he neck 24 also preferably includes an
outwardly protruding rim 26. The neck 24 i5 angled
inwardly toward the open top, as best shown in Figure 3,
to provide a locking interengagement with the lid 12, as
described in greater detail below.
The receptacle 14 also has an expanded portion
comprising a distention 28 in each side wall 18
immediately adjacent the rear wall 22. In this embodiment
of the invention, each of the distentions 28 extends from
the open top of the receptacle to the base 16 and, as
illustrated, the width of the receptacle between the
distentions is the maximum width of the receptacle.
The lid 12 is shaped to conform to the open top of
the receptacle 14 in order to seal the receptacle when the
lid 12 is closed on the receptacle 14~ The outer border
of the lid 12 includes a leg 30 extending upwardly from
the periphery of the lid 12 and an outwardly protruding
flange 32 extending from the periphery of the leg 30. As
best shown in Figure 3, the leg 30 is parallel to and
abuts the neck 24 when the lid 12 is closed. At the same
time, the flange 32 abuts the rim 26. The flange ~2
extends slightly beyond the rim 26 to permit easy opening
of the container 10.
An integral or "living" hinge 34 secures the lid 12
to the receptacle 14. The hinge 34 extends between the
flange 32 of the lid 12 and the rim 2~ of the receptacle
14. The hinge 34 is composed of two hinge portions rather
than a single elongated hinge extending the width of the
rear wall 22 since, normally, a hinge of such length is
unnecessary and i9 often undesirable since the plastic
material of the container 10 can be rather stiff in such
long lengths, making it relatively difficult to close the
lid 12 on the receptacle 14.
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The rear wall 22 includes a transverse recess 36having a ledge 38 as shown. The recess 36 is loca~ed in
registration with a portion of the outer border of the lid
12 when the lid i5 fully opened against the rear wall 22
such that the leg 30 of the lid 12 releasably engages the
ledge 38 to retain the lid 12 in a fully-opened
orientation. With the lid 12 thus held in place, the
containers 10 can be nested one wi~hin the other, as shown
in Figures 4 and 6, with the width of the flange 32
determining the depth to which each container 10 is
inserted within the next-lower container 10.
Container 40 of a second embodiment of the
invention is shown in Figures ~ through 10. The container
40 includes a lid 42 hingedly secured to a receptacle 44.
The receptacle 44 includes a flat base (not
illustrated) and side walls 46 which are ~apered inwardly
from the open top of the receptacle 44 to its base. In
this embodiment of the invention, the opposite side walls
46 are curved toward one another and joined to form a
unitary receptacle wall.
The container 40 includes an expanded portion
comprising a distention 48 in each of the side walls 460
The expanded portion defines at least part of a rear wall
50 for the receptacle 40, with the width of the receptacle
44 between the distentions 48 being the maximum width of
; the receptacle 44.
In this embodiment of the invention, the lid 42
also can be locked to the receptacle 44 when closed. The
receptacle 44 includes an inner peripheral groove 52
adjacent its open top. A corresponding bead 54 is formed
in the outer periphery of the lid which, when closed as
shown in Figure 10, directly engages and snaps within the
j groove 52. A peripheral shoulder 56 is formed in the
`~ receptacle 44 adjacent to and beneath the groove 52 to
support the lid 42 when closed. Similarly, the lid 42
includes a protruding rim 58 which rests upon the top of
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the receptacle 44 when the lid 42 is closed.
A tab 60 is included on the lid 42 to facilitate
opening of the container 40. Alternatively, the tab 60
can be eliminated so long as the rim 58 in the vicinity of
the tab 60 extends beyond the wall of the receptacle 44 to
aid opening the container 40.
An integral or "living" hinge 62 secures the lid 42
to the receptacle 44. As in the first embodiment of the
invention, the hinge 62 need not extend the entire width
of the abuttlng areas of the receptacle 44 and lid 42.
As shown in Figure 8, the containers 40 are ~haped
to nest one within the other, each having its lid 42
folded against its rear wall 50 and inserted within the
next-lower container 40. As in the first embodiment of
the invention, the lid 42 defines the depth to which one
container 40 penetrates into the next-lower container 40.
The depth of penetration is limited by the front-to-rear
outer width of the receptacle 44 plus the thickness of the
folded-back lid 42. When this dimension exceeds the
front-to-rear width of the opening of the receptacle 42,
the container 40 can penetrate no further.
