Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2021036
PACKAGING CONTAINER
The invention relates to a packing container having a "single-use" security seal and
which is also resealable.
In known packing COll~ used, for example, for dairy products such as curd,
cottage cheese and yoghurt, the secure and air-tight seal between the container body and
the lid is solely provided by the sealing connection, which is located between the marginal
flange of the container body and the edge of the lid. For opening purposes the flexible lid
is torn from the marginal flange by an upward peeling and tearing movement. The
relatively strong sealing cormection required due to the need for a reliable sealing effect is
very disadvantageous and the lid is unesthetically perm~nently deformed. As a result of its
flexibility, also in the marginal area, it is unsuitable for the tight resealing of the packing
container. Therefore, for dairy products, resealable packing containers are also known,
whose lids have an adequate rigidity and a suitable edge construction, so that the lid can
be snapped back into the container opening. However, the necessary rigidity has hitherto
required the production thereof by very expensive injection moulding with the additional
disadvantage that such a container cannot be provided with a secure closure by heat
sealing in the conventional manner.
The object of the present invention is to provide a packing container of the
aforementioned type which can be m~nl-f~ctured more easily with low material expenditure
through the deep drawing of its lid and which does not suffer from the aforementioned
disadvantages in that it can be more easily opened and tightly resealed.
More particularly, a packing container with a lid, comprises a p~c~ing containerhaving a bottom, an open top defined by an opening rim, and a side wall portion having
an inner surface; and a deep drawn lid comprising a bottom portion, a side portion
ext~n(1inp around the circumference of the bottom portion and having an upper edge
portion and an outwardly directed bulge formed around its circumference. The bulge
forms a sealing ring on its outside and a reception groove on its inside. The reception
groove accommodates a rigid sealing plate tightly fitting into the reception groove and
forcing the sealing ring outward, such that when said lid is snappedly engaged to cover the
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2021036
open top of said container, the lid, by its sealing ring, sealably and frictionally engages
with the inner surface of the side wall portion of the container, thereby allowing the lid to
be repeatedly sealably engaged with the container. The upper edge portion of the lid is
located above the bulge, and the upper edge portion is sealed for a single use to the
opening rim of the container, whereby when the lid is removed from the container for the
first time, the single-use seal is destroyed.
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2021036
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The invention will now be described further by way of example only and
with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a cross-section through a packing container with a lid
according to the invention;
S Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of the lid of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is a larger-scale partial cross-section through the p~cking
container of Fig. l;
Fig. 4 is a cross-section through part of a lid corresponding to a
further ~ ~o~i - t of the invention;
Fig. 5 is a plan view of a marginal area of the lid of Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 is a larger-scale partial cross-section of another embodiment of
the invention; and
Fig. 7 is a partial cross-section in the bottom area of another
embodiment of the invention.
According to the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 3 the packing container 1
has a stackable, conical body 2 which, like its lid 3, is produced by deep
drawing a plastic film, e.g. of polyester, or a composite film whereas in
the embodiment according to Figs. 6 and 7 the body 2' is produced cylind-
rically in a winding process from a relatively thick cardboard material.
Referring firstly to Figs. 1 to 3, the lid 3 is deep drawn from a
plastic film with a thickness of, for example, 0.2 to 0.4 mm, preferably 0.2
to 0.3 mm. The lid has a sealing plate 5 fixed positively and non-positively
therein and made, for example, from a cardboard material with a thickness of
approximately 400 to 500 g/m2. The plate 5 engages a narrow sealing ring
area 6 of the lid 3 approximately having the thickness of the sealing plate
5, and presses the ring area in a permanently sealing manner outwardly
against the wall of the container body 2. For this purpose the largest
external diameter of said ring area 6 is somewhat larger than the internal
diameter of the container body 2, at the point at which said ring area
sealingly engages the body following the complete insertion of the lid 3, so
that with a force fit, it has a firm seating in the body 2.
For a good seal, comparable with a so-called 0-ring seal, the
aforementioned sealing ring area 6 preferably has a rounded cross-sectional
shape, such as can be produced by an Annlll~rly grooved radially outwardly5 directed bulge or convexity of the plastic film of the lid 3.
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PAT 15815-1
2021036
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention, wherein
lid 3~, sealing plate 5' and ring area 6' of lid 3' correspond to and co-
operate in similar manner to elements 3, 5 and 6 of Figs. 1 to 3. Fig. 6
illustrates yet a further embodiment of the invention, wherein lid 3",
sealing plate 5~ and ring area 6N of lid 3" correspond to and cooperate in
similar manner to elements 3, 5 and 6. Fig. 7 illustrates a bottom closure
4 having a sealing plate 5~" with a sealing ring area 6'n cooperating with
container body 2' in similar manner to the lid 3", sealing ring area 6" and
container body 2' of Fig. 6.
Thus, in the foregoing description, the respectively corresponding
elements between Figs. 1 to 7 are 2 and 2'; 3, 3', 3" and 4; 5~ 5~ 51' and
5~n; and 6, 6', 6" and 6"'.
In the embodiment according to Fig. 7 the sealing ring area 6"' is
obtained by a radially inwardly directed Annl~lAr bulge 7, which is located
at a distance from the closure diaphragm 8 of the bottom closure 4 corres-
ponding to the thickness of the sealing plate 5~n
In the embodiments with the annular groove-like bulge, on the inside
of the sealing ring area 6, 6', 6", 6"', there is provided a reception
groove 10,10",10' n~ for the positive anchoring of the sealing plate at the
predetermined position.
In the embodiment according to Figs. 4 and 5, the sealing ring area 6'
is formed by the rounded cross-sectional edge of an AnnlllAr shoulder 12 of
the lid 3', which is located between oppositely sloping conical circumferen-
tial wall areas 13, 14. In order to improve the location of the sealing
plate 5~ in lid 3~ at this point, there are provided at regular intervals on
the inside of the circumferential wall area 14 tapering conically away from
the sealing plate 5~ individual toroidal shaped locating protuberances 15,
which engage over the sealing plate 5~ and therefore hold it down on the
shoulder 12.
The rigidity of the lid 3,3',3~ on the sealing ring area 6,6',6" permits
its further use after the packing container 1,1' has been opened, because the
ring area 6,6',6" forming an outwardly directed protuberance of the cover
edge can be located in the container opening, so that the cover snaps in
place to form a seal. For this purpose, the container body 2, for example,5 has towards the opening edge or rim a conical constriction 16. For
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PAT 15815-1
2021036
the same purpose, the embodiment of Fig. 6 utilizes a locating groove 17, for exarnple,
corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the ring area 6' locked therein and which is,
for example, press-formed in the body 2'.
Apart from the tight resealability, the packing container has the important
advantage that, as a result of the rigidity of its ring area 6,6', 6", it can easily be opened
on the first occasion with the destruction of a single use security seal, without requiring
any great tearing forces. This is achieved in that in the marginal area 18, 18', 18" (see
Figs. 3 and 6), coextensive with the ring area 6, 6', 6"of the lid edge and engaging the
container body, a low strength sealing connection is provided at certain circumferential
points or over the entire circumference between the lid and the body, so that it is easily
destroyed on tearing off the lid 3, 3', 3", for example by pulling on gripping tab 21
(Fig. 2), which for example projects laterally over the container body 2, 2'. Such a
particularly easily destructible connection is adequate, because compared with the known
sealing closures it does not have to fulfil any gas-tight sealing function. The secure seal
is, for example, located in conventional manner between outwardly projecting flange edges
19, 20 of the container body 2 and the lid 3,3', so that the initial opening can be initiated
by a peeling movement, which emanates from lateral gripping tab 21.
As the security seal does not have to fulfil any gas-tight sealing function, it is not
necessary for the gripping tab to project laterally over the flange l9 of the body 2 to
enable a peeling, tearing movement and it can instead be formed, for example, by an area
of the flange edge 20 of the lid 3, 3' identifiable by a colouring effect and at which the
security seal connection is interrupted.
It is obvious that the bottom closure 4 also has a secure seal or some other secure
connection to the container body 2'. However, in this case easy destruction is unimportant,
unless for separate waste utilization of the cardboard body 2', the bottom closure is also to
be easily removable.
Thus, in surnmary, it can be understood that the packing container l,1' has a lid
3,3', 3"deep drawn from a thin plastic film and in which a sealing plate 5,5',5" is form-
fittedly
PAT 15815-1
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and press-fittedly inserted at one point, so that it forms a reinforced ring area 6, 6', 6",
which is sealingly pressed against the wall of the container body 2,2'. As the sealing of
the packing container 1,1' is enured solely by the said ring area 6,6',6", the additional
sealing connection merely fulfils the function of a security seal and has a corresponding
weak construction, so that the container can be particularly easily opened. The locally
limited reinforcement of the otherwise flexible lid 3,3' 3" also contributes to this. An
undercut 16 on the opening rim of the container body 2 of the embodiment of Fig. 3
makes it possible to snap the lid 3 in again and therefore permits a tight resealing.
PAT 15815-1
