Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
7 ~
I~P~OVEIL~ AINER LID
Back~round ~f th~ In~n~io~- , ;
This in~ention relates ~o l$d~ ~or containers, and
speci~ically to a lid adapted to provide ~asier use o~ tam-
per-oYidencing tear-~trips and to sub~quently provid~ eas-
ler remo~al o~ the lid from (and attachment o~ the lid to)
the contalner.
It is known to use tear-s~rip~ on the lids Or con-~ :
tainers a5 a means o~ tamper-evidencing. Prior art tear-
~trip~, howev~r, can some~ime~ be quitQ "un~riendly" to per-
sons atte~ptin~ to lagitimately open ~he containers. Among
other things, lt i~ ~ometim~s diffiault to av~n lo~at~ t~e; ~:
ta~ or other means for initiating the removal o~ th~ t~ar~
strip from the lid. Once looated, it can 80met~e~ require
lS tho U3Q of a ~crewdri~er or other lever ~eshanism ~o l-pry'
the tab loose so ~hat the t~ar-strip can be removed. Be-
sld~s belng unduly cumbersome, tha u~e of a screwdri~r or
: similar instrum~nt can d m~g~ the contain~r andfor lid, ~ven
~o ~ha ~o~nt o~ de~troying the abil~ty o~ the lid to be apI -
propxia~ely res~aled on the ~ontainar.
~ dditional~y, on lids ~on~gured to oo~er ion-
talner op~nings that are sub~tant~ally rectan~ular, it can
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2 ~ 9 ~
be extremely difficult to remove the lid becau~e, as one
corner of the lid i~ lifted, the other corner~ "bit~ in" and
engage the container even more ~orcefully than during normal
statio engagement. The same problem can exist when a per~on
attempts to reseat the lid on the ~ontainer.
~Oble~ n~,~dvantaqes o~the Iay~n~iQ~
It is, therefor~, a~ ob~ect o~ our invention to
provide a lid for a container which incorporat~s a centrally
dispos~d cover portion having tamper-G~i~Qncing means for
indic~ting whether said lid has been removed ~rom t~s con-
taine~. In ~he pre~err~d embodi~ent, ~ tamper-avidoncin~
mean~ includes tab means ~or initiating the operation of ~he
tamper-~videncing mean~, with the tab ~2ans including at
lea~t a portion thereof which protrud~s ~rom ~ plan~ formed
1~ by a~ac~nt por~ions o~ th~ lid. A ub~tan~ial gap i~
pre~erably pro~ded between the protrud~ng portion and cer- -~
ta~n o~ th~ adjacen~ portion3 Or ~he lid, ~o per~it a user's
Pinger~ to readily gra~p the protr~diny portion.
~n additional object of our in~ention i~ ~he pro-
vi6ion of a lid of th~ a~oremen~ioned character in which thetablmean~ has oppo~ing sur~ace~, and tactil~ grippi~g mean~
such a~ a plurality of ribs are di~posed on ~he oppo~lng
sur~aces. The~ ribs provide improved frictional cs~tact
2 ~ 3 A3 7 ~
for a person to grip the tab mean~ and manipulate the ta~-
per-evidencing tear-strip.
The aforesaid protrusion and gap and gripping rlbs
aan help persons to ~ore readily locate th~ tab mean~, both
vi~ually or ~y feel. Perhaps ~ore imp~rtantly, tho~e fea-
tures permit persons to more readily break loose the tab
means ~nd r~m~ve the tear-~trip from ~he contain~r, ~o that
the lid can be remo~ed and the contents of ~he container can --
be utlli~ed. . --
A further object o~ our invention is the provicion
o~ a lid of the aforementioned character, in which the pro-
truding portion of the tab means i3 originally ~old~d in the
plan~ ~ormed by ths aforesaid ad~acent portion~ of the l~d,
and subs~quently moves from tha~ plane into t~e n~n-planar
alignm~nt. This simpli~ie~ the de~ign, molding and m~nufac- ~
turing processes (~uch as in pl~stic inj~ction ~olding), and ~-
: an r~ult in economio ~aving~ to ths manufac~ur~r. ~:
An~ther ob~ect o~ our invention is th~ provi~ion
o~ a lid of the a~oremention~d oharacter in whl~h th~ ta~-
20 p~r-evid-ncing mean~ in~lude~ a t~ar-~r~p m~mber d~po~d
at the periphery of the lid, with tab means operatively a~
~ixed ~o th~ tear-strip member.- ~he operati~e aff~xation
may be ac~omp}ished,,~or ex~mple, by integrally mold~ng ~he
ta~ an~ the te~r-~trip me~ber.
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2~J~7~3
Yet another ob~ect o~ our invention is th~ pro~i-
sion of a lid of the aforementioned ch~rac~er i~ which the
lid and the corre ponding containar opening are o~ ~ub~tan-
tially rectangular configuratio~, and the tear-strip me~ber
incl~des corner extension means a~ the cornerg o~ tha lld
~or permit~ing greater ~lexure of the lid at the corner~ af-
ter removal o~ the tear-s~rip mQmb~r. Each o~ the corner
~xt-n6ion means pr~er~bly inclu~es a section o~ the te~r-
strip member that i6 wid~r than ad~a¢ent section~ of ~he
t~ar-strip memb2r. me r~moval of these wider sections dur- :
ing removal of the tear-strip result~ in a "scalloping" o~
th~ ¢orners and a corresponding increa~ed ~lexibllity in the
lid, provlding easier removal and attaahment o~ th~ lid.
Add~tionally with respect to embodiment~ o~ ~ub-
~tantially rect~ngular con~iguratlon, it ~ a~ ob~sc~ o~ ourinv~nt~on to provide a lid of th~ aforemention~d char~cter
that includes rataining ~eanæ for ret~in~ng tha lid on the
~n~ o~ ~nd bh~ t~ ls no~ pr~sen~ a~ on~ or
~o~o o~ th~ cornsrs o~ ~he rQct~gu~ar lid. Thi~ faatur~
al~o prevents the unde~ired "b~ting in" of r~mot~ corn~rs~ a~
one corner i6 li~ted ~uring r~moval of the lid from the con-
tainer.
It is yet another object o~ our inv~ntion to pro-
vid~ a ~ub~tantially re~tangular conta~ner lid w~ia~ in-
9~ -
cludes a centrally disposed co~er portion having an inverted
generally U-shaped cover edge, with the U-shaped edga form- :
ing a groove ~or recei~ing an upper edge o~ a sid2 wall of
the contain~r. ~he lid ~urth~r include~ a ~aar-str~p member
di~possd a~ the periphery of th~ lid and h~ving a wid~n~d
~ection at one or more o~ the corners. ~he tear-strip me~-
ber include~ tab mean~ ~or initiating th~ operat$on of the
ta~p~r-~videncing ~ean~. The tab means includ~s at lea~t a
port~on pro~ruding ~rom a plan~ ~rm~d by ad~acent ~ortions
of th~ lid, and includes taatile gripping means for provid-
ing ~n improved frictional con~ac~ for a per~on to grip the
ta~ means. ~he lid further includes rataining mean~ ~or r2- ~
ta~n~ng the lid on the container, with tha retaining mQan~ -
on ~h~ lid b~in~ interrupted or ~ rwisQ no~ pr~snt at on~
or ~ore o~ the corner~ o~ th~ lid. These ~eature~ gr~atly
facilitate the init~al and subsequent removal and att~chment
of the lid to the conta~ner.
Oth~r o~jeo~ and advant~ge~ oP the inv~nt~on will . ~.
be appar~nt ~rom ~h~ ~ollowing ~p~aifi~ation ~nd the accom~
panying arawings, which ~r~ for the purpose o~ illust~ation
only.
7 ~ ~
F~G. 1 is a 6ide elevation view of a prior art lid
and tab means t
FIG. 2 i~ a s~d~ ele~vat~on view simil~r to FIG. 1,
but illustratir~g a lid constructed in acc:ordanc~ ~ith the
tea~ning~ of ~he invantion;
PIG. 3 i6 an Rnlarged ~iew of the port~on of
FIG. ~ delineat~d by line 3;
FIG. 4 i~3 a sect~orlal Y~ewl ~i;imilar to th2t of
FIG. 5 bu~ illu~tra~ing the~ coplanar alignmen1: o~ t:he tab
m2ans as it preferably appear~ during ~nanufacture ~
~IG. 5 i~ 3 sectional view, taken along line 5-5
o~ FIG. 3
~IG. 6 i~ a ~ectional view, taken along line 6-6
o~ FIG . 3:
~IG. 7 is a ~de el~ation ~iew ~lmilar to FIG. 2,
but 111u~trating a su~'can*ially re¢tangular lid ~on6tructed
in acco~danc~ w:~.th the teachings o~ ~ha inv~ntionJ
FIG;. 8 i~ a top view of one corner of the lid o~
~IG. 8, taken along l~ne 8-8 of FIG. 7
FI~; . 9 ~ ~ a ~ectional view, taken along lin~ 9-9 ~ :
0~ FI~ o 13;
FI~:. lO i~ a ~ec:ti~n~l vl~w of ths tab ~ean~ of
FIG. 7, taken along line 10-10 o~ ~IG. 7;
2 ~ 9 ~
FIGo 11 18 a side elevation view similar ~o
FIG. 7, but illustrating a sub~tantially rectangular lid
constructed in accordanc~ with th3 teaching~ of the inven- . :
tion with the tear-strip member partially separated ~rom the
li~, And ~: -
~IG. 12 is an isometric view of a lid ~im$1ar to
the lids illu~rated ln FIGS. 7-11, but illustr~ting how a
person might attach or remove the lid to ox from a contain~r
a~ter th~ tear-strip member has been ~ompl~tely re~oved from
th~ lid.
: '.
Re~erring ~o the drawin~, and particularly to : .
FIGS. a-6 thereof, w~ ~how a lid 10 con~truc~ed in accor-
dance with the teaching~ o~ ~e in~ention and including tam-
p~r-evldenc~ng ~ean~ 12, s~swn a~ a ~ear-6tr~p m~mb~r 14.
Tho~e ~kllled in the art will und~r~tand that th~ tamper~ev-
iden~ing means ind~ates whether the lid ha~ be~n remo~Qd
~rom its aæ~ociate~ ~ontainer ta ~ontain~r i~ not illu~-
trated in FIGS. 2-6~ ~ter the original a~sembly o~ the lid
1~ onto u container.
~hose 6k~ d in the art will further understand
that th~ lid ~ncludes a c~ntral~y dispo~ed cover po~tion
~irilar to that 111u~trat-d a~ portlon 80 ln FIGS. 8 aDd 12.
7 ~ ~.
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The lid is pre~erably lightweight with s~me degre~ o~ re-
silience, to resist damage during ha~dling and use and to
permit operative repetitive engagement with a container.
Th~ ~id may b~ fabricated from any 6uitabl~ matQrial and by
any suitable proce~s, but i~ pre~erably manufactur~d ~rom
pla~tia in an injection molding process.
The lid 10 may b8 of any ~uitabl~ 6i2e ~nd 6hape
so as to ~orrespond to an associated container, ~ut is il-
lustrated ln a circular configuration in the ~IGS. 2-6.
The tamper-evid~ncing maans ~2 preferably includes
tab means 20, which i8 pr~erably intQgrally molded with
tear-~trip m~mber 14, but whi~h may be op~rati~ely attached ~.
to th~ tQar-strip memb~r 14 by any suitabl~ ~eans ~ùch as ~.
gluing, ~t~pling, bol~ing, weld~ng or the like. In the pre~
~err~d ~mbodiment, ~he tab mQ~ns 20 includes a oentr~l body
portion 22, a fr~ngible or breakable conn~c~inq portion 24,
~nd a relativ~ly non-brQakabl~ connecting portion 26. Th~
conn~ln~ portion~ 2~ and 26 maintain the tab ~ean~ 20 in
; op0rat1v~ relation~hip with ~he 1~ 10 and the tear-~trlp
20~: me~b~r 14, with th~ ~rangible aonn~cting portion 24 dim~n- -
~ioned and oon~igured to permi ~ra~ur~ thereof wh~n a per- ;
~on want6 to re~ov~ the tea~-strlp ~emb~r 14, a~ more thor-
oughly des~rib~d herein. Th~ relatively non-breakabl~ con-
~cting portion 26, in contrast, i5 dimen~ion~d and config- .
8 ~ : ;
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7 r~
ured to withs~and the forces exerted thereon by the person
pulling on the ta~ means 20 during removal o~ the tear- ~rip
member 14. :
As indicated above, the ta~ means 20 i~ utili~e~
S to ~nitlate the re~o~al of th~ t~per-evidle~cing tear-~trip
me~ber 14 from the a~s~mbled lid lO and container. ~his i~
prefera~ly accompli~hed by a per on gra~p~ng the tab means
20, exQrting suffici~nt pre~sure to break the connecting
portion 24, and sub~equently "peQling" t~e ~ear-strip 14 ~ ;
Prom the lid lO along an integrally-molded w orelinQ 2~
(he0t illu6trated i~ ~Ia. 6). This removal proce~s i~ ~ur-
th~r illu~trated in FIG. ll (sh~wing a tear-strip partially
r~moved ~rom a lid) and in FIG. 12 (~howlng ~ lid on a con-
tainer a~ter the tear-~trip haæ bean removed from thQ assem-
~ly).
In order to make the ~ab mean~ 20 easier to locate~by sight or by touch), the tab means pr~fera~ly include~
protru~ing p~rtion 2~ (a~ ~8t illustra~ed ln F~. 5~ which
protrud~ from a plane ~ormsd by ad~3cent portion cf th~
lid. Th~s protrusion enables a us~r ~o more readily ~e thQ
tab me~n~ 20 whil~ initially opening the contai~er, ~d also
to feel the tab mean~, e~pecially in sltuation~ where light~
ing and/or loca~ion of the con~ain~r/lid a~s~l31y re~uirs
th~t ~hs u~er lo:aa~ ~he tab ~eans by ~l in tead o~ 61ght.
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To facilitate manufactur~ of the lid lo through
processes such as injection molding, the protrudi~g portion
29 ~s preferably molded "in-line" or co-planar with the ad-
jac2nt portions o~ the lid. As illustr~ted in FIG. 4, the
mold ~n such a process c~n be co~figur~d withou~ the more
co~pi~cated shape of ~G. 5, and upon removal of th~ lid 10
~ro~ the mold, several faator3 can comb~n~ to acco~pli~h the ::
de~ired protrusion of portion 29. ~hese include the natural
shrinkage of t~e plastic material ~rom which the lid i~
~ormed and ~he r~latively grQater ~lexi~i~ity o~ th~ br~ak-
able connecting portion 22. The~ ~actors p~rmit th~ lower
edge o~ tha taar-s~rip ms~ber 14 a~d t~ tab mean~ 20 to
7'~hrink" inwardly, as indicated by arrow "A'l in ~G. 4. A~
such ~hrinkage occure, ~he pr~trudlng portion 29 corrQspond~
1~ ~ngly mov~æ out o~ ~h~ coplanar ali~nment with the adjacent
portion~ o~ the lid lO, and into the non-aligned po ition
shown ~n F~G. 5.
Thi8 ou*ward movement o~ the protruding portion 29
i~ ~urther ~acilitated by the pro~sion o~ a su~st~ntial gap
30 be~w~en ~he pro~rudlng portion 2g and certain of tha ad
j~ent portion~ o~ the lid lO, Th~ gap 30 i~ additlonally
su~iciently larg~ and appropri~tely shaped to par~it a
u~r'3 finger~ ~ readily gra~p the pro~ruding portion 29 to
facilitate removal o~ the te~r- trip membar 14. --
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To further enable to operative removal o~ the
tear-strip memb~r 14 from the lid 10, the tab m~ans ~o al~o
pre~erably includes tactile gripping mean6 40 such as a plu-
rality of ribs 42 ~or providing an improved ~r.ictlonal con-
tact for a per~on to grip the tab means 20. ~hose skilledin t~e art wlll understand that the tactil~ gripping means
40 may be provided ln any o~ a wid~ var~e~y o~ o~her embodi-
ments (not ~hown), including a roughened surfase, holes in
the ta~ means 20, an adhesive-coating on the tab mean~ 20,
or tha lik~. In th~ pr~ferred embodi~ent, the tab means 20
ha~ opposing ~urface~ 27, FIG. 5, and ~he tactile gripping
me~ns 40 aro di~posed on b~th opposing sur~a¢e~ 27
As illustrat~d, the te~r-strip ~em~er 14 i~
pre~erably dispo~ed a~ tha periphery of th~ lid 10. The lid
10 has an invert~d generally U-~haped cover edg~ 50, a~ b~st
illustrat~d in M&S. 5 and 6. Th~ U-shap~d edg~ 50 ~orm a
groove ~or receivin~ an upper edge of a side wall o~ the
oont~ln~r (not shown~. The lid 10 ~u ~ er includes retain-
in~ ~ea~ 5~ ~or r~tai~ing th~ lid on the zontainer.
20 lu~rat~d, the retaining ~ean 58 includes an en~agement lip
con~igured to matingly e~gag~ a ~orrespondingly-~haped li~
,
on tha container (no~ shown) when ~h~ lid 10 and ~ontain~r
ar2 a~sembled with ea~ other.
~ ~ .. . .
2 ~ 9 ~
~n embodi~ents in which the lid 60 is of substan-
tially rectangular configurat~on to covor a correspondingly-
shaped opening in a cont~iner, ~I&S. 7-12, the ta2r-8trip
member 62 of the lid 60 further include~ corner extens~on
~eans 63. In the preferred embodi~ent, corner extension
means 63 include~ one or mor~ s~ctlons 64 of th~ tear-strip -
~ember 62 at one or ~ore of the corn~rs of the li~ 60. ~he
~ections 64 are wid~r than ad~acent section~ o~ said t~ar-
~trip m~mber 62, and are preferably d~fined by the ~coreline
28 ~o t~at tearing the tear-strip member 62 ~rom the lidl 60
re~lte in a "~calloping" of the ~orners o~ the li~ ~. In
o~her words, upon remov~l o~ th~ tear-~trip m~mb~r 62 ~ro~
th~ lld 60, ~heae wid~ned s~ctions 64 leave corre~ponding
saalloped Bec~ions 66 in ths lid 60, p~rmit~ng a gr~ater ~
: 15 ~1QXU~ 0~ the lid 60 during r~mo~al from or attach~nt to : :
the container (~e~ FIG. 12) than would be pos~i~le with~ut
th~ one or m~xe widened ~ection~ 640 Th~3 incr~ase~ ~lexure
provides corre~ponding~y e~sier r~moval and attachment o~
: th~ lid 60 from and to ~h~ container.
A1BO in e~b~dim~nt~ o~ ~ubstantially rectanyul~r
con~iguration, ~ha lid 60 ~urth~r include~ r~taining meang -
68 ~imilar to the r~tainlng mean~ 5~ described abov~ ~n re-
lat~on to FIGS. 2~6. ~h~ r~taining ~eans 6~ i~ for rQtain-
ing the l~d on ~h~ ~onta~ner, bu~ ln ~ ub~tanti~lly r~ct
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2~ 3
angular embodiment of FIGS. 7~12, the retaining means 68 is
not present at one ~r more of the corner of the rec~angular
lid. For example, in e~bodiments wh~re th~ retaining means
6~ is a substantially con~inuous lip about ~he periphery of
th~ lld 60, that lip is interrupt~d or is okherwi~e absent ~ ~;
at tha corners o~ t~ lid (a~ b~st illus~rated in FIGS. 8
and 9). ; -~
~he abeence o~ the retaining me~n~ 6~ at tha cor-
nQrs of the lid 60 en6ur~s that, when one corner o~ ~he ltd
i5 lifted, FIG. 12, there i~ no retaining lip at the other
co~ners ~o nbi~e inn and more ~irmly ~ngage thQ contain~r.
A~ tho~ skilled in th~ art will understand, flexur~ o~ the
~id from one corner, FIG. 12, would cau~e ad~ nt ~orners
o prior art lids to pull inwardly agains~ ~he con~ain~r,
lS ~nh~nGing thQ engagam~nt betwsen tha ~ating retaining l ip~
o~ th~ lid and the container. Th~ pr~ent invsntion not
only p~rmit~ ~ore re~dy flexure Or the lid (by the provision
oP th~ scalloped sQetions 66, aa d~scrib~d above~, ~ut pre-
v~nts ths undesirable increa~ed interengagem~nt at the cor-
ner~ o~ the a~sembl~d lid and container.
Thus, by our invention we provid~ a container lid
whiah parml~s ths ~a~i~r identi~lcation, loca~ion and re-
moval o~ tamper-indi~ating ~an~ ~uch as an enaircling tQar
~trip ~m~er, and also ~acilitate~ ~ubseguant attachm~nt an~
13
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29~37~
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remo~ral of the lid ~o the containar for ~ubs~antially rect-
angular llds .
The lid o~ our invention has been descri~ed with
~ some particula~ity but the specific designs and con- :
stnlc~ions disclosed are not to 3~ taken as dellmitlIIg of ~ ~:
the invention in ~ha~ variouf3 obYious mo~ificati~ns will : ~:
make them~lves apparent to those Or ordinary skill ln th~
art, all of which will not depart ~rom the essanc~a of the
invQntion and all ~;uc:h change6 and modifications ar~ in-
tended to be encompa~sed within th~ appended clai~
. ~ i . .~
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