Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CONTAINER WITH DOUBLE. LIDS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to containers,
and more particularly, to a container with double lids which
comprise a locking lid and an observing lid, which is made of
a material different from the locking lid and has a
transparent plate to allow a user to easily observe contents
in the container, and in which the locking lid has various
colors, thus enhancing an appearance of the container.
Description of the Related Art
Generally, containers each include a container body which
has a predetermined space to contain therein contents, and a
lid to close an open top of the container body. The container
further includes a locking flap which is provided on either of
the container body and the Iid, and a locking protrusion which
is provided on a remaining one of the container body and the
lid to lock thereto the locking flap. By locking the locking
flap to the locking protrusion, the lid is coupled to the
container body, thus preventing the contents in the container
from undesirably leaking out.
The containers are typically made of. plastics, because
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the containers made of the plastics have several advantages in
comparison with containers made of stainless or glass
materials, as follows: processes of forming container products
are simple, costs and weights of coni~ainer products are
reduced, and the container products are prevented from being
damaged.
As such, in case of the container made of the plastic,
the locking flap is integrally provided on the container body
or the lid. Furthermore, a film hinge is provided between the
locking flap and either of the container body or the lid, so
that the locking flap is rotated around the film hinge. To
achieve the above-mentioned purpose of the film hinge, the
container is made of a soft plastic 'which is a kind of
plastic. If a hard plastic is used to produce the container,
IS the film hinge may be broken by repeatedly rotating the
locking flap.
However, in case that the container is made of the soft
plastic, the container must be translucent or opaque because
of the special feature of the soft plastic in that
transparency thereof is poor.
As such, when the conventional containers are made of the
above-mentioned translucent or opaque materials, users cannot
confirm the contents, contained in the containers, without
opening the containers. Therefore, to confirm the contents in
each of the containers, the users must open each of the
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containers. Thus, the conventional containers cause
inconvenience to the user.
Furthermore, in case that the conventional containers
made of the soft plastic are colored, the containers become
further translucent or further opaque. Then, the users cannot
confirm the contents in the container. To avoid the above-
mentioned problem, typically, the conventional containers have
been made of uncolored soft plastics, which are translucent.
However, the uncolored containers are disadvantageous in that
to the appearances thereof are poor. To manufacture variously
colored containers, the containers must be partially made of
the hard plastic. However, in case that the hard plastic is
used to manufacture the container, a part of the container,
which is made of the hard plastic having a physical feature
different from the soft plastic, may not be easily bonded with
another part of the container, which is made .of the soft
plastic.
SUI~RY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping
in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an
object of the present invention is to provide a container with
double lids, which has a transparent window to allow a user to
confirm contents in the container.
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Another abject of the present invention is to provide a
container with the double lids, which has a variety of colors,
thus providing a good appearance.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present
invention provides a container with double lids, including a
container body, a lid unit to close an open tap of the
container body, a locking flap provided on either of the
container body and the lid unit, and a locking protrusion
provided on a remaining one of the container body and the lid
l0 unit to lock thereto the locking flap. The lid unit has a
locking lid made of a soft material and having a predetermined
shape to correspond to an edge of the open top of the container
body, with an opening provided at an inside part of the locking
lid, and a rim-shaped receiving part provided on a lower end of
the locking lid to receive therein the edge of the open top of
the container body: and an observing lid, having a cover plate
to be placed in the opening of the locking lid, and a coupling
part extending outward from an edge of the cover plate to form
a bent shape and to be inserted into the receiving part of the
locking lid.
The cover plate may be made of a transparent plastic or
glass material to allow contents in the container to be
observed.
The coupling part of the observing lid may include a
channel-shaped coupling slot opened downward to receive
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therein the edge of the open top of the container body, and
the coupling part may be inserted into the rim-shaped
receiving part of the locking lid.
The container may further include a plurality of coupling
protrusions provided by protruding upward on the coupling part
of the observing lid at positions spaced out at predetermined
intervals, and a plurality of coupling holes provided on
predetermined portions of the receiving part of the locking
lid to correspond to and receive therein the plurality of
coupling protrusions.
The container may further include an extension. part
extending from the rim-shaped receiving part of the locking
lid to a predetermined distance inwardly.
The container may further include an air hole provided on
a predetermined portion of the cover plate of the observing
lid, and an air control valve provided on a predetermined
portion of the cover plate to control the air hole.
The container may further include first and second bolt
holes respectively provided on the channel-shaped coupling
slot of the observing lid and the rim-shaped receiving part of
the locking lid to be aligned with each other, so that the
observing lid and the locking lid are coupled to each other by
a bolt tightened into both the first and second bolt holes.
The coupling part of the observing lid and the rim-shaped
receiving part of the locking lid may be coupled to each other
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through an ultrasonic sealing process.
The coupling part of the observing l.id and the rim-shaped
receiving part of the locking lid may be coupled to each other
through a double injection process.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and other
advantages of the present invention will be more clearly
l0 understood from the following detailed description taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a container
with double lids, according to a first embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the container of FIG. l;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the container, according to
a modification of the first embodiment of FIG. l;
FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged plan view of a container
with double lids, according to a second embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of
FIG. 4; and
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a container with double
lids, according to a third embodiment of the present
invention.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be
described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which
the same reference numerals are used throughout the different
drawings to designate the same or similar components.
A container of the present invention includes a rim
shaped locking lid, which is made of a soft material, and an
observing lid, which closes a containing space defined in a
container body and is made of a transparent material to allow
a user to observe contents in the container. Furthermore, the
locking lid is made of a translucent or opaque material to
apply a variety of colors to the container, thus providing a
better appearance of the container.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the container with double lids
according to a first embodiment of the present invention
includes a container body 10 which defines therein a
containing space, and a lid unit 20 which is coupled to an
open top of the container body 10 to cover the containing
space of the container body 10.
The container body 10 has a seating rib 11. which is
provided around a predetermined portion of an outer surface of
the container body 10 spaced apart from an edge of the open top
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of the container body 10 to a predetermined distance to be
projected outward in a circumferential direction of the outer
surface of the container body 10. Thus, when the lid unit 20
is coupled to the container body l0, the lid unit 20 is seated
onto the seating rib 11. A plurality of locking protrusions
13 are provided on an outer edge of tlZe seating rib 11 at
positions spaced out at predetermined intervals. A locking
protuberance 15 is provided by protruding downward under an
end of each of the plurality of locking protrusions 13.
The lid unit 20 to be coupled to the container body 10
includes a locking lid 25 which has a r~_m shape to correspond
to the edge of the open top of the container body l0, with an
opening provided at an inside part of the locking lid 25. The
lid unit 20 further includes an observing lid 30 which is
l5 coupled to the container body 10 while closing the opening of
the locking lid 25.
The locking lid. 25 of the lid un_i.t 20 has a receiving
part 26 which has a reversed U-shaped cross-section to be
opened downward and has the rim shape, such as a rectangular,
circular or elliptical rim shape, to correspond to the edge of
the open top of the container body 10.. The locking lid 25
further has a plurality of locking flaps 27 which are provided
on an outside of the receiving part 26 at positions spaced out
at predetermined intervals to correspond to the plurality of
locking protrusions 13 of the container body 10. Each of the
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locking flaps 27 is rotated between a position of locking the
locking flap 27 to the locking protrusion 13 and a position of
unlocking the locking flaps 27 from the locking protrusion 13.
To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the locking lid 25
further has a film hinge which is provided between each of the
locking flaps 27 and the receiving part 26 of the locking lid
25. Thus, each of the locking flaps 27 is rotated around each
of the film hinges toward the container :body 10. Each of the
locking flaps 27 has a locking hole 28 to receive therein each
of the locking protrusions 13 of the container body 10. When
each of the locking protrusions 13 is inserted into each of
the locking holes 28, the locking protrusion 13 is elastically
locked to the locking hole 28 by the locking protuberance 15
of each of the locking protrusions 13. Thus, each of the
locking protrusions 13 is prevented from being undesirably
removed from each of the locking holes 28 of the locking flaps
27.
The locking lid 25 is made of an opaque or translucent
soft plastic, so that the locking lid 25 may be variously
colored. Therefore, when a plurality of locking lids 25
having different colors are provided, the user may selectively
couple a locking lid 25 of a desired color to the container
body 10 according to the purpose of use, contents in the
container body 10 or the atmosphere around the container.
The observing lid 30 of the lid unit 20 has a cover plate
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31 to close the opening the locking lid 25, and a coupling
part 32 which has a coupling slot 33 extending outward from an
edge of the cover plate 31 to form a channel-shape to be opened
downward. The cover plate 31 of the observing lid 30 is made
of a transparent material, such as a transparent hard plastic
or glas s material, different from the locking lid 25. Thus,
the cover plate 31 has a transparent window.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the container, according to
a modification of the first embodiment of FIG. 1. As shown in
FIG. 3, the container according to the modification of the
first embodiment includes an air control valve 37 which is
provided by passing through the cover plate 31 at an inside
part of the cover plate 31. The air control valve 37 controls
an amount of air in the containing space of the container body
10 to create a vacuum in the container body 10, thus
preventing foods contained in the container body 10 from
deteriorating, and thereby maintaining the quality of the
foods.
In the meantime, the coupling part 32 with the coupling
slot 33 receives therein the edge of the open top of the
container body 10. A packing 35 is inserted in the coupling
slot 33 to seal the container body 10. Furthermore, the
coupling part 32 of the observing lid 30 is inserted into the
receiving part 26 of the locking lid 25, so that the observing
lid 30 and the locking lid 25 are coupled to each other.
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At this time, there are several methods to couple the
observing lid 30 to the locking lid 25 by inserting the
coupling part 32 of the observing lid 30 into the receiving
part 26 of the locking lid 25,
In a first coupling method, the coupling part 32 of the
observing lid 30 is received in the receiving part 26 of the
locking lid 25 without a separate coupling means. To couple
both the observing lid 30 and the locking lid 25 to the
container body 10, the observing lid 30 is coupled to the
container body 10 while the edge of t:he open top of the
container body 10 is inserted into the coupling slot 33 of the
observing lid 30. Thereafter, the locking lid 25 is coupled
to an upper portion of the observing lid 30 while the coupling
part 32 of the observing lid 30 is received into the receiving
is part 26 of the locking lid 25. To separate both the locking
lid 25 and the observing lid 30 from the container body 10,
the locking lid 25 is removed from the observing lid 30 before
the observing lid 30 is removed from the container body 10.
In a second coupling method, as a second embodiment shown
in FIGS . 4 and 5, a plurality of coupling protrusions 39 are
provided by protruding upward around a circumferential upper
surface of the coupling part 32 of the observing lid 30 at
positions spaced out at predetermined intervals. A plurality
of coupling holes 29 are provided on predetermined portions of
the receiving part 26 of the locking lid 25 to correspond to
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and receive therein the plurality of coupling protrusions 39.
Thus, the locking lid 25 and the observing lid 30 are coupled
to each other while each of the plurality of coupling
protrusions 39 of the observing lid 30 is inserted into each
of the plurality of coupling holes 29 of the locking lid 25.
In a third coupling method, after the coupling part 32 of
the observing lid 30 is received in the receiving part 26 of
the locking lid 25, the coupling part 32 of the observing lid
30 and the receiving part 26 of the locking lid 25 are coupled
to each other through an ultrasonic sealing process.
In a fourth coupling method, first and second bolt holes
(not shown) are respectively provided on. the coupling part 32
of the observing lid 30 and the rece-wing part 26 of the
locking lid 25 to be aligned with each other. Thus, the
observing lid 30 and the locking lid 25 ar_e coupled to each
other by a locking bolt (not shown) tightened into both the
first and second bolt holes.
In a fifth coupling method, the coupling part 32 of the
observing lid 30 and the receiving part 26 of the locking lid
25 are coupled to each other through a double injection
process.
Except for the above-mentioned several coupling methods,
another coupling method may exist, for example, use of a
bonding agent. However, the locking l.id 25 is made of the
soft plastic, while the observing lid 30 is made of the hard
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plastic or a glass material. In other words, the materials
constituting the locking lid 25 and the observing lid 30 are
different from each other. Therefore, the locking lid 25 and
the observing lid 30 are not easily coupled to each other by
using only the bonding agent. Thus, the coupling method using
the bonding agent is less advantageous 'than the others which
are above-mentioned.
The operation and effect of the container of the present
invention will be described herein below.
l0 The contents are contained in the container body 10,
Thereafter, the lid unit 20 comprising the locking lid 25 and
the observing lid 30, which are coupled to each other through
one method among the above-mentioned several coupling methods,
is coupled to the container body 10. At this time, the edge
of the open top of the container body 10 is received in the
coupling slot 33 of the observing lid 30. By the packing 35,
which is provided in the coupling slot 33, a gap between the
lid unit 20 and the edge of the open top of the container body
10 is sealed. Thereafter, each of the plurality of locking
flaps 27, provided on the locking lid 25, is rotated downward
until each of the locking protrusions 13 of the container body
10 is locked to each of the locking holes 28 of the locking
flaps 27. In case of the container according to the
modification of the first embodiment, after both the locking
lid 25 and the observing lid 30 are coupled to the container
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body 10, a central portion of the observing lid 30 is pressed
downward by a user to discharge the aix~ from the containing
space of the container body 10 to the outside through air hole
provided on the cover plate 31 of the obi>erving lid 30. Thus,
the lid unit 20 is further tightly coupled to the container
body 10.
At this time, because the lid unit 20 comprises the
locking lid 25 having the variety of colors and the observing
lid 30 having the cover plate 31 to form the transparent
window, the user can observe the interior of the container
body 10 through the transparent window. Accordingly, it is
not necessary to open each of the containers to confirm of the
contents in the containers, different from the conventional
containers. Thus, the container of the present invention is
convenient to the user.
In the meantime, because the locking lid 25 is made of
the soft material in the same manner as that of the
conventional containers, the locking lid 25 of the container
of the present invention may be variously colored. Therefore,
when a plurality of locking lids 25 ha~Ving different colors
are provided, the user may selectively purchase a container
having a locking lid 25 of a desired color. Furthermore, the
user may purchase a set of locking lids 25 each having a
different color, so that the user may selectively use a
locking lid 25 of a desired color accord.i.ng to contents in the
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container body 10, the atmosphere around the container, or the
purpose of use of the container. In addition, because the
observing lid 30 has the transparent window and the locking
lid 25 is variously colored, the container of the present
invention may be provided into two or more tones, thus
enhancing the appearance of the container.
In the container of each of the above-mentioned first and
second embodiments, the locking lid 25 has a rim shape to
provide the receiving part 26. However, as shown in FIG. 6, a
l0 container according to the third embodiment includes an
extension part 24 which extends inwardly from a receiving part
26 of a locking lid 25 to a predetermined distance. The
extension part 24 of the locking lid 2.5 is bent at an end
thereof downwardly. The container according to the third
embodiment further includes a receiving slot 34, which is
provided by depressing downward a predetermined portion of a
cover plate 31 of the observing lid 30 to correspond to and
receive therein the bent end of the extension part 24. Thus,
the extension part 24 made of a soft material is prevented
from being undesirably separated from the observing lid 30.
The extension part 24 may extend inwardly from the receiving
part 26 of the locking lid 25 to the same predetermined
distance. Alternatively, the extension part 24 may be
different in the protruded distance thereof while extending in
the circumferential direction of the receiving part 26.
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According to the protruded distance of the extension part 24,
the appearance of a transparent window, which is formed by the
cover plate 31 of the observing lid 30, is determined.
Therefore, the transparent window of the observing lid 30 may
have various appearances by the extension part 24, thus
enhancing the appearance of the container.
In the container of each of the above-mentioned first,
second and third embodiments, the locking protrusions l3 each
having the locking protuberance 15 are protruded outward from
to the seating rib 11 of the container body 10. However, the
plurality of locking protuberances 15 may be provided on the
outer edge of the seating rib 11 to extend downwardly. In
this case, each of the locking flaps 27 has a hook, which is
provided on an inner surface of the locking flap 27 and is
bent to correspond to the locking protuberance 15, which is
provided on the seating rib 11, in place of the locking hole
28. Thus, when each of the locking flaps 27 is pressed toward
the seating rib 11, the hook of the locking flap 27
elastically snaps to each of the locking protuberances 15 of
the seating rib 11. Therefore, the lid unit. 20 is reliably
coupled to the container body 10 by the above-mentioned
locking structure.
Furthermore, in the container of each of the first,
second and third embodiments, both the seating rib 11 and the
locking protuberances 15 are provided on the container body
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10, while the locking flaps 27 are provided on the lid unit
20. However, both the seating rib 11 and the locking
protuberances l5 may be provided on the :Lid unit 20, while the
locking flaps 27 may be provided on the container body 10.
As described above, the present invention provides a
container with double lids which comprise a locking lid made
of a soft material and an observing lid made of a hard
material. Therefore, the container of the present invention
allows a user to observe contents of the container through the
observing lid, thus being convenient to the user.
Furthermore, because the locking lid may be variously colored,
the container of the present invention provides the double
lids of two tones, thus enhancing the appearance thereof.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present
invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those
skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications,
additions and substitutions are possible, without departing
from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the
accompanying claims.
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