Expandable container having lid for providing headspace control in a food can

Abstract

Expandable containers having lids for providing headspace control in food can are disclosed. In one embodiment, a process for producing a lid closure for cans containing foodstuff, the lid providing tightness during sterilization or pasteurization in a continuous autoclave, said cans being closed with a can closure may include (1) producing the can closure from an annular ring adapted for seaming to the can body and a lid panel having an outer ring band sealingly affixed onto an inner flat web; and (2) reshaping a central area of the lid panel by deep drawing to a smooth bowl shape or a dome shape with a plane surface, as original shape, a material of this central area thereby solidified or hardened to such an extent that under an increased pressure in a headspace of the can during a passage thereof through an autoclave station, the central area changes to an axially outwardly bulged shape that is mirror-inverted with respect to the original shape and, during a subsequent cooling of the can, the central area automatically returns substantially to the original shape thereof. The reshaping may be done prior to attaching the lid to the filled can, and the lid pane may be limited by an outer ring band.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.