Can construction

#This invention relates to a container construction comprising a container having a sealed cover which can be manually removed from said container when the cover is severed from the container. More particularly, this invention comprises a container construction for a liquid having a cover which includes strip means which promotes ease of manual removal of the cover from the container when the cover is severed from the container prior to the cover sinking into the liquid.

#Prior to the present invention, containers such as metallic or plastic containers have been provided with a cover which can be opened by hand. These containers included the construction having a "pop-top" opener handle which is formed integrally with the cover and can be lifted by hand to form an opening in the cover which is defined by a previously molded indentation in the cover. These containers have been designed either to form a centrally located opening in the cover such as is common in a beverage container or can be found to extend about the cover periphery to remove the cover, as is common in processed foods such as cheese products. The opener handles which form a central opening are not desirable for use with a liquid food product since a portion of the outside surface of the opened handle extends into the liquid and can contaminate the liquid. The handle openings which permit removal of the entire cover are expensive.

#It has also been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,637,465 to provide a handle which can be bent away from a can top so that the can top can be subsequently lifted away from the can after the top has been cut. This handle means is undesirable since force is required to bend it away from the can which force would force the contents onto the top after it is cut. In addition, it is expensive to produce.

#FIG. 1 is a cut-away view of a container top with a cover and strip adhered to the top periphery.

#FIG. 2 is a cut-away view of a container top of FIG. 1 after the cover and top have been severed.

#FIG. 3 is a cut-away view of a container top with foam strips adhered to the top periphery.

#By the term "strip" as used herein is meant an element having a flat surface such as a portion of a sheet or foam material or a curved surface such as filament which has a length such that it can be grasped manually. The strip is formed of a material which is elastic and can be prestressed so that when it is released from the forces which cause it to remain stationary, it moves, under the prestressing forces, away from the container top and over the container rim. For example, the strip can be formed of a polymeric composition such as a rubber, a solid, or a plastic foam composition, from a metallic composition, or from a plastic composite materials such as plastic-graphite, plastic-metal, plastic-glass, etc.

#The container top of this invention includes one or more strips, usually a plurality of strips which are secured, at one end thereof to a central portion of the top or to a cover which extend over the strip and the top and the second end thereof being free. The cover is secured near the top periphery so that it can be cut with a cutting tool used to open the container. Since the strip is prestressed and the first end of the strip is secured to a central portion of the top or to the cover, when the cover is cut, the strip extends over the container rim due to the prestressed bias previously imposed into the strip. It is to be understood that any means for inducing the prestressed bias into the strip can be utilized in the present invention including natural elasticity of the material and prebending. In any event, the means for adhering the strip and cover is positioned on the top surface so that a strip can extend over the container rim so that it can be easily grasped when it is desired to remove the can top from the can body. The cross patch which has the permanent adhesive maintains the strip on the can top.

#Elastic bi-compositional and multicompositional covers may be utilized over the strip and may be composed of a less shrinking bottom layer and a more-shrinking upper layer. Differential shrinking can be achieved by many means including chemical cross-linking, thermal shrinking, plasticiser loss, aging or the like.