Collapsible-stackable plastic container
OwnerPeter M. Norwoodinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A stackable collapsible container has a sidewall comprised of opposing conical sections. The upper conical section has a greater length and slighter angle than the lower conical section. Upon application of vertical force the lower section folds under the upper section, so the container assumes a stable collapsed state; and likewise, the necked conical top collapses to further reduce the overall length. The top of a collapsed container has a groove, so that when the top is mated to a ringed recess in a like second container, the containers resiliently lock to each other and thus may be readily stacked.
Claims6
A collapsible container made of resilient plastic material comprising a top having an opening and a bottom spaced apart along a longitudinal axis, joined by a sidewall comprised of a plurality of substantially circular bellows;
- the top having at its periphery a circumscribing top groove, the groove having a groove minor diameter, a groove major diameter, and a groove width, where the top joins the sidewall;
- the top having an upwardly projecting truncated conical section surmounted by a neck with the top opening at the end thereof, the neck having a longitudinal axis length;
- the top conical section inverting when the neck is pressed downwardly toward the base with sufficient longitudinal axis force, the extent of inversion being sufficient to cause the neck to move along the longitudinal axis toward the base a distance at least equal to the said neck longitudinal axis length, to cause the neck and inverted top conical section to become recessed within the confines of the sidewall;
- the sidewall being collapsible when the container top is pressed toward the base with sufficient longitudinal axis force;
- the bottom closing the end of the sidewall and having a base facing oppositely to the top and neck, the base having in its center a substantially circular shallow recess, the open end of the recess facing downwardly;
- the recess shaped to snugly receive the top of an identical container of which the top conical section and surmounting neck have been inverted as aforesaid;
- the recess having an integral ring circumscribing the opening thereof;
- the ring having a width, as measured along the said longitudinal container axis, less than the said groove width, and a diameter greater than said groove minor diameter and less than said groove major diameter, the ring having a smaller inside dimension than the rest of the recess, the ring dimensionally shaped to engage and fit resiliently into the top groove of an identical container, when the top of said identical container with an inverted top conical section is inserted into the recess;
- wherein two identical containers are held together when the top end of a first container is pushed into the recess of the base of a second container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.