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US 5,944,214 AGranted
Reusable lid and container
AssigneePlastican, Inc.
InventorsRino Conti, Gorm Bressner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The combination of a reusable lid and a container, the lid being provided with external threads and the container being provided with internal threads adjacent its upper end for mating with said external threads. The lid is assembled to the container by engagement of the external and internal threads on the lid and container respectively. Preferably the lid has a sealing ring disposed adjacent to the underside of an outer peripheral ledge for engagement with a selected portion of the container, so as to tightly seal off the contents of the container. A latch element is formed on the lid for engagement with a cooperating catch element formed on the container. The latch element prevents removal of the lid from the container until the latching element is released from the catch element.
Claims26
A lid/container combination comprising:
- a molded plastic lid having a main body portion and a depending skirt portion, said main body portion having an annular ledge on its outer periphery that projects radially outward beyond the outer periphery of said skirt portion, said skirt portion having an external surface and at least one first screw thread on said external surface of said skirt portion;
- and
- a molded plastic container having an open end, a closed end, and a side wall extending from said open end to said closed end, at least one second screw thread on an inner surface of said container side wall, said at least one second screw thread being adapted to mate with said at least one first screw thread, whereby said lid may be attached to said container by screw engagement of said first and second screw threads, said container also having a peripheral outwardly extending flange at its open end over which said annular ledge extends when the lid is attached to the container, whereby when said lid is screwed onto said container by mutual engagement of said first and second screw threads, said ledge may engage said flange.
A lid/container combination comprising:
- a lid having a main body portion and a depending skirt portion, said skirt portion having an external surface and at least one first screw thread on said external surface of said skirt portion;
- a container having an open end, a closed end, and a side wall with an inner surface extending from said open end to said closed end, at least one second screw thread on said inner surface of said container, said second screw thread being adapted to mate with said first screw thread, whereby said lid may be attached to said container by screw engagement of said first screw thread with said second screw thread, said container also having a flange at its open end upon which a portion of the lid is seated when the lid is attached to the container;
- and
- a latching means comprising a latch element and a catch element, said latch element being mounted on one of said lid and container and said catch element being mounted on the other of said lid and container, whereby when said lid is assembled to said container, the latch element and catch element will engage one another to provide a latching function to prevent accidental disassembly of the lid from the container.
1 more element
A lid/container combination comprising:
- a circular molded plastic lid having a main body portion and a skirt portion formed integral with and depending from said body portion, a circumferentially-extending peripheral ledge formed integral with said body portion, resilient sealing means located on the underside of said ledge, said skirt portion having an external surface, and at least one first screw thread provided on the external surface of said skirt portion;
- and
- a molded plastic container having an open end, a closed end and a side wall that extends from said open end to said closed end, said container being provided with a peripheral flange at its open end over which said ledge extends when said lid is assembled to the container, at least one second screw thread provided on an inner surface of said container side wall adjacent its open end, said at least one second screw thread having a complementary configuration to said at least one first screw thread on the skirt portion of said lid, said side wall also having a beveled surface that extends inwardly from adjacent said flange towards the closed end of said container, said beveled surface being located above said at least one second screw thread, whereby said lid may be assembled to said container upon threaded engagement of said first and second screw threads, and upon completion of such assembly the sealing means on the underside of the ledge on said lid will be drawn into engagement with said beveled inner surface of the container so as to form a tight seal between the lid and container.
A lid/container combination comprising:
- a circular lid having a main body portion and a skirt portion formed integral with and depending from said body portion, a circumferentially-extending peripheral ledge formed integral with said body portion, sealing means located on the underside of said ledge, said skirt portion having an external surface, and at least one first screw thread provided on the external surface of said skirt portion;
- and
- a container having an open end and a closed end, said container being provided with a flange at its open end upon which the lid will rest when it is assembled to the pail, said container further having an inner surface extending from said open end to said closed end, at least one second screw thread provided on the inner surface of said container adjacent its open end, said at least one second screw thread having a complementary configuration to the at least one first screw thread on the skirt portion of said lid, a beveled surface on the inner surface of said container extending from said flange towards the inside of said container and located above said at least one second screw thread, whereby said lid may be assembled to said container upon threaded engagement of said first and second screw threads, and upon completion of such assembly the sealing means on the underside of the ledge on said lid will be drawn into engagement the beveled surface on the container to form a tight seal between the lid and container;
- and
- a latching means comprising a latch element and a catch element, said latch element being mounted on one of said lid and container, said catch element being mounted on the other of said lid and container, whereby when said lid is assembled to said container the latch element and catch element will engage one another to provide a latching function to prevent accidental disassembly of the lid from the container.
2 more elements
A reusable plastic lid for a container, said lid being circular and comprising a main body portion and a skirt portion formed integral with and depending from said main body portion, said main body portion having a ledge on its periphery, said skirt portion extending below and substantially perpendicular to said ledge, said skirt portion further having an external surface, at least one screw thread on the external surface of said skirt portion, and a latch element for releasably locking said lid to a container, said latch element comprising an arm attached to and depending from said ledge.
A lid/container combination comprising:
- a circular lid comprising a main body portion and a depending skirt portion terminating in a bottom end, said main body portion being provided with a ledge on its periphery that projects radially beyond the periphery of said skirt portion, said skirt portion having an external surface and a first screw thread on said external surface;
- a container having an open end and a closed end, said container being provided with a flange at its open end over which said ledge will extend when said lid is assembled to said container, said container further having inner and outer surfaces that extend from said open end to said closed end, a second screw thread provided on the inner surface of said container adjacent its open end, said second screw thread having a complementary configuration to the first screw thread on the skirt portion of said lid, a first beveled surface on the inner surface of said container extending from said flange towards the inside of said container and located above said second screw thread, a second beveled surface on the inner surface of said container located below said second screw thread, whereby said lid may be assembled to said container upon threaded engagement of the first thread on the skirt with the second screw thread on the container;
- and
- latching means comprising at least one resilient latch element and at least one catch element, said at least one latch element comprising a flexible arm mounted on the outer periphery of the ledge on said lid and extending downwardly therefrom substantially parallel to and spaced from the skirt portion thereof, said at least one catch element comprising a rib on the outer surface of the container and extending outwardly therefrom, whereby upon assembly of the lid to the container said at least one resilient flexible arm on the lid will be forced outwardly away from the container as the lid is rotated and the said at least one arm comes into contact with said at least one rib, and upon disassembly of the lid from the container it is necessary to apply force to flex said at least one arm outwardly away from the container outer surface in order to permit said at least one arm to pass by said at least one rib.
1 more element
A lid/container combination comprising:
- a container having one or more interior screw threads each extending circumferentially of said container
- a lid having a peripheral flange and a skirt portion adapted to fit within said container, said skirt portion having one or more exterior screw threads each extending circumferentially of said lid;
- said exterior screw threads being adapted to mate with said interior screw threads so that rotational movement of said lid relative to said container will cause said interior and exterior screw threads to be engaged so as to lock said lid to said container;
- and
- a latching means comprising a latch element mounted on said lid and a catch element mounted on said container, whereby when said lid is attached to said container, said latch element and said catch element will engage one another to provide a latching function to prevent accidental disassembly of the lid from the container.
2 more elements
A container/lid combination comprising:
- a plastic container having an open end, a closed end, and a side wall with an inner surface extending from said open end to said closed end, at least one first screw thread on said inner surface of said container, and an annular flange on the periphery of said side wall at said open end;
- a plastic lid having a main body portion, a depending skirt portion, and a peripheral flange that projects beyond the periphery of said skirt so that it can overlie said annular flange when said lid is attached to said container, said skirt portion having an external surface and at least one second screw thread on said external surface of said skirt portion;
- said skirt portion being adapted to fit within said open end of said container, and said at least one second screw thread being adapted to mate with said at least one first screw thread, whereby said lid may be attached to said container by screw engagement of said at least one second screw thread with said at least one first screw thread, said lid being made of a resilient plastic material that that allows the lid to be flexed by a manually applied force, whereby said lid can be attached to said container by forcing it down into said open end of said container so as to cause said at least one second screw thread to become engaged with said at least one first screw thread.
A container/lid combination comprising
- a container having an open end, a closed end, and a circularly shaped side wall with an inner surface extending from said open end to said closed end, at least one first screw thread on said inner surface of said container;
- and
- a lid having a main body portion and a depending skirt portion, said skirt portion having an external surface and at least one second screw thread on said external surface of said skirt portion;
- said skirt portion being adapted to fit within said open end of said container, and said at least one second screw thread being adapted to mate with said at least one first screw thread, whereby said lid may be attached to said container by screw engagement of said at least one second screw thread with said at least one first screw thread;
- a latch member that extends down alongside of said circularly shaped wall;
- and
- a catch member carried by said container in position to be engaged by said latch member.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.