Patents Examined by Nathan Newhouse
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Patent number: 5950859Abstract: Various embodiments of a sealing member disposed between a container body and an endpiece attached thereto are disclosed, as well as a method for disposing a sealing member between an endpiece and a container body. In one embodiment, a sealing member is disposed within a space between a container body flange and a corresponding portion of the sidewall of the container body, is disposed between a space between an endpiece flange and a corresponding portion of an endpiece wall, and is further disposed between the endpiece flange and container body flange. As such, the sealing member has a generally S-shaped configuration in cross-section. At least one and preferably two scores are incorporated on the sealing member to facilitate at least a partial removal of the endpiece from the container body so as to be able to access the contents of the container.Type: GrantFiled: March 25, 1997Date of Patent: September 14, 1999Assignee: Ball CorporationInventors: Tuan A. Nguyen, Howard Curtis Chasteen, Michael Duane Richardson
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Patent number: 5947320Abstract: A closure system including a polymeric split ring clamp and a polymeric lid for a polymeric drum. To maintain the integrity of the closure, the lid rim region is formed having an annular restraining notch which cooperates with twist inhibiting blocking components formed within the interior of a cooperating inwardly opening polymeric split ring clamp. The blocking component may be provided as a sequence of regularly spaced block-like protuberances located within the inward upwardly disposed region of the ring clamp. A secondary closure arrangement is provided with the split ring clamp which receives a polymeric banding strap to prevent one end of the split ring from disengaging with an associated pivot arm. When the split ring clamp is in a fully open or pre-clamping mode orientation, a capture groove is formed with the ring pivot shaft formed at one end of the split ring clamp.Type: GrantFiled: December 11, 1997Date of Patent: September 7, 1999Assignee: Containers Accessories, Inc.Inventors: Paul G. Bordner, Bret D. Bordner, Richard P. Brandt
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Patent number: 5947315Abstract: The closure assembly includes: a container having an access opening; an inner closure with a rim attached to the container, a central portion covering the access opening, a weakened portion in the central portion, and a separably interlocking portion in the central portion, as a threaded portion; a removable closure covering the inner closure and separably interlocking the inner closure; whereby twisting the removable closure as by threading action on the inner closure breaks the inner closure at the weakened portion and opens the container. Also discloses a method for opening a closure assembly.Type: GrantFiled: January 27, 1998Date of Patent: September 7, 1999Assignee: The Elizabeth and Sandor Valyi Foundation, Inc.Inventors: Emery I. Valyi, Herbert Rees
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Patent number: 5947318Abstract: The opening device (1) for packages of pourable food products has a frame (3) connectable to a package, and a sleeve-like portion (10) defined by the frame (3) and having a circular aperture (12) provided therein. A cap (2) releasably engages the sleeve-like portion in a liquid-tight relationship therewith. A cylindrical portion (7) defined by the cap (2) is rotatably accommodatable inside the circular aperture (12), and cutting teeth (17) are connected to the cylindrical portion (7) for cutting packaging material located beneath the circular aperture (12), whereby to open a package. Cam-followers (23a-23c) connected to an inner annular wall (13) of the sleeve-like portion (10) slidebly engage cam-defining contoured slots (22a-22c) formed on the cylindrical portion, for converting unidirectional rotation of the cap (2) with respect to said frame (3), into bi-directional axial movement of the cylindrical portion with respect to the sleeve-like portion.Type: GrantFiled: February 4, 1998Date of Patent: September 7, 1999Assignee: Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.Inventor: Lars Erik Palm
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Patent number: 5947310Abstract: A combination bottle and screw closure for containing wine therein. The bottle includes internally disposed threads within a lower portion of the neck of the bottle for receiving the external threads of the lower end of a screw closure which is inserted into the opening of the bottle and rotated for securement therein. The positioning of the threads in the lower portion of the neck of the bottle affords a smooth and consistent pour of the wine from the bottle. In an alternative embodiment, the opening of the bottle and the screw closure are provided with a tamper resistant features to prevent opening of the bottle by a child. In a third embodiment, an insert and complementary screw closure are provided for retrofitting existing wine bottles not having internally disposed threads.Type: GrantFiled: April 30, 1997Date of Patent: September 7, 1999Inventor: David C. Wagner
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Patent number: 5944213Abstract: A deformable retaining net for securing certain items such as laundry articles within a container such as a laundry basket. The deformable retaining net comprises a netting panel which is rectangular in shape and bounded on at least two opposite sides by double-ply sleeves. An elastic drawstring having opposite ends and a connecting hook at each end each extends through each of the double-ply sleeves such that the connecting hooks are located external to said double-ply sleeves. The device is employed by securing two of the connecting hooks to any surface contours of one of the side walls of the container, and then stretching the netting panel over the open top of the container and securing the remaining connecting hooks to surface contours located upon the opposite side wall of the container, so that the netting panel is thus firmly secured across the open top of the container, and items are prevented from escaping through the open top from the container's interior.Type: GrantFiled: March 10, 1998Date of Patent: August 31, 1999Inventors: Hector Alicea, Leslie Pickett
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Patent number: 5944208Abstract: A combination of a customized bottle and a closure. The bottle has a neck with an interior circumferential surface defining a throat with a longitudinal axis and having an end face, at least a portion of which is inclined with respect to an imaginary plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The closure has a head and a cylindrical shank extending from the head and has a cross-sectional area less than that of the head and having a longitudinal axis extending through the shank and having a cross-sectional area which is less than that of the cross-sectional area of the throat in the neck of the bottle. The head has a surface facing toward the shank and has a portion thereof which is inclined with respect to an imaginary plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shank and which is complementary to the inclined surface on the face of the neck.Type: GrantFiled: January 26, 1998Date of Patent: August 31, 1999Inventor: Gregory W. Gale
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Patent number: 5944211Abstract: A container system includes a one-piece, one-way valve. The container system can be evacuated by pressing the lid, thereby forcing air out of the one-way valve. The one-way valve does not allow air to enter the container system. The one-way valve includes an interface or release which allows air to enter the container system when the interface is pressed. The one-way valve is preferably an umbrella-shaped valve made of a silicone or plastic.Type: GrantFiled: August 26, 1997Date of Patent: August 31, 1999Assignee: Anchor Hocking Plastics/Plastics Inc.Inventors: Brian E. Woodnorth, Gregory A. Theis, Roger A. Leenerts, Richard O. McCarthy, Nick E. Stanca
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Patent number: 5941407Abstract: A safety cap for pressurized containers includes a closure member (2) of the aperture (3) of the container (4) and a grip member (5) having a connecting means (6) with the closure member for removing the closure member from the aperture only when the pressure inside the container is at a preset value. A safety device (7) is adapted to slide inside the closure member (2) from a first position to a second position and vice versa, for activating and disactivating the connecting means as the pressure varies, and seal means (8) between the closure member and at least a first and a second region of the safety device.Type: GrantFiled: May 17, 1996Date of Patent: August 24, 1999Assignee: De' Longhi S.P.A.Inventor: Giuseppe De' Longhi
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Patent number: 5941402Abstract: A child resistant closure apparatus is provided that is easily opened by the aged and infirm. The child resistant closure apparatus has a container having a push-tab locking device that locks into place in a series of sawtooth projections on an inner surface of a closure. The closure is rotatably screwed onto the container whereby the push-tab locking device locks into one sawtooth projection. Screwing torque in the direction which would disengage the closure from the container is not possible unless the push-tab locking device is manipulated so that an end of a flexible arm is removed from the sawtooth projection.Type: GrantFiled: June 24, 1998Date of Patent: August 24, 1999Assignee: KerrInventor: Dave Krueger
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Patent number: 5941404Abstract: A threaded tabbed cap for being threadably interfaced with a container, particularly a plastic beverage container, wherein the tabs admit unidirectional assistance to a user in the direction of unthreading. A top wall is integrally formed with annular sidewall. At the interior side of the annular sidewall, threads are provided which have a predetermined structure to threadably engage the threads adjacent the opening of a predetermined container. A pair of tabs are integral with the exterior side of the annular sidewall and are located at opposing sides thereof. The tabs are of an asymmetric shape so as to provide aid to unthreading it from the container but not offer aid to threading it onto the container. In this regard, each tab has a forward face projecting radially from the exterior side of the annular sidewall and a rearward face tangential with an interface of the annular sidewall.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 1998Date of Patent: August 24, 1999Assignee: Denise A. ConsiglioInventor: Jamie J. Charrette
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Patent number: 5938054Abstract: The closure assembly of FIGS. 1 and 3 comprises a container 1, a cap 2 having a skirt portion 3, and a captive band 4 attached via a tamper-evident tear-off band 5 and a pair of frangible connections 6 and 7 to the skirt portion 3. Arrows 8 on the skirt 3 and 9 on the container 1 show that the cap 2 has been put on in the aligned position. A tab 10 on one end of the tear-off band 5 provides a grip for the fingers in removing the band. In FIG. 3 the tab 10 has been torn away to reveal a detent means on the container neck in the form of a projection 11. This is partly situated in a gap 19 under the tab 10 before this has been lifted away, and partly under the start end of the tear-off band 5, which is adapted to flex slightly to accommodate the projection 11 without any significant damage to the frangible connections 6 and 7.Type: GrantFiled: March 19, 1998Date of Patent: August 17, 1999Assignee: Rexam Containers LimitedInventor: John Anthony Loader
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Patent number: 5934496Abstract: A closure for a container and a method of producing the same is set forth. The closure is a single integrally-molded spout, cap and hinge assembly joining the spout and the cap. The closure may also have a membrane and pull-ring, also integrally molded as one piece. The cap may have at least one prop for preventing interference from the cap with the pouring of the contents of the container. Additionally, the spout may have a step for assisting in the prevention of interference from the cap during pouring, and for providing a predetermined sound every time that the cap is opened. Further, the closure may have a tamper-evident member to indicate that the closure has been opened. Still further, the closure may have an orienting peg for properly orienting the closure on a container.Type: GrantFiled: October 28, 1997Date of Patent: August 10, 1999Assignee: Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance, SAInventors: Jens Mogard, Karl-Erik Lundh, Gote Elof Rickardsson
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Patent number: 5934494Abstract: A packing for a lid to seal a container opening is provided comprising a packing body, including a packing material and a low gas permeable sheet laminated on a surface of the packing material adapted to face a container, a gas permeable sheet provided on a surface of the packing body adapted to face the container and an oxygen absorbing agent provided between the packing material and the gas permeable sheet, adjacent the gas permeable sheet.Type: GrantFiled: January 8, 1998Date of Patent: August 10, 1999Assignee: Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc.Inventors: Hideyuki Takahashi, Hidetoshi Hatakeyama, Futoshi Nakaya, Yuichi Fujii
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Patent number: 5934492Abstract: A medication container has a tubular container body with an open upper end, and a cap detachably securable to the upper edge of the container body by clockwise rotation relative thereto, the cap and the container body having mutually engageable stops preventing anti-clockwise opening rotation of the cap relative to the container body when the cap is in an upper position relative to the container body. A cap liner of resilient material within the cap has a peripheral portion engageable with the upper end of the container body to close the upper end, the cap liner also having a central button portion in a central aperture in the cap for manual engagement by a person wishing to open the container.Type: GrantFiled: March 5, 1998Date of Patent: August 10, 1999Inventor: William Thomas Jones
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Patent number: 5934498Abstract: A convenience easy opening end having a removable panel portion which includes a narrow U-shaped stem portion extending from a larger rounded bulbous portion and with a pull tab attached to the stem portion.Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 1997Date of Patent: August 10, 1999Assignee: Aluminum Company of AmericaInventor: Charles L. Jordan
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Patent number: 5931331Abstract: A can end having an improved pour-type ecology opening mechanism includes a conventional can end wall that contains a score line that defines a displaceable panel. The score line includes an initial design rupture point, a radiused portion having a first tangent point and a second tangent point, and a main portion that terminates at a final transition point. The can end further includes a tab having a liftable heel portion and a tab nose portion, with the tab nose portion being positioned to apply downward pressure to the panel at a pressure point on the displaceable panel when the heel portion is lifted. The tab has a center line that is coincident with a radius of said can end wall. Advantageously, the pressure point is positioned a distance, taken in the direction of the center line, from the second tangent point of the radiused portion that is selected to prevent a buildup of force that would otherwise hasten propagation of separation along the main portion of the score.Type: GrantFiled: February 27, 1997Date of Patent: August 3, 1999Assignee: Crown Cork & Seal Technologies CorporationInventors: William A. Kirk, Michael C. Calhoun, David M. Hoffman, Jeffrey McFarland
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Patent number: 5927527Abstract: The present closure and container combination comprises a child resistant squeeze and turn closure having a tamper indicating band which is removed from the closure after the first removal of the closure from the container. The closure has dual squeeze pads located opposite one another on the outer wall of the closure. Formed at 90 degrees from the squeeze pads are two child resistant lugs which extend inwardly from the closure lower skirt wall. The child resistant lugs extend downwardly below the lowermost edge of the annular skirt of the closure. Frangible webs are positioned at 45 degrees from the external tabs and the squeeze pads and retain the tamper indicating band onto the closure side wall. A first and a second child resistant container lug contacts the closure lugs and are placed on the neck of the container above the tamper indicating bead. The child resistant feature of the closure needs to be overcome before the tamper indicating band is fractured from the closure.Type: GrantFiled: October 8, 1997Date of Patent: July 27, 1999Assignee: Rexam Plastics, Inc.Inventors: Gary V. Montgomery, Elizabeth Rudolph, Mark K. Branson, Jeffrey C. Minnette, C. Ed Luker
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Patent number: 5927536Abstract: A metal easy open can lid, and a process for producing the same, wherein the can openability is improved and the occurrence of defects in the resin film at the time of shaping is eliminated whereby repair coating of the inner and outer surfaces are made unnecessary by making the cross-sectional shape of the opening guide groove of the easy open can lid an S-shape are provided, wherein, when forming the opening piece for easy manual opening in the metal lid, the properties of the resin film on the metal sheet, the shape and dimensions of the shoulder portions of the punch and die, the clearance, the residual thickness of the opening guide groove, the degree of the push-back processing, etc. are specified so as to achieve a superior can openability without breakage of the resin film by forming an opening guide groove with an S-shaped cross-section.Type: GrantFiled: August 12, 1997Date of Patent: July 27, 1999Assignee: Nippon Steel CorporationInventors: Yashichi Oyagi, Kouji Manabe, Hiroshi Nishida, Takehide Senuma, Hiroshi Itoh, Masaaki Yano, Tetsurou Takeshita, Teruaki Izaki, Shinji Tanimoto
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Patent number: 5927528Abstract: A medication container has a tubular container body with an upper open end, a cap detachably securable to the upper end of the container body by clockwise rotation relative thereto and removable from the container body by counter clockwise rotation relative thereto, and a cap liner within the cap and having a peripheral portion engageable with the upper end of the container body to close the upper end. The cap liner rotates with the cap when the cap is rotated in one direction relative to the container body and remains stationary relative to the cap when the cap is rotated in an opposite direction relative to the container body, the cap and the cap liner having indicia which indicates the next dosage time when the cap is rotated in the opposite direction.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 1998Date of Patent: July 27, 1999Inventor: William Thomas Jones