Patents Examined by Nathan Newhouse
  • Patent number: 5979688
    Abstract: A vacuum pack food container is closed by releasable and reclosable sheet metal closure having a center portion defining an annular recess around an upwardly projecting integral vacuum release button with an undercut wall partially surrounded by a score line smaller than the button. The sealant material is confined within the button and has an outwardly projecting flange releasably bonded to the closure under the score line. Depressing the button peels the sealant flange from the closure to define a vacuum release passage which closes and seals when the pressure on the button is released. A peripheral skirt portion on the closure has inwardly projecting bosses which cooperate with cam surfaces on the bottom of a curled rim portion of a sheet metal container to provide a twist-on twist-off closure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1999
    Assignee: Container Development, Ltd.
    Inventor: Ralph P. Stodd
  • Patent number: 5975328
    Abstract: A fuel cap structure which enables part of a flange member to be readily broken when an external force is applied via a cover member in any direction. A fuel cap includes a casing body and a cover member attached to the flange member formed on the upper portion of the casing body. The flange member includes a joint member to join the upper portion of the casing body with an outer ring member, in which the cover member is fitted. The joint member has fragile portions including notches. Each fragile portion starts a break of the joint member when an external force is applied to the flange member via the cover member in a variety of directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1999
    Assignee: Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Hagano, Masayuki Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 5975369
    Abstract: A container closure includes a shell attachable to a container around a container opening thereof. The shell has a shell opening in fluid communication with the container opening when the shell is attached to the container. A tip is received on the shell movable between a closed position sealing the shell opening and an open position. A cover is releasably attached to the shell in a manner indicative of the tip being positioned in the closed position when the cover is attached to the shell. Both the shell and the cover may be provided with tamper-evident bands. The present invention is particularly well adapted to be formed as a push-pull container closure for sports bottles and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1999
    Assignees: Erie County Plastics Corporation, Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA)
    Inventors: Michael A. Yurkewicz, Robert J. Smith, Gregg S. Montgomery, Stephen Getsy, David E. Babcock, Mike G. Palma, Lee Albrecht, Paul W. Robbins
  • Patent number: 5975346
    Abstract: A container for holding paint or other liquids and a method for making same. The container includes a body having a bottom wall and a side wall extending from the bottom wall along the periphery of the bottom wall which terminates in an upper rim. The container also includes an annular retaining ring secured to the upper rim. The annular retaining ring forms an outlet/inlet through which a liquid can be placed or removed from the container. The container further includes a lid pivotally and detachably mounted to the annular retaining ring for movement between an open position and closed position with respect to the outlet/inlet and for removing the lid from the annular retaining ring. The lid, body and annular retaining ring are individually molded and secured together by simple fastening means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1999
    Assignee: The Sherwin-Williams Company
    Inventors: Anthony Joseph Imperato, Donna Elizabeth Ward
  • Patent number: 5971181
    Abstract: Universal closure assembly designed for use in various containers having a fluid port for access to the content of the container. The universal closure assembly incorporates an elastomeric membrane capable of being ruptured by an access means such as a luer connector or a syringe having a sharp or blunt cannula or a sharp or blunt spike for fluid communication between the content of the container and the access means. The elastomeric membrane reseals itself after being ruptured by an access means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1999
    Assignee: Brocco Research USA Inc.
    Inventors: John J. Niedospial, Jr., Mark E. Gabbard, Timothy J. Gabbard
  • Patent number: 5967350
    Abstract: 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 having an upwardly extending wall and the cap having a downwardly extending wall adjacent the upwardly extending wall of the cap liner. The cap and the cap liner have inter-engaging mechanism provided on the downwardly extending wall of the cap and the upwardly extending wall of the cap liner to prevent rotational movement therebetween when the cap is rotated in one direction relative to the container body and permit relative movement therebetween when the cap is rotated in an opposite direction relative to the container body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1999
    Inventor: William Thomas Jones
  • Patent number: 5967351
    Abstract: A tamper-indicating closure is used with an associated container having a finish including an external thread formation thereon, and an annular locking ring located axially under the thread formation. The closure includes a closure cap having a circular top wall portion and an annular skirt portion depending from the top wall portion. An internal thread is formed in the skirt and defines a skirt wall plane. The closure includes an annular tamper-indicating band depending from the cap that is detachably connected to the cap by a plurality of circumferentially spaced, tapered, frangible connectors extending between the band and the cap. The connectors taper to define a region adjacent to a juncture of the connector and the band having a cross-section that is smaller than a cross-section at a region of the connector adjacent to a juncture of the connector and the closure cap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1999
    Assignee: Phoenix Closures, Inc.
    Inventor: Len Ekkert
  • Patent number: 5967358
    Abstract: A tank filling and pressure relief assembly. A cover member has a seat for sealingly closing the tank opening. A stem is attached at one end to a piston in a cylinder (which is attached to the cover member and extends downwardly therefrom into the tank) and at the other end to a strongback. The strongback is pivotly mounted to swing the assembly away from the opening for filling thereof and to swing the assembly back into position to seat the cover member and is lockable in a position to lockingly urge the cover member to the closed position. The stem is flexibly coupled to the strongback to evenly distribute the seating force so that binding does not occur and is threadedly attached thereto so that the set pressure for pressure relief may be adjusted by access to the stem for turning thereof through an opening or cut-out in the strongback.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1999
    Assignee: Betts Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: David J. Adams, Charles A. Betts
  • Patent number: 5967352
    Abstract: A container neck is used with a tamper-evident, snap-on, screw-off closure. The neck has a multiple of four first helical threads on a neck stretch portion, and at least one external ratchet tooth on a locking wall portion below the neck stretch. The closure has an upper skirt having second helical threads mating with the first helical thread of the neck and a lower skirt with at least one internal ratchet tooth shaped and positioned to engage the external ratchet tooth when the closure is applied to the neck. The teeth formed on the skirt interior and neck exterior are arranged to provide at least one circumferentially extending stretch of the tamper-evident band where the teeth are not engaged. A line of weakness extending vertically through the disengaged stretch of the tamper-evident band is ruptured when the closure is unscrewed from the neck. The number of helical threads is preferably eight and, in any event, a multiple of four.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1999
    Assignee: Portola Packaging, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard E. Repp, Laszlo G. Sandor, Jack L. Watts
  • Patent number: 5964365
    Abstract: A reusable transport and containment system for a pan or dish having a peripheral flange. The system includes a manually graspable collar that acts as support around the perimeter of the pan and a lid that sealingly engages the collar. The coupled lid and collar insulate the pan's contents while shielding the food handler's hands from the pan and its contents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 12, 1999
    Assignee: Igloo Products Corp.
    Inventors: Kathleen G. Peeples, James M. Degen, Barry Wingate
  • Patent number: 5964363
    Abstract: A compression failure resistant tamper evident bottle cap includes a skirt with a lower edge, and a tamper-evident band formed integrally with the skirt and having structure for engaging beneath a retaining flange on the bottle so as to prevent subsequent withdrawal of the band. Frangible bridges connect the band to the lower edge of the skirt. To prevent destruction of the bridges as the cap is forced onto the bottle during installation, the skirt has one or more tabs or the like, extending downward over a portion of the band, for preventing undue diametral expansion of the tamper evident band as it passes over the retaining flange.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 12, 1999
    Assignee: Crown Cork & Seal Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Ronald L. Kelly, Michael T. Vavrik, Lino Dreyer
  • Patent number: 5964362
    Abstract: The neck of a container has a smooth seal surface engaged by the inner skirt or plug of a cap. Such surface is free of trim and parting line flaws which are characteristic of blow-molded jars because the surface is formed in such a way that the seal surface is not in contact with mold parting lines and further the trim of the neck (excess plastic) is located away from the sealing surface. In one form of the disclosure, above the sealing surface the neck wall slants outward and then bends upward-inward in a short, tapered stretch about 18.degree. to the horizontal which engages the underside of the cap disk to compress against the disk or a liner or foil. In another form of the invention, above the seal surface the neck extends outward and the upward and then inward in a flange which is trimmed along a line which has a circumference no less than the circumference of the seal surface. The exterior of the neck is formed with shoulders which engage over locking beads on the interior of the outer skirt of the cap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 12, 1999
    Assignee: Portola Packaging, Inc.
    Inventors: Laszlo G. Sandor, Daniel Luch, Richard E. Repp
  • Patent number: 5960987
    Abstract: A container having an integral lid hinged about the wall of the container to selectively close and seal the same on demand. Integral walls extend from the bottom portion of the device to form the container, the top portion terminates in a rim and a sealing ridge. Integral to one of the walls of the container is a lid formed by a crease within one of the walls, which crease defines the bottom end of the lid. The lid's top end is matched to the shape of the top portion of the container for conforming and locking therewith in the closed position, the lid extending above the top portion of the cup, forming a spout and a lid, at least one aperture formed in the lid to facilitate dispensing of the contents from the container when the lid is in the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: Flip Cup Company, LLC
    Inventors: Kurt Solland, Glen H. Tobias
  • Patent number: 5960979
    Abstract: Plastic bucket provided with a lid, the bucket having a single upper edge, a circumferential rib, and a depending edge connecting to the circumferential rib, the circumferential rib and the depending edge having such a profile that in sealed condition gripping the free lower edge of the lid is impossible. After removal of the sealing lip, gripping the free lower edge of the lid at the sealing position is possible in that the shape of the circumferential rib, and the depending edge connecting thereto, at the sealing position deviates from the shape thereof at the other circumferential positions, this deviating shape, however, in each case being such that the circumferential rib, throughout the circumference and hence also at the sealing position, extends adjacent to the upper edge of the bucket, so that the stiffness of the bucket is substantially the same throughout the circumference thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: Van den Brink B.V.
    Inventors: Anno Gerrit Van Den Brink, Dirk Steven Van Den Brink
  • Patent number: 5960980
    Abstract: A vented hatch cover assembly for a railroad hopper car including top and bottom members having substantially rigid and somewhat dome-shaped bodies which are divided into four quadrants wherein each quadrant includes coacting baffle members extending from the bodies of the top and bottom members which define a plurality of circuitous air passageways to allow air flow into and out of the hopper car while restricting moisture and other contaminants from entering the car. An improved hatch cover lock mechanism for securing a vented or non-vented cover to the hatch is easily adjustable to provide a tight seal between the cover and hatch, and provides a safe controlled opening of a non-vented cover. An improved seal or gasket is arranged between the cover and hatch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: Zeftek, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael K. Burke, John D. Anderson, Walter J. Peach, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5960528
    Abstract: A drum with a drum closure provided in a drum wall comprises an insert and a shut-off cap which can be placed in the insert which insert is situated in a collar on the drum wall pointing towards the outside of the drum and has a first flange which rests against the inside of the drum wall and a second flange which is flanged radially outwards over the collar and also a sealing ring which is wedged between the first flange and the inside of the drum wall. An additional seal which may or may not be connected to the sealing ring, is provided between the collar and the insert lying opposite in order to improve the sealing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: Koninklijke Emballage Industrie Van Leer N.V.
    Inventor: Herman P. Kars
  • Patent number: 5957318
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a brewing vessel comprising a manhole opening which is closable by a lockable lid. To obtain a simple locking mechanism which, in particular, does not create any unaccessible space, the locking ring is supported on the outside of the frame and comprises at least one locking bolt which cooperates with a recess formed in a collar of the lid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1999
    Assignee: Anton Steinecker Maschinenfabrik GmbH
    Inventors: Friedrich Banke, Harald Gratzer, Rudolf Flossmann
  • Patent number: 5957316
    Abstract: A cap for use with a dispensing system. The cap includes a main outer cap and an inner cap. The main outer cap has a central sleeve which receives and seals against a probe. The inner cap moves into and out of a sealing engagement with the central tube as the bottle is raised and lowered over the probe. The seal between the inner cap and the central tube is located on the outside surface of the central tube. The location of the connection between the inner cap and the probe is displaced away from the location of the connection between the inner cap and the sleeve of the main outer cap. This allows the cap to have effective differentials between the forces which are necessary to achieve proper sequencing of the formation of the various seals and connections which occur during use of the cap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1999
    Inventors: Walter E. Hidding, Douglas J. Hidding, Robert D. Hidding
  • Patent number: 5957314
    Abstract: A rubber gasket is closely sealed by integrally connecting a removable close-fastening ring to a top board of a crown-like member to be fitted to a mouth portion in which a liquid drug is kept and pulling down the close-fastening ring to cover the outer periphery of the crown-like member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1999
    Assignee: Taisei Kako Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirotaka Nishida, Kouiti Yoshimi, Keiji Hamamoto
  • Patent number: 5950850
    Abstract: The present invention provides a sealing device comprising a container and a synthetic resin cap attached to a mouth portion thereof. The synthetic resin cap has a cap main body having a top plate portion and a tubular portion extending downward from the periphery thereof, the tubular portion being partitioned by a tearable weakening line into an upper main portion and a lower tamper-evidence ring portion, a threaded portion being formed on an inner wall surface of the main portion, and erectable engaging projections being provided on an inner wall surface of the tamper-evidence ring portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1999
    Assignees: Shibazaki Seisakusho, Ltd., Suntory Limited
    Inventors: Kouichi Takamatsu, Tatsuya Gomi