Beverage container with locking tab mechanism
The invention relates to a beverage container having a tab with a permeable membrane to prevent tampering with the liquid contents of the container. The container includes a side wall, an upper rim having an inwardly directed retaining element, and a top wall extending radially inward from the rim. The top wall has a pivotable panel defined by a rupturable seam that provides a drink opening when the seam is ruptured. The tab is coupled to the top wall by a rivet and includes a body portion that supports the permeable membrane. In a closed position, the tab is oriented such that the permeable membrane is roughly 180 degrees from the panel and the yet to be formed drink opening. An operator rotates the tab 180 degrees to arrive at a use position, wherein the permeable membrane overlies the drink opening to prevent tampering. An external segment of the body portion is engaged by the retaining element to maintain the use position.
N/A
TECHNICAL FIELDThe invention relates to a beverage container, such as a can, with a locking tab mechanism that, once rotated into position, prevents contaminants, such as insects, from entering the container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONBeverage containers, including those fabricated from aluminum, are typically designed to be durable enough to both store and dispense the liquid contents therein. The liquid contents are dispensed through an opening formed in a top wall of the container. The opening is formed by actuating a tab fastened to the top wall. Once the operator actuates the tab to form the opening, the operator engages the container with his/her lips and then inclines or tilts the container to dispense the liquid contents into the mouth.
As the consuming public becomes more safety conscious, existing beverage containers have employed a variety of strategies to prevent tampering with the liquid contents within the container. For purposes of this invention, tampering includes an insect or bug entering the container, or the purposeful addition of a foreign substance, e.g. a toxin or drug, into the container. Existing beverage containers having “tamper resistant” or “tamper proof” attributes include separate caps and covers that are joined to the container to form a multi-component assembly. Other containers include a spout that is inserted into the opening to prevent tampering. The existing containers suffer from a number of limitations, including poor user interaction and comfort, subpar liquid flow performance and high manufacturing cost, which negatively impact utility and commercial feasibility of the containers.
The present invention is provided to solve these limitations and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by conventional beverage containers. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to a beverage container having a tab with permeable membrane to prevent tampering with the liquid contents of the container. The beverage container includes a side wall arrangement, a neck region, a rim, a top wall and the tab coupled or fastened to the top wall. The tab, once positioned over a drink opening in the top wall, allows for the flow of the liquid contents through the opening while preventing tampering of the contents.
According to one aspect of the invention, the rim is joined to the neck and defines an uppermost portion of the container and the top wall extends radially inward from the rim. The top wall includes a deboss, wherein the deboss has a rupturable seam and a panel. Once the operator pivots the tab and applies force against the seam, the panel pivots downward to define the opening. The panel and the resulting opening have a width and a depth. The tab is moveably coupled to the deboss by a rivet that extends through a nose portion of the tab. The tab also has a body portion that engages the exterior edge of the permeable membrane and the sealing element. The body portion has an internal segment, an external segment and opposed side segments that define the perimeter of the body portion and provide the body portion with a width and a depth.
According to another aspect of the invention, a retaining element or projection extends radially inward from an internal side wall of the rim to engage and secure the tab in a use position. The rim has a height and the retaining element extends from a point along that height such that a lower height allows for the reception of the tab and an upper height allows for the reception of a stacked beverage container. Therefore, the retaining element is strategically positioned along the height of the rim to allow for vertical stacking of multiple beverage containers.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the tab is positioned against the top wall and 180 degrees from the panel in a closed position, which results from the formation of the container. To move from the closed position to a use position, the operator engages the tab and applies an upward force on the body portion to pivot the nose against the panel. When sufficient force is applied to the panel via the nose, the seam ruptures causing the panel to pivot downward into the container and thereby form the opening. Next, the operator pivots the body portion back towards the top wall to its original position, and then rotates the tab such that the body portion overlies the opening. As a result, the permeable membrane is aligned with the drink opening. Because the width and depth of the body portion exceeds the width and depth of the opening, the permeable membrane overlies and covers the opening. As a result, the likelihood of tampering with the liquid contents of the container is severely reduced. In the use position the sealing element engages the top wall about the drink opening to reduce the incidence of leakage.
For a better understanding of the present invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings as well as the descriptive matter in which there is illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
Referring to
A retaining element or projection 70 extends radially inward from an internal side wall of the rim 16 to engage and secure the tab 20 in a use position P2 (see
In
A second embodiment of the beverage container 110 is shown in
A third embodiment of the beverage container 210 is shown in
A fourth embodiment of the beverage container 310 is shown in
While the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying Claims.
Claims
1. A beverage container having a tab with permeable membrane to prevent tampering with the liquid contents of the container, the container comprising:
- a side wall arrangement;
- an upper rim having an inwardly directed retaining element;
- a top wall extending radially inward from the rim, the top wall having a panel defined by a rupturable seam that provides a drink opening;
- a tab coupled to the top wall by a rivet extending through a nose of the tab, the tab having a body portion wherein the rivet is positioned between the nose and the body portion, the body portion having a permeable membrane and an external segment; and,
- wherein the tab is rotated 180 degrees to arrive at a use position, wherein the permeable membrane overlies the drink opening and the external segment of the body portion is secured by the retaining element.
2. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein in the use position the permeable membrane allows for the flow of the container contents through both the drink opening and the permeable membrane.
3. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the retaining element extends from an inner wall of the rim to define both an upper rim height and a lower rim height, the lower rim height allowing for the external segment of the body portion to be received between the retaining element and the top wall.
4. The beverage container of claim 3, wherein the upper rim height allows for a second beverage container to be vertically stacked on the container, wherein the second beverage container has a base with a depending flange that is received within the rim.
5. The beverage container of claim 4, wherein the retaining element contacts the flange and supports the second container in a vertically stacked arrangement.
6. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the body portion includes the external segment, an internal segment and opposed side segments that collectively define a receiver that supports the permeable membrane.
7. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the permeable membrane has a width that exceeds a width of the drink opening, and the permeable membrane has a depth that exceeds a depth of the drink opening.
8. The beverage container of claim 1, wherein the top wall has a central axis and the rivet has a central axis that is offset from the top wall axis.
9. A beverage container having a tab with permeable membrane to prevent tampering with the liquid contents of the container, the container comprising:
- a side wall arrangement;
- an upper rim having an inwardly directed retaining element;
- a top wall having a panel defined by a rupturable seam that provides a drink opening in the top wall;
- a tab coupled to the top wall by a rivet, the tab having a body portion and a nose in an opposed positional relationship, the body portion having an external segment, an internal segment and opposed side segments that collectively define a receiver to support a permeable membrane;
- wherein in a use position the permeable membrane overlies the drink opening and the body portion is secured by the retaining element.
10. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein an upward force on the body portion pivots the nose against the panel to rupture the seam and pivot the panel downward and form the drink opening.
11. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein the tab is rotated 180 degrees from a closed position to arrive at the use position.
12. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein the rivet extends through a nose of the tab and is positioned between the nose and the body portion.
13. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein the top wall includes a recessed cavity at the base of the rim, and wherein the retaining element extends from the rim beyond the cavity.
14. The beverage container of claim 13, wherein the retaining element extends over the top wall.
15. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein the top wall includes a recessed cavity at the base of the rim, and wherein the retaining element extends from the rim above the cavity and engages an end wall of the external segment in the use position.
16. The beverage container of claim 9, wherein the body portion further includes a sealing element residing below the permeable membrane, and wherein in the use position the sealing element sealing engages the top wall about the drink opening.
17. A beverage container comprising:
- a side wall arrangement;
- an upper rim having an internal wall with a recessed channel;
- a top wall having a panel defined by a rupturable seam that provides a drink opening;
- a tab coupled to the top wall by a rivet extending into the top wall, the tab having a body portion and a nose in an opposed positional relationship, the body portion having a receiver that supports a permeable membrane to prevent tampering with the liquid contents of the container, the body portion further having an outwardly extending finger;
- wherein in a use position the tab is rotated such that the permeable membrane overlies the drink opening and the finger is received in the recessed channel of the rim.
18. The beverage container of claim 17, wherein the body portion has an external segment, an internal segment and opposed side segments that collectively define the receiver.
19. The beverage container of claim 18, wherein the finger outwardly extends from the external segment.
20. The beverage container of claim 17, wherein the recessed channel is positioned at a mid-height of the rim.
21. The beverage container of claim 17, wherein in a closed position the permeable membrane is positioned 180 degrees from the recessed channel.
22. The beverage container of claim 17, wherein the body portion further includes a sealing element residing below the permeable membrane, and wherein in the use position the sealing element sealing engages the top wall about the drink opening.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 4, 2007
Publication Date: Apr 9, 2009
Inventor: Joel Goldberg (Arlington Heights, IL)
Application Number: 11/906,963
International Classification: B65D 17/34 (20060101);