CONTAINER WITH AN INSERT AND A LID

Abstract

A container (1) comprising a body (30) having an open end, an insert (40) arranged to fit inside the body and a lid (20) to close the open end of the body. The insert is designed to accommodate a product, and contacts the lid during opening to facilitate removal of the lid from the body. The lid is arranged inside the periphery of the open end of the body and the container is adapted to be opened by a user by pushing down on a portion of the lid until it engages with the insert, causing the opposite side of the lid to lift up and thereby allowing the lid to be easily removed by a user.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a container having a lid, a body and an insert. The invention is particularly directed to an arrangement which facilitates opening and subsequent removal of the lid from the body. The insert is adapted to hold a product, is arranged inside the body and is adapted to form an integral part of the opening mechanism.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention provides a container having a body, which includes an insert designed to accommodate a product, and a lid arranged to close the body, characterised in that the lid is arranged inside the periphery of the open end of the body and the container is adapted to be opened by a user by pushing down on a portion of the lid until it engages with the insert, causing the opposite side of the lid to lift up allowing the lid to be easily removed by the user.

Conventionally, lids are fitted to the open end of a container body, by overlapping the outside of the body side-wall. The lid may be secured on the body by one of more beads on the external surface of the side-wall of the body, which engage with the internal surface of the side-wall of the lid. The internal surface of the lid may also be provided with one or more beads or recesses to co-operate with the beads on the body. Such lids can be difficult to open, depending on the size and shape of the container.

By contrast, the lid according to the invention is retained inside the periphery of the open end of the body and secured therein by pips on the external surface of the lid side-wall, which engage with the curl at the open end of the body. The user pushes down on the lower portion of the lid which pops the top of the lid up, overcoming the engagement between the pips on the lid and the curl on the body. This enables the consumer to remove the lid by easily pulling the lid out of the container body.

Much less effort is required to push down a portion of the lid than is required to pull the lid and body apart on a conventional container and lid combination. Pushing down a portion of the lid is partly assisted by the user's body-weight and thus, a container according to the invention is able to be opened easier and in more controlled manner.

The container according to the invention requires the insert to become structural, because it must interact with the lid during opening. The insert can be manufactured from a variety of materials, but most commonly a vac-form or dense structural foam is used.

Furthermore, the insert may be provided with a cut away, to allow the lid to flip up. The shape, size and position of this cut away may be varied to provide different amounts of movement.

The lid design may have a flat, recessed panel as shown in the attached drawings, or the lid may be embossed or textured. The lid design may also have some physical indication of where a user should push to initiate opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of a container according to the invention in a closed position;

FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of the container of FIG. 1 after a user has pushed down on one side of the lid, which pops up the opposite side of the lid;

FIG. 3 shows a cut through. cross-sectional view of the container in the position shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows an exploded isometric view of the container, after the lid has been removed from the body exposing the insert and product contained therein (not shown) to the user.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a container 1 according to the invention includes a body 30 and a lid 20. The body 30 has a side wall 32 and the lid 20 has a flat, recessed panel 22, which may be embossed or textured (not shown).

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, in order to open the container lid 20 a user presses down on one side of the lid 20, which disengages one or more pips 25 from a curl around the periphery of the body 30 (not shown). As the user presses down on the lid 20, it contacts a cut away 45 on the insert 40 (see FIG. 3), lifting the opposite side of the lid 20, which may then simply be lifted off the body 30. As previously described, the body 30 has a side-wall 32, a bottom or base 34 and an open top (not labelled).

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the container according to the invention comprises a body 30, which accommodates an insert 40 and a lid 20, which is arranged inside the open end of the body 30. One or more pips 25 are provided on the external, depending side-wall of the lid 20. The pips 25 are arranged to engage with a curl around the periphery of the open end of the body (not shown)

It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that although a square section container is illustrated in the drawings, the container may be provided with a section of different shapes, for example triangular, round, or other complex shapes.

Claims

1. A container includes a body having an open end, an insert arranged to fit inside the body and designed to accommodate a product, and a lid to close the open end of the body, characterised in that:

the lid is arranged inside the periphery of the open end of the body and the container is adapted to be opened by a user by pushing down on a portion of the lid until it engages with the insert, causing an opposite side of the lid to lift up allowing the lid to be easily removed by a user.

2. A container according to claim 1, wherein the lid or the body has one or more pips adapted to engage with the other of the open end of the container body or the lid.

3. A container according to claim 1, wherein the insert is provided with a cut away and the lid contacts the cut away during opening.

4. A container according to claim 3, wherein the shape of the cut away is modified to achieve different amounts of movement during opening.

5. A container according to claim 1, wherein the lid has a recessed panel.

6. A container according to claim 5, wherein the recessed panel is embossed or textured.

7. A container according to claim 5, wherein the lid includes a physical or visual indication of where to push to initiate opening.