CONTAINER HAVING A BASE AND A LID
A container for a tobacco product having a base and a lid, the lid comprises an outer skirt and a first abutment projection. The abutment projection runs circumferentially on an inside surface of the lid, adjacent to the outer skirt. The base comprises a side wall configured to contact an outward-facing surface of the first abutment projection during closure of the lid, such that the side wall is outwardly deflected and contacts an inside surface of the outer skirt of the lid, sealing the container when the lid is closed.
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This application claims priority from European Patent Application No. 15173001.7 filed on Jun. 19, 2015, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a container having a base and lid which may be used for storing tobacco products such as tobacco pouches.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONConsumable products, for example tobacco products such as tobacco pouches, are often stored in containers which offer portability to the consumer and are configured to be repeatedly opened and closed to allow portions of the product to be removed when required. A desirable feature of such containers is that the product is protected from environmental effects that might degrade the product stored within the container. For example, excessive humidity or dryness caused by excessive air transport into or out of the storage space is likely to damage the product or degrade its characteristics.
Commonly, prior art containers comprise a base and lid which may be resealably attached to the base in order to maintain freshness of the product between use. The resealable attachment is often provided by a clip mechanism which provides a single contact between the lid and base of the container around the periphery forming a seal. Such an arrangement, using a single contact point, provides a poor barrier to air flow and consequently the useable lifetime of the stored product within the container is limited. Furthermore the contact point is likely to be worn after repeated opening and closing of the container resulting in wear and a reduction in quality of the seal. Similarly any irregularity in the shape of the container is also likely to result in gaps in the seal, resulting in an increased rate of degradation of the stored product. More complex sealing mechanisms which use multiple components are often complex and costly to manufacture.
The present invention seeks to provide a low cost container for a consumable product such as tobacco which provides a high quality seal to improve the overall barrier properties of the pack and improve flavour and moisture retention of the product in order to overcome the problems of the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to the present invention there is provided a container having a base and a lid. The lid comprises an outer skirt and a first abutment projection, the abutment projection running circumferentially on an inside surface of the lid, adjacent to the outer skirt. The base comprises a side wall configured to contact an outward-facing surface of the first abutment projection during closure of the lid, such that the side wall is outwardly deflected and contacts an inside surface of the outer skirt of the lid, sealing the container when the lid is closed.
With the container according to the present invention it is possible to provide a seal comprising multiple contact points between the base and lid thereby providing an enhanced barrier to the passage of air and moisture through the seal. The provision of multiple contact points also reduces the likelihood of a break in the seal resulting from wear due to repeated use or irregularities in the shape of the base or lid. The enhanced barrier properties are achieved without the use of complex components and therefore the container is straightforward and low-cost to manufacture.
One example of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to
As shown in
In this example, the first abutment projection 22 extends from an inner closure surface 23 of the lid, approximately parallel with the outer skirt 21 but extending a lesser distance. The first abutment projection 22 runs circumferentially around the inner surface of the lid 20, a constant distance towards the centre of the lid from the outer skirt 21.
The base comprises a base surface 12, identified in
The sealing mechanism is formed by the configuration of the base side wall 11 and lid outer skirt 21 and first abutment projection 22 and will now be described in detail.
The radial distance of the upper portion of the side wall 11 from the centre of the base 10 is in between that of the radial distance of the first abutment projection 22 from the centre of the lid and the radial distance of the outer skirt 21 from the centre of the lid. Therefore during closure, when the lid 20 is brought over and aligned with the base 10 and brought downwards to meet the base, the upper portion of the base side wall 11 is accepted into the gap between the outer skirt 21 and first abutment projection 22 of the lid forming a seal. Furthermore, the radial distance of the upper portion of the base side wall 11 may be close to, but just greater than, the radial distance of the first abutment projection 22 from the centre of the container 100. In this way, when the lid 20 is aligned with and brought downwards towards the base 10 to close the container 100, the tip of the side wall 11 meets an outer facing surface of the first abutment projection 22 such that a force with a component in the radial direction is applied to the tip 13 of the base side wall. The continued action of bringing the lid downwards upon the base results in a continued radial force on the upper portion of the base side wall as it slides past an outer surface of the abutment projection. This force is sufficient to outwardly deflect the tip 13 and upper portion of the side wall 11, such that the continued movement of bringing the lid 20 and base 10 together results in an increasing defection of an upper portion of the side wall 11 and, at the point of closure, the upper portion of the side wall 11 has deflected sufficiently to make contact with an inner surface of the outer skirt 21 of the lid.
The closed container is therefore sealed by two contact points between the base and lid: C1 between an outer surface of the first abutment projection 22 and an inner surface of the side wall 21, and C2 between the tip 13 of the side wall and inner surface of the outer skirt 21. This seal configuration therefore provides a greatly improved barrier against the passage of air and accordingly a consumable product stored within the container will have an increased lifetime.
A number of additional features may be included to further improve the sealing mechanism. Firstly, as shown in
As shown in
The above example of the coupling portions 24, 14 also provides a third contact point C3 between the lid and base, further improving the performance of the seal in reducing though air flow and aiding in maintaining the internal environment of the container.
In a further example of the container of the present invention, shown in
In a further example of the container of the present invention, shown in
The maintenance of the inner container atmosphere may further be maintained by the use of tailored oxygen transmission polymers to construct the sealing mechanism components or other parts of the container. Such materials allow the overall container oxygen transmission to be tailored so as to prevent both volatile loss and reductive processes occurring over time. Examples of such materials include oriented polypropylene/poylethylene (OPP/PE) bilaminate plastic, nylon 11, high density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). A further possibility is using a combination of a foil seal lid and these more permeable materials, allowing a balance of properties suitable for this application. Alternatively, a foil seal may be used alone, without incorporating the above materials into the sealing components. A preferred wrapper is a composite of foil and OPP/PE bilaminate plastic.
The use of such materials with the specified oxygen and vapour transmission rates, applied to the container of the present invention, will control gaseous permeation in such a way as to maintain the correct internal pack atmosphere, thus preventing the loss of volatiles and reductive character formation. Accordingly shelf life will be extended and costs may be saved since a reduced rate of flavour degradation would mean flavour application rates may be reduced during processing.
The examples of the present invention described provides a container 100 for a consumable product such as a tobacco product which provides a seal with greatly improved barrier properties whilst still maintaining a simple structure so as to not increase manufacturing costs. The seal consists of multiple contact points between a base and lid which overcomes the problems of leakage, exacerbated by wear or irregularities in manufacturing, associated with single contact point seals common to prior art containers. The improved seal enhances the flavour and moisture retention of the product, increasing shelf life and reducing cost due to flavour application rates. The possibility of using tailored oxygen transmission polymers to construct parts of the case offers control over the permeability of the seal to maintain a constant internal atmosphere and further reduce the degradation rate of the stored product over time.
Claims
1. A container for a tobacco product comprising:
- a lid comprising: an outer skirt; and a first abutment projection, the abutment projection running circumferentially on an inside surface of the lid, adjacent to the outer skirt; and
- a base comprising a side wall configured to contact an outward-facing surface of the first abutment projection during closure of the lid, such that the side wall is outwardly deflected and contacts an inside surface of the outer skirt, sealing the container when the lid is closed.
2. The container of claim 1 wherein, during closure, the outward-facing surface of the first abutment projection is angled relative to the side wall of the base to improve the deflection of the side wall of the base upon closure of the container.
3. The container of claim 1 wherein the side wall of the base contacts both the inside wall of the outer skirt and the first abutment projection when the lid is closed.
4. The container of claim 1 wherein the first abutment projection forms a complete circumferential loop on the inside surface of the lid.
5. The container of claim 1 further comprising a releasable retention mechanism, the releasable retention mechanism comprising:
- a lid coupling portion positioned on an inward-facing surface of the outer skirt; and
- a base coupling portion positioned on an outward-facing surface of the side wall of the base,
- wherein the coupling portions are configured to engage upon closure of the lid such that the lid is retained in the closed position,
- wherein the engaged coupling portions are configured to release upon application of an appropriate force by a user.
6. The container of claim 1 further comprising a second abutment projection, wherein the second abutment projection is positioned on an inward facing surface of the outer skirt and is configured to contact the side wall of the base upon closure of the container.
7. The container of claim 1 wherein there are at least three contact points between the lid and base when the container is closed.
8. The container of claim 1 wherein a portion of the base side wall is angled inwards so as to increase the contact force between the side wall and the first abutment projection of the lid upon closure.
9. The container of claim 1 wherein a tip of the base side wall is angled outwards such that contact between a tip of the side wall and an inward facing surface of the outer skirt is increased upon closure.
10. The container of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the container is made from a tailored oxygen transmission polymer.
11. The container of claim 1 further comprising tobacco contained therein.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 17, 2016
Publication Date: Dec 22, 2016
Applicant: JT International S.A. (Geneva)
Inventors: Rory Parsons (Belfast), David Mclaughlin (Ballymena), Mary Wilhelmina Mcfarlane (Limavady)
Application Number: 15/185,460