PLASTIC CONTAINER WITH TAMPER-EVIDENT CLOSING SYSTEM

Abstract

A container with a tamper-evident closing system is disclosed. A linker may connect a bottom lip extending from a storage area of the container and a top lip extending from the lid. A perforated region positioned between the linker and the bottom lip is severed upon application of pressure by a user's hand so as to open the tamper-evident closing system. The linker may include a tab that extends down from the linker when the container is in the closed position and is moved up by the user so as to first open the container. The lower lip may include a cutout region and designed to receive a finger of the user when in the closed position. The container may also include a scoring positioned between the linker and the top lip, and this scoring may facilitate bending of the linker in a vertical position.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present non-provisional patent application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/774,774, filed Oct. 12, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tamper-evident sealing system for containers, including plastic containers formed from a single plastic sheet.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Consumer items, for example, those often seen in a retail establishments and used for food items, can preserve the freshness of merchandise and can provide convenient units for sale of bulk items. Often, wholesalers or retailers use such tamper-evident containers for items that come loose, for example, nuts, candy or seeds or the like. At the same time, customers often prefer containers that look and feel sealed and sanitary but also prefer containers that they can close after first opening.

Typically, such containers are formed from a plastic sheet that is cut and scored, for example, perforated, with the tamper evident sealing mechanism connected between the part of the sheet that becomes the lid of the container and the part of the sheet that is deformed into the storage area or housing portion of the container.

Various containers, including containers with tamper-evident sealing mechanisms are known, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,118,003, 9,926,118, 9,944,436 and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2007/0045317, 2008/0308557, 2008/087669, 2009/0193766, 2009/0206082, 2010/0181323, 2013/0068654, 2014/0138383, 2015/0028033, 2017/0283139. Each of these patents and patent application publication documents is incorporated in full herein by reference.

A challenge of such tamper-evident sealing mechanism containers has been to provide a tamper-evident sealing mechanism that is intuitive and easy to use for the user, even a user of average finger strength or limited manual dexterity, and without extensive instruction necessary for the user. At the same time, such a container needs to be closeable after first opening, which entails breaking of the tamper-evident sealing mechanism. Also, a challenge has been to provide a tamper-evident sealing mechanism that is not unduly messy in the sense of creating lots of extraneous pieces of plastic upon first opening and breaking of the tamper-evident sealing mechanism. The customer does not usually wish to be left holding pieces of plastic after opening the tamper-evident sealing mechanism to open the container to get to its contents.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is designed to address such and other concerns. Provided is a container with a tamper-evident closing system, the container including a storage area and a bottom lip extending from the storage area; a lid that closes the storage area and a top lip extending from the lid; a linker connecting the bottom lip and the top lip; a perforated region positioned between the linker and the bottom lip and designed so as to be severed upon application of pressure by a user's hand so as to open the tamper-evident closing system.

In such a container, the linker may include a tab that extends down from the linker when the container is in the closed position and is moved up by the user so as to open the tamper-evident closing system, and the lower lip may include a cutout region opposite the tab and that is designed to receive a finger of the user when in the closed position.

In such a container, the perforated region may be positioned on both sides of the cutout region.

Such a container may also include a scoring positioned between the linker and the top lip, and this scoring may facilitate bending of the linker in a vertical position.

Such a container may also include the scoring positioned along an entire contact area between the top lip and the linker.

Such a container may also include a thinning of material.

Such a container may also include the scoring positioned along a straight line.

Such a container may also include the perforated region including a first line segment and a second line segment that lies on the same line as the first line segment.

Such a container may also include the top lip sloped upward and the linker extends vertically down from the top lip.

Such a container may also include the bottom lip including protrusions projecting upward and configured to support the top lip and to create gaps between the top lip and the bottom lip.

Such a container may also include the protrusions that have upward surfaces having a first slope, such that the upward lip has the first slope.

Such a container may also include the top lip extending out from a distal edge of the lid, and the bottom lip may have side walls and may extend out from a distal outer edge of at least one of the side walls.

Such a container may also be a thermally extruded transparent plastic container.

Such a container may also include the lid including a leg that is received in a top shoulder of the storage area and to removably close the container by elastic deformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustration of an example of a container with the lid and storage unit in the open position, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a view of the container of FIG. 1 in the open position, showing the top view of the inside of the storage area and a bottom view of the lid, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a view of the tamper-evident sealing mechanism between the storage area and the lid in the open position prior to the closing of the container of FIG. 1, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the container illustrated in FIG. 3 in the open position, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a side view illustration taken along 5-5 of FIG. 3 of a detail of the container of FIG. 1 illustrating the tamper-evident closure mechanism, including the perforation line and the score line delimiting the linker area, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section side view illustration of the tamper-evident sealing mechanism in the closed position showing the finger space formed by the cutout area at or near the center of the bottom lip, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 a top, front and right side perspective view illustration of the container of FIG. 1 in the closed position prior to the breaking of the tamper-evident closure mechanism, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is the perspective view illustration of FIG. 7 showing a user grasping tab of the tamper-evident closure mechanism, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is the perspective view illustration of FIG. 7 showing the user holding the tab with finger traversing a finger space behind the tab and applying upward pressure along a force vector as the tamper-evident closure mechanism is being broken to open the container, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the container in the open position with linker having been severed from the bottom lip after the tamper-evident closure mechanism has been broken by user, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

The Drawings illustrate examples of aspects of the invention. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention, and/or from the combination of one or more of the figures and the textual description herein, or from portions thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A tamper-evident sealing system is provided to close a container, for example, a plastic container used in the retail sector to sell food items or the like. The tamper-evident seal opens by an intuitive movement of the user's finger, for example, by upward pushing of a tab to open the lid. In this way, an intuitive and convenient pushing up on a piece extending out from the lid opens the container in a reliable and effective manner. The customer can thus feel confident that the food stored in the container that had been secured by the tamper-evident seal he or she just broke is safe to consume.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a storage area or main compartment 22 of container 20 has an outwardly extending bottom lip 27. Lid 30 may have an outwardly extending top lip 32 that lies on top of bottom lip 27 when container 20 is closed. A linker 40 is formed between bottom lip 27 of storage area 22 and top lip 32 of linker 30.

Linker 40 may also include a tab 41, or more than one tab, to facilitate the user finding and pressing on the linker 40 to open the container. While illustrated for purposes of this example as being semicircular projection from linker 40, tab 41 may be provided as one or more other types of curvilinear shapes or may be provided as a rectilinear projection. Also, tab 41 may be provided or omitted as needed. Opening the container by breaking the tamper-evident sealing mechanism in this way may separate linker 41 from lower lip 27 by severing at perforation 43 the bottom lip 27 from linker 40. Tab 41 may also be useful in opening lid 30 after the container is closed by the user following initial breaking of tamper-evident sealing mechanism 49. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a space 51 may be formed by bottom lip cutout 29 to facilitate insertion of user's finger behind tab 41 and grasping tab 41.

The storage area 22, the bottom lip 27, linker 40 and tab 41, and lid 30 with upper lip 42 may be formed together, as illustrated in FIGS. 3-5. For example, they may be manufactured from a single plastic sheet by thermal extrusion. Perforation 43 may be scored by creating small holes spaced apart from each other. Perforation 43 may comprise small punctures that extend from the top to the bottom of linker 40, or may comprise one or more other types of perforations that make linker 40 a separable or frangible from bottom lip 27. Perforation 43 is illustrated as positioned along a line, except at curvilinear tab cutout portion 29, which may be a completely cut through area. It will be understood, however, that perforation 43 may be provided as two or more segments that are not positioned on the same line, as a curvilinear perforation, as a combination of rectilinear and curvilinear perforations, or as scoring in some other manner.

A second score line may be additionally created to weaken the plastic by thinning the plastic at scoring 45 between linker 40 and top lip 32. This scoring 45 may be formed to facilitate bending of linker 40 downward to meet lower lip 27 when the container is in the initial sealed position. Second scoring 45 may be positioned along a line or may be curvilinear so that it is positioned between linker 40 and top lip 32.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 10, storage area 22 may also include supporting shoulder 25 at an upper region of storage area to support leg 31 of lid 30 so as to close container 20 in a re-openable way by elastic deformation to allow convenient closing and opening of container 20. After extrusion, lid 30 may be bent back to close container 20 by resting on supporting shoulder 25. For example, one or more adhesive labels or the like that span lid 30 and rear side wall 23c of storage area 22 may be affixed to provide a secure closure for retail. At this time, tamper-evident closing system 49 would be in its initial sealed position at the front of container 20.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, when a user first opens container 20, the user would intuitively understand that the tab region 41 is to be grasped and pushed up. In this way the frangible perforated score line 43 may be severed, thus separating linker 40 from bottom lip 27 and thus opening container 20. According to an aspect of the disclosure, the user need not be left holding a piece of plastic that has been torn away in the process of opening the tamper-evident seal. Also, no pinching or other non-intuitive movement may be required for the user to break the tamper-evident seal. At the same time, a reliable, robust, and effective tamper-evident closure may be provided.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, bottom lip 27 may include a cutout portion 29, which may be semicircular cutout region, elliptical cutout region, or other curvilinear or cutout region to facilitate the user's insertion of finger under tab portion 41 of linker 40. However cutout portion may be rectilinear or a combination of curvilinear and rectilinear. Cutout portion 29 may be provided as a complete separation of bottom lip 27 and linker 40 so that tab 41 hangs with linker 40 in the closed position.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, top lip 32 may rest slightly in a sloped up position on top of bottom lip 27. FIG. 6 is a cross section view illustration of the tamper-evident sealing mechanism, including tab 41 hanging down as part of linker 40 and a finger receiving open space formed behind tab 41.

Bottom lip 27 may include one or more protrusions 28 on the top surface of bottom lip 27 to support the top lip 32, as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 6. In this way, gaps are formed around the protrusions 28 so that there is a decreased contact area top lip 32 and bottom lip 27. This may facilitate opening of the container 20 without requiring undue force. While two protrusions 28 are illustrated, it will be understood that more than two or fewer than two could be provided and they may have shapes other than the one illustrated. While illustrated for purposes of this example as rectangular with rounded corners, it will be understood that container 20 may be provided in a square shape, round or oval shape or in other shapes dictated by the item or items to be stored therein.

Protrusions 28 may have top surfaces that are sloped and these slopes may have angles similar to the slope of top lip 32. The sloping of top lip 32 may facilitate the vertical positioning of linker 40. That is, linker 40 may be bent down to a vertical position from upper lip 32 at second score line 45. Also, the slope of top lip 32 need not necessarily be of identical slope to a top surface of protrusion 28 so long as protrusion 28 substantially supports, and is of general same orientation as, top lip 32.

It will be understood that the term vertical as used herein may not necessarily mean 90° with respect to the top lip, with respect to the bottom lip, or with respect to the bottom of container 20. The term vertical may mean that the linker 40 is transverse to the bottom lip.

Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations, combinations of features, modifications of features, and relations between structures will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Structures outlined as adjacent need not necessarily be positioned in that way, not all steps structures illustrated or described need necessarily be provided, and other intervening structures may be inserted. Structures described or illustrated as single units or structures may be substituted for by more than one structures, and structures described or illustrated as having multiple parts or divisions may be substituted for by a single structure. Uses and applications are described only by way of illustrative example. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein.

• 20 a container
• 22 a storage area
• 23a-d side walls of the storage area
• 25 supporting shoulder of the storage area
• 27 bottom lip
• 28 supporting protrusion
• 29 bottom lip cutout portion
• 30 lid
• 31 lid leg
• 32 top lip
• 40 linker
• 41 tab of linker
• 43 perforated scoring
• 45 second score line
• 47 finger space behind tab
• 49 tamper-evident closing system
• 51 direction of finger pressure

Claims

1. A container comprising a tamper-evident closing system, the container comprising:

a storage area and a bottom lip extending from the storage area;

a lid configured to close the storage area and a top lip extending from the lid;

a linker connecting the bottom lip and the top lip;

a perforated region positioned between the linker and the bottom lip and configured to be severed upon application of pressure by a user's hand so as to open the tamper-evident closing system.

2. The container of claim 1, wherein the linker comprises a tab extending down from the linker when the container is in the closed position and configured to be moved up by the user so as to open the tamper-evident closing system, and

wherein the lower lip comprises a cutout region opposite the tab and configured in the closed position to receive a finger of the user.

3. The container of claim 1, wherein the perforated region is positioned on both sides of the cutout region.

4. The container of claim 1, further comprising:

a scoring positioned between the linker and the top lip,

wherein the scoring is configured to facilitate bending of the linker in a vertical position.

5. The container of claim 4, wherein the scoring is positioned along an entire contact area between the top lip and the linker.

6. The container of claim 4, wherein the scoring comprises a thinning of material.

7. The container of claim 4, wherein the scoring is positioned along a straight line.

8. The container of claim 1, wherein the perforated region comprises a first line segment and a second line segment that lies on the same line as the first line segment.

9. The container of claim 1, wherein the top lip is sloped upward and the linker extends vertically down from the top lip.

10. The container of claim 1, wherein the bottom lip comprises protrusions projecting upward and configured to support the top lip and to create gaps between the top lip and the bottom lip.

11. The container of claim 1, wherein the protrusions comprise upward surfaces having a first slope, and the upward lip has the first slope.

12. The container of claim 1, wherein the top lip extends out from a distal edge of the lid, and

wherein the bottom lip comprises side walls and extends out from a distal outer edge of at least one of the side walls.

13. The container of claim 1, wherein the container is a thermally extruded transparent plastic container.

14. The container of claim 1, wherein the lid comprises a leg configured to be received in a top shoulder of the storage area and to removably close the container by elastic deformation.