EP2627584A1

EP2627584A1 - Container with repositionable closure device

Info

Publication number: EP2627584A1
Application number: EP11799302.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Antonio Palamara; Mariantonia Cotronei
Original assignee: Develpack SRL
Current assignee: Develpack SRL
Priority date: 2010-10-15
Filing date: 2011-10-17
Publication date: 2013-08-21
Also published as: WO2012049668A1; ITVI20100281A1; IT1402290B1

Abstract

A container (2) with a repositionable closure device (1), wherein the container (2) comprises a lateral wall (L) having an upper edge (B) and wherein the closure device (1) has a stiffening member (4) which is stably coupled to a sheet- like cover member (3), the sheet- like cover member (3) having an outer peripheral portion (3") designed to be coupled to said upper edge (B) of the container (2) and an inner portion (31 ) coupled to the stiffening member (4). The stiffening member (4) partially overlies the edge (B) of the container (2), the outer peripheral portion (3") of the sheet- like cover member (3) being at least partially separable from the inner portion (31 ), while the latter is held integral with the stiffening member (4) to define a repositionable lid.

Description

CONTAINER WITH REPOSITIONABLE CLOSURE DEVICE

Field of the invention The present invention finds application in the field of packaging and particularly relates to a container with a repositionable closure device.

Background art Container closure devices are known in the art, which are highly practical and have a low cost.

One example of these prior art systems consists in the use of a heat-sealed film, which has the drawback of non being easily reusable.

Another exemplary closure system of the prior art, which tends to obviate the above mentioned drawback consists in the use of a heat-sealed film, with a traditional lid lying thereon. This system has the drawback of reducing or even obscuring the visibility of the product, and also requires a larger amount of raw material to form the lid, as compared with the simple heat- sealed film system.

CH665401 discloses a container having a lid with a central stiffening member associated with a closure film whose outer peripheral portion is designed to be coupled to the edge of the container.

The stiffening member has a smaller diameter than the mouth of the container, and can be thus pressed toward the interior of the latter, thereby causing the film to break and opening the container.

While this arrangement allows the container to be reclosed after use, it still does not allow the lid to be repositioned in its starting position and hence would not ensure perfect tightness of the container.

Disclosure of the invention The object of the present invention is to obviate the above mentioned drawbacks by providing a container with a practical, low-cost repositionable closure device, affording simple, cost-effective closure of the container.

Another object is to provide a container having a closure device that can be repositioned after opening, to constantly ensure perfect closure of the container.

A further object is to provide a container having a closure device that can avoid the use of additional closure elements, using a very small amount of material.

Yet another object is to provide a container having a repositionable closure device that provides unaffected visibility as compared with a heat-sealed film.

A further object is to provide a container having a repositionable closure device that provides evidence of any tamper.

These and other objects, as better explained hereinafter, are fulfilled by a container with a repositionable closure device as defined in claim 1 , wherein the container comprises a lateral wall having an upper edge and wherein the closure device has a stiffening member and a sheet-like cover member stably coupled to the stiffening member, the sheet-like cover member having an outer peripheral portion designed to be coupled to said upper edge of the container and an inner portion coupled to the stiffening member.

The container is characterized in that the stiffening member at least partially overlies the edge of the container, the outer peripheral portion of the sheetlike cover member being at least partially separable from the inner portion, while the inner portion is held integral with the stiffening member to define a repositionable lid.

Brief description of the figures

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent upon reading of the description of a few embodiments of the invention, which are described by way of example and without limitation with the help of the annexed drawings, in which :

FIG. 1 a is an exploded axonometric view of a first embodiment of the closure device of the invention ;

FIG. 1 b is an assembled axonometric view of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 2a is a partially broken-away axonometric view as taken along the plane lb— lb of FIG. 1 b;

FIG. 2b is a partially broken-away axonometric view of the device of FIG. 2a;

FIG. 3a is a sectional view of a detail of the previous figures in an operating step;

FIG. 3b is a perspective view of the device of the previous figures in an operating step;

FIG. 3c is a partially broken-away axonometric view of the device of the previous figures in a second operating step;

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional axonometric view of the device of the previous figures in a third operating step;

FIG. 5 is a partially sectional axonometric view of the device of the previous figures in a fourth operating step;

FIG. 6 is an exploded axonometric view of a second embodiment of the invention ;

FIG. 6b is a partially broken-away axonometric view of the device of FIG. 6a in a reclosed state; FIG. 7a is a partially broken-away axonometric view of the device of

FIG. 6;

FIG. 7b is a partially broken-away and enlarged axonometric view of the device of FIG. 7a;

FIG. 8a is a sectional view of a detail of the previous figures in a first operating step;

FIG. 8b is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 8a in a second operating step;

FIG. 8c is an axonometric view of the device of FIG. 6 in a third operating step;

FIG. 9 is an axonometric view of the closure device of FIG. 6 in a fourth operating step;

FIG. 1 0 is an axonometric view of the closure device of FIG. 6 in a fifth operating step.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

Referring to the annexed figures, a container 2 is shown which has a repositionable closure device 1 or lid, wherein the container has a lateral wall L with an outwardly projecting upper edge B.

Particularly, the illustrated container 2 is a tray-type container, having a lateral wall L with an upper opening from whose periphery the upper edge B extends with a predetermined cross-sectional shape, e.g. substantially a V shape.

Nevertheless, the container 2 may also have a shape other than a tray shape. For instance, it may be simply formed by a pair of polymer and/or metal sheets, which are coupled together at their edges to contain relatively thin items.

The closure device 1 in turn comprises a substantially sheet-like cover member 3 which is coupled to a stiffening member 4.

The sheet-like member 3 has an outer peripheral portion 3" which is designed to be coupled with the upper edge B of the container 2 and an inner portion 3' which is coupled to the stiffening member 4.

According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, the stiffening member 4 at least partially overlies the upper edge B of the container 2. Furthermore, the outer peripheral portion 3" of the sheet-like cover member 3 is at least partially separable from the inner portion 3', while the latter is held integral with the stiffening element 4.

Thus, after separation of the peripheral portion 3" from the inner portion 3', the stiffening member 4 coupled to the inner portion 3' of the sheet-like cover member 3 may be repositioned on the upper edge B of the container 2 to allow accurate closure thereof and thus define a reclosable lid.

Conveniently, the stiffening member 4 has a cross section mating with the edge B of the container 2.

Particularly, in a preferred configuration, the stiffening member 4 has a peripheral fixing edge 24 with a connecting portion 22 whose shape substantially mates with the upper edge B of the container 2.

As shown in Fig. 1 a, the stiffening member 4 may have a substantially annular shape, with the inner portion 3' of the sheet-like cover member 3 having such a size as to occlude the inner part of the stiffening member 4. Particularly, the inner portion 3' of the closure member 3 is substantially planar, with a peripheral margin integral with the fixing edge 24 of the stiffening member 4. Nevertheless, in an alternative configuration, not shown, the stiffening member 4 may be solid, e.g. have a substantially disk or plate shape. Here, the inner portion 3' of the closure member 3 need not cover the whole stiffening member 4, and may simply have an annular shape.

In any case, the stiffening member 4 is preferably located within the plane defined by the sheet-like cover member 3, to prevent contact thereof with the contents of the container 2. FIG. 1 b shows the closure device 1 placed on the container C while engaging with the peripheral recess of the edge B of the container 2, for stable closure thereof.

FIGS. 2a and 2b show the closure device 1 with the stiffening member 4 engaged in the peripheral edge B of the container 2 and with the cover member 3 placed both over the stiffening member 4 and the peripheral edge B of the container 1 .

The edge B of the container, having a substantially V-shaped cross section, has an inner abutment 5, a recess 6 with an interference edge 7 engaging with a mating interference element 23 of the stiffening member 4, an outer abutment 8 and a fixing surface 9 for fixation of the outer peripheral portion 3" of the cover member 3. In the above described embodiment, the fixing surface 9 seamlessly extends along the entire outer peripheral extension of the edge B, for the closure device 1 to be substantially hermetic.

The stiffening member 4 has an inner fixing edge 21 , a recess 33 with an interference element 23 mating with the interference element 7, an outer fixing edge 24. The cover member 3 is fixed both on the inner fixing edge 21 and on the outer fixing edge 24. The inner fixing edge 21 lies on the inner abutment 5, the recess 6 is adapted to engage with the recess 22 of the stiffening member 4 by an interlocking fit between the interference 7 of the container 1 and the interference 23 of the stiffening member 4, the outer fixing edge 23 lies on the outer abutment 8.

The closure device 1 is obtained by first engaging the stiffening member 4 with the edge B of the container 2, using the interference members 7 and 21 , and then applying the cover member 3 by heat sealing, ultrasonic bonding, adhesives or any other known sealing method, simultaneously on the fixing surface 9, the outer fixing edge 24 and the inner fixing edge 21 .

Cuts are formed in the cover member 3 to make it partially discontinuous at the recess 22, i.e. between the two fixing edges 21 and 24 of the stiffening member 4, to facilitate opening, as better explained below.

Both the outer fixing edge 24 and the inner fixing edge 21 are coplanar with the fixing surface 9 of the container, to facilitate closing, by simple application and cut of the cover member 3.

Referring to FIG. 3a, at an area of the edge B and the stiffening member 4, i.e. in this particular embodiment at a corner thereof, the fixing edge 23 of the stiffening member 4 is in the form of a tab, whose purpose will be better explained below.

The user of the product as shown in FIG. 3b first removes the connection between the edge B of the container 2 and the stiffening member 4 created by the cover member 3, by removing the peripheral portion 3" of the cover member 3 which, as mentioned above, is joined by heat sealing, adhesives or any other known sealing methods, at the fixing surface 9 of the edge B and the outer fixing edge 24 of the stiffening member 4. This portion 3" is used to hermetically seal the container 2. As anticipated above, before removal, the above mentioned peripheral portion 3" is partially joined to the further inner portion 3' of the cover member 3 by connection elements 25 obtained by partially cutting the cover member 3 at the recess 22 of the stiffening member 4.

These connection elements 25 are provided both to facilitate opening, by allowing the peripheral portion to break away in a guided manner from the central portion of the cover member 3, and to provide better evidence of any tamper of the closure system, due to breaking of the connection elements 25 between the peripheral portion 3" and the central or inner portion 3' of the cover member 3.

At the end of this step, the stiffening member 4 will cooperate with the central part 3' of the cover member 3 and so define a structure that acts as a repositionable lid.

As shown in FIG. 3c, the opening process is completed by pressing the fixing edge 9 of the container 2 downward, at the abutment 26. During this step, the tab 24 is separated from the abutment 26, thereby allowing easy disengagement and removal of the lid 1 , and opening of the container 2. This step is carried out with the user having no contact with the product in the container 2. Referring to FIG. 4, during opening the package is divided into three elements: the peripheral portion 3" of the cover member 3, the container 2 and a structure that acts as a repositionable lid, which is composed of the central portion 3' of the cover member 3 and the stiffening member 4. Referring to FIG. 5, lid removal is a reversible step, which may be restored by the interlocking fit of the two interferences 7 and 23. Therefore, the lid can be repositioned for more effective preservation of the contents, after removal of the peripheral portion 3" of the cover member 3, i.e. after opening of the container 2.

Referring to FIGS. 6a and 6b a second embodiment of the invention is shown, in which the closure device 1 comprises a substantially seamless cover element 3 which extends over a stiffening member 4.

Referring to FIGS. 7a and 7b, the closure device 1 is applied to a container 2 with the edge B of the latter adapted to engage with the stiffening member 4, and the cover member 3 is applied both on the edge B and on the stiffening member 4.

The edge B of the container 1 has an abutment 31 on the inner wall of the container 1 , an inner abutment 32, a recess 33, which has an interference element 34 engaging with a mating interference element 39 of the stiffening member 4, and a fixing surface 36 for the cover member 3 to be fixed thereon.

In the above described embodiment, the fixing surface 36 seamlessly extends along the entire outer periphery of the edge B, for the closure device to be substantially hermetic.

The stiffening member 4 has an edge 37, a fixing edge 38, a side 40 which has an interference element 39 mating with the interference element 34. The cover member 3 is fixed to the fixing edge 38.

The edge 37 lies on the abutment 31 , the fixing edge 38 lies on the inner abutment 32, the side 40 is adapted to engage with the recess 33 of the mating closure member 4, by an interlocking fit between the interference 34 of the container 2 and the interference 39 of the stiffening member 4.

The closure device 1 is obtained by first engaging the stiffening member 4 with the edge B of the container 2, using the interference members 34 and 39, and then applying the cover member 3 by heat sealing, ultrasonic bonding, adhesives or any other known sealing method, simultaneously on the fixing surface 36 and the fixing edge 34. The cover member 3 is caused to be partially discontinuous by cutting at the recess 33, i.e. between the two fixing edges 36 and 38 of the container and the stiffening member 4 respectively, during opening, as better explained below.

The fixing edge 38 is coplanar with the fixing surface 36 of the container, to facilitate closing, by simple application and cut of the cover member 3.

Referring to FIG. 8a, at an area of the edge B and the stiffening member 4, i.e. in this particular embodiment at a corner thereof, the fixing edge 38 of the stiffening member 4 is in the form of a tab, whose purpose will be explained below.

The user of the product as shown in FIG. 8b first removes the connection between the edge B of the container 2 and the stiffening member 4 created by the cover member 3, by cutting at the recess 33 of the cover member 3 which, as mentioned above, is joined by heat sealing, adhesives or any other known sealing methods, at the fixing surface 36 of the edge B and the fixing edge 38 of the stiffening member 4.

Prior to cutting, the cover member 3 had the purpose of hermetically sealing the container 2.

The recess 33 of the edge B has been formed for easier and oriented cutting of the cover member 3, thereby providing evidence of any tamper of the closure system.

At the end of this step, the stiffening member 4 will cooperate with the central part 3' of the cover member 3 and thus form a structure that acts as a repositionable lid.

As shown in FIG. 8c, the opening step is completed by pressing the fixing edge 36 of the container 2 downward, using its flexibility, and during this step a gap is formed below the tab 38 for easier disengagement and removal of the lid, and hence opening of the container.

This step is carried out with neither the user nor the tool for cutting the cover member 3 contacting the product in the container 2.

Referring to FIG. 9, during opening the package is divided into two elements: the peripheral portion of the cover member 3, which is joined to the container 2 and a structure that acts as a repositionable lid, which is composed of the central portion 3' of the cover member 3 and the stiffening member 4.

Referring to FIG. 1 0, lid removal is a reversible step, which may be restored by the interlocking fit of the two interferences 34 and 39. Thus, the lid can be repositioned for more effective preservation of the contents, after removal of the peripheral portion 3" of the cover member 3, i.e. after opening of the container 2.

The above disclosure clearly shows that the objects of the invention have been completely fulfilled, and particularly a practical, low-cost closure system is provided, which allows closure to occur by a single element interposed between the product in the container and the user, which improves visibility of the product. Furthermore, the lid can be repositioned and provides evidence of any tamper of the closure. The closure device of the invention is susceptible to a number of changes and variants, within the inventive concept disclosed in the appended claims.

All the details thereof may be replaced by other technically equivalent parts, and the materials may vary depending on different needs, without departure from the scope of the invention.

While the closure device has been described with particular reference to the accompanying figures, the numerals referred to in the disclosure and claims are only used for the sake of a better intelligibility of the invention and shall not be intended to limit the claimed scope in any manner.

Claims

1 . A container (2) with a repositionable closure device (1 ), wherein the container (2) comprises a lateral wall (L) having an upper edge (B) and wherein the closure device (1 ) has a stiffening member (4) which is stably coupled to a sheet-like cover member (3), said sheet-like cover member (3) having an outer peripheral portion (3") designed to be coupled to said upper edge (B) of the container (2) and an inner portion (3') coupled to said stiffening member (4), characterized in that said stiffening member (4) at least partially overlies said edge (B) of the container (2), said outer peripheral portion (3") of said sheet-like cover member (3) being at least partially separable from said inner portion (3'), while said inner portion (3') is held integral with said stiffening member (4) to define a repositionable lid.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said stiffening member (4) has a peripheral edge (4') with a connecting portion (22) substantially complementary shaped with respect to said upper edge (B) of said container (2).

3. A container as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that said lateral wall (L) is substantially shaped as a tray, with an upper edge (B) having a peripheral seat substantially complementary shaped with respect to said connecting portion (22) of said stiffening member (4), for receiving it.

4. A container as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that said connecting portion (22) of said stiffening member (4) has a substantially annular shape and has one or more interference elements (7, 23) adapted for snap engagement with corresponding substantially complementary shaped interference elements associated with the edge (B) of the container (2).

5. A container as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that said interference elements (7, 23) consist of one or more projections or recesses arranged along the edges of said stiffening member (4) and said lateral wall (L).

6. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, characterized in that said peripheral portion (3') and said inner portion (3") of said sheet-like cover element (3) are substantially coplanar and at least partially joined by separable connection means (25).

7. A container as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that said peripheral portion (3') and said inner portion (3") of said sheet-like cover element (3) are at least partially separated by a discontinuous recess or groove, said separable connection means (25) consisting of substantially radial breakable connection elements which are adapted to connect said inner portion (3") and said peripheral portion (3') along said groove.

8. A container as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that said connection elements (25) are large enough to provide evidence of any tamper of the closure.

9. A container as claimed in any claim from 1 to 6, characterized in that said sheet-like cover member (3) is substantially seamless, said peripheral portion (3') and said inner portion (3") being at least partially mutually separable by cutting at one or more of said recesses (7, 23) of said stiffening member (4).

10. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, characterized in that said stiffening member (3) has a substantially annular shape, said inner portion (3") of said sheet-like cover member (3) having such a size as to occlude the inner part (4") of said stiffening member (4).

1 1 . A container as claimed in any preceding claim, characterized in that at least said inner portion (3") of said sheet-like cover element (3) is formed using a optically transparent material, to provide visibility of the product in the container (1 ).

12. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, characterized in that said stiffening member (4) has an inner peripheral surface (21 ) which is designed to be stably joined to said inner portion (3") of said cover member (3).

13. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, characterized in that said stiffening member (4) has an outer peripheral surface (24) which is designed to be stably joined to the edge (B) of the container by a coupling method selected from the group comprising heat sealing, ultrasonic bonding, adhesives or the like.

14. A container as claimed in any claim from 2 to 13, characterized in that said connecting portion (22) of said stiffening member (4) has a substantially V-shaped cross section.

15. A container as claimed in any claim from 2 to 13, characterized in that said connecting portion (22) of said stiffening member (4) has a substantially L-shaped cross section.