US3119509A

US3119509A - Container closure

Info

Publication number: US3119509A
Application number: US149290A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank R Livesay; John W Ricks
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1961-11-01
Filing date: 1961-11-01
Publication date: 1964-01-28
Anticipated expiration: 1981-01-28

Description

Jan 28, 1964 F. R. LlvEsAY ETAL 3,119,509

CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Nov. 1, 1961 20 20 zob Frank l?. Livesay Jolm W Ric/rs 1 N VEN TOR!)` BY amaoz anu/Wawy 5MM United States Patent O 3,119,509 CONTAINER CLOSURE Frank R. Livesay, 1025 Hammond St., Apt. 1, Rocky Mount, N.C., and John W. Ricks, 7 Stratford Road, Edenton, N.C.

Filed Nov. 1, 1961, Ser. No. 149,290 11 Claims. (Cl. 220-24) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in container closures, and in particular the invention concerns itself with closures for can type containers in which liquid, powderous, or granular materials are packed, such as for example, cans of fruit juices, milk, beer, soft drinks, ground coffee, and the like.

The principal object of the invention is to facilitate quick and easy opening of such cans and emptying of the contents thereof without the necessity of employing conventional can openers for either puncturing or severing the top of the can.

This object is attained by forming the can, preferably the top wall of the can, with an outlet opening and providing a novel closure for such opening, the closure being firmly held in place to prevent atmospheric oxydization and leakage of the contents, but being readily removable from the opening by finger action alone to facilitate emptying or dispensing of the contents of the can.

An important feature of the invention therefore resides in the novel can closure, while some of its advantages lie in its simplicity of construction, efiicient and dependable use, and in its adaptability to economical manufacture and embodiment in cans of various sizes and types.

With the foregoing more important object and features in View and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a can equipped with a closure in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a group perspective view showing the two plate-like members of the closure prior to assembly;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the two closure members applied to the can but prior to heatsealing;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional View of the two closure members assembled to the can by heat-sealing, this view being taken substatnially in the plane of the line 4-4 in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is a top plan View of a can with a closure of a modified configuration.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, more particularly to FIGURES 1-4, the reference numeral designates a can-type container having a top wall 12 which, in accordance with the invention, is provided with an opening 14. The latter is preferably although not necessarily triangular in shape to facilitate pouring of contents from the can after a closure designated generally by the numeral 16 is removed.

The closure 16 consists of two plate-

like members

18, 20 which are made of deformable, thermoplastic material. If the opening 14 is triangular, the members 1S, 20 are also triangular and somewhat larger than the opening, so that when the member 18 is applied exteriorly to the can wall 12 and the member 20 interiorly to the can wall, the two members cover the opening 14 and marginal edge portions 13a, 20a of the members overlap the can wall, as shown.

The center portion of the member 18 is provided with a pair of spaced, substantially semi-circular or crescent shaped finger tip receiving recesses 22 so that a region ice 24 of the member between the recesses constitutes a barlike linger grip.

The closure is assembled to the can by applying the

members

18, 20 respectively eXteriorly and interiorly to the can wall 12 so that they cover the opening 14, as shown in FIGURE 3. Thereupon, the marginal edge portions 18a, 20a of the two members are heat-sealed to the can wall, during which action the center portions 1817, 20b of the two members are brought into an adhering contact with each other at the edge of the opening 14 as shown in FIGURE 4, whereby to hold the two

members

18, 20 together as well as to the can. HOW- ever, the finger grip bar 24 of the member 18 is not sealed to the member 20, and when the closure is to be removed, a pulling force is exerted with the fingers to pull the grip bar 24 outwardly. This force is transmitted to the member 20 and causes the marginal edge portion 20a thereof to be deformed suiciently to pass through the opening 14 to the outside of the can, whereby expeditious removal of the closure from the can is effected and the use of conventional openers to open the can is not necessary.

As an alternative to the above described method of closure removal by a pulling force on the bar 24 to remove the closure outwardly from the can, the closure may be pressed inwardly into the can by linger pressure applied to the center portion 13b of the member 18, thus causing its marginal edge portion 18a to be deformed suiiiciently to pass inwardly through the can opening 14. In such event, the provision of the finger grip bar 24 by formation of the recesses 22 is unnecessary.

FIGURE 5 illustrates a modified form of the can closure 26 which is the same as the closure 16 with eX- ception that it is circular rather than triangular in shape, so as to iit a circular rather than a triangular can opening.

While in the foregoing there have been described and shown the preferred embodiments of the invention, various other modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure and various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

l. The combination of a container having a wall provided with an opening, and a closure for said opening, said closure comprising two plate-like members of deformable thermoplastic material disposed respectively at the inside and outside of said wall and covering said opening, marginal edge portions of said members being sealed to said wall with center portions of the members contacting each other in said opening and adhering to each other at the edge of the opening, the marginal edge portion of either member being sufficiently deformable so as to pass through said opening upon application of force to the closure for breaking the seal thereof from said wall.

2. The device as defined in claim l together With finger grip means provided on and in substantially the same plane as the outside plate-like member.

3. The device as defined in claim 2 wherein said finger grip means are provided on the center portion of said outside plate-like member.

4. The device as defined in claim 3 wherein said center portion of said outside plate-like member is provided with spaced recesses, a region of said last mentioned center portion between said recesses constituting the finger grip means for applying force to said closure.

5. The combination of a container having a wall provided with an opening, and a closure for said opening, said closure comprising inner and outer flat plate-like members of deformable material disposed respectively at the inside and outside of said wall and covering said opening, said inner and outer members extending peripherally beyond said opening an equal distance, said distance being sufficient so as to eliectiveiy seal said opening While at the same time allowing either of said members to pass entirely through said opening upon the deformation of said member.

6. The device as defined in claim 5 wherein said members are peripherally sealed to said wall throughout the entire overlapped portions thereof and to each other along that portion directly adjacent the wall surrounding the opening.

7. The device as dened in claim 6 wherein the central portion of the outer hat plate-like member is provided with spaced recesses, the region of said member between said recesses constituting a ngergrip for removal of the entire enclosure.

8. The combination of a container having a wall provided with an opening, and a closure for said opening, said closure having inner and outer plate-like portions of deformable thermoplastic material disposed respectively at the inside and outside of said wall and covering said opening, said portions being of substantially the same shape as and slightly larger than the hole, said closure being removable as a unit in its entirety either inwardly or outwardly of the wall by a deformation of the opposed plate-like portion, and readily frangible means securing said plate-like portions throughout the perimeter thereof to the inside and outside of the wall surrounding said opening.

9. The device of claim 8 including a handle means Centrally located on the outer plate-like portion,

10. The device of ciairn 9 wherein said handle means is in the same plane as said outer plate-like portion.

1l. The combination of a container having a wall provided with an opening, and a closure for said opening, said closure comprising inner and outer flat plate-like portions of deformable material disposed respectively at the inside and outside of said wall and covering said opening, said portions both extending peripherally beyond said opening a distance sufcient so as to effectively seal said opening while at the same time allowing at least one of said portions to pass entirely through said opening upon the deformation of said one of said portions, said portions being fixedly interconnected through said opening and simultaneously removable as a unit, and a handle means on and in the same plane as the outer fiat plate-like portion.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,147,G04 'Wark et al. Feb. 14, 1939 2,301,724 Viecher Nov. l0, 1942 2,841,307 Yoder n July l, 1958 2,870,935 Houghtelling Jan. 27, 1959

Claims

1. THE COMBINATION OF A CONTAINER HAVING A WALL PROVIDED WITH AN OPENING, AND A CLOSURE FOR SAID OPENING, SAID CLOSURE COMPRISING TWO PLATE-LIKE MEMBERS OF DEFORMABLE THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL DISPOSED RESPECTIVELY AT THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF SAID WALL AND COVERING SAID OPENING, MARGINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID MEMBERS BEING SEALED TO SAID WALL WITH CENTER PORTIONS OF THE MEMBERS CONTACTING EACH OTHER IN SAID OPENING AND ADHERING TO EACH OTHER AT THE EDGE OF THE OPENING, THE MARGINAL EDGE PORTION OF EITHER MEMBER BEING SUFFICIENTLY DEFORMABLE SO AS TO PASS THROUGH SAID OPENING UPON APPLICATION OF FORCE TO THE CLOSURE FOR BREAKING THE SEAL THEREOF FROM SAID WALL.