Sealable food container with improved lidding and stacking features
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
등록
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
B65D-021/02
B65D-041/16
B65D-041/02
출원번호
US-0068924
(2002-02-08)
등록번호
US-7258905
(2007-08-21)
발명자
/ 주소
Whitmore,Rebecca E.
Littlejohn,Mark B.
Neer,Margaret P.
Bowers,Debra D.
Dees,Jerome G.
Van Handel,Gerald J.
출원인 / 주소
Dixie Consumer Products LLC
대리인 / 주소
Georgia Pacific LLC
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
10인용 특허 :
27
초록▼
A sealable food container includes a base serving member such as a plate having a generally planar central portion, a sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly therefrom and a base outer flange portion extending outwardly from the sidewall. The sidewall defines a sealing area with an under
A sealable food container includes a base serving member such as a plate having a generally planar central portion, a sidewall extending generally upwardly and outwardly therefrom and a base outer flange portion extending outwardly from the sidewall. The sidewall defines a sealing area with an undercut annular sealing surface disposed between the substantially planar central portion of the base serving member and the base outer flange portion. The sidewall portion of the plate defines a base stop ridge adjacent the upper edge of the undercut annular sealing surface of the sidewall as well as a laterally extending retaining shelf adjacent the lower edge of the undercut annular sealing surface of the base serving member. A matching sealing lid is typically provided with a dome, a flexible sidewall and an annular sealing portion configured to cooperate with the base stop ridge and the sealing surface of the serving member sidewall of the base serves to position the sidewall engaging cover during sealing of the container. In a preferred embodiment, the sidewall of the lid has upwardly projecting flutes and the base has an outer recess at the lower portion of its sidewall configured to engage the upwardly projecting flutes to render the containers securely stackable.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. A sealable food container comprising: (a) a base serving member having a substantially planar base central portion, a base sidewall extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom and a base outer flange portion extending outwardly from said base sidewall; said base sidewall compr
What is claimed is: 1. A sealable food container comprising: (a) a base serving member having a substantially planar base central portion, a base sidewall extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom and a base outer flange portion extending outwardly from said base sidewall; said base sidewall comprising a sealing recess disposed between said substantially planar base central portion of said base serving member and said base outer flange portion, the recess comprising (i) an inwardly projecting base stop ridge (ii) an upper extremity; (iii) a lower extremity; and (iv) between the base stop ridge and the lower extremity of the recess, an inwardly facing annular sealing surface at an outer wall of the sealing recess; wherein the base stop ridge is adjacent the upper extremity of the recess; (b) a laterally extending, internal retaining shelf located at the lower extremity of the sealing recess; (c) a sealing lid provided with a dome portion and a flexible lid sidewall extending downwardly from said dome portion as well as a lid flange portion extending outwardly with respect to said downwardly extending lid sidewall; said lid flange portion including at its inner periphery a lid sealing portion with (i) an outwardly facing annular lid sealing surface extending upwardly with respect to said downwardly extending lid sidewall of said sealing lid and (ii) said lid sealing portion further defining a lid stop ridge; wherein said base serving member and said sealing lid are configured such that when said sealing lid is forced downwardly on said base serving member said sealing lid is secured to said base serving member by cooperation of said base stop ridge of said base serving member and said lid stop ridge of said sealing lid; wherein said laterally extending retaining shelf of said base serving member extends outwardly over a base sidewall shelf width of at least about 0.5% of the characteristic diameter of said base serving member. 2. The food container according to claim 1, wherein said laterally extending retaining shelf of said base serving member extends outwardly over a base sidewall shelf length of at least about 1% of the characteristic diameter of said base serving member. 3. The food container according to claim 2, wherein said laterally extending retaining shelf of said base serving member extends outwardly over a base sidewall shelf length of at least about 1.5% of the characteristic diameter of said base serving member. 4. The food container according to claim 1, wherein said sealing lid is provided with a laterally extending lid shelf extending between the flexible sidewall of the sealing lid and the annular lid sealing surface of the lid, said lid shelf extending outwardly over a lid shelf radial span and thereby being configured to cooperate with the retaining shelf of the base serving member to position the sealing lid with respect thereto. 5. The food container according to claim 2, wherein said sealing lid is provided with a laterally extending lid shelf extending between the flexible sidewall of the sealing lid and the annular lid sealing surface of the lid, said lid shelf extending outwardly over a lid shelf radial span and thereby being configured to cooperate with the retaining shelf of the base serving member to position the sealing lid with respect thereto. 6. The food container according to claim 3, wherein said sealing lid is provided with a laterally extending lid shelf extending between the flexible sidewall of the sealing lid and the annular lid sealing surface of the lid, said lid shelf extending outwardly over a lid shelf radial span and thereby being configured to cooperate with the retaining shelf of the base serving member to position the sealing lid with respect thereto. 7. The food container according to claim 4, wherein the length of the lid shelf radial span is at least about 25% of the base sidewall shelf length. 8. The food container according to claim 7, wherein the length of the lid shelf radial span is at least about 50% of the base sidewall shelf length. 9. The food container according to claim 8, wherein the length of the lid shelf radial span is at least about 75% of the base sidewall shelf length. 10. The food container according to claim 1, wherein said inwardly facing annular sealing surface of said base serving member is a frustal sealing surface extending upwardly and outwardly with respect to said substantially planar base central portion of said base serving member and said annular lid sealing surface of said lid is a frustal sealing surface extending upwardly and outwardly with respect to said downwardly extending lid sidewall of said sealing lid. 11. The food container according to claim 10, wherein said lid stop ridge is located adjacent the upper edge of said annular lid sealing surface of said sealing lid and wherein said sealing lid is dimensioned so as to outwardly flexibly urge said frustal sealing surface of said lid into surface-to-surface contact with said frustal sealing surface of said base serving member when said base serving member and said sealing lid are secured to one another. 12. The food container according to claim 1, wherein said base outer flange of said base serving member is an arcuate outer flange. 13. The food container according to claim 12, wherein said lid flange portion of said sealing lid is provided with an outer arcuate flange portion generally configured to overlay the arcuate outer flange of the base serving member. 14. The food container according to claim 1, wherein said flexible lid sidewall of said sealing lid is a fluted sidewall. 15. The food container according to claim 14, wherein said dome portion of said sealing lid has a substantially planar dome upper surface portion and a downwardly extending lid sidewall provided with a plurality of outwardly convex flutes formed in said lid sidewall, said flutes having a characteristic cylindrical diameter, wherein said lid includes about 3 or fewer flutes per inch of engagement perimeter. 16. The food container according to claim 15, wherein said outwardly convex flutes are circumferentially spaced apart from one another. 17. The food container according to claim 16, wherein said outwardly convex flutes are spaced apart a circumferential distance of from about 0.05 inches to about 0.25 inches about the periphery of said sealing lid. 18. The sealable food container according to claim 15, wherein said convex flutes of said lid project upwardly with respect to the substantially planar dome upper surface portion of said dome and define a retaining ridge upper profile which is inwardly convex toward the center of the dome and wherein said base sidewall is provided with a mating arcuate annular sidewall recess at a lower portion of said base sidewall configured and dimensioned to engage said inwardly convex retaining ridge profile of said sealing lid in order to render a plurality of said sealable food containers securely stackable with one another. 19. The sealable food container according to claim 18, wherein said generally upwardly convex retaining ridge profile comprises a plurality of spaced arcuate flute profiles extending inwardly from the flexible sidewall of the sealing lid. 20. The food container according to claim 15, wherein said sealing lid includes from about 1.5 to about 2.5 flutes per inch of engagement perimeter. 21. The food container according to claim 20, wherein said sealing lid includes from about 2 to about 2.5 flutes per inch of engagement perimeter. 22. The food container according to claim 15, wherein said flutes have a characteristic cylindrical diameter of from about 0.2 inches toabout 0.80 inches. 23. The food container according to claim 15, wherein the characteristic cylindrical diameter of said flutes is at least about 0.75% of the length of engagement perimeter. 24. The food container according to claim 22, wherein the characteristic cylindrical diameter of said flutes is from about 1% to about 2.5% of the length of engagement perimeter. 25. The food container according to claim 15, wherein an upper inward extension length of said flutes adjacent the generally planar upper surface portion of said dome is at least about 0.2 inches. 26. The food container according to claim 25, wherein the upper inward extension length of said flutes adjacent the generally planar upper surface portion of said dome is at least about 0.3 inches. 27. The food container according to claim 18, wherein the upper inward extension length of said flutes above the generally planar upper surface portion of the dome is from about 1% to about 3% of the length of the engagement perimeter. 28. The food container according to claim 18, wherein said flutes have a flute height above the generally planar dome upper surface portion of greater than about 0.07 inches. 29. The food container according to claim 28, wherein said flutes have a flute height above the generally planar dome upper surface portion of from about 0.07 to about 0.15 inches. 30. The food container according to claim 18, wherein said dome portion of said sealing lid is provided with a plurality of generally flat portions between said convex flutes having a span of from about 0.05 to about 0.2 inches. 31. The food container according to claim 30, wherein said flat portions have a height above the generally planar upper surface portion of the dome of from about 0.01 inches to about 0.1 inches. 32. The food container according to claim 14, wherein said sealing lid is provided with a laterally extending lid shelf extending between the flexible sidewall of the sealing lid and the annular lid sealing surface of the lid, said lid shelf extending outwardly over a radial span and being adapted to cooperate with the retaining shelf of the base serving member to position the sealing lid with respect thereto. 33. The food container according to claim 18, wherein said sealing lid is provided with a laterally extending lid shelf extending between the flexible sidewall of the sealing lid and the annular lid sealing surface of the lid, said lid shelf extending outwardly over a radial span and being adapted to cooperate with the retaining shelf of the base serving member to position the sealing lid with respect thereto. 34. The food container according to claim 33, wherein the laterally extending retaining shelf of the base serving member extends outwardly over a base sidewall shelf length of at least about 25 percent of the characteristic diameters of the convex flutes of the sealing lid. 35. The food container according to claim 1, wherein said base serving member is formed from sheet thermoplastic material. 36. The food container according to claim 35, wherein said base serving member is thermoformed, thermoformed by the application of vacuum or thermoformed by a combination of vacuum and pressure. 37. The food container of claim 36, wherein said base server member is made from a foamed or solid polymeric material selected from the group consisting of: polyesters, polystyrenes, polypropylenes, polyethylenes, copolymers and mixtures thereof. 38. The food container according to claim 37, wherein said base serving member is thermoformed from mineral-filled polypropylene sheet. 39. The food container according to claim 38, wherein said base serving member has a wall thickness from about 10 to about 80 mils and consists essentially of from about 40 to about 90 percent by weight of a polypropylene polymer, from about 10 to about 60 percent by weight of a mineral filler, from about 1 to about 15 percent by weight polyethylene, up to about 5 weight percent titanium dioxide and optionally including a basic organic or inorganic compound comprising the reaction product of an alkali metal or alkaline earth element with carbonates, phosphates, carboxylic acids as well as alkali metal and alkaline earth element oxides, hydroxides, or silicates and basic metal oxides, including mixtures of silicon dioxide with one or more of the following oxides: magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, barium oxide, and mixtures thereof. 40. The food container according to claim 35, wherein said base serving member has a wall caliper of from about 10 to about 50 mils. 41. The food container according to claim 40, wherein said base serving member has a wall caliper of from about 12 to about 25 mils. 42. The food container according to claim 1, wherein said sealing lid is formed from sheet of thermoplastic material. 43. The food container according to claim 42, wherein said sealing lid is thermoformed, thermoformed by the application of vacuum or thermoformed by a combination of vacuum and pressure. 44. The food container according to claim 43, wherein said sealing lid is formed of a styrene polymer composition. 45. The food container according to claim 44, wherein said styrene polymer composition comprises a styrene-butadiene copolymer. 46. The food container according to claim 44, wherein said sealing lid is formed of oriented polystyrene. 47. The food container according to claim 43, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 2 to about 15 mils. 48. The food container according to claim 44, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 2 to about 15 mils. 49. The food container according to claim 48, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 5 to about 13 mils. 50. The food container according to claim 46, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 2 to about 15 mils. 51. The food container according to claim 50, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 5 to about 13 mils. 52. A sealable food container comprising: (a) a base serving member having a substantially planar base central portion, a base sidewall extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom and a base outer flange portion extending outwardly from said base sidewall; said base sidewall comprising a sealing recess disposed between said substantially planar base central portion of said base serving member and said base outer flange portion, the recess comprising (i) an inwardly projecting base stop ridge (ii) an upper extremity; (iii) a lower extremity; and (iv) between the base stop ridge and the lower extremity of the recess, an inwardly facing annular sealing surface at an outer wall of the sealing recess; wherein the base stop ridge is adjacent the upper extremity of the recess; (b) a laterally extending, internal retaining shelf located at the lower extremity of the sealing recess; (c) an inwardly convex annular sidewall stacking recess at a lower portion of said base sidewall; (d) a sealing lid provided with a dome portion and a flexible lid sidewall extending downwardly from said dome portion as well as a lid flange portion extending outwardly with respect to said downwardly extending lid sidewall; said lid flange portion including at its inner periphery a lid sealing portion with (i) an outwardly facing annular lid sealing surface extending upwardly with respect to said downwardly extending lid sidewall of said sealing lid and (ii) said lid sealing portion further defining a lid stop ridge; said sealing lid also being provided with a plurality of outwardly convex flutes in said flexible lid sidewall projecting inwardly at their upper portions to define an upper retaining ridge profile which is substantially inwardly disposed toward the center of the dome with respect to said flexible-lid sidewall, the retaining ridge profile also being configured so that it is inwardly and upwardly convex; wherein said base serving member and said sealing lid are configured such that when said sealing lid is forced downwardly on said base serving member said sealing lid is secured to said base serving member by cooperation of said base stop ridge of said base serving member and said lid stop ridge of said sealing lid; wherein said laterally extending retaining shelf of said base serving member extends outwardly over a base sidewall shelf width of at least about 0.5% of the characteristic diameter of said base serving member and wherein further said inwardly convex annular sidewall stacking recess at the lower portion of the sidewall of said base serving member is configured to engage said inwardly and upwardly convex retaining ridge profile of said sealing lid to render a plurality of said sealable food containers securely stackable with one another. 53. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said base sealing portion comprises (i) a sealing recess, (ii) a base stop ridge adjacent an upper extremity of said sealing recess as well as (iii) a laterally extending base retaining shelf adjacent a lower extremity of said sealing recess. 54. The food container according to claim 53, wherein said sealing lid is provided with a laterally extending lid shelf extending between the flexible lid sidewall of the sealing lid and the annular sealing portion of the lid, said lid shelf extending outwardly over a lid shelf radial span and thereby being configured to cooperate with the base retaining shelf of the base serving member to position the sealing lid with respect thereto. 55. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said outer flange of said base serving member is an arcuate outer flange. 56. The food container according to claim 55, wherein said sealing lid is provided with an outer arcuate flange portion generally configured to overlay the arcuate outer flange of the base serving member. 57. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said lid includes about 3 or fewer flutes per inch of engagement perimeter. 58. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said inwardly and upwardly convex retaining ridge profile comprises a plurality of spaced arcuate flute profiles extending inwardly from the outer periphery of the container. 59. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said outwardly convex flutes are circumferentially spaced apart from one another. 60. The food container according to claim 59, wherein said outwardly convex flutes are spaced apart a distance of from about 0.05 to about 0.25" about the periphery of said sealing lid. 61. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said flutes have a flute height above the generally planar upper surface portion of said dome of greater than about 0.07 inches. 62. The food container according to claim 61, wherein said flutes have a flute height above the generally planar upper surface portion of said dome of from about 0.07 to about 0.15 inches. 63. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said dome portion of said sealing lid is provided with a plurality of generally flat portions between said convex flutes having a span of from 0.05 to about 0.2 inches. 64. The food container according to claim 63, wherein said flat portions have a height above the generally planar upper surface portion of the dome of from about 0.01 inches to about 0.1 inches. 65. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said base serving member is formed from sheet thermoplastic material. 66. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said base serving member is thermoformed, thermoformed by the application of vacuum or thermoformed by a combination of vacuum and pressure. 67. The food container of claim 66, wherein said base serving member is made from a foamed or solid polymeric material selected from the group consisting of: polyesters, polystyrenes, polypropylenes, polyethylenes, copolymers and mixtures thereof. 68. The food container according to claim 67, wherein said base serving member is thermoformed from mineral-filled polypropylene sheet. 69. The food container according to claim 68, wherein said base serving member has a wall thickness from about 10 to about 80 mils and consists essentially of from about 40 to about 90 percent by weight of a polypropylene polymer, from about 10 to about 60 percent by weight of a mineral filler, from about 1 to about 15 percent by weight polyethylene, up to about 5 weight percent titanium dioxide and optionally including a basic organic or inorganic compound comprising the reaction product of an alkali metal or alkaline earth element with carbonates, phosphates, carboxylic acids as well as alkali metal and alkaline earth element oxides, hydroxides, or silicates and basic metal oxides, including mixtures of silicon dioxide with one or more of the following oxides: magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, barium oxide, and mixtures thereof. 70. The food container according to claim 65, wherein said base serving member has a wall caliper of from about 10 to about 50 mils. 71. The food container according to claim 70, wherein said base serving member has a wall caliper of from about 12 to about 25 mils. 72. The food container according to claim 52, wherein said sealing lid is formed from a sheet of thermoplastic material. 73. The food container according to claim 72, wherein said sealing lid is thermoformed, thermoformed by the application of vacuum or thermoformed by a combination of vacuum and pressure. 74. The food container according to claim 73, wherein said sealing lid is formed of a styrene polymer composition. 75. The food container according to claim 74, wherein said styrene polymer composition comprises a styrene-butadiene copolymer. 76. The food container according to claim 74, wherein said sealing lid is formed of oriented polystyrene. 77. The food container according to claim 73, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 2 to about 15 mils. 78. The food container according to claim 74, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 2 to about 15 mils. 79. The food container according to claim 78, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 5 to about 13 mils. 80. The food container according to claim 76, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 2 to about 15 mils. 81. The food container according to claim 80, wherein said sealing lid has a wall caliper of from about 5 to about 13 mils. 82. A sealable food container comprising: (a) a base serving member having a substantially planar base central portion, a base sidewall extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom and a base outer flange portion extending outwardly from said base sidewall; said base sidewall comprising a sealing recess disposed between said substantially planar base central portion of said base serving member and said base outer flange portion, the recess comprising (i) an inwardly projecting base stop ridge (ii) an upper extremity; (iii) a lower extremity; and (iv) between the base stop ridge and the lower extremity of the recess, an inwardly facing annular sealing surface at an outer wall of the sealing recess; wherein the base stop ridge is adjacent the upper extremity of the recess; said base outer flange portion defining a continuous arc extending between the sealing recess in the sidewall to the outer edge of the container; (b) a laterally extending, internal retaining shelf located at the lower extremity of the sealing recess; (c) a sealing lid provided with a dome portion and a flexible lid sidewall extending downwardly from said dome portion as well as a lid flange portion extending outwardly with respect to said downwardly extending lid sidewall; said lid flange portion including at its inner periphery a lid sealing portion with (i) an outwardly facing annular lid sealing surface extending upwardly with respect to said downwardly extending lid sidewall of said sealing lid and (ii) said lid sealing portion further defining a lid stop ridge; wherein said base serving member and said sealing lid are configured such that when said sealing lid is forced downwardly on said base serving member said sealing lid is secured to said base serving member by cooperation of said base stop ridge of said base serving member and said lid stop ridge of said sealing lid; wherein said laterally extending retaining shelf of said base serving member extends outwardly over a base sidewall shelf width of at least about 0.5% of the characteristic diameter of said base serving member.
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