The invention relates to food and beverage containers and the lids that are used to close such containers. During the manufacturing process, it is desirable to stack the lids one on top of the other before presenting them to the machine that will join the lids to the bodies of the containers. Some l
The invention relates to food and beverage containers and the lids that are used to close such containers. During the manufacturing process, it is desirable to stack the lids one on top of the other before presenting them to the machine that will join the lids to the bodies of the containers. Some lids according to my previous invention have ancillary components attached to their main bodies, such as pull tabs that have raised lifter tips or punch tips. Sometimes, the lids have also certain recesses and/or protrusions below or above the main body of the lids. Such ancillaries and/or recesses or protrusions could disturb the integrity of the stacks. Some experts in the industry indicated that they consider that such a stack could be unacceptably SQUISHY. This invention proposes ways and methods and construction designs, which would eliminate such stacking problems, even in the presence of such ancillaries and/or recesses or protrusions or other similar irregular shapes. The stacks will not be squishy.
대표청구항▼
1. A stackable lid, for closing of container bodies, a) said lid being made of a material having a generally uniform thickness,b) said lid comprising at least a generally horizontal lid panel, having a generally flat shape and a lid perimeter and an imaginary vertical axis, which is perpendicular to
1. A stackable lid, for closing of container bodies, a) said lid being made of a material having a generally uniform thickness,b) said lid comprising at least a generally horizontal lid panel, having a generally flat shape and a lid perimeter and an imaginary vertical axis, which is perpendicular to the lid panel,c) said lid being intended to be stacked, one lid on top of the other, in a vertical parallel stack, wherein vertical indicates that the stack is in the direction of said imaginary vertical axis, and wherein parallel indicates that the lids in the stack and their individual lid panels are parallel to each other, and whereind) each individual lid in the stack is intended to provide a solid base to carry and support the next lid above it in the stack, so that the stack feels solid and so as to prevent vertical movement of the lids within the stack,e) said lid further comprising certain irregularly shaped elements, protruding outside and beyond the generally flat shape of the lid panel,f) said lid further comprising a lid lip, located outside said lid panel, along and adjacent to said lid perimeter, for joining said lid lip to a corresponding lip of the container bodies to be closed by said lid, thus creating a seam, and said lid lip, having a lid lip height above the generally flat shape of the lid panel, and wherein said seam will have a certain expected seam height above the generally flat shape of the lid panel, andg) said lid further comprising an outer ramp, located as a transition between the lid lip and the lid panel, said outer ramp being shaped as a concave portion, when looking down at the lid in a top view, and running along the lid lip and the lid perimeter,h) said outer ramp, starting adjacent to the lid lip, then extending downwardly and inwardly, when looking at it in a cross-sectional view of the lid, then joining the lid panel,i) said outer ramp itself comprising at least four distinct portions, a skirt, an outer knee, an outer lower leg, and an outer heel,j) said skirt, starting generally near the lid lip then extending downwardly and inwardly and having a skirt length, and a skirt angle, with respect to the imaginary vertical axis,k) said outer knee, being disposed below the skirt and acting as a transition between the skirt and the outer lower leg, and starting at the end of the skirt and ending at the outer lower leg,l) said outer lower leg, starting at the end of the outer knee, then extending downwardly and inwardly, having an outer lower leg length, and an outer lower leg angle, with respect to the same imaginary vertical axis, wherein the shape of the outer lower leg creates a sloping lower leg flank and being disposed below the skirt and the outer knee,m) said outer heel, being located at the end of the outer lower leg, and shaped to end up joining the lid panel, whereinn) said outer knee, is shaped, so that together with the skirt and the lower leg, they form a curve, that looks like an upper-case letter “Z” or letter “S”, when looking at it in a cross-sectional view of the lid, said outer knee acting as a supporting ledge,o) the skirt angle is larger than the outer lower leg angle, wherein the outer lower leg angle is steeper than the skirt angle, and whereinp) when any two said stackable lids are stacked one on top of the other, the lower stacked lid provides a solid heel over knee interface and support to the upper stacked lid, wherein the heel of the upper stacked lid will rest on top of the knee of the lower stacked lid, ensuring that the stack feels solid, so as to prevent vertical movement of the lids within the stack and to keep the lids and their lid panels horizontal and parallel to each other within the stack, and whereinq) the skirt of the lower stacked lid will not touch the outer lower leg of the upper stacked lid, because the skirt angle, being larger than the outer lower leg angle, creates a skirt clearance angle and a skirt clearance space between the skirt of the lower stacked lid and the outer lower leg of the upper stacked lid, and whereinr) the only contact between the two stacked lids will occur only at the solid heel over knee interface which is between the heel of the upper stacked lid and the knee of the lower stacked lid, which is supporting said upper stacked lid, and that at any position during a rotation of one stacked lid with respect to the other stacked lid, all the other elements of the two stacked lids are sufficiently spaced apart vertically, so that there will be no contact between any of these other elements of the two stacked lids, whereins) a minimum vertical stacking height is defined and measured as the vertical distance starting at the solid heel over knee interface between the heel of the upper stacked lid and the knee of the lower stacked lid of a first pair of stacked lids in a stack, and ending at the comparable solid heel over knee interface between the heel and the knee of the pair of stacked lids, which is immediately above or below said first pair, and whereint) said required minimum vertical stacking height is provided by selecting the proper shapes and dimensions of the heel and the knee of the stacked lids, and by the length of the outer lower leg of the stacked lids, and whereinu) said minimum vertical stacking height is chosen to be large enough, so as to ensure that the only contact between any pair of stacked lids, at any relative rotational position between the upper stacked lid and the lower stacked lid of said pair of stacked lids, will occur only at the solid heel over knee interface between the heel of the upper stacked lid and the knee of the lower stacked lid, which is supporting said upper stacked lid. 2. A stackable lid, as in claim 1, wherein said irregularly shaped elements are in the form of a frangible seal in said lid panel, and a pull tab opener o said pull tab opener having an elongated body, with two ends and a tip at each end comprising a nose portion with a nose tip at one end and a lifter portion with a lifter tip at the other end ; said pull tab opener being pivotally secured to said stackable lid, at a point along said elongated body, between said nose portion and said lifter portion, by a rivet, at a certain fixation point near said frangible seal; and at least a portion of said nose portion overlying at least a portion of said frangible seal. 3. A stackable lid, as in claim 2, wherein said lid further comprises an inner ramp, located between the lid panel and the outer ramp, said inner ramp being shaped as a convex portion, when looking down at the lid, and running along the outer ramp, said inner ramp starting at the end of the outer heel of the outer ramp, then extending upwardly and inwardly, when looking at it in a cross-sectional view of the lid, then joining the lid panel, thus creating a trough, made out of the inner ramp and the outer ramp together, said trough running between the lid lip and the lid panel. 4. A stackable lid, as in claim 3, wherein said inner ramp itself comprises at least three distinct portions, an inner heel, an inner lower leg and an inner knee, which are generally shaped to be similar to the outer heel, the outer lower leg and the outer knee of the outer ramp, but are inverted inwardly and generally look as the mirror image of those of the outer. 5. A stackable lid, as in claim 3, wherein said irregularly shaped elements are in the form of at least one recess in the lid panel, protruding downwardly, below and beyond the generally flat shape of the lid panel. 6. A stackable lid, as in claim 5, wherein said at least one recess in the lid panel is located generally under the lifter portion of the pull tab opener, to create a deep finger well. 7. A stackable lid, as in claim 5, wherein said lifter portion of the pull tab opener comprises at least one cam follower, which protrudes downwardly underneath the general level of the pull tab opener, and said at least one recess in the lid panel is located generally under the cam follower of the pull tab opener, creating at least one camming ramp, so that when the pull tab opener is rotated about the rivet, then a camming action is created, to raise the lifter portion of the pull tab opener upwards, above the general level of the lid panel. 8. A stackable lid, as in claim 5, wherein said at least one recess in the lid panel is located generally at the frangible seal and under the nose portion of the pull tab opener, so as to create a nose clearance space and a nose clearance angle, between the nose portion of the pull tab opener and the frangible seal. 9. A stackable lid, as in claim 3, wherein said irregularly shaped elements are in the form of at least one elevated feature, protruding upwardly above and beyond the generally flat shape of the lid panel. 10. A stackable lid, as in claim 9, wherein said at least one elevated feature is in the form of a cam, located generally near the lifter portion of the pull tab opener, to create a camming action to raise the lifter portion, including the lifter tip, of the pull tab opener, when the pull tab opener is rotated about the rivet, to create a large finger space underneath the lifter tip. 11. A stackable lid, as in claim 9, wherein said at least one elevated feature is a result of the fact that at least one tip of the pull tab opener, is shaped to be pointing upwards, thus creating a certain tab protrusion, having tab protrusion height above the generally flat shape of the lid panel, and creating a clearance space between said at least one tip of the tab opener and the underlying lid panel. 12. A stackable lid, as in claim 11, wherein said lid is constructed in a way so as to control the relative height position between the tab protrusion and the lid lip, to ensure that the tab protrusion is at a lower vertical level than that of the lid lip, by a certain vertical clearance height, to avoid interferences during handling, wherein the generally flat lid panel is used as a reference point, and wherein the vertical dimensions of the lid elements are selected, so as to end up with the desired vertical clearance height between the tab protrusion and the lid lip. 13. A stackable lid, as in claim 9, wherein said lid is constructed in a way so as to control the relative height position between said at least one elevated feature and the seam, which is expected to be created when the lid lip is joined to a corresponding lip of the container bodies to be closed by said lid, to ensure that said at least one elevated feature is at a lower vertical level than that of said seam, by a certain vertical clearance height, to avoid interferences during handling, wherein the generally flat lid panel is used as a reference point, and wherein the vertical dimensions of the lid elements are selected, so as to end up with the desired vertical clearance height between said at least one elevated feature and said seam. 14. A stackable lid, as in claim 3, wherein the lid panel further comprises a transition section, located at the bottom of the trough, between the outer ramp and the inner ramp, connecting the two ramps together, wherein said transition portion creates a larger, wider space at bottom of trough, for the purpose easy tooling and manufacturing. 15. A stackable lid, as in claim 3, wherein when any two lids are stacked one on top of the other, the heels of all the stacked lids, as well as the knees of all the stacked lids, at the contact surfaces where the respective heels and knees touch each other at the solid heel over knee interface between the heels and the knees of the lids in the stack, are shaped, so as to prevent the stacked lids from binding, locking and sticking to each other, and wherein when looking at a cross-sectional view of the lids, the normal contact forces acting between said contact surfaces of the heels and of the knees, will be at a normal contact forces angle with respect to the imaginary vertical axis of the lid panel, wherein this normal contact forces angle will be at least smaller than 90 degrees minus the Morse Taper angle, and at least larger than 0 degrees, and wherein said Morse Taper Angle is known in the industry as being a small angle between a minimum of 2.39° and up to a max of 4.68° from Center and wherein stacked lids having such an angle of contact between them would lock together and it would be difficult to separate them from each other. 16. A stackable lid, as in claim 15, wherein the contact surfaces at the solid heel over knee interface of the heels and the knees of the stacked lids, are shaped to look like portions of two truncated cones, creating contact cones, one sitting on top of the other, and wherein the half cone angle of the contact cones, with respect to the imaginary vertical axis of the lid panel, is at least larger than the Morse Taper angle and at least smaller than 90 degrees. 17. A stackable lid, as in claim 16, wherein one of the two contact surfaces has a rounded profile, looking as part of a donut. 18. A stackable lid, as in claim 16, wherein both of the two contact surfaces have rounded profiles, looking as parts of two donuts, one larger than the other, sitting one on top of the other. 19. A stackable lid, as in claim 15, wherein said normal contact forces angle with respect to the imaginary vertical axis of the lid panel is 45 degrees. 20. A stackable lid, as in claim 3, wherein the stackable lid is circular in shape, with a round perimeter, when looking down at the lid in a top view. 21. A stackable lid, as in claim 3, wherein the stackable lid is not circular in shape, when looking down at the lid in a top view. 22. A stackable lid, as in claim 1, wherein when at least two lids are stacked one on top of the other, and when looking at a cross- sectional view of the lids, all the points of contact between the heels and the knees of all the lids in the stack, are at the solid heel over knee interface between the stacked lids, and will be within a certain vertical cylindrical envelope, to ensure that the stack would keep repeating vertically, and to ensure that the outer lower legs of the stacked lids would not touch each other, and wherein a cross-sectional thickness of this vertical cylindrical envelope is approximately equal to the thickness of the material of the lid panel.
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이 특허에 인용된 특허 (3)
Traub ; Sr. John J. ; Cziraky Michael, Beverage container lid having a lift tab for opening an aperture and vent hole.
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