US3021990A - Aluminum foil container - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 20, E` L DUSKEY ALUMINUM FOIL CONTAINER Filed March 5, 1958 EDMUND L. DUSKEY Hlmwm nl \f 8 ATTORNEY United States Patent() 3,021,990 ALUMINUM FOIL CONTAINER I Edmund L. Duskey, Michigan City, Ind., assiguor to Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, Oakland, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 718,666 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-35) This invention relates to covered receptacles. More particularly, it is concerned with provrdrng a novel covered and disposable receptacle made from relatively thin and flexible materials, such as aluminum foil, wherein unique means are provided for mounting and securing a cover to the receptacle.

Various covered receptacles made out of thin disposable aluminum foil which have been heretofore developed as a packaging medium for pies, cakes, frozen food products, `and the like have not proven completely satisfactory. One of the reasons for this is because of the particularly arrangement used to secure the covers to such receptacles.

For economy, the rectpacles or containers have been made of extremely thin, light metal foil such as'aluminum foil of a gauge of between .002 to .0059" in thickness. The tops of these containers which receive the covers have been so constructed that their ragged edges had to be bent or otherwise manipulated by the ingers of the user in order to remove or replace the lid or cover of the container. Because of the very thin gauge material used,

'which in eiect approximates razor sharpness, the housevholder frequently received finger cuts during the application or removal of the covers.

This characteristic of having a razor sharp edge on the container body at the point, where the lid is applied, is further aggravated in the case of aluminum foil containers because they are usually drawn on a press. During the drawing operation, the excess material in the metal foil blank from which the containers are made automatically takes the shape of folds or corrugations in the walls and ytop edges of the containers. These gatherings or folds of excess material are advantageous in the sense that they reinforce the relatively thin walls of the container. They 'are disadvantageous, however, in that they aggravate the vrazor sharpness of the free top edges of the drawn containers and thereby increase the possibility of inliicting serious injuries on the fingers of the user.

Accordingly', it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novel disposable container made of thin, liexible material such as Aa thin aluminum foil, wherein unique means are provided at the top of the container for securing a lid thereto, which means minimize injury to the user of the container.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a container body formed of readily disposable aluminum foil of a few thousandths inches in thickness wherein a unique arrangement is provided for securing a lid to the container body and whereinthe means employed for securing the lid to the container body, when such means are not in use, do not interfere with the convenient stacking of theY container body with vanother container body of similar construction.

It is another object of this invention to provide a unique container body made from aluminum foil which is of a suflicient thickness to be self-sustaining and yet is readily bendable by the fingers of the user and wherein the top reinforcing and stitening rim of the container body is so constructed that all sharp edges, which would normally be contacted by the fingers of the user, are removed.

These and other objects of the instant invention are accomplished by providing a container for food products and the like made from thin, readily bendable yet selfsustaining aluminum foil ofa few thousandths inches in thickness. The container comprises a bottom and a side wall and the side wall terminates in a rim assembly. This rim assembly is so constructed that it includes an outwardly directed ledge element for receiving the marginal edge of a closure member. The ledge elementk also merges with a nger-engageable lip which is bendable inwardly and downwardly into engagement with the marginal edge of the closure member seated on the ledge element. This lip terminatesin a reversely bent hem of a shorter height or width than the lip. The lip and hem are connected by a smooth reverse bend in the rim assembly whereby sharp edges on the rim assembly at the point of normal rfinger contact are eliminated.

Other objects and advantages of the instant invention will become more apparent from a review of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspectiveview of the covered container of the instant invention; Y

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section of the container shown in FIGURE l when taken along line 2 2 thereof and v,with thel lipV on Y.the rim assembly of the lcontainer being 'shown in an up-raised position;

"of, the rim portion and discloses the position of theA lip on the rim portion at the time a closure member is secured to the rim portion;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the rim portions of several containers nested one within the other;

and

FIGURE 6 is an enlargedperspective view of the top portion of the container and shows the disposition of the hemmed edge of the rim, when it s brought into engagement with the container closure during application of the same to the container.

Although the container of the instant invention is shown as being of generally circular configuration, -it is to be understood that it can be square, rectangular or otherwise shaped and that the sizes of the same may also be varied depending upon the results desired. y

The container or receptacle 1 of the instant invention is generally comprised of a bottom 2 and one or more lsidewalls 3. It is preferable that the sidewall be inclined or sloped outwardly for the purpose of vfacilitating `stacking of similar containers one within the other as indicated in FIGURE 5. The wall v3 terminates in a roughly S-shapedrim assembly 4. The rim assembly 4 includes an outwardly directed planar ledge element S which acts as a seat for themarginal edge 6 of a closure or cover -member 6.

Connected to the ledge element 5 by means of the bend 7 is a iinger engageable lip 8 which is raised to a normally upstanding or semi-upstandingvposition during those times, when it is desirable eitherto apply or remove the closure member. When the lip is forced downwardly, it engages the marginal edge 6 of the closure member 6' applied to the container 1. As indicated in FIGURE 4, the space 9 between the ledge element 5 and lip 8 in eiect forms a pocket 9 for receiving the marginal edge of the cover 6 when the lip 8 is forced down into a roughly horizontal position.

The lip 8 of the rim assembly 4 is advantageously provided with a turned back or hemmed edge or hem 10 connected to the lip 8 at the point A by a smooth reverse bend 11 as indicated particularly in FIGURE 3. The point A on the lip 8 is the place on the rim assembly where protection is most needed by the householder in manipulating the lip 8 into and out of engagement with the cover 6' for the purpose of securing or removing the vsame from the container 1. The razor-like edge which normally occurs at this point'readily inicts injury upon the user because of the pressure applied bythe user and `some pressure mustjbe applied to move lip 8 out of or Y into engagement with the container cover 6'.

' By further reference to FIGURE 6, it will also be observed that the hemmed edge Y1l) and lip 8 of the containerY also possess the normal corrugations or gatherings which occur during the drawing of the container and the sharp edges formed by the corrugations are shown in exaggeration in FIGURE 6. These corrugations enhance the posy sibility of injury to the user of the container unless protectionis afforded the user as in the case of the instant container;

VThe turned back or hemmed edge `10 on the container lof the instantinvention has another advantage in that it acts torigidify the rim assembly by providing a lip mem- Vber 8 of at least partial double thickness thereby forming the said rim assembly, and said rim assembly including an outwardly directed planar ledge for receiving -the marginal edge of a closure, said ledge terminating in a normally opstanding finger engaging lip which ares uniformly slightly outwardly and which isV bendable inwardly and downwardly into engagement with the marginal edge of the said closure when the closure is seated on the said ledge, and said finger engaging lip finally terminating in a reversely bent outside hem which lies lsubstantially flat against the outside surface of said lip to form a flat reinforcing bead, said reversely bent hem being of a shorter height than the said lip such that the free edge of the hem is spaced from the point of mer- `gence of the ledge and lip and acts as a nesting stop for Vthe container when it is nested with another container of similar'conliguration, said hem and lip being connected tially at against the outside surface of the lip 8 when the lip engages the closure so as to effect a smoothing out of the corrugations in the lip and hem.

Finally, since the widthr'or height of the hemmed edge 10 is not as large as that of the lip 8, which can also be advantageously inclined uniformly'slightly outwardly, it facilitates the tight or closestackinfg of the containers one upon the other when the lip 8 is in a raised position in that it provides a minimum amount of Vmaterial which would conict with such nesting. This is indicated particularly in FIGURE 5. As further indicated in FIG- URE 5 Vin the case of containers having a circular configuration the lip 8 can be considered as having a somewhat frusto-conical configuration, The edge 10 is also .advantageously pressed tightly against the lip 8.V Stated another way, the free edge X of hemr10 is spaced from the point of mergence Y of ledge Sand lip 8 a sufficient distance whereby edge X acts as a nesting stop'so that Yone container is held apart from `an adjacent container and can be easily separated therefrom during nesting.

The cover 6 may be ofpaperboard, plastic, foil, or any combination thereof. VIf desired, the cover may also be provided with Va transparent windowV in the center for -the'purpose of' displaying the contents ofthe package. The container is preferably made from thin, flexible yet Vself-sustaining aluminum foil of fbetwecn .00 and n.0059" in thickness. Y Y

i It is obvious that various changes canV be made in the instant invention without departing from the spirit and Yscope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

V1. A container for food products and the like comprising a receptacle made from thin readily bendable yet selfsustaining aluminum foil of afew thousandths of an inch in thickness, said receptacle comprising a bottom and an outwardly flaring side wall, said side wall terminating in a rim assembly, vsaid rim assembly having corrugations formed therein as a normal incident to the fabrication of i by a smooth reverse bend insaid lip, whereby sharp edges on the lip at the normal point of finger contact are eliminated and the said hemV also being adapted to be pressed substantially flat against the outside surface of the lip when thelip engages the said closure so as to effect a smoothing out of the corrugatons in the lip and hem and a rigidifying of the closure engaging rim assembly.

2. A container for food products and the like comprising a receptacle made from thin readily bendable yet self-'sustaining aluminum foil of a few thousandths of an Vinch in thickness, said receptacle comprising a bottom and an outwardly Haring side wall, said side wall terminating in a rim assembly, said rim assembly having corrugations V*formed therein as a normal incident to the fabrication of the said rim assembly, and said rim assembly including an outwardly directed planar ledge for receiving the marginal edge of a closure, said ledge terminating in a normally upstanding linger engaging frusto-conical lip which flares slightly outwardly and which is bendable inwardly and downwardly into engagement with the marginal edge of Vthe said closure when the closure is seated on the said ledge, and said finger engaging lip finally terminating in a reversely bent outside hem which lies substantially flat against the outside surface of said frusto-conical lip to Vform a at reinforcing bead while being of a shorter Yheight than the said lip such that the free edge of the hem is spaced from the point of mergence of the ledge and lip and acts as a nesting stop for the container when it is nestedrwith another container of'similar configuration, said hem and lip being connected by'a smooth reverse bend in said lip, whereby sharp edges on the lip at the normal point of finger contact are eliminated and the said hem also beingV adapted `to be pressed substantially Yat against the voutside surface of the lip when the lip Yengages the said closure so as to effect a smoothing out of the corrugations'in the lip and hem Yand a rigidifying of the closure engaging rim assembly. Y

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Australia n r Mar. 3, 17938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No. 3,02lv990 February 20., 1962 Edmund L. Duskey It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column l, lines 19 and 20, for "particularly" read particular line 22, for "rectpacles" read receptacles column 3, line 21, for "reinforced" read reinforcing Signed and sealed this 1st day of January 1963i*7 (SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. swlDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

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