WO2008031628A1

WO2008031628A1 - Packaging for substance comprising a container and a hinged two-part lid

Info

Publication number: WO2008031628A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/008087
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeroen Klaasjan Verbrugge
Original assignee: Flex/The Innovationlab B.V.
Priority date: 2006-09-14
Filing date: 2007-09-14
Publication date: 2008-03-20
Also published as: AU2007296859A1

Abstract

A packaging (1) for a substance which is applied to a base using a roller or the like, such as for paint to be applied with a paint roller. The packaging comprises a container (2) for the substance, and a plastic lid (10) to be placed on the top of the container. The lid comprises a first covering part (15) and a second covering part (20). The first covering part (15) is provided on the underside with a region having a substance-distributing profile, and - it is possible for the first covering part to be pivoted open about a hinge (11), which is located between the first covering part (15) and the second covering part (20), in such a manner that, to use the substance-distributing profile region, the first covering part (15) can be positioned at an angle with respect to the second covering part (20), which remains connected to the top edge of the container. The hinge (11) extends transversely over the entire lid till the periphery of the lid. The first and second covering part (15,20) each have an outer skirt (16,21) engaging externally on said top edge of the container when said lid closes the container. The top edge of the container comprises an outwardly protruding member (30) at each location where the hinge ends at the periphery of the lid. Each outwardly protruding member (30) and the adjacent part of the skirt (21) of the second covering part (20) are adapted so as to establish a mutual connection when the lid (10) is placed on the container, said connection counteracting disengagement of said second covering part from said container.

Description

PACKAGING FOR SUBSTANCE COMPRISING A CONTAINER AND A HINGED TWO-PART LID

The invention relates to a packaging for a substance, which is applied to a base using a roller.

WO 03/091123 discloses such a packaging, which is marketed nowadays filled with paint, 5 primarily for the do-it-yourself market. The paint is to be applied using a paint roller, e.g. in case of wall paint. In practical use of the WO 03/091123 packaging the user will lift the first covering part of the lid and position it such that the user can use its surface with substance- distributing formations (in the practical embodiment marketed now a pattern of ribs) to evenly distribute the paint in the paint roller. This avoids the need to use a separate paint distributing IO "grid" which has to be placed in the more common packaging with an ordinary removable lid.

The present invention aims to provide an improvement of the packaging disclosed in WO 03/091123. At least the invention aims to provide a useful alternative.

5 The present invention provides a packaging according to the preamble of claim 1 , wherein each outwardly protruding member and the adjacent part of the skirt of the second covering part are adapted so as to establish a mutual connection when the lid is placed on the container, said connection counteracting disengagement of said second covering part from said container.

!0

The packaging according to the invention overcomes a problem with the known packaging, namely that the second covering part of the lid is also disengaged from the top edge of the container when the user lifts the first covering part of the lid in order to open the container. Also it avoids the problem that the lid might become (partially) disengaged from the container

5 during shipment, storage and handling of the filled container.

By the measure according to the invention these problems are resolved in a simple and elegant manner, without requiring additional actions for the user (e.g. upon opening and/or closing of the container). Also the measure can be implemented in a technically attractive 0 manner in the existing design of the container, therefore requiring a reduced investment in tooling. It is noted that figure 7 of WO 03/091123 shows the outwardly protruding member and the adjacent skirt portions of the known packaging. In the closed position of the lid the adjacent skirt portions lie against the outwardly protruding member to obtain a sealing effect. No mutual connection between the outwardly protruding member and the adjacent skirt portions are obtained in said known packaging. It is further noted that a sealing co-operation of the outwardly protruding member and the skirt portions is also preferred for the packaging according to the present invention, thereby avoiding the need to provide additional sealing arrangements at said end of the hinge position.

In a preferred embodiment it is proposed that each outwardly protruding member is provided with an undercut adjacent said skirt of the second covering part and that said adjacent part of the skirt of the second covering part is provided with an extension or other member engaging beneath said undercut when the lid is placed on the container. This allows the extension to remain caught under the outwardly protruding member when an upwards force is exerted on the second covering part due to e.g. a user opening the container by lifting and tilting the first covering part of the lid.

In a preferred embodiment each outwardly protruding member is provided with an undercut adjacent said skirt of the first covering part and said adjacent part of the skirt of the first covering part is provided with an extension engaging beneath said undercut when the lid is placed on the container. This has the effect that the first covering part is also hindered from moving upwards in the vicinity of the hinge, e.g. when forces are exerted on the lid during handling of the container.

In a practical embodiment the undercut is formed by a contiguous lower face of the outwardly protruding member, and the extensions are adapted to be adjacent each other and beneath said lower face when the lid is placed on the container.

For placing the lid on the container it is considered advantageous when each extension engaging under the outwardly protruding member is a flap extending essentially in the plane of the skirt, which flap is flexible so as to allow the flap to pass over the outwardly protruding member when the lid is placed on the container from above (e.g. using a machine).

The hinge is preferably designed as an integral hinge made from the same material as the covering parts of the lid or can be made from another material, e.g. if a two-component injection-moulding method is used. The hinge is preferably of airtight design. The skirts and the top edge of the container are preferably design to couple the lid to the container along its circumference, wherein the coupling between the skirt of the first covering part and the top edge is such that the first covering part can lifted by a user, whereas it is preferred to arrive at a stronger coupling 5 between the top edge and the second covering part of the lid (which is supposed to stay fixed in place). These coupling means are preferably designed to form a click-fit connection between the lid and the container.

The opening which is created after the first covering part has been pivoted open is preferably 10 sufficiently large for a standard paint roller for applying a substance to a base to be able to fit through it easily.

When forming the lid it is preferable to enable the lid to be fitted to the container with the aid of a pick-and-place unit.

15

In an advantageous embodiment, a projecting rim is formed on the top side of the lid, while in the bottom of the container there is preferably a depression, accessible from below, which is able to be receive this rim belonging to an identical container placed beneath it. This allows stable stacking and transportation of these containers. Designing the projecting rim as a

20 positioning rim which engages on the depression in the bottom of the container above it enables a packaging to adopt an optimum position during stacking with respect to the packaging on which the packaging in question is stacked.

In conventional paint-mixing machines, the packaging in which the paint is mixed is held 25 between two plates which respectively engage on the top side and the underside of the packaging. The paint in the packaging is mixed as a result of a movement, for example vibration, being imparted to the plates. It is preferable for the projecting rim on the lid and the depression in the bottom to be designed to be received on plates of this type.

30 After the packaging has been opened, it is preferable for the first covering part to be fixed in the pivoted-open position, in which the first covering part is at an angle, preferably an acute angle, with respect to the second covering part. In an advantageous embodiment, this is achieved by click-fitting the first covering part securely onto the projecting rim of the second covering part or another member provided on said second covering part.

J5

An exemplary embodiment of a packaging according to the invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the appended drawings. In the drawings: Fig.1 shows an embodiment of the packaging in a closed position,

Fig. 2 shows the packaging of Fig. 1 in the open position,

Fig. 3 shows a side view of the packaging of Fig.1 in the closed position,

Fig. 4a shows a side view of the packaging in the opened position,

Fig. 4b shows a portion of figure 4a on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 5 shows a detail of the opened packaging of fig.1 on a larger scale.

The figures show a packaging 1 for a substance which is applied to a base using a roller or the like, in this example a paint packaging filled with paint which can be applied with a paint roller, e.g. wall paint.

The packaging 1 comprises a container 2 for the substance, said container having a bottom 3, a peripheral wall 4 (here with four sidewalls) with a top edge 5. The container 2 has an open top side and is preferably injection moulded from suitable plastic material as a monolithic part.

The container has a pivotal carrying handle 50 fastened to pivot members on opposed sidewalls of the container.

The packaging 1 further comprises a plastic lid 10 to be placed on the top of the container 2 after filling the container 2 with paint.

The lid 10 comprises a first covering part 15 and a second covering part 20. The first covering part 15 is provided on the underside with a region 18 with a substance-distributing profile which allows a user to obtain a better distribution of the paint in his paint roller by rolling the roller over said region 18 as is known in the art.

The first covering part 15 can be pivoted open about a hinge 11 , which is located between the first covering part 15 and the second covering part 20, in such a manner that, to use the region 18 with the substance-distributing profile, the first covering part 15 can be positioned at an angle with respect to the second covering part 20, which remains connected to the top edge of the container 2.

The lid 10 here is formed integrally from plastic by injection moulding, the hinge 11 between the first covering part 15 and the second covering part 20 here being integrally moulded as part of the lid and also being leak tight and airtight. The hinge 11 extends transversely over the entire lid 10.

The first and second covering parts 15, 20 each have an outer skirt 16, 21 respectively engaging externally on said top edge of the container when said lid 10 closes the container 2.

The top edge 5 of the container 2 comprises an outwardly protruding member 30 at each location where the hinge 11 ends at said top edge of the container 2. In general it can be seen that the member 30 protrudes outwardly with respect to the adjacent wall parts of the top edge.

The skirts 16, 20 - in the closed position of the container - lie along the outside of said wall parts and engage thereon to obtain a coupling between the lid and the container. It can be seen, as is preferred, that the outer face of member 30 is flush with the outer faces of the skirts in the closed position of the lid.

Each outwardly protruding member 30 and the adjacent part of the skirt 21 of the second covering part 20 are adapted so as to establish a mutual connection when the lid 10 is placed on the container, said connection counteracting disengagement of said second covering part 20 from said container.

In detail it can be seen in the figures that the outwardly protruding member 30 is provided with an undercut 31 adjacent said skirt 21 of the second covering part 20. The adjacent part of the skirt 21 of the second covering part is provided with an extension 22 engaging beneath said undercut 31 when the lid 10 is placed on the container.

It can also be seen here that the outwardly protruding member 30 is provided with an undercut 32 adjacent the skirt 16 of the first covering part 15. The adjacent part of the skirt 16 of the first covering part 15 is provided with an extension 17 engaging beneath said undercut 32 when the lid is placed on the container.

In fact in this preferred embodiment the undercuts 31 , 32 are formed by a contiguous lower face of the outwardly protruding member 30. Also it is shown that the extensions 22, 17 are adapted to be adjacent each other when the lid is placed on the container in its closed position. Each of the extensions 17, 22 here is embodied as a flap extending in the plane of the skirt, which flap is flexible so as to allow the flap to pass over the outwardly protruding member 30 when the lid is placed on the container 2 from above.

Further it can be seen in figure 2 that the first covering part 15 has a protective rim 19 on the underside which extends as a U around the region 18 with the substance-distributing profile, with the exception of the side on which the hinge 5 is located. This protective rim 19 is spaced inwardly from the outer skirt and falls inside of the top edge of the container when the lid is closed.

In this example the protective rim 19 engages on the inside of the peripheral wall of the container in the closed position of the lid.

In the embodiment shown here the outer skirts 16, 21 sealingly engage on the top edge 5 of the container 2 so as to form a seal between container and lid.

The lid may have ribs for increasing the stiffness of the packaging or parts of the packaging.

As shown here the container 2 and the lid 10 are substantially rectangular in shape but other shapes can also be envisaged.

The dimension of the first covering part 15 in the plane of the lid, perpendicular to the hinge

1 1 , here is approximately three times as great as the dimension of the second covering part

20 in the plane of the lid, perpendicular to the hinge.

The lid 10 has an upwards projecting rim on the top side near the outer periphery of said lid.

The projecting rim 40 is interrupted at the locations where the hinge 5 meets the outer periphery of the lid.

The bottom of the container has a space for receiving the projecting rim (not shown).

The figures further show that the first covering part 15 comprises one or more fixation members 41 which are adapted to engage on the upward projecting rim of the second covering part when the first covering part 15 is placed at an angle with respect to the second covering part so as to fix the first covering part in said orientation.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. A packaging (1) for a substance which is applied to a base using a roller or the like, such as for paint to be applied with a paint roller, which packaging comprises:

5 - a container (2) for the substance, said container having a bottom (3), a peripheral wall

(4) with a top edge (5), and said container having an open top side, and a plastic lid (10) to be placed on the top of the container, which lid comprises: a first covering part (15) and a second covering part (20), the first covering part (15) being provided on the underside with a region (18) having a substance-distributing profile, and the first

10 covering part being pivotable about a hinge (11), which is located between the first covering part (15) and the second covering part (20), in such a manner that, to use the substance- distributing profile region (18), the first covering part (15) can be positioned at an angle with respect to the second covering part (20), which remains connected to the top edge (5) of the container, wherein the hinge (5) extends transversely over the lid to the periphery thereof,

15 wherein the first and second covering part (15,20) each have an outer skirt (16,21) engaging externally on said top edge of the container when said lid closes the container, and wherein the top edge (5) of the container comprises an outwardly protruding member (30) at each location where the hinge ends at the periphery of the lid, characterised in that each outwardly protruding member (30) and the adjacent part of the skirt (21) of the second

20 covering part (20) are adapted so as to establish a mutual connection when the lid (10) is placed on the container, said connection counteracting disengagement of said second covering part from said container.

2. A packaging according to claim 1 , wherein said outwardly protruding member (30) is 15 provided with an undercut (31) adjacent said skirt (21) of the second covering part (20) and wherein said adjacent part of the skirt (21) of the second covering part is provided with an extension (22) engaging beneath said undercut (31) when the lid is placed on the container.

3. A packaging according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said outwardly protruding member JO (30) is provided with an undercut (32) adjacent said skirt (16) of the first covering part and wherein said adjacent part of the skirt (16) of the first covering part is provided with an extension (17) engaging beneath said undercut (32) when the lid is placed on the container.

4. A packaging according to claims 2 and 3, wherein the undercuts (31 ,32) are formed $5 by a contiguous lower face of the outwardly protruding member (30), and wherein the extensions (17,22) are adapted to be adjacent each other when the lid is placed on the container.

5. A packaging according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein one or more extensions (17,22) are designed a flap extending in the plane of the skirt (16,21), which flap is flexible so as to allow the flap to pass over the outwardly protruding member when the lid is placed on the container from above.

6. A packaging according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the first covering part (15) has a protective rim (19) on the underside of the first covering part and extends around the region (18)with the substance-distributing profile, with the exception of the side on which the hinge (5) is located, said protective rim (19) being spaced inwardly from the outer skirt (16) and falling inside of the top edge of the container when the lid is closed, which protective rim is located.

7. A packaging according to claim 6, wherein the protective rim (19) engages on the inside of the peripheral wall of the container in the closed position of the lid.

8. A packaging according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said outer skirt (16,21) sealingly engages on the top edge of the container so as to form a seal between container and lid.

9. Packaging according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the lid has ribs for increasing the stiffness of the packaging or parts of the packaging.

10. A packaging according to one or more of the preceding claims, in which the container (2) and the lid (10) are substantially rectangular in shape.

11. A packaging according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the dimension of the first covering part (15) in the plane of the lid, perpendicular to the hinge, is approximately three times as great as the dimension of the second covering part (20) in the plane of the lid, perpendicular to the hinge.

12. A packaging according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the lid (10) has an upwards projecting rim (40) on the top side near the outer periphery of said lid.

13. A packaging according to claim 12, wherein the projecting rim (40) is interrupted at the locations where the hinge meets the outer periphery of the lid.

14. A packaging according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the bottom of the container has a space for receiving the projecting rim.

15. A packaging according to one or more of the claims 12-14, wherein the first covering part comprises one or more fixation members (41) which are adapted to engage on the upward projecting rim (40) of the second covering part when the first covering part is placed at an angle with respect to the second covering part so as to fix the first covering part in said orientation.

16. A packaging according to one or more of the preceding claims, which container is filled with paint.

17. A packaging as shown in the drawings.