US2273999A - Slide closure for containers - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 24, 1942. H. w. RUEGER SLIDE CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 15, 1941 fierrrlanll yae ger;

Patented Feb. 24, 1942 W I jazvaess SLIDE, CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS Herman W. RuegerfLanca ster, 'PaL, assignor to u 7 Liberty" Canand' Sign Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application Fe ru ry 13, 1941, Serial No. 378,814

' -4 Claims: (Cl. 221-62) This invention relates ,to slide closures for containers and constitutes a contin'uation-in-- part, as. to subject matter common'to said applie cations, of my application Serial No. 334,436,1iled May 10, 1940. l

The primary objects of the present invention are; to provide an extremely. tightpermanently sift-proofv closure particularly adapted for use with spice or powder cans or containers, or other receptacles containing finely powdered substances, comprising a stationary closure member having a medially apertured-dispensing panel, and a slidable closure member disposed for linear sliding movement on said stationary member and having a closurelpanel disposed for movement into snug registering frictional engagement with said dispensing panel; to provide in such a closure construction cooperating dispensing and closure panels wherein the cooperating marginal surface portionsof said panels are disposed in the same or contiguous, planesand the medial portions' of said panels are resiliently domed to-' wards each other to increase the close frictional contact therebetween; to provide in such a closure construction, in combination with the 010- rangement and disposition of stops or position sure and dispensing panels thereof, a novel, ar-

ing means adapted to arrest the movement of said slidable member at an intermediate fpoi'nt between completely open and closed positions wherein shaker perforations in the closure panel are disposed in proper registry with the dispens ing aperture of the dispensing panel, in which arrangement one of said stops is yieldable to, per mit continued movement of said slidable member upon application of continued pressure thereto, said yieldable stop being separated by a rigid dividing abutment or shoulder from the dispensing panel of its respective member so as not to transmit yielding movement to said panel with consequent impairment of the close frictional engagement between the respective closure panels and consequent loss or impairment of the siftproof qualities of the closure; and to provide such a closure wherein the dividing shoulder or abutment of one of the closure members may co-p operate with and engage the stop of the other of said members to determine the completely closed position of the slide closure, p Inthe accompanying drawing: Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a container having the preferred embodiment of my invention applied thereto; V I,

Figure 2, a section on the line 2-2, of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing indotted lines the slide cover or slidable member disposed in proper position for useas a shaker top; Figure 3, a view similar to Figure 2, but with the slide cover moved to completely open position;

Figure 4, a section along the line 44 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5, atop plan'view ofthe preferred embodiment of the invention in the open position shown in Figure 3; and, l i

Figure 6, an enlarged'fragmentary detail longitudinal section through, the slide cover showinga slight modification wherein the ex posededgethereof is folded under or hemmed.

Referring now in. detail to the accompanying drawing, the preferred embodiment of my improved slide closure is illustrated, therein asv applied to a container body A, which may be of any usual type composed of, sheet metal or other suitable material and having a bottom B which if desired may be formed from a separate piece, seamed or otherwise suitably secured .to said body A.

My, improved slide closure, shown as applied to said container body A, consists of a stationary member or container top, designated I in its entirety, secured in the opening defined by the upper edges of the can or container side walls, and a slide cover or slidable member, designated 2 in its entirety, longitudinally slidably disposed on,

said stationary member I. Each of said members I and 2 may be formed from a piece of sheet metal, or other preferably thinv sheet material, by

usual sheet metal stamping'or othersuitable operations.

Considering first in detail the structure of the stationary member or top I, it -,may be seenlby.

bounded by the beading I3, is divided by a medially disposed transversely extending abutment or rib or shoulder 5 into upper and lower panels 3 and 1 respectively, both panels 3 and I being below and preferably parallel to the plane of the upper edge or periphery of the marginal beading l3 and at different levels relative thereto and to each other. i

The lower panel I may be formed flat and have an upwardly projecting yielding stop, or positioning means l5 suitably disposed or positioned therein to cooperate with the downwardly projecting fixed stop or rib l2 of the slide cover 2 in the manner and for the purpose hereinafter set forth; while the upper panel 3, which may suitably be termed the dispensing panel, may be upwardly arched or curved if desired, both longie tudinally and in a transverse direction, so as to impart a slight dome shape or spherically curved shape thereto, as will be apparent from inspection of Figure 3, and as will be referred to in more detail hereinafter.

Substantially medially disposed in the dispensing panel 3 is a dispensing aperture which may be in the form of a spoon opening 9, as shown, adapted to be covered and uncovered by slidin movement of the slide cover 2. If desired, the dispensing aperture or spoon opening 9 may be sealed prior to the initial opening of the container by means of a usual punch out plug or portion [I secured to one edge of the opening 9 so as to be downwardly bendable to an out of the way position, as illustrated in Figure 5.

Now considering in detail the structure of the slidable member or cover 2, the same consists essentially of the closure panel 4 and means for slidably supporting the same in close frictional engagement with the dispensing panel 3 to enable it to effectually cover and uncover the dispensing opening 9 thereof, or to enable said closure panel 4 to be properly positioned over the opening 9 for use as a sifter opening or shaker top, as will be set forth in detail hereinafter.

To accomplish the foregoing ends the slide cover may consist of a substantially rectangular member having the closure panel 4 formed as a downwardly offset preferably downwardly domed portion adjacent the forward end of said cover 2, said panel 4 being connected to the main body portion of the cover 2 by means of a substantially perpendicular marginal connecting wall or flange 8.

In order to slidably mount the slide cover 2 on stationary member I the former may be provided with oppositely disposed longitudinally extending parallel guide flanges or guides 6, each of which is curled downwardly and inwardly about the respective longitudinally extending portion of the beading l3 disposed therebeneath. As thus disposed, the flat opposed side portions of the closure panel 2 rest on the upper peripheral edges of the beading l3 and are normally maintained thereon by the guides 6. Thus it may be seen that the longitudinally extending portions of beading l3 function as tracks to guide the slide cover 2 in its movement.

For the purpose of maintaining the slide cover 2 in completely closed position it is desirable to provide means such as the usual snap or projection l4 formed adjacent the rear edge of said cover to ride up resiliently over the rear portion of beading l3 and snap down on the inside thereof as the cover 2 is moved to completely closed position.

In order to permit use of the container as a shaker can or dispenser one or more shaker holes or perforations l may be provided adjacent the forward edge of the panel 4 to be disposed in registry with the dispensing aperture 9 when the cover 2 is moved rearwardly part way towards open position, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2. It should be noted that the series of perforations 10 are slightly spaced from the extreme forward edge of the panel 4 so as to leave an imperforate or unbroken sealing portion or area ll which will seat tightly against the forward edge of the dispensing aperture 9 and prevent the material within the container A from escaping therefrom except through the perforations l9.

Means for accurately positioning the shaker openings of cover 2 in the proper registering position relative to the dispensing aperture 9 will consist of the fixed stop or downwardly pressed rib I2 formed at the extreme rear edge of closure panel 4 at its juncture with the rear portion of connecting wall 8 to cooperate with the yieldable stop [5 of container top I.

The closure panel 4 will preferably be slightly longer than the dispensing panel 3 so that in the completely closed position of the slide cover i1- lustrated in Figure 2, the stop 12 thereof will lie just behind and abut against the shoulder or abutment 5 of the stationary closure member I. As thus arranged, it will be seen that although the stop 12 extends below the level of the panel 3 it will never in operation be able to ride up 5 thereon or deform the same so as to decrease the frictional engagement thereof with panel 4, but will engage and cooperate with the abutment 5 to determine the completely closed position of the slide cover 2 and to prevent such riding up.

As an added refinement of the slide cover 2, and where economy of production thereof is not essential, it will sometimes be desirable to fold under or hem some or all of the edges thereof in the manner indicated in Figure 6 wherein the forward edge of said cover 2 is hemmed as at I60. Such hemming, in addition to enhancing the appearance of the closure in its entirety, makes the same safer to handle inasmuch as it does away with exposed sharp edges which might go out the hands of the user.

It will be noted that in the assembled operative condition of closure members I and 2 the cooperating panels 3 and 4 respectively are disposed "with the marginal portions of their adjacent sur- 5 faces in substantially the same or contiguous planes parallel to the direction of sliding movement of the cover 2 so as to be in snug sliding engagement with each other, while the inner or medial portions or panels 3 and 4 are preferably 40 normally bulged or domed towards each other.

That is, the dispensing panel 3 is normally upwardly domed, or arched in both a longitudinal and transverse direction, so that in the open condition of the assembled closure illustrated in Figure 3 the medial portion thereof projects slightly above the plane of engagement of said panels 3 and 4. Conversely the closure panel 4 H is arched or domed downwardly in the same man- -ner and to substantially the same extent tends to project resiliently slightly below the plane of engagement of said panels 3 and 4.

The degree of curvature of panels 3 and 4 has been somewhat exaggerated in the accompanying drawing in order to make the same clearly apparent; however in actual practice the curvature of said panels need not be as great as shown and in fact may be such as will hardly be apparent upon casual inspection.

332 Inasmuch as the two closure members I and 2 will be formed of sheet metal or other inherently slightly resilient or resiliently flexible material, it will be apparent that during movement of the cover 2 from the open position shown in Figure 3 to closed position, as shown in Figure 2,

C5 the two resiliently domed or curved panels 3 and 4 will tend to flatten each other out, and by mutually resisting such flattening and trying to w maintain their normal domed shape will always maintain a tight frictional sealing contact with 7 each other in the closed position of the cover 2, or in the nearly closed position thereof wherein the shaker perforations ID are disposed in registry with the dispensing aperture 9 of the stationary member I 5 From the completely closed position of the cover 2, which position may be determined by engagement of the stop l2 with abutment or shoulder 5, the slide cover 2 may be moved to the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2 wherein the stop [2 engages the stop l of the stationary member I to accurately position the sifter or shaker perforations II] in registry with the dispensing aperture 9 closely adjacent the forward edge thereof. Or where it is desired to move the cover 2 to completely open position, as in Figures 3 and 5, to completely uncover the dispensing aperture 9 and permit removal of the container contents therethrough, the opening or rearward movement of the cover 2 may be continued past the point of engagement of stops l2 and I5, causing the fixed stop I2 to force down and ride over the yieldable stop I5, such action being permitted by a resilient yielding of the surrounding portion of the panel 1 in which said stop [5 is formed.

It is to be noted that,-due to the location of stops l2 and [5 relative to the rear portion of wall 8 and the dividing rib or abutment 5 respectively, it is impossible for engagement and relative yielding as between the stops l2 and Hi to impart any yielding or flexing or in any way harmfully influence or impair the snug frictional contact between panels 3 and 4, inasmuch as the material of the closure panel 4 adjacent the upper or fixed stop I2 is prevented from yielding by the rigid rear portion of connecting wall 8 extending thereacross; the stop l2 and abutment 5 cooperate to prevent engagement of said stop with the surface of dispensing panel 3 in addition to determining the completely closed position of the slide cover 2; and although the material of panel 1 immediately surroundingthe stop [5 is free to flex or yield, and to possibly eventually take a permanent set, the rigid dividing shoulder or abutment 5 of the container top 1 serves to efliciently prevent the transmission of such flexing or yielding action to the dispensing panel 3.

It is further to be noted that although in actual operation of the preferred embodiment of closure of my invention resilient pressure between the domed panels3 and 4 may cause the guide flanges or runners 6 of the cover 2,to give very slightly adjacent their forward ends as the closure panel 4 moves into tight frictional registering engagement with the dispensing panel 3, permitting the entire cover .2 to assume an almost imperceptible upward slanting position, and possibly permitting the extreme marginal portions of panels 3 and 4to become very slightly spaced from each other, such very slight movement will not permit any leakage of material between the panels 3 and 4 inasmuch as the dispensing aperture 9 and also preferably the sifter openings III will be spaced somewhat away from sai dextreme marginal portions of their respective panels.

I claim:

, 1. A slideclosure for containers comprising, a stationary closure member formed with an apertured dispensing panel, and a relatively longitudinally aligned yieldable panel disposed at a level below that of said dispensing panel, the juncture of said panels being defined by a sharp transverse abutment, in combination with a closure panel disposed for longitudinal sliding movement on said stationary member in snug frictional engagement with said dispensing panel, said closure panel having a shaker opening therein, and means for limiting the sliding movement of said closure panel comprising an upwardly projecting stop formed on said yieldable panel below the path of movement of said closure panel, and a stop projecting downwardly from the rear edge of said closure panel for movement between said upwardly projecting stop and said abutment of the stationary member.

2. A slide closure for containers comprising, a stationary closure member formed with an apertured dispensing panel, and a relatively longitudinally aligned yieldable panel disposed at a level below that of said dispensing panel, the juncture of said panels being defined by a sharp transverse abutment, in combination with a closure panel disposed for longitudinal sliding movement on said stationary member in snug frictional engagement with said dispensing panel, and means for limiting the movement of said closure panel comprising an upwardly projecting stop formed on said yieldable panel, and a stop projecting downwardly from the rear edge of said closure panel for engagement with said upwardly projecting stop.

3. A slide closure for containers comprising, a stationary closure member formed with an apertured resiliently upwardly domed dispensing panel, and a relatively longitudinally aligned yieldable panel disposed at a level below that of said dispensing panel, the juncture of said panels being defined by a sharp transverse abutment, in combination with a resiliently downwardly domed closure panel disposed for longitudinal sliding movement on said stationary member in snug frictional engagement with said dispensing panel, the adjacent marginal surface portions of said respective dispensing and closure panels being disposed to engage each other in a plane parallel to the direction of movement of said slidable closure panel and the medial portions of said respective panels being resiliently urged towards positions above and below the plane of contact thereof, and means for limiting the movement of said closure panel comprising an upwardly projecting stop formed on said yieldable panel below the path of movement of said closure panel, and a stop projecting downwardly from the rear edge of said closure panel for movement between said upwardly projecting stop and said abutment.

4. A slide closure for containers comprising a stationary closure member formed with an apertured dispensing panel resiliently upwardly domed both longitudinally and transversely, and a relatively longitudinally aligned lower panel disposed at a level below that of said dispensing panel, the juncture of said panels being defined by a sharp transverse abutment, in combination with a slidable closure member mounted for longitudinal sliding movement on said stationary member, said slidable closure member comprising a closure panel resiliently downwardly domed bothlongitudinally and transversely, and a depending continuous marginal wall serving to stiffen the marginal portions of said closure panel, adjacent marginal surface portions of said respective dispensing and closure panels being disposed to engage each other during sliding movement of said slidable closure member, and the medial portions of said respective panels being resiliently urged in opposite directions towards positions above and below each other.

HERMAN W. RUEGER.

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