Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D53/00—Sealing or packing elements; Sealings formed by liquid or plastics material
  • B65D53/02—Collars or rings
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
  • A47G19/00—Table service
  • A47G19/02—Plates, dishes or the like

Definitions

• the present invention concerns an elastic sealing ring for a container with an upper continuously extending rim and without an associated lid.
• Such containers are frequently used in connection with cooking or when serving prepared dishes.
• the container may e.g. be a bowl, a pot or a casse ⁇ role.
• a situation frequently occurring in this connection is that it is desired to put the foodstuffs contained in the container aside for a short or prolonged period. This involves the problem that the foodstuffs contained in the container, if it is not covered, rapidly perish and pos ⁇ sibly emit odours to the surroundings, which is not expe ⁇ trans course.
• a multitude of different seal types in different shapes and in different materials are available today, adapted to seal the engagement face between the mouth of a container and a lid provided for the container. Since the engagement faces on such containers and the associated lids are formed with a mutually complementary shape, the sealing rings for these are most frequently in the form of a flat rubber seal which has been punched from a rubber plate.
• the object of the invention is to provide an elastic sealing ring which can be attached to the upper rim of a container, and which, in contrast to the known seals, provides a sealing face against any member which serves as a lid for the container, and which seals satis ⁇ factorily using lid members of various shapes. This is achieved using the features defined in claim 1.
• the seal provides an engagement face for a member and forms a tight seal against said mem ⁇ ber, if the member has a shape enabling it to be used as a lid for the container.
• Claim 2 defines an expedient embodiment in which the seal ⁇ ing ring is provided with an annular channel to receive the upper rim of the container. This ensures that the sealing ring can be firmly mounted on a given container.
• the subject-matter defined in claim 4 ensures that the member serving as a lid can deform the sealing ring, thereby creating a vacuum in the container.
• Claim 5 de ⁇ fines an embodiment in which the sealing ring can easily be used for containers of varying diameters. When the sealing ring extends outside the outer edge on the upper rim of the container, the edge of the container is appropriately protected against strikes and the like.
• the inner side of the sealing ring with protruding holding means for holding e.g. a ladle or the like placed in the container.
• the sealing ring may e.g. be made of foamed plastics or cellular plastics, as stated in claim 7 or claim 8, and in this connection the surface of the sealing ring may be provided with a skin imparting impermeability to it, thereby providing an especially flexible seal which does not require any particularly great engagement pressure to seal tightly between the container and the lid member.
• fig. 1 is a partially sectional view of a first embodiment of a sealing ring according to the invention together with a container and a plate, and
• fig. 2 is a view analogous with fig. 1 of a second embodi ⁇ ment.
• fig. 1 shows a container 1 having at its upper rim 4 a seal 2, on which, in this case, a plate 3 is positioned in firm engagement with the seal 2.
• the seal 2 is provided with an annular channel 5 to re ⁇ ceive the upper rim 4 of the container 1, so that the seal 2 following mounting on the upper rim 4 of the container 1 is retained with respect to it.
• the seal 2 is additionally provided with an engagement face 6 which, in this case, engages the plate 3.
• the engagement face 6 extends entirely above the upper rim 4 of the container and covers it completely. This ensures that members of widely different shapes may be used as a lid for the container 1, although a plate having a special shape is used as a lid in the present case.
• the only limitation as to whether a member can be used as a lid is that the lid member has a shape mating with the bowl, which means e.g. that if the mouth of the container is circular, the member serving as a lid must be substantially rotational symmetrical.
• the seal 2 covers the annular channel 5 on the container 1 along its entire outer side, which means that the seal also has a protecting effect for e.g. cheramic bowls, porcelain bowls and similar bowls of a fragile material.
• this embodiment has the extremely good and expedient effect that the sealing ring 2 is secured effectively to the upper rim 4 of the con ⁇ tainer 1 by means of the annular channel 5, since this embodiment makes it possible to dimension the sealing ring slightly smaller than the upper rim 4 of the bowl, so that the sealing ring has to be stretched to be mounted on the upper rim 4 of the container 1, which results in a firm engagement between the seal 2 and the upper rim 4 of the container 1.
• the seal 2 is made of an extremely stretchable mate ⁇ rial, it is even possible in the shown embodiment to use the same seal 2 for containers 1 of different shapes, e.g. with varying diameters of the upper rim 4.
• this embodiment means that a relatively small part of the seal 2 faces toward the interior of the container 1 and thus reduces the risk that foodstuffs in the interior of the container adhere to the seal or soil it.
• the above properties in terms of shape and elasticity can be achieved by making the seal of a foamed plastics mate ⁇ rial, e.g. polyurethane.
• the density of the foamed plas ⁇ tics can hereby be controlled so as to impart to the seal ⁇ ing ring 2 the desired properties of stretchability and flexibility with a view to optimizing the sealing capa ⁇ city.
• the sealing ring 2 may be expedient to make the sealing ring 2 of a foamed plastics material having closed cells, i.e. cellular plastics, and optionally that the surface of the seal has a higher density, a so-called skin, it being en ⁇ sured by these measures that the seal cannot absorb li ⁇ quids and the like from the interior of the container, which is expedient seen from a hygienic point of view.
• a foamed plastics material having closed cells i.e. cellular plastics
• the surface of the seal has a higher density, a so-called skin, it being en ⁇ sured by these measures that the seal cannot absorb li ⁇ quids and the like from the interior of the container, which is expedient seen from a hygienic point of view.
• Fig. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of a seal, showing a container 1 in the same manner as in fig. 1 as well as a plate 3.
• the seal 2 is positioned on top of the upper rim 4 of the container 1.
• the seal 2 is shaped as a conical face and comprises an upwardly and inwardly extending upper lip part 7 and a downwardly and outwardly extending lower lip part 8, which are made of a flexible material, such as plastics.
• the seal is also provided with a reinforced region, shown here as an annular bead 9.
• the purpose of this bead 9 is primarily to stiffen the seal 2, but may also be used for engagement with the upper edge 4 of the container 1, as shown in the drawing. However, nothing prevents placing the seal 2 on a container 1 having a larger diameter, since the lip 8 can then rest independently on the upper edge 4 of the container 1. In the latter situation, the annular bead 9 just has a stiffening effect on the seal 2.
• the upwardly and inwardly extending lip 7 is made of a flexible material, as mentioned, and is deformed in its upper end, since the plate 3 is positioned on it. An ex ⁇ tremely tight engagement is hereby provided between the plate 3 and the seal 2 at the lip 7.
• the lip 7 has the additional advantage that it can seal extremely effectively in relation to e.g. plates 3 of different diameters.
• the seal 2 of fig. 2 may e.g. be made of a solid flexible plastics material, such as rubber, silicone, latex or the like.
• a solid flexible plastics material such as rubber, silicone, latex or the like.
• the stiffening bead 9 is made of a different and more rigid plastics material so as to pro ⁇ vide the necessary mechanical stability.
• the bead 9 on the seal 2 in fig. 2 may e.g. be replaced by another form of stiffening, such as a metal ring or the like embedded in the seal 2. It is clear that the above embodiments can be varied with ⁇ in the scope of the invention. Thus, the shape of the seal as well as its material may be varied, and the sealing ring 2 may e.g. be produced as a separate unit or as a unit integral with the container.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8096970

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Citations (6)

• 1993
  • 1993-06-22 DK DK73793A patent/DK73793A/da not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1994
  • 1994-06-21 WO PCT/DK1994/000247 patent/WO1995000409A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1994-06-21 AU AU69958/94A patent/AU6995894A/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (6)

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