FR2791649A1 - Container for powder materials has case closed by cover with collar to selectively prevent full engagement of cover with container - Google Patents

Abstract

The container for powder materials has a case (1) closed by a cover (3) fitted into the case. The lower part of the inner face of the cover and the upper part of the external face of the case have fastening formations to hold the cover in place. A movable collar ring (3a) selectively prevents full engagement of the locking formations to limit locking of the cover.

Description

The present invention relates to a storage and distribution container

  a pulverulent product, in particular a food product such as powdered chocolate, sugar, coffee, or a utility product such as in particular a washing powder. The closure of such containers, when they are cylindrical, is done efficiently and without difficulty by screwing the cover onto the body of the container. In fact, it is known that such a shutter mode makes it possible to close the cover with a sufficient shutter force providing good sealing without requiring the user to

very important efforts.

  It is not the same when the cross section of the container is not of circular shape and o, consequently,

  it is no longer possible to use screwing.

  Most of the time, click systems are used. There are thus known storage containers in which the cover is provided with a peripheral bead which comes to take place, due to the elasticity of the container, in a groove provided for this purpose.

in the body of it.

  If the latching force is large enough, it is possible at the same time to ensure the seal between the cover and the body. However, once in place, the cover

  is therefore particularly difficult to remove from the body.

  We also know that it is advantageous to have a container for powdery products which allows both on the one hand direct and rapid access to the storage volume and on the other hand to deliver small quantities of the stored product. , especially to perform a dusting operation. This is why some containers of this type are provided with two lids, namely a main cover giving direct access to the stored product and thereby allowing rapid transfer of large quantities of product, and a smaller secondary cover allowing

  to ensure controlled distribution in small quantities.

  Most of the time, moreover, it is desired, in particular for hygienic reasons, and / or for conservation-related reasons, to close the container by means of a sealed leaktight seal which also provides the consumer with all

  the guarantees of inviolability desired by the latter.

  It is therefore necessary, that before the first use, the user has easy access to this seal in order to be able to eliminate it. Consequently, the first opening of the lid must therefore be able to be easily ensured, while any opening after the elimination of the sealing lid must be difficult to carry out, in particular to avoid the risks of inadvertent opening of this lid. , as well as for sealing reasons. The object of the present invention is to provide such a

storage container.

  The present invention thus relates to a container for storing and distributing pulverulent products, consisting of a body closed by a main cover which can be fitted on the body, the lower part of the internal face of the cover and the upper part of the external face. of the body comprising respective complementary attachment and reception means capable of cooperating with each other to maintain the cover, characterized in that it comprises at least one removable element preventing, when it is in place, the total cooperation of the means of attachment and reception, so as to avoid, at least

  partially, the locking of the cover on the body.

  The removable element can advantageously consist of a flexible strip, which can be located in the extension of the side walls of the cover. This strip can be provided with attachment / reception means intended to cooperate with complementary means of reception / attachment of the body. The flexible strip can be secured to the cover by

  punctual links forming tear points.

  According to the invention the main cover can receive at least two pivoting covers, or annex covers, one of which, of small dimensions, is arranged near one of the edges of the main cover so that it opens towards outside. The main cover may also include a larger annex cover, for example arranged substantially in the center of the

main cover.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the upper part of the body has an edge, substantially perpendicular to its side walls, which extends slightly inward, so as to form a crown. This crown can support a sealing cap which is

sealed on it.

  In order to ensure a good seal between the body and the cover, once the cover removed from the internal face of the cover has partitions which extend towards the inside of the body substantially parallel to the walls of the latter and which come in pressing on the crown, when the main cover is in the locking position on the body. Various embodiments of the present invention will be described below, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the appended drawing in which: FIG. 1 is a side view with partial section

  of a storage container according to the invention.

  Figures 2a and 2b are top views

  body and cover.

  Figures 3a and 3b are views in partial vertical section of a container according to the invention, shown in Figures 1, 2a and 2b respectively in the preceding position

  the first use, and in the use position.

  Figure 4 is a partial vertical sectional view

  of an embodiment of the invention.

  Figure 5a is an enlarged partial vertical sectional view of another alternative embodiment of

the invention.

  Figure 5b is a partial side view of the

  container shown in Figure 5a, the lid thereof

this being removed.

  Figure 6 is a partial vertical sectional view of means for ensuring the seal between the cover

  and the interior of the container body.

  The storage container according to the invention essentially consists of two elements, namely a body 1 and a cover 3. The body 1 has a substantially elliptical cross section, one of the sides being rectilinear and perpendicular to the 'longitudinal axis yy' of the ellipse, thus

  as shown in Figure 2a. The cover 3 receives

  even two pivoting covers, or annexed covers, namely a cover 5 forming a pouring spout, which is arranged so as to open on the small rounded side 4 of the cover 3 and towards the outside, and a cover 7, of larger dimension, which is pivotally mounted around a hinge 9

  perpendicular to the longitudinal axis yy 'of the cover 3.

  The body 1 ends at its upper part with a wall element which is perpendicular to the lateral sides 1a of the body 1 and which thus forms an upper peripheral ring 11, as shown in the figures. This ring 11 serves as a support for a cover 13 which is fixed thereto by any means, and in particular by gluing or welding, in particular thermal or high frequency, so as to ensure a true sealing of this cover. Interestingly, the cover 13 can be "peelable", that is to say

  that it can be detached without being broken.

  The upper part 1b of the body 1 is slightly set back inwards with respect to its side walls, and thus forms a flat 20, and the external faces of this part 1b are hollowed out with two grooves, namely an upper groove 15 , whose cross section is in the form of a V, and a lower groove 17 whose cross section is in the form of a half V, that is to say that its upper wall is substantially perpendicular to the wall

lateral lb of the body 1.

  The lower part of the cover 3 comprises, on its internal face two peripheral elements forming hooks, namely an upper element 21 and a lower element 19. These elements are arranged in such a way that, in the support position of the cover 3 on the peripheral flat 20 of the body 1, these two hooks 19 and 21 respectively take place inside the grooves 17 and 15. The lower part of the cover 3 supporting the lower peripheral element 19 forming a hook in fact constitutes a tongue 3a which s extends over the periphery of the cover 3 and which is attached to the upper part of the latter only by punctual material connections 23 arranged step by step on the periphery of the cover, so as to allow the user to

break easily.

  Under these conditions, the use of the storage and distribution container according to the invention is thus done

as described below.

  Before the first use, the storage container is presented as shown in FIG. 3a, that is to say that the peripheral elements 19 and 21 forming hooks have respectively taken place in the corresponding grooves 17 and 15 of the body 1 and that the cover 13

  closes the upper opening of the body 1.

  The user first grasps the tongue 3a, for example by gripping means 6 provided on the latter and, by exerting a force on this tongue 3a, he separates it from the cover 3. Therefore the cover 3 does not is held on the body 1 only by the peripheral element 21 forming a hook which is housed in the corresponding groove 15. Due to the V-shape thereof, the user, exerting an upward force (arrow F) will have no difficulty removing the cover 3, so that he will therefore have access to the cover 13

that he can easily eliminate.

  The user will then replace the cover 3 on the body 1 by pushing it in such a way that its base comes into abutment on the flat 20 and, consequently, the peripheral element 21 forming a hook is received in the corresponding groove 17 of the upper wall 1b of the body 1. Due to the shape of this groove 17, and the shape of the hook element 21, the cover 3 is then very securely fixed to the body 1. The user can therefore make call, as necessary, the secondary covers 5 and 7 which are arranged on the main cover 3. If the user wishes to use a small amount of stored product, for example to carry out a dusting, he will call on the small cover 5, then that if he wishes to take large quantities of powder using in particular a spoon, he will access the interior of the container through the lid 7 thereof. Because of the solid hold produced by the peripheral element 21 forming a hook, there is then no risk that during these operations, and in particular during a dusting operation, the cover 3 accidentally detaches from the body 1 In an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the recessed upper part lb of the body 1 has only one housing, namely the lower groove 17 whose cross section is in the form of a half V, so that, after removal of the tongue 3a, the cover 3 is almost no longer held relative to the body 1. Therefore the user, to access the cover 13, then no longer has any effort to exert. After elimination of this cover 13, the storage container according to the invention can be used

as previously described.

  In another alternative embodiment of the invention, shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b, the cover 13 has been extended beyond the edge of the crown 11 and, in a few places on the periphery, it has been lowered bands 25 which have taken place in the peripheral groove 17, so as to partially mask the latter, and prevent the peripheral element 21 forming a hook from completely penetrating inside this groove. It follows that, when the cover 13 is in place, that is to say before the first commissioning of the storage container, the cover 3 is not held strongly on the body 1 and that the user to access the cover 13 for the first time will have no significant effort to exert on this cover 3 to separate it from the body 1. Once the user has removed the cover 13, and therefore the strips 25, the setting in place of the cover 3 on the body 1 will be as before and the peripheral element 21 forming a hook can then take place in the groove 17 and will ensure a

  holding the cover 3 firmly on the body 1.

  FIG. 6 shows a vertical and transverse section of a container according to the invention in which the internal walls of the cover 3 have ribs 27 which extend on the internal periphery of the latter and which, when the cover 3 is in the latching position on the body 1, come into contact with the upper wall of the body 1 forming the crown 11. Preferably these elements will be thin in order to have a certain elasticity, so as to allow them to be pushed back upwards by the crown 11 when the cover 3 is snapped onto the body 1, which guarantees a good seal. Conversely, we could also make ribs 27

  rigid and undeformable and a flexible crown 11.

  We could of course, according to the invention, realize the peripheral elements forming a stop on the body 1 of the container, and the peripheral cavities on the face

internal cover.

O10

Claims (11)

  1.- Container for the storage and distribution of powdery products, consisting of a body (1) closed by a main cover (3) which can be fitted on the body (1), the lower part of the internal face of the cover (3) and the upper part (lb) of the external face of the body (1) comprising respective complementary attachment and reception means able to cooperate with each other to maintain the cover, characterized in that it comprises at least one removable element (3a) preventing, when in place, the total cooperation of the attachment means (21) and reception (17), so as to avoid, at least partially, the   locking the cover (3) on the body (1).   2.- container according to claim 1 characterized in that the removable element (3a) consists of a flexible strip.   3.- container according to one of claims 1 or 2   characterized in that the removable element (3a) is provided with attachment / reception means (19,17) intended to cooperate with complementary means (17,19) for reception / attachment of the body (1).   4.- container according to one of claims 2 or 3   characterized in that the flexible strip (3a) is located in the   extension of the side walls of the cover (1).   5.- container according to claim 4 characterized in that the flexible strip (3a) is secured to the cover It <3) by punctual connections (23) forming tearing points.   6.- container according to one of claims 2 or 3   characterized in that the flexible strip (13) is disposed between the cover (3) and the body (1). 7.- Container according to any one of   previous claims characterized in that the cover   (3) constitutes a main cover which receives at least two   covers (5,7), or additional covers, pivotally mounted.   8.- container according to claim 7 characterized in that at least one annex cover (5) of small dimensions is arranged near one of the edges of the main cover (3), so that it opens towards outside.   9.- container according to one of claims   previous characterized in that the upper part of the body (1) has an edge, substantially perpendicular to its side walls, which extends slightly inwards, so as to form a crown (11).   10.- container according to claim 9 characterized in that the crown (11) supports a sealing cap (13) which is sealed on it.   11.- container according to one of claims 9 or   characterized in that the internal face of the cover (3) comprises partitions (27) which extend towards the interior of the body substantially parallel to the walls of the latter and which come to bear on the crown (11), when the main cover (1) is in the locking position on the body (1).