Patent ID: 9643757
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: B65D,G06Q

Claim:
1. A method of merchandising lids and vessels, comprising a sequence of the following steps: providing for separate purchase by a consumer of a lid having a universal capability to match to a plurality of vessels fabricated of different materials and having different manufacturing dimensional tolerances, each vessel having an open top region surrounded by a peripheral portion including a generally flat top edge portion and a latch engagement lip portion, the lid comprising: a lid portion fabricated of a plastic material, and a peripheral seal structure portion formed of an elastomeric material different from said plastic material of the lid portion, the peripheral seal structure portion integrated with the lid portion to form a unitary one-piece lid-seal structure, wherein the peripheral seal structure portion is permanently attached to the lid portion; a set of latches integrated with the lid portion by living hinges, each of said latches having a hook feature configured to engage the latch engagement lip portion of each of the plurality of vessels when the lip is placed on the vessel and the latch is rotated about the hinge to a latched position; the peripheral seal structure portion comprising a main body portion attached to the lid portion, a second seal portion comprising a protruding spring portion, and a third seal portion comprising a compression portion, the protruding spring portion of the peripheral seal structure portion configured to flex as it is brought into contact with and to absorb flatness variability of the generally flat top edge portion, while the compression portion is configured to contact the generally flat edge portion and compress in response to latch closure to provide adequate latch retention force to hold the lid latches in the latched position; and wherein the peripheral seal structure portion is configured to provide an air-tight seal between the lid portion and the generally flat top edge portion of each of the plurality of vessels when the lid is attached to the vessel with the latches in the latched position; and providing for separate purchase by a consumer of the plurality of vessels each configured to match to the lid, each vessel a unitary structure having an open top region defined by a bottom portion, a sidewall portion and the peripheral rim portion, and wherein different ones of the vessels and their respective peripheral rim portions are fabricated of materials different from others of the plurality of vessels, and wherein the different materials of the plurality of vessels have different manufacturing dimensional vessel tolerances.