Patent ID: 9637287
Date: 2017-05-02
CPC Classifications: B65D

Claim:
1. Packaged roast and ground coffee comprising: a plurality of lightweight, thin-walled, mass produced, extrusion blow molded wide mouth containers made of laminated plastic material comprising a moisture barrier and an oxygen barrier; a quantity of roast and ground coffee disposed within each said container; each said container having a blow molded container body, the container body comprising a straight wall finish that includes a top surface having a radial dimension that is between 0.045 in. to 0.1 in. and is substantially equal to a thickness of a container wall at an upper end of the container, the straight wall finish defining a wide mouth opening with a diameter of at least 4 in., and a plurality of snap bead segments circumferentially spaced from one another; each container having a sealing member sealed to said top surface, said sealing member having a one-way valve permitting venting of CO each container having a removable overcap comprising a top wall and a depending skirt, said skirt having an inner surface with at least one locking member dimensioned to engage one or more of said snap bead segments so that said locking member and said snap bead segments are interengageable between locked and unlocked positions, said overcap being initially removable by application of a cap removal force of between 1.5 lbs. and 10 lbs., wherein a standard deviation of the required initial cap removal force is no more than 1.7 among the plurality of lightweight, thin-walled mass produced containers; said packaged roast and ground coffee being capable of withstanding stacking loads as well as loads associated with decreased interior pressure without permitting ingress of air; said finish being susceptible to radially inward displacement in response to pressure within said container being maintained below external pressure, the magnitude of said radially inward displacement being a function of pressure differential and location on said finish; said radially inward displacement being greatest at said top surface, and decreasing as a function of distance below said top surface; said snap bead segments being spaced below said top surface by a predetermined distance sufficient to avoid radially inward displacement of said snap bead segments that would permit removal of said overcap by application of opening force without audible and tactile indications of interengagement or disengagement of said locking member and said snap bead segments when a pressure differential of 4 psi results in inward deformation of said top surface, wherein the straight wall finish does not have a flange at its top surface, wherein said container body has an average wall thickness that increases from the bottom to the top so that sufficient resistance to buckling is provided in upper regions of the container body that have less support and buckling resistance provided by said coffee, wherein a cross-section of at least one portion of the container body below the straight wall finish has a non-circular shape and forms a handle from the laminated plastic material, and wherein said straight wall finish and the container body are blow-molded from the same laminated plastic material.