Novel cover and container assembly

There is disclosed a novel cover and container assembly having a container portion and a cover portion wherein there is formed a bellows-like portion of at least two annular grooves separated by a ridge on the cover or container portion for dampening external pressure forces after impact and further having an interlocking assembly providing a contact area between the cover and the container. The interlocking assembly provides a snap-type closing which ensures a tighter fit with less chance of opening with one annular groove including rib members located near the edge of the cover, with the rib members providing means for separating the cover from the container.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a cover and container assembly, in particular to 
a cover and container assembly provided with an hermetic seal and a 
bellows portion for dampening internal pressure forces upon impact. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
With the advent of plastics technology there has been movement in the 
container industry from metal storage cans and containers to like products 
made out of plastic. Such changes in materials of construction has lead to 
problems since plastic containers are more pliable and lack the rigid 
construction of metal containers and thereby are more susceptible to 
accidental opening when dropped or leaking when they are roughly handled 
during transfer operations. Such accidental opening or leaking arises out 
of an increase of internal pressure or force upon the lid and seal of the 
container when the plastic container is deformed. 
Many solutions have been advanced to alleviate these problems by the 
development of interlocking sealing assemblies. One such assembly is a 
single interlocking seal without any other system to attempt to prevent 
such occurrences as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,144 to Dry. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,258 to Von Holdt, there is shown a centrally located 
single shallow annular groove or "corrugation ring" on the cover of a 
plastic container that assists in receiving and dampening internal forces 
when a bucket is dropped. The internal forces dampened by using the 
shallow annular groove are internal forces directed toward the cover of 
the container. The shallow annular groove is not fully able to dampen the 
internal forces that act upon a peripherally located double interlocking 
sealing assembly, and accordingly, the absorption of stresses is at the 
periphery of the lid and the side wall, consequently the sealing assembly 
deforms such that it is caused to "pop open" and thereby spill the 
contents of the container. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,420 to Heisler there is shown an annular V-portion 
of the cover adjacent to a sealing assembly to provide a spring or shock 
member for pressure against the cover. Such V-portion has also been shown 
to be inadequate when the container is dropped since it does not fully 
dampen the internal forces that act upon the sealing assembly since as the 
V-portion deforms to dampen the internal force it also deforms the sealing 
assembly causing the seal to disengage. 
Additionally, all the prior art sealing assemblies require that an 
individual when attempting to open the container must apply a force with a 
flat edge object a plurality of times around the peripheral edge of the 
cover of the container. This procedure can once again lead to the problem 
of accidental spills since it is necessary to rotate the container to 
reach the point where force will be applied. Additionally, the type of 
opening procedure leads to distortion of the sealing assembly which 
prevents tight sealing upon reclosing the container. 
Furthermore, none of the disclosed embodiments in the art provide an 
adequate barrier such that the internal forces generated when a container 
is dropped are dampened in such a manner as to not affect the sealing 
assembly. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel cover and 
container assembly. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel cover and 
container assembly having a single interlocking hermetic seal. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel cover 
and container assembly that relieves internal pressure inside the 
container when it is dropped and deformed upon impact. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel cover and 
container assembly with a hermetic seal having a sealing surface 
accommodating dimensional variations during the manufacture as well as to 
accommodate a greater degree of distortion of the assembly. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a novel cover and 
container assembly which isolates the force that tries to separate the lid 
from the remainder of the container assembly. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel cover 
and container assembly that acts as a shock absorber. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a novel cover and 
container assembly which rebounds back to its original shape after 
deformation. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel cover 
and container assembly resisting separation of the lid and the plastic 
container body on certain kinds of impact. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel cover and 
container assembly that provides a built-in mechanism to open the 
container. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by a novel 
cover and container assembly having a container portion and a cover 
portion wherein there is formed a bellows-like portion of at least two 
annular grooves separated by a ridge on the cover or container portion for 
dampening external pressure forces after impact and further having an 
interlocking assembly providing a contact area between the cover and the 
container. The interlocking assembly provides a snap-type closing which 
ensues a tighter fit with less chance of opening with one annular groove 
including rib members located near the edge of the cover, with the rib 
members providing means for separating the cover from the container. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
A better understanding of the present invention as well as other objects 
and advantages thereof, will become apparent upon consideration of the 
detailed disclosure thereof, especially when taken with the accompanying 
drawings, wherein: 
FIG. 1 is a sectional elevational view of the present invention; 
FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view of another embodiment of the present 
invention. 
FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of another embodiment of an interlocking 
assembly to be used with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a plastic cover and container 
assembly, generally indicated as 10, comprised of a container portion 12 
and a cover portion 14. The container portion 12 is formed of a bottom 
wall 16 and a cylindrically shaped side wall 18 forming a chamber 20 for 
holding miscellaneous material. The side wall 18 extends upwardly 
terminating in an interlocking assembly, generally indicated as 22. 
The assembly 22 is formed of an annular lip portion 24 perpendicular to 
side wall 18, leading to a neck portion 26 offset from said side wall 18. 
The neck portion 26 is continuous with an interior horizontal wall 27 
parallelly disposed to said side wall 18 and a semi-circular portion 28 
returning to and terminating at said neck portion 26 and forming an 
annular locking member 29. 
The cover portion 14 is circular in shape having an outer wall 30 and an 
inner wall 32. The combination of outer wall 30 and inner wall 32 further 
comprises a peripherally-formed annular bellows-like portion of at least 
two grooves and two ridges, defining a radius, generally indicated as 34. 
The peripherally-formed annular bellows-like portion 34 is comprised of an 
outer peripheral ridge portion 36 continuous with an outer annular groove 
38. Continuous with the outer annular groove 38 is an inner ridge portion 
40 and an inner annular groove 42. Ridge portion 36 cooperatively forming 
with outer annular groove 38 interlocking assembly 44 which is positioned 
to cooperatively engage the interlocking assembly 22 on side wall 18 of 
container portion 12. Said outer peripheral ridge portion 36 having been 
formed by said outer wall 30 and said inner wall 32 of said cover 14 and 
downwardly directed edge wall member 46. Inserted within the outer annular 
groove area is a plurality of rib members, generally indicated as 48, to 
assist in removing the cover portion 14 from side wall 18. 
Outer annular groove 38 is formed with an outwardly directed abutting 
portion 49. The said outwardly directed abutting portion 49 located on the 
inner wall 32 of cover 14 which in conjunction with the downwardly 
directed wall member 46 form an annular locking slot 50 of a conforming 
shape wherein the annular locking member 29 of sidewall 18 can be 
cooperatively inserted to form a tight fit and form a seal. This thereby 
joins the interlocking assembly 22 of side wall 18 with the interlocking 
assembly 44 of cover 14. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a plastic cover and container 
assembly, generally indicated as 110, comprised of a container portion 112 
and a cover portion 114. 
The container portion 112 is formed of a bottom wall 116 and a 
cylindrically shaped side wall 118 forming a chamber 120. The bottom wall 
116 is formed with a peripherally-formed annular bellows-like portion of 
at least two grooves separated by a ridge, generally indicated as 122. The 
peripherally-formed annular bellows-like portion 122 is comprised of an 
outer annular groove 124, a ridge 126 and an inner annular groove 128. 
Side wall 118 extends upwardly terminating in an interlocking assembly, 
generally indicated as 130. Interlocking assembly 130 is formed of an 
annular lip portion 132 perpendicular to side wall 118, and extending 
therefrom a neck portion 133 offset from said side wall 118. The neck 
portion 133 terminates in an annular bead member 134. 
The cover portion 114 is formed of a top wall 136 terminating in a 
peripherally-disposed interlocking assembly, generally indicated as 138, 
which is cooperatively engageable with the interlocking assembly 130 on 
side wall 118 to form a seal. The peripherally-disposed interlocking 
assembly 138 is formed of an outer peripheral ridge portion 142 continuous 
with an interior annular groove 144. The combination of the outer 
peripheral ridge portion 142 and the interior annular groove 144 form an 
annular locking slot 146 of a conforming shape to the annular bead member 
134 of sidewall 118 so the bead member 134 can be cooperatively inserted 
to form a tight fit. Inserted within the interior annular groove area is a 
plurality of rib members, generally indicated as 140, to assist in 
removing the cover portion 114 from side wall 118. 
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown another embodiment of a sealing 
assembly, generally indicated as 200, which can replace the interlocking 
assemblies shown in FIGS. 1 or 2. 
Sealing assembly 200 is comprised of a container portion 212 and a cover 
portion 214. The container portion 212 is formed of a bottom wall (not 
shown) and a cylindrically shaped side wall 216. The side wall 216 extends 
upwardly terminating in an interlocking assembly generally indicated as 
218. Interlocking assembly 218 is formed of an annular lip portion 220 
perpendicular to side wall 216, and extending therefrom a neck portion 222 
offset from said side wall 216. The neck portion 222 terminates in an 
annular angular member 224. 
The cover portion 214 is formed of a top wall 226 terminating in a 
peripherally-disposed interlocking assembly generally indicated as 228, 
which is cooperatively engageable with the interlocking assembly 218 on 
side wall 216 to form a seal. The peripherally-disposed interlocking 
assembly 228 is formed of an outer peripheral ridge portion 232 continuous 
with an interior annular groove 234. Additionally, interior annular groove 
234 contains a plurality of rib members 235 to assist in separating the 
cover portion 214 from the container portion 212. 
Sealing assembly 200 can be substituted for the sealing assemblies shown 
and described in FIGS. 1 and 2 in combination with the bellows-like device 
described therein. 
The combination of the outer peripheral ridge portion 232 and the interior 
annular groove 234 form an annular locking slot 236 of a conforming shape 
to the annular angular member 224 on the side wall 216 of container 212. 
Annular angular member 224 can be cooperatively inserted into locking slot 
236 to form a seal. 
The bellows-like portion located on either the cover portion or the 
container portion, whether peripherally or internally disposed, acts so as 
to shield a slow rate of increase of an internal pressure and lowers the 
maximum pressure level it would otherwise reach after an impact. The 
specific radius of the bellows-like portion is a function of the desired 
degree of deflection wherein the lengthening or the reducing of the radius 
will vary according to the materials of manufacture and dimensions. 
Additionally, the bellows-like portion allows the container to rebound 
back to the original shape of the container. Further, the bellows-like 
portion dampens any internal pressure from acting upon the seal. 
Numerous modifications and variations of the above disclosed invention are 
possible in light of the above teachings and, therefore, within the scope 
of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than any 
particularly described.