VACUUM FOOD CONTAINER

Abstract: Disclosed is a vacuum food container having gas discharging means to facilitate ripening of food (41) to cook the food (41) in a microwave oven, and to increase the quality of goods. A vacuum food container comprises a food container (40) having a ring-shape protusion being formed around the mouth and a lid (30) having a hooked jaw to cover the food container (40). An elastic body having a ring-shape formed inside of the lid (30) adheres closely to the upper portion of the ring-shape protusion. For discharging a gas generated from the food (41), a gas circulation groove is formed around the elastic body and at least one incision groove is formed by incising a section of the hooked jaw.

Description: VACUUM FOOD CONTAINER TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a vacuum food container, more particularly to a vacuum food container which discharges gas formed during ripening or cooking process of the food stored in a vacuum state in the vacuum food container, while preventing discharging of the food contents . BACKGROUND ART In general, a vacuum food container has been used widely for long-time safe-keeping and quality maintainance of food. Described below is a conventional food container for storing foods such as fermented food or instant food. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional vacuum food container. As shown in FIG. 1, food 13 can be stored inside of a food container 10. There is a mouth at the upper portion of a food container 10, and a ring-shape protrusion 11 is formed around the mouth. A lid 20 of the food container 10 maintains the sealing state and is affixed to the food container 10 using ring-shape protrusion 11. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a conventional vacuum food container showing a combination state of ring-shape protrusion 11 and lid 20 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2 , there is a ring-shape protrusion 11 having projection and depression portions around the mouth of the food container 10. There is a hooked jaw 21 which can be hooked at ring-shape protrusion 11 around circumference of the lid 20. At the contact area of upper portion of ring-shape protrusion 11 and lid 20, there is a gasket 25 made of a material such as thermoplastic material or rubber. The food container is stuffed with manufactured food 13, then its inside is made into a vacuum state, and sealed up by lid 20. The assembly process of lid 20 is operated by the vertical force to the upper surface of the lid 20. Then a part of compressed hooked jaw 21 is recovered, and ring- shape protrusion 11 is adhered closely to the hooked jaw 21. At that time, gasket 25 is adhered closely to the upper portion of ring-shape protrusion 11, and inside of the food container 10 is sealed up. Thereafter, the vacuum state of the food container 10 is maintained. During the initial state of storing food immediately after, the inner pressure is maintained at a lower state than the outer pressure because the inside of the container is a vacuum. Since lid 20 is adhered closely to the food container 10, it prohibits overflowing of the contents. However, if food 13 such as kimch'i generates the gas such as C0 2 due to ripening, the inner pressure becomes high. However, there is no gas discharging means. Thus, if the inner pressure becomes exceedingly high, a portion of lid 20 is lifted up. Then, the gaε generated and food liquid are discharged outside, thus leading to a problem of low- quality goods. Also, the number of instant foods packed in the conventional vacuum food container has been increased. These goods could have been cooked using the microwave oven conventionally. However, conventional vacuum food container has not been equipped with gas discharging means. If food is cooked in the vacuum food container without opening the lid 20, the gas generated at the instant food causes rising of food container 10 pressure. If the inner pressure is too high, there is a danger of explosion. Therefore, it is necessary to open the lid or move the food to another container. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum food container having gas discharging means so that the container discharges gas formed during ripening or cooking process only and prevents discharging the contents . The above object of the present invention can be achieved by providing a vacuum food container comprising a container having a ring-shape protrusion formed around a mouth; a lid having a hooked jaw to cover the food container; an elastic body having a ring shape inside the lid to adhere closely to the upper portion of the ring-shape protrusion; and discharging means formed in the lid for discharging gas generated from the food. It is preferred that the cross-section of the elastic body comprises a gasket having a downward slope in a radial direction. Also, it is preferable that the discharging means includes a gas circulation groove formed around the elastic body and at least one incision groove formed by incising the section of the hooked jaw. At thiε time, it is possible that the incision groove is formed plurally at equal distanceε along the hooked jaw. According to the construction as described above, the vacuum food container maintains the vacuum state because the gasket is adhered closely to the upper portion of the ring- shape protrusion. If gas is generated, inner pressure rises, which makes a gap between the gasket and the ring- shape protrusion. The gas which is discharged at the gap is discharged outside through gas circulation groove and incision groove which exists at hooked jaw. According to the present invention, since the gas generated inside is discharged properly at high pressure, discharging of the contents or explosion of the food container will be prevented. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The object and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood to those skilled in the art with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional vacuum food container; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional enlargement view of a conventional vacuum food container as shown in FIG. 1 showing a combination state of ring-shape protrusion and lid; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum food container according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a vacuum food container showing a combination state of ring- shape protrusion and lid and a flow of gas shown in FIG. 3; Fig. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a vacuum food container showing a lid shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 6 is an enlarged crosε-εectional view of a vacuum food container εhowing a gasket area εhown in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a vacuum food container showing a lid shown in FIG. 3; and FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a vacuum food container showing incision groove area shown in FIG. 7. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will now be described in detail referring to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum food container according to one embodiment of the present invention. According to FIG. 3, food 41 is contained inside of the food container 40 and the mouth located at the upper portion of the food container 40 is assembled with lid 30. FIG. 4 is an enlarged crosε-sectional view of a vacuum food container showing a combination εtate of ring- shape protrusion 43 and lid 30 and a flow of gas shown in FIG. 3. The solid line represents the position of lid 30 in a tightly sealed state, the dotted line represents the position of lid 30 in a gas discharging εtate in FIG. 4. According to FIG. 4, there is a ring-shape protruεion 43 around the mouth of food container 40. This ring-shape protrusion 43 can be adhered closely to the hooked jaw 31 which iε protruded inεide from εide wall 37 of lid 30. Hooked jaw 31 is formed uniformly around the circumference direction of the side wall 37. The incision groove 35 which is incised along the cross-section of hooked jaw 31 is formed at the same distance. A ring-type gasket 39 is put between upper portion of ring-shape protrusion 43 and inside of lid 30. The gasket 39 is assembled to lid 30. A cross-section of gasket 39 shows a trapezoid type having a downward slope in a radial direction. Gasket 39 is made of a material such as thermoplastic material, rubber, etc. The gas circulation groove 38 is formed sinkingly between gasket 39 and hooked jaw 31. The gas circulation groove 38 is a ring shape around the circumference of lid 30, and sinks towards the upper portion of lid 30. Fig. 5 is a partial crosε-εectional view of a vacuum food container showing a lid shown in FIG. 3. According to FIG. 5, the height of lid 30 is relatively lower than the height of food container 40, and incision groove 35 is located at hooked jaw 31 at same distance. FIG. 6 iε an enlarged cross-sectional view of a vacuum food container showing a gasket area shown in FIG. 5. According to FIG. 6, the constitution of lid 30 is the same as indicated in the explanation of FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a vacuum food container showing a lid 30 shown in FIG. 3. According to FIG. 7, the lid 30 is formed in a circular shape. The gasket 39 is formed uniformly at the edge area of lid 30. FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a vacuum food container showing incision groove area shown in FIG. 7. According to FIG. 8, the side wall 37 is formed at the edge of lid 30, and the hooked jaw 31 protrudes from side wall 37 towards the inside of lid 30 at the inside of side wall 37. The incision grooves 35 are arranged at 60 degrees from center of lid 30. The gasket 31 is fixed at the hooked jaw 31. When the user packs food 41 in a vacuum state, the food 41 is stored in the food container 40, after which the inside of the food container 40 iε made into a vacuum state. The user then closes the food container 40 with lid 30. In that case, the hooked jaw 31 is deformed elastically upon contacting with ring-shape protrusion 43. The hooked jaw 31 which passes over the ring-shape protrusion 43 is fixed at food container 40 so that some portion of the ring-shape protrusion 43 is recovered. At this time, gasket 39 makes contact with upper portion of ring-shape protrusion 43, so that the inside of food container is sealed tightly. The vacuum packing process of food using the present invention is completed. When the fermented food packed within a vacuum state has been kept for some time period or been maintained at a high temperature, a gas such as C0 2 is generated due to ripening of food. When the instant food packed within a vacuum state has been cooked in the microwave oven, gas is generated due to cooking of food. The gas generated causes rising of food container 40 pressure. As shown in FIG. 4, as the inner pressure of food container 40 becomes higher, the lid 30 is lifted. The position of lid 30 is indicated with a dotted line. The inner pressure pushes up the lid 30, thus the portion of gasket 39 is recovered by elasticity. Then, the gas leakε through gap between gaεket 39 and ring-shape protrusion 43. The leaked gas is discharged outside through gas circulation groove 38 and incision groove 35. If the gas circulation groove 38 does not exist for the microwave oven cooking, the lid 30 is sprung up and the food container 40 is opened or is exploded by gas expansion. Therefore, the gas circulation groove 38 absorbε the shock of gas expansion. When the preεsure is lowered as the gas iε leaked, the gasket 39 adheres closely to upper portion of ring- shape protrusion 43 again by elasticity of hooked jaw 31. Fermented foods such as soybean pastes, thick soypastes mixed with red peppers, or pickled sea foods or instant foods can be packed within a vacuum state and circulated in a vacuum food container according to the present invention. The lid can be made of heat-resisting plaεtic, while the container can be made of glass. Therefore, the vacuum food container is helpful to recycle resources and to protect environment. Moreover, the packing cost can be reduced since the structure is simple. The vacuum food container according to the present invention can maintain the sealed εtate and diεcharge the gaε with appropriate preεεure, even though the gas was generated inside according to the ripening or cooking of food. Therefore, discharging of the contents due to high presεure will be prevented. Accordingly, benefitε include the smooth ripening of food, convenience and high quality of goods . It εhould be obvious to people skilled in the art that various other modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit or the εcope of the invention.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. A vacuum food container, comprising: a food container having a ring-shape protrusion being formed around a mouth; a lid having a hooked jaw to cover said food container; an elastic body having a ring shape formed inside of the lid to adhere closely to an upper portion of the ring- shape protrusion; and discharging means formed in the lid for discharging a gas generated from food. 2. The vacuum food container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cross-section of the elastic body comprises a gasket having a downward slope in a radial direction. 3. The vacuum food container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the discharging means includes: a gas circulation groove formed around the elastic body; and at least one incision groove formed by inciεing a section of the hooked jaw. 4. The vacuum food container aε claimed in claim 3, wherein the incision grooves are formed plurally at equal diεtances along the hooked jaw.

Inventors: PARK JUN-MYEONG, PARK, JUN-MYEONG
Applicants: PARK JUN MYEONG, PARK, JUN-MYEONG
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B65D81
IPC codes: B65D41, B65D51, B65D81