Abstract:
A sealed container comprising a cup and lid and a method for sealing such a container is disclosed. The cup has a lip with a raised sealing bead along its length. During sealing, the raised sealing bead compresses, thereby stretching the adhesive layer on the lower portion of the lid out of the way and forming a direct welded seal with the heat-resistant layer of the lid. The adhesive to either side of the sealing bead forms an adhesive seal between the lid and the remaining portion of the lip. This type of double seal is particularly effective in forming a durable, consistent seal when product is present on the lip of the container. The welded seal is also well suited to situations when the cup may be warped or the sealing bead is otherwise caused to be higher along some portion of its length than along other portions.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates broadly to containers, and in particular relates to a container having a peel-away lid with a dual seal, and a method for double-sealing a peel-away lid to a container. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many types of food products, both liquid and solid, are packaged in containers with peel-off lids. Such containers are often designed to hold single portions of items such as condiments and toppings, and are thus referred to as “portion cups.” Portion cups are commonly found in restaurants and contain such products as margarine, sour cream, and salad dressings. Solid materials that may be packaged in portion cups include ground pepper and various other seasonings. Portion cups are available in various sizes matched to the normal portion of the materials they are designed to contain. The container itself is generally formed of a plastic material, and may be molded in many shapes, including cylindrical, rectangular, and frustoconical varieties. 
     Portion cups have become popular because they may be produced relatively inexpensively while offering great convenience to the consumer. Such containers may be easily opened without the need for tools or opening devices. Generally, such containers are formed with a lip or flange extending laterally outward from the open top, to which the lid is sealed with some type of adhesive. The lid generally includes a tab or other handhold portion that extends beyond or above the lip. By gripping the tab and pulling back across the top of the lid, the consumer may easily open the container without spilling its contents. 
     One of the chief difficulties encountered in designing containers with peel-off lids is the maintenance of a consistent seal strength for all such containers produced. Numerous factors may affect the seal strength for the lids of such containers, such as the temperature at which the seal is made, the pressure applied to the lid during the sealing process, and the particular properties of the adhesive used. When a seal is formed that is too strong, the container becomes difficult to open, and may lead to the consumer using a knife or other potentially dangerous methods of reaching the contents inside. If the seal strength is too weak, then the container may leak during shipment or storage. Rough handling during shipment is a common problem for containers of this sort, as they are most often dropped into large boxes in groups of several hundred with no special padding or packaging to protect them from contact with other containers. If a container spills during shipment under these conditions, the entire box of product may be ruined as the contents of one or a few containers spills onto the other containers. Various environmental factors such as temperature and humidity may weaken seal strength during storage even when the seal strength was within specified tolerances at the time of manufacture. Consumers will reject a container that is not properly sealed, and the defect may reflect poorly on the food vendor that offered the product to the consumer. 
     Still another problem encountered in sealing containers with peel-away lids is that some portion of the packaged product may be present on the lip of the container prior to seating of the lid during the sealing process. Liquids may splash or spill onto the lip of such containers during filling, and powders or granulated materials may settle onto the lip of such containers in the form of a dust. This problem is exacerbated by the high speed at which the filling operation must proceed in order to keep production costs low. When a lid is applied to a container when such material is present on the container&#39;s lip, the seal in that region of the lip will be poor and the container is far more likely to leak during shipment or storage. 
     The prior art includes various attempts to improve the durability and consistency of the lid seal for peel-off lid containers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,603 to Akazawa et al. teaches a container having “microdents” along a sealing layer in the flange or lip portion of the container, or along the sealing portion of the lid. These microdents are arranged in various patterns in the form of dots along the sealing surface between the lip and lid of the container. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,748 to Drummond et al. teaches a tubular container with a lid having an adhesive layer; the lid is sealed using heat and pressure. As the lid is pressed onto the lip of the container, the adhesive in the adhesive layer is pressed outward from the center of the lip, forming an outer adhesive bead and inner adhesive bead from the adhesive build-up at the edges of the lip. A thin layer of adhesive may remain between the lid and container lip, or the container and lid may Make contact in the center of the lip, such that the entire seal is formed by the inner and outer adhesive beads. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,008 to Gross et al. teaches a method for attaching together two pieces of cardboard using a heater with truncated pyramid-shaped projections. One piece of the cardboard has an adhesive layer that contacts the other piece. As the heater is pressed onto the upper piece of cardboard, pressure from the projections causes adhesive to flow outward from beneath the projections and collect in areas between the projections. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,405 to Walter teaches a lid and container seal wherein an incompressible rib is formed along the lip of the container. The lid has an adhesive layer that forms a seal with the rib, but the adhesive does not necessarily contact the flat portion of the lip, and no seal with the flat portion of the lip is formed. The rib is sealed to the lid with adhesive, and does not deform during sealing. The pressure applied in this sealing process is not great enough such that the rib pushes through the adhesive layer and comes into contact with the portion of the lid beneath the adhesive layer. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,513 to Gossedge et al. teaches a container with a lip having a plastic upper surface and a lid with a plastic lower surface. The lid and container lip are heat sealed together, forming two “ears” of material at the outer and inner edges of the seal. The “ears” consist of a plastic core formed of material from the lip which is joined to the lip by a thin “root,” and an envelope encasing the core formed of material from the lid. 
     None of the prior art methods described above adequately overcome the problems of forming a consistent seal on a container, particularly when the container may contain overflow of product on the container lip. This problem, particularly acute when solid materials are to be placed in the container, will interfere with each of these sealing methods, resulting in a weak seal when material is present. What is desired is a method for sealing a peel-off lid on a container such that a tight seal is formed even when material may be present on the lip of the container during the sealing process. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art through a double sealing method to provide a consistent seal even when the lip of the container may be contaminated with overflow product. The container comprises a lid and a cup, with the cup having a lip with a raised sealing bead that runs along its length. The lid includes an adhesive layer on its lower side. The raised sealing bead is compressible, which allows a weld to form between the bead and the lid when the lid is pressed into place, while at the same time an adhesive seal is formed between the lid and the remaining portion of the lip. Thus the lid is sealed to the container both by the weld between the sealing bead and the lid, and by the adhesive bond between the lid and the remaining portion of the lip. 
     To attach the lid to the container according to the present invention, the lid is positioned over the cup and pressed into place while heat is applied. The heat causes the adhesive to bond the lip to the lid. The raised bead, however, will compress and deform under pressure, thereby stretching adhesive on the lid directly above the bead to either side of the bead, thus allowing the bead and lid to make direct contact. This direct contact is necessary for the weld to form. In addition, the smaller surface area of the bead with respect to the lid as a whole results in much greater pressure along the bead during sealing than would be experienced on the lip if no bead were used. Direct contact between the bead and lid under this high pressure causes the weld between the bead and lid, thereby forming an additional seal between the container and lid. 
     Any irregularities in the height or shape of the bead will be smoothed during the sealing process as a result of the bead&#39;s compressibility. If the lip of the container should become deformed such that the bead has a high point, that portion of the bead will be subject to correspondingly greater pressure during the sealing process. This higher pressure will cause the bead to compress further at the high point, thereby evening the height of the bead along its length automatically as sealing takes place. In a preferred embodiment, the bead has a relief pocket beneath it that increases the compressibility of the bead during the sealing process, enhancing the ability of the bead to stretch adhesive away from the lid to allow the weld to form, and increasing the capacity of the bead to even itself in height as a result of pressure during sealing. 
     This double sealing method is particularly well-suited to forming a seal when material has flowed onto the lip of the container. The direct weld between the bead and the lid is along a relatively small surface area of the lip, which reduces the likelihood that any material falling onto the lip would interfere with this bond. More importantly, however, the relatively high pressure between the bead and the lid during sealing will tend to force any material present on the bead to either side of the bead, thereby allowing a firm, solid seal to take place. This is particularly effective with respect to liquid or flowable materials that may have spilled onto the lid, since they may be pushed aside from the bead during sealing. Powders and granulated solids are also pushed aside by the process, thereby allowing a solid welded seal to form. 
     It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a container with a peel-off lid that has a reduced likelihood of leaking or spilling during shipment or storage. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a container with a peel-off lid that has a double seal between the lid and container lip. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a container that will seal when product is spilled onto the lip of the container prior to sealing. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a container with a sealing bead along its lip that will properly seal when the sealing bead has been warped or deformed prior to sealing. 
    
    
     Other objects of the invention will be evident from the description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and the drawings that follow. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, with the lid shown partially peeled away. 
     FIG. 2 is a cut-away view of the lip of a container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a cut-away view of the lip of a container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing a portion of the lid of the container positioned in place prior to sealing. 
     FIG. 4 is a cut-away view of the lip of a container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing a portion of the lid of the container after sealing. 
     FIG. 5 is a cut-away view of the lip of a container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing a portion of the lid of the container positioned in place prior to sealing when particles of product are present on the container lip. 
     FIG. 6 is a cut-away view of the lip of a container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing a portion of the lid of the container after sealing when particles of product are present on the container lip prior to sealing. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of a container according to the present invention can be described. Container  10  is a portion cup constructed of cup  11  and lid  12 . Container  10  is preferably formed of a plastic material, preferably high density polyethylene or polypropylene, but can be of any material of sufficient strength to protect the product within the cup. Cup  11  has an open top and is generally frustoconical in shape, but can be of any desired shape as appropriate for the product to be packaged and for the means of shipping and storing container  10 , including cylindrical and rectangular shapes. In one preferred embodiment, using a cup  11  of inverted frustoconical shape designed to hold 1.25 fl. oz. of product, cup  11  has walls formed of high density polyethylene having a thickness of 0.017 inches, with a height of 1.135 inches and a  10 ° slope on its sides from the vertical. Also in a preferred embodiment, cup  11  has a cylindrical portion  15  that connects its frustoconical portion  17  to lip  14 , cylindrical portion  15  having a height of 0.164 inches and an inside diameter of 2.169 inches. 
     Cup  11  has a lip  14  that extends transversely from the open top of cup  11  to which the periphery of lid  12  is sealed. Lip  14  must be of sufficient width to form a seal with lid  12  as described below. In a preferred embodiment of cup  11  designed to hold 1.25 oz. of product, lip  14  is annular and has a width of 0.115 inches. 
     Lid  12  is generally designed to match the size and shape of lip  14  for a smooth fit, but also includes a tab  13  that extends beyond lip  14  such that the user may grip tab  13  easily to open container  10 . As shown in FIG. 1, container  10  has been partially opened by pulling tab  13  back across the open top of cup  11 . Referring now to FIG. 3, the three layers of lid  12  are shown; the lower layer is adhesive layer  20 , which is topped by a middle foil layer  22 , followed by an outer paper layer  24 . Paper layer  24  may preferably be constructed of C1S Stainless Paper, which is generally regarded as a “grease-proof” material. Outer paper layer  24  is preferably attached to middle foil layer  22  using LDPE or EEA adhesive as are known in the art. Middle foil layer  22  is preferably formed of a thickness in the range of 0.0005 to 0.001 inches, and may be formed of any alloy that provides a sufficient moisture barrier between outer paper layer  24  and the product within container  10 . Adhesive layer  20  may preferably be formed in a film, which is attached to middle foil layer  22  with an LDPE adhesive or urethane adhesive. In the preferred embodiment, adhesive layer  20  is about 0.00125 inches thick. 
     Again referring to FIG.  1  and FIG. 2, raised sealing bead  16  runs the length of lip  14 . In the preferred embodiment, sealing bead  16  has relief pocket  18  underneath it and running along its length. In this configuration, the wall thickness of lip  14  remains relatively constant instead of becoming thicker at sealing bead  16 . In the preferred embodiment of container  10  designed to hold 1.25 oz. of product, sealing bead  16  may have a width of 0.050 inches and a height above lip  14  of 0.010 inches, and relief pocket  18  has a width of 0.014 inches and depth of 0.011 inches. Also in a preferred embodiment, sealing bead  16  is located approximately mid-way between the inner and outer edges of lip  14 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the process for sealing lid  12  onto cup  11  according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. Lid  12  is fed into place above cup  11  and aligned properly so that the outer edge of lid  12  will match the outer edge of lip  14  when sealing is complete. It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 3, lid  12  must extend slightly from the edge of lip  14  prior to sealing because of the compression of sealing bead  16  as described below. The amount of offset in lid  12  and lip  14  necessary such that they will be properly positioned relative to one another after the seal is formed depends upon the width and height of sealing bead  16 , as well as the thickness of the material used to form lip  14 . 
     Once lid  12  is in place above lip  14 , heater head  19  descends upon lid  12  as shown in FIG.  3 . Heater head  19  applies both heat and pressure to lid  12  as well as to lip  14 . In the preferred embodiment, heater head  19  is at a temperature of about 400 degrees Fahrenheit during sealing, and heater head  19  applies approximately 40 pounds per square inch of pressure to lid  12  for a duration of 0.5 seconds. Heat reaches lip  14  conductively through lid  12  from heater head  19 . As shown in FIG. 3, when heater head  19  just touches lid  12 , adhesive layer  20  of lid  12  is in contact with sealing bead  16  but is not in contact with the other portions of lip  14 . Foil layer  22  is not in contact with either sealing bead  16  or lip  14 . 
     As heater head  19  presses down upon lid  12 , a large amount of pressure is placed upon sealing bead  16 . This pressure is considerably greater than the pressure that would be effected upon lip  14  if sealing bead  16  were not present, because of the correspondingly lesser area occupied by the face of sealing bead  16  as compared to lip  14 . This pressure causes sealing bead  16  to compress as shown in FIG. 4, thereby reducing the height of sealing bead  16  and increasing both the width of sealing bead  16  and lip  14 . This pressure and deformation of sealing bead  16  also causes that portion of adhesive layer  20  directly above sealing bead  16  to “stretch” to the inside and outside of sealing bead  16 . It should be noted that the heat from heater head  19  serves to activate adhesive layer  20 , which partially liquefies adhesive layer  20  thereby furthering the “stretching” process. 
     Once the portion of adhesive layer  20  above sealing bead  16  is removed in this manner, sealing bead  16  and foil layer  22  of lid  12  come into direct contact. This direct contact further heats sealing bead  16 , partially melting a portion of the top of sealing bead  16  and thereby welding it to lid  12  at foil layer  22 . It should be noted that relief pocket  18  makes sealing bead  16  compressible at much lower pressures from heater head  19 . 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the pressure of heater head  19  onto lid  12  also causes adhesive layer  20  of lid  12  to come into contact with lip  14 . This forms an adhesive bond between lid  12  and lip  14  to the inside and outside of sealing bead  16 . The result of this process is a double seal between cup  11  and lid  12 ; a welded seal between sealing bead  16  and foil layer  22 , and an adhesive seal between lip  14  and adhesive layer  20 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the sealing method described above is applied to the situation where particles of product  26  from cup  11  are present on lip  14 . The high pressure present on top of sealing bead  16  as explained above, in addition to the compression of sealing bead  16  which creates a “stretching” effect on adhesive layer  20 , combine to force particles  26  away from sealing bead  16  and toward one edge of lip  14 . In the example of FIG. 6, one of particles  26  remains trapped between adhesive layer  20  and lip  14 , thereby interfering with the adhesive seal between lid  12  and lip  14 . If sealing bead  16  were not present, the resulting seal might be insufficient to contain the product within container  10  during shipment and storage. But because sealing bead  16  has formed a weld with foil layer  22  of lid  12 , container  10  is more likely to remain uncompromised even during rough handling or long storage after shipment. It should be noted that in the case of a particle  26  that is present on lip  14  near its inner or outer edge, the “stretching” effect on adhesive layer  20  is likely to push that particle  26  completely off of lip  14 , thereby allowing a firm adhesive seal to take place between lid  12  and cup  11  in addition to the welded seal resulting from the use of sealing bead  16 . 
     Referring again to FIGS. 4, it will now be described how the present invention allows for automatic compensation when sealing bead  16  may be of uneven height. This may occur for a number of reasons, including warping of cup  11  due to temperature, rough handling of cup  11  prior to or during filling, or imprecise seating of cup  11  during the filling process. If certain points on sealing bead  16  are higher than others, then these points will first make contact with heater head  19  as it descends during the sealing process. Because only one point or a few points will be in contact with heater head  19 , the pressure at these points will be very high, corresponding to the very small area over which the force of heater head  19  is spread. This very high pressure will serve to compress these points on sealing bead  16  to a greater extent than the lower portions, thereby resulting in a sealing bead  16  that is compressed to a roughly equal height at all points along its length at the completion of the sealing process. Because sealing bead  16  will be compressed to a relatively equal height at all points along its length, the resulting weld between sealing bead  16  and foil layer  22  of lid  12  will be of equal strength at all points along sealing bead  16 , thereby maximizing the ability of container  10  to withstand rough handling or other environmental factors that might cause container  10  to otherwise leak or spill.