Patent Publication Number: US-2015068944-A1

Title: Container

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/336,380 (hereinafter referred to as the &#39;380 application) and claims priority of Chinese Application No. 201310403949.1, filed on Sep. 6, 2013. The &#39;380 application, entitled “Automatic Bread Maker Assembly” was filed on Jul 21, 2014 and claims priority of Chinese Application No. 201410128274.9, filed on Apr. 1, 2014. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a container, and more particularly to a container stackable on another container for preventing tight contact therebetween. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     On the market, there are different shapes of containers, such as a pudding cup or a tofu box. A conventional container generally has a base wall and a surrounding wall that extends upwardly from the base wall and that is inclined outwardly from the base wall to a top end of the surrounding wall. The base wall and the surrounding wall cooperatively define a receiving space for receiving items. After manufacture, the conventional containers are stacked together in order to be conveniently stored or transported. For saving storing space, the base wall and the surrounding wall of each of the containers are inserted into the receiving space of another one of the containers. However, such stacking may cause excessively close contact between adjacent containers. Under the environmental atmospheric pressure, the stacked containers may be hard to separate from one another, thereby resulting in inconvenience during use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a container that may alleviate the aforesaid drawback of the prior art. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, a container includes a base wall, a surrounding wall, an annular flange and a plurality of recessed parts. The surrounding wall extends upwardly from the base wall. The base wall and the surrounding wall cooperatively define a receiving space. 
     The annular flange extends around and projects outwardly from a top open end of the surrounding wall distal from the base wall. 
     The recessed parts are indented from an inner surface of the surrounding wall in proximity to the annular flange, and protrude outwardly from an outer surface of the surrounding wall. 
     When the container is stacked on another similar container, the recessed parts of the container are able to abut against the annular flange of another similar container to prevent tight contact between the container and the another similar container. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a stack of containers including a plurality of container bodies stacked one above the other. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, each of the container bodies includes a base wall, a surrounding wall, an annular flange and a plurality of recessed parts. 
     The surrounding wall extends upwardly and is inclined outwardly from the base wall, and has a plurality of corners. The base wall and the surrounding wall cooperatively define a receiving space. 
     The annular flange extends around and projects outwardly from a top open end of the surrounding wall distal from the base wall. 
     The recessed parts are indented respectively from inner surfaces of the corners in proximity to the annular flange and protrude outwardly and respectively from outer surfaces of the corners. 
     The recessed parts of each of the container bodies are seated on the annular flange of a lower one of the container bodies to prevent each of the container bodies from contacting tightly the lower one of the container bodies. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a container according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a fragmentary partly-sectional view illustrating a stack of the containers according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a side view illustrating the containers stacked one above the other. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of a container  4  according to the present invention is illustrated. The container  4  is stackable on another similar container  4 . Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a stack of the containers  4  are shown and includes a plurality of container bodies  40  stacked one on the other. Each of the container bodies  40  includes a base wall  45 , a surrounding wall  47 , an annular flange  46 , a plurality of recessed parts  49  and a plurality of reinforcement ribs  48  (see  FIG. 1 ). 
     The surrounding wall  47  extends upwardly and is inclined outwardly from the base wall  45 . The surrounding wall  47  has a plurality of corners  470 . The base wall  45  and the surrounding wall  47  cooperatively define a receiving space  41  for receiving items (not shown). 
     The annular flange  46  extends around and projects outwardly from a top open end of the surrounding wall  47  distal from the base wall  45 . Specifically, the annular flange  46  has an inclined surface portion  461  and a non-inclined portion  462  extending outwardly from the inclined surface portion  461  in a direction substantially parallel to the base wall  45 . As best shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the annular flange  46  of each of the container bodies  40  has the inclined surface portion  461  directly connected to the surrounding wall  47  and inclined downward and toward the receiving space  41 . 
     In order to remove the items (not shown) from the receiving space  41 , the container  4  is turned upside down (not shown) so that the annular flange  46  and the top open end of the surrounding wall  47  are disposed below the base wall  45 . Since the surrounding wall  47  is inclined relative to the base wall  45 , the container  4  is advantageous to ensure that the items are completely removed from the receiving space  41 . 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , the reinforcement ribs  48  of the container body  40  extend upwardly from the base wall  45  to the top open end of the surrounding wall  47  to enhance the structural strength of the container body  40 . As such, the base wall  45  and the surrounding wall  47  may not be easily deformed. 
     The recessed parts  49  of each container body  40  are indented from an inner surface of the surrounding wall  47  in proximity to the annular flange  46  and protrude outwardly from an outer surface of the surrounding wall  47 . Specifically, the recessed parts  49  are indented respectively from inner surfaces of the corners  470  in proximity to the annular flange  46  and protrude outwardly and respectively from outer surfaces of the corners  470 . Each of the recessed parts  49  has an upstanding wall portion  491  that extends downwardly from the inclined surface portion  461  of the annular flange  46  and that is perpendicular to the base wall  45 , and a transverse wall portion  492  that extends inwardly from a bottom end of the upstanding wall  491  toward the receiving space  41 . The upstanding wall portion  491  is tapered upwardly. An outer surface of the transverse wall portion  492  is formed with a rounded outer shoulder surface  493  protruding from the outer surface of the surrounding wall  47  to abut against the inclined surface portion  461  of the annular flange  46  of the lower container body  40 . 
     Referring back to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , when the containers  4  of this disclosure are disposed in a stack, the rounded outer shoulder surface  493  of each of the recesses parts  49  of an upper one of the container bodies  40  is seated on the inclined surface portion  461  of the annular flange  46  of a lower one of the container bodies  40 . As such, the containers  4  will not tightly contact each other under the environmental atmospheric pressure, thereby avoiding difficult separation of the containers  4 . Notwithstanding, the rounded outer shoulder surface  493  of each of the recessed parts  49  of the upper container body  40  need not be necessarily seated on the inclined surface portion  461  of the annular flange  46  of the lower container body  40 . In actual implementation, the inner surface of upstanding wall portion  491  of each of the recessed parts  49  may be inclined downwardly and outwardly from the annular flange  46  to the base wall  45 , and the rounded outer shoulder surface  493  of the corresponding recesses part  49  can be seated on the non-inclined portion  462  of the annular flange  46  of the lower container body  40  to avoid tight contact therebetween. 
     To sum up, since the recessed parts  49  of each of the container bodies  40  are seated on the annular flange  46  of the lower container body  40 , each of the container bodies  40  is prevented from contacting tightly the other container bodies  40  when they are stacked together. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.