Abstract:
A container lid having a handle-activated seal includes a base having an aperture so that food items can be charged into the container through the aperture, a closure member for closing the aperture, a main body that circumscribes the base, a handle and a gasket. The base and main body are movably mounted with respect to one another and the main body is driven downwardly when the handle is pivoted from a vertical configuration to a folded, horizontal configuration. The main body has a lower peripheral edge spaced a small vertical distance above the gasket when the handle is in a vertical, not pivoted position. The gasket is driven by the downward travel of the main body into sealing relation with the rim of a container when the handle is pivoted into its horizontal, folded configuration.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates, generally, to means for sealing containers. More particularly, it relates to a lid for a blender that sealingly engages the rim of the blender when a handle that forms a part of the lid is folded. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Conventional blenders and other containers have lids that are press fit into closing relation to the container. The lids are thus easily opened by manually overcoming the friction of the press fit. If such a lid includes a handle, a user may lift the container by the handle when the container is full. If the contents are sufficiently heavy, the weight of the contents may cause the lid to separate from the container, thus spilling the contents from the container. 
     There is therefore a need for a lid that provides a better seal than a conventional press fit. A lid that seals tightly about the rim of a container and which creates a small vacuum within the container would hold the lid so that neither manual strength nor the weight of the container would provide adequate force to separate the lid from the container. 
     However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art how the needed lid could be provided. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for an improved container lid is now met by a new, useful, and non-obvious invention. 
     All relative terms used herein such as “upwardly,” “downwardly,” “horizontally,” and “vertically” refer to a container such as but not limited to a blender that is supported by a horizontal support surface such as a table top in a conventional way, i.e., with the container in an upstanding configuration on such support surface with its rim at the uppermost end of the container. The novel lid surmounts the container and sealingly engages the rim when a lid handle is in a horizontal orientation and disengages the rim when the lid handle is in a vertical orientation. 
     The novel structure includes a base having an aperture formed therein so that food items can be charged into the container through the aperture, a closure member for closing that aperture, a main body that circumscribes the base, a gasket that underlies the main body, and a handle that seals the gasket to the container rim by displacing the main body downwardly toward the container rim, thereby driving the gasket into sealing engagement with the rim when the lid handle is pivoted from a vertical to a horizontal configuration. 
     The handle is pivotally connected to the base and includes protrusions that bear against and drive the main body downwardly toward the container rim when the handle is folded from its vertical to its horizontal configuration. 
     The base and main body are movably mounted with respect to one another so that the main body but not the base is displaced downwardly toward the container rim when the handle is folded downwardly. 
     The lower peripheral edge of the main body is spaced a small vertical distance above the gasket when the handle is in a vertical, not pivoted position. The main body and the gasket have no vertical space between them when the handle is in a pivoted, horizontal position, i.e., pivoting the handle from its vertical to its horizontal configuration drives the lower peripheral edge of the main body downwardly into engagement with the gasket, driving the gasket into sealing relation with the container rim and creating a small vacuum within the container that defeats facile separation of the lid from the container as long as the handle remains in its downwardly folded position. 
     The base includes upstanding, vertical sidewalls that collectively form a square configuration having rounded corners. A horizontally-disposed flange is formed integrally with the upstanding walls, about mid-height thereof. The flange extends radially inwardly for a predetermined distance such that the radially innermost end of the flange defines the aperture formed in the base. 
     The radially innermost end of the flange is downwardly turned to create a detent that circumscribes the underside of the aperture. 
     The closure member includes a flat top wall of square configuration. A finger-receiving recess is formed in each edge of the top wall, mid-length thereof, to facilitate manual removal of the closure member from its engagement with the aperture. 
     A plurality of detent walls depend from the flat top wall and a radially-outwardly or outboard-extending detent is formed at a lowermost end of each detent wall. Each of these detents engages the detent formed on the underside of the aperture by the radially-inwardly extending flange to releasably secure the closure member in closing relation to the aperture. 
     More particularly, each detent wall is momentarily displaced radially inwardly as the closure member is inserted into the aperture but each detent wall snaps back into its position of repose under an inherent bias and engages the flange detent as each detent wall detent slides over the detent formed in the radially-inwardly extending flange. 
     A plurality of stop walls also depends from the top wall, there being as many stop walls as there are detent walls. Each stop wall is parallel to and positioned radially outwardly or outboard of an associated detent wall and has a shorter extent than its associated detent wall. The lowermost end of each stop wall abuts the radially inwardly extending flange when the detent wall detents engage the downwardly turned ends of the flange. 
     A radially outwardly extending horizontal wall is formed integrally with each of the upstanding sidewalls of the base at the lower end thereof. A wall having a J-shape in transverse section, i.e., having a vertical section and an arcuate horizontal section, depends from the radially outwardly extending horizontal wall. Accordingly, the horizontal wall and the arcuate horizontal section are vertically spaced apart from one another by the extent of the vertical section. 
     The annular gasket has a first, innermost end captured within the vertical space between the horizontal wall and the horizontal arcuate section and a second, radially-outwardly and upwardly extending free end. 
     A radially outwardly extending ridge is formed integrally with the main body in circumscribing relation thereto and divides the main body into an upper main body and a lower main body. 
     The lower main body has a constant vertical extent around a periphery of the main body and a lower peripheral edge of said lower main body is disposed in closely vertically-spaced apart relation to the free end of the gasket when the handle is in its vertical configuration. 
     The upper main body is divided into two (2) discontinuous sections, referred to herein as the first and second sections of the upper main body. Those two (2) sections are disposed in mirror-image, opposed or confronting relation to one another such that their respective opposite ends are spaced apart from one another. The opposite ends of the handle are positioned in the spaces between the two (2) discontinuous sections. 
     The first section has a predetermined vertical extent and a predetermined peripheral extent that extends less than half way about the main body. The second section has a predetermined vertical extent and a predetermined peripheral extent that also extends less than half way about the main body. 
     The predetermined vertical extent of the first section is greater than the predetermined vertical extent of the second section. 
     The predetermined peripheral extent of the first section has a hollow construction and includes an outer wall and an inner wall interconnected at their respective upper ends by a horizontal top wall. The inner wall of the first section is parallel and adjacent to a sidewall of the base but said walls are not interconnected to one another. 
     The predetermined peripheral extent of the second section also has a hollow construction and includes an outer wall and an inner wall interconnected at their respective upper ends by a horizontal top wall. The inner wall of the second section is also parallel and adjacent to a sidewall of the base but said walls are not interconnected to one another. 
     The handle is an integrally formed part having opposing ends which have a first predetermined thickness. The opposing ends are interconnected to one another by a middle section having a second predetermined thickness which is less than the first predetermined thickness. The first thickness is substantially equal to the predetermined vertical extent of the upper wall and the second thickness is substantially equal to a difference in vertical extents between the first section and the second section of the discontinuous upper main body. 
     Accordingly, when the handle is in its folded configuration, the opposing ends of the handle are flush with the top wall of the first section of the main body and the middle section of the handle is flush with the top wall of the second section of the main body. 
     A protuberance is formed on each of the opposite ends of the handle. When the handle is pivoted from its unfolded configuration to its folded configuration, the protuberance bears against the ridge that circumscribes the main body in the space between the first and second sections of the main body. 
     The protuberances drive the ridge and hence the main body downwardly so that the bottom peripheral edge of the main body outer wall abuts and drives the gasket downwardly into sealing engagement with the container rim. 
     Each end of the handle has a peg-receiving opening formed therein on an inboard side thereof. A peg is formed integrally with each upstanding sidewall of an opposed pair of upstanding sidewalls and each peg extends radially outwardly, i.e., in an outboard direction, into each peg-receiving opening so that the handle is pivotable between its unfolded position and its folded position. 
     The second section of the upper main body is dished so that the fingers of a user may enter into the dished region when lifting the handle from its folded position, i.e., the dished region provides an undercut to facilitate grasping of the folded handle. 
     The primary object of the invention is to provide a container lid that seals a container when a handle is displaced from a vertical position to a horizontal, folded position. 
     A closely related object is to provide a container lid of robust construction so that it can perform the sealing operation many times without failure. 
     These and other important objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become clear as this disclosure proceeds. 
     The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the disclosure set forth hereinafter and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed disclosure, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1A  is an exploded, vertical sectional view of the novel structure; 
         FIG. 1B  is a perspective view of the novel lid in its closed and locked configuration, i.e., when the handle is folded down; 
         FIG. 2A  is a top plan view of the lid in its closed and locked configuration; 
         FIG. 2B  is a top plan view of the lid with its handle up, i.e., in its open and unlocked configuration; 
         FIG. 3A  is a side elevation view of the lid in its closed and locked configuration; 
         FIG. 3B  is a sectional view taken along line  3 B- 3 B in  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 3C  is a perspective view of the structure depicted in  FIG. 3B ; 
         FIG. 4A  is a perspective view of the lid in its open and unlocked configuration; 
         FIG. 4B  is a sectional view taken along line  4 B- 4 B in  FIG. 2B  and rotated into a perspective view; and 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the lid when locked onto a container such as a blender. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  depicts an illustrative embodiment of the novel lid structure which is denoted as a whole by the reference numeral  10  in exploded view and in vertical section, defining vertical as the upstanding configuration of a blender, not depicted in  FIG. 1 , when supported by a horizontal table top. Novel lid  10  surmounts the blender and closes its open top by engaging its rim. Novel lid  10  is disposed in a horizontal plane when so engaged and is depicted in said horizontal plane. 
     Novel lid  10  is formed of five main parts, i.e., a base having an aperture formed in it, a closure member that releasably closes that aperture, a main body that circumscribes the base, a handle pivotally mounted to the base, and a gasket mounted to the base in underlying relation to the main body. 
     The base and main body are movably mounted with respect to one another. The gasket is closely vertically spaced apart from a lower peripheral edge of the main body when the handle is in its vertical position. Pivotal movement of the handle from its vertical position to a horizontal position pushes the main body downwardly relative to the base so that the lower peripheral edge of the main body engages and pushes the gasket downwardly. The gasket circumscribes the rim of a blender or other container and forms a vacuum within the hollow interior of the blender when it is displaced downwardly. 
     Lid  10  includes removably mounted closure member  12  that serves as a shield relative to aperture  14 . Said aperture  14  is defined by horizontally-extending flange  16  that is formed integrally with upstanding walls  18  that collectively form a square configuration with rounded corners as depicted in the top plan view of  FIGS. 2A and 2B . Flange  16  extends radially inwardly or in an inboard direction from said upstanding walls  18  and defines aperture  14 . 
     The inboard end of flange  16  is turned downwardly to form a detent as at  16   a  as depicted in  FIG. 1A . 
     As best depicted in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , closure member  12  includes flat top wall  20  of generally square configuration. A finger-receiving recess, denoted  22 , is formed in each edge of said top wall, mid-length thereof. Recesses  22  facilitate manual removal of closure member  12  from its engagement with aperture  14 . 
     More particularly, and as best depicted in  FIG. 1A , detent  16   a  of flange  16  is engaged by a radially-outwardly extending detent  24   a  formed at the lowermost end of each detent wall, collectively denoted  24 , that depends from top wall  20 . When closure member  12  is placed into closing relation to aperture  14 , detents  24   a  are momentarily displaced radially inwardly by detent  16   a . Upon clearing said detent  16   a , the inherent bias of detent walls  24  snaps each detent  24   a  radially outwardly into underlying relation to detent  16   a , thereby releasably holding closure member  12  to flange  16 . 
     Stop walls, collectively denoted  26 , also depend from top wall  12  and are positioned radially outwardly outboard of detent walls  24 . Each stop wall is parallel to its associated detent wall and has a shorter extent. Each stop wall abuts flange  16  when closure member  12  is engaged to detent  16   a.    
     Closure member  12  is thus understood to include top wall  20 , recesses  22 , detent walls  24 , detents  24   a , and stop walls  26 . A material-saving cut-away in the form of an arch is formed in the bottom edge of each stop wall, centrally thereof. 
     The lower end of each upstanding wall  18  has a radially outwardly extending horizontal wall  28  from which depends a J-shaped wall having vertical section  28   a  and horizontal section  28   b . Horizontal wall  28  and horizontal section  28   b  are thus vertically spaced apart by the extent of vertical section  28   a.    
     Annular rubber or rubber-like gasket  30  has a first radially-inwardly extending end  30   a  captured within the vertical space between said horizontal wall  28  and said horizontal section  28   b . A second, radially-outwardly and upwardly extending end of gasket  30  is denoted  30   b.    
     Upstanding walls  18 , flange  16  having detent  16   a , horizontal wall  28 , and J-shaped sections  28   a ,  28   b  collectively form the base of the novel structure. 
     The main body of lid  10  has a hollow construction and includes lower main body  32   b  that has a constant vertical extent around the periphery of said lower main body. Radially outwardly extending ridge  34  divides lower main body  32   b  from upper main body  32   a  but is formed integrally with each. 
     An upper main body is discontinuous as perhaps best understood in connection with  FIGS. 1B, 2A -B,  3 A and  4 A, i.e., it has a first elevated section  32   a ′ and a second, lowered section  32   a ″ that are separated from one another to accommodate opposite ends  38   a  of handle  38 . As drawn, the elevated section is on the right and the lowered section is on the left. 
     More particularly, a first space is defined where a first end of elevated first section  32   a  confronts a first end of second lowered section  32   a″  and a second space is defined where a second end of first elevated section  32   a ′ confronts a second end of second lowered section  32   a″.    
     Handle  38  is an integrally formed part that has opposing ends  38   a ,  38   a  having a first thickness that are interconnected to one another by middle section  38   b  having a second thickness. As depicted in  FIG. 3A , the thickness of part  38   a  is equal to the height of first elevated section  32   a ′, and the thickness of middle section  38   b  is equal to the difference in heights between first elevated section  32   a′  and second lowered section  32   a″.    
     Accordingly, when handle  38  is in its folded position as depicted in  FIGS. 1B, 2A, 3A -C, and  5 , handle  38  is flush with the top of first elevated section  32   a ′. More particularly, in  FIGS. 3B and 4B , the top of first elevated section  32   a′  is denoted  35   a  and the top of second lowered section  32   a″  is denoted  35   b . The inner wall of first elevated section  32   a′  is denoted  32   c  and the inner wall of second lowered section  32   a ″ is also denoted  32   c . Said inner walls  32   c ,  32   c  are closely spaced apart from upstanding walls  18  of the base but are movably mounted with respect thereto. 
     As depicted in  FIGS. 1, 3A and 4A , protuberance  40  is formed on each of the opposite ends  38   a  of handle  38 . When handle  38  is pivoted from its unfolded configuration to its folded configuration, protuberance  40  bears against a depression formed in ridge  34  that forms the border between upper main body  32   a  and lower main body  32   b.    
     The protuberances drive ridge  34  and hence upper main body  32   a  downwardly so that the bottom peripheral edge of lower main body  32   b  abuts and drives gasket  30  downwardly into sealing engagement with a container rim, not depicted. 
     Each end  38   a ,  38   a  of handle  38  has a peg-receiving opening  38   e  ( FIG. 1A ) formed in it and a peg extends into each opening so that handle  38  can be pivoted between its folded position and its unfolded position. Each peg is formed integrally with an upstanding sidewall  18  and extends radially outwardly therefrom. In an unillustrated alternative embodiment, a peg could be integrally formed with each opposite end  38   a  of handle  38  and a peg-receiving opening could be formed in each of the associated upstanding sidewalls  18 . 
     Second lowered section  32   a″  of discontinuous upper main body  32   a  is dished as at  32   d  as denoted in  FIGS. 3B-C  and  4 A-B so that the fingers of a user may enter into the dished region when lifting handle  38  from its folded position, i.e., said dished region  32   d  provides an undercut to facilitate grasping of said handle  38  when folded. 
     Handle  38  is hollow and its bottom surface is closed by a pad  38   c  as denoted in  FIGS. 1 and 4B . A pair of laterally spaced apart spacers  38   d  are formed in the bottom of pad  38   c  so that when handle  38  is folded as depicted in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , the bottom of handle  38  does not contact top surface  35   b  of second lowered section  32   a″.    
     It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the foregoing disclosure, are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing disclosure or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
     It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention that, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.