Patent ID: 8584887

Claim:
A tamper evident container, comprising: a base and a lid mountable thereon; the base having a bottom wall, a base sidewall extending transverse to the base bottom wall, an inverted U-shaped section connected to the base sidewall, and an annular flange extending from the base inverted U-shaped section such that the base annular flange extends in a plane generally parallel to the base bottom wall; and the lid having a surface cap, an inverted U-shaped section connected to the lid surface cap, and an annular flange extending from the lid inverted U-shaped section such that the lid annular flange extends in a plane generally parallel to the lid surface cap; wherein the base and lid inverted U-shaped sections are sized such that, when mounted to one another, the base and lid annular flanges abut one another; wherein the lid and base inverted U-sections each have projections that together provide a deformable detent mechanism for releasably locking the lid to the base; wherein the cross-sectional thickness of a first junction between the base annular flange and the base inverted U-section is narrower than the cross-sectional thickness of a wall that provides the base inverted U-section; and wherein the cross-sectional thickness of a second junction between the lid annular flange and the lid inverted U-section is narrower than the cross-sectional thickness of a wall that provides the lid inverted U-section; wherein the first junction between the base annular flange and the base inverted U-section defines a corner and the second junction between the lid annular flange and the lid inverted U-section is located radially outward of the first junction so as to enable the base and lid annular flanges to be torn away from the base and lid inverted U-shaped sections along different parting lines.