Patent ID: 7004349

Claim:
A container comprising a container body with an upwardly opening mouth defined by a peripheral rim, a lid for said body, a hinge assembly mounting said lid on said body for pivotal movement of the lid relative to the body about a pivot axis between a first closed position overlying and enclosing said container mouth and a second open position upwardly pivoted away from said mouth, and a spring of an elastomeric material extending transverse across said pivot axis, first retaining means on said body retaining a first end of said spring, second retaining means on said lid retaining a second opposed end of said spring, said spring having an area of maximum thickness centrally between said first and second ends, said spring tapering in opposite directions from said central area of maximum thickness to a minimum thickness at each said first and second end, said spring in said open position of said lid extending in a substantially linear position and elastically resisting pivotal movement of said lid to said closed position, said spring, upon manual movement of said lid to said closed position, folding centrally at said area of maximum thickness against an inherent elastic memory in said spring biasing said spring to said linear position, and latch means for releasably retaining said lid in said closed position, said spring upon release of said latch means forcibly moving said lid to and retaining said lid in said open position.