Patent Document

This application is a continuation, division, of application Ser. No. 299,297, filed Sept. 3, 1981 abandoned. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates in general to storage containers, and relates in particular to containers for storing foodstuffs or the like. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Containers for storing small quantities of food and the like are well known and are widely used in households and elsewhere. These containers may be made of deformable plastic material such as polyethylene or the like, and typically come with an easily-detachable lid or closure to provide a seal with the container. Such foodstuff containers are available in a variety of shapes and sizes, and frequently are stored on refrigerator shelves or the like by stacking the containers one atop the other. 
     Food storage containers of the prior art generally have bottom surfaces and closures which are flat, or which at least have substantial flat portions. Although these flat tops and bottoms permit the containers to be stacked, a stack of two or more such prior art containers as a practical matter may be awkward or difficult to unstack. Containers of the same general size and configuration frequently have a surface-contacting base which can fit on top of the lid or closure for the container, due to the overall shape of the container. The closure typically has a raised peripheral rim surrounding the surface on which the base of a superadjacent container rests, and this rim can interfere with attempts to remove a selected container from a stack of such containers. This limitation on sideways displacement easily leads to tipping or knocking over a stack of containers, especially where several containers are stacked in an array from which one attempts to withdraw an intermediate container. 
     Attempting to improve unstackability of stacked containers simply by doing away with the rim surrounding the closure of the same size would be less than satisfactory. The close bottom-to-top conforming fit of such stacked containers provides a desired stability of stached containers. Moreover, the peripheral rim of the conventional closure provides the sealing engagement with the container, and thus is considered an important feature of the closure. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The foregoing and other problems associated with foodstuff containers of the prior art have been overcome or substantially alleviated by the stackable covered storage container of the present invention. Stated in general terms, the present container includes a bottom wall having a central portion which may be substantially flat, and having at least one end portion sloping or beveled upwardly from the central portion. The container includes a removable closure having a central portion configured to receive the bottom wall central portion of a like container stacked on the closure. The closure also may include at least one upwardly sloping portion to receive the sloping or beveled bottom portion in complementary fit, so that the sloped bottom wall of the container engages the sloped portion on the closure of a like container stacked therebelow. 
     Stated somewhat more specifically, the container closure may include a pair of ramp surfaces flanking a central panel on the closure. The container bottom wall has beveled surfaces at opposite ends of a central region, and a central portion which can rest on the central panel of the closure. Each beveled surface of the bottom is aligned to fit onto a corresponsing ramp surface of the closure on which the container is stacked. the ramp surfaces of the container closure are preferably spaced inwardly from the periphery of the closure, and thereby elevate part of the stacked container upwardly a short distance from the closure immediately below. This slight elevation between stacked containers, as well as the beveled surfaces at the ends of the container, promotes easy removal of a container from a stack of such containers. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved storage container for foodstuffs or the like. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved food storage container which is easily unstackable from a stack of containers. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a storage container having relatively good stability when stacked on like containers, yet which is easily removed from a stack of containers. 
     The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of a disclosed embodiment, including the drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a pictorial view showing a covered stackable storage container according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an end elevation view of the closed container shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the closed container show in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the closed container shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4, with a fragmentary lower container and a phantom upper container added to illustrate a stack of containers. 
     FIG. 6 is a section view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 3, with the closure shown removed and elevated above the container for illustrative purposes. 
     FIG. 7 is a side elevation view showing one of the disclosed containers being withdrawn from a stack of such containers. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Turning to the Figures, there is shown generally at 10 a container according to the disclosed embodiment, fitted with a closure shown generally at 11. Both the container and closure preferably are made of a suitable molded plastic material such as polyethylene or the like. The container 10 and its closure are generally rectangular in overall configuration, although it should be understood that other shapes may be utilized in the practice of the present invention. 
     The container has a bottom wall 12 and unitary side walls 13 and 14 extending upwardly from the bottom wall to terminate at an upper edge 15 which defines the open mouth 16 of the container. The container 10 further includes a pair of end walls 17 and 18 unitary with the bottom wall 12, and extending upwardly from the bottom wall to terminate at the upper edge 15. A skirt 19 having a downwardly-facing open channel surrounds the container 10 a short distance below the open mouth 16, and it will be appreciated that the skirt preferably is molded as a unitary part of the container. 
     As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, the bottom wall 12 includes a substantially flat central panel 23 flanked by a pair of end panels 24a and 24b which are formed to be beveled upwardly at an acute angle to join the respective end walls 17 and 18. The beveled end panels 24a and 24b, as best seen in FIG. 3, occupy but a relatively small proportion of the overall length of the bottom wall 12, so that the flat central panel 23 making up the greater portion of the bottom wall provides a flat, relatively stable support for the closure 10 on a flat supporting surface such as a countertop or the like. 
     It is also seen from FIGS. 3 and 5 that the end walls 17 and 18 are tilted outwardly a slight extent relative to vertical; the same nonperpendicular attitude exists with the side walls 13 and 14, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 6. This nonperpendicularity of the side walls and end walls is not essential to the present invention, although present in the disclosed embodiment. 
     The downwardly-facing exterior surface 23a of the bottom wall central panel 23 may be recessed slightly above the nominal surface of the container bottom wall 12, as best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6. This recessed feature of the bottom wall 12 produces the slight longitudinally-extending channels 25, FIG. 6, flanking the interior surface of the central panel 23 within the container 10. 
     The closure 11 has a peripheral upstanding rim 29 provided by an interior wall 30, an end wall 31, and an exterior wall 32 combined to form an annular downwardly-facing channel 33 configured to removably fit onto the upper edge 15 of the container 10. A skirt 34 surrounds the periphery of the outer wall 32, and the skirt includes a down-turned flange 35 positioned to extend outwardly a short distance from the side walls and end walls of the closed container 10, as best illustrated in FIG. 5. The flange 35 of the closure is located a short distance above the top of the skirt 19 on the container, when the closure is in place. 
     The closure 11 includes a central panel 38 flanked by a pair of ramp-defining surfaces 39a and 39b near the respective longitudinal ends of the central panel. The upper edges 40 of the ramp surfaces 39a and 39b are spaced inwardly a short distance from the confronting portion 29&#39; of the rim 29 surrounding the closure, as most clearly shown in FIG. 5, so that a panel end portion 41 is present between the rim portion 29&#39; and the upper edge 40 of each shoulder. Each ramp surface 39a and 39b thus is separate from the rim 29, which can function in the conventional manner to secure the closure 11 to the container 10 without interference from the structure making up the ramp surface. The central panel 38, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 6, is elevated slightly above the surrounding longitudinal side portions 42 and end portions 41 of the closure, defining a slight depression 43 in the underside of the closure. The upper edge 40 of each ramp preferably is slightly lower in elevation than the rim 29 of the closure. 
     It should now be apparent that the ramp surfaces 39a and 39b on the closure 11 are complementary to the beveled surfaces of the end panels 24a and 24b on the bottom of the container 10. As a container 10 is stacked on the closure 11&#39; of a like container 10&#39;, FIG. 5, the beveled end panels 24a and 24b of the upper container rest on the respective ramp surfaces 39a and 39b (not shown in FIG. 5) of the supporting closure. The angles of the end panels 24a, 24b preferably are the same as the angles of the ramp surfaces 39a, 39b, so that the complementary engaging end panels and ramp surfaces provide a relatively stable stacking of two or more containers so equipped. Because the ramps 39a, 39b are shorter than the end panels 24a, 24b as best seen in FIG. 5, the outermost extent 45 of each end panel (joining the respective end wall 17 or 18 of the container) extends outwardly beyond the upper edge 40 of the corresponding ramp surface and is substantially aligned with the confronting portion 29&#39; of the closure rim. This aligned relation of each stacked container, relative to the peripheral rim on the closure of the subjacent supporting container, facilitates removing one such container from its position in a vertical stack of like containers, inasmuch as a person can easily grasp the selected container at the open spaces provided between the ends of that container and the rim of the closure on the lower supporting container. Moreover, the beveled ends of the container 10 enhance unstackability even when the container rests on a flat closure lacking ramp surfaces or the like, inasmuch as the outermost extent of each beveled end is aligned with the closure rim and guides the container over the peripheral rim of the closure. 
     The enhanced unstackability of the present container is illustrated in FIG. 7, where several stacked containers A, B, C, D, and E are shown as they might be placed on a shelf. The middle container C, for example, is withdrawn from the stack simply by grasping the container end and pulling away from the stack, while simultaneously placing a hand against the upper containers D and E to hold the upper containers in place in the stack. The beveled end surface 24b of container C rides up and over the confronting rim 29&#39; of the lower container B, enabling the container C to be removed from the stack without interference from the rim of the lower container. 
     It should now be evident that the present storage container offers enhanced unstackability over previous such containers, without sacrificing the desirable feature normally associated with such containers. The ramp surfaces formed on the closure of the present container engage the beveled end panels of a like container to support that container with enhanced stability, tending to prevent the supported container from sliding or other unwanted movement in stacked relation. At the same time, the central panel 38 between the ramp surfaces on the closure receives the central panel 23 on the bottom of the container, thereby providing a relatively broad supporting surface to receive the weight of the above container. As a result, containers according to the present invention tend to remain nested or stacked together notwithstanding some degree of jostling or movement, until it is desired to separate the containers by lifting one off another. 
     It should also be apparent that the foregoing relates to but a disclosed embodiment of the present invention, and that numerous modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Technology Category: b