Container with lid

Abstract

A container with lid, in particular a bucket with lid, has a container wall, a container bottom and a container opening, which is defined by an upper edge of the container, and structure in the upper part of the container for fixing the lid or a peripheral, inwardly protruding frame, to which the lid can be detachably locked. The container wall has on its upper part an outwardly protruding shoulder, such that containers can be stacked one into the other. To provide a container with lid which can be easily manufactured at low cost, if possible also by an in-mold labeling process, at least one radially outwardly and / or axially projecting protrusion (16, 30) is provided on a shoulder (12) on the outside thereof, wherein (a) an upper container rim (5) is provided with at least one recess (35), which when the containers are stacked one into the other is engaged by the at least one protrusion (30) of the shoulder (12) while preventing twisting, and / or wherein (b) the at least one axially projecting protrusion (16) extends at least around a part of the container (1) and radially outwardly engages behind an upper rim portion (5, 7) of a respective lower one of the stacked containers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates to a container with lid, in particular a bucket with lid, the container comprising a container wall, a container bottom and a container opening, which is defined by an upper edge of the container, and structure in the upper part of the container for fixing the lid or a peripheral, inwardly protruding frame to which the lid can be detachably locked. The container wall has on its upper part an outwardly protruding shoulder, such that the containers can be stacked one into the other.[0002]Various containers of this kind are known, and they can be dimensioned with a relatively large volume to store, for example, coating compounds, foodstuffs or the like. Such containers can have a capacity of ≧1-5 liters. The filled containers must not only be tight, they must also meet various other requirements. For instance, the containers should be producible by an in-mold labeling process, in which case the container should not have any inward...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0004]The invention is therefore based on the objective of providing a container with lid which can be easily and inexpensively manufactured, if possible also by an in-mold labeling process.

[0005]The container may have at least one recess in a peripheral rim that is provided in an upper part of the container. This recess is engaged by a protrusion provided on the outside of another container on a shoulder thereof, while being secured against twisting when the containers are stacked one into the other. This securing of the containers against becoming twisted relative to each other allows automatic separation of the containers while preventing in-mold labels, which may be provided on the outside of the container, from being damaged. The recess on the inner wall of the container is upwardly open. The recess can be formed as a break-through or a hollow of the container wall. This recess can also extend only over a part of the thickness of the container wall, thus being a kind of an inward bulging or impression, provided that this inward bulging or impression can be engaged by a protrusion axially projecting from the shoulder of a container to be nested, in a fashion secured against twisting.

[0008]Thus, the container according to the invention can be particularly easily manufactured by an in-mold labeling process, without the risk of damaging the label, and because the containers are secured against twisting they can be securely prevented from becoming stuck one into the other, thus impeding separation thereof, even if the containers are heavy and the stacking height is large. Further, a container according to the invention may dispense with a peripheral flange having a rim portion extended downwardly towards the bottom of the container, which rim portion at least substantially extends vertically or slightly inclined to the main axis of the container and mainly serves to stabilize the container wall in the region of the container opening and / or to support a carrying handle. Such flanges are usually provided with radial reinforcement ribs connecting the vertically downwardly directed rim portion to the outside of the container. In such flanges the outer rim of the lid around the upper edge of the container extends downwards at least almost as far as to the flange.

[0023]For stabilizing the upper part of the container, it is preferred for the container wall above the shoulder to become thicker towards the upper edge of the container.

Problems solved by technology

But this entails a risk that containers which are stacked one into the other become wedged at larger stack heights, whereby the label on the outside is damaged or a separation of the containers is made more difficult.

In most cases this risk cannot be removed even by the outwardly protruding shoulder, because this shoulder frequently protrudes only a relatively short distance.

This, however, would make it more difficult or even impossible to carry out an in-mold labeling process.

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