Easy-opening lid for metal containers intended for drinks, which hygienically preserves the contents.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention falls within the metal packaging sector, in particular, but not necessarily, concerns metal containers intended for to beverage packaging. Specifically, it concerns a lid to be applied to the can that contains the drink (or any other product for which there is a need) with an opening system that avoids contamination of the product. The invention also extends to a container obtained with the application of this lid. It is necessary to spend a few words to describe the current systems of closing of metal containers intended for beverages, in particular those which concern the use of a can made up of two pieces, a body and a lid, usually made of aluminum, and a can made of three pieces, a body, a bottom and a lid. The most widely used container in the beverage sector is the can. aluminum, composed of a body and a lid, both made of aluminum. But there are also containers intended for beverages, with much more limited use, of tinplate, composed of either two pieces (body and lid) or three pieces (bottom, body and lid). The lid, in any case, is presented in the 'easy-open' type. In jargon it is called 'Easy Open End' (lid easy-opening) when it comes to beverages, the opening of which is limited to a portion of the lid, while 'Full Open End' when it comes to lids intended for food, such as tuna cans, the opening of which is total. The 'Easy Open End' lid, which we will abbreviate to EOE from now on, It comes with a pull tab that is fixed on the lid through a rivet and carries a panel with an engraved part called tear panel, which allows the opening of the lid for the contents to be released. The consumer, by lifting the tab with a finger and using the rivet as a fulcrum, push the end part of the tab on an area of ​​the tear-off panel that gives way under pressure, in jargon it breaks through, and bends towards the inside of the container. All metal beverage container lids on the market, yes They feature this functionality. They may vary in design, e.g. have a more oval or more squared tongue, a more tear-off panel drop or more oval, the rivet that keeps the tab off-center with respect to the center of the lid, but they are variants that do not change the type of opening; the common denominator is to have a part of the lid that from the contaminated outside, it is pushed inwards into contact with the drink. The Full Open type lid, on the other hand, is always equipped with a fixed tab to the lid with a rivet but the engraved area, the tear-off panel, includes the entire perimeter of the lid so by lifting it with a finger tab you get a break on one point of the incision and then pulling it from the opposite side (inserting your finger into the part of the tongue that appears to (ring shape) the total opening is obtained. One of the largest producers of metal containers, including the can of two-piece aluminum for beverage, Crown Cork, shows on its website, among other products, the types of lids in production for containers of beverage: https: / / www.crowncork.com / beverage- packaging / products / beverage-ends . ® The Super End, for example, is a lid designed to reduce consumption of the raw material but it is a traditional type of lid, that is, composed of a tear-off panel that is pushed into the container and that inevitably comes into contact with the drink. Or the Ring'-Pull End, one of the first commercially available lids for cans of the beverage, which is still produced in some markets, but which, although not presenting the problem of the tear-off panel entering inside the container, has that of the tab that comes completely off the lid together with the tear-off panel and creates pollution problems environmental in addition to the danger that animals and children could get hurt by being ® in contact; as well as the 360 ​​End, a lid designed for drinks such as the beer that has a full opening and therefore also comes off the can with the consequence of double rejection and the possibility of being hurt nearby to the cutting opening completely 'uncovered' compared to an opening traditional, much smaller, facilitated. The Global Vent™ and the Large Opening, finally there are two types of lids that always have the breakage of the tear-off panel inside, beyond the benefits sponsored by the manufacturer, the first one makes the content flow better and the second one makes more of it come out. It should be added that Crown Cork itself, with publication no. WO2010 / 135166 A1, has been granted a patent for various types of lids for beverage cans of the 'resealable' type, providing ® among others, the application of the resealable also on the Super End lid herself produced, so the problem of the panel always arises tear that enters the container, beyond the observation that such 'Resealable' lid application is not present on the site among the range of the lids currently produced by the Company. Another important manufacturer such as Ball Packaging presents on its site https: / / www.ball.com / packaging / beverage-ends-tabs type lids traditional, as well as, following, the Can Pack https: / / www.canpack.com / capabilities / beverage-cans / , Ardagh Metal Packaging https: / / samplestore.ardaghmetalpackaging.com / collections / specialties-ends and Visy https: / / www.visy.com / products / beverage-can / capabilities-and- formats; an informative note, just for completeness, on Orora https: / / www.ororabeverage.com / products / cans which promotes on the site a type of 'resealable' lid showing a plastic application on a aluminum lid and there is no way to detect whether it happens or not the break inside part of the lid, and in any case a solution which has not been observed on the market at present. However, regarding patents granted on locking systems that do not contaminate the beverage, referring to metal beverage containers, we cite the recently granted patent with publication number WO2023209743A1 (this is an original Italian patent with patent number publication 102022000008267 of 2024). It concerns a system of opening that features a tab made with a hook underneath, or also the version with a separate hook, which when lifted pulls with it towards the top is the tear-off panel (i.e. the engraved part of the lid), on which it was placed like a buttonhole into which the hook enters, and which then keeps it vertical. This system has two critical issues. The first is the force required to 'pull' the tear-off panel and allow it to detach from the rest of the lid; the part of the lid that constitutes the tear-off panel is delimited by an incision that requires very specific characteristics in order to be able to obtain the hermetic closure of the container and at the same time be able to detach this panel from the rest of the cover. The metal cover, both Full Open and Easy Open, which has achieved widespread marketing ladder is only that, at the moment, 'breakthrough' due to the certainty of break at a point on the tear-off panel or at a point on the incision, which then guarantees the detachment by 'pulling'. Therefore the certainty of breakage through a system that requires as a first operation a pull by leveraging the attachment point of the tab to the lid could cause a frequent failure to open the container, or at least difficulty in doing so the user who will have to exert greater force than the openings traditional. The second criticality is given by the increase in material for the making the lid, having to provide a hook under the tab or even a separate hook. And finally, the difficult acceptance The commercial nature of the system could be the biggest disadvantage. Similar to the previous invention, patent JPH0671424U from 1994 is cited, which always includes a hook for pulling the Velcro panel but which use the edge of the lid attached to the can to leverage the draft and cause the breakage. The considerations are the same as for the previous patent, in addition to the fact that this discovery has not gained acceptance commercial. We also mention the patent FR2675467A1 of 1992 which provides for an opening at break-through, with the tear-off panel being pulled, always using a tab applied with a rivet on the lid, outwards and folded on the lid and then held in this position by hooking the tab to the edge of the container through a hook located under the tab. It goes over the problem of the force applied due to the use of the 'a' system breakthrough', but it always presents the criticality of the greater consumption of material and in addition the difficult possibility of attaching it to the edge of the container which, as is well known to those in the sector, is rounded and not allows hooks. And finally this invention also did not get a commercial acceptance. And for completeness, we cite the 2020 ES1250075U utility model, in which the inventor has designed a lid with a 'breakthrough' system which after having caused the breakage on one point of the incision by lifting the tab always applied to the lid with a rivet, the same tab is pulled upwards, taking with it the tear-off panel, which remains vertical. This The system presents a significant criticality: the tear-off panel remains exposed along its entire length, which the inventor also lengthened to allow the best air release during the consumption of the drink, with the risk of injury to the user even just by handling the container, being the tear-off panel sharp along the entire perimeter, and at the same time the area of ​​the lid that the user brings closer to the mouth is larger with increased risk of cuts during consumption. At the moment has not yet gained commercial acceptance. An overview of the locking systems currently in use on the market of metal containers intended for beverages shows that the problem of Content contamination has not been effectively resolved to date. Some attempts have been made only through the application of a cover plastic on the lid, which is not within our scope of application and which has not found widespread commercial acceptance. In light of all the above, the need for a lid for the metal containers for beverages, now widely used (think of the annual world production of approximately 230 billion beverage cans, data of 2023) that does not contaminate the contents when opened. The main purpose of the present invention is to propose a lid to be applied to metal beverage containers that do not compromise the integrity of the contents by avoiding contamination with an opening that does not allow for the entry of a part of the lid, externally exposed to pollutants, in the container and in the at the same time reduces the possibility of injury from sharp parts both during the opening, both during the handling of the opened container and during the consumption phase of the drink. For a better understanding of this invention, the following documents are attached: purely illustrative, but not limiting, the following drawings, in which: - Figure 1: shows a lid (A) consisting of a central panel (B) on which an incision is made (C) which delimits a panel tear (D) on which a tab (E) is applied and fixed to the panel (D) via a rivet (F) so that the end of the tab (E) is positioned in correspondence with the incision (C) in proximity of the part that is towards the outside of the lid (A), with a convex section creasing (G), made in the part of the tear-off panel (D) close to the rivet (F) towards the inside of the lid and a concave section cord (H), made at the end of the tear-off panel (D), in the unaffected area from the incision (C) but which constitutes the area where the tear-off panel (D) remains connected to the central panel (B) and a cord (I) to concave section made along the entire perimeter of the incision (C) whose central area includes the same incision (C); - Figure 2: shows the lid (A) of figure 1 in the phase in which the user pulls the tab (E) which breaks the extreme part towards the outside of the tear-off panel (D) by acting on the incision line (C) without it coming into contact with the contents (L) of the container (M); - Figure 3: shows the lid (A) of Figure 1 in the phase in which, after that the user has pulled the tab (E) as in Figure 2, continue to pull it upwards causing the complete detachment of the tear-off panel (D) which is now completely outside the container (M) in vertical position, obtaining the opening of the lid (A); - Figure 4 and 5: shows the lid (A) of figure 1 in the phase in which, after the actions shown in figure 2 and 3, the user pushes the tab (E) downwards obtaining a folding of the panel tear (D) like a semi-S, an operation aided by the presence of the cord (G) and (H), which is crushed, together with the tongue, on the part of the central panel (B) not affected by the opening. - Figure 6: shows the lid (A) of figure 1 in the phase in which, after the actions shown in figure 2, 3, 4 and 5, the user brings to his lips (N) the container (M) without the tear-off panel (D), which is located under the tab (E), comes into contact with any part of the face (O) and shows how the crease (I) ensures that the lips (N) do not can easily get hurt during the consumption phase of the content (L). List of reference letters: A = Lid B = Central panel C = Engraving D = Tear-off panel E = Tongue F = Rivet G = Convex section crease (rivet area) H = Concave section crease (central area) I = Concave section creasing (engraving area) L = Content M = Container N = Lips O= Face The lid of the present invention is made starting from a metal panel, on which an incision is made to delimit a tear-off area that will allow a partial opening of the lid, on the which is applied with a rivet, a tab, made from a strip of specially folded and shaped metal; then, on the panel, they are form some lines to facilitate the operations, as described in the figures above. With the present invention, therefore, it is possible to obtain a container for drinks that do not upset the current industrial production system of said containers because it can be applied to the currently available box bodies marketed, and which, although presenting a novel character compared to the current lids on the market, can be achieved through a system already experienced in industrialization for the production of lids for the aforementioned containers and does not involve an increase in material consumption. In addition to solve the problem of contamination, decrease the possibility of injury both during handling and during consumption. It is understood that the above has been described by way of example and not restrictive, therefore any variations in construction are considered to be included within the protective scope of this technical solution, as described above and subsequently claimed.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Lid for a metal container, characterised in that said lid (A) is made up of a central panel (B) on which an incision (C) is made which delimits a tear-off panel (D) on which a tab (E) is applied which is fixed to the panel (D) by means of a rivet (F) so that the final part of the tab (E) is positioned in correspondence with the incision (C) in proximity to the part which is towards the outside of the lid (A), with a convex section crease (G), made in the part of the tear-off panel (D) close to the rivet (F) towards the inside of the lid and a concave section crease (H), made at the end of the tear-off panel (D),in the area not affected by the engraving (C) but which constitutes the area in which the tear-off panel (D) remains connected to the central panel (B) and a concave section crease (I) created along the entire perimeter of the engraving (C) whose central area includes the same engraving (C); 2. Container, characterised in that it includes the lid referred to in claim 1).