Food storage container

Abstract

This product is a food storage container valve. As shown in Reference Figure 1 (in use), this product is attached to the lid of a food storage container consisting of a lid and a container. The food storage container is used by evacuating air through the food storage container valve using a vacuum pump or the like to create a vacuum inside. The food storage container valve can maintain a vacuum inside the food storage container after the air has been evacuated. As shown in Reference Figure 2 (in use), the food storage container valve includes a substantially cylindrical stem, a disk-shaped upper plate provided at one end of the stem, a disk-shaped lower plate provided at the other end of the stem, and an annular seal provided on the other side of the upper plate with a gap. The food storage container valve is made of an elastic material and can be elastically deformed. The axial end face of the upper plate is a convex curved surface. The stem includes a groove extending axially on the left side of the outer circumferential surface and a protrusion formed circumferentially at the midpoint of the axial direction on the outer circumferential surface. The lower plate has a circular recess formed in the center of the axial end face. The food storage container valve has a hole communicating with the groove and the recess. The food storage container valve is attached to the lid by inserting the stem into a through hole formed in the lid of the food storage container, with the upper plate and sealing part positioned outside the food storage container and the lower plate positioned inside the food storage container. While inserted into the through hole in the lid, the food storage container valve is displaced between a lower position and an upper position along the axial direction of the through hole by a user's operation. When the food storage container valve is displaced between the lower position and the upper position, the protrusion is elastically deformed. When the food storage container valve is positioned in the lower position, the sealing part is in tight contact with the periphery of the through hole on the upper surface of the lid, thereby sealing the inside of the food storage container, and the protrusion is held in the lower position by abutting the periphery of the through hole on the underside of the lid. The food storage container valve positioned in the upper position has grooves, recesses, and holes that form an air flow path connecting the inside and outside of the food storage container, opening the inside of the food storage container to the atmosphere.

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