Multi-piece lid for paint pails and other pail shaped containers
A multi-piece pail lid features a mounting base having an outer rim matable to the container, and a recessed center wall bound by the mounting rim and embodying at least one opening for introduction or pouring of a pourable medium to or from the pail. A separate removable cover is selectively engageable to the mounting base in a closed position seated atop the recessed center wall and closing the hole(s) therein. An inside of the mounting rim, at one half thereof, is undercut to accept angulated insertion of a perimeter margin of the cover, and holding clips on the other half are usable to lock the cover in place once inserted to, and laid flat on, the mounting base. The recessed center wall of the mounting base is reinforced to allow pail stacking and the clip-held closure of the cover has sufficient strength for use of vacuum palletizers thereon.
1 . A multi-piece lid device for a pail-shaped container, said device comprising:
a mounting base for securement to the pail-shaped container at a top rim thereof, said mounting base comprising an outer mounting rim of downwardly-opening channel-shaped configuration for mated fitting over said top rim of the paint container, said outer mounting rim spanning around a recessed center wall of the mounting base that is of recessed elevation relative to a topside of said outer rim;
at least one opening that penetrates through said recessed center wall and through which a pourable medium is introducible into, or pourable from, the pail-type container in an installed state of the mounting base thereon;
a removable cover embodied separately of the mounting base and selectively engageable thereto in a closed position seated atop the recessed center wall in closed relation over the at least open opening therein, and removable from the mounting base to re-open said at least one opening; and
at least one movable cover holder on the mounting base that is movable between a holding position for holding the removable cover in the closed position, and a release position permitting removal of the removable cover, wherein said at least one movable cover holder is further characterized by at least one of the following:
(a) said at least one movable cover holder comprises a plurality of movable cover holders distributed at spaced intervals from one another around an outermost perimeter of the removable cover, each of which juts inwardly over the outermost perimeter of the removable cover in the holding position, but is retracted outwardly beyond the outermost perimeter of the removable cover in the release position;
(b) said at least one movable cover holder is slidably engaged to the mounting base for sliding movement relative thereto in an inward direction ultimately achieving the holding position, by jutting inwardly over the outermost perimeter of the removable cover, and opposingly in an outward direction ultimately achieving the release position, retracted outwardly beyond the outermost perimeter of the removable cover;
(c) said at least one movable cover holder is resides atop the outer mounting rim; and
(d) said at least one movable cover holder comprises a movable holding clip having a first snap feature thereon that, in the holding position, engages with a second snap feature on the mounting rim to hold the movable cover holder in the holding position.
2 . The device of claim 1 wherein said at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (c).
3 . The device of claim 2 wherein the mounting base comprises one or more raised crush preventers thereon of greater elevation than the at least one movable cover holder to prevent damage thereto.
4 . The device of claim 3 wherein said at least one cover holder is further characterized by (a), and at least one of the one or more raised crush preventers resides between an adjacent pair of the plurality of movable cover holders.
5 . The device of claim 1 wherein said at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (a).
6 . The device of claim 5 wherein said plurality of cover holders are interconnected.
7 . The device of claim 1 wherein said at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (d).
8 . The device of claim 7 wherein said first and second snap features comprise a protrusive male snap feature on a first one of either the movable cover holder or the mounting base, and a cooperatively female snap feature on a second one of either the movable cover or the mounting base.
9 . The device of claim 8 wherein the protrusive male snap feature resides on an underside of the movable cover holder, and the female snap features is recessed in a topside of the mounting base.
10 . The device of claim 1 wherein the least one hole in the recessed center wall of the mounting base comprises an array of straining holes distributed throughout at least part of the center wall to define a strainer through which the pourable medium is strainable during pouring thereof from the pail-shaped container through said straining holes when the removable cover is removed.
11 . A multi-piece lid device for a pail-shaped container, said device comprising:
a mounting base for securement to the pail-shaped container at a top rim thereof, said mounting base comprising an outer mounting rim of downwardly-opening channel-shaped configuration for mated fitting over said top rim of the paint container, said outer mounting rim spanning around a recessed center wall of the mounting base that is of recessed elevation relative to a topside of said outer rim;
at least one opening that penetrates through said recessed center wall and through which a pourable medium is introducible into, or pourable from, the pail-type container in an installed state of the mounting base thereon; and
a removable cover embodied separately of the mounting base and selectively engageable thereto in a closed position seated atop the recessed center wall in closed relation over the at least open opening therein, and removable from the mounting base to re-open said at least one opening;
wherein:
the least one hole in the recessed center wall of the mounting base comprises an array of straining holes distributed throughout at least part of the center wall to define a strainer through which the pourable medium is strainable during pouring thereof from the pail-shaped container through said straining holes when the removable cover is removed;
the at least one hole further comprises an additional isolated hole of larger size than the straining holes that is offset from the array of straining holes at a spaced distance therefrom of greater measure than a hole diameter of the straining holes, said isolated hole being unaccompanied by any additional holes of said larger size; and
the removable cover is configured to cover, in the closed position thereof, both said array of straining holes and said additional isolated hole of said larger size.
12 . The device of claim 1 wherein the removable cover comprises an upstanding cylindrical wall at a topside thereof that spans circumferentially around the removable cover in proximity to an outermost perimeter thereof, but offset a short distance inwardly from said outermost perimeter to leave an outer peripheral margin of the removable cover exposed outside said upstanding cylindrical wall, and the at least one movable cover holder, in the holding position thereof, engages over said outer peripheral margin of the removable cover from the outermost perimeter thereof, and said upstanding cylindrical wall stands taller from the mounting base than the at least movable cover holder and imposes a physical stop limit on permitted inward movement thereof from the outermost perimeter of the removable cover.
13 . A multi-piece lid device for a pail-shaped container, said device comprising:
a mounting base for securement to the pail-shaped container at a top rim thereof, said mounting base comprising an outer mounting rim of downwardly-opening channel-shaped configuration for mated fitting over said top rim of the paint container, said outer mounting rim spanning around a recessed center wall of the mounting base that is of recessed elevation relative to a topside of said outer rim;
at least one opening that penetrates through said recessed center wall and through which a pourable medium is introducible into, or pourable from, the pail-type container in an installed state of the mounting base thereon;
a removable cover embodied separately of the mounting base and selectively engageable thereto in a closed position seated atop the recessed center wall in closed relation over the at least open opening therein, and removable from the mounting base to re-open said at least one opening; and
at least one movable cover holder on the mounting base that is movable between a holding position jutting inwardly over an outermost perimeter of the removable cover to hold the removable cover in the closed position, and a release position retracted outwardly beyond the outermost perimeter;
wherein the removable cover comprises an upstanding cylindrical wall at a topside thereof that spans circumferentially around the removable cover in proximity to the outermost perimeter thereof, but offset a short distance inwardly from said outermost perimeter to leave an outer peripheral margin of the removable cover exposed outside said upstanding cylindrical wall, and the at least one movable cover holder, in the holding position thereof, engages over said outer peripheral margin of the removable cover from the outermost perimeter thereof, and said upstanding cylindrical wall stands taller from the mounting base than the at least movable cover holder.
14 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (b).
15 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (a) and (b).
16 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (a) and (c).
17 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (b) and (c).
18 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (b) and (d).
19 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (c) and (d).
20 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (a), (b) and (c).
21 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (a), (b) and (d).
22 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (a), (c) and (d).
23 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by at least (b), (c) and (d).
24 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one movable cover holder is characterized by all of (a), (b), (c) and (d).