Granted Patent B2

US 7,537,137 · App. 11/171,171 · Granted May 26, 2009

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. A substantially moisture tight container and lid assembly for storing and packaging moisture-sensitive items comprising:

an assembly with a container and a lid,

a) the lid is attached by a hinge to an upper housing portion of the container, the lid has an outer periphery that extends over at least a portion of the container, the lid is provided with a skirt that extends downwardly therefrom,

b) the container has a container base, and a sidewall extending upwardly from the container base,

i) a top of the container is provided with an opening that permits access to an interior of the container, wherein the opening is spaced away from an outer surface of the sidewall of the container,

ii) the opening of the top of the container is bounded by a lip that extends upward from the top of the container, the lip of the top of the container extends around the periphery of the opening of the top of the container,

iii) the skirt of the lid is positioned at a location on the lid that allows the skirt of the lid to enter into a closing relationship with the lip of the top of the container, wherein the skirt of the lid fits over a periphery of the lip of the top of the container,

iv) the lid further includes a flexible lip seal member that extends downwardly therefrom, the flexible lip seal member of the lid is configured to abut at least a portion of the interior side of the lip of the top container surface when the lid is in the closed position,

wherein the flexible lip seal member is designed to be sufficiently deflective so as to provide a sealing position, in addition to the closing relationship between the skirt of the lid and the lip of the top container when the lip of the top of the container applies pressure on the flexible lip seal member from the outside in, which in combination with the closing relationship between the skirt of the lid and the lip of the top of the container results in a substantially moisture tight seal between the lid and the container, and

wherein the skirt of the lid includes an inwardly facing extension, the lip of the top of the container includes an outwardly facing extension, the inwardly facing extension of the skirt of the lid and the outwardly facing extension of the lip abut and interlock with each other in a snap-fit configuration when the lid is in the closed position.

2. The substantially moisture tight container and lid assembly of claim 1 wherein a portion of the lid serves as a tab for facilitating the opening and closing of the container assembly.

3. The substantially moisture tight container and lid assembly of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the interior of the container base is composed of a desiccant entrained plastic.

4. The substantially moisture tight container and lid assembly of claim 1 wherein container and lid assembly is resealable.

5. The substantially moisture tight container and lid assembly for storing and packaging moisture-sensitive items of claim 1 wherein the degree of deflection of the flexible lip is determined, at least in part, by the thickness of the flexible lip and the curvature of the flexible lip.

6. A substantially moisture tight container and lid assembly for storing and packaging moisture-sensitive items comprising:

an assembly with a container and a lid,

a) the lid is attached by a hinge to an upper housing portion of the container, the lid has an outer periphery that extends over at least a portion of the container, the lid is provided with a skiff that extends downwardly therefrom,

b) the container has a container base, and a sidewall extending upwardly from the container base,

i) a top of the container is provided with an opening that permits access to an interior of the container, wherein the opening is spaced away from an outer surface of the sidewall of the container,

ii) the opening of the top of the container is bounded by a lip that extends upward from the top of the container, the lip of the top of the container extends around the periphery of the opening of the top of the container,

iii) the skirt of the lid is positioned at a location on the lid that allows the skiff of the lid to enter into a closing relationship with the lip of the top of the container, wherein the skirt of the lid fits over a periphery of the lip of the top of the container,

iv) the lid further includes a lip seal member that extends downwardly therefrom, the lip seal member of the lid is configured to abut at least a portion of the interior side of the lip of the top of the container when the lid is in the closed position,

wherein the lip seal member provides a sealing position, in addition to the one between the skirt of the lid and the lip of the top of the container, and applies pressure on the lip of the top of the container from the inside out, which in turn applies pressure on the skirt of the lid, thereby tightening the seal between the skirt of the lid and the lip of the top of the container, resulting in a substantially moisture tight seal between the lid and the container, and

wherein the skirt of the lid includes an inwardly facing extension, the lip of the top of the container includes an outwardly facing extension, the inwardly facing extension of the skirt of the lid and the outwardly facing extensions of the lip abut and interlock with each other in a snap-fit configuration when the lid is in the closed position.

7. A substantially moisture tight container and lid assembly for storing and packaging moisture-sensitive items comprising:

an assembly with a container and a lid,

a) the lid is attached by a hinge to an upper housing portion of the container, the lid has an outer periphery that extends over at least a portion of the container, the lid is provided with a skirt that extends downwardly therefrom,

b) the container has a container base, and a sidewall extending upwardly from the container base,

i) a top of the container is provided with an opening that permits access to an interior of the container wherein the opening is spaced away from an outer surface of the sidewall of the container,

ii) the opening of the top of the container is bounded by a lip that extends upward from the top of the container, the lip of the top of the container extends around the periphery of the opening of the top of the container,

iii) the skirt of the lid is positioned at a location on the lid that allows the skirt of the lid to enter into a closing relationship with the lip of the top of the container, wherein the skirt of the lid fits over a periphery of the lip of the top of the container,

iv) the lid further includes a flexible lip seal member that extends downwardly therefrom, the flexible lip seal member of the lid is configured to abut at least a portion of the interior side of the lip of the top of the container when the lid is in the closed position,

wherein the flexible lip seal member is designed to be sufficiently deflective so as to provide a sealing position, in addition to the closing relationship between the skirt of the lid and the lip of the top of the container when the lip of the top of the container applies pressure on the flexible lip seal member from the outside in, which in combination with the closing relationship between the skirt of the lid and the lip of the top of the container, wherein the closing relationship between the skirt of the lid and the lip of the top of the container and the flexible lip sealing member that provides a sealing position results in a substantially moisture tight seal between the lid and the container, and

wherein the skirt of the lid includes an inwardly facing extension, the lip of the top of the container includes an outwardly facing extension, the inwardly facing extension of the skirt of the lid and the outwardly facing extensions of the lip abut and interlock with each other in a snap-fit configuration when the lid is in the closed position.

Assignments (14)