Lid featuring ease of use and improved release from a tray or container
View Patent ↗A lid is reliably engagable with a tray while being easily releasable without disturbing tray contents and without undue lid stress. At least two lift tabs or indentations are provided at separated locations about the lid periphery, thereby providing two distinct initial disengagement locations and overcoming any tendency of the elastic lid to reactively grip the tray when disengagement is initiated. Initial disengagement at the two locations thereby enables easy removal of the entire lid. Lid release can require simultaneous and/or sequential actuation of tabs and/or indentations. Embodiments further include locations that can be pressed while corresponding tabs are lifted. Some embodiments include a peripheral skirt that is short enough to allow a user's fingers to pass beneath and support the tray sidewalls when lifting the tray-lid assembly from a horizontal surface, avoiding any need for the lid engagement to bear the weight of the tray and its contents.
1. A lid adapted for engagement with a container base and easy release therefrom, the lid and container base comprising:
a container base having a container bottom wall, a container sidewall that extends upwardly and outwardly from said container bottom wall, and a peripheral container lip that is substantially round;
a lid having a lid top and a lid engagement feature proximal to a peripheral boundary of the lid, said peripheral boundary of the lid being substantially round, said lid engagement feature comprising a peripheral groove extending substantially annularly about the peripheral boundary, said peripheral groove being configured for mutual cooperation and attachment with the container base by receiving said peripheral container lip of the container base therein, thereby allowing formation of a base-lid assembly;
a peripheral skirt extending downwardly and flaring outwardly from said peripheral groove, said peripheral skirt being located below said peripheral container lip when said container base and said lid are engaged to form said base-lid assembly; and
a pair of graspable members provided in said peripheral skirt of the lid in locations that are not directly opposite to each other, said graspable members being configured for grasping and flexing the peripheral skirt and disengaging the peripheral groove from the peripheral container lip at two locations, from which said disengagement propagates around a portion of the peripheral boundary that is sufficient for allowing separation of the base-lid assembly and release of the lid from the container base.
2. The lid of claim 1 , wherein said graspable members are lift tabs, and simultaneous operation of said two lift tabs leads to separation between the container lip and the peripheral groove of the lid at least at said locations of said lift tabs, leading to propagation of the separation and release of the lid from the container base.
3. The lid of claim 1 , wherein said lid is dome shaped.
4. The lid of claim 1 , wherein said pair of graspable members are configured to form two lift tabs.
5. The lid of claim 1 , wherein said graspable members are simultaneously operable with a user's left and right hands respectively.
6. The lid of claim 1 , wherein said graspable members are sequentially operable with at least one of a user's hands.
7. The lid of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the graspable members further includes a press location cooperative therewith and located proximally thereto, the engagement feature lying between the graspable member and the press location, the press location enabling a user's hand to press on the press location while simultaneously lifting said at least one cooperative graspable member.
8. The lid of claim 7 , further comprising a visible indication associated with each press location suggesting that pressure be applied to the press location, and a visible indication associated with each graspable member suggesting that the graspable member be lifted.
9. The lid of claim 1 , wherein the graspable members are located at an angular separation of between 20 degrees and 60 degrees.
10. The lid of claim 1 , wherein the graspable members are located at an angular separation of between 25 degrees and 50 degrees.
11. The lid of claim 1 , wherein the material of construction of the lid is one of: polypropylene (PP), oriented polystyrene (OPS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), styrene butadiene copolymer, and rubber modified styrene.
12. The lid of claim 1 , wherein said peripheral skirt is configured for guiding said base peripheral container lip into cooperation with said lid engagement feature and facilitating formation of said base-lid assembly; the peripheral skirt being sufficiently short to enable a user to lift the container base from below when the lid is engaged with the container base.
13. A lid adapted for engagement with a container base and easy release therefrom, the lid and container base comprising:
a container base having a container bottom wall, container sidewalls that extend upwardly from said container bottom wall, and a peripheral container lip;
a lid having a lid top and a lid engagement feature extending continuously proximal to a peripheral boundary of the lid, said peripheral boundary of the lid being shaped substantially as a polygon, said lid engagement feature comprising a peripheral groove extending substantially annularly around the peripheral boundary, said peripheral groove being configured for mutual cooperation and attachment with the container base by receiving said peripheral container lip of the container base therein, thereby allowing formation of a base-lid assembly;
a peripheral skirt extending downwardly and flaring outwardly from said peripheral groove, said peripheral skirt being located below said peripheral container lip when said container base and said lid are engaged to form said base-lid assembly; and
a pair of graspable members provided in said peripheral skirt of the lid in locations that are not directly opposite to each other, said graspable members being configured for grasping and flexing the peripheral skirt and disengaging the peripheral groove from the container lip at two locations, from which said disengagement propagates around a portion of the peripheral boundary that is sufficient for allowing separation of the base-lid assembly and release of the lid from the container base.
14. A lid adapted for engagement with a container base and easy release therefrom, said container base having a container bottom wall, at least one container sidewall that extends upwardly and outwardly from said container bottom wall, and a peripheral container lip, said lid comprising:
a lid top;
a lid engagement feature in the form a peripheral groove, said peripheral groove extending substantially annularly about the lid proximal to a peripheral boundary of the lid, said peripheral groove being configured for mutual cooperation and attachment with said container base by receiving said peripheral container lip of the container base therein, thereby allowing formation of a base-lid assembly;
a peripheral skirt extending downwardly and flaring outwardly from said peripheral groove, said peripheral skirt being located below said peripheral container lip when said container base and said lid are engaged to form said base-lid assembly;
a first lift tab and a second lift tab provided in said peripheral skirt of the lid and disposed at respective locations along said peripheral boundary of the lid that are not directly opposed to each other, said first and second lift tabs being operable with a user's left and right hands respectively; and
a first press area proximate to said first lift tab and located relatively inwardly to said peripheral groove of the lid and a second press area proximate to said second lift tab and located relatively inwardly to said peripheral groove of the lid, said first press area being downwardly pressable by said user's left hand while said left hand is lifting said first lift tab, and said second press area being downwardly pressable by said user's right hand while said right hand is lifting said second lift tab,
wherein simultaneous lifting of said first and second lift tabs while pressing said first and second press areas flexes the peripheral skirt and disengages the peripheral groove from the container lip at two locations, from which said disengagement propagates around a portion of the peripheral boundary that is sufficient for enabling separation between said lid engagement feature and said base engagement feature and leading to the release of said lid from said container base.
15. The lid of claim 14 , wherein said container base is a substantially flat tray.
16. The lid of claim 14 , further comprising a visible indication associated with each press area suggesting that pressure be applied to the press area, and a visible indication associated with each lift tab suggesting that the lift tab be lifted.
17. The lid of claim 14 , wherein said peripheral skirt extends between 0.1″ and 0.3″ below said peripheral container lip of said container base.
18. The lid according to claim 14 , wherein said peripheral skirt extends about 0.2″ below said peripheral container lip of said container base.
19. The lid according to claim 14 , wherein said lid is made by a thermoforming process.
20. The lid according to claim 14 , wherein said lid is made by an injection molding process.
21. The lid according to claim 14 , wherein said lid is made from polypropylene (PP) resin.
22. The lid according to claim 14 , wherein said lid is made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin.
23. The lid according to claim 14 , wherein said lid is thermoformed from an oriented polystyrene sheet.
24. The lid of claim 13 , wherein said graspable members are lift tabs, and simultaneous operation of said two lift tabs leads to separation of the engagement features at least at said locations of said lift tabs, leading to propagation of the separation, release of the peripheral container lip from the peripheral groove, and separation of the lid from the container base.
25. The lid of claim 13 , wherein said lid is dome shaped.
26. The lid of claim 13 , wherein said pair of graspable members are configured to form two lift tabs.
27. The lid of claim 13 , wherein said graspable members are simultaneously operable with a user's left and right hands respectively.
28. The lid of claim 13 , wherein said graspable members are sequentially operable with at least one of a user's hands.
29. The lid of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the graspable members further includes a press location cooperative therewith and located proximally thereto, the engagement feature lying between the graspable member and the press location, the press location enabling a user's hand to press on the press location while simultaneously lifting said at least one cooperative graspable member.
30. The lid of claim 29 , further comprising a visible indication associated with each press location suggesting that pressure be applied to the press location, and a visible indication associated with each graspable member suggesting that the graspable member be lifted.
31. The lid of claim 13 , wherein the material of construction of the lid is one of: polypropylene (PP), oriented polystyrene (OPS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), styrene butadiene copolymer, and rubber modified styrene.
32. The lid of claim 13 , wherein, the peripheral skirt is configured for guiding said base peripheral container lip into cooperation with said lid engagement feature and facilitating formation of said base-lid assembly; the peripheral skirt being sufficiently short to enable a user to lift the container base from below when the lid is engaged with the container base.
33. The lid of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the at least one of the graspable members is located at a vertex of the peripheral boundary of the lid.
34. The lid of claim 13 , wherein the pair of graspable members are located adjacent to either side of a vertex of the peripheral boundary of the lid.