US2685316A - Vacuum container - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 3, 1954 n. KRASND VACUUM CONTAINER Filed May 12, 1952 INVENTOR LOUIS R. KRASNO ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 3, 1954 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE 1 Claim. 1

This invention appertains to packaging and more particulaly to a novel container for home and commercial use for receiving foodstuff, to bacco, etc. to facilitate preserving of this material and the holding of the flavor thereof.

One of the primary objects of my invention is the provision of a vacuum container for receiving food and other products including a body adapted to be compressed after the placing of the desired product therein for expelling air therefrom to create a partial vacuum in the body, the creation of the vacuum also functioning to hold the closure for the body in place in tight contact with the body.

Another salient object of my invention is to provide a container including a body formed from flexible material, such as plastic, having pleated walls, whereby the body can be easily compressed by an ordinary lay person, such as a housewife, to expel air from the container prior to the actual final sealing of the body by a screw or other cap.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a household storage container for foods in which the vacuum sealing principle can be effectively utilized to facilitate the preserving of food.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a container of the above character, which can be placed upon the market at a low cost.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which drawing,

Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view through one form of a container embodying the principles of my invention.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the container taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of another form of container embodying the principles of my invention.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view through the container shown in Figure 3, and taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3, Figure 4 being on a greater scale than Figure 3.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter C generally indicates one form of my container constructed in accordance with this invention, and the same is of the jar type. The container C includes a body 5, and a cover or closure 6 therefor. The body 5 includes a substantially cylindrical side wall 1 formed from flexible polyethylene, or other desired plastic, or other material. This wall I is provided with a series of accordion pleats 8, whereby the side wall can be conveniently compressed, as may be desired. In the present showing, the accordion pleats extend from one end of the wall to the other, but obviously, if so desired, only a portion of the wall need be accordion pleated. The bottom of the body 5 is preferably, but not necessarily, increased in thickness for stability, and I have shown a relatively thick bottom wall 9, which is secured to the side wall 1, in any desired way, such as by heat sealing or by the use of a suitable adhesive or chemical. Likewise, the extreme upper end of the side wall can also be reinforced and as shown, I have provided a ring l0 which can also be firmly secured to the side wall 1 by heat sealing or by the use of a suitable adhesive.

The cover or closure 6 is also formed from a desired plastic, and can be provided with a manipulating knob l I. The cover is detachably connected to the ring it in any preferred way, such as by the use of screw threads.

In use of my container, the material to be preserved is placed in the body 5 after which the body is compressed a certain distance to displace the air therefrom, and the cover 6 is then tightly threaded on the body, while the body is in its compressed condition. After the sealing of the cover 6 on the body 5, and the body tends to resume its normal shape, a partial vacuum will be formed within the body which will aid in the protecting of the material in the container.

The container can take various shapes and forms and in Figures 3 and 4, I have illustrated one other type of the container, and this container can take the shape of a large open mouthed bottle of a polygonal configuration in cross section. This container is generally indicated by the reference character 12 and includes the body l3 and a closure or cap I l therefor. The body [3 includes opposite substantially flat side walls I5 and opposite accordion pleated connecting walls [6. The body also includes a bottom ll and the body at its upper end gradually tapers from the side walls [5 and the connecting walls 56 to a neck [8. The neck It can be reinforced by a ring l9 firmly united with the neck and. the cap I4 can be threaded or otherwise detachably secured to the ring. While I have shown the connecting walls accordion pleated the full width thereof, it is to be also understood that these connecting walls need to be only partially pleated.

In use of this form of my container, the cap I4 is removed and the material to be protected is placed in the body and the body is squeezed by pressing inward on the side walls l5 which will bow in these walls from the bottom wall H and from the neck It. This will expel air from the container and the cap can be tightly threaded on the body while the body is held in its partially compressed condition.

In both forms of my invention, after the placing of the material in the body, the covers or caps can be partially threaded in place, after which the bodies can be compressed to expel the air and then the covers or caps can be threaded home to their sealing positions.

The body l2 can also be formed from any desired flexible material, such as plastic, and particularly polyethylene.

From the foregoing description, it can be seen that I have provided an exceptionally simple and inexpensive form of container'which will efiectively preserve food and other material.

Changes in details may be made without departin from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but what I claim as new is A container for perishable products comprising a body including a bottom wall, spaced parallel side walls, and connecting flexible end walls, a flexible filling neck carried by the upper ends of the side and end walls, and a removable sealing closure for the neck, said connecting end walls being provided with vertically extending accordion pleats running from the bottom wall to the neck, whereby the connecting end walls can be collapsed upon pressure being applied to the side walls for bringing said side walls toward one another.

lZ-ief rences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date R. 20,920 Nadelson Nov. 15, 1938 152,258 Thwing June 23, 1874 1,658,935 Baird Apr. 15, 1913 1,584,370 Green May 11, 1926 1,835,858 Ford Dec. 8, 1931 2,066,897 01m Jan. 5, 1937 2,186,183 Trumbull Jan. 9, 1940 2,366,770 Cordwell Jan. 9, 1945 2,400,716 Sattler May 21, 1946 2,430,905 Bradley Nov. 18, 1947

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