US3506459A - Tamper-proof multiple compartment package - Google Patents

A

ril

14, 1970 A. K.

PARLOUR

3,50

TAMPER-PROOF MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT PACKAGE Filed July 11, 1967 INVENTOR. A. KENNEt/I P27240102 United States Patent 3,506,459 TAMPER-PROOF MULTIPLE COMPARTMENT PACKAGE A. Kenneth Parlour, New Albany, Ind., assignor to The Pillsbury Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 11, 1967, Ser. No. 652,616 Int. Cl.

B65b

25/16 U.S. Cl. 99-172 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Tamper-proof multiple compartment container or can composed of a tubular wall, first and second end closure plates crimped to the ends of the tubular wall. One of the end closures consists of an imperforate disc, the other is provided with an opening in its center to define a centrally extending circular flange. A cup having a laterally extending circular flange is mounted at the end of the container with its flange in contact with the inside surface of the lip. A dividing disc is positioned between the cup and the interior of the tubular container.

Refer nOW to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 which illustrate a preferred form of the invention. The

package

8 consists of a cylindrical body 9 formed from a sheet material such as

fiberboard body stock

10 which in this instance is spirally wound in conventional manner to form a cylinder having a helically disposed

butt joint

11 running the full length of the container and extending around its complete circumference. The body wall has suflicient strength to withstand the pressure generated by the dough bodies packed within the container.

The

body stock

10 is lined from within by means of an

inferior liner

12 which can consist for example of foil laminated to a layer of kraft paper or of any other suitable material known to the art. The foil liner is also helically or spirally wound at the same time that the

body

10 is being wound. The linear 12 is secured to the body by means of adhesive and its edges overlap the

spiral butt joint

11. The

liner

12 retards the escape of moisture and prevents materials contained within the

dough bodies

13 from penerating the

body stock

10. The liner also serves to reinforce the

butt joint

11 of the

body stock

10.

Secured by means of adhesive to the exterior of the body stock .10 is an

outer layer

14 which normally serves as a label. The

label

14 is superimposed about the body stock and is spirally wound thereon with its longitudinal seam offset from the

butt joint

11. The label .14 provides additional reinforcement for the butt joint.

The container can be opened as will be described more fully hereinbelow by removing the

label

14 to thereby weaken the butt joint. The container is thereafter struck against a hard object thereby rupturing the

liner

12 and allowing the container to open along its full length. In an alternative opening procedure, the container is opened by striking it directly against a hard object without removing a portion of the

label stock

14.

Upper and lower

end closure elements

18 and 20 are applied to the ends of the cylinder formed by the wound layers. The

bottom closure element

20 consists of a disc composed from a deformable material such as sheet metal, e.g. aluminum or lacquered steel stamped to provide a circumferentially extending cylindrical chime or

seam

22. The top closure element 1-8 likewise preferably consists of metal. An important aspect of the present invention is the provision of a permanent connection or bond between the

top closure element

18 and the cylindrical body 9. By permanent bond is meant one in which the destruction of the

top closure element

18 and body 9 is required for separating these parts.

The permanent bond although it may take various forms in this instance consists of a cylindrical vertically projecting

chuck wall

23, a laterally extending

seaming panel

24, a downwardly extending seaming wall and an upwardly projecting

terminal end hook

26. The top closure element is applied with can end seaming equipment of the type in which the can is rotated during the seaming operation. Briefly, in this operation rolls first bend the seaming panel and seaming wall downwardly to form the seam and turn up the

terminal hook

26. In a second part of the operation, pressure against the exterior of the seam causes the terminal hook portion to be deflected toward the center of the can to thereby compress the overall seam and lock the terminal edge portion of the cylindrical container body 9 securely in place by forming a

constricted portion

28 and an

enlarged head portion

29 between the chuck wall and the seaming wall. In this manner the top closure element .18 is permanently bonded to the end of the can.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the

top closure element

18 includes a flat, horizontally disposed circular, centrally projecting

lip

30 defining a

central opening

32. An important consideration in the present invention is that the

lip

30 be formed from a strong rigid material that cannot readily be deformed manually. When the

end closure

18 is formed from metal, the lip can consist, for example, of a steel sheet of about 18 gauge.

Mounted within the end of the container body 9 for axial sliding movement is an auxiliary food storage compartment that consists of a

cup

40 including a

frustoconical side wall

42 and a

top wall

44 and an

opening

46 at the inner end thereof. Adjacent the

opening

46 is a circumferentially extending, laterally projecting

circular flange

48 of a sufficiently large diameter to rest adjacent the

lower surface

50 of the

lip

30.

Flange

48 is formed from a strong material that has sufficient rigidity to prevent deflection of the lower portion of the

cup

40 in the plane of the flange 48 (either laterally or centrally). By reason of this provision, it will be impossible to deform the

cup

40 and in that way slip the edge of the

flange

48 through the

opening

32. When the

cup

40 is made of a thermoplastic resinous material such as high density polyethylene, polypropylene or polystyrene, a flange having a thickness of about inch is generally satisfactory. When other materials are used, the thickness can be varied between wide extremes provided however that the

flange

48 is rigid enough to prevent deformation sufficient to allow removal of the cup through the

opening

32. Since the cup cannot be removed except by destroying the body wall 9, the container can be properly regarded as tamper-proof.

Mounted loosely within the container in abutting relationship with the lower surface of the

flange

48 is a

divider disc

52 composed of any suitable material such as metal. The

divider

52 is preferably provided with a circular

central elevation

54 of an appropriate size to exactly fit the

mouth

46 of the

cup

40. This helps to center the

divider

52 and assists in sealing the cup. The divider is also provided with a terminal axially extending

circular flange

56 which projects between the wall of the container and the marginal edge of the

flange

48. The

divider

52 functions reliably to prevent undesired extrusion of dough into the icing

cup

40 and any tendency for this to occur will be largely offset since the force exerted by the

dough pieces

13 against the

divider

52 causes a pressure increase between the

flange

48 and the marginal portion of the

divider

52.

When the container is to be opened, the tube is either broken directly by striking it against a sharp edge or the

label

14 is removed first and the container is then struck against a sharp edge to sever the container body 9 along the longitudinally extending helically disposed butt joint 11. Once the container has been opened in this manner and a few of the

biscuits

13 have been removed, the

cup

40 can be slid axially as shown in FIGURE 3 and removed through the opening established by the broken butt joint.

Refer now to FIGURE 4 which illustrates a

container

66 embodying another form of the invention. The

container

66 includes a

fiberboard layer

64 having a helically disposed butt joint 68 which extends its full length. The

fiberboard layer

64 has secured to it an

interior liner

70 that can consist, for example, of foil laminated to a layer of kraft paper. The

liner

70 is spirally wound at the same time as the

body stock

64 so as to overlap the spiral butt joint 68.

Bonded to the exterior of the

body portion

64 is an

outer label

74. The

label

74 is superimposed about the

body stock

10 and is spirally wound thereon with its longitudinal seam offset from the butt joint 68. The container can be opened as previously described in connection with FIGURES 1-3, by removing the label thereby weakening the butt joint or by striking it directly against a hard object without removing a portion of the

label

74.

An

end closure element

76 in all respects is identical to end

closure element

18 and is applied to the end top of the container body in the manner described in connection with FIGURES 1-3. As in the container of FIGURES 13, a permanent connection or bond is provided between the

top closure element

76 and the

container body

66.

As in FIGURES 1-3, the

top closure element

76 is attached first by bending the periphery down to form the seam and then turning up the terminal hooked portion. Pressure against the exterior of the seam causes the terminal hooked portion to be deflected centrally to compress the seam and lock the terminal edge portion of the body wall securely in place. This defines a constricted portion and an enlarged head portion between the chuck wall and the seaming wall. In this manner, the

top closure element

76 is permanently bonded to the end of the can.

As in FIGURES 1-3, the

top closure element

76 includes a flat, horizontally disposed circular, centrally projecting

lip

86 defined by a

central opening

88. The lip is again formed from a strong rigid material.

Mounted within the end of the

container body

66 for axial sliding movement is an auxiliary food storage compartment defined by a cup 90 including

side wall

92 and a

top wall

94 and an opening 96 at the bottom thereof. Adjacent the opening 96 is a circumferentially extending, laterally projecting

circular flange

98 of a sufiiciently large size to rest adjacent the lower surface of the

lip

86.

The

flange

98 has suflicient rigidity to prevent central deflection of the lower portion of the cup. It will, therefore, be impossible to deform the

walls

92 of the cup 90 and in that way slip the ends of the

flange

98 through the

opening

88.

Mounted to extend across the lower portion of the cup 90 to thereby seal the opening 96 is a divider composed of a flexible plastic film 100. The film 100 is preferably provided with a peripheral portion which extends upwardly and is enclosed between the end of the container body and the

end closure element

76.

When the

container

66 is to be opened, the tube is either broken directly by striking it against a sharp edge or the

label

74 is removed first to weaken the longitudinally extending helically disposed butt joint 68.

With the present invention, it is not essent al to employ both friction and pressure to hold this separator in place. Either of these separately will sufiice under many circumstances. In assembling the container, the cup is first i11- serted into the can end 76. The cup is then filled and covered with a plastic film 100. Finally the can end 76 is crimped to the end of the

can body

66. If desired, the cup can be filled before insertion into the can end 76.

It is also possible for the disc punched out to form the

opening

32 to be used for the

divider

52. In this event, the

open end

46 of the

cup

40 is suitably shaped to accommodate a disc of this size. This can be conveniently done by providing a circular downwardly opening circumferentially extending recess to receive the punched out disc adjacent the open end '46 having the same diameter as the

opening

32.