EP1218251B1

EP1218251B1 - Storage can with a hinged lid

Info

Publication number: EP1218251B1
Application number: EP00971889A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Rudolphus Cornelis Henricus Daams
Original assignee: Brabantia Nederland BV
Current assignee: Brabantia Nederland BV
Priority date: 1999-10-07
Filing date: 2000-10-06
Publication date: 2003-03-12
Anticipated expiration: 2020-10-06
Also published as: EP1218251A1; AU1063101A; WO2001025104A1; CN1123495C; CN1378514A; NL1013239C2; HK1044323A1

Description

The invention relates to a storage can consisting of a container and a lid that fits on the top of the container and is attached to the container by means of a hinge construction, which hinge construction consists of, on the one hand, two projecting lips which are attached to the container and are some distance apart, each provided with a hole, and, on the other hand, a wire piece which is attached to the lid and is made of resilient material, bent ends of said wire piece projecting into the holes in the lips and a brace being fitted around the lips.

A storage can of this type is generally known in practice. With this arrangement, the hinge construction is arranged such mat in the open position the lid is flipped completely back approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the can. Bringing the lid into the closed position is effected by hinging it back from this fully open position through an angle of approximately 270°, the lid automatically dropping into the closed position over the final part of this path. The long hinging movement is a disadvantage and, moreover, the lid can drop back of its own accord from a partially open position to the closed position under the influence of gravity. Control of the lid when making liquid or particulate material flow out of the can is too limited.

The aim of the invention is to overcome the abovementioned disadvantages and to this end the storage can indicated in the preamble is characterised in that the base of the brace is provided with a stop element that prevents the lid in the open position from continuing to hinge backwards and in that the top face of the brace has a cut-out which is delimited on at least one side by a lobe that on opening the lid to the maximum open position and on closing the lid into the closed position comes into contact with the resilient wire piece of the lid, it being possible for said wire piece to be pushed away, overcoming resilience, in order to allow the lid to pass.

By means of the invention undesired continuation of backward hinging of the lid when in the open position and undesired dropping back of the lid into the closed position are prevented.

It is pointed out that FR-A 2 013 523 discloses a can having a hinged lid, with which it is ensured by means of a C-shaped resilient brace and a resilient wire that the lid is pushed resiliently into the open position and from the intermediate position is resiliently pushed back into the closed position. There are two stable positions and with this construction also the lid is prevented from dropping back from the open position into the closed position under the influence of gravity.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to an illustrative embodiment that is shown in the figures.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the top section of the storage can according to the invention.

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the hinge construction by means of which the lid is attached to the container of the storage can.

Figure 3 shows a vertical section along the line 3 - 3 in Figure 2.

In the figures the cylindrical container of the storage can is indicated by 1 and the lid by 2. The hinge construction by means of which the lid is attached to the container has been given the reference numeral 3 and the locking mechanism attached to the container the reference numeral 4. When the lid is in the closed position said locking mechanism interacts in a known manner with a lip 5, which has a bent-up end, of the lid.

The hinge construction comprises two projecting lips 6 located some distance apart. Each of these lips 6 forms an end section of a metal strip 7 fitted around approximately 170° of the cylindrical container 1. The other ends of the two metal strips 7 likewise form projecting lips 8 which form part of said locking mechanism 4. A hinge pin 9 with widened ends extends through the lips 8. Furthermore, a brace 10 is fitted around the lips 6. The hinge pin 9 and the brace 10 hold the metal strips 7 pressed against the container 1.

The lip 5 forms part of a wire piece 11 made of elastic metal that extends in a groove in the lid 2.

Each of the two ends of said wire piece 11 consists of a section 13 projecting outwards from the lid, a section 14 that has been bent downwards through approximately 90° and is at a small angle to a perpendicular direction on the lid and an end section 15 bent laterally through 90°. Each of the end sections 15 extends in a hingeable manner through an opening in a vertical section 16 of the brace 10 fitted around the lips 6.

In addition to two vertical sections 16, the brace 10 has a base 17 and a split top face 18. In the top face 18 a cut-out has been made of such a shape that two lobes 19 have been produced.

The base 17 of the brace 10 slopes upwards at the rear and has been bent over to form a rest 20 against which the bent-down section 14 of the ends of the wire pieces bears when the lid is in the rearmost, most open position. The rest 20 is thus a stop.

The lid is prevented from dropping forwards from the most open position of the lid, shown in Figure 1, into the closed position because the sections 14 of the wire piece 11 bear against the rounded lobes 18. By exerting gentle manual pressure on the lid 2 the sections 14 are moved towards one another by the lobes 18, overcoming resilience, as a result of which the sections 14 are able to move beyond the stop and the lid drops into the closed position in which it can be locked by the locking mechanism 4. The lobes 18 thus form a surmountable stop for the lid.

What is achieved by means of the invention is thus that the lid is no longer able to flip open completely and that the lid is provided with a more guided movement by means of making the sections 14 of the wire piece 11, which forms part of the lid ring, spring in towards each other. Of course, the container does not have to be cylindrical.

Claims

Storage can consisting of a container (1) and a lid (2) that fits on the top of the container and is attached to the container by means of a hinge construction (3), which hinge construction consists of, on the one hand, two projecting lips (6) which are attached to the container and are some distance apart, each provided with a hole, and, on the other hand, a wire piece (11) which is attached to the lid and is made of resilient material, bent ends (15) of said wire piece projecting into the holes in the lips and a brace (10) being fitted around the lips (6), characterised in that the base (17) of the brace (10) is provided with a stop element (20) that prevents the lid in the open position from continuing to hinge backwards and in that the top face (18) of the brace (10) has a cut-out which is delimited on at least one side by a lobe (19) that on opening the lid to the maximum open position and on closing the lid into the closed position comes into contact with the resilient wire piece (11) of the lid, it being possible for said wire piece (11) to be pushed away, overcoming resilience, in order to allow the lid to pass.