Tube-type cylindrical container

Abstract

 The container has a special structure that makes it highly stable when stacked. For this, the container according to the present invention comprises a tubular cylindrical body (1), indistinctly made of cardboard, plastic or metal, the bottom end of which receives a bottom cover (2) which may be attached to said body by any means consistent with the type of material with which the container is manufactured, and the top end of which is closed by means of a cover (3) that forms a bowl-shaped exterior concavity (7), such that said bottom cover incorporates, immediately within the perimeter flange (4) used to attach said cover to the tubular body, a deep groove (5) the dimensions of which are appropriate to allow the operation of attaching said cover to the lower opening of the tubular body, and said groove frames a central protrusion (6) that occupies the majority of the surface of said bottom cover and protrudes a distance consistent with the depth of the body's top cover, to establish a matching fit between stacked containers.

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a container, of the type that comprises a tubular cylindrical body, closed by means of end covers which are usually made of metal, while the cylindrical body may be made of either metal or cardboard.

[0002] The object of the invention is to provide containers that are more stable when stacked, such as for example for their display on supermarket shelves or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Countless products are commercialized in "tube-type" containers, sometimes directly, such as in the case of preserve containers, while others indirectly, such as in the case of beverages, which are bottled and in turn said bottles are packaged in cylindrical containers, generally made of cardboard and provided with metal end covers.

[0004] These covers frequently include a perimeter flange in relation to which the majority of the cover's surface is significantly recessed so that, when the containers are stacked, they are supported by the aforementioned complementary flanges, thus making these stacks highly unstable and resulting in the permanent risk of falling of the containers located at the top of the stack.

[0005] With the aim of avoiding this problem, containers are known that have a recessed base with a bowl-shaped configuration, while its upper cover is significantly narrowed to create a configuration in the form of an inverted truncated cone that allows it to penetrate into said recess.

[0006] Although this solution is perfectly valid from a theoretical point of view, in practice it poses a major problem, namely that it is only applicable in the case of containers manufactured by stamping, such as for example the aluminium containers used for commercializing beverages wherein the bottom cover and cylindrical body constitute a single piece, but it is not applicable in the case of containers that have cardboard bodies or containers that have a metal body and seamed end covers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The tube-type cylindrical container proposed by the invention fully and satisfactorily solves the problem described above, in any case where the cylindrical body and end covers are independent parts that are fastened together at an appropriate time.

[0008] In order to do so, the main feature of the container proposed by the invention, which is based on the incorporation of a bowl-shaped top cover with its bottom countersunk or recessed towards the interior of the tubular body, in the manner that is already familiar, is the fact that its bottom cover, which conventionally used to be bowl-shaped and symmetrical to its top cover, now has a descending protrusion that emerges from and occupies the majority of said recess, and is designed to matchingly fit within the bowl-shaped recess on the top cover of a container located immediately below in the stack, thus immobilizing both containers in the lateral direction and therefore minimizing the risk of falling of the containers, as mentioned before.

[0009] Obviously, and in order to obtain the best possible results, the diameter of the protrusion on the bottom cover of the container must be equal to the internal diameter of the recess on the top cover of another identical container, and said protrusion must protrude significantly from the part's perimeter so that it can penetrate an appropriate distance within the recess on the other container's top cover.

[0010] Obviously, between this protrusion and the perimeter flange of the bottom cover, there is a deep groove that allows the necessary handling of the container during the operation of fixing said bottom cover to the cylindrical body, either by seaming or by any other appropriate conventional method.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In order to complement the description presented herein and with the purpose of aiding a better understanding of the characteristics of the present invention, according to a preferred example of a practical embodiment of the invention, attached hereto as an integral part of said description is a set of drawings wherein, by way of example and without limitation, the following have been illustrated:

Figure 1.- Shows a vertical cross-sectional view of a breakdown of a tube-type cylindrical container according to the object of the present invention.

Figure 2.- Shows an elevation view of the parts illustrated in the previous drawing, now duly assembled.

Figure 3.- Shows a vertical cross-sectional view of two containers like those illustrated in the previous drawings, now duly stacked.

Figure 4.- Shows a vertical cross-sectional view of a breakdown of another embodiment consisting of a variation of the container according to the invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0012] With the aid of the figures described above, it is possible to observe how the container of the present invention, just as any other conventional container of this type, comprises a tubular and cylindrical body (1), which will preferably be made of cardboard but which could equally be made of any other suitable material, closed by means of a bottom cover (2) and a top cover (3), of which at least the bottom cover (2), designed to remain indefinitely attached to the body (1), is attached to said body by means of seaming, whenever its nature allows this.

[0013] Now then, based on this conventional structure and according to the present invention, the base or bottom cover (2) has a perimeter flange (4) through which the lower opening of the tubular body (1) is attached, and immediately inside this perimeter flange (4) in the shape of a circular crown, a deep groove (5) that allows the operation of attaching the bottom cover (4) to the body (1), a groove (5) that in turn frames a voluminous cylindrical protrusion (6), which affects the majority of said base (2) and protrudes in relation to the perimeter flange (4) a distance which is sufficient so that when the containers are stacked, as illustrated in Figure 3, they will matchingly fit one on top of the other, with the protrusion (6) filling out the traditional recess (7) defined in the top cover (3) of the container, thus resulting in the optimal lateral stability of the stacks.

[0014] Obviously, this can be achieved without any significant increase in the amount of material required for the container or, in other words, without a noticeable cost increase, and without affecting in the least the measurements or dimensions of the container, as the axial length increase represented by the protrusion mentioned above (6) is offset by an equivalent shortening of the tubular body (1) such that the capacity of the container is maintained, as is the exterior volume occupied by the container, thus allowing the same lateral coupling between containers.

[0015] Although the present invention has been described based on an example of a practical embodiment in which the container's covers, i.e. its bottom cover and its top cover, are metallic, the invention can equally be applied to containers with plastic covers having an appropriate stiffness.

[0016] Likewise, it should be noted that, as evident and can be observed in the detail illustrated in Figure 4, the covers could be arranged in reverse order, i.e. with the bottom cover adopting the configuration of the top cover and vice versa, defining the same type of matching fit between containers without this affecting the essence of the invention.

Claims

1. Tube-type cylindrical container, of the type that comprises a tubular cylindrical body, indistinctly made of cardboard, plastic or metal, the bottom end of which receives a bottom cover which may be attached by any means consistent with the type of material with which the container is manufactured, and the top end of which is closed by means of a cover that forms a bowl-shaped exterior concavity, characterized in that said bottom cover incorporates, immediately within the perimeter flange used to attach said cover to the tubular body, a deep groove the dimensions of which are appropriate to allow the operation of attaching said cover to the lower opening of the tubular body, and said groove frames a central protrusion that occupies the majority of the surface of said bottom cover, and which protrudes a distance consistent with the depth of the body's top cover, to establish a matching fit between stacked containers.

2. A tube-type cylindrical container according to Claim 1, characterized in that optionally the bottom cover may adopt the configuration of the top cover and vice versa, defining the same type of matching fit between stacked containers.

Drawing