Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The present invention relates in general to containers intended to manually dispense powders and granular materials, especially food.

An object of the present invention is to provide a container cover allowing manual dispensing of powders and granular material from the container.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a container cover which includes a manually openable pouring spout.

A further object of the present invention is to provide container cover in which the pour spout is selectively closed by a cover which may be removed for use as a dispensing spoon.

These and other objects are achieved by a container cover with pour spout and spoon.

According to the present invention, there is provided a container cover, comprising: a peripheral rim sized and shaped to be selectively secured to a container base; a top wall within said rim, with an aperture extending therethrough, said aperture having parallel sides and spaced ends; and a slider having a main body with a locking wall extending therefrom and received within said aperture, said locking wall having first faces in close sliding engagement with said aperture sides, said faces having a length less than that of said aperture sides such that said slider may be manually moved with respect to said top wall between open and closed positions, with said main body covering and closing said aperture in said closed position.

Preferably, said locking wall further includes second faces each extending between said first faces at the longitudinal ends therof, and wherein said main body is depressed within the periphery defined by said first and second faces, such depression in said main body forming a bowl of a spoon, with said slider being selectively manually removed from said sliding engagement with said top panel and inserted within said aperture manually for scooping.

The objects and features of the invention noted above are explained in more detail with reference to the drawings, in which like reference numerals denote like elements, and in which:

• FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the cover according to the present invention;
• FIG. 2 is an exploded top perspective view thereof;
• FIG. 3 is a top view of a seal according to the present invention;
• FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view thereof;
• FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of a slider according to the present invention; and
• FIG. 6 is a detailed cross-sectional view a long line 6 - 6 of a Fig. 1; and
• FIG. 7 is a detailed cross-sectional view a long line 7 - 7 of a Fig. 1.

With reference to FIG. 1, a container cover with pour spout and spoon according to the present invention is generally designated by reference numeral 10. The cover 10 is mounted to a container base 12 having a generally concave form such that the container 12 and cover 10 together define an enclosed volume for storage. While cover 10 could be permanently secured to container 12, it is preferred that the cover 10 be selectively removable from and replaceable on the container base 12 to allow easy refilling for repeated use.

The cover 10 includes a peripheral rim 14 which surrounds and supports a top wall 16 which includes a pour aperture 18 extending therethrough. The rim 14 and top wall 16 could be separate elements, but are preferably formed as a monolithic unit such as by injection molding. Cover 10 further includes a slider 20 removably secured to the top wall and capable of manual sliding between a closed position and an open position.

The rim 14 will secure to the container base 12. When the cover 10 is intended to be removable and replaceable, the rim may be formed in a variety of ways known in the art. Most typically, this would be an inverted U-shaped slot receiving an upper edge of the container base as is well known in the art.

The slider 20 includes a planar main body 22 which is elongated in a direction of movement between the open and closed positions (referred to herein as the longitudinal direction, with the lateral direction being perpendicular thereto). Main body 22 is sized to fit within the rim 14. The main body 22 may be relatively closely received within the rim 14 in the lateral direction (as shown). However, the main body 22 must be shorter than the distance between the rim 14 in the longitudinal direction, so as to allow the main body 22 to move relative to, and within, the rim 14 as the main body moves between the closed and open positions. The main body 22 will also slide upon the top wall 16 (or at least a portion thereof) during this movement. The main body 22 has a size and a shape sufficient to fully cover the pour aperture 18.

The pour aperture 18 is elongated and includes two parallel sides 26 spaced from each other and extending in the longitudinal direction, as well as two spaced ends 28 each extending between the sides 26. The ends may be relatively straight (forming a relatively rectangular aperture 18, but are preferably curved as shown. The slider 20 further includes a locking wall 24 extending from the main body 22 to be received within the aperture 18. The locking wall preferably has a closed periphery, with parallel first faces 30 spaced so as to be very closely received within the sides 26, and with second faces 32 extending therebetween and shaped so as to closely mate with the ends 28. The second faces 32 are spaced from each other a distance less than the distance between the ends 28. As such, the slider 20 may move longitudinally from a position when one of second faces 32 abuts its adjoining end 28 (the closed position of Fig. 1) to a position when the other of the second faces 32 abuts against its adjoining end 28 (the open position of Fig. 6). This movement may be manual and reciprocal, with the first faces 30 sliding along their adjacent sides 26. The main body 22 is sized and placed such that it extends beyond the second face 32 closest to the open position a sufficient distance to at least cover the portion of aperture 18 which is not within the locking wall 24 when the slider is in the closed position.

As may be seen, in the closed position main body 22 of the slider 20 will fully cover and close the aperture 18. In the open position, the portion of the main body extending beyond the locking wall 24 will extend over the top wall 16. In this manner the slider 20 may be used to selectivey seal and unseal the aperture 18. When in the open position, the user may tilt the entire container to pour contents out of the aperture 18.

To ensure that the slider 20 remains in position to operatively seal the aperture 18, at least the first faces 30 (and preferably all faces) of the locking wall 24 include a groove 34. The groove 34 may engage with a mating ridge 36 within the aperture 18. The top wall 16 itself may be of a thickness to form the ridge 36, or it may be formed on or by an enlarged periphery of the aperture 18. It is an important part of the invention that the top wall 16 and/or slider 20 be sufficiently elastic to allow manual engagement and removal of the slider 20.

When the slider 20 is manually removed from the top wall 16 as in Fig. 2, it may be used as a spoon. To achieve this, the locking wall 24 could be a thin strip (not shown) extending from the main body 22 such that the slide 20 could be turned over and the volume within the locking wall 24 and main body 22 would form the bowl 37 of a spoon. Alternatively, and as shown in the figures, the main body 22 could be depressed within the periphery of the locking wall 24, thus forming the bowl 37 of the spoon. As may be envisioned from Fig. 2, the user could manually remove the slider 20, grasping the portion of the main body 22 extending beyond the locking wall 34 as a handle, and insert the bowl portion of slider 20 into the aperture 18 to scoop contents from the container base.

While not required, it is preferred that the periphery of the aperture 18 is raised with respect to the remainder of the top wall 16. This will help to ensure full contact of the main body 22 against the aperture 18 to more fully seal the aperture with in any position other than open.

To cause the manual sliding of the slider 20, the user could insert their finger into the bowl formed by the depression in the main body 22 (if the spoon is so formed). It is preferred, however, to elongate the main body 22 further in the longitudinal direction, and to form a finger catch 38 formed as an aperture therethrough (or a depression therein). The portion of the top wall 16 could be depressed beneath the finger catch 38 to allow its free movement with the slider 20 between the open and closed positions. Alternatively, an actual closed trench 40 could be formed in the top wall 16.

In the most preferred form the finger catch 38 would extend into the trench 40, with the trench 40 being undercut to form longitudinal slide ribs 42 which are closely received within slide grooves 44 in the outer lateral sides of the finger catch 38. Thus, the finger catch 38 would be guided in a manner similar to the locking wall 24 within the aperture 18. This would further serve to ensure the main body 22 remains pressed against and properly seals the aperture 18. As before, it is preferred that the connection here be sufficiently elastic to allow the user to manually engage and disengage the ribs 42 and grooves 44. Alternatively or additionally, the ribs 42 may end prior to one or both longitudinal ends of the trench 40 so as to form a widened opening allowing free entry and exit of the finger catch 38 in the trench 40.

The sliding connections between the groove 34 and ridge 36 (as well as ribs 42 and groves 44) may be sufficiently tight to hold the slider 20 in position against unintended movement. It may be desirable, however, to form one or more protruding stops 46 on the bottom face of main body 22 positioned to engage against the inner periphery (or peripheral edge) of the aperture 18 to help secure the slider 20 in the open position, closed position, an/or an intermediate position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all ends and objects set forth above together with the other advantages which are inherent within its structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

Since many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth of shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

When used in this specification and claims, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.