EP0180221A2 — Snap action hinge with closed position straight s…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 443 words

Resilient snap-action closure (12) for a container (14) wherein said closure includes: a body (16) for being joined to said container (14) and defining an opening (24) for dispensing the contents of said container (14), said body (16) including a collar (26) defining at least a partially cylindrical portion; a cover (18) movable between a closed position on said container (14) for engaging said body (16) to close off said body opening (24) and an open position spaced from said body opening (24), said cover (18) defining at least a partially cylindrical portion (30) adapted to be disposed adjacent said body cylindrical portion (26) when said cover is in said closed position; main hinge means (50) for hingedly connecting said cylindrical portions (26; 30) of said body (16) and cover (18) along a main hinge axis; and a pair of connecting elements (70) on opposite ends of said main hinge means (50) for each connecting said body (16) with said cover (18), said connecting elements (70) being offset on one side of said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position whereby said cover (18) is held open, the closure (12) deforming elastically as said cover (18) is moved from said open position to said closed position about said main hinge axis until said closure (12) snaps through a dead center position at which said closure (12) is maximally deformed and beyond which both of said connecting elements (70) are located on the other side of said main hinge axis where the deformation is at least partly reduced so that said cover (18) is urged to said closed position; characterized in that each said connecting element (70) is connected to said cylindrical portion (26) of said body (16) with a first hinge (71) and to said cylindrical portion (30) of said cover (18) with a second hinge (72); said body cylindrical portion (26) defines a pair of channels (90) located on opposite ends of said main hinge means (59), said cover cylindrical portion (30) defining a pair of channels (92) located on opposite ends of said main hinge means (50), each said body channel (90) being in registry with one of said cover channels (92) when said cover (18) is in said closed position to define a recess (90) for receiving one of said connecting elements (70), and each said connecting element (70) lies in a generally straight line in one of said recesses (90) when said cover (18) is in said closed position and lies in a non-linear configuration in a plane generally parallel to said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 443 words

Resilient snap-action closure (12) for a container (14) wherein said closure includes: a body (16) for being joined to said container (14) and defining an opening (24) for dispensing the contents of said container (14), said body (16) including a collar (26) defining at least a partially cylindrical portion; a cover (18) movable between a closed position on said container (14) for engaging said body (16) to close off said body opening (24) and an open position spaced from said body opening (24), said cover (18) defining at least a partially cylindrical portion (30) adapted to be disposed adjacent said body cylindrical portion (26) when said cover is in said closed position; main hinge means (50) for hingedly connecting said cylindrical portions (26; 30) of said body (16) and cover (18) along a main hinge axis; and a pair of connecting elements (70) on opposite ends of said main hinge means (50) for each connecting said body (16) with said cover (18), said connecting elements (70) being offset on one side of said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position whereby said cover (18) is held open, the closure (12) deforming elastically as said cover (18) is moved from said open position to said closed position about said main hinge axis until said closure (12) snaps through a dead center position at which said closure (12) is maximally deformed and beyond which both of said connecting elements (70) are located on the other side of said main hinge axis where the deformation is at least partly reduced so that said cover (18) is urged to said closed position; characterized in that each said connecting element (70) is connected to said cylindrical portion (26) of said body (16) with a first hinge (71) and to said cylindrical portion (30) of said cover (18) with a second hinge (72); said body cylindrical portion (26) defines a pair of channels (90) located on opposite ends of said main hinge means (59), said cover cylindrical portion (30) defining a pair of channels (92) located on opposite ends of said main hinge means (50), each said body channel (90) being in registry with one of said cover channels (92) when said cover (18) is in said closed position to define a recess (90) for receiving one of said connecting elements (70), and each said connecting element (70) lies in a generally straight line in one of said recesses (90) when said cover (18) is in said closed position and lies in a non-linear configuration in a plane generally parallel to said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 257 words

Resilient snap-action closure (12) for a container (14) wherein said closure (12) includes: a body (16) for being joined to said container (14) and defining a contents dispensing opening (24); a cover (18) hinged to said body (16) for pivoting movement about a main hinge axis between closed and open positions relative to said opening (24); and two spaced-apart connecting elements (70), each said connecting element (70) being joined to said body (16) with a first hinge (71) and to said cover (18) with a second hinge (72) so as to locate said connecting elements (70) offset on one side of said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position whereby said cover (18) is held open, the closure (12) deforming elastically as the cover (18) is moved from said open position to said closed position about said main hinge axis until said closure (12) snaps through a dead center position at which said closure (12) is maximally deformed and beyond which both of said connecting elements (70) are located on the other side of said main hinge axis where the deformation is at least partly reduced so that said cover (18) is urged to said closed position; characterized in that each said connecting element (70) has a generally linear configuration adjacent said cover (18) and body (16) when said cover (18) is in said closed position and has a non-linear configuration adjacent lying generally in a plane parallel to said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 257 words

Resilient snap-action closure (12) for a container (14) wherein said closure (12) includes: a body (16) for being joined to said container (14) and defining a contents dispensing opening (24); a cover (18) hinged to said body (16) for pivoting movement about a main hinge axis between closed and open positions relative to said opening (24); and two spaced-apart connecting elements (70), each said connecting element (70) being joined to said body (16) with a first hinge (71) and to said cover (18) with a second hinge (72) so as to locate said connecting elements (70) offset on one side of said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position whereby said cover (18) is held open, the closure (12) deforming elastically as the cover (18) is moved from said open position to said closed position about said main hinge axis until said closure (12) snaps through a dead center position at which said closure (12) is maximally deformed and beyond which both of said connecting elements (70) are located on the other side of said main hinge axis where the deformation is at least partly reduced so that said cover (18) is urged to said closed position; characterized in that each said connecting element (70) has a generally linear configuration adjacent said cover (18) and body (16) when said cover (18) is in said closed position and has a non-linear configuration adjacent lying generally in a plane parallel to said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 61 words

Closure in accordance with claim 2 characterized in that both of said connecting elements (70) lie generally in a single common plane parallel to said main hinge axis when said cover (18) is in said open position and each said connecting element (70) is sufficiently rigid to maintain a generally arcuate configuration when said cover (18) is in said open position.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 58 words

Closure in accordance with claim 3 characterized in that each said connecting element (70) maintains a generally circular arc configuration when said cover (18) is in said open position and in that the center of the circular arc configuration lies in a plane that contains said main hinge axis and that is perpendicular to said single common plane.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 73 words

Closure in accordance with claim 2 characterized in that a major portion of the length of each said connecting element (70) has a generally circular transverse cross section, and said closure (12) is injection molded from polypropylene with said cover (18) in said open position and in which each said connecting element (70) has an arcuate, elongate configuration and an orientation of the macromolecular chains along the length of the connecting element (70).

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 68 words

Closure in accordance with claim 2 characterized in that each said connecting element (70) has a first end portion (81) at said first hinge (71) that is generally perpendicular to the axis of said first hinge (71) and in that each said connecting element (70) has a second end portion (82) at said second hinge (72) that is generally perpendicular to the axis of said second hinge (72).

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 65 words

Closure in accordance with claim 6 characterized in that a major portion of the length of each said connecting element (70) has a generally circular transverse cross section and in that each of said first and second end portions (81, 82) of each said connecting element (70) flares outwardly to a width that is greater than twice the diameter of said circular transverse cross section.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 168 words

Closure in accordance with claim 2 characterized in that said closure 412) includes a main hinge (50) between said connecting elements (70) for joining said cover (18) and body (16) along said main hinge axis, said cover (18) defines two spaced-apart channels (92) at opposite ends of said main hinge (50), said body (16) defines two spaced-apart channels (90) at opposite ends of said main hinge (50), one of said cover channels (92) and one of said body channels (90) at one end of said main hinge (50) are in end-to-end registry when said cover (18) is in said closed position so as to define a recess for receiving one of said connecting elements (70), and the other of said cover channels (92) and the other of said body channels (90) at the other end of said main hinge (50) are in end-to-end registry when said cover (18) is in said closed position so as to define a recess for receiving the other of said connecting elements (70).

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 96 words

Closure in accordance with claim 2 characterized in that said closure includes a main hinge (50) between said connecting elements (70) for joining said cover (18) and body (16) along said main hinge axis, said main hinge (50) includes a member having a first portion (51) joined to said body (16) and a second portion (52) joined to said cover (18), and said main hinge first portion (51) is larger than said main hinge second portion (52) and is joined to said main hinge second portion (52) in a unitary structure with a film hinge (53).

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 71 words

Closure in accordance with claim 9 characterized in that said main hinge first portion (51) slopes outwardly from said body (16) to said film hinge (53), said main hinge second portion (53) slopes outwardly from said cover (18) to said film hinge (53), and the length of said slope of said main hinge first portion (51) is greater than the length of said slope of said main hinge second portion (52).

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 117 words

Closure in accordance with claim 10 characterized in that said main film hinge (53) is defined, when said cover (18) is in said open position, on the exposed interior region of the closure (12) by a generally planar surface (54) and on the exterior region of the closure (17) by 1) a first partially cylindrical surface (56) merging with said main hinge first portion (51) and 2) a second partially cylindrical surface (58) merging with said main hinge second portion (52) and with said first partially cylindrical surface (56) and in that the radius of curvature of said first partially cylindrical surface (56) is less than the radius of curvature of said second partially cylindrical surface (58).

Snap action hinge with closed position straight straps

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