Can closure

Claim 1

For use with a can having a cylindrical side wall, a top end wall and a circumferential rim projecting endwise of said top wall and having a skirt portion abutting the outer face of said side wall to define a shoulder-forming end edge therewith, there being an opening in said top wall; a closure for said opening comprising: a body having a plate of greater area than said can opening; a resilient sealing pad carried on said plate for disposition coveringly of said opening; a flat elongate strap member rigid with said plate and extending at its ends therebeyond; said strap member being disposed transversely of the top end of said can in substantially planar parallel relation to the top end wall and abutting the circumferential rim in two diametrically opposed zones, said strap member having a length slightly greater than the diameter of said rim for radial extension in its end portions beyond said rim, shoulder-engaging members integrally formed with said strap in its outer projecting end portions, the distance between said shoulder-engaging members being normally less than the diameter of the intervening portion of the related can, said shoulder-engaging members each comprising a normally downwardly and outwardly, inclined first section terminating below, and outwardly of, the adjacent portion of the can shoulder-forming end edge, and a normally upwardly and inwardly inclined locking finger section provided at the lower end of each first section, the upper inner end of each locking finger section remote from the connection to the related first section engaging said shoulder, whereby with the distance between said shoulder-engaging inner ends of said second sections being normally less than the diameter of the intervening portion of the related can, said shoulder-engaging members will be urged upwardly when engaged.