Container

Claim 2

A body for a container which is adapted, when closed, to hold a product under vacuum, comprising a sidewall and a bottom wall integrally formed as a single piece from a relatively rigid synthetic resinous material, said sidewall being generally cylindrical with an open upper end, having means adjacent said upper end for hermetically securing a closure thereto and having, at the juncture with said bottom wall, a bulge of curvilinear cross-section, taken longitudinally through said sidewall, said bottom wall closing the lower end of said sidewall and being of circular configuration, said body having an angular, downwardly-directed circumferential edge at said juncture and extending about said bottom wall, said material in said bulge being thinner than that in the remainder of said sidewall and said material in the portion of said bottom wall adjacent said circumferential edge being thinner than said material of said bulge so that, upon hermetic sealing of said body and development of a substantial vacuum within the resultant container, at least a portion of said bulge may deform, to permit upward movement of said bottom wall, to thereby diminish the volume of the container and hence the vacuum level therewithin.

Claim 3

The body of claim 1 wherein the diameter of said circumferential edge is less than the diameter of said sidewall directly above said bulge.

Claim 4

The body of claim 1 wherein said bottom wall has formed therein, concentric with said circumferential edge, a downwardly projecting, circular bead, said bead having a diameter which is at least equal to the radius of said circumferential edge.

Claim 5

The body of claim 3 wherein the material of the annulus between said bead and said circumferential edge is thinner than that of said bulge.

Claim 6

The body of claim 4 wherein the average thickness of said annulus is between about 0.009R and 0.020R wherein R represents the radius of said circumferential edge.

Claim 7

The body of claim 5 wherein said average thickness is determined at points lying at a distance from said circumferential edge which is equal to about 1/16 of the diameter of said edge.

Claim 8

The body of claim 4 wherein said annulus is upwardly arched.

Claim 9

The body of claim 1 wherein said securing means of said sidewall is adapted for double seaming with a metal end closure.

Claim 10

The body of claim 8 wherein said securing means comprises a circumferential flange, said flange forming a sharply apexed interior angle with the adjacent portion of said sidewall, said angle having a value somewhat greater than 90°.

Claim 11

The body of claim 9 wherein said angle of said flange is about 102.5°.

Claim 12

The body of claim 1 wherein said material is a synthetic barrier resin having high resistance to oxygen and water vapor transmission.

Claim 13

The body of claim 11 wherein said resin is an acrylonitrile-based polymer.

Claim 14

The body of claim 11, wherein said body is about 31/2 inches high and said sidewall is about 2 inches in diameter with said bulge extending about 0.025 inch therebeyond, and wherein said bottom wall has formed therein, concentric with said circumferential edge, a downwardly projecting circular bead, said bead having a diameter of about 11/4 inches.

Claim 15

The body of claim 13, wherein said material is distributed in the following average thicknesses, in thousandths of an inch: in said sidewall adjacent said bulge, about 29 to 31, in said bulge, about 17 to 26; and in the annulus between said bead and said circumferential edge, about 15 to 28.

Claim 16

The body of claim 14 wherein said bulge average thickness, expressed in thousandths of an inch, decreases gradually from a value of about 22 to 26 at the juncture with said sidewall thereadjacent, to a value of about 19 to 25 at a location about one-third the height of said bulge down from said juncture, to a value of about 17 to 21 at a location about two-thirds of said height down from said juncture, to a value of about 16 to 21 at said circumferential edge.

Claim 17

A package including: a body comprising a sidewall and a bottom wall integrally formed as a single piece from a relatively rigid synthetic resinous material, said sidewall being generally cylindrical with an open upper end, having means adjacent said upper end for hermetically securing a closure thereto and having, at the juncture with said bottom wall, a bulge of curvilinear cross-section, taken longitudinally through said sidewall, said bottom wall closing the lower end of said sidewall and being of circular configuration, said body having an angular, downwardly-directed circumferential edge at said juncture and extending about said bottom wall, said material in said bulge being thinner than that in the remainder of said sidewall and said material in the portion of said bottom wall adjacent said circumferential edge being thinner than said material of said bulge so that upon hermetic sealing of said body and development of a substantial vacuum within the resultant container, at least a portion of said bulge may deform, to permit upward movement of said bottom wall, to thereby diminish the volume of the container and hence the vacuum level therewithin; a closure hermetically secured to said upper end of said sidewall and closing said body; and a product contained therewithin.

Claim 18

A package including: a body comprising a sidewall and a bottom wall integrally formed as a single piece from a relatively rigid synthetic resinous material, said sidewall being generally cylindrical with an open upper end, having means adjacent said upper end for hermetically securing a closure thereto and having, at the juncture with said bottom wall, a bulge of curvilinear cross-section, taken longitudinally through said sidewall, said bottom wall closing the lower end of said sidewall and being of circular configuration, said body having an angular, downwardly-directed circumferential edge at said juncture and extending about said bottom wall, said material in said bulge being thinner than that in the remainder of said sidewall and said material in the portion of said bottom wall adjacent said circumferential edge being thinner than said material of said bulge so that upon hermetic sealing of said body and development of a substantial vacuum within the resultant container, at least a portion of said bulge may deform, to permit upward movement of said bottom wall, to thereby diminish the volume of the container and hence the vacuum level therewithin; a closure hermetically secured to said upper end of said sidewall and closing said body; and a product contained therewithin.

Claim 19

The package of claim 16 wherein a partial vacuum exists therewithin, said vacuum being of sufficient magnitude to deform at least said portion of said bulge so as to move said bottom wall upwardly without causing substantial deformation of said sidewall.

Claim 20

The package of claim 17 wherein said partial vacuum has a value of about 5 to 15 inches of mercury.

Claim 21

The package of claim 18, wherein said material is a synthetic nitrile-based polymeric resin, having high resistance to oxygen and water-vapor transmission.

Claim 22

The package of claim 18, wherein said product is in the form of a gel.