Plastic lids and pails

Claim 1

In the combination of a stiff molded plastic lid, a compressible gasket and an open-head pail, said lid having a central closing portion and an inverted U-shaped rim, the outer wall of said rim including means for engagement with said open-head pail and the interior of said rim being dimensioned to receive said compressible gasket, said means for engagement being disposed to effect a seal by compression of said gasket between the upper rim of said pail and the interior of the inverted U-shaped rim in said lid, said pail having engagement means in its upper section mated with those of said lid, said combination being assembled to effect a tight seal by compression of said gasket between the upper rim of said pail and the interior of the inverted U-shaped rim in said lid, the improvement comprising an inverted U-shaped portion adjacent to said rim, said portion extending above the central closing portion and ending below the outer wall forming the arch of said rim, said inverted portion forming a support for a pail when said pail is positioned on said lid, and a plurality of thin upstanding members radially disposed about the periphery of said rim and extending upwardly above the wall forming the arch of said inverted U and outwardly from the outer wall of the rim in the region of said arch, said members having a length to thickness ratio sufficient to allow deflection of said members without substantial deflection of said rim, the number and spacing of said members being sufficient to position them close enough to each other relative to the curvature of said rim so that impact forces directed to said rim are absorbed and dissipated by said members to reduce substantially the intensity of force per unit area transmitted to the seal through said rim.