Container construction

Claim 1

In an easily hand-held metal container construction having a downwardly convex bottom wall and an adjoining side wall defined as a single-piece seamless structure with said side wall terminating at a top portion adapted to have a top closure fixed thereon, said top portion, when viewed on a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said container construction, having a circular cross-section configuration and having a particular diameter, the improvement wherein said bottom wall, when viewed on any cross-sectional plane coinciding with said longitudinal axis of said container construction, has a central part which extends in a circular first radius and a peripheral part defined by a side portion which blends smoothly with said central part and said side wall, said side portion extending on a second radius, said first radius, when measured along the longitudinal axis of said container, being within the range of 2 to 7 times greater than the dimension of said particular diameter and said second radius being within the range of 1/10 to 1/5 the dimension of said particular diameter, said first radius and said second radius having a dimensional ratio which provides a smooth transition between their respective central and peripheral parts which is free of sharp corners and with minimum wrinkling, said downwardly convex bottom wall having a plurality of integral feet for supporting said construction thereon, each of said feet being defined by a downwardly convex dimple having a base portion provided with an outer periphery, and said bottom wall also having a plurality of dimples to rigidify said bottom wall, said rigidifying dimples each being defined by a downwardly concave dimple having a base portion provided with an outer periphery, said outwardly convex dimples and said outwardly concave dimples having a wall thickness which is substantially the same as the remainder of said bottom wall and each of said convex and concave dimples having a central axis and having the outer periphery of its base portion disposed radially inward from said side wall by a distance of at least equal to one-half the minimum dimension across said outer periphery when measured through said central axis, said central part and said peripheral part blending smoothly together substantially on an imaginary circular line and each of said convex and concave dimples being disposed so that the central axis of each dimple is disposed adjacent said imaginary circular line and said concave dimples being symmetrically disposed between said convex dimples.