Container system with improved messaging structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11053047-B2
Application number	US-201815933702-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 23, 2018
Priority date	Mar 23, 2018
Publication date	Jul 6, 2021
Grant date	Jul 6, 2021

Abstract

Container systems having improved messaging structures. Container systems that include a tab that partially occludes a mouth or passageway to an interior volume. Methods of making and using container systems.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A container system comprising a container and a selectively openable cover,
the container comprising a bottom wall and one or more side walls extending away from the bottom wall,
the bottom wall and the one or more side walls defining an interior volume of the container,
the container further comprising a rim defining a mouth to a passageway that provides access to the interior volume,

the container further comprising only one tab,
wherein the tab is a single unitary piece,
wherein the tab comprises a fixed end that attached to the container,
wherein the tab is joined to the container by pressure sealing, heat sealing, an adhesive, welding, or combinations thereof,
wherein the tab is positioned to partially occlude the mouth or passageway such that there is a space between the tab and the rim so that a consumer can see into the interior volume of the container,
the tab comprising a free end that is biased to a resting position, the free end being deflectable by a deflecting force into the interior volume, wherein the free end returns to the resting position once the deflective force is removed.

2. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the tab is made of a material comprising plastic.

3. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the tab has a length that is substantially parallel to a major dimension of the mouth.

4. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the tab comprises a visible free end length that is up to about 75% of the major dimension of the mouth.

5. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the tab is adjacent to a portion of the rim that is near only one side wall.

6. A container system according to claim 5 , where the portion of the rim that is adjacent to the tab has a length that is less than about 30% of an inner periphery of the rim.

7. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the mouth defines a shape having a surface area, wherein the tab has a top surface facing away from the interior volume of the container, wherein a visible portion of the free end of the tab when viewed from above the top surface also has a surface area, the surface area of the visible portion of the free end being less than about 50% of the surface area of the shape defined by the mouth.

8. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the interior volume has an average height, and wherein the free end of the tab has a length that is less than the average height of the interior volume.

9. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the tab comprises a top surface facing away from the interior volume of the container, the top surface comprising communicational indicia.

10. A container system according to claim 9 , wherein the communicational indicia comprises instructional indicia.

11. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the container comprises a container body and a shroud that is connectable to the container body.

12. A container system according to claim 11 , wherein the tab is attached to the shroud.

13. A container system according to claim 12 , wherein the shroud includes projections extending away from a bottom surface of the shroud, the projections being next to the fixed end of the tab.

14. A container system according to claim 12 , wherein the tab is pinched between the shroud and the container body.

15. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the interior volume comprises a plurality of unit dose articles.

16. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the interior volume comprises a plurality of unit dose articles, wherein the articles are characterized by an average smallest dimension, wherein the tab comprises a side edge that is spaced apart from a rim edge, wherein the distance between a side edge of the tab and the rim edge is no greater than about 150% of the average smallest dimension.

17. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the mouth is of a shape that lies in a plane, and wherein when the tab is in the resting position, the tab is substantially parallel to the plane of the mouth.

18. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein when the tab is in the resting position, the tab is substantially parallel to the bottom wall.

19. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the fixed end of the tab comprises feet that extend away from a center line of the tab.

20. A container system according to claim 1 , wherein the tab has a thickness of from about 3 mils to about 12 mils, wherein the thickness is measured as the average caliper from a top surface of the tab to a bottom surface of the tab.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Curcic Nikola
• BANKS Eric Douglas
• Robinson Ashley Chonta
• Finnegan Mary Ellen
• Van Assche Sofie

Classifications

• B65D47/08

  having articulated or hinged closures {(B65D55/16 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B65D25/205 Primary

  Means for the attachment of labels, cards, coupons or the like; (cards or coupons for the other types of rigid or semi-rigid containers B65D25/36 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65D2203/00

  Decoration means, markings, information elements, contents indicators · CPC title

• G09F3/04

  to be fastened or secured by the material of the label itself, e.g. by thermo-adhesion (by a separate adhesive layer G09F3/10) · CPC title

• B65C3/08

  to container bodies {(B65C3/065 takes precedence)} · CPC title