Plastic container having a wide opening sealed by a flexible top lid, and production method

Abstract

The container has a blow molded piece forming a hollow plastic body. The body has a bottom and an annular side wall longitudinally extending from an annular base to a top. A thin flexible lid of foil material covers and seals a wide top opening of the container. The top is connected to the outer rim of an annular top flange. The top flange protrudes radially inward and delimit the opening at an inner rim. The lid is axially adhered to the flange upper face and can be peeled away, optionally using a pull tab that extends beyond the outer rim. Except at region of the pull tab, the annular outer edge of the lid extends parallel to the outer rim, not beyond 1.0 or 2.0 mm from the outer rim.

1 . A container comprising:
 a hollow body made of plastic material and having only one opening, and   a flexible top lid,   
       wherein the hollow body comprises:
 a top flange, of annular shape, surrounding a top opening, that is said only one opening, the top flange having an outer rim; 
 a bottom at the opposite from the top opening; and 
 a side wall of annular shape, extending around a longitudinal axis, from the bottom to an annular top of the side wall directly connected to the outer rim of the top flange; 
 
       wherein the flexible top lid comprises:
 an annular sealing contact area in axial contact with an annular upper face of the top flange so as to close the top opening; 
 
       wherein the top flange is an internal flange protruding radially inward from the annular top of the side wall, 
       and wherein the flexible top lid is a piece of foil material having an annular outer edge that:
 does not extend radially beyond the outer rim of the top flange, or 
 extends radially at most 2.0 mm beyond the outer rim of the top flange. 
 
     
     
         2 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein the hollow body is a one-piece body made of thermoplastic material. 
     
     
         3 . The container according to  claim 2 , wherein the hollow body is made of PET. 
     
     
         4 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein the flexible top lid is deprived from any metal foil. 
     
     
         5 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein the side wall has a flat longitudinal profile, at least in an upper portion of the side wall, the upper portion extending at least 10.0 mm downwardly from the outer rim of the top flange. 
     
     
         6 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein the side wall comprises an upper portion adjacent to the top and a lower portion adjacent to the base, and wherein the side wall comprises a peripheral bulge at a junction between the upper portion and the lower portion. 
     
     
         7 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein the side wall is provided with a decorative sleeve covering at least an upper portion of the side wall. 
     
     
         8 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein the flexible top lid forms an uppermost face of the container. 
     
     
         9 . The container according to  claim 1 , further comprising a pull tab that extends beyond the outer rim of the top flange, wherein the flexible top lid is in an unfolded state when sealing the top opening, so that the pull tab forms an extension in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and is laterally shifted with respect to the outer rim of the top flange. 
     
     
         10 . The container according to  claim 1 , further comprising a pull tab that extends beyond the outer rim of the top flange, wherein the following relation is satisfied:
     S 1 /S 20<⅕
   
       where S 1  is the upper surface formed by the pull tab and S 20  is the entire upper surface formed by the flexible top lid. 
     
     
         11 . The container according to  claim 1 , further comprising a pull tab that extends beyond the outer rim of the top flange, wherein the pull tab is the only gripping part for separating the flexible top lid from the top flange. 
     
     
         12 . The container according to  claim 11 , wherein the top opening is circular opening, and wherein the outer rim of the top flange is circular, following relation being satisfied:
     L 1 /P 5<⅕
   
       where P 5  is outer perimeter of the outer rim of the top flange 
       and L 1  is length of a curved junction separating the pull tab from complementary part of the flexible top lid that covers the body. 
     
     
         13 . The container according to  claim 3 , wherein the hollow body is at least partly transparent or translucent. 
     
     
         14 . The container according to  claim 1 , wherein the flexible top lid is thermosealed to an upper face of the top flange, with a vacuum leak resistance of at least 0.2 mbar/mm 2 . 
     
     
         15 . A product, comprising the container according to  claim 1 , wherein at least a part of an interior volume annularly delimited by the hollow body is filled with a content. 
     
     
         16 . A method to produce the product according to  claim 15 , comprising:
 providing the hollow body having a bottom and a side wall to delimit an interior volume, the side wall extending around a longitudinal axis;   filling the interior volume with a content, through the top opening delimited by a top flange that protrudes radially inward from an annular top of the side wall;   thermosealing the flexible top lid onto the upper face of the top flange in an annular contact area continuously surrounding the opening, the flexible top lid being sized and shaped so that position of the flexible top lid is adjusted with respect to an outer rim of the top flange during the sealing, so that an annular outer edge of the flexible lid:   does not extend radially beyond the outer rim of the top flange, or   extends radially at most 2.0 mm, beyond the outer rim of the top flange.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein a decorative sleeve is positioned to the side wall after being transported longitudinally from the bottom side, the decorative sleeve being positioned to the side wall at an axial distance from an annular bearing surface of the bottom. 
     
     
         18 . The container of  claim 1 , further comprising a pull tab that extends beyond the outer rim of the top flange. 
     
     
         19 . The container according to  claim 2 , wherein the flexible top lid is deprived from any metal foil. 
     
     
         20 . The container according to  claim 3 , wherein the flexible top lid is deprived from any metal foil.