Container with tamper evident lid

Abstract

A container having a tamper evident lid is provided. The container includes a flanged upper peripheral region that includes an inwardly directed protuberance. The lid contains a correspondingly shaped flanged peripheral region that permits is to fit snugly within the container's flanged region and with the protuberance blocking user access to the edge of the lid, thereby preventing it from being pried off of container. A tab is provided on the container that is susceptible to manual separation from the container. By manually separating the tab from the container, a space is created in which the user may access the edge of the lid and pry it away from and upwardly out of covering relation to the container.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A container and lid assembly, comprising:
 a. a container having an open volume defined by a floor and upstanding walls that provide contained volume of space, wherein the upstanding walls comprise an upper flange that extends around the periphery of the container, the upper flange comprising:
 i. a first upwardly facing U-shaped region defined by an upstanding outer wall having an upper edge, an upstanding interior wall having an upper edge that extends in a first plane, and a floor that extends between the outer wall and interior wall, wherein the outer wall includes a protuberance extending inwardly therefrom adjacent the upper edge; 
 ii. a downwardly facing U-shaped region inwardly adjacent to the upwardly facing U-shaped region and defined by the first upstanding interior wall, a second upstanding interior wall positioned interiorly of the first upstanding interior wall and having an upper edge that extends in a second plane that is vertically spaced above the first plane, and a ceiling that extends between the upper edge of the first upstanding interior wall and an intermediate position along the second interior upstanding wall; and 
 iii. a tab that is secured to the upper edge of upstanding outer wall and that is manually separable from therefrom, wherein when separated from the upstanding outer wall, an access space is created in the upstanding outer wall; and 
   b. a lid comprising a peripheral flange region that cooperatively fits with the upper flange of the container to provide a tamper evident seal, the peripheral flange region comprising:
 i. a lid having a first lid upwardly facing U-shaped region that is shaped and sized to with within and contour the first U-shaped region of the container, the first lid upwardly facing U-shaped region defined by a lid outermost upstanding wall that terminates at an upper edge, a first lid interior upstanding wall that terminates in an upper edge, and a lid floor that extends between the lid outermost upstanding wall and the first lid interior upstanding wall, wherein when the lid is attached to the container the upper edge of the lid outermost upstanding wall is positioned in movingly blocked relation beneath the protuberance; 
 ii. a lid downwardly facing U-shaped region defined by a second upstanding interior wall positioned laterally interiorly of the first lid upstanding interior wall and having an upper edge, a third lid upstanding interior wall having an upper edge, and a lid ceiling that extends between the upper edges of the second upstanding interior wall and third lid upstanding interior wall; 
 iii. a lid transition region that extends between the first lid upstanding interior wall and the second upstanding interior wall; 
 iv. wherein, when the lid is sealingly engaged in covering relation to the container, the upper edge of the first upstanding interior wall is positioned within the lid downwardly facing U-shaped region with an air gap formed between the upper edge of the second upstanding interior wall and the ceiling of the lid downwardly facing U-shaped region; 
   c. wherein when the lid is sealingly engaged with the container, access to the upper edge of the outermost upstanding wall is prevented until the tab is manually separated from the upper edge of upstanding outer wall.   
     
     
         2 . A container and lid assembly, comprising:
 a. a container having an open volume defined by a floor and upstanding walls that provide a contained volume of space, wherein the upstanding walls comprise an upper flange that extends around the periphery of the container, the upper flange comprising:
 i. an upwardly turned U-shaped portion at the radial outermost position of the container and having an outermost leg and an inner leg; 
 ii. a container downwardly turned U-shaped portion transitioning radially inward from the inner leg of the upwardly turned U-shaped portion and having an innermost leg; 
 iii. a flange formed on the inwardly directed surface of the outermost leg of the upwardly turned U-shaped portion; and 
 iv. a tab extending radially outwardly from the upwardly turned U-shaped portion and that is manually separable from the upwardly turned U-shaped portion; 
   b. a lid comprising:
 i. a backwards J-shaped portion at the radial outermost edge that is positionable in contoured relation to the container's upwardly turned U-shaped portion and having an outer leg that is positionable in snapping engagement beneath the container's flange to secure the connection of the lid to the container; 
 ii. a lid downwardly turned U-shaped portion that is positionable in contoured relation to container downwardly turned U-shaped portion and includes an inner leg that has a stepped out portion that creates an air gap between itself and the innermost leg of the container downwardly turned U-shaped portion; 
   c. wherein, upon separation of the tab a user gains access to the edge of the lid and is able to move the lid from covered to uncovered relation to the container.   
     
     
         3 . The container and lid assembly according to  claim 2 , further comprising a living hinge interconnecting the lid to the container. 
     
     
         4 . The container and lid assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein the lid and container are round in shape. 
     
     
         5 . The container and lid assembly according to  claim 2 , wherein the lid and container are rectangular in shape.