Airtight lid for container and method of use

Abstract

A lid for forming an airtight seal to a bowl or dish plate to elongate the life of product therein comprises an impermeable membrane having an outer perimeter larger than the rim of the container and an enforcement ring for enabling the formation of an airtight seal between the membrane and rim of the container under vacuum. The membrane is sufficiently soft to cause it to fill the lower sections or imperfections on the rim, thus enabling the lid to form an airtight seal to almost all household containers. The membrane may be adapted to have sufficient low tensile stress, thereby preventing the vacuum in the container from imploding or collapsing the container even if it has a thin or weak wall. The enforcement ring has vertical and horizontal rings connected to the membrane perimeter to prevent the membrane deformation at both vertical and horizontal directions. The lid may further comprise an air evacuation passageway having an air collection chamber for extracting air from the container and a valve for allowing air to flow out of the container but preventing air from entering. In use, the lid may be sealed to a container by simply pushing the membrane into the container and releasing the membrane to generate a vacuum to affix the membrane to the container, or may be sealed to a container by connecting a vacuum generator to the evacuation passageway to evacuate the container.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention relates to a lid for containers, and particularly to a lid that forms an airtight seal to the Container to protect the contents such as food against deterioration or prevent the leakage of the contents therein. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] To slow down the deterioration, food and other spoilable products have been traditionally sealed in a plastic bag by a vacuum packaging system such as a FoodSaver® from Tilia Inc. or in a special container with a specially designed lid having a seal gasket. Normally, users have to transfer the products from their original containers to the plastic bags or special containers, which causes significant inconvenience to the users. [0003] Besides the inconvenience, the traditional method of protecting spoilable products presents several other challenges to the users or consumers. The first one is that this method limits consumers' choices to the plastic bags and special containers, disallowing users to...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] The invention provides a lid for forming an airtight seal to a container such as a bowl or dish plate to elongate the life of product therein. The lid comprises an air impermeable membrane having an outer perimeter larger than the rim of the container and an enforcement ring for enabling the formation of the airtight seal between the membrane and rim of the container under vacuum or subatmospheric pressure. The impermeable membrane is sufficiently flexible and soft to enable the part of the membrane that is directly above the rim of the container to conform to the topography of the rim so that the membrane enters or fills any lower sections or other imperfections, which are common for most household containers, on the rim of the container. As a result, the membrane can prevent any air gap from forming between the membrane and the rim, and enable the lid to form an airtight seal with most household containers. The enforcement ring is made from a metal material such as steel and aluminum and has two horizontal rings connected by a vertical ring for clamping the membrane at its outer perimeter to prevent the deformation of the membrane at both vertical and horizontal directions.

[0008] The lid may further comprises an air evacuation passageway having an air collection chamber for extracting air from the container and a valve for allowing air to flow out of the container but preventing air from entering the container. The collection chamber has collection channels for delivering air to the valve, a microporous film and a side wall to which the film and membrane are attached. The valve comprises a valve opening, a seal member for closing the valve opening, and a slender member adapted to allow one to open the valve to release the vacuum in the container and to prevent unintended release of the vacuum when the slender member is accidentally touched by another container or object.

[0009] To use the lid according to one embodiment of the invention, one simply places a product into the container, places the lid on, pushes the membrane into the container to cause air to escape from the evacuation passageway, and then releases the membrane. This produces a vacuum or subatmospheric pressure in the container to affix the membrane to the container and to improve the life of the product. It is important that in order to generate and maintain the vacuum in the container, the impermeable membrane should have a sufficient low tensile strength and have a tendency to return to its original shape.

Problems solved by technology

Normally, users have to transfer the products from their original containers to the plastic bags or special containers, which causes significant inconvenience to the users.

Besides the inconvenience, the traditional method of protecting spoilable products presents several other challenges to the users or consumers.

The first one is that this method limits consumers' choices to the plastic bags and special containers, disallowing users to use their favorite containers such as bowls or dish plates, which are readily available in kitchens, to store food and other spoilable products.

In addition, the conventional bowls and plates may not have the strength to withstand the vacuum and may implode as a vacuum is drawn therein.

The second challenge is the high cost of the special containers and the lids.

Because the special containers must have a very flat and even top surface for the rim in order to form an airtight seal with the lid, unlike the conventional ceramic or porcelain bowls and plates made from inexpensive earth or glass they must be made from more expensive materials such as plastics or metals by more expensive process such as injection molding and metal forming.

This process seems not very complex, but it is too time consuming to many people who are squeezed in time for work and other life events.

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