Sealed container

[57] ABSTRACT

Sealed containers comprising in combination a cylindrical packing member and a container having a closing means. The cylindrical packing member is made from a heat-shrinkable synthetic resin and has printed matter appearing thereon at the required location. The packing member also contains a circumferential tearing line, preferably perforated, at a location above the printed matter. A heat-sensitive adhesive is applied on the inner surface of the packing member at a location below the tearing line and becomes tacky when the packing member is heated to a temperature sufficient to cause the shrinking of said packing member about the container whereby a closely fitting packing member is formed about the container. When the upper portion is removed, and lower portion containing the printed matter remains adhered to the container.

Claims, 3 Drawing Figures

<img file="US3733002A_D0001.tif" />

PATENTED HAY 151973

3,733,002

<img file="US3733002A_D0002.tif" />

FIG. 3

3,733,002

SEALED CONTAINER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a sealed container entirely enclosed within a heat-shrinkable packing material, and more particularly, to an enacapsulated sealed container comprising a heat-shrinkable synthetic resin packing member forming a closely fitted protective package for the sealed container and the contents thereof.

The sealed containers of the present invention are especially useful for protecting the contents of the container against shock, and even when the container is broken, it provides adequate safeguards for preventing the scattering of glass, plastic, etc.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

One of the primary objects of this invention is to provide a sealed container wherein the closure member therefor, e.g., a stopper is sealed within a packing member. In this regard, it is a further object hereof to provide a sealer container, such as a bottle or can, which is entirely enclosed within a packing member which has been subjected to a temperature sufficient to cause the thermally shrinkable material to encapsulate said container and protect said container against damage due to any sudden shocks.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a sealed container wherein labels and the like are either applied or printed onto the packing member thereby avoiding the necessity of having to apply labels on other printed matter directly onto the container itself.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a sealed container wherein the upper portion of the packing member upon opening can be easily opened and torn off manually by breaking the sealed condition.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a sealed container wherein the lower part of the packing member upon which the labels or printings are affixed thereto, remains attached to the container when upper portion of the packing member is torn off so that there is no fear that the contents and the directions for use become indistinct and its appearance is spoiled.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the sealed container of this invention comprises a cylindrical a synthetic resin packing member capable of shrinking tightly about a container when subjected to heat, said packing member being labelled or printed thereon at the required location. The packing member is provided with a circumferential perforated tearing line at a point above the labelled or printed portion appearing on said package. The packing member has a heat sensitive adhesive applied on its inner surface at a point below the tearing line which becomes activated, i.e., becomes tacky, upon being subjected to raised temperatures which also simultaneously results in the shrinking of the member about the container due to the raised temperature thereby resulting in the packing member becoming closely fitted over a bare container. The packing material is also bound to the container by the temperature-sensitive adhesive placed within said packing member.

The present invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent, when consideration is given to the following detailed description. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings presenting preferred illustrative embodiments of the invention, and wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sealed container of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a container as illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein the upper part of a packing member is torn off along a tearing line and the remaining packing member is shown partially broken away; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a packing member, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 with a portion thereof being broken away for convenience of explanation.

Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

By referring to the drawings, the sealed container of the present invention comprises a cylindrical packing member 1 consisting essentially of a heat-shrinkable synthetic resin. According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, the cylindrical packing member has a height somewhat higher than that of a container 2 tobe-sealed and also has an inner diameter substantially larger than maximum outer diameter of the container.

The cylindrical packing member 1 has a label or printed matter affixed thereon at its lower location or point 3, just above which there is provided a tearing line 4 of an example of which is a perforated line 6 extending circumferentially about the cylinder.

The cylindrical packing member 1 further has a heat sensitive adhesive applied on its interior surface at the location below the tearing line 4. The heat-sensitive adhesive 5 is kept in non-adhesive condition at room temperature, but when subjected to heat to cause the packing member 1 to shrink, the adhesive becomes activated and assists in the bonding of the interior surface of the packing member to the outer surface of container 2. It will be understood that the adhesive may be applied in any desired pattern, e.g., an entire coating, stripped coating or spotty coating.

Tongue 6 is projectingly provided on the upper edge of the cylindrical packing member 1 from which a pair of parallel tearing lines 7 and 7, for example, perforated lines which extend longitudinally down to the circumferential tearing line 4.

It will be appreciated to those skilled in the art that tearing lines 4, 7 and 7 respectively, can also be formed by notches of Vee section, instead of perforated lines extending through the entire thickness of packing member 1. Thus, the tearing lines 4, 7 and 7 may consist of a line of dents, each of which dents has a Vshaped section extending from the one side of member 1 to a point close to the other side of member 1, but is not perforated through member 1.

In the packing or sealing operation for preparing the sealed containers of this invention, packing member 1 is fitted over the bare container 2 with its upper and lower edge portions protruding out the container 2. Thereafter, the packing member 1 is subjected to a temperature sufficient to cause the shrinking of the packing member whereby the packing member 1 becomes closely fitted over the whole containers.

In this case, the upper and lower edges of the packing member 1 are bent radially inwardly to securely embrace the top circumference of a stopper of closing means 8 and the bottom circumference of the con3,733,002 tainer 2, respectively, while the main portion of the packing member 1 is bound over the periphery of the container 2. In addition, a heat-sensitive adhesive 5 is employed to bind the packing member 1 to container 2 thereby producing a sealed container as shown in FIG. 1.

With the sealed container being constructed as described above, the container 2 is entirely enclosed within the packing member 1 consisting essentially of a synthetic resin so that it is effectively protected against the shock and, even if the container 2 of glass is broken down, there is no fear that the fragments of glass do not scatter.

As described above, the packing member 1 is provided with tearing line 4 extended circumferentially thereof so that, upon drawing the stopper 8 of the container 2, the upper part of the packing member 1 is easily stripped off along the tearing line 4 by simply manually pulling the tongue 6 of the packing member. Thus, manual pulling of tongue 6 causes the rupture of the packing member along the longitudinal tearing lines 7, 7 to the tearing line 4 whereby the packing member 1 is now ready for opening of the container 2.

The lower part of the packing member 1 upon which the labels or printings 3 are affixed, is left bonded to container 2, so that there is no fear that the contents and the directions for use of the material within container 2 become indistinct and its appearance is spoiled.

In accordance with this invention, the packing member 1 is labelled or printed prior to encapsulating the container. Thus, it is not necessary to affix the labels or prints onto the container and, accordingly, this invention has an advantage of greatly saving troublesome tasks.

It is believed that it will be readily apparent from the foregoing description that the sealed container previ ously described accomplished the objects as set forth at the outset of this specification have been satisfied.