The invention relates to a food storage container as defined in the general concept of claim 1.
The first is the use of a system of storage of foodstuffs in vacuum containers, which has been shown to have very good results in preventing the growth of certain microorganisms, insects, moulds and yeast mites, and also avoids the oxidation of foodstuffs, thus avoiding changes in the moisture and flavour of the foodstuffs.
A certain type of visual inspection is possible with a container lid according to WO 8/00560 A1. It describes an opening mechanism for a plastic beverage can. The can has a plastic lid which, when subjected to a corresponding excess pressure inside the container, has an outward bulge.
CH 304 374 A reveals a closing lid for an aluminium sterilization vessel, which is essentially circular in shape and is mounted on a cylindrical aluminium container. Between the lid edge and the top of the container is a rubber seal. In the middle of the container lid is an additional opening covered by a rubber cap. The rubber cap serves as a visual control to indicate whether a vacuum is present inside the container. As long as there is a corresponding pressure drop in the container interior, the rubber cover cap swirls inwards accordingly.
FR 269 2 870 A1 is a storage container with a pressure indicator and a back-up valve according to the general concept of claim 1, where the back-up valve is protruding in the form of a stick from the cover of the storage container.
The DE 43 42 394 C is a valve for evacuated containers, which has a valve body connected to a ball-shaped control which protrudes outwards from the container.
The present invention is based on the task of further developing a storage container of the type described at the outset in such a way as to facilitate the implementation of the valve system.
This task is solved by a food storage container with the characteristics of claim 1 by the invention, which consists of a pressure gauge and a back-up valve made of a flatter, elastic foot section pressed against the container lid, which makes the valve arrangement, particularly as regards its function as a back-up valve, easily practicable.
The pressure indicator simplifies the evacuation process by showing the operator immediately when a sufficient pressure drop has been reached in the storage tank. The pressure indicator provides an optically and haptically detectable signal for the corresponding pressure condition inside the storage tank. The optical effect of the membrane made of elastomeric plastic material can be enhanced by a corresponding colour scheme in a signal vessel. Depending on how far the pressure indicator can be seen at the corresponding pressure conditions above the outer valve device or in the wind tunnel, it also allows the corresponding haptic effect to be detected in the interior of the storage tank.
If the pressure indicator is intended to be an additional component to the valve assembly, i.e. the pressure indicator is integrated into the valve assembly, a multifunctional component is created.
The material chosen for the foot section is one which has both sufficient stiffness and the required sealing properties, and which can be manufactured inexpensively as a die cast component and easily mounted on the storage container.
A favourable embodiment of the present invention provides the features of claim 2. In the case of ambient pressure in the storage container, the membrane of the pressure indicator is clearly protruding outwards.
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A further advantageous design of the invention incorporates the features of claim 6 and makes it possible to store the storage container and its contents in a freezer and then to thaw them in a microwave.
The characteristics of claim 7 result in a particularly visible pressure indicator which clearly reflects the pressure state.
The characteristics of claim 8 allow the pressure gauge to be used as a snapshot, thus clearly indicating only the good or bad state of the vacuum and avoiding a creeping shift of the pressure gauge.
The characteristics of claim 9 make the pressure gauge particularly frictionless to fold, since the sidewall does not rub significantly when folded together.
The characteristics of claim 10 make it particularly easy to measure the pressure state, because when the vacuum is too low, the pressure indicator penetrates the aperture, whereas, with a sufficient vacuum, the pressure indicator does not penetrate the aperture.
The following illustrations are used to illustrate the other features and advantages of the invention:Figure 1 - a diagram of a first embodiment of a valve device with a pressure indicator according to the invention for a container lid of a food storage container with insufficient vacuum in the container,Figure 2 - a diagram of the valve device with the pressure indicator according to Figure 1 with sufficient space in the container,Figure 3 - the valve device according to Figure 1 but after the pressure vessel has opened the vent, so that the atmospheric pressure is restored in the container,Figure 4 - a second diagram of the valve device with the pressure indicator according to Figure 1 with sufficient space in the container,Figure 3 - the valve device according to Figure 1 but after the pressure vessel has opened the vent, so that the atmospheric pressure is restored in the container,Figure 4 - a second diagram of the pressure indicator according to Figure 5 - a perspective representation of a vacuum storage device according to Figure 4 - a vacuum storage device for the storage of oil, but not in the container, can be installed in the container, but not in the container, if the pressure vessel is open.
For simplicity, identical or similar components are indicated below with the same reference sign.
Figures 1 to 3 show a schematic intersection of a first embodiment of a pressure indicator 6 according to the invention for a food storage container 15 (Fig. 4). Figures 1 to 6 show that the pressure indicator 6 is connected to a valve device 1 attached to a container lid 2. An opening flask 7 is connected to the container lid 2 via a film chamber 32 in one piece. The opening flask 7 and the container lid 2 are made as a spray-only component of a thermoplastic temperature-controlled injection surface. The view is essentially an oval plate. The opening flask 7 shows a direction of air flow for a vacuum pump, which is pumped into one of the 18 or 24 cylinders of the main rings.
In Figures 1 to 6, a seal 3 of elastomeric plastic is placed at the bottom of the opening nozzle 7 below the connecting device 9; in the first example in Figures 1 to 3, the seal 3 is attached to the opening nozzle 7 by means of a circular rod 19 and is formed as a separate disc; the rod 19 has an air passage 30.
The opening nozzle 7 is inserted in a basically rectangular recess 20 in the container lid 2 of the storage tank 15 corresponding to the opening nozzle 7 shown in Figures 1 to 6. Under the connecting device 9 of the opening nozzle 7 and the seal 3 there is an exhaustion opening 4 in the container lid 2. When open, the exhaustion opening 4 provides the connection between the atmosphere and the interior 22 of the storage tank 15. When closed, the exhaustion opening 4 is closed by the seal 3. In the closed condition, the exhaustion opening 4 forms an airtight seal.
In addition to the vent 4 a measuring vent 5 is located in the container lid 2 according to Figures 1 to 6. The measuring vent 5 is covered from the surroundings by a plastic membrane 29 of the pressure gauge 6 from above, which is airtight. The pressure gauge 6 extends essentially perpendicular to the level of the container lid 2 upwards and shows, according to Figures 1, 3, 4 and 5, in an improperly vacuumed condition a largely cup-shaped sidewall 23 slightly curved outwards, which is rejuvenated upwards and closes the pressure gauge 24 with a horizontal circular bottom. The diameter of the pressure gauge 24 is smaller than the diameter of the lower 25 ft floor gauge 25 on the average of the pressure gauge 6. In particular, as shown in Figure 4 this pressure gauge is achieved in a vacuum chamber 23 which, as described in Figure 2, shows that the pressure gauge 26 has a similar shape.
In the opening flask 7 there is, in the place of the pressure indicator 6 in Figures 1 to 6, an indicator opening 8 through which the pressure indicator 6 protrudes vertically over the outside 33 of the opening flask 7 if insufficient pressure is present in the interior 22 of the storage tank 15. The pressure indicator 6 is made of an elastic plastic and preferably in a signal colour, in this case red. On the inside, the pressure indicator 6 is reinforced by a spring element 12 as shown in Figures 1 to 3, which is preferably made of a spring-elastic material such as rubber or elastomeric plastic and is flat on the inside 34 side of the pressure indicator 6.
At the free end on the right in Figures 1 to 6, the edge of the opening flask 7 has an operating surface 10. The end of the opening flask 7 is slightly slanted upwards from the bending edge 35. The lid 2 has a depth of 20 so that, as the opening flask 7 is spaced from the bottom 37 of the opening flask 37 by ribs 29, 36 the operating surface 10 of the opening flask 7 can be conveniently held between the fingers and thumbs of a user's hand (not shown) and pulled upwards.
Figures 1 to 3 show a bracket 11 which presses the elastic plastic material of the flat foot section 25 of pressure gauge 6 against the container lid 2. The bracket 11 is supported by walls of the container lid 2 not shown in the drawing.
Figures 4 to 6 show a partially cut perspective of a second embodiment of a valve device 1 with the pressure indicator 6 of the invention for a food storage container 15 .In this embodiment too, the opening nozzle 7 is connected individually to the container lid 2 via the film hinge 32 .The seal nozzle 3 located under the connection device 9 of the opening nozzle 7 is connected to the opening nozzle 7 via a connector 13 .Both the nozzle 3 of the container 13 , the foot section 25 and the pressure indicator 6 are made of a single elastomeric plastic part which is fixed as an insert to 21 volts in a 20 depth cover of the container 2 .The plastic material used for pressure indicator 6 has spring properties, so that the above-mentioned snap effect on pressure indicator 6 occurs here too when there is either too little or too much vacuum. The main difference between the embodiment in Figures 1 to 3 and the embodiment in Figures 4 to 6 is that in Figures 1 to 3 the seal 3 forms a separate seal from the pressure indicator 6, whereas in the embodiment in Figures 4 to 6 these parts are formed by a single elastomeric component, the seal 3 of which is partially cut from the section 25 of the foot and thus forms a gap 28.
Furthermore, a circulating seal 14 is provided at the edge of the container lid 2 as shown in Figures 4 and 5 to allow an airtight closure to the storage container 15; it is also conceivable not to use a seal 14 as shown in Figures 1 to 3, so that the lid 2 itself forms a tight closure with the storage container 15; in the closed state of the valve device 1 the foot 25 is pressed against the bottom 37 of the container lid 2 by the circulating rib 29 and thus sealed.
In the figures 1 and 3 to 6, the pressure inside container 22 of storage tank 15 corresponds to the ambient pressure, so that pressure indicator 6 is distinguished by its spring tension through the opening 8 of the opening port 7 to the outside.
In the figure shown in Fig. 2 there is sufficient pressure drop in the container 22 inside the storage tank 15. The pressure gauge 6 is therefore sucked into the container 22 in its cavity 26 in the direction of the container 22 and is in a folded or snapped state. In this state the pressure gauge 6 does not or only marginally protrude from the outer contour of the opening bottle 7. The pressure gauge 6 folds like a rolling membrane. The ratio of the diameter of the f d to the wall thickness and elastic material of the pressure gauge 6 is chosen so that a certain pressure drop on the pressure gauge 6 folds out rapidly, as shown in Fig. 2.
The following is the working of the two examples:
When used in a household, the position of the pressure indicator 6 in the closed container lid 2 is the first way for the user to know the pressure condition inside the container 22 if the bottom of the pressure indicator 6 is protruding outwards through the opening 8 indicates that the pressure inside the container 22 is not sufficient to ensure storage of food under vacuum conditions (see Figures 1, 4 and 6).
The vacuum pump is then put into operation, which automatically opens the opening 4 of the valve 1 as the suction action causes the seal 3 to be drawn off from the opening 4 and the air in the storage tank 15 is sucked out of the vacuum pump. According to Fig. 1 the upper air is drawn through the opening 4 at the 38th density of the valve 3 from the 30th density, which is drawn out through the opening 3 and then through the opening 9 to the vacuum.When sufficient pressure is reached in chamber 22 of storage tank 15, the pressure indicator 6 snaps inwards abruptly (Fig. 2) to inform the user that the evacuation process can be completed. After lifting the vacuum pump from the connecting device 9, the seal is pressed to the edge of the opening 3 and the opening 3 is automatically sealed. This process also occurs with each retraction of the vacuum pump to create a vacuum in the interior 22 ventilation. The vacuum in the interior 22 now keeps the food there for a long time, as the lack of oxygen prevents oxidation of the food.
In order to remove 15 fresh foodstuffs from the storage container, the operator presses two fingers under the operating surface 10 and, with a small force, swings the opening flask 7 in Fig. 5 clockwise, as shown in Fig. 3, the opening flask 7 lifts the seal 3 upwards from the seat 38 on the platform 19 and releases the opening 4 in the example shown in Fig. 5. In the example shown in Fig. 5, the top of the opening flask 7 first hits the bottom of a ventilation shaft 27 attached to the participant 13 and pulls the participant 13 upwards with the opening flask 3 until the seal 3 is lifted from the 38 and the opening 4 is opened in the upward direction (Fig. 5 and Fig. 17), and the air can now be drawn upwards in the direction of the opening 1 and the air can be drawn upwards in the opening 1 to the air shaft 22 (Fig. 5).
The container lid 2 can now be removed from the storage tank 15 without considerable effort. Since, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the seal tongue 3 is partially separated from the rest of the flat foot 25 by the essentially U-shaped slit 28 and is therefore connected to the rest of the foot section 25 only in the left rear area 39, it falls back again and again on the opening 4 by its gravity as a recoil valve, so that adjustment is not a problem.
Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of a food storage container 15 made of thermoplastic plastic with a valve device 1 as shown in Fig. 4. The storage container 15 has a square container body 16 and a basically rectangular container lid 2 with a circular crimp 27. On one of the narrow sides of the container lid 2 the valve device 1 is located at a depth of 20. The operating surface 10 of the opening valve 7 closes approximately with the outer surface 33 of the container lid 2. Only the pressure indicator 6 protrudes when the opening of the container is not sufficiently rectangular and the vacuum is not enough to open the container lid 7 7 7 7 17 and the opening surface 9 is located in the upper direction of the opening ring, with the inside of the container opening in a circular direction, the opening circle 6 18 is visible from the top of the container and the inside of the container is shown in the direction of the opening circle 6 18 and the opening circle 9 is visible from the outside.The leverage effect produced by the spaces R and r (Fig. 5) makes it possible to use a relatively small hand force F (Fig. 4) at the grip 10 to lift the seal 3 from the seat 38 with a vacuum still present in the container 22. The smaller the spacing r and the greater the spacing R, the easier it is to open valve direction 1.