Background of the Invention The prior art related to the present matter foresees different arrangements for closing cans and pots, which have been developed in order to guarantee, as a main object, the hermeticity of the container to be closed and also the possibility of being easily reclosed by the user during the progressive consumption of products stored inside the container.

These hermetic closure arrangements, which are manually recloseable, are usually defined in metallic cans, through the use of a lid, whose opening requires the use of a tool in the form of a lever. In another known arrangement, the closing of the lid is effected on pots generally made of plastic or glass, the retention of the lid being guaranteed by additional retaining elements which are incorporated to the structure of the pot or of the lid.

In one of these solutions, the inconvenience does not result from the constructive complexity, but from the need of a lever to help the user open the container.

In the other solution, while the use of an additional tool for removing the lid is not required, the constructive arrangement requires additional means to attach the lid to the container, usually of complex construction and which substantially increase the cost of the final product to the market.

Thus, the prior art provides closure arrangements which guarantee good tightness, the possibility of

reclosing and a secure axial retention of the lid on the container, but which in order to provide these operational characteristics require, either the application of additional tools for opening the lid, or a complex and costly construction to allow the pressing and retention of the lid against the container.

In other well known arrangements, the lid is seated and retained on the upper edge of the container by fitting with a slight elastic deformation, in order to guarantee a secure retention of the lid on the container.

Nevertheless, these arrangements, which are commonly used in plastic containers, do not guarantee the adequate tightness of the lid-container connection, thus being used only for temporary storing several products, particularly food products, in a relatively short storage period during the progressive consumption of its contents.

Object of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to provide a closure arrangement for cans and pots of the type considered herein, which allows obtaining, simultaneously, through a simple and inexpensive construction, a good hermeticity for the container to be closed, an easy opening, and a reclosing of the lid through simple operations with no need of additional tools and also a secure axial retention of the lid in the closed condition.

Summary of the Invention The objective mentioned above is achieved by the provision of a closure arrangement such as defined in the beginning of the specification, which presents the upper edge of the tubular body incorporating a continuous rim radially projecting to the inside of

the upper edge of the tubular body and having a cross section defined by at least one circle portion centered in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tubular body and medianly sectioned by said perpendicular plane, the lid being provided with a continuous circumferential cut, presenting an upper annular wall to be seated onto the continuous rim, and an inner circumferential wall, against which is seated, through the elastic deformation of at least one of the parts defined by the continuous rim and the lid, the circle portion of the continuous rim.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a vertical diametrical cross-sectional view of a pot shaped can with the upper edge thereof being closed by a lid using the closure arrangement of the present invention, according to a possible constructive embodiment; and Figure 2 is an enlarged detail of Figure 1, to better illustrate the fitting and retention system between the lid and the upper edge of the can body.

Description of the Illustrated Embodiments As it can be observed from the attached drawing, the present closure arrangement may be applied to cans and pots constructed in any known manner, such as, for example, the one in which the can or pot has the form of a tubular body 10, which may be formed by seaming or welding multiple parts, in order to preferably present its upper portion having a reduced diameter and terminating in an upper edge in which is defined a seat for the seating and retention of a manually removable lid 20 to be described in details ahead.

According to the invention, the upper edge of the tubular body 10 incorporates a continuous rim 11 which

may be obtained by deformation of the plate that forms the tubular body 10 of the can, or it may be defined by thickening the material itself that forms the tubular body 10, in the case the latter is made of glass or any other adequate material.

The continuous rim 11 is disposed to radially project to the inside of the upper edge of the tubular body 10, however it should be understood that this continuous rim may be medianly sectioned by the upward projection of the upper edge of the tubular body 10, in which case said rim is projected simultaneously radially inwardly and outwardly from said upper edge.

The continuous rim 11 presents a cross section defined by at least one circle portion lla centered in a plane P which is perpendicular to the axis of the tubular body 10 and medianly sectioned by said perpendicular plane P.

In the illustrated embodiment, the continuous rim 11 presents an inner circular cross section tangent to the wall of the tubular body 10 in the region of the upper edge thereof.

Although not illustrated herein, it should be understood that the continuous rim may comprise only one circle portion lla sectioned by said perpendicular plane P, the remaining contour of the cross section of said continuous rim being defined by any other surface to be in contact or not with the lid 20 upon its closing.

In order to operate jointly with the continuous rim 11, the lid 20, usually constructed of plastic material but which may also be made of metal or of a composite material, is provided with a continuous circumferential cut 21, which is dimensioned to be fitted by elastic deformation on the continuous rim 11, in such a way that the circle portion lla, which

is sectioned by said perpendicular plane P, is seated against the corresponding side of said continuous circumferential cut 21. In the illustrated embodiment, the continuous circumferential cut 21 comprises an upper annular wall 21a to be seated on the continuous rim 11, and an inner circumferential wall 21b against which is seated the circle portion of the continuous rim 11.

In the embodiment illustrated in figures 1 and 2, the circle portion lla of the continuous rim 11 is fitted along its whole extension in a respective recess 21c, which has also the form of a circle portion provided in the inner circumferential wall 21b of the continuous circumferential cut 21.

This construction allows the fitting between the circle portion lla and the respective recess 21c, also in the form of a circle portion, to guarantee not only the perfect tightness of the lid 20-tubular body 10 assembly, but also the axial retention of the lid in its closed condition, making unnecessary the use of additional means, such as clamps and metallic rods to guarantee a solid and secure fixation of the lid to the body of the can or pot.

In the embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the continuous circumferential cut 21 has a depth equal to the height of the continuous rim 11, making the bottom portion of said continuous circumferential cut 21, which bottom portion is defined by the upper annular wall 21a, to remain seated on the continuous rim 11 upon closing the lid 20.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the lid 20 is preferably constructed in a single piece incorporating a lower tubular projection 22, in whose external face is defined the inner circumferential wall 21b of the continuous circumferential cut 21, said lower tubular

projection 22 being elastically deformable during the operations of fitting and removing the lid 20 in relation to the tubular body 10.

The construction of the tubular body 10 with the upper portion having a cross section substantially smaller than the remaining portion of the tubular body 10 is not mandatory, but it is the preferred one, in order to keep the contour of the lid 20 inside the projection of the contour of the tubular body 10, avoiding the lid from being unduly forced out from its fitting position due to impact against other containers during operations of handling and transportation.