FIE LD OF THE INVE NTION

The present invention generally relates to lids used for containers and specifically to a lockable paperboard lid for containers in the packaging industry, and especially in the food industry including take-away and delivery of food items.

BACKG ROUND OF THE INVE NTION

With changing food habits in modern life, many people prefer having food in comfort of their homes. In restaurants, many customers take away food to their homes. Many people also order food to be delivered to their homes by the home- delivery services offered by the restaurants. For transport of food from the restaurants to homes of the customers, packaging plays an important role. Accordingly, packaging plays a vital role in logistics & delivery of food, especially for fast foods and take-away hot foods which is now a multibillion-dollar industry. P resently, hot and/or cooked food is delivered in plastic containers. Transparent or semi-transparent plastic lids, covers or caps are used to cover all such plastic containers. Also, take-away cups and bowls used for hot or cold beverages like coffee, tea, soup, cereals, ice cream, etc. are made of plastic, polystyrene foam, or paper. Lids of such cups and bowls are generally made of plastic. The lids of plastic containers are mostly made of plastic not only because they are harmonized but also because they complement design and construction of the plastic containers. This allows the lid to be securely fixed to the plastic container. The lid is formed by multiple parts which are formed by sheets, molds and/or extrusion process. These parts cover opening of the container. The lid engages with the container through various means such as notches, male-female structure, walls, valleys and voids on the containers and the lid. Though, the plastic containers and the lids are convenient to use, the use of plastic for packaging food is not preferred from the perspective of health and environment The customers are also aware of adverse effects of the plastic containers and the plastic lids to the health and environment and are constantly seeking alternatives to reduce the adverse effects on the health and environmental. Therefore, there is a need to develop an alternative to the plastic material used in transportation of hot cooked food.

F urther, when plastic lid is used to cover the hot food inside the plastic containers, water droplets are formed under the plastic lid which turn the hot food into wet and soggy food. This reduces pa lata bility and satiety value of the food. It may also cause loss of nutrients in the food. F urthermore, lower quality plastic becomes unstable at higher temperatures and releases toxins at higher temperature which may cause adulteration of the food at high temperature due to the degeneration of plastic lids.

F urther, paper is rarely substituted for plastic because paper is a non- homogenous material and is weaker than plastic. Therefore, currently, paper lids are unable to completely replace the plastic lids as there is scare and lack of confidence in replacing the plastic lid of the container. Presently available paper lids cannot be firmly fitted to the container (e.g., cup or bowl), and hence do not provide a tight seal. The side walls of the conventional paper lids are weak and do not withstand lateral pressure or sidelong pressure applied on top surface thereof. Additionally, the conventional paper lids are not properly fixed on the plastic containers and possess a chance of slipping. The paper lid may not be able to hold the container and will get slipped away from the container.

Hence, there is a need of a paper lid satisfying at least one the above-referenced requirements and others to replace the environmentally unfriendly plastic lids.

S UMMARY OF THE INVE NTION

In the first embodiment of the present invention, a lockable paper lid is provided. The lockable paper lid is formed from a paperboard blank. The paperboard blank is foldable along preformed score lines to form the lockable paper lid. The lockable paper lid includes a cover, a side wall, and multiple locking tabs. The cover closes an opening of a container having a peripheral rim. A side wall extends from the periphery of cover and extending beyond the rim of the container. The locking tabs are integrated in the side wall. The locking tabs are bendable for removably interlacing below with the rim to lock the lid with the container removably.

In the second embodiment of the present invention, a storage box for packaging food is provided. The storage box includes a container and a lockable paper lid of the first embodiment. The container has an opening and a peripheral rim around the opening. The said container is made of a plastic material. The lockable paper lid being made of non-homogeneous material, removably locks the container closing the opening of the container by interlacing the tab with the peripheral rim from the bottom of the peripheral rim.

BRIE F DE S C RIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

R eference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it is understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments:

F igure 1 shows a step-by-step process of forming a lockable paper lid in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

F igure 2 shows a step-by-step process of forming a lockable paper lid in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

F igure 3 shows a step-by-step process of forming a lockable paper lid in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILE D DE S CRIPTION OF THE INVE NTION

Although specific terms are used in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention. R eferences in the specification to ¾ne embodimentP¾r Sn embodimentP¾nember that a particular feature, structure, characteristics, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. T he appearances of the phrase ¾ one embodimentPsfn various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. It is to be understood that the singular forms ¾Ps¾in,P¾and ¾ieP;3nclude plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

P ersons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

In general, the present invention provides a lid which is made of a non- homogeneous material, for example paper, having lockability to close opening of a container made of a homogeneous material for example plastic and a storage box for packaging food thereof.

T he lockable lid according to the present invention comprises a cover for closing an opening of a container having a peripheral rim, a side wall extending from the periphery of cover, said side wall extending beyond the rim of the container by folding the paperboard blank along the preformed score lines, and a plurality of locking tabs integrated in the side wall, said locking tabs are bendable to interlace below with the rim of the container to lock the lid with the container removably.

According to an embodiment, the locking tabs either extend from the sidewall or are formed within the sidewall.

According to another embodiment, the locking tabs are bendable either inward or outward under the rim of the container. The locking tabs removably interlaces with a groove, space or void, space or void under the rim.

In one another embodiment, the lockable paper lid includes multiple slits on the preformed scores at the intersection of the cover and the side wall along the locking tabs such that the locking tabs are interlaced under the rim protruding outside of the slit. According to preferable embodiment of the present invention, the length of the slits is greater than or equal to the length of the locking tabs. In a preferred embodiment, the lockable paper lid is made of a material, such as a paper, a corrugated board, a cardboard and the like.

R eferring now to F igure 1 which shows a rectangular lockable paper lid (100) according to an embodiment of the present invention for a container (500) having rectangular opening and a step by step formation of the said rectangular lockable paper lid (100). The rectangular lockable paper lid (100) is formed from a flat blank (1 10) and covers a container (500). The flat blank (1 10) as shown in F igure 1 is a rectangular and has preformed score lines. The preformed score lines include preformed cuts also that are required to form a lid according to the present invention based on the shape of the container to be closed. The flat blank (1 10) is foldable along the preformed score lines. The flat blank includes a cover

(101 ) , a side wall (102), and multiple locking tabs (103). The cover (101 ), the side wall (102), and the locking tabs (103) are defined by the preformed cuts and score lines formed on the flat blank (1 10). The cover (101 ) covers the rectangular opening of the container (500). The side wall (102) extends along the edges of the cover (101 ). The side wall (102) fits around the rim (503) of the rectangular opening of the container (500). The locking tabs (103) extend along the side wall

(102) and each locking tab (103) has a length equal to or more than the height of the side wall (102). The locking tabs (103) as shown are rectangular in shape. Alternatively, the tab can be of various geometrical shapes including but not limited to, square, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, circular, elliptical, or oval. The container (500) has a groove, space or void under the rim (503). The locking tabs (103) removably interlace with the groove, space or void under the rim (503). The locking tabs (103) are bent or fold inwardly for interlacing with the rim (503). When the locking tabs (103) are interlaced with the rim (503) of the container (500), the lockable paper lid (100) is removably closed to the container (500). R eferring Figure 2 shows a rectangular lockable paper lid (200) according to another embodiment of the present invention for a container (500) having rectangular opening and a step by step formation of the said rectangular lockable paper lid (200). The lockable paper lid (200) is formed from a flat blank (210). The flat blank (210) has preformed score lines. The preformed score lines include preformed cuts also that are required to form a lid according to the present invention based on the shape of the container to be closed. The flat blank (210) as shown in F igure 2 is a rectangular. The flat blank includes a cover (201 ), a side wall (202), and multiple locking tabs (203) provided within the side wall (202). The cover (201 ), the side wall (202), and the locking tabs (203) are defined by the preformed cuts and score lines formed on the flat blank (210). The cover (201 ) covers the opening of the container (500). The side wall (202) extends along the edges or periphery of the cover (201 ). The side wall (202) fits around the rim (503) of the container (500). The locking tabs (203) are formed within the side wall (202) by providing a ¾ s shape inside pressable or bendable cut in the side wall wherein the cut extends from the score line between the cover (201 ) and side wall (202). The locking tabs (203) as shown in F igure 2 are rectangular, in shape. Alternatively, the locking tab can be of any shape including triangle, square, polygonal and circular shape. The container (500) has a groove, space or void (504) under the rim (503). The locking tabs (203) removably interlace with the groove, space or void under the rim (503). The locking tabs (203) are bent inwardly for interlacing with the groove, space or void (504) under the rim (503). When the locking tabs (203) are interlaced with the rim (503) of the container (500), a part of the rim (503) of the container (500) protrudes and visible through the cuts of the locking tabs (203), as shown in the F igure 2. Thereby, the lockable paper lid (200) removably locks the container (500).

R eferring F igure 3 shows an octagonal lockable paper lid (300) according to one another embodiment of the present invention for a container (500) having circular opening and a step by step formation of the said octagonal lockable paper lid (300). The lid (300) is formed from a square-like flat blank (310). The lid (300) closes the circular opening of the container (500). The flat blank (310) has preformed score lines. The preformed score lines include preformed cuts also that are required to form a lid according to the present invention based on the shape of the container to be closed. The flat blank (310) is foldable along the preformed scores. The flat blank includes a cover (301 ), eight side walls (302), and multiple locking tabs (303) alternatively formed on the side walls (302) . The cover (301 ), the side wall (302), and the locking tabs (303) are defined by the preformed cuts and score lines formed on the flat blank (310). The locking tabs (303) as shown in F igure 3 are triangular in shape. Alternatively, the tab can be of various geometrical shapes including but not limited to, square, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, circular, elliptical, or oval. The lockable paper lid (300) further includes a slit on the score line between the cover (301 ) and side wall (302) corresponding to each locking tab (303). The slits (312) are formed on the preformed score lines at the intersection of the cover (301 ) and the side wall (302) corresponding to the locking tabs (303). A length of the slits (312) is greater than or equal to the width of the locking tabs (303). The container (500) has a groove, space or void, space or void (504) under the rim (503). The locking tabs (303) removably interlace with the groove, space or void, space or void (504) under the rim (503) protruding out from the slit (512). For interlacing, the locking tabs (303) are bent and fold outwardly and interlace with the groove, space or void (504) under the rim (503) thereby closing the container (500) of circular opening with the lockable paper lid (300). When the lid (300) is closed, the rim (503) protrudes out of the slits.

The present invention also provides a storage box (not shown). The storage box may be used to store or transport items such as food. The storage box includes a container (500) of any shape and a lockable paper lid (100, 200, 300) of a shape corresponding to lock the opening of the container (500) as described above and shown in referring F igures 1 -3.

The lockable paper lid of the present invention, can be made out from various paper materials, including printed paper, plain paper, colored paper, coated paperboard, laminated, foil, molded paperboard, Kraft paper, duplex paperboard, triplex paperboard, foil, laminated film, treated paper, cardboard, corrugated board etc. depending on size of the container, the span of the container and the weight of the container along with the contents therein, and also the type of the contents.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the lockable paper lid of the present invention has ventilation means in the cover. The ventilation means includes ventilation passageways, holes, windows, cut-outs, windows, patchings and the like.

F urther, the lockable paper lid of the present invention including locking tab and the container that is locked by the lockable paper lid may be of various geometrical shapes, such as, but not limited to, square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, octagonal, circular, elliptical, or oval depending upon the type of opening of the container. The function of the locking tabs, slits, and corresponding locking mechanism of the present lockable paper lids is equally effective on all shapes, sizes, and types of containers and paper lids.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the rim of the container is flat or void that does not have the groove beneath the rim, the locking tabs interlace with a void under the rim. This interlacing of the locking tabs with the void under the rim causes the lockable paper lid to removably lock the container. Hence, the lockable paper lid of the present invention is equally functional and effective on containers with various types of rims, necks, with either voids or groove, space or voids under the rims.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the locking tabs of the lockable paper lid of the present invention may be of varied shapes and sizes. The locking tabs may be bent or fold either inwardly or outwardly or a combination of both, depending on the application of the paper lid and the design of the paper lid. F urther, the slits within the sidewalls of the lockable paper lid may be of same or different dimensions and shapes.

Advantageously, the lockable paper lid of the present invention is designed in such a way that the lockable paper lid securely fits and maintains restoring force with flexibility while not being torn when the container is handled by an operator to open and close the lockable paper lid for several times. Thus, the present invention reduces the use of plastic by replacing the conventional plastic lids by providing the lockable paper lids. The lockable paper lids are integral, self-locking, safe, ecofriendly, sturdy and disposable. F urther, the use of paper in the present invention is highly advantageous over the conventional plastic lids because paper decomposes readily and reduces environmental contamination. By replacing the conventional plastic lids with the lockable paper lid, printing and branding on the lockable paper lid can be done very easily.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. C hanges may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention. F urther, basic aim of the present invention to replace the plastic lid used to close the plastic container having a rim in order to save the environment from plastic and accordingly the specification has been drafted. However, the lockable paper lid of the present invention can be used for the container having rim which is also known as flange, skirt irrespective of the material of the container. In other words, the paper lid of the present invention can be used for closing a container made of any material including metals, plastics, papers etc. and accordingly, the specification doesnjjgimit the use of the lockable paper lid to close the plastic containers only and the container made of plastics are only used for reference as it is creating environment pollution. F urther, the rim includes a partly or continuous portion protruding from the opening of the container and sometimes also called as shoulder, neck, skirt etc.

Many modifications may be made without departing from the basic spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced other than has been specifically described herein.

F urther, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that many modifications, improvements, and sub-combinations of the various embodiments, adaptations and variations can be made to the invention without departing from the scope thereof as claimed in the following claims: