VACUUM SEALING LID FOR FOOD STORAGE CONTAINER

摘要

A system for enabling the efficient evacuation of air within a food container. A bellows-enabled lid fits into a respective container in an air-tight relationship. A bellows mechanism having plural resilient members and dual one-way valves provides efficient manual operation and resulting air evacuation from the container interior. A lid-mounted release valve with associated resilient member enables efficient release of vacuum conditions within the container. Plural ornamental configurations of the container with associated bellows-enabled lid are illustrated.

主权项

1. A vacuum sealing lid assembly for a storage container, comprising:
an upper cover having a bellows aperture and a lower peripheral edge; a lower cover having an upper peripheral edge configured to sealingly mate with the upper cover lower peripheral edge, the lower cover having a cavity defined by a floor surface of the lower cover and by vertically extending walls that project upwardly from the floor surface and terminating in an upper extent configured to mate with the upper cover proximate the bellows aperture; a pump chamber within the cavity comprising
a bellows plate disposed within the bellows aperture for substantially linear orthogonal translation relative to the upper plate and having a lower peripheral edge,a bellows having an open upper end and an open lower end, the upper end being configured to sealingly mate with the bellows plate lower peripheral edge and the lower end being configured to sealingly mate with the lower cover cavity floor surface, anda plurality of resilient members extending between a lower surface of the bellows plate and the lower cover cavity floor surface; a first one-way valve disposed in the bellows plate and configured to enable selective evacuation of air from within the pump chamber into the atmosphere external to the lid assembly as the bellows plate is manually compressed relative to the upper cover, against the urging of the resilient members; a second one-way valve disposed in the lower cover cavity floor surface and configured to enable selective evacuation of air from an area beneath the lid assembly into the pump chamber as the bellows plate is urged upward by the resilient members in the absence of manual compression of the bellows plate; and a release valve disposed in the upper cover and the lower cover and configured to enable selective introduction of air from the atmosphere into an area beneath the lid assembly, wherein the resilient members are radially displaced with respect to a vertical axis of symmetry of the bellows plate.