Commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,015,062; 7,069,763; 7,370,507 and published application US2006-0011633 and disclose containers/cans and caps therefor, tooling for making the can bodies and caps, and the method or processes of making cans that employ a reclosable cap. The disclosure of each of these U.S. patents and published applications is incorporated herein by reference. Heretofore, this technology has been used to manufacture new can bodies and oftentimes includes the manufacture of a separate dome that is connected or seamed to the open end of a main can body. The dome in an exemplary arrangement typically has a conical tapering conformation that narrows to an opening that receives a removable cap. To retain the cap in closed relation with the opening, external thread portions are provided adjacent one end of the dome about an outer periphery of the opening. These thread portions are selectively engaged by thread lugs that extend from an inner peripheral portion of a cap rim to draw a cap into sealed, reclosable engagement with the periphery of the opening. In other instances, the thread lugs are formed on an outer peripheral portion adjacent the open end of a can body which may not be tapered. The thread portions are still adapted to receive the corresponding thread lugs of a reclosable cap.
In the food and beverage can industry, for example, open ended can bodies having a bottom wall that is integrally formed with the side wall. A blank of material is punched from a cold-rolled sheet and initially formed into a cup that has an end with integral sidewall. The cup is subsequently formed or ironed with dies and forming machinery to shape the metal and form a can body into an open-top can. An open or upper, second end is subsequently closed with a separately formed lid or end panel. The end is connected along a peripheral portion to the open-ended sidewall of the can body via a crimp or seam. Typically, the ends are seamed to the open end of the can body and the consumer accesses the contents of the can by (i) removing the end with a can opener, (ii) removing or tearing away the end via a pull tab, or (iii) an easy-open, retained scored region or panel portion in the end that is opened with a retained tab.
There are times, however, where the entire contents of the food or beverage container, for example, may not be used. The consumer must then empty the entire contents from the can since there is no effective way to close and seal the can for future use once the can has been opened. Likewise, these cans are made time and again at the same volume and do not easily lend themselves to converting to new sizes of containers without a significant capital investment in equipment.
Therefore, a need exists for providing a reclosable can, particularly in the metal food container industry. There is also a desire to accomplish this goal without adding additional metal to the container, while advantageously providing additional volume.