Twist and Lock Cap for Vacuum Container

Abstract

A vacuum container and pump system including a vacuum container including: a rounded rectangular or square base with an opening at the top to receive foodstuffs and adapted with an edge; an optional cover comprising at least two locking latches adapted to couple to said edge, said optional cover to close the opening of the vacuum container, said cover comprising: a circular vacuum tubular opening forming a cylindrical hole through said cover, and a cross-shaped notch on the inner cross-section of the tube, through which at least a portion of a plug may be received and disposed when evacuating air from the container. A vacuum bag comprising: a bag having an opening; a plurality of resealable fasteners; a hole for evacuating air with a pump from the bag; a cap for covering said hole; and a removable clip for easing closure of said plurality of fasteners that is adapted to be used with a plurality of the bags. In one embodiment, a twist and lock cap may be included to prevent loss of vacuum of the container from the plug, when the cap has been twisted in a locked position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vacuum container comprising:
 a base having sidewalls defining a volume and an opening at a top of the sidewalls to receive foodstuff into the volume, the opening having an edge;   a cover comprising at least two locking latches configured to couple to the edge to close the opening, the cover comprising:
 a vacuum tubular interface opening forming a cylindrical hole through the cover, and 
 a cross-shaped notch on an inner cross-section of the vacuum tubular interface opening, through which at least a portion of a plug may be received and disposed when evacuating air from the container. 
   
     
     
         2 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , wherein the cover and the base are comprised of different transparent colored plastics. 
     
     
         3 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , wherein the cover has at least four locking latches. 
     
     
         4 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , further comprising a salad spinner configured to be positioned within the volume of the base after removing the cover. 
     
     
         5 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , further comprising a salad chopper configured to be positioned within the volume of the base after removing the cover. 
     
     
         6 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , further comprising a pump comprising at least one of a manually-powered air evacuation pump and an electric-powered air evacuation pump. 
     
     
         7 . The vacuum container of  claim 6 , wherein the pump comprises a manually-powered air evacuation pump comprising a hole in the pump to ease release of air evacuating the pump. 
     
     
         8 . The vacuum container of  claim 6 , wherein the pump comprises an electric-powered air evacuation pump, the electric-powered pump comprising at least one of a cavity to receive at least one battery, an interface adapted to power the pump by providing AC to DC converted power, and a rechargeable energy source. 
     
     
         9 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , wherein the cover comprises a concave annular cavity for receiving an annular protrusion of a bottom of another container base to allow stacking a pair of vacuum containers. 
     
     
         10 . The vacuum container of  claim 9 , wherein the annular protrusion of the bottom of the container base is of a depth to securely couple a stacked pair of vacuum containers when the vacuum containers are in an evacuated state. 
     
     
         11 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , further comprising a vacuum indicator positioned on one of either the base or the cover. 
     
     
         12 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , further comprising a removable divider for positioning within the volume of the base. 
     
     
         13 . The vacuum container of  claim 1 , further comprising an age of contents day indicator dial. 
     
     
         14 . A vacuum bag comprising:
 a vacuum bag having an opening;   a plurality of resealable fasteners;   a interface for evacuating air with a pump from the bag;   a cap for covering the interface; and   a removable clip for easing closure of the plurality of resealable fasteners adapted to be used with a plurality of vacuum bags.