U.S. patent application number 11/153906 was filed with the patent office on 2006-12-21 for bottle.
Invention is credited to Piaras V. De Cleir, Elsa Alejandra Huerta, Gabriel Paniagua.
Application Number | 20060283832 11/153906 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37572342 |
Filed Date | 2006-12-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060283832 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
De Cleir; Piaras V. ; et
al. |
December 21, 2006 |
Bottle
Abstract
A bottle constructed to resist distortion and denting upon
handling through distribution and/or expansion and contraction of
its contents. An upper portion has a rounded upper shoulder and a
series of grooves. A bottom portion is concave and has a plurality
of alternating generally vertically extending long and short swirl
grooves, the spaces between the long swirl grooves above the short
swirl grooves being smooth to easily flex in and out to contract
and expand. A main circumferential groove separates the upper and
bottom portions and has a depth such that it can flex vertically
when a vertical force is applied tending to push the upper portion
against the bottom portion.
Inventors: |
De Cleir; Piaras V.;
(Tarrytown, NY) ; Huerta; Elsa Alejandra; (Mexico,
MX) ; Paniagua; Gabriel; (Atizapan de Zaragoza,
MX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STITES & HARBISON PLLC
1199 NORTH FAIRFAX STREET
SUITE 900
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314
US
|
Family ID: |
37572342 |
Appl. No.: |
11/153906 |
Filed: |
June 16, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
215/383 ;
215/379; 215/382; 215/384; 220/669; 220/675 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 1/44 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
215/383 ;
215/379; 215/384; 215/382; 220/669; 220/675 |
International
Class: |
B65D 90/02 20060101
B65D090/02 |
Claims
1. A bottle comprising an upper portion, a bottom portion and a
main horizontal circumferential groove separating the upper and
bottom portions, the groove having a depth that resists substantial
downward forces exerted on the upper portion so as to retain the
upper portion in its original shape.
2. A bottle according to claim 1, the bottom portion comprising a
plurality of generally vertically extending swirl grooves,
including long swirl grooves alternating with short swirl grooves,
a smooth area being located between the long swirl grooves above
the intervening short swirl grooves.
3. A bottle according to claim 2, wherein the smooth areas are
adapted to flex inwardly and outwardly upon a pressure differential
between the inside and outside of the bottle.
4. A bottle according to claim 3, wherein the bottom portion of the
bottle is concave.
5. A bottle according to claim 1, wherein the main circumferential
groove has sufficient depth to flex vertically when a vertical
force is applied tending to push the upper portion against the
bottom portion, without the upper portion skewing laterally or
collapsing onto the lower portion.
6. A bottle according to claim 1, wherein the upper portion
includes at the top thereof a rounded shoulder.
7. A bottle according to claim 6, including a label area below the
rounded shoulder having a diameter less than the maximum diameter
of the shoulder and the radius of curvature between the label area
and the upper rounded shoulder is sufficiently large to resist
denting by returning a dented area to its original shape.
8. A bottle comprising an upper portion with a rounded shoulder, a
bottom portion having alternating long and short generally vertical
extending swirl grooves and a main circumferential groove
separating the upper and bottom portions, whereby the bottle
accommodates expansion and contraction of the contents of the
bottle without distortion or denting.
9. A bottle according to claim 8, including a plurality of
circumferential grooves in the upper portion having a depth less
than that of the main circumferential groove.
10. A bottle according to claim 8, wherein the main circumferential
groove has sufficient depth to flex vertically when a vertical
force is applied tending to push the upper portion against the
bottom portion, without the upper portion skewing laterally or
collapsing onto the lower portion.
11. A bottle comprising an upper portion having a rounded upper
shoulder, a main circumferential groove below the upper portion,
and a bottom portion beneath the main circumferential groove, the
rounded shoulder having a radius of curvature selected such that
when the inside of the bottle is under pressure and the rounded
upper shoulder is dented, the dented area will return to its
original shape.
12. A bottle according to claim 11, the upper portion beneath the
rounded upper shoulder having a plurality of circumferential
grooves of less depth than the main circumferential groove.
13. A bottle according to claim 12, the bottom portion comprising a
plurality of generally vertically extending swirl grooves,
including long swirl grooves alternating with short swirl grooves,
a smooth area being located between the long swirl grooves above
the intervening short swirl grooves.
14. A bottle according to claim 13, wherein the smooth areas are
adapted to flex inwardly and outwardly upon a pressure differential
between the inside and outside of the bottle.
15. A bottle according to claim 14, wherein there are three long
swirl grooves and three short swirl grooves.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to a bottle, and in particular it
relates to a plastic bottle with improved resistance to
deformation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Plastic bottles for beverages and the like are well known
and are available in a virtually limitless number of sizes and
shapes. Such plastic bottles are inherently susceptible to
deformation such as by denting due to forces exerted on the bottle
during handling through distribution channels and/or due to
expansion and contraction of the contents of the bottle. Such
deformations are a major concern not only because of the
possibility for compromising the structural integrity of the
bottle, but also because of customer appeal in that a customer will
reject a dented or otherwise deformed bottle as unacceptable, even
if it is still structurally intact.
[0003] Thus, there exists a continuing need for bottles of the type
described which will maintain their original design shape by
resisting deformation due to external factors such as forces
exerted in handling and expansion and contraction of the contents
of the bottle.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] It is a purpose of the present invention to provide a new
and improved plastic bottle which provides better resistance to
deformation due to external forces or expansion/contraction of the
contents of the bottle.
[0005] The bottle which is the subject of the present invention is
of a type having an upper portion, a label area in the upper
portion, a shoulder above the label area, and a bottom portion.
[0006] One advantageous feature of the present invention is the
design of the shoulder such that when a force is exerted on the
shoulder, it will not permanently dent, as has been known to occur
in the past, but in fact will reliably pop out. This result of
course requires at least some degree of pressure within the bottle.
Structurally, this result is achieved by designing the transition
from the label area to the shoulder area with a relatively large
radius of curvature so that it is a gradual rather than a sharp
curve.
[0007] Another advantageous feature of the present invention is the
provision of a relatively deep horizontal circumferential groove
separating the upper portion from the bottom portion of the bottle.
This relatively deep groove, coupled with a step on the lower side
thereof, preferably just beneath the label area, accommodates
expansion and contraction of the contents of the bottle to
accommodate changes in volume due to temperature changes and
changes in altitude and to maintain hoop stiffness of the bottle.
Additionally, this main relatively deep horizontal groove resists
forces on the bottle from the top or side which would tend to
deflect the upper portion of the bottle or collapse it down into
the lower portion of the bottle, instead, resisting such forces and
returning the bottle to its original shape. The smaller grooves in
the label area, which are known per se, are also helpful in
contributing to stiffness and directing vertical forces downwardly
into the large main horizontal groove wherein they are more
positively deflected.
[0008] Another feature of the present invention which contributes
to its ability to resist deformation is a series of unequal size,
generally vertical swirl grooves in the bottom portion of the
bottle, including relatively long swirl grooves alternating with
short swirl grooves. These swirl grooves allow controlled localized
expansion and contraction of the product in the bottle to
accommodate changes in volume due to temperature changes and/or
changes in volume due to altitude. The grooves contribute to
rigidity and the space between the long swirl grooves above the
short swirl grooves provides a smooth area which will accommodate
expansion and contraction.
[0009] Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an
improved bottle of the type described which better resists
deformation due to external forces.
[0010] These and other objects of the present invention will become
apparent from the brief description of the drawings which follows,
together with the detailed description of the preferred
embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] There follows a detailed description of the preferred
embodiments of the present invention, to be read together with the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a bottle, constructed
in accordance with the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of FIG. 1.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a central cross sectional view of the bottle of
FIG. 1.
[0015] FIG. 4 is an enlargement of the central portion of FIG.
3.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 of
FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] Referring to the drawings, like elements are represented by
like numbers throughout the several views.
[0018] FIGS. 1 and 2 are essentially identical except that the
right side elevational view of FIG. 2 is provided to better show
the pattern of the swirl grooves in the bottom portion of the
bottle.
[0019] The plastic bottle 10 is of the type intended for liquids
such as beverages. The bottle includes a conventional threaded
spout 11. Below the spout 11 is a shoulder 12 bounded at its lower
end by a curved bottom 13 below which there is provided a label
area 14 which has conventional horizontal reinforcing grooves
15.
[0020] Below the label area 14 is a main relatively deep horizontal
circumferential groove 20 which includes a fairly large step 21 on
the bottom thereof, which step leads to a bottom portion 22. The
bottom portion 22 includes a plurality of relatively long vertical
swirl grooves 23 which alternate with shorter swirl grooves 24. In
the illustrated embodiment, there are three long swirl grooves 23
alternating with three short swirl grooves 24, but of course the
number of such swirl grooves can be varied, depending on the
particular design. Above the short swirl grooves 24 between
adjacent long swirl grooves 23 there is provided a smooth area. It
is noted that the natural shape of the bottom portion 22 is
somewhat concave. This smooth area 25 is adaptable to flex
outwardly in the event of expansion of the contents of the bottle.
The short swirl grooves are generally about one-half the length of
the long swirl grooves, but this can be varied for particular
designs.
[0021] The shoulder 12 is particularly susceptible to denting both
because of its uppermost location and because it is a wider part of
the bottle such that it will contact adjacent bottles while being
distributed in commerce. In the past, it has been found that upper
portions of such bottles would dent permanently as a result of
external forces and not pop back out. Such dented bottles would be
rejected by the consumer as unacceptable. It has been found that
enlarging the radius of curvature in the curved bottom 13, coupled
with a slight pressure inside the bottle, such as 3 psig, causes
any dent in the shoulder 14 to pop out. Such internal pressure can
be added by a gas such as nitrogen or by other means such as
carbonization. The exact enlarged radius of curvature will depend
upon the size of the bottle. In one arrangement, for a 1500 ml
bottle having a height of 239.4 mm from the bottom up to the bottom
of the shoulder, a radius of curvature in the upper portion of the
shoulder, in the vicinity of numeral 12 would be approximately 45
mm while a radius of curvature in the area of curved bottom 13
would be approximately 26 mm. While these represent preferred
dimensions for a particular size bottle, it will be understood that
these dimensions can vary, so long as they provide an arrangement
wherein the transition from the label area to the shoulder is of a
large enough radius of curvature, i.e., not a sharp transition.
[0022] While grooves such as reinforcing grooves 15 have been known
per se, it is believed new to provide a relatively large main
horizontal circumferential groove such as groove 20. While the size
and depth of the groove will vary for different size and shaped
bottles, in the example having the dimensions as described above,
this horizontal circumferential groove 20 would have an external
radius of curvature of approximately 2.3 mm and an inside radius of
curvature above groove 20 of approximately 2.8 mm and the radius of
curvature below the groove 20 in the vicinity of step 21 would be
approximately 2.7 mm. It can be noted from FIG. 4 that groove 20 is
significantly larger than the conventional grooves 15.
[0023] This relatively large groove 20 with its step 21
accommodates expansion and contraction of the contents of the
bottle due to changes in temperature and altitude and it maintains
the hoop stiffness of the bottle. Also, if the bottle is impacted
from above or from the side, this large groove would tend to
deflect such forces in a way that mitigates or reduces the impact,
thus returning the bottle to its original shape.
[0024] In a preferred arrangement, the bottle is made of
polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is blown by the stretch blow
molding process. However, the results of the present invention are
achieved by other materials including polypropylene or other
suitable materials. While the dimensions described above are for a
1500 ml bottle, the invention is applicable to bottles of any size,
wherein the dimensions would be selected as appropriate for the
particular size bottle.
[0025] Although the invention has been described above in relation
to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those
skilled in the art that variations and modifications can be
effected in these preferred embodiments without departing from the
scope and spirit of the invention.
* * * * *