U.S. patent number 3,923,178 [Application Number 05/491,905] was granted by the patent office on 1975-12-02 for container.
This patent grant is currently assigned to American Home Products Corporation. Invention is credited to George W. Welker, III.
United States Patent |
3,923,178 |
Welker, III |
December 2, 1975 |
Container
Abstract
A plastic container is described for liquids which are in part
capable of migrating through the plastic. The container has a
relatively rigid top and bottom connected by plurality of
relatively narrow walls and a plurality of relatively wide wall
located between the narrow walls. The wide walls are initially
planar but assume a concaved configuration as the pressure in the
container is reduced due to migration of moisture through the walls
of the container, while the narrow walls rigid top and bottom
remain unchanged in configuration.
Inventors: |
Welker, III; George W.
(Downington, PA) |
Assignee: |
American Home Products
Corporation (New York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
23954153 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/491,905 |
Filed: |
July 25, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
215/381; 426/130;
215/382; 206/525 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
1/0223 (20130101); B65D 79/005 (20130101); B65D
79/0084 (20200501); B65D 2501/0081 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
79/00 (20060101); B65D 1/02 (20060101); A61J
009/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;215/1C,11E ;150/.5
;D9/163,164,167,168 ;426/117,130 ;206/525 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
978,705 |
|
Dec 1964 |
|
UK |
|
868,170 |
|
May 1961 |
|
UK |
|
Primary Examiner: Norton; Donald F.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Weigman; Joseph Martin
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A sealed plastic container for liquids at least a portion of
which is capable of migrating through the plastic comprising:
1. A relatively rigid top;
2. A relatively rigid bottom;
3. At least four relatively narrow, substantially planar wall
portions connecting said top and bottom;
4. At least four relatively wide, substantially planar wall
portions connecting said top and bottom and connected one between
each pair of relatively narrow wall portions,
A. the width of said wide wall portions being about two to two and
one half times the width of said narrow wall portions;
5. A liquid disposed within the container;
6. Said top, bottom and walls being formed from a plastic which is
permeable by said liquid;
whereby the relatively wide wall portions become concaved when the
liquid migrates through the plastic and the internal pressure
becomes less than the ambient pressure while the relatively narrow
wall portions, top and bottom, retain their initial shape.
2. A container as defined in claim 1 in which the height of the
widest wall portions is about four times the width of said narrow
wall portions.
Description
The invention is directed to plastic containers for liquids. More
particularly the invention is directed to containers for liquids in
which at least a part of the liquid tends to migrate through the
walls of the container causing a reduced internal pressure that
tends to collapse the container under the ambient pressure. The
present invention makes use of the tendency of the container to
reduce in volume during storage to produce a container the
appearance of which is enhanced by volume reduction.
The advent of the form-fill-seal packaging which has resulted from
the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,860 has resulted in
the production of low cost, filled and sealed sterilized materials.
However, it has been found that many liquids when stored in plastic
containers tend to have a portion of the liquid migrate through the
walls of the container.
Depending upon the plastic material utilized, differential
permeation may occur where a corresponding equal volume of gas
cannot enter the container to replace the escaping liquid. This
condition can be further aggravated because the container does not
have a standard separate closure system which could function as a
pressure equalizing vent. This results in a reduced volume and a
reduced pressure in the container. The pressure differential
between the ambient and internal pressures causes the container to
collapse, or occupy less volume, and present an unpleasant
appearance on extended storage.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a container for
liquids subject to moisture migration in which the appearance of
the package is enhanced upon storage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a
container for liquids subject to moisture migration which limits
the volume reduction of the container to selected areas.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a
container for liquids subject to moisture migration in which most
of the surface of the container is resistant to flexing and a
portion of the surface of the container is subject to flexing.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a
container for liquids subject to moisture migration in which
pre-selected portions of the package are adapted to assume a
concaved position due to pressure differentials arising during
extended storage.
Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent from
reading the following description in conjunction with the drawings
in which:
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of a
container embodying the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the
container of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the container of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 4--4 of
FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken across the length of the
container of FIG. 1 showing a new configuration occupying less
volume;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken across the width of the
container of FIG. 1 showing a smaller volume configuration; and
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 7--7 of
FIG. 5.
The objects of the present invention may be achieved in a plastic
container for liquids which are, at least in part, capable of
migrating through the plastic in which the container has a
relatively rigid top and bottom joined by a plurality of relatively
narrow wall portions and a plurality of relatively wide wall
portions spaced between the relatively narrow wall portions.
As may be seen in FIG. 1, the container 10 is made up of a
relatively rigid top portion 12 that is further comprised of a
rounded shoulder portion 14, a planar portion 16, a neck portion 18
and an integral closure 20. It is advantageous that the neck 18
contain threads 22 which will cooperate with a dispensing device
after the closure 20 is removed. A specific dispensing device
contemplated is a baby nipple which typically has a soft pliable
nipple connected to a container by a threaded ferrule.
The container 10 is further comprised of a relatively rigid bottom
portion 24 which has a central portion 26 surrounded by an arcuate
outer portion 28. The top portion 12 is joined to the bottom
portion 24 by a plurality of relatively narrow walls 30, 32, 34, 36
and by a plurality of relatively wide walls 38, 40, 42, and 44. For
esthetic reasons it has been found desirable that the walls 42, 44
be even wider than the walls 38, 40. Each of the wide walls is
connected between two narrow walls as may be seen in FIG. 3.
In an especially advantageous embodiment the narrow walls have a
dimension A which is about 1/2 inch and two of the wide walls have
a dimension B which is about 1 inch while the remaining two wide
walls have a dimension C which is about 1 1/4 inch. The total
height of the widest walls as shown in dimension D (FIG. 1) is
about 2 inches.
The liquid contents 46 are contained within the chamber 48 defined
by the container.
As may be seen in FIGS. 1-4, in the container as initially filled
the relatively wide walls are planar, that is, they are straight
and undeformed.
After the container 10 has been stored for a period of time, which
may be two weeks to two years, a portion of the liquid contents 46
has migrated through the walls and escaped the container. The
resulting reduction in volume reduces the pressure within the
chamber 48. This causes a differential pressure between the chamber
48 and the ambient atmosphere. Due to the pressure thus applied the
relatively wide walls 38, 40, 42, 44 become concaved as is shown in
FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. The narrow walls 30, 32, 34, 36 and the top
portion 12 and the bottom portion 24 are less susceptible to
deformation and show no visible deformation during the normal shelf
life of the liquid contents.
The resulting package with the concaved wide walls presents a
pleasing appearance. There is no deformation apparent to the
consumer. Thus, by controlling the location of deformation the
phenomenon of moisture migration may be utilized to enhance the
container appearance during storage.
* * * * *