The present disclosure is directed to containers and, more particularly, to bottles.
Bottles typically include a body, a shoulder, a neck, and a neck finish. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0000878 illustrates an example glass bottle of this general type. Such bottles may be produced using a blow-and-blow manufacturing process or a press-and-blow manufacturing process, and typically have substantially uniform wall thicknesses. Moreover, longneck bottles are popular in the beverage packaging industry, particularly for packaging beer. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0264107 illustrates example longneck bottles having necks with internal ribs produced by forming external ribs on necks of parisons and pushing the external ribs into the necks during blowing of the parisons into the bottles.
A general object of the present disclosure, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, is to provide a bottle that includes an insulative body for reduced heat transfer from a user's hand to improve insulation performance of the bottle.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A bottle in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure extends along a longitudinal axis and includes a base, a neck, and an insulative body extending axially between the base and the neck. The body includes radially outwardly facing first surfaces spaced axially apart from one another, and a radially outwardly facing second surface radially smaller than, and located axially between, the first surfaces. The body also includes a plurality of projections projecting from the second surface and collectively establishing a radially outwardly facing third surface radially larger than the second surface, and parting line bridges projecting radially outwardly from the second surface, diametrically opposed to one another, and extending axially between the first surfaces. A label is carried by the body over at least a portion of the third surface, wherein a continuous insulation volume is established between the label and the second surface, and extends continuously over more than 90 angular degrees around the bottle.
The disclosure, together with additional objects, features, advantages and aspects thereof, will be best understood from the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings, in which:
The body 124 extends axially between the base 122 and the neck 128, and may include radially outwardly facing first surfaces 134a,b spaced axially apart from one another and a radially recessed portion 136 extending axially between the radially outwardly facing first surfaces 134a,b. The first surfaces 134a and 134b may or may not be identical in radial size and may be generally circular or elliptical in cross-section perpendicular to the axis A.
The radially recessed portion 136 may include a base label surface or second surface 146 axially between and smaller than the first surfaces 134a,b. The recessed portion 136 also may include stepped portions 138a,b extending axially and radially inwardly from adjacent corresponding radially outwardly facing first surfaces 134a,b, and an insulative portion 140 extending axially between the radially outwardly facing first surfaces 134a,b and, more particularly, axially between the stepped portions 138a,b. In accordance with this embodiment, the insulative portion 140 of the radially recessed portion 136 may include the second surface 146 and a radially outwardly facing third surface 150 axially between the radially outwardly facing first surfaces 134a,b. The third surface 150 may be radially larger than the second surface 146 and established collectively by a plurality of projections 152 that project radially outwardly from the second surface 146. More particularly, the third surface 150 may be established collectively by radially outwardly facing projection surfaces 154 of the projections 152. The third surface 150 may be circular or elliptical in cross-section normal to the axis A.
The recessed portion 136 also may include radially outwardly facing fourth surfaces 142a,b axially between and radially smaller than the first surfaces 134a,b but radially larger than the second surface 146. The recessed portion 136 further may include axially facing shoulders 144a,b between the first and fourth surfaces 134a,b, and 142a,b. The radially outwardly facing second surface 146 may extend axially between the radially outwardly facing fourth surfaces 142a,b and may be radially smaller than the fourth surfaces 142a,b. The recessed portion 136 additionally may include axially facing shoulders 148a,b between the second surface 146 and the fourth surfaces 142a,b. The fourth surfaces 142a,b may be radially substantially the same size as the third surface 150 and/or axially adjacent individual surfaces 154. As used herein, the term “substantially” includes within manufacturing tolerances well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In other embodiments, the third surface 150 and/or axially adjacent individual surfaces 154 may be smaller than the fourth surfaces 142a,b but larger than the second surface 146, or may be larger than the fourth surfaces 142a,b but smaller than the first surfaces 134a,b.
The first and fourth surfaces 134a,b, 142a,b and stepped portions 138a,b may be circumferentially continuous and, for example, in cross section perpendicular to the axis A, may be circular or elliptical. Likewise, except for the projections 152, the second surface 146 may be circumferentially continuous and, for example, in cross section perpendicular to the axis A, may be circular or elliptical.
In this embodiment, the projections 152 may be axially and circumferentially spaced apart from one another in an array of straight circumferentially spaced and axially offset columns, wherein individual projections of adjacent columns may be axially staggered with respect to one another. The projection array may include at least eight rows and at least twenty columns for at least 160 individual projections 152.
Also in this embodiment, the projections 152 may be nubs. In the illustrated example, the nubs may be frustoconical. More specifically, the outer projection surfaces 154 may have a circular shape when viewed from a radial direction, and the projections 152 may have a trapezoidal shape in longitudinal cross section (
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In any case, the label 160 may include axial ends 162a,b and axial margins 164a,b adjacent the axial ends 162a,b. The axial ends 162a,b may be carried on the fourth surfaces 142a,b, for example, in circumferentially continuous surface contact therewith. In fact, the axial margins 164a,b may be adhered to the fourth surfaces 142a,b using pressure-sensitive adhesive carried by the label 160 or any other suitable adhesive, and the axial margins 164a,b may be sealed to the bottle 120 circumferentially continuously to provide an air-tight volume of air between the label 160 and the bottle 120.
Also, or instead, the label 160 may be carried by at least some of the projections 152. For example, corresponding portions of the label 160 may be adhered to the radially outwardly facing surfaces 154 of the projections using pressure-sensitive adhesive carried by the label 160 or any other suitable adhesive. The surface contact between the label 160 and the third surface 150 is characterized by multiple discrete contact areas such that there is no continuous path of surface contact between the label 160 and the third surface 150 for 360 angular degrees around the bottle.
To the contrary, the contact between the label 160 and the corresponding portion of the body 124 is circumferentially and axially interrupted by circumferential and axial spaces between the projections 152. In other words, radial, axial, and circumferential space establishes one or more insulation volumes between the label 160 and the second surface 146 that extend continuously over more than 90 angular degrees around the container 120 about the axis A. The insulation volumes may include two insulation volumes that extend about 180 degrees around the container 120 about the axis A, except for the bridges 155. Accordingly, one or more large volumes of air may be defined between the label 160 and the body 124 and may be circumferentially continuous for more than 90 degrees, axially between the shoulders 148a,b. In one embodiment, the two insulation volumes may be connected, for example, via reliefs 153 extending circumferentially across and radially into one or both of the bridges 155, or in any other suitable manner. Accordingly, in contrast to prior approaches where a plurality of individual discrete pockets are established between a label and a bottle, here a much larger volume of air may be defined between the label 160 and the bottle 120 for improved insulative effect.
In fact, according to computer aided design analysis and calculations, the volume of air between the label 160 and bottle 120 is on the order of 0.031 cubic inches per square inch of corresponding label area. The calculated total volume includes those volumes under or radially inward of the label surface area that are axially between the steps 142a, 142b and circumferentially between the bridges 155.
The bottle 120 may be of any suitable shape and size. In just one of many potential examples, the bottle 120 may be a longneck bottle having an overall height H, and the neck 128 (including neck finish 132) having a neck height h. For purposes of the present disclosure, the term “longneck bottle” is defined as a bottle in which the height h of the bottle neck is at least 25% of the overall bottle height H. In illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure, the neck height h is in the range of 33% to 40% of bottle height H. The heights H, h may be measured to the sealing surface or lip 130 that axially terminates the neck 128 and neck finish 132. Also, the bottle 120 may be a narrow neck bottle, having a thread diameter (so-called “T” dimension) or a crown diameter (so-called “A” dimension) not more than 38 mm. The bottle 120 is of one-piece integrally formed construction, for, example, of glass, ceramic, metal, or plastic construction. (The term “integrally formed construction” does not exclude one-piece integrally molded layered glass constructions of the type disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,401, or one-piece glass or metal bottles to which other structure is added after the bottle-forming operation.) The bottle 120 may be composed of any suitable material, for example, glass, plastic, or metal. Glass bottles can be fabricated by press-and-blow and/or blow-and-blow manufacturing operations, or by any other suitable technique(s). Plastic bottles can be produced by injection and/or blow molding techniques. Metal bottles can be produced by bending, rolling, welding, or any other suitable forming or joining techniques.
With reference to
The ribs 252 are annular and axially spaced apart, with annular spaces therebetween. The ribs 252 may be arranged in any suitable quantity of rows and, as illustrated, may include at least twelve spaced apart rows. At least some of the ribs 252 may include reliefs 253 that circumferentially interrupt the ribs 252 to allow communication of air between the annular spaces established by the ribs 252.
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In fact, according to computer aided design analysis and calculations, the volume of air between the label 160 and bottle 220 is on the order of 0.025 cubic inches per square inch of corresponding label area. The calculated total volume includes those volumes under or radially inward of the label surface area that are axially between the steps 142a, 142b and circumferentially between the bridges 255.
Accordingly, the volume of air between the label 160 and the bottles 120 or 220 is preferably at least 0.020 cubic inches per square inch of corresponding label area and, more preferably, at least 0.025 cubic inches per square inch of corresponding label area, and most preferably, at least 0.030 cubic inches per square inch of corresponding label area.
The bottle 320 is substantially similar to the bottle 120 of
The bottle 420 is substantially similar to the bottle 220 of
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More specifically, a control specimen, according to the conventional bottle 20 of
A test apparatus (not shown) included a thermal chamber for heating a bottle, a heater in communication with the thermal chamber, a bottle chamber carried in the thermal chamber and adapted to receive a bottle, a thermocouple array to measure temperature of the liquid in the bottle, a cooling reservoir to cool and hold liquid and including one or more thermocouples, pumps and conduit to convey fluid to and from the bottle, and electronics and a computer in communication with the aforementioned devices to control the devices and having suitable test software loaded thereto. For each specimen, the following operational steps were carried out.
1. Ensure that the bottle is empty and the cooling reservoir is ready to start.
2. Place the bottle in the bottle chamber of the test apparatus.
3. Lower the thermocouple array into the bottle.
4. Ensure that the bath is colder than 0° C. so that the test can begin at no more than 3° C.
5. Make sure the cold liquid pump is operational.
6. Using the computer, enter applicable information for the test in a test header.
7. Choose the appropriate test profile using the computer.
8.Press a GO button to initiate the test. At this point, the pump operates to fill the bottle with the cold liquid, for example, 95% water and 5% isopropanol, and the cold liquid is at a starting temperature of three degrees Celsius in the bottle. The heater blows warm air over the external surfaces of the bottle, and the temperature of the liquid in each bottle is measured. The bottle liquid measurements are plotted in
At each of the intervals, the differences in temperature between the control and each of the presently disclosed bottle specimens can be seen in
There thus has been disclosed a bottle that fully satisfies all of the objects and aims previously set forth. The disclosure has been presented in conjunction with several illustrative embodiments, and additional modifications and variations have been discussed. Other modifications and variations readily will suggest themselves to persons of ordinary skill in the art in view of the foregoing discussion. The disclosure is intended to embrace all such modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14831329 | Aug 2015 | US |
Child | 15338532 | US | |
Parent | 13761598 | Feb 2013 | US |
Child | 14831329 | US |