The present invention relates to containers, particularly kegs and to chimes provided at the bottom part of said containers, as well as to a method for manufacturing such containers.
It is general practice to provide a container or keg with bottom and top chimes. These chimes usually perform several functions. A first is function is purely protection of the base and top part of the kegs such that they are not damaged during handling. The base chime also provides a flat base for the keg, such that this can easily be placed in an upright position. In most cases, the top and bottom chime are designed to make kegs stackable and as such simplify transport and storage of the kegs. A further important function of chimes is to facilitate handling of the kegs. Indeed, most chimes are provided with a skirt that in a mounted position is situated at the periphery of the keg and that forms a rolling ring, such that when kegs are provided with bottom and top chimes, the kegs can be rolled easily when placed on their side, without the kegs sidewall touching ground.
In order to fix the chimes on a keg, several options are known. In most cases however the chimes are welded to the sidewall of the keg, which has the drawback that once applied, the chimes can not be released or replaced.
This drawback has been overcome by DE3336681, wherein a chime is described that is snap-fitted behind protrusions provided at the periphery of a corresponding keg. In this case the chimes can be readily removed and replaced from the keg which simplifies both repair and recycling of both chimes and kegs.
With the growing demand for plastic kegs and the growing need for recycling and cost reducing processing, the application of the chimes on the kegs and the removal of said chimes off the kegs needs to be further simplified.
The present invention nuts the above objectives by providing a container assembly comprising a container and a chime fixed to each other, the container having an end part and a peripheral side wall, characterized in that the fixation between the chime and the container is situated at the end part of the container and at a distance from said peripheral side wall.
The end part preferably is the base of the container, the chime, a bottom chime.
By redesigning the fixation of the chimes to the container, the applicant moved the attachment means to a central part of the base of the container. By doing so, the fixation of the chimes is no longer dependent on the peripheral circumference of the container. This offers the advantage that the fixation of the chime to the container can be made equal for containers of different dimensions, which clearly simplifies automation and processability, especially with regard to recycling.
Further advantages associated with various embodiments of the present invention include the snap on assembly of the chime, as it engages the keg bottom finish, (which of course, lends itself to automated production). Moreover, in cases where no other means of fixation is employed, the bottom chime can be readily removed and recycled separately from the keg, and if appropriate easily replaced by another replacement chime so that the keg can be returned to production. In addition, the bottom chime provides for ease of handling, and its resilient flexibility provides for drop resistance benefits.
Preferably, the fixation between chime and container is releasable, such that the chimes can easily be replaced when damaged. In the most preferred embodiment, the fixation is achieved by a snap fit between the chime and the container.
The present invention also relates to the container itself, as in order to enable the above fixation, the container according to the invention has a base that is provided with attachment means situated at a distance from the containers peripheral sidewall.
A chime according to the invention comprises at least a inner hub provided with fixation means and an outer skirt that is designed to engage part of the peripheral sidewall of a container.
Finally, the present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a container according to the present invention, which method comprises providing attachment means at a base of the container and at a distance of the containers peripheral sidewall.
Preferably, the container is manufactured in a thermoplastic material that is molded in a mold, whereby the attachment means are created by using a mold having a cavity defining a sump region in the that part of the mold cavity that corresponds to the base of the container to be formed therein.
Preferably, the method further comprises inserting a rod in the mold cavity during molding, which rod extends until in the sump defining region of the mold cavity.
The use of such rod is particularly advantageous in case of blow-molding the container, as it helps forcing the thermoplastic material in the sump region, thereby forming the attachment means, in particular the snap fit at the base of the container.
Referring in general to
In this preferred form of the chime 1 according to the present invention, surround 10 comprises an opening 10a, which is circumscribed by respective free ends 10d of a plurality of resilient, flexible tines 10b. Tines 10b extend radially inwardly into opening 10a, from fixed ends of said tines 10b that are rooted on a inner, preferably central hub 3.
Chime 1 includes a “spider” 2 for engaging a bottom portion of a keg body (again, not shown in
Spokes 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d, have contours 14, (e.g. are scallop-shaped) to provide a stiffened girder effect.
The upstanding chime skirt 7 supports a peripheral bead 12 adapted to engage adjacent peripheral sidewall surfaces of a secured keg body.
Skirt 7 also includes keg body drains 9 for draining liquids accumulating between the skirt 7 and an associated keg body peripheral sidewall. When in use, keg assemblies according to the present invention can accumulate water or other liquids that would remain trapped between the chime and the keg when the assembly is oriented in its normal upright position, but which is permitted to drain away through these drains 9.
Similarly, bottom channel bottom 6 includes channel drains 11 for draining liquids accumulating with channel 6. Notably, keg assemblies according to the present invention are often washed and filled in an inverted orientation, during which time water might otherwise accumulate in the channel unless permitted to drain away through these drains. Note that the keg of the present invention and assemblies comprising same are preferably closed-system kegs.
Referring now
Bottom finish 16 includes tapered side walls 16a extending proud of the periphery of the keg body 15 and terminating in an overhanging abutment 16b that is particularly suited to engage in inter-fitting secured relation with the complementary features of bottom chime 1 as described elsewhere herein.
It is apparent that the bottom finish 16 forms an attachment means that can cooperate with the fixation means (keg bottom finish surround 10 with tines 10b) of the chime, and that according to the present invention, the fixation of the chime to the keg is situated at a distance of the kegs periphery.
Referring now to
More particularly
Under the preferred practice, the invention relates to the use of blow molding processes. The family of blow molding processes are employed in the production of hollow-bodied thermoplastic articles including, in particular, containers such as bottles. The basic process entails the production of pre-shaping the thermoplastic material into an intermediate for that is referred to as a parison or perform. The heated perform is then further shaped by inflating it under gas pressure, within the constraints of a mold cavity that is designed to provide the final shape of the article.
Blow molding technology in the industrial sense, dates from the late 1930s—but its widespread commercial application was triggered in the 1950's with the introduction of high density polyethylene and the availability of non-proprietary production equipment. Since then, a variety of other thermoplastic materials (in particular with the growth of polyesters as compared with the polyolefin's—which have in some cases been associated with “flavor scalping” and concomitant swelling and increase in oxygen permeability in some beverage packaging applications) have come into use, and while high density polyethylene HDPE continues to account for as much as 55% of all blow-molded thermoplastic material, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) accounts for nearly 88% of the balance. Markets for the more expensive but, in some performance respects, superior polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) are also quickly developing, especially in returnable reusable applications.
The family of blow-mold processes includes “extrusion”, “injection” (and its relative “displacement”) and “stretch”, (a.k.a. “biaxial-orientation”) blow molding, as well as a number of hybrids thereof.
Extrusion blow molding is currently the most widely used of these techniques and it consists of extruding, (either intermittently or continuously), a hollow parison in a downward dropping direction. When the parison has grown sufficiently, a predetermined length thereof is embraced within a mold cavity, (e.g. by closing off two complementary mold halves around the predetermined length of the descending parison). Reciprocating screw and dual screw extrusion machines equipped with a secondary accumulator and ram for intermittent parison extrusion, are employed for small container production. For large containers, up to and including drums, however, an accumulator-head extruder with a plunger feed is employed.
Once the parison P, see
Injection blow molding is a multi-stage operation (historically a two step, but now almost universally a three step operation) in which the parison is injection molded into a space defined by a parison mold and a core rod disposed therein, (instead of being extruded), and is then transferred (e.g. on the core rod) into a subsequent blow-molding station. In a “displacement” variant of this type of blow molding, a measured quantity of thermoplastic melt is inserted in a parison mold, and the core rod is then inserted into the mold to forcibly displace the melt into the spaces remaining between the core rod and the molds inner surfaces—thus forming the parison.
Stretch blow molding is particularly suited to applications involving thermoplastics capable of taking up internal linear molecular orientations—such as PET. The parison can be either extrusion molded or injection molded, although the latter is most often used in association with stretch blow molding operations. What specifically characterizes the stretch blow mold process is that the preformed parison is carefully conditioned to just above the thermoplastic's glass transition temperature (i.e. where it is warm enough to permit the parison to be inflated but cool enough to retard post-alignment re-randomization of the molecular structure), and then stretched, oriented, (“partial” and axially or bi-axially) and blown. The strain-induced crystallization in the stretched thermoplastic can, in the case of PET be increased by as much as 20, and even to as high as 28%.
A core rod R is employed as shown in
Finally, there is provided a keg and chime assembly as illustrated in
It is clear that in order to fix a chime 1 according to the invention to a keg, it suffices to position the chime 1 with the opening 10a over the keg bottom finish 16 and to press it down such that the flexible tines snap behind the overhanging abutment 16b.
In the case the keg is a plastic keg, it is preferred to provide an internal overpressure in the keg in order to avoid any deformation thereof during fixation of the chime 1.
For removal of the chime 1, one can tear of the chime 1, although the removal can easily be automated by use of a cylindrical drill, breaking the tines 10b, whereby the chime 1 will fall of the keg as are the tines 10b. Such automated and simple removal of the chime obviously simplifies recycling the keg assemblies.
It is noted that when kegs of different dimensions but with standardized bottom finishes, the assembly of the chime 1 and keg can be automated independent of the keg dimensions. Such automation is particularly useful for recycling as no sorting of the kegs is necessary.
The outermost wall 17 and the wall adjacent thereto are mutually connected at one of their edges by a transversal rim 21, while the innermost wall 20 and the wall 19 adjacent thereto are mutually connected with another transversal rim 22. Both rims 21 and 22 are preferably situated in a same imaginary plane and define a base of the chime 1. This base is preferably provided with zones 23 of increased roughness to increase grip of the base when positioned on ground.
The free edge of the outermost wall 17 is provided with a peripheral bead 12 and drains 9 corresponding to that described with respect to the chime represented in
The free edges of both intermediate walls 18 and 19 are mutually connected by an annular rim 24, while the free edge of the innermost wall 20 extends in a central hub 3 corresponding to that described with respect to the chime represented in
As will be appreciated from the drawings, drains 25 are provided at the transition of the walls 17 to 20 and the corresponding rims 21, 22 and 24 and at the transition of the innermost wall 20 and the central hub 3.
The application of this alternative chime on a keg is identical to that described with respect to the chime represented in
Finally it is remarked that both the keg and the chime can have various forms. The kegs for example can have a circular cross section, a rectangular cross section or a cross section in any other shape.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0702672.7 | Feb 2007 | GB | national |
0724455.1 | Dec 2007 | GB | national |
The Applicants claim priority to International Application No. PCT/EP2008/051685, filed on Feb. 12, 2008, Great Britain Application No. 0724455.1, filed on Dec. 14, 2007, and Great Britain Application No. 0702672.7, filed on Feb. 12, 2007.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2008/051685 | 2/12/2008 | WO | 00 | 8/20/2010 |