This application is the United States national phase of International Application No. PCT/EP2012/055690 filed Mar. 29, 2012, and claims priority to European Patent Application No. 11160650.5 filed Mar. 31, 2011, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of making a container body, to a container body as such, and to a container comprising such container body.
2. Description of Related Art
Metal containers are used for packaging food and non-food, as well as beverages such as pressurized beverages. Such containers may have a diameter in the range of 40-150 mm, such as 96 mm and 127 mm. With an increase of diameter, the thickness of the metal walls is to be increased as well in order to allow for sufficient axial strength and for sufficient resistance to radial compression. Presently there is a high demand for using smaller thicknesses for making containers in order to cut costs for metals used.
Accordingly, the present invention has for its object to provide a container body for a container, which container body will have a sufficiently high axial strength and in particular a high resistance to radial compression although made from thinner metal materials.
Thereto, the present invention provides a method of making a container body, comprising the steps of:
The present invention is based on the insight, that by providing a container body with a circumferential bead, which is thereafter axially compressed such that the kinked and closed bead will impart the container body with an improved resistance to radial compression. If in addition, the bead is folded towards the wall of the container body, will result in an additional improvement of the resistance to radial compression. Such a container may be produced in an elegant manner, because it is essentially sufficient, that after the application of the circumferential bead into the wall of the container body, that axial compression of the container body will result in the desired kinking and bead closure. Preferably the kinked bead is also closed such extent that it appears that in the container wall there is present a small slit, which may be even no longer be accessible because the wall is touching at this slit. If the bead extends outwardly, then the bead is not or substantially not accessible from the interior of the container. When extending inwardly, then there is no or substantially no access from the outside. The properties of such a container body are improved such, that it is possible to produce such a container with these properties using thinner material, such as instead of material having a thickness of 0.22 mm or 0.25 mm. Use can be made of what is called bulk thicknesses for beverage cans, being a material having a thickness of 0.12 mm or 0.14 mm.
It is noted that the effect of the present invention is obtained irrespective the type of container body or container. Accordingly, the container body may have the form of a sleeve of which both ends are to be provided with an end wall, or the container body may have been provided with an end wall at one body end, such as by drawing and ironing or by any other suitable manner like seaming, soldering and the like. In addition, the container body and ultimate container may have a circumferential shape being circular, oval, rounded, angular like square, triangle, or polygonal, and combinations thereof.
The improvement in resistance to radial compression is highest in the middle section of the container body. Accordingly, it is preferred to provide the container body in its middle section with the bead which is subsequently to be kinked and closed. Still, it is possible to provide the bead or other beads in other sections in the container body, such as in a section where a picture or drawing on the outer surface of the container, is to be separated from imprinted wording, such as a manual or advertisement. Otherwise, it is possible to bring intentionally divisional lines in a picture or in a information printing on the outside, thereby attracting the attention of the consumer to specific areas on the container surface. It will be appreciated that by making one or more of these kinked beads in the container wall, the changed appearance will be improving the aesthetic properties of the container, in particular when the ultimate container has a glossy outer surface (coating).
When the bead is formed in the container body and extends outwardly from the container body, then according to an alternative embodiment, the kinked bead may be radially inwardly compressed to an extent that the kinked and compressed part of the container body lies within the hypothetical confinement of the container body so that the outer surface is flush and thus not comprise an outwardly extending structure.
It is noted that the bead is extending circumferentially of the container but it is not necessary that the bead extends over the entire circumference of the container body, so that the container body comprises alternating beaded and original container body surface.
Due to the axial compression, the bead will kink and thereby deform. Kinking will be initiated, when at a particular side of the bead the so called kinking point is surpassed, where after the material will fail and deform by kinking. This means, that when a symmetrical bead is used kinking may start at both sides independently or concomitantly. If it is desired to control the side of of the bead where kinking will occur and thereby the direction in which the deformation of the bead will proceed, it is preferred that when the bead has a symmetrical shape, in step iii) kinking is initiated at one side of the symmetrical bead.
In the alternative, when using an asymmetrical shaped bead, then the direction of kinking and folding of the kinked bead is controlled when preferably the bead has an asymmetrical shape such that the kinking force is different at both bead sides. Kinking will then occur at the side of the bead where the kinking point is first surpassed.
The kinked bead will project from the inside or outside of the container body wall, dependent on whether the bead was initially formed inwardly or outwardly of the container body wall. If it is desired, that the extent of projection length is to be minimized, then it is preferred that the kinked bead is radially compressed. Still, the improvement in resistance to radial compression is maintained.
Generally the circumferentially extending bead may have the form of a horizontally extending straight bead. However, it is also possible that the bead has the form of a serpentine bead which serpentines along the circumference around the container body in a regular (harmonic) or irregular manner. Accordingly, after kinking, the bead will show a wavy (serpentine) line extending around the circumference. In the alternative, the bead may have a wavy form, of which bead width is not constant but changes with the wavy form so that the width of the bead is increasing and decreasing (regularly or irregularly) to nearly a minimal bead width. The minimal bead width, is required such that during the kinking, at those minimal width parts of the bead will be closed or contact in between the bead walls, thereby forming a partially closed bead. However, at locations around the circumference where the width of the bead is larger than the minimal bead width, the bead will not be closed by the kinking and will show over the circumference closed bead parts and open bead parts. This is for many customers an aesthetically beneficial form. Similarly, the bead may have a so-called ornamental form, which means, that over the circumference the bead will have a structure or form which is repeating over the circumference, but in between the bead walls there is a minimal bead width, so that when the bead is kinked and (partially) closed, the result will be an ornamental presentation, such as having the form of a four leave clover. Obviously, many different ornamental type of structures may be possible within the ambit of the present invention. Relevant is, that an open bead is formed with a particular structure, such that after the kinking and (partially) closing of the bead an ornamentally appreciated form is obtained. Instead of a four leave clover form, it is also possible to provide overlapping or adjacent dimples over the circumference, such that after kinking is formed a chain of dimples which may extend inwardly and/or outwardly thereby providing a particular structure that may be sensitized by feeling from the outside. Obviously several types of beads may be present in one and the same container body within the ambit of the present invention.
The inwardly extending kinked bead may also form a support for an insert piece which will be snapped or connected to the inwardly kinked bead. For instance a metering structure may be formed within the interior of the container. Such a metering structure can be used for metering the amount of food, such as baby food to be taken with a spoon from the container comprising a container body according to the present invention, but also stripping paint and the like is possible.
When the container body is also to be radially expanded during the formation of the container, and the kinked bead is projecting inwardly from the container body wall, then it is preferred that the kinked bead is radially compressed during the radial expansion of the container body.
When the outer surface of the ultimate container body is to be provided with printed information, then the aesthetic properties of the container is highly improved if preferably the step of providing printed information on the outside of a perform for the container body, which printed information is separated from a container body section in which the circumferential bead is to be formed. This printed information (or illustration or picture) forming a so called field of information is extending beyond and thus divided by a bead according to the invention, then it is preferred for maintaining the highly aesthetic properties that preferably the printed information present at both sides of the closed and kinked bead is provided in a flushing (non-interrupted) manner.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a container, comprising a container body provided with at least one circumferential axially closed and kinked bead. As indicated before it may be advantageous that the kinked bead is radially compressed and that such compression may take place during the radial expansion of the container body. Similarly, when the container is to be provided with information printed over and separated by a kinked bead according to the invention, it is preferred that such printing has taken place in a so called flushing manner. Accordingly, the reading of the information is not optically separated by the bead.
In this respect it is noted that the kinked and closed bead is such that the slit in between both sides of the closed bead may be minimal or even not present anymore. In the latter situation, because for instance a coating provided on the outside of the container will ultimately close the slit. Accordingly, there is an appearance of the container of a very minor bead although inwardly there is a larger kinked and folded bead that will support the increase of the resistance to radial compression.
Mentioned and other features of the container body, container and method of making such container body will be further appreciated by a description of several embodiments of the container, of the container body and of the method of making the container, although the description is not intended to limit to any extent the scope of the present invention. In relation to the description reference will be made to drawings, wherein:
Thereafter, the welded and cylindrically formed container body 8 is provided with two circumferential beads 2 extending in between the information fields 3-5. Finally, the container body is subjected to axial compression following the arrows 9. This results in a kinking and axial closing of the kinked bead, thereby forming a circumferential, axially closed and kinked bead 10. It is shown
As stated above the container body may have been produced by different manners and may have been provided with an end wall in advance, such as before the bead formation and/or the axial compression.
Hereafter the kinking and axial closing and folding of the kinked bead will be further described in detail by way of various embodiments according to the invention.
As shown in
Finally,
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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11160650 | Mar 2011 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2012/055690 | 3/29/2012 | WO | 00 | 12/13/2013 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2012/130980 | 10/4/2012 | WO | A |
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20120243963 | Larroche et al. | Sep 2012 | A1 |
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3216660 | Dec 1982 | DE |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20140091002 A1 | Apr 2014 | US |