1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a plastic container, and more particularly to a plastic container having controlled top load characteristics.
2. Related Art
Container waists are known to provide the necessary rigidity to prevent ovalization of the container sidewalls and/or dome. U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,834 discloses a recessed circumferential ring, known as a “waist,” in the side wall of the container to minimize shape distortion caused by filling with a hot product. This ring prevents a cylindrical container from ovalizing, especially in the tapered shoulder section of the container. However, such conventional container waists may not provide the requisite structure to prevent catastrophic failures of the dome caused by toploading.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention provide a plastic container having a first portion, a second portion, and a waist between the first portion and the second portion. The waist includes a first angled portion coupled to the first portion, a second angled portion coupled to the second portion, and a curved portion connecting the first angled portion to the second angled portion for forming a deformable region for preventing a catastrophic failure of the waist when the plastic container is filled and capped and subjected to an external force.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, to prevent a catastrophic failure of the waist of a plastic container, a deformable region controllably deforms in response to an external force, an internal pressure of the container increases radially, and a net vertical force is produced on a non-vertical surface of the container.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the container, the second portion of the container has a body of the container, a bumper coupled to an upper portion of the body and a base coupled to a bottom portion of the body. In such an embodiment, the second angled portion of the waist extends from said bumper at an angle and the angle reduces when the container is subjected to the external force.
Further objectives and advantages, as well as the structure and function of preferred embodiments will become apparent from a consideration of the description, drawings, and examples.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following, more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements.
Embodiments of the invention are discussed in detail below. In describing embodiments, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected. While specific exemplary embodiments are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations can be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference as if each had been individually incorporated.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, as is sown in
Container 10 may be used to package a wide variety of liquid, viscous or solid products including, for example, juices, other beverages, yogurt, sauces, pudding, lotions, and soaps in liquid or gel form.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, container 10 may be made by conventional blow molding processes including, for example, extrusion blow molding, stretch blow molding and injection blow molding.
Further, container 10 may have a one-piece construction and may be prepared from a monolayer plastic material, such as a polyamide, for example, nylon; a polyolefin such as polyethylene, for example, low density polyethylene (LDPE) or high density polyethylene (HDPE), or polypropylene; a polyester, for example polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphtalate (PEN); or others, which can also include additives to vary the physical or chemical properties of the material. For example, some plastic resins can be modified to improve the oxygen permeability.
Alternatively, the container may be prepared from a multilayer plastic material. In such an embodiment, the layers can be any plastic material, including virgin, recycled and reground material, and can include plastics or other materials with additives to improve physical properties of the container. In addition to the above-mentioned materials, other materials often used in multilayer plastic containers include, for example, ethylvinyl alcohol (EVOH) and tie layers or binders to hold together materials that are subject to delamination when used in adjacent layers. A coating may be applied over the monolayer or multilayer material, for example to introduce oxygen barrier properties. In an exemplary embodiment, the present container may be prepared from PET using a stretch blow molding process.
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, second angled portion 22 may merge with label bumper 25 on the lower portion of a container at an angle θ. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, for container that is not undergoing an external force caused by toploading, for example, angle θ may be between about 90° and 135°, for example, approximately 117°. As an external force from toploading, for example, is applied to a container, angle θ may be reduced.
As is shown in
Further, as is shown in
In an alternate exemplary embodiment of the invention, as is shown in
Conventional containers have exhibited a limited ability to withstand top loading during filling, capping and stacking for transportation. Overcoming these problems is important because it would decrease the likelihood of a container's top or shoulder being crushed, as well as inhibiting ovalization in this area. It is important to be able to stack containers so as to maximize the use of shipping space. Due to the weight of liquid-filled containers, the boxes often need reinforcing such as egg crate dividers to prevent crushing of the containers. The vulnerability of the containers to crushing can be increased by the deformation resulting from the added weight on the stacked containers.
As shown in
In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, this improvement may be achieved through an effective “weakening” of the waist. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention as shown in
In contrast to the present invention, prior containers have generally used a rigid waist portion specifically designed to resist deformation, i.e., be strengthened rather than weakened. Although this strengthening can prevent ovalization, when a topload force is applied, deformation must occur in some other portion of the container. This deformation can result in catastrophic buckling at the weakest point of the container, which may be in the dome sidewall or base, particularly where plastic in these regions is made thin during a molding process. By intentionally weakening the waist to permit a more predictable deflection or folding, the present invention takes advantage of the resulting internal pressure developed within the container to create a force resistant to toploading and catastrophic buckling of the container.
The embodiments illustrated and discussed in this specification are intended only to teach those skilled in the art the best way known to the inventors to make and use the invention. Nothing in this specification should be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention. All examples presented are representative and non-limiting. The above-described embodiments of the invention may be modified or varied, without departing from the invention, as appreciated by those skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the claims and their equivalents, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.