Patent Application
20220000292
The object of the invention is a glass bottle with an inserted hard bottom and a three-dimensional decorative element in the bottle interior comprising a glass hollow body in the shape of a bottle, a bottom insert and a three-dimensional decorative element in the interior of the glass bottle. The object of the invention furthermore comprises a manufacturing method for a bottle with an inserted hard bottom.
Bottles are a popular storage vessel, especially for liquids. They are used for beverages, such as water, milk, wine, juice or alcoholic beverages, as well as for oils or for cosmetic or medicinal liquids. Glass is a material which is commonly used to produce bottles, since it is food-safe and inert, can be easily shaped and is comparatively inexpensive. Glass is also a popular material for use in bottles from an environmental viewpoint.
For advertising purposes, but also for optical reasons, glass bottles are often decorated. This is done, for example, by means of labels, embossing on the bottle, engraving or the attachment of objects to the bottle.
A glass bottle with a decorative object arranged inside the bottle is known from DE 10 2006 01 1 282 A1. To insert the object, the bottle bottom is separated from the body of the bottle and a new functional bottom made of glass, to which the decorative object is attached, is inserted. Thus, a closed glass bottle with a glass bottom is re-created. Accordingly, only glass objects that are fused with the glass bottom can be inserted into the bottle.
This invention is aimed at providing a glass bottle which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages, into which any decorative elements can be inserted and which permits the storage of foodstuffs. Furthermore, this invention is aimed at providing a manufacturing method for such a glass bottle.
The aim is achieved according to the invention by a glass bottle as per patent claim 1 and a manufacturing method as per patent claim 11.
Other embodiments are the subject of the subclaims or described below.
The glass bottle according to the invention has an inserted hard bottom, the bottom insert, and a three-dimensional decorative element in the bottle interior, i.e., the space inside the bottle. The glass bottle according to the invention features:
The glass hollow body has an opening, in the bottom, with the opening being centered/concentric, for example, in the case of a round bottle bottom. In one embodiment, the opening is a circular opening. The bottom insert corresponds in size and shape to the opening in the bottom of the glass hollow body and closes the opening in the glass hollow body through friction locking and/or material locking. The friction-locking closure is preferably achieved with a clamp or screw connection or flare joint. The material-locking closure is preferably achieved with an adhesive connection. A combination of a material-locking adhesive connection and a friction-locking clamping connection, e.g., with a sealing ring or flare joint, should preferably be used. In both, an additional seal is preferably used to ensure food-grade separation between the contents of the bottle and the adhesive joint and to prevent unnecessary stress on the adhesive joint from the liquid in the bottle, such as alcohols or other hydrocarbons. The bottom insert is preferably made of metal or plastic, or a combination of these materials, rather than glass. The bottom insert is used to hold a three-dimensional decorative element, which can be firmly or variably attached to the bottom insert. The mounting fixture, which is directed into the glass bottle, is firmly attached to the bottom insert. A mounting device such as a threaded piece or threaded bore can be used. The three-dimensional decorative element is attached to the mounting fixture and located in the bottle interior.
According to the invention, “underneath” refers to the outside of the bottle bottom, i.e., the area of a bottle located on a surface. “Outside” denotes the outside of the bottle, while inside denotes the inside of the bottle, i.e., the bottle interior.
The bottom insert is preferably in the shape of a flat plate or disc. In this case, it may be made of solid material or, like a lid, it may partially have a negative shape, i.e., a cavity. The bottom insert preferably has a circumferential outer edge which is located in the lower region of the bottom insert and preferably forms a plane with the outside of the bottom insert. In the case of a round bottom insert, the circumferential outer edge is radially circumferential. If the bottom insert has a partial cavity, the cavity is also preferably located on the lower, outward-facing side of the bottom insert on the side opposite the mounting fixture. When installed, the bottom insert may be in a plane with the glass bottom rim or may be shifted up or down so that the glass bottle is either on the glass bottom rim, the glass bottom rim and the bottom insert only, or on the bottom insert only. In one embodiment, the bottom insert has a step-shaped recess on the circumferential outer edge, with the inner step, which is closer to the center of the bottle, being higher than the outer step, and the inner step forms a stop surface for the underside of the glass hollow body. An element such as a hexagon that facilitates the assembly of the three-dimensional decorative element can be fitted to the bottom outside, for example in the cavity.
In one embodiment, the glass bottle according to the invention has at least one sealing element, preferably a radial sealing element, for sealing the bottom insert. In addition to sealing, the sealing element serves to isolate the bottle contents from the adhesive joint so as not to chemically stress the adhesive joint. The sealing element may also serve to decouple the radial guide from vibrations. It ensures that only attenuated relative movements of the insert are possible. The sealing element is, for example, a seal such as an O-ring, preferably made of EPDM or other materials permissible for foodstuffs. In this embodiment, the bottom insert preferably has at least one radial groove in which the sealant is at least partially located.
The three-dimensional decorative element is preferably an artifact, decorative element, souvenir, or figurine. The three-dimensional decorative element is ideally a component of a machine or vehicle, such as a rocker arm or camshaft, or a piece of jewelry, toy or comic figurine. The three-dimensional decorative element is preferably made of a food-grade material, ideally stainless steel, aluminum, brass, precious metals, precious or non-precious stones, or plastic. The three-dimensional decorative element may optionally have a food-grade or passivating coating. The three-dimensional decorative element, like the bottom insert, is preferably not made of glass. The three-dimensional decorative element is preferably one-piece, i.e., it consists of one piece. Alternatively, the three-dimensional decorative element consists of several components, i.e., it has a multi-part structure.
The mounting fixture is preferably attached to the bottom insert firmly, i.e., non-detachably, or variably, i.e., detachably. In one embodiment, the bottom element, the mounting fixture and the three-dimensional decorative element are one-piece, i.e., consist of one piece. This is a variant of the firm, non-detachable attachment. In one embodiment, the three-dimensional decorative element is firmly attached to the mounting fixture. The decorative element and the mounting fixture may also be made in one piece, this is also as understood. The mounting fixture and the decorative element are then formed in one piece.
The connection between the bottom insert and the holding mounting fixture may also be sealed with a sealant, e.g., an O-ring or a liquid sealant such as Loctite®.
A glass bottle is a vessel made of glass with a narrow bottle opening and a base of the neck, a bottle wall or walls and a bottle bottom. The glass bottle according to the invention may have any bottle shape, preferably with a round or rectangular bottom and a cylindrical, conical or cuboid main body terminating in the bottle neck and bottle opening. The glass hollow body is preferably made of transparent, ideally colorless glass, also known as white glass. The glass bottle may be decorated in the customary manner, for example printed, engraved or labeled, although the decoration is not part of the bottle according to the invention.
The glass bottom has an outer region adjacent the walls of the glass bottle and a central region extending around the center of the glass bottom surface. The outer rim of the glass bottle bottom is formed by the glass hollow body, referred to below as the glass bottom rim. The bottom insert is inserted into the opening so that the entire bottle bottom consists of a combination of the bottom insert and the glass bottom rim of the glass hollow body. The glass bottom rim forms the outer area of the bottle bottom, which encloses the bottom insert when installed. The bottom insert forms the middle portion of the bottle bottom, although no portion of the bottom insert is in the area of the glass bottle walls or on the outside of the glass bottle walls. In this embodiment, the glass bottom rim preferably includes a recess on its underside. As defined, the underside of the glass bottom rim is on the outside of the bottle bottom. The recess forms a stop for the bottom insert. This stop is preferably used as an adhesive gap if the bottom insert is bonded to the glass hollow body with adhesive. In an alternative embodiment, the bottom insert forms the entire glass bottle bottom. The opening is then formed by the walls of the glass hollow body rising to the bottle neck.
The glass bottom rim preferably has a step-shaped recess on the underside which forms a stop surface for the bottom insert. The step-shaped recess is located at the edge of the glass bottom rim facing the center of the bottle. In one embodiment, the height of the step corresponds to the height of the circumferential outer edge of the bottom insert. The glass bottle according to the invention has a glass bottom rim facing the center of the bottle on the glass hollow body, and the step-shaped recess is preferably arranged on the underside of the glass bottom rim. The outer edge of the glass bottle bottom and the bottom insert can, for example, form a flat surface and thereby a flat bottle bottom on which the glass bottle stands. The stop surface serves as an area which a surface of the bottom insert strikes, with the two surfaces coming to rest on one another. In one embodiment, an adhesive is applied to the stop surface so that the stop surface simultaneously forms the adhesive surface. In another embodiment, the step-shaped recess has a 2nd step so that the higher step forms the stop surface and the lower step forms the adhesive surface.
The step-shaped recess may be formed as a rectangular step. At its edges on the underside, which face the outside of the bottle, the opening preferably also has a chamfer with partially beveled sides.
The bottom insert is ideally axially attached to the bottom edge of the glass hollow body in a sealing manner using an adhesive connection.
In another embodiment, the glass bottle according to the invention additionally has at least one radial sealant that is attached to the bottom insert, preferably a sealing ring, e.g., an O-ring, a liquid seal or another food-grade sealant. The sealing ring is preferably made of EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene rubber). Alternatively, the glass bottle according to the invention additionally has at least one axial sealant, which is less favorable according to the invention.
The bottom insert is preferably made of stainless steel, aluminum, brass, bronze, plastic or a tin-plated metal plate or a combination of these materials. The bottom insert is preferably not made of glass.
The bottle according to the invention may have, for example, any shape which is customary for liquor, wine, juice, oil or beer bottles. The glass bottle according to the invention is preferably a beverage bottle.
The glass bottle according to the invention preferably has a size and volume which is similar to a usual beverage bottle. The glass bottle according to the invention preferably has a volume of 0.5 l, 0.75 l, 1 l, 1.5 l, 2 l, but magnum bottles with 5 l, 6 l, 10 l or 20 l are also possible. The glass bottle according to the invention preferably has a volume of 0.25 l to 20 l, ideally 0.5 l to 20 l or 0.5 to 10 l. The glass bottle according to the invention is suitable for use in machine filling and for industrial scale filling, as well as industrial scale manufacturing.
The glass bottle according to the invention has a common bottle closure. The closure is, for example, a threaded closure, a snap closure, a crown cap, a swing stopper, a stopper, for example, a glass stopper or a cork.
In a preferred embodiment, the bottom insert is bonded to the glass hollow body using a UV adhesive or MS polymer adhesive. A UV adhesive is an adhesive that cures by UV radiation, such as solvent-free, one-component acrylic adhesives that cure by free-radical polymerization, or cationically crosslinking epoxy adhesives. MS polymer adhesives are silane-modified polymer adhesives. The adhesive connection prevents the bottom insert from slipping out of the bottle. In this embodiment, the sealing of the glass bottle according to the invention is preferably achieved with one or more O-rings. The O-rings are slipped over the outer edge of the bottom insert and, as applicable, come to lie in a groove between the edge of the opening in the bottle bottom and the outer edge of the bottom insert. The advantage in this embodiment is that the glass bottle according to the invention consists of only a few components, namely the glass hollow body, the bottom insert with attached mounting fixture and the decorative element, as well as optionally at least one O-ring for sealing. Sealing with a sealing ring means that only an attenuated relative movement of the bottom insert is possible from then on.
In one embodiment, a receptacle for a form-fitting tool, preferably a hexagon, is provided in a bulge on the underside of the bottom insert. The receptacle for a form-fitting tool serves to better guide a tool, such as an open-end wrench or hexagon socket wrench, and enables better screwing between the bottom insert and the mounting fixture. The mounting fixture in this case is, for example, a screw thread on the underside of the three-dimensional decorative element and a threaded receiving opening inside the mounting fixture for the form-fitting tool.
Surprisingly, in the bottle according to the invention, it is possible to combine glass with another material and still obtain a sealed bottle. The bottle is sealed liquid-tight even though the bottom is made of a separate component. Once the bottom has been sealed, the glass bottle according to the invention can be filled using a normal filling system.
The bottom insert of the bottle according to the invention has a dual function. Unlike conventional bottles, the bottom insert does not serve only as a seal. Rather, the bottom insert also holds the three-dimensional decorative element inserted in the bottle. The bottom insert thus has the dual function of sealing and holding.
This invention is furthermore aimed at providing a manufacturing method for a glass bottle with a bottom insert, with the glass bottle comprising a glass hollow body with the shape of a bottle, a bottom insert, and a three-dimensional decorative element in the interior of the glass bottle, and the glass hollow body has an opening, preferably a circular opening, in the bottom, with the opening being preferably centered/concentric in the case of a round bottle bottom,
The method according to the invention comprises the following steps:
In one embodiment, a UV adhesive or MS polymer adhesive is applied to the adhesive surface on the glass hollow body or the bottom insert before the bottom insert is put in place. If a UV adhesive is used, the adhesive surface is additionally irradiated after the bottom insert is inserted into the glass bottle.
Providing a bottom insert preferably comprises the following steps:
In an alternative embodiment, providing a bottom insert preferably comprises the following steps:
In one embodiment, the bottom insert additionally has a sealant that is attached to the bottom insert in a further step, preferably after the bottom insert with mounting fixture and three-dimensional decorative element has been provided.
The method according to the invention is preferably used for manufacturing the bottle according to the invention.
The invention is explained in more detail using the figures. It shows
glass bottle 1
glass hollow body 2
bottom insert 3
three-dimensional decorative element 4
interior 5
opening 6
mounting fixture 7
bottle bottom 8
glass bottom rim 9
outer circumferential edge 10
sealing ring 11
step-shaped recess 12
stop surface 13
cavity 14
hexagon 15
groove 16
bore 17
bottom insert upper side 18
radial adhesive surface 19
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18203550.1 | Oct 2018 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2019/079597 | 10/30/2019 | WO | 00 |
