1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to bottles having handles. More particularly, the present invention is directed to large capacity bottles having handles and being suitable for use in liquid dispensers, such as water coolers.
2. Description of the Related Art
BPA-based polycarbonates have long been used to produce various types of food and beverage containers. However, due to some reports that BPA-based polycarbonates may have negative health effects, an emphasis has recently been placed on producing containers that are “BPA-free.” In particular, the container industry has focused on the production of beverage bottles, where leaching of BPA into the beverage has been a concern due to the prolonged exposure of the beverage to the BPA-based polycarbonate. However, most of the bottle industry's BPA-free focus has been on smaller bottles with a capacity of less than one liter.
Despite the desire to produce beverage bottles that are BPA-free, many materials that could potentially replace BPA-based polycarbonates exhibit deficiencies in one or more important characteristics, such as strength, toughness, chemical resistance, clarity, heat resistance, and/or processability. Currently, there are no BPA-free bottles having a large capacity (e.g., at least 2.5 gallons) that are sufficiently designed to exhibit the desired characteristics (e.g., strength, toughness, chemical resistance, heat resistance, and/or clarity) sought in large capacity bottles.
Accordingly, there is a need for a large capacity bottle that can be formed of a BPA-free material, yet still exhibit the desired characteristics.
One embodiment of this invention is directed to a bottle comprising an outlet at a first end of the bottle, a base at a second end of the bottle, and a main body located between the outlet and base. A central longitudinal axis extends in a longitudinal direction between the first and second ends of the bottle. The main body of the bottle comprises a well panel and an integrally-formed handle. The well panel at least partly defines a recessed well and the handle spans at least a portion of the recessed well. The outer surface of the well panel defines a concave longitudinal panel curve along a longitudinal reference plane, which contains the longitudinal axis and extends through the centroid of the well panel. The outer surface of the well panel defines a convex transverse panel curve along a transverse reference plane that extends through the centroid of the well panel and is oriented such that the longitudinal axis is normal to the transverse reference plane.
Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a substantially BPA-free bottle comprising an outlet at a first end of the bottle, a base at a second end of the bottle, and a main body located between the outlet and base. The bottle defines a central longitudinal axis extending in a longitudinal direction between the first and second ends of the bottle. Furthermore, the main body comprises a well panel and a handle, wherein the well panel at least partly defines a recessed well and the handle spans at least a portion of the recessed well. The bottle comprises a synthetic polymeric material that makes up at least 90 percent of the total weight of the bottle, Additionally, the synthetic polymeric material comprises less than 1 weight percent of bisphenol A polycarbonate. Moreover, the bottle has a liquid holding capacity of at least 2.5 gallons and a weight of at least 600 grams and not more than 900 grams. Finally, the bottle has a drop impact resistance of at least 3 feet as measured by ASTMD 2463-95.
Embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to the following drawing figures, wherein:
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a large bottle having enhanced strength properties such as, for example, drop impact resistance. Such bottles may be suitable for use in liquid dispensers such as water coolers.
The bottle can have a liquid holding capacity of at least 2.5, 4.0, 4.5, or 4.75 gallons and/or not more than 10, 8, 6, or 5.5 gallons. In one embodiment, the bottle can have a liquid holding capacity of about 5 gallons. Furthermore, the bottle can have a weight of at least 600, 650, 700, or 725 grams and/or not more than 900, 850, 800, or 775 grams. To ensure that the bottle can fit into a standard liquid dispenser, the bottle can have a maximum diameter of at least 6, 8, or 10 inches and/or not more than 18, 14, or 12 inches.
The strength of the bottle can be measured in terms of drop impact resistance. In one embodiment, the bottle can have a drop impact resistance of at least 3, 4, or 5 feet as measured by ASTM D 2463-95. The enhanced strength of the bottle can be at least partly derived from its physical design. To further illustrate the physical design of the bottle, various features of the bottle are described in detail below with reference to the drawing figures.
As shown in
The bottle 20 depicted in
As depicted in
As shown in
As depicted in
In addition,
As illustrated in
Certain aspects of the above-described bottle design enable the bottle to be produced from a substantially BPA-free material, while still maintaining the desired strength for the bottle. Thus, in one embodiment, the bottle of the present invention can be made from materials other than BPA-based polycarbonates. As used herein, “substantially BPA-free” refers to an article or material that contains less than 1, 0.5, 0.1, 0.05, or 0.01 weight percent of BPA-based polycarbonate.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the bottle can be at least partly formed from a substantially BRA-free synthetic polymeric material. The synthetic polymeric material can make up at least 50, 75, 90, 95, or 100 percent of the total weight of the bottle. In one embodiment, the bottle of the present invention can be formed by blow molding the synthetic polymeric material into the desired configuration discussed in detail above.
The synthetic polymeric material used to make the bottle can have a flexural modulus of at least 100,000, 150, 000, 200,000, or 215,000 psi and/or not more than 350,000, 300, 000, 250,000, or 230,000 psi as measured by ASTM D790. The synthetic polymeric material can have a flexural yield strength of at least 5,000, 7,000, or 8,500 psi and/or not more than 12,000, 10,000, or 9,500 psi as measured by ASTM D790. The synthetic polymeric material can have a tensile strength at yield of at least 4,000, 5,000, 6,000, 6,500, or 7,250 psi and/or not more than 10,000, 9,000, 8000, or 7,000 psi as measured by ASTM D638. The synthetic polymeric material can have an impact strength of at least 8, 12, 14, or 15 ft-lb/in as measured by ASTM D256. The synthetic polymeric material can have a glass transition temperature of at least 90, 100, or 110 and/or not more than 140, 130, or 120° C. as measured by ASTM E1640-09. The synthetic polymeric material can have a melt viscosity of at least 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 poise and/or not more than 20,000, 15,000, 12,000, 10,000, 8,000, or 6,000 poise as measured at 1 radian per second on a rotary melt rheometer at 290° C. The synthetic polymeric material can have an inherent viscosity of at least 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.65, or 0.7 and/or not more than 1.0, 0.9, 0.8, or 0.75, as determined in 60/40 (wt/wt) phenol/tetrachloroethane at a concentration of 0.5 grams per 100 milliliters at 25° C. The synthetic polymeric material can have a transmittance of at least 75, 85, or 88 percent as measured by ASTM D1003. The synthetic polymeric material can have a haze of less than 5, 3, or 1.5 percent as measured by ASTM D1003.
According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the synthetic polymeric material can be a polyester or copolyester. In one embodiment, the synthetic polymeric material can comprise glycol units derived from 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol and/or 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol. In a more specific example, the synthetic polymeric material can be a polyester having a dicarboxylic acid component and a glycol component, where the dicarboxylic component comprises at least 70, 80, 90, 95, or 100 mole percent of terephthalic acid residues and the glycol component comprises at least 10, 15, 20, or 25 mole percent and/or not more than 80, 60, 40, 35, or 30 mole percent of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol and at least 20, 40, 60, 65, or 70 mole percent and/or not more than 90, 85, 80, or 75 mole percent of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutanediol.
In one embodiment, the synthetic polymeric material can comprise TRITAN WX500 or TRITAN WX510, available from Eastman Chemical Company of Kingsport, Tenn.
The inventors hereby state their intent to rely on the Doctrine of Equivalents to determine and assess the reasonably fair scope of the present invention as it pertains to any apparatus not materially departing from but outside the literal scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.