Various embodiments of the invention will be understood from the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention is directed to plastic containers that can be fitted to form multi-container packages. One embodiment disclosed herein provides a container with three or more sidewalls, wherein at least one sidewall contains a deformable vacuum panel and at least one sidewall is free of the deformable vacuum panel. In one embodiment, this container is useful in packaging, such as in a multi-pack, to hide the vacuum panels from the consumer while displaying the side free of the vacuum panel. Additionally, having a side without a vacuum panel allows a manufacturer to design the side for a desired use, e.g., as a relatively smooth surface for affixing a label, or as a ribbed surface for gripping the container sidewall, etc. In some instances, the multi-pack may occupy a smaller space than a similar number of individual containers, permitting greater storage efficiency.
A “hot-fill container” is well known in the art as a plastic container that is adapted to be filled with a product (e.g., food or beverage), which has been heated to an elevated temperature to allow adequate sterilization. In one embodiment, the hot-fill container can withstand product temperatures of at least 160° F., such as a temperature ranging from 160° F. to 200° F., and often positive internal pressures of at least 2 psi, e.g. pressures ranging from 2 to 5 psi. In another embodiment, the product is filled at a temperature ranging from 176° F. to 185° F.
After being hot-filled, the container is sealed with the contents still at or near the filling temperature. The subsequent cooling of the product and the head space gases cause volume contractions that can induce a partial internal vacuum within the container. This partial vacuum in turn creates a net inward force on the container sidewall which may cause the latter to buckle or collapse.
Certain plastic containers, such as biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (PET) beverage bottles have been designed to receive a hot-fill product with a minimum of thermal shrinkage and distortion. An exemplary bottle is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,046 entitled “Hot Fill Container,” to Collette et al. and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The Collette et al. container is provided with a plurality of recessed vacuum panels in the middle panel section of the container; these vacuum panels move inwardly during cooling of the product to reduce the magnitude of the vacuum generated in the filled and capped container and prevent any large uncontrolled shape distortion. Longitudinal (vertical) recessed ribs may be provided in the post areas and raised wall portions of the panels to increase the longitudinal stiffness of the panel section.
The design of the vacuum panels may vary as appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. Exemplary designs are disclosed in: 1) U.S. Design Pat. 315,869, “Container Body For Liquids Or The Like,” to Collette; 2) U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,889, “Modular Mold,” to Collette et al.; 3) U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,475, “Reinforced and Paneled Hot Fill Container,” to Krishnakumar et al.; 4) U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,289, “Panel Design For A Hot-Fillable Container,” 1993 to Krishnakumar et al.; 5) U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,834, “Squeezable Container Resistant To Denting,” to Krishnakumar et al.; 6) U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,105, “Hot-Fillable Plastic Container with End Grip,” to Krishnakumar; and 7) U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,503, “Hot-Fillable Plastic Container with Tall and Slender Panel Section,” to Krishnakumar, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Many prior art containers having vacuum panels possess a rounded, cylindrical shape. The present invention, in contrast, provides a container having three or more sidewalls, i.e., featuring at least three side faces. For example, a cylindrical sidewall presents only one face. It can be readily appreciated that the container can have more than three sidewalls, e.g., four, five, six, etc. side faces. The container can have multiple sidewalls all of substantially the same type, such as in the four-sided container of
In one embodiment, the sidewall containing at least one vacuum panel is substantially planar. A “substantially flat or planar sidewall,” such as sidewall 14, containing a deformable vacuum panel would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art as having a generally planar face while not being completely flat since the vacuum panel offers deformations in the form of, e.g., recesses and ribs. Accordingly, in one embodiment, a substantially planar or flat sidewall is determined by a top plan view of the sidewall, such as the view of
In
The container can be made from any material used for forming plastic containers, such as polyesters (e.g., phthalic acid polyesters), polyolefins, polycarbonates, nitrites, and copolymers and blends thereof. Exemplary materials include polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN).
Other components can be formed in the substantially planar sidewalls, or in the curved or rounded sidewalls, such as recesses or beads to provide gripping portions, structural support (e.g., adding stiffness and/or rigidity), and/or aesthetic features and designs such as handles.
In one embodiment, the hot-fill container described herein can be packaged as a multi-container package comprising at least two hot-fill containers, where each container comprises at least three sidewalls as disclosed herein, i.e., at least one sidewall contains a deformable vacuum panel, and at least one sidewall is free of the vacuum panel. It is desirable that the outside of the package displays only the sidewalls free of the vacuum panels so that the vacuum panels are not visible to the consumer. This can be achieved, in one embodiment, by contacting each sidewall containing the vacuum panel of one container with a sidewall of at least one other container so as to conceal each vacuum panel of each container in the package.
A “multi-container package” or “multi-pack” as used herein refers to a package formed by joining at least two containers together, where at least a portion of the outer wall of the multi-pack is formed from at least a portion of the individual container sidewalls. The multi-packs described herein are distinguished from other packages of multiple containers where the packaging comprises a box or bag that holds multiple containers; there, the outside of the package is not formed from the walls of the individual containers but rather the walls of the box or bag itself. The containers of the multi-packs disclosed herein can adhere to each other by any means known in the art, e.g., plastic ties, adhesives (e.g., tape, glue), wrap-around plastic liner or labels that encircle the periphery of the multi-pack (e.g., shrink wrap liners or labels), a tray, or any other means that expose the walls of the individual containers, and combinations thereof.
In one embodiment, the collective footprint of the containers (the surface area covered by all of the containers) of the multi-pack is a substantially geometric figure, e.g., a triangle, a quadrilateral (square, rectangle, diamond, trapezoid), a regular polygon (pentagon, hexagon, etc.), a circle, an ellipse, etc. The geometric shape may be interrupted at certain points but the overall footprint is generally that of a geometric figure.
Depending on the dimensions of sidewalls 12 and 14, the multi-pack can comprise three containers 10, such as multi-pack 60 of
The container 40 of
Alternatively, additional containers 40 can be added to the multi-pack along sidewalls 44a and 44b to form multi-packs of three or more containers.
The containers disclosed herein do not necessarily require a curved sidewall.
The multi-packs described thus far combine containers having a substantially flat base and exposed mouth on top. It can be readily appreciated, however, that the multi-packs can be formed from other container types where the container sits on the mouth (fitted with a closure) to expose the base on top. The container shapes and resulting multi-packs described herein would equally apply to such containers.
In one embodiment, the multi-packs are identical in configuration, i.e., each container has the same dimensions. Each container can have the same or different colors, and can be capped with the same or different closures. Each container may be individually labeled or the entire multi-pack can have a single label that is applied to the exposed container sidewalls. The multi-packs can be prepared by joining the individual containers prior to or after filling the containers with the hot product.
A number of modifications and variations will readily suggest themselves to persons of ordinary skill in the art in view of the foregoing description. Directional words such as top, bottom, upper, lower, radial, circumferential, lateral, longitudinal and the like are employed by way of description and not limitation. The invention is intended to embrace all modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims.