The present disclosure relates to vessels, and in particular to insulated containers, such as cups, for containing hot or cold beverages or food. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an insulated cup formed from polymeric materials.
A vessel in accordance with the present disclosure is established using a blank. The blanks is formed by a blank-forming process that includes the steps of providing a sheet of material and cutting the sheet of material to form the blank and scrap.
In illustrative embodiments, a blank-forming process includes the steps of providing a sheet including an insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material and applying localized pressure to at least one area of the sheet to cause the at least one area to be plastically deformed such that the at least one area takes on a permanent set so that a blank and scrap are established.
In illustrative embodiments, the applying step includes providing a heated die having a temperature of between about 225 degrees Fahrenheit and about 325 degrees Fahrenheit and applying pressure to the blank for a dwell time with the heated die. The dwell time is about 0.1 seconds to about 0.2 seconds.
In illustrative embodiments, the blank-forming process further includes the step of decurling the sheet prior to the applying step. The decurling step includes heating the sheet to a temperature of between about 140 degrees Fahrenheit to about 190 degrees Fahrenheit.
In illustrative embodiments, the insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material includes a base resin having a high melt strength, a polypropylene copolymer, and a cell forming agent. The base resin comprises broadly distributed molecular weight polypropylene and the broadly distributed molecular weight polypropylene is characterized by a molecular weight distribution that is unimodal.
Additional features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.
The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figures in which:
A blank-forming process in accordance with the present disclosure uses a sheet formed from material that is configured to deform plastically in at least one selected region to provide a plastically deformed material segment having a first density and a non-deformed material segment having a second density lower than the first density. The sheet may be formed from insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material that is configured to withstand plastic deformation without fracturing so that a predetermined insulative characteristic of the material is maintained. However, the sheet may be formed from insulative cellular aromatic polymeric material or any other suitable alternative. As an example, a body blank 500 is made from a sheet formed from insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material as shown in
Body blank 500 is made from a sheet comprising insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material that is formed in a sheet forming operation as shown in
Vessels such as insulative cup 10 are examples of articles that may be constructed in an article forming operation as shown in
Localized plastic deformation is provided in accordance with the present disclosure in, for example, a floor region 104 of a body 11 of an insulative cup 10 comprising an insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material as suggested in
A first embodiment of insulative cup 10 having region 104 where localized plastic deformation provides segments of insulative cup 10 that exhibit higher material density than neighboring segments of insulative cup 10 in accordance with the present disclosure is shown in
Insulative cup 10 comprises a body 11 including a sleeve-shaped side wall 18 and a floor 20 coupled to body 11 to define an interior region 14 bound by sleeve-shaped side wall 18 and floor 20 as shown, for example, in
Body 11 is formed from blank 500 which comprises a strip of insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material that is configured (by application of pressure—with or without application of heat) to provide means for enabling localized plastic deformation in at least one selected region (for example, region 104) of body 11 to provide a plastically deformed first material segment having a first density located in a first portion of the selected region of body 11 and a second material segment having a second density lower than the first density located in an adjacent second portion of the selected region of body 11 without fracturing the insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material so that a predetermined insulative characteristic is maintained in body 11.
According to the present disclosure, body 11 includes localized plastic deformation that is enabled by the insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material in a floor-retaining flange 26 of a floor mount 17. Floor mount 17 of body 11 is coupled to a lower end of sleeve-shaped side wall 18 and to a floor 20 to support floor 20 in a stationary position relative to sleeve-shaped side wall 18 to form interior region 14 as suggested in
Floor 20 of insulative cup 10 includes a horizontal platform 21 bounding a portion of interior region 14 and a platform-support member 23 coupled to horizontal platform 21 as shown, for example, in
Platform-support member 23 of floor 20 has an annular shape and is arranged to surround floor-retaining flange 26 and lie in an annular space provided between horizontal platform 21 and connecting web 25 as suggested in
Floor-retaining flange 26 of floor mount 17 is arranged to lie in a stationary position relative to sleeve-shaped side wall 18 and coupled to floor 20 to retain floor 20 in a stationary position relative to sleeve-shaped side wall 18 as suggested in
Insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material comprises, for example, a polypropylene base resin having a high melt strength, one or both of a polypropylene copolymer and homopolymer resin, and one or more cell-forming agents. As an example, cell-forming agents may include a primary nucleation agent, a secondary nucleation agent, and a blowing agent defined by gas means for expanding the resins and to reduce density. In one example, the gas means comprises carbon dioxide. In another example, the base resin comprises broadly distributed molecular weight polypropylene characterized by a distribution that is unimodal and not bimodal. Further details of a suitable material for use as insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/491,327, incorporated herein by reference.
Insulative cup 10 is an assembly comprising the body blank 500 and the floor 20. As an example, floor 20 is mated with bottom portion 24 during an article forming process 206 as suggested in
Referring again to
Side wall 18 is formed using a body blank 500 as suggested in
Fold line 516 shown in
Depressions 518 and fold line 516 are formed by a die that cuts body blank 500 from a strip of insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material, laminated sheet, or a strip of printed-insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material. The die is formed to include punches or protrusions that reduce the thickness of the body blank 500 in particular locations during the cutting process. The cutting and reduction steps could be performed separately, performed simultaneously, or that multiple steps may be used to form the material. For example, in a progressive process, a first punch or protrusion could be used to reduce the thickness a first amount by applying a first pressure load. A second punch or protrusion could then be applied with a second pressure load greater than the first. In the alternative, the first punch or protrusion could be applied at the second pressure load. Any number of punches or protrusions may be applied at varying pressure loads, depending on the application.
As shown in
A generalization of a process 200 for forming an article, such as insulative cup 10, is shown in
Turning now to the preparation stage 208 shown in
After unwinding 216, the sheet material is fed to decurling 218. At decurling 218, the sheet is fed continuously through a heating process where the temperature of the sheet is raised to about 140° F. to about 190° F. or about 150° F. to about 170° F. The heating of the insulative cellular non-aromatic polymeric material sheet tends to release stresses in the skin of the material to improve the flatness of the material as it is processed and also tends to reduce creasing and wrinkling in the sheet.
After decurling 218, the sheet progresses to the fabrication stage 210 which includes a registration control step 220, an embossing step 222, and a die cutting step 224. The registration control step 220 uses a vision system to determine the position of any indicia or labeling that may be printed on the sheet in order to register the indicia with the embossing step 222 and die cutting step 224 so that the indicia is properly placed on the blank 500. At embossing step 222, a die is placed against the sheet and a force is applied to cause the embossing die to form areas of localized deformation such as, for example, the depressions 581, fold line 516, or other similar features. In the illustrative embodiment, the embossing die is heated to a temperature of between about 225° F. and 325° F. with a target of about 275° F. and is placed against the sheet for a 0.1 to 0.2 second dwell time.
In the illustrative embodiment, the sheet progresses to the die cutting step 224 where the blank 500 is separated from the sheet. In the illustrative embodiment, cutting is effective with a clearance of about 0.004 inches to about 0.014 inches. While the illustrative embodiment shows embossing and die cutting as separate processes, the die cutting step 224 and embossing step 222 may be accomplished by a single device in single action. For example, a hydraulic press may be used to apply pressure for the embossing dwell time and then add pressure to cut the blank 500 from the sheet.
Following fabrication stage 210, the collection stage 212 includes the processes of blank accumulating 226 and scrap collecting 228. In blank accumulating step 226, the blanks 500 are accumulated and packaged for movement to the article forming process 206. Sheet material that is not used for blanks 500 is collected and recycled for reuse in sheet forming process 202.
PRIORITY CLAIM This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/737,222, filed Dec. 14, 2012, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61737222 | Dec 2012 | US |