The present invention pertains to injection-molded hollow products.
The present invention provides a process of reducing or eliminating an indentation in a label included on an exterior surface of a sidewall of an injected molded hollow product, wherein a portion of an interior surface of the product sidewall that is opposite the label includes at least one ridge, the process comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a mold cavity including at least one flow channel that directs flow of the injected molding material in the mold cavity to form a hollow product having a sidewall, wherein an interior surface of the product sidewall includes at least one ridge shaped by the flow channel in the mold cavity;
(b) inserting a label into the mold cavity so that the label will be included on the exterior surface of the sidewall of the injection-molded product; and
(c) injecting molding material into the mold cavity to form the product;
wherein step (a) comprises the step of:
(d) shaping the flow channel so that the a cross-sectional dimension of the ridge normal to the direction of flow of the molding material in the flow channel generally decreases in the direction of flow.
Additional features of the present invention are described with reference to the detailed description.
Referring to
The product 10 is shaped by a mold cavity. The mold cavity includes flow channels that direct the flow of injected molding material in the mold cavity from a gate that is located adjacent the position in the mold cavity at which the peak 16 of the nozzle 14 is formed.
Ridges, such as the ridge 17, are shaped by the flow channels and formed by the injected molding material on the interior surface of the sidewall 12.
The cross-sectional dimension of the ridge 17 normal to the direction of flow of molding material that is injected in the flow channel generally decreases in the direction of flow from the gate. Preferably, the preferred dimension is height or area. In some embodiments, the cross-sectional dimension gradually decreases in the direction of flow from the gate.
An example of a gradual decrease of this cross-sectional dimension of the ridge 17 is shown in
Referring to
The product 20 is shaped by a mold cavity. The mold cavity includes flow channels that direct the flow of injected molding material in the mold cavity from a gate that is located adjacent the position in the mold cavity at which the peak 26 of the nozzle 24 is formed. In some embodiments, the flow channels do not extend to the gate.
Ridges, such as the ridge 28, are shaped by the flow channels and formed on the interior surface of the sidewall 22.
The cross-sectional dimension of the ridge 28 normal to the direction of flow of molding material that is injected in the flow channel generally decreases in the direction of flow from the gate. Preferably, the preferred dimension is height or area. In some embodiments, the cross-sectional dimension gradually decreases in the direction of flow from the gate.
An example of a gradual decrease of this cross-sectional dimension of the ridge 28 is shown in
The cross-sectional dimensions and/or the rate of decrease may be different in other embodiments.
The benefits specifically stated herein do not necessarily apply to every conceivable embodiment of the present invention. Further, such stated benefits of the present invention are only examples and should not be construed as the only benefits of the present invention.
While the above disclosure contains many specificities that may or may not be common to all of the embodiments described herein, these specificities are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the claimed invention, but rather as examples of the preferred embodiments described herein. For example, the scope of the method claims should not be construed to cover only methods having the steps occur in the sequence recited herein. Other variations are possible and the scope of the present invention should be determined not by the embodiments described herein but rather by the claims and their legal equivalents. The claims require no implicit limitations. Each claim is to be construed explicitly as stated, or by its legal equivalent.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2011/052186 | 9/19/2011 | WO | 00 | 2/26/2013 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2012/040116 | 3/29/2012 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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2799435 | Abplanalp | Jul 1957 | A |
3944124 | Hexel | Mar 1976 | A |
4140828 | Copping | Feb 1979 | A |
4534391 | Ventimiglia et al. | Aug 1985 | A |
5132071 | Sorensen | Jul 1992 | A |
6003720 | Morimoto et al. | Dec 1999 | A |
6599460 | Brown et al. | Jul 2003 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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1757525 | Feb 2007 | EP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20130171382 A1 | Jul 2013 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61384644 | Sep 2010 | US |