TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to blow-molded bottles of the type used for containing viscous food products such as peanut butter and the like. In particular, it relates to a bottle having a shape that is particularly conducive to complete evacuation of the product from the bottle by the ultimate consumer when using a typical butter knife or other utensil.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY
Conventional blow-molded bottles made from synthetic resinous materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and used to contain viscous food products such as peanut butter are provided with straight or inclined sidewalls in the body portion of the bottle below the shoulder portion. Typically, the ultimate consumer will use a butter knife with a radiused knife edge to periodically remove servings of the product from the bottle. As the contents are depleted, the consumer usually scrapes along the interior sidewall of the bottle in an effort to remove all of the product, but in many instances it is difficult or virtually impossible to achieve complete product evacuation because of the mismatch between the bottle configuration and the knife. As a consequence, the consumer may become frustrated and even angry, perhaps to such an extent that he rejects the product brand or at least diminishes his enthusiasm for the product.
Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is to provide a blown bottle having a unique configuration that renders the bottle particularly suitable for containing viscous food products, such as peanut butter, and which is especially conducive to complete or nearly complete product evacuation using a conventional butter knife.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a blown bottle constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;
FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view thereof;
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of the bottle of FIGS. 1-3 for the purpose of illustrating the relationship of the various diametrical and curvature features of the bottle to one another;
FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the bottle of FIGS. 1-3 showing exemplary dimensions for various features of the bottle;
FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a typical butter knife used by a consumer in evacuating the contents of the bottle;
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of a bottle constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of a third embodiment of a bottle constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;
FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of a fourth embodiment of a bottle constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and
FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of a fifth embodiment of a bottle constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms. While the drawings illustrate and the specification describes certain preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that such disclosure is by way of example only. There is no intent to limit the principles of the present invention to the particular disclosed embodiments.
Referring initially to FIGS. 1-3, bottle 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention broadly comprises an uppermost, annular seal surface 12 for sealing against a closure cap or the like (not shown), an annular neck finish 14 immediately below seal surface 12 (in the particular disclosed embodiment, neck finish 14 includes external threads 14a for use in securing the closure cap to the bottle), a lowermost base surface 16 spaced below neck finish 14 and forming the bottom of bottle 10, and an annular sidewall 18 extending between neck finish 14 and bottom surface 16. Sidewall 18 includes a radially outwardly disposed, convexly arcuate shoulder portion 20 immediately below neck finish 14, a radially inwardly disposed, concave pinch portion 22 immediately below shoulder portion 20, and a radially outwardly disposed, convex body portion 24 immediately below pinch portion 22 and above bottom surface 16.
Preferably, bottle 10 is blow-molded and is constructed from a suitable synthetic resinous material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In the particular embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, shoulder portion 20 is outwardly convexly arcuate in a continuous manner from the intersection with neck finish 14 to the tangent point with pinch portion 22. Likewise, pinch portion 22 is continuously concavely arcuate from its tangent point with shoulder portion 20 to its tangent point with body portion 24. Body portion 24 is preferably continuously convexly arcuate from its tangent point with pinch point 22 to its intersection with bottom surface 16. However, as will be seen in the discussion of alternative embodiments below, it is also possible to have any one or more of shoulder portion 20, pinch portion 22, and body portion 24 configured so as to be other than continuously arcuate.
In accordance with the present invention, the maximum diameter of shoulder portion 20 is greater than the minimum diameter of pinch portion 22 and less than or equal to the major diameter of body portion 24. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the axial distance B between shoulder portion 20 at its maximum diameter and the pinch portion 22 at its minimum diameter is greater than or equal to 2.5 A, where A is a value determined by the equation:
Distance B is always measured from a point on shoulder portion 20 at its maximum diameter that is farthest from the bottom extremity of neck finish 14 to a point on pinch portion 22 at its minimum diameter that is closest to the bottom extremity of neck finish 14.
The minimum pinch diameter at pinch portion 22 is equal to or greater than the maximum diameter of sealing surface 12 and, preferably, is within the range of 1.00 to 1.10 times the maximum diameter of sealing surface 12. The overall height of bottle 10 from sealing surface 12 to bottom surface 16 is within the range of 1.5 to 2.0 times the maximum diameter of sealing surface 12. Preferably, the overall height is within the range of 1.00 to 1.75 times the major diameter of bottle 10 in body portion 24.
Sidewall 18 has a radius of curvature in body portion 24 that is within the range of 1.70 to 2.38 times the maximum diameter of sealing surface 12. The swing point of the radius of curvature of body portion 24, designated by the numeral 26 in FIG. 4, is located between the level of sealing surface 12 and bottom surface 16. Preferably, swing point 26 is spaced downwardly from the level of sealing surface 12 by a distance that is in the range of 0.60 to 0.70 times the overall height of bottle 10.
FIG. 5 illustrates one set of exemplary dimensions for a bottle that incorporates the relationships as set forth above. In this exemplary product, the overall height of the bottle is 4.9521 inches, the sealing surface diameter is 2.6240 inches, the diameter of shoulder portion 20 is 2.7766 inches, the diameter of pinch portion 22 is 2.7216 inches, and the major diameter in body portion 24 is 3.3043 inches. The radius of curvature of shoulder portion 20 is 0.4739 inches, the radius of curvature of pinch portion 22 is 1.5120 inches, and the radius of curvature of the body portion 24 is 6.000 inches. Swing point 26 is located 3.070 inches down from the sealing surface 12 and 4.3478 inches laterally from the central axis of bottle 10. The value for A is 0.0275 inches, and the value for the axial distance B between shoulder portion 20 at its maximum diameter and pinch portion 22 at its minimum diameter is 0.3293 inches. In bottle 10, B is therefore considerably greater than 2.5 times A. Other dimensional values are also set forth in FIG. 5.
FIG. 6 shows a typical butter knife 28 that a consumer might use in the process of evacuating product from bottle 10. Butter knife 28 has a handle 30 and a blade 32 projecting forwardly from handle 30. Blade 32 has an arcuate knife edge 34 at one radius of curvature, and an arcuate tip 36 at a sharper radius of curvature. Although knives are conventionally provided in a myriad of different shapes and sizes and with different radii of curvature for the knife edge 34, a radius of curvature of 6.00 inches for knife edge 34 appears to be an average value. The bottle 10 of the present invention is well suited for evacuation using a knife having an edge 34 with a radius of curvature of approximately 6.00 inches, although such dimension is not critical to the present invention.
ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 7 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention and comprises a bottle 110 that is identical to the bottle 10, except in the shoulder portion. In bottle 110 shoulder portion 120 has a flat stretch 120a disposed at the maximum diameter of shoulder portion 120. The purpose of illustrating bottle 110 with flat stretch 120a is to make it clear that a bottle in accordance with the present invention does not necessarily have to have a shoulder portion that is continuously arcuate in an axial direction in order to be within the scope of the present invention. It may assume a variety of configurations; however, in every instance it will have a maximum diameter.
It will be seen that in the bottle 110, B is measured from a lower point on the shoulder portion 120 than in bottle 10 in accordance with the criteria that B is always measured from a point on the shoulder portion at its maximum diameter that is farthest from the neck finish to a point on the pinch portion at its minimum diameter that is closest to the neck finish. In this embodiment, of course, the neck finish of bottle 110 is denoted by the numeral 114, and the pinch portion is denoted by numeral 122.
FIG. 8 illustrates a third embodiment of the present invention comprising a bottle 210 wherein the shoulder portion 220 is continuously arcuate, but body portion 224 has a flat stretch 224a at the maximum diameter of body portion 224. Thus, bottle 210 illustrates that a bottle need not have a continuously arcuate body portion in order to fall within the scope of the present invention but may instead have a variety of configurations. In each instance, however, it will have a major diameter.
FIG. 9 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the present invention comprising a bottle 310 wherein shoulder portion 320 and body portion 324 are continuously axially arcuate but pinch portion 322 has a flat stretch 322a. Obviously, even with flat stretch 322a, pinch portion 322 still has a minimum diameter. In the illustrated embodiment, distance B is measured from a higher point on pinch portion 322 than with respect to pinch portions 22, 122, and 222 in the other embodiments because B is always measured from the point on the pinch portion at its minimum diameter that is closest to the neck finish (314).
FIG. 10 illustrates a fifth embodiment of the present invention comprising a bottle 410 having a flat stretch 420a in the shoulder portion 420, a flat stretch 422a in pinch portion 422, and a flat stretch 424a in body portion 424. Regardless, shoulder portion 420 still has a maximum diameter, pinch portion 422 still has a minimum diameter, and body portion 424 still has a major diameter. In this particular embodiment, distance B is measured between a lower point on shoulder portion 420 and a higher point on pinch portion 422 than in some of the previous embodiments in accordance with the requirement that distance B is always measured from a point on the shoulder portion at its maximum diameter that is farthest from the neck finish to a point on the pinch portion at its minimum diameter that is closest to the neck finish (414). Thus, bottle 410 illustrates that a bottle having a flat stretch or other configuration in the shoulder, pinch and body portions can still fall within the scope of the present invention.
Obviously, bottles having various combinations of non-continuously axially arcuate shoulder, pinch and body portions may still fall within the scope of the present invention. Moreover, the inventors hereby state their intent to rely on the Doctrine of Equivalents to determine and assess the reasonably fair scope of their invention as pertains to any apparatus not materially departing from but outside the literal scope of the invention as set out in the following claims.
Patent Application
20090250427
