Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D11/00—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material
  • B65D11/02—Containers having bodies formed by interconnecting or uniting two or more rigid, or substantially rigid, components made wholly or mainly of plastics material of curved cross-section
  • B65D11/04—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures designed for pouring contents
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C49/00—Blow-moulding, i.e. blowing a preform or parison to a desired shape within a mould; Apparatus therefor
  • B29C49/42—Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations
  • B29C49/48—Moulds
  • B29C49/4802—Moulds with means for locally compressing part(s) of the parison in the main blowing cavity
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D1/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers having bodies formed in one piece, e.g. by casting metallic material, by moulding plastics, by blowing vitreous material, by throwing ceramic material, by moulding pulped fibrous material or by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
  • B65D1/02—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents
  • B65D1/0223—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents characterised by shape
  • B65D1/023—Neck construction
  • B65D1/0238—Integral frangible closures
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C49/00—Blow-moulding, i.e. blowing a preform or parison to a desired shape within a mould; Apparatus therefor
  • B29C49/42—Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations
  • B29C49/48—Moulds
  • B29C49/4802—Moulds with means for locally compressing part(s) of the parison in the main blowing cavity
  • B29C2049/4807—Moulds with means for locally compressing part(s) of the parison in the main blowing cavity by movable mould parts in the mould halves
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C49/00—Blow-moulding, i.e. blowing a preform or parison to a desired shape within a mould; Apparatus therefor
  • B29C49/02—Combined blow-moulding and manufacture of the preform or the parison
  • B29C49/06905—Using combined techniques for making the preform
  • B29C49/0691—Using combined techniques for making the preform using sheet like material, e.g. sheet blow-moulding from joined sheets
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C49/00—Blow-moulding, i.e. blowing a preform or parison to a desired shape within a mould; Apparatus therefor
  • B29C49/42—Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations
  • B29C49/48—Moulds
  • B29C49/4802—Moulds with means for locally compressing part(s) of the parison in the main blowing cavity
  • B29C49/4812—Moulds with means for locally compressing part(s) of the parison in the main blowing cavity and welding opposite wall parts of the parisons or preforms to each other

Definitions

• the invention concerns a container, a method and apparatus for producing the container, and a method of cleaning the container.
• thermoformable and heat-weldable material particularly for liquids
• a pair of halves having opposing concavities joined together at a peripheral weld, the halves defining a top portion of the container that may be opened by cutting and which has a part with a smaller cross-section constituting a neck for pouring.
• Such containers are not easy to handle when pouring as they tend to cause the product to be discharged in irregular surges rather than in a more desirable continuous flow, this frequently causing uncontrolled spillage of the liquid and, consequently, undesirable wastage of the product.
• Mould halves at the heating, forming and welding station are formed with moulding channels whereby forming fluid introduced between the heated webs forms conduits between the sheets.
• the top portions of the containers include centrally arranged pouring spouts which are co-axial with the intermediate portions of the containers.
• a wing formed integrally with the peripheral welding flange of the container.
• a closure in the form of a plug has a sealing surface to seal against the internal surface of the spout. Those surfaces may take the shape of truncated cones with oval bases.
• the plug may be connected to the wing by means of a cord wound in a spiral around the plug with the container in its sealed condition.
• the plug is integral with the container and fixed to the container; the cord is obtained by punching or incision in a continuous or broken spiral.
• the closure may take the form of a cap.
• One of the aims of the present invention is to provide a disposable container which enables the product contained in it to be poured out in a continuous and regular stream, making the pouring easier, whilst maintaining discharge cross-sections of limited dimensions, and whilst enabling easy closing of the pouring opening.
• a further aim of the invention is to provide a container, particularly for liquids, in which hygiene is considerably improved when conserving the product after the container has been opened, preventing contamination of the product that may compromise its condition or organoleptic qualities.
• a further aim is that of inventing a container which is stiffer and which is easier to handle.
• a container comprising a top portion, a base portion, and an annular intermediate portion interconnecting said top portion and said base portion, said top portion including a pouring neck at least a major part of which is disposed to one side of a longitudinal axis of said intermediate portion, and mounting means at least a major part of which is disposed to the opposite side of said axis and which mounts a closure for closing said neck.
• the volume available at the top of the container is used more efficiently, enabling a closure to be included in the container as sold, particularly in the case of a relatively narrow container, or enabling a relatively wide pouring neck to be provided even when a closure is arranged beside it.
• Another advantage is that if a sheet material tie extends from the neck to the closure, the tie can be made relatively longer and thus be more readily flexed, while retaining its tensile strength.
• a container including a wall formed with a pear-shaped opening, and a closure insertable into said opening for closing the same, said closure including an annular sealing surface of a pear shape to close said opening sealingly.
• the pear shape of the opening allows liquid to flow from the container through the larger-width, lower, part of the opening during pouring, while air enters the container through the narrower-width, upper, part of the opening; moreover, the pear shape of the sealing surface of the closure enables it to be introduced easily and reliably into the opening, through the mutual wedge action of the pear shapes.
• This is particularly advantageous where the pear-shaped opening has been formed by consumers cutting through a pear-section neck of the container, since such cutting by consumers inevitably produces a variety of opening formations.
• a container moulded from plastics sheet material comprised of a top portion, a base portion and an annular intermediate portion interconnecting said top portion and said base portion, said intermediate portion being comprised of stiffening corrugations obliquely inclined to the horizontal.
• apparatus for moulding a container from plastics sheet material comprising a mould having a recess having a first wall portion, a second wall portion and a third wall portion intermediate said first wall portion and said second wall portion, to shape a top portion, a base portion and an intermediate portion, respectively, of said container, said third wall portion being comprised of corrugations obliquely inclined to a plane tangential to those parts of said second wall portion further from said third wall portion.
• the base portion of the container can advantageously include approximately vertical corrugations, preferably branching from at least one of the corrugations of the intermediate portion, in order to facilitate flow of the plastics sheet material towards the very bottom of the container, which flow could otherwise be seriously obstructed by the corrugations in the third wall portion of the recess during moulding.
• This feature is especially advantageous for containers of relatively large capacity.
• the corrugations in the intermediate portions preferably become shallower as they approach a separation plane of the mould, in order to facilitate separation of the mould dies from the container following moulding.
• a container moulded from plastics sheet material comprised of a top portion, a base portion and an annular intermediate portion interconnecting said top portion and said base portion, said intermediate portion including protrusions in the form of islands distributed over said intermediate portion and serving to stiffen said intermediate portion.
• a method of producing a container comprising heating a plastics web to a temperature at which said web is formable, moulding a larger part of said plastics web to form a body portion for said container and a smaller part of said web to form a closure for said container, said moulding of said larger part being performed within larger internal surface portions of a mould and the moulding of said smaller part being performed within smaller internal surface portions of said mould at least one of which is displaced relatively to substantially all of the other internal surface portions of the mould during the moulding of said closure.
• apparatus for use in producing a container comprising heating and moulding means for heating a plastics web to a temperature at which said web is formable and moulding a larger part of said plastics web to form a body portion for said container and a smaller part of said web to form a closure for said container, said heating and moulding means comprising a mould having larger internal surface portions for moulding said larger part and smaller internal surface portions for moulding said smaller part, first driving means which serves to displace at least one of said larger internal surface portions, and second driving means which serves to displace at least one of said smaller surface portions relatively to substantially all of the other internal surface portions of the mould.
• the container is of thermoformable and heat weldable material and comprises a pair of halves having opposing concavities, joined together at a peripheral weld, the halves defining a top portion of the container that may be opened by cutting and which has a part with a smaller cross-section constituting a neck for pouring, the neck having a longitudinal axis positioned close to one of the sides of the container, the transverse cross-section of the neck being in the shape of a pear, with the apex preferably pointing towards the opposite side of the container.
• An advantage of this embodiment lies in the regularity of the outflow of the liquid achieved with the special pear-shaped section of the neck, made even more advantageous by its positioning that enables the outflow of the liquid from an area of the container close to one of its sides whilst at the same time allowing air into the container.
• associated with the neck of the container there is a closure for the outlet opening, said closure forming an integral part of the container obtained during the forming process of the container and positioned in its top portion on the side opposite to that containing the neck.
• the container has, on the surfaces of the halves that make up the body of the container, a formation of stiffening and gripping elements made up of imprints or protuberances distributed over the greater part of the extent of the said surfaces.
• the stiffness of the container is thereby increased, so making it easier to hold.
• the closure is attached to the peripheral weld by means of connecting elements: a first connecting element, which may be easily broken, being positioned on an upwardly directed part of the peripheral weld of the top portion of the container, a second, flexible, connecting element being positioned on the neck.
• closure and the said neck are provided with insertion and sealing devices, co-operating with each other for the snap-insertion and retaining of the closure.
• the insertion devices consist of at least a pair of appendages, substantially radial, that may be engaged in a corresponding peripheral groove.
• Figure 1 is a lateral elevation of a blow-moulded container for liquid
• Figure 2 is the top view of Figure 1 ;
• Figure 3 is a partial and enlarged vertical section in the forming plane of the area of the neck of the container;
• Figure 4 is section IV-IV of Figure 3;
• Figure 5 is a section as in Figure 3, but showing a variant of the cap for closing the container;
• Figure 6 is section VI-VI of Figure 5;
• Figure 7 is a view of the container as in Figure 1 , but showing a version with stiffening corrugations provided in its lateral walls;
• Figure 8 is a side view of Figure 7;
• Figure 9 is a top view of Figure 7;
• Figure 10 is a section through a mould for use in producing the container of Figures 7-9;
• Figure 11 is section XI-XI of Figure 7;
• Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing a variation;
• Figure 13 is fragmentary lateral elevation showing a modification of the container of Figures 1 and 2;
• Figure 14 is a diagrammatic section through a mould employed in manufacturing a container according to Figure 12; and Figure 15 is a fragmentary section through the mould and container of Figure 14, but in a plane parallel to the section plane of Figure 14 and showing the mould closed.
• the container 1 is obtained by blow- moulding, for example, in a forming apparatus as described in International Patent Application Publication WO94/08852, from a pair of sheets of thermoformable and heat-weldable material, connected to each other in a welding plane by means of a peripheral weld 2, or even from a single folded sheet, provided with an analogous peripheral weld.
• the peripheral weld 2 joins together the halves 3 constituting the body of the container 1 : the halves 3 are preferably provided with a formation of stiffening and gripping elements 4 made up of recesses in the outside surface of each half and/or even bulges on that surface. These recesses and/or bulges naturally result in corresponding bulges and/or recesses in the inside surface.
• the distribution of the said elements 4 over each said surface is preferably symmetrical with respect to a vertical centreline of each lateral surface of the container in order to achieve a uniform stiffness.
• the halves 3 can be provided with formations of stiffening and gripping elements 4 which are either the same on both sides or different from one side to another, so that, respectively, the orientation in which the user holds the container is either indifferent or preferential.
• the distribution of the elements 4 is preferably determined as a function of the position of the fingers when holding the container.
• the formation of stiffening and gripping elements 4, the same for both halves 3, comprises a pair of sets of three circular recesses 5, between which is positioned an elongate recess 6 with above it another circular recess 7 and an upper elongate recess 8, arched upwards: the recess 6 can be as large as is required to apply a label to it.
• a pair of stiffening elements 5a for example, having a curved outline, set partly in the lateral wall and partly in the base.
• the top portion of the container has a neck 9, for pouring, having an axis A offset towards one of the sides of the container 1 and, on the opposite side from the neck, a closure 10 for the opening 11 ( Figure 3) of the container 1 after it has been opened.
• the axis A can be inclined with respect to the adjacent side of the container 1 , preferably upwardly outwards from it.
• the closure 10 is obtained during the blow-moulding of the container
• the weld 2 extends continuously around the container 1 and its top stretch 14 is formed after the rest of the weld 2, in particular after the product to be poured has been placed in the container 1.
• the top stretch 14 is removed, for example by cutting or tearing, from the weld 2; the closure 10 is then detached at its first connecting element 12 and the body 15, advantageously tapered, of the said closure is subsequently inserted in the opening 11 of the container 1.
• the plan view profile of the body 15 of the closure 10 has a shape corresponding to that of the cross-section of the opening 11 of the container 1 , the said section preferably being in the shape of a pear to improve outflow of the liquid whilst, at the same time, allowing air to enter into the container 1.
• first connecting element 12 has to be made so that it is much weaker than the second connecting element 13 so that the element 12 may be broken easily, for example by tearing;
• the second connecting element 13, on the other hand, has to be relatively strong and flexible to enable the closure 10 to be turned when inserting it into the opening 11.
• the closure 10 may be provided with retaining means for retaining the body 15 in the opening 11 , the retaining means comprising a pair of opposing projections 16 receivable in a groove 17 correspondingly provided in the internal surface 18 of the neck 9.
• the retaining means can consist of a groove 19 in the body 15, to co-operate with a pair of corresponding protuberances 20 extending from the inside surface 18.
• the depth of the groove 17 or 19 and the height of the corresponding protuberances 16 or 20 with which it co-operates is such as to permit the correct positioning of the body 15 in the neck 9 and to resist the elastic force of the second connecting element 13 connecting the closure 10 to the weld 2.
• a formation of transverse grooves 21 is set into the external surfaces of the halves 3 and thereby provides stiffening corrugations in the intermediate portions of the halves 3: each groove having a central stretch 22, substantially horizontal, such as slightly inclined upwards towards the neck 9, the said central stretch extending into a pair of straight or slightly curved end stretches 23, inclined away from each other with respect to the said central stretch 22: the end stretches 23, as they approach the weld 2, beginning to turn oppositely as indicated at 24.
• the grooves 21 are symmetrical about the plane of the weld 2. It is to be noted that the formation obtained with a number of superimposed grooves 21 stiffens the container 1 against radial stresses, i.e.
• the central stretches 22 of the grooves 21 can be interrupted by a central, flat area 25 where printing or a label can be applied.
• the pair of transverse grooves 21 closest to the base of the container 1 in each half 3 is advantageously joined with a pair of substantially vertical grooves 26 to further stiffen the base.
• the mould 30 shown in Figure 10 comprises two major parts 31 serving to shape the top portion and the intermediate portion of the container 1 and two minor parts 32 serving to shape the base portion of the container 1 , the two parts 31 being displaceable towards and away from each other as indicated by the arrows Z in Figure 10, and the parts 32 being displaceable not only towards and away from each other as indicated by the arrows Y, but also towards and away from the parts 31 as indicated by the arrows W.
• the walls of the mould recess 33 are formed with ribs 34 for forming the grooves 21 (and 26).
• the ribs 34 extend obliquely relative to a planeT tangential to those surface portions of the recess 33 furthest from the parts 31. As the ribs 34 approach the separation plane P of the mould 30 they shallow gradually so that the grooves 22 (and 26) also shallow gradually as they approach the weld plane, so discouraging retention of the moulded container in the mould 30 after its shape-stabilization.
• the body 15 instead of the body 15 being throughout of a downwardly tapering form, it can be of a form more like a barrel in cross-section whereby, on press-fitting of the body 15 into the neck 9, the outer end of the neck tends to engage behind the body 15 to retain the body in the neck.
• This version dispenses with the retaining means in the forms of the protuberances 16 and 20 and the grooves 17 and 19 of Figures 1 to 6.
• Figure 13 shows that the connecting element 13 in particular can be relatively long in order to make manipulation of the closure 10 much easier.
• Figure 15 in particular illustrates an advantageous manner of producing the body 15 of Figure 12, wherein the body is relatively stiff through being a double thickness of the sheet material.
• the plunger 38 has a head of a shape corresponding to that of the body 15 to be produced and, upon supply of compressed air via a duct 39 to the cylinder 37 is forced into a correspondingly shaped recess 40 in the opposite part 31.
• Air exhaust vents 41 extend from the recess 40.
• a duct 45 extends through the wall of the cylinder 37 to a chamber 46 containing the head of the plunger and formed in the active face of the part 31 containing the device 36,37.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Blow-Moulding Or Thermoforming Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
• Containers Having Bodies Formed In One Piece (AREA)
• Details Of Rigid Or Semi-Rigid Containers (AREA)
• Closures For Containers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11385674

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (11)

Cited By (3)

Families Citing this family (11)

Family Cites Families (16)

• 1994
  • 1994-07-05 IT ITMO940100A patent/IT1269387B/it active IP Right Grant
• 1995
  • 1995-07-05 CA CA002193818A patent/CA2193818A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-07-05 CN CN95193965.3A patent/CN1151719A/zh active Pending
  • 1995-07-05 JP JP8503767A patent/JPH10506075A/ja active Pending
  • 1995-07-05 EP EP95922688A patent/EP0768974A2/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1995-07-05 WO PCT/IB1995/000538 patent/WO1996001212A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1995-07-05 BR BR9508210-7A patent/BR9508210A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1995-07-05 MX MX9700159A patent/MX9700159A/es unknown
  • 1995-07-05 AU AU27504/95A patent/AU2750495A/en not_active Abandoned
• 1996
  • 1996-12-20 FI FI965155A patent/FI965155A/fi unknown
• 1997
  • 1997-01-03 NO NO970028A patent/NO970028L/no unknown

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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