AU702334B3 - Bottle - Google Patents

Description

P:\WPDOCS\DYS\SPECIE\DOflLE.2 5/1199 -1-

BOTTLE

This invention relates to a container which is preferably in the form of a plastics bottle suitable for holding contents including liquids such as for example, drinking water, carbonated beverages, juice, and other beverages.

Containers formed from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) for beverages have in recent years increased substantially in their use. Container of this type such as PET bottles for beverages currently in use generally have a round or square cross-sectional structure or a square cross-sectional structure. PET bottles are light, strong and useful but when the contents are emptied disposal is a problem because they are relatively bulky. For this reason, when the PET bottle is disposed of as rubbish, they occupy a large volume.

Furthermore, because of their bulky nature transportation of the bottles is also inefficient.

A further problem is when PET bottles of this type are used by hikers and walkers because 15 when the contents are emptied, they are a very bulky item to take home and as a result often throw them away as litter while on the walk.

0000 o0 An object of the invention is to alleviate one or more of the above problems.

According to the present invention there is provided a bottle including a body portion and a neck portion projecting from the body portion, the neck portion including a outlet therein through which contents within the bottle can be discharged, the body portion including opposed front and rear walls, opposed side walls interconnecting the front and rear walls a Stop wall and a bottom wall, said front and rear walls being concave and convex shaped respectively when viewed in a cross-sectional plan view, said botte being formed of deformable plastics material so that the concave front wall can be manually deformed so as 0 ;to be capable of abutting against the rear wall of the bottle in a collapsed condition thereto after the contents have been emptied therefrom and thereafter the side walls can be manually deformed so as to be bent over the back wall.

P:\WPDOCS\DYS\SPECIE\BOTTLE.2 5/1/99 -2- Preferably, the bottle is formed from polyethylene terephthalate.

Preferably, the convex and concave curvatures of the front and rear walls are generally the same so that the walls are generally parallel to one another.

Preferably, the convex and concave shaped front and rear walls extend between the bottom and top wall.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and in those drawings Figure 1 is a partially sectioned side elevation of a bottle according to the present invention; 15 0* 9 9 Figure 2 is an underside view of the bottle shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is cross sectional view taken along the line A-A in Figure 1; 0 :0 00 a .00 0 Figure 4 is a similar cross-sectional view to that of Figure 3 showing the bottle in the process of being crushed; and Figure 5 is a similar cross-sectional view to that of Figure 3 and 4 showing the bottle in a crushed condition.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a bottle having a front wall 1, a back wall 2, left wall 3, right wall 4, lower wall 5, upper wall 6, a mouth 7, and ribbing 8 on the sides of the bottle to increase its strength.

*0 S*0 0 090 P:\WPDOCS\DYS\SPECIE\BOflLE.2 -12/5198 -3- This bottle shown is formed of PET material and the width dimension of the front wall 1 and the back wall 2 is greater than the depth dimension of the left and right side walls 3 and 4. The bottle has a generally flat cross-sectional structure; that is, the front wall 1 and back wall 2 are not curved in a vertical direction (straight) but are curved horizontally generally in the same direction. "Curving horizontally in the same direction" means as indicated, the concave surface of the front wall (the outside surface in the example drawings) and the concave surface of the back wall (the inside surface in the example drawing) are curving in the same direction.

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Because of the outside walls of this PET bottle as described above have this shape, when the contents is emptied, the centre of the front wall 1 can be manually pushed inwards with the thumbs of both hands as indicated by arrow P in the Figure 3. As Figure 4 shows, the bottle can easily be deformed and furthermore, as per arrows Q in Figure 4, it can be easily crushed in the manner shown in Figure 5. In this way, the PET bottle can be easily crushed and the volume reduced so that when thrown away as rubbish, the volume necessary to deposit the rubbish in is reduced. As such transportation of the bottle as rubbish is more efficient. Also when a person is hiking, because the bottle can be crushed easily, it can readily easily be returned to the rucksack and taken home.

Finally, it is to be understood that the inventive concept in any of its aspects can be incorporated in many different constructions so that the generality of the preceding description is not to be superseded by the particularity of the attached drawings. Various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be incorporated into the various constructions and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention.

P:\WPDOCS\DYS\SPECIE\BO0ULE.2 5/1199 -4- THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS 1. A bottle including a body portion and a neck portion projecting from the body portion, the neck portion including a outlet therein through which contents within the bottle can be discharged, the body portion including opposed front and rear walls, opposed side walls interconnecting the front and rear walls a top wall and a bottom wall, said front and rear walls being concave and convex shaped respectively when viewed in a cross-sectional plan view, said botte being formed of deformable plastics material so that the concave front wall can be manually deformed so as to be capable of abutting against the rear wall of the bottle in a collapsed condition thereto after the contents have been emptied therefrom and thereafter the side walls can be manually deformed so as to be bent over the back wall.

2. A bottle according to claim 1 wherein the convex and concave curvatures of the front and rear walls are generally the same so that the walls are generally parallel to one another.

.S 3. A bottle according to any preceding claim wherein the width of the front and rear walls is greater than the width of the side walls.

Dated this 5th day of January, 1999 ING GROUP LLC By Their Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON CAVE o o