CA1052965A - Blow molded, oriented plastic bottle and method for making same - Google Patents

Blow molded, oriented plastic bottle and method for making same

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Publication number
CA1052965A
CA1052965A CA300,542A CA300542A CA1052965A CA 1052965 A CA1052965 A CA 1052965A CA 300542 A CA300542 A CA 300542A CA 1052965 A CA1052965 A CA 1052965A
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Prior art keywords
parison
weight
parts
polymeric material
orientation
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CA300,542A
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French (fr)
Inventor
Charles E. Mcchesney
Robert J. Mchenry
James A. Wachtel
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Primerica Inc
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American Can Co
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Priority claimed from US05/319,380 external-priority patent/US3934743A/en
Application filed by American Can Co filed Critical American Can Co
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Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present invention provides a method for making a self-supporting biaxially oriented container having a substan-tially uniform high degree of orientation radially of the side-wall of the container comprising the steps of forming a parison having a tubular sidewall with inner and outer surfaces from a glassy, essentially non-crystalline thermoplastic polymeric material which is capable of being biaxially oriented during blow molding, temperature conditioning the parison to establish between the inner and outer surfaces of the sidewall of the parison outwardly radially decreasing temperatures within the orientation temperature range of the polymeric material, the decreasing temperatures being related to the radially outwardly decreasing degree of blow molding induced stretch so as to achieve substantial radial uniformity of orientation and blow molding the temperature conditioned parison to stretch the poly-meric material of the parison to the container shape and to biaxially orient the material.

Description

lO5Z965 The present invention relates to the manufacture of containers having sidewalls of oriented thermoplastic polymeric materials. More particularly, the invention relates to plastic bottles having in their sidewall a high level of circumferential orientation as measured by circumferential orientation release stress (ORS), as hereinafter defined, and to the manufacture of such bottles from closed-end tubes or parisons by blow-molding.
This application is a divisional application of co-pending application No. 185,069, filed November 5, 1973.
~olecular orientation of thermoplastic polymeric materials is not new. Molecularly oriented film and sheet are widely used and have improved physical properites, including superior impact resistance, increased resistance-to creep, in-creased stiffness, increased resistance to stress rupture and reduced stress crazing, when compared to their unoriented coun-terparts. Examples of such materials are given in U.S. Patent 3,141,912.
For a given polymer and end use application, there is an optimum level of orientation, which may be below the maximum 20 possible orientation level. For example, impact strength may reach a maximum value as the amount of orientation is increased, with addition orientation resulting in a decreased impact strength.
Another example of a property which may deteriorate with attempts to achieve high levels of orientation is optical transparency;
certain polymers "stress whiten", giving them a milky appearance.
The amount of orientation in an article formed from a polymeric material is affected by the conditions under which the material is oriented. For example, in a tubular article higher levels of circumferential orientation result from increasing the amount of stretch in either the circumferential or axial direc-tion, by increasing the stretching rate, and by decreasing the stretching temperature.

- 1052g65 p It has been proposed to form plastic bottles by blow-molding a parison, or closed-end tube. While such proposals have met with some success, it has not generally been economically practicable to form bottles for carbonated beverages by this technique. The reason has been that if the bottle is oriented, by stretching, sufficiently to develop the creep resistance re-quired of containers for carbonated beverages (assuming a wall thickness thin enough to be economic), stress whitening has been observed to occur, making the container unsalable. Impact strength is also found to be undesirably low.
Further analysis of this phenomenon has brought the realization that stress whitening and reduced impact strength which develop primarily at the inner portion of the bottle wall, is due to the fact that the inside of the parison is stretched to a much higher extent, proportionally, than the outside. It ~
has been found that the degree of orientation is not constant ~ -; - ~ ,. -across the bottle wall thickness, but on the contrary varies , . .
substantially across the wall, and at or near the inner portion of the wall is sufficiently high to give rise to the stress j 20 whitening and low impact strength.
In accordance with the invention of copending appli-cation No. 185,069, these deficiencies are overcome in a self-..
supporting container, such as a bottle, having a tubular side-wall made of an oriented, polymeric, thermoplastic material~ and having inner, middle and outer portions, and characterized in -.
that in an axial zone of said sidewall, the percentage variation of the circumferential orientation release stress (ORS), as :
defined below, or the percentage variation of the circumferential orientation as indicated by the ORS, from the inner portion to the outer portion is less than about 4% per mil of wall thickness, tho percentage variation being determined by multiplying 100 by a fraction in ~,
- 2 -which the numerator is the difference between ORS at the inner and outer portions and the denominator is the average ORS of the inner, middle and outer portions.
Containers according to the invention are also charac- !
terized in most instances in that the maximum circumferential orientation release stress, or the orientation as indicated by the ORS, in an axial zone of the sidewall along each line defined by the intersection of a plane normal to the axis of the tubular sidewall and a plane including said axis is less than about twice 10 the minimum ORS, or orientation as indicated by the ORS, along that line. Further, the ORS, or orientation as indicated by the ORS, in the inner portion of the wall, along such a line is usually from about 7~ to about 125 percent of the ORS, or orientation . as indicated by the ORS, in the middle portion.
According to the present invention there is provided a method for making a self-supporting biaxially oriented con-tainer having a substantially uniform high degree of orientation ..
radially of the sidewall of the container comprising the steps of forming a parison having a tubular sidewall with inner and outer surfaces from a glassy, essentially non-crystalline thermo-plastic polymeric material which is capable of being biaxially oriented during blow molding, temperature conditioning the pari- ..
son to establish between the inner and outer surfaces of the sidewall of the parison outwardly radially decreasing tempera-tures within the orientation temperature range of the polymeric.
material, the decreasing temperatures being related to the radially outwardly decreasing degree of blow molding induced stretch so as to achieve substantial radial uniformity of orien- . .
tation and blow molding the temperature conditioned parison to stretch the polymeric material of the parison to the container 3 shape and to biaxially orient the material.
Thus in accordance with the invention, an improvement ~ _ 3 _ lOSZ965 ,-is provided in methods for stretching containers which methods involve stretching one surface of the container to a proportion;
ately greater extent than a second surface spaced apart from the first. The improvement comprises heat-treating the container to establish a temperature gradient between the surfaces such .
that the first surface is hotter than the second, both tempera-tures being within the molecular orientation range of the poly-meric material involved, and stretching the container while main-taining that gradient.
Specifically, in connection with forming a container from a closed-end tube, the invention envisions heat-treating : :
an axial zone of the tube to establish a temperature gradient : -: across the thickness of the sidewall in the zone such that the inner surface is brought to a higher temperature than the outer surface, blow-molding the tube to form the container and main-taining the temperature of the inner surface greater than the :~
temperature of the outer surface during at least a portion of ~ :
said molding. ~-~
Preferably, in accordance with the invention, and ~ `

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. 3Q

.
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- 3a --- lOSZ965 particularly when the container is a bottle, the temperature gradient in the zone in Farenheit degrees is in the range from about 25([SR(i)/SR(o)]
to about 150 ( 1SR(i)/SR(o) ]
- and preferably is 75-125(ISR(i)/SR(o)] - 1), and most preferably is lOO(ISR(i)/SR(o)] - 1). ¦ -In the above formulae, SR(i) is the ratio of the inner diameter of the bottle in said zone to the inner diameter of that portion of the tube from which the zone was formed and SR(o) is the ratio of the outer diameter of the bottle in said zone to the corresponding outer diameter of the tube.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
; Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of an injection molded parison to be heat treated prior to blow-molding into a bottle.
Figure 2 is a partial central vertical sectional view - and partial elevational view of a bottle blow-molded from the `
parison of Figure 1. ;
Figure 3 is a central, vertical, sectional view of an ~ electrical, contact heating apparatus for establishing a temper-` ature gradient in the parison of Figure 1 prior to blow-molding.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention is preferably utilized in the production of a molecularly oriented bottle by blow-molding from a thermoplastic parison. It has been found that the temperature gradient to be established in the parison in order to produce a more uniformly oriented blown bottle is affected by the relative amounts of stretch of the inner and outer ~urfaces of thc parison ,.

. ,.

in the blowing operation, by the stretching rate and by the average temperature of thermoplastic material during the blowing operation. The temperature gradient is greater for a larger relative amount of stretch, a lower stretching rate and a higher blowing temperature.
The amount of stretch of the inner surface of the parison during the process of forming the parison into a blow-molded article may be expressed in terms of an "inside stretch ratio", SR(i), which is the ratio of the inside diameter of the -blown article at any given axial location to the inside diameter of that portion of the parison which was formed into the article -.. :
at the axial location where the article's diameter was measured.
The amount of stretch of the outer surface of the parison may -similarly be expressed in terms of an "outside stretch ratio", j , .
SR(o~. In the case of a non-circular cross-sectional shape of the parison or the blown-article, the effective diameters may -be used to obtain the respective stretch ratios. --The effect of the relative amounts of stretch of the inner and outer surfaces of the parison is illustrated by refer-ence to the parison 11 shown in Figùre 1 and the bottle 13 blown therefrom as shown in Figure 2. When parison 11 is blow-molded into bottle 13, the inside of the parison is stretched, for example, from a diameter of 0.525 inch at point A, 3.56 inches ` from the top of tho parison, to become the inside of the bottle '~ wall at point A', 4.7 inches from the top of the bottle, at a i diameter of 2.1~4 inches, with a resultant SR(i) of 4.17. At the 8ame time, the outside of parison 11 is stretched at point B
from a diameter of 0.787 inch to a diameter of 2.24 inches at point B' on the outside of bottle 13, with a resultant SR(o) of 2.85. The extent to which SR(i) is greater than SR(o) is a measure of the relative amounts of stretch of the inner and outer surfaces of the parison.

- ~ _ 5 _ ~-- .. . . . .
.

lOSZ9~iS
If, during the blowing operation, there is a uniform temperature across the thickness of the sidewall of the parison, the inside portion of the blown article's sidewall will be sub- :
stantially more highly oriented than the outside because, relative to the outside portion, the inside is stretched to a greater extent.
The parison is heat treated in accordance with the ; present invention to compensate for the relative difference in ; amounts of stretch of the parison side~lall from the inner to the outer portions thereof.. Since less orientation occurs, for a given amount of stretch, at a higher stretching temperature, a :
temperature gradient is imparted to the parison sidewall parison to the blowing operation, with the temperature of the inner surface being greater than that of the outer surface.
It has been found that, in order to produce a blown `.
;: bottle in which the maximum circumferential ORS at any axial :
location in the bottle sidewall is less than about twice the minimum ORS at that location, the temperature gradient across ~:
the parison sidewall in Farenheit degrees at the corresponding axial location in the parison, should be from about:
25(1SR(i)/SR(o)]
to about:
150([SR(i)/SR(o)] - 1) A preferred range of the temperature gradient in Farenheit degrees is from about:
75([SR(i)/SR(o)] - 1) ' to about:
125([SR(i)/SR(o)] - l) For the parison and bottle of the type illustrated in Figures l and 2, the most preferred temperature gradient, in Farenheit degrees, in an axial zone of the parison i8 determined according to the formula: 100([SR(i)/SR(o)]) - l).

.. ~. 6 It has been found that when the maximum circumferen-tial O~S, in an axial zone of the bottle siaewall and along each line defined by the intersection of a plane normal to the axis of the bottle and a plane including said axis, is less than about twice the minimum circumferential ORS along said line, the cir-cumferential orientation of the polymeric material from which the bottle is formed is substantially more uniform, throughout `;
the thickness of the side~4all, than the orientation o~tained in a bottle that is blown from a parison in which there is an ~-essentially isothermal temperature profile in the sidewall thereof. Preferably, for greater uniformity of orientation, the maximum ORS is less than about 1.5 times as large as the minimum ORS, and, in the most preferred case, the ORS is substantially uniform across the bottle's sidewall. The improved, more uniform, orientation distribution in the bottle's sidewall enables the optimum circumferential orientation to be achieved over a substantial portion of the sidewall'~ thickness.
The orientation release stress (ORS~ of a polymeric -material has been found to be a useful measure of the relative degree of molecular orientation of one portion of the thickness of an article's sidewall with respect to orientation of another portion.
For purposes of this specification, the orientation release stress is determined according to an adaption of ASTM
Test D 1504. In this method, bottles are first conditioned at :
72 degrees F. ~+ 5 degrees F.) at 50% relative humidity (+ 1~%) for about 6 hours. The bottle specimens are prepared as follows:
The tops and bottoms of a given bottle are removed by cutting with a band saw. Annular rings of approximately 1/8 inch width and approximately 20 to 30 mils thick in Zone 4 ~see Figure 2) are cutt off with a lathe in seauence from the result-ing cylindrical section of the bottle wall. After the edges of ~, .. .

:, lOS2965 each annulus are filed to remove flash material, the maximum and minimumthicknesesof each are measured in the region to be analyzed.
To obtain "inside" specimens which will provide informa-tion of the a~erage circumferential direction orientation near the inner surface of the bottle wall, an annulus is slipped over a mandrel mounted on a lathe and material is removed from the - outside surface in 2.5 mil steps, thereby resulting in an annulus thickness of about 10 mils. The lathe is operated at a lineal speed of 250 feet per minute at the cutting tool. The last few mils of material are always removed on a milling machine accord- -ing to the procedure described below. ` ~-d ~o obtain "outside" specimens from which the average ~ circumferential direction orientation near the outer surface of ::
the bottle wall can be determined, an annulus is slipped into a coilet mounted on the lathe and the material is removed from the inside surface in 2.5 mil steps, to give an annulus thickness of about 10 mils. An additional few mils of material are then removed on a milling machine.
To obtain "middle" specimens which provide a measure ~ of the average circumferential direction orientation midway ~ -`~ through the thickness of the bottle sidewall, material is first removed from the inside of an annulus as set forth above to give ;
~ a thickness of 15 to 20 mils. An almost equal amount of material `~ is then removed from the outside of the annulus as set forth ~` above to give `'middle" specimens approximately 10 mils thick.
`~ The final step in sample preparation is milling of the i annuli to assure reasonably uniform cross-sections. This is - accomplished by cutting each of these annuli so that the result-ing three 8trips can be mounted via double-faced masking tape ``' onto an aluminum block previously locked onto the table of the milling machine and ~faced off" to assure parallel positioning ,. :

` lOS2965 of the samples to be milled. The milling operation is performed on the specimens by removing only about 1 mil of material per pass until 1 mil from the re~uired 6 to 7 mil thickness, followed by 1/3 mil steps so that the desired thickness is achieved. The slowest machine cross head speed, 9/16 inch per ., minute, is used in conjunction with a two-fluted end mill 3/4 inch in diameter, rotating at 1150 r.p.m. The three specimens are then stripped from the mounting plate, cut into minimum one inch lengths and the maximum and minimum thickness measured with a micrometer. These specimens are now ready for the actual measurement of ORS according to ASTM Test D 1504. In the modified procedure employed herein, samples are immersed in a 133 degree C. silicone oil bath.
The present invention is particularly applicable to the production of plastic bottles containing fluids under a high internal pressure, such as, for example, beer, carbonated beverages and aerosol container products. Such bottles reguire that the polymeric material from which the bottle is formed have a low permeability to gases such as carbon dioxide.
.
Suitable polymers for these purposes are prepared ~y polymerizing a major portion of an olefinically unsaturated nitrile, such as acrylonitrile, and a minor portlon of an ~
~- ester of an olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acid, such as ethyl acrylate, in the presence of a rubber containing a major proportion of a conjugaeed diene monomer, such as butadiene, and a minor proporti~on of olefinically unsaturated nitrile, such as acrylonitrile.
The conjugated ~iene monomers u~eful in the preparation of such polymers include 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, chloroprene, bromoprene, cyanoprene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-ethyl-1,3-?
butadiene, 2,3-diethyl-1,3-butadiene and the iike.
The olefinically unsaturated nitriles u~eful in the - _ 9 _ : -., .
w~ .
.. .. , : - : . .
.. , 1: ' , :

lO5Z965 preparation of such polymers are the alpha,beta-olefinically unsaturated mononitriles having the structure R
wherein R is hydrogen, a lower alkyl group having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, or a halogen. Such compounds include acrylonitrile alpha-chloroacrylonitrile, alpha-fluoroacrylonitrile, metha-crylonitrile, ethacrylonitrile, and the like.
: 10 The esters of olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acid useful in the preparation of such polymers are preferably the lower alkyl esters of alpha,beta-olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acids and more preferred are the esters having the structure ~- 2 2 ., ', Rl `~
wherein Rl is hydrogen, an alkyl group having from 1 to 4 carbon ~ ~
atoms, or a nalogen and R2 is an alkyl group having fro~ 1 to 6 -carbon atoms. Compounds of this type include methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, the propyl acrylates, the butyl acrylates, the pentyl acrylates, and the hex~l acrylates, methyl metha-~ crylate, lethyl methacrylate, the propyl methacrylates, thebutyl methacrylates, the pentyl methacrylates, and the hexyl methacrylates, methyl alphachloroacrylate, ethyl alpha-chloro-acrylate and the like. ---The more preferred polymers are derived from (A) about 60 to 90 parts by weight of an alpha,beta-olefinically unsatur-ated mononitrile having the structure CH2-C(-Rl)-CN where -Rl is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, and the lower alkyl groups, (B) about 40 to 10 parts by weight of an ester of an olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acid having the structure CH2=C(-Rl)-C(O)-O-R2 where -Rl is as defined .
. . ~ , ~ . I . . . .

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lOSZ965 above and -R2 is an alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, (A) and (B) together comprising 100 parts by weight, polymerized in the presence of (C) about 1 to 20 parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 60 to 80 per cent by weight of moieties derived from a conjugated diene monomer and about 40 to 20 per cent by weight of moieties derived from a mononitrile having said CH2=C(-Rl)-CN structure.
The most preferred polymers are derived from about 60 to 90 parts by weight of acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile ~ 10 and about 40 to 10 parts by weight of an ester selected from the ; group consisting of methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate, polymerized in the presence of about 1 to 20 ' additional parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 60 to 80 per cent by weight butadiene or isoprene moieties and about 40 to 20 per cent by weight of acrylonitrile or metha-crylonitrile moieties.
More specifically, the most preferred polymers are ~`
derived from about ?3 to 77 parts by weight acrylonitrile and 27 to 23 parts by weight methyl acrylate, polymerized in the presence of 8 to 10 additional parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 70 per cent by weight butadiene moieties and about 30 per cent ~y weight acrylonitrile moieties.
Further examples of such polymers may be found in U.S.
Patent 3,426,102.
Preferred embodiments of the instant invention are described below, in the following examples, in conjunction with ` the parison and bottle illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 wherein `
the invention is utilized in heat treating a parison to be blow-molded into a bottle suitable for containing beer or a carbonated beverage.
Example 1 Parison 11, shown in Figure 1, to be blown into the - 11 - .' bottle 13 having a sidewall 15, shown in Figure 2, is formed by injection molding a thermoplastic polymer derived from 75 parts by weight acrylontrile and 25 parts b~ weight methyl acrylate polymeri~ed in the presence of 9 additional parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 70 per cent by weight 1,3-butadiene and about 30 per cent by weight acrylonitrile. As is well known to the art, injection molding is a techni~ue used to form a closed-end tube, commonly referred to as a "parison", having a particular material distribution, such as is shown in Figure 1, but any other of the conventional parison forming techniques may be employed.
Parison 11 is then subjected to a heat treatment wherein a temperature gradient according to the present invention is established therein, whereby the temperature of its inner surface 17 is higher than that of its outer surface 19, both temperatures being within the molecular orientation temperature range of the polymer. During at least a portion of the blow- -molding of parison 11 into bottle 13, the temperature of the inner surface of the parison is greater than that of its outer ~ -surface.
The contact heating apparatus of Fig. 3 which may be ~-employed in heat-treating the parison 11 to form the temperature ;~
gradient comprises a metal blowing core pin 31 and in direct ;
contact therewith lie three electrically-activated ceramic heaters 35, 37 and 39, and two electrically-activated metal ` cartridge heaters 41 and 43. Five thermistors 45, shown on the exterior of the core pin 31, are utilized to measure and control the temperature in each of the five core pin heating zones.
Appropriate lead wires are employed for each thermistor and eac~
heating unit in the core pin 31, which also include apertures 47 for releasing a high pressure fluid such as, for example, air in the 8ubsequent blow-mol~ing operation.

.~ , . . . .

lOSZ965 Surrounding the outer shell 33 is electrical insula-; tion 49 around which are wrapped five band heaters 51. Electric-al leads are shown leading from each of the band heaters to a source (not shown) of electrical power.
By suitably choosing the temperature of the core pin heating zone and the shell at any one or more of the five axial locations, the portion of the sidewall of parison 11 at each correlative zone can be given a predetermined radial temperature gradient. The temperature gradient may be the same in each of the zones, or it may vary from zone to zone, depending upon the variation, from one zone to another, of parison sidewall thick- ~-.. . .
ness, of the relative amount of stretch of the sidewall surfaces, of the stretching rate and of the average sidewall temperature.
For example, in the parison illustrated in Figure 1, the sidewall temperature gradient varies from zone to zone. The ` outer surface temperature at the time when each zone begins to ~, inflate is about: 180 degrees F. in zone 1; 180 degrees F.in zone , 2; 175 degrees F. in zone 3; 175 degrees F. in zone 4; and 175 ;
degrees F. in zone 5. The inner surface temperature at that time, in each zone, is about: 190 degrees F. in zone 1; 195 `~
degrees F. in zone 2; 205 degrees F. in zone 3; 220 degrees F.
in zone 4; and 225 degrees F. in zone 5.
The parison 11 is blow-molded with an increasing ~
pressure which reaches about 250 p.s.i. in about 15 seconds to ;
produce a bottle 13 whose sidewall 15 has a circumferential ORS -varying between 1000 and 1500 p.s.i., the greater stress being on the inside.
The following examples illustrate that the use of a temperature gradient in the parison in accordanc~ with the present invention is effective to give an ORS distribution in a bottle sidewall that is more uniform than when the same pari-son is blown isothermally into a bottle.

... . ~ . ---Example 2 Parisons according to Figure 1 were injection moldedfrom the polymer described in Example 1 and were found to exhibit the following axial orientation release stress (ORS) distribution in Zone 4 prior to blowing:
ORS
Inside of parison 9 p.s.i.
Niddle of parison O p.s.i.
Outside of parison 13 p.s.i.
These parisons, which may be considered to be sub-stantially unoriented, were then mounted on a blow-molding core pin with five, axial, heating zones and placed within a heating shell having five correspondlng heating zones, as described ~ -above and as shown in Figure 3 to heat treat the parison prior to blowing. Axial heating zone 1 extended from the open end of the parison to about 1.25 inches from that end, measured along the longitudinal axis of the parison; zone 2 e~tended from about 1.25 inches to about 2.3 inches from that end; zone 3 extended ~ ~-from about 2.3 inches to about 3.3 inches from that end; zone 4 from about 3.3 inches to about 4.3 inches from that end; and zone 5, from about 4.3 inches from the open end to the closed end of the parison.
~.
The parisons of Group A were heat treated to produce a different radial temperature gradient in each heating zone. -~
The parisons of Group B were heat treated to be isothermal in a radial direction in each zone.
Table I gives the zonal temperatures of the pin and j shell employed to heat-treat the parisons. The temperature of - the inner and outer surfaces of the parison immediately after -the parisons left the heating shell were substantially as shown in Table I.

::
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lOSZ965 TABLE I
PIN TEMP . /SHELL TEMP . ( F . ) (Top) (Bottom) Gradient Parison Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 in Zone 4 1 180/165 190/160 204/160 230/160 237/160 70F.
2 180/165 190/160 204/160 230/160 237/160 70F.
3 180/180 185/185 190/190 200/200 200/200 The pin temperatures of Table I, in the respective zones, were measured at the distances from the open end of the parison and at the parison diameters and sidewall thicknesses ~ stated in Table II; the shell temperatures of Table I were `', measured at the distances frqm the open end of the parison : stated in Table II.
TABLE I I
Pin Outer Sidewall Shell .
Temperature Diameter Thickness Temperature Zone 1 0.5 inch 0.88 inch 0.045 inch 0.80 inch Zone 2 1.5 inches 0.86 inch 0.047 inch 1.8 inches Zone 3 2.5 inches 0.82 inch 0.072 inch 2.9 inches Zone 4 3.8 inches 0.78 inch 0.150 inch 4.0 inches Zone 5 4.9 inches 0.77 inch 0.194 inch 5.0 inches -These 5 parisons were then blown into the bottle of Figure 2. The average sidewall thickness in zone 4 of the bottles ' blown from the parisons of Group A was 22 mils; the bottles blown from the Group B parisons had an average sidewall thickness of 2~ mils in zone 4.
The parisons of Group A were blown into a polymethyl-methacrylate mold with an increasing pressure which reached ~O
p.8.i. in about 18 seconds; the parisons of Group B, were banffn with an increasing pressure which reached 150 p.~.i. in about 20-25 seconds.
.

.

Inflation of each parison began approximately 6 seconds after the parison was removed from the heating shell and occurred at that part of zones 1 and 2 where the sidewall thick-ness was a minimum. Inflation began in zone 3 at about 9 seconds after removal from the heating shell; in zone 4, at about 11 seconds after removal; and in zone 5, at about 15.5 seconds removal. The inner surface of the portions of the parison corr-esponding to zones 1-4 remained in contact with the heating pin until inflation occurred. The surface portion in zone 5 broke contact at about 11 seconds after removal due to axial elonga-tion occurring during inflation of zones 1-4.
The first row of Table III gives the inside and out-side surface temperatures of the Group A parisons, at each axial zone thereof as determined at the locations stated in Table II, approximately six seconds after the parison was removed from the heating shell. The second row of Table III gives the correspond-ing temperatures at the respective times when inflation commenced in each zone.
TABLE III
INSIDE/OUTSIDE TEMP. (F.) Gradient Parison Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 in Zone 4 Al & A2 180/172 190/176 204/176 230/172 237/170 58F.
Al & A2 180/172 190/1?6 204/179 230/176 227/175 54F.
` Orientation release stresses (ORS) for the "insiden, --nmiddle" and "outside" portions of the bottle sidewall at Zone
4 were as stated in Table IV.

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~OSZ965 TABLE IV
Bottle From ORS (p. 8 . i . ) Parison IndicatedSpecimen Inside Middle Outside 1 a 1078 1318 578 '! A b 984 1246 689 2 a 951 1058 588 b 968 996 598 Avg. 995 1156 613 3 a 2293 1408 572 ;-b 1941 1066 584 B 4 a 1616 707 365 - b 1061 772 345 a 1342 1274 598 b 1387 1246 630 Avg. 1607 1079 516 As seen above, the bottles of Group A, which were blown from parisons having the radial temperature gradients of Table III, exhibited less variation in circumferential orienta-tion across the sidewall in Zone 4 than did the isothermally blown bottles of Group B. In the case of the inside, middle and outside sidewall portions of the Group A (temperature grad-ient) bottles taken as a whole, the maximum circumferential orientation release stress (Zone 4) was no more than about twice as large as the smallest orientation release stress, whereas in the case of the bottles of Group B (isothermalj, taken as a whole, the maximum orientation release stress (Zone 4) was . greater than three times the minimum. A comparable reduction in the variation of orientation i8 effected in the other axial 20nes of the sidewall of the bottle~
Considering 7 mils to be the average thickness of each of the ~inside", "middle" and "outside" portions of the bottle sidewall that were utilized to obtain the ORS data of Table II, - - -; : : -:

lOSZ965 a "percentage full width ORS gradient" from the "inside" portion to the "outside" portion can be determined from the ORS data of Table II bv (1) subtractin~ the "outside" ORS from the "inside"
ORS, by (2) dividing the difference by the product of (a) the radial distance from the center-line of the "inside" portion to the center-line of the "outside" portion times (b) the average of the "inside", "middle" and "outside'i orientation release stresses, and (3) by multiplying the quotient by one-hundred.
The resultant "percentage full width ORS gradients", in percent per mil, are qiven in Table V, together with the respective center-line to centèr-line distance, in mils, for each specimen.
TABLE V

Bottle From Center-Line Percentage Parison Specimen Distance ORS Gradient `
Al a 16.4 3.08 b 16.3 1.86 A2 a 15.2 2.76 b 15.25 2.84 Average 2.64 B3 a 19.9 6.07 b 19.9 5.70 B4 a 21.7 6.43 b 21.75 4.53 B5 a 20.7 3.35 b 20.8 3.35 ~ -Average 4.91 t The data of Table V illustrate that the bottles of Group A, blown from parisons that were heat-treated to have a radial temperature gradient in accordance with the present invention, have a substantially greater uniformity of circum-ferential orientation in their sidewalls than do the bottles of Group B, blown from radially isothermàl parisons.
Bottles made from parison8 have the temperature gradient .. . . . . . . . . . . .
:. . ' ~ ' ` '` :

lOS2965 of the present invention have in their sidewalls a "percentage full width ORS gradient" of less than about 4 percent per mil of sidewall thickness, and preferably less than about 3 percent per mil.
In the above examples, the parisons were substantially unoriented in the axial and circumferential direction prior to being heated for the blowing operation. Depending upon the process used to form it, the parison may itself have a given amount of axial of such orientation upon the ORS distribution in the bottle sidewall is illus~rated in the following example:
; Example 3 The parisons of Figure 1 are injection molded from the same polymer set forth above and their sidewalls in Zone 4 exhibit the following axial orientation release stress (p.s.i.):
Parison ~nside Middle Outside ; 9 ~9 0 43 Tbese parisons are then heat-treated similarly to the parisons of Group A to produce radial temperature gradients in the sidewalls thereof in accordance with the present invention.
Table VI gives the zonal temperatures of the pin and shell employed to heat-treat the parisons. The temperatures were measured at the locations stated above in Table II, and the parison dimensions were as stated therein.
TABLE VI
PIN TEMP./SHELL TXMP. (F.

Parison Zone 1Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4Zone 5 Grad ent 6 200/162 200/157 205~157 212/163 210/158 49F.
7 20i/167 204/162 217/161 218/168 --/165 50F.

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. . ' "' ' ' ' ' . ''' .. . .

8 196/167 193/163 206/162 222/170 --/167 52F.
9 196/167 193/163 206/162 222/170 --/167 52F.

These four parisons were then blown into the bottle of Figure 2 with an increasing pressure that reached 180 p.s.i.
in about 20 seconds. The average sidewall thickness in zone 4 of the bottles was 22 mils.
The chronology of the sequential, axial inflation and the residence times on the heating pin of the zonal portions ?
of the parison after removal of the heating shell were the same as in Example 2.
The first three rows of Table VII give the inside and c outside surface temperatures of parisons 6-9, at each axial zone thereof as determined at the locations stated in Table II, ; approximately six seconds after the parison was removed from the heating shell. The second three rows of Table VII give the ` ?
' corresponding temperatures at the respective times when infla-, tion commenced in each zone.
TABLE VII
INSIDE/OUTSIDE TEMP. (F.) Gradient ~
Parison Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone 5 in Zone 4 - -6 200/182 200/I83 205/174 212/171 210/164 41F.
; 7 207/189 204/185 217/181 218/175 220/173 43F.
8 & 9 196/183 193/179 206/176 222jl78 220/173 44F.
6 200/185 200/183 205/178 212/173 203/167 39F.
7 207/189 204/185 217/185 218/177 213/176 41F.
8 & 9 196/183 193/179 206/186 222/180 213/176 42F.
Orientation release stresses (p.s.i.) for the ~inside~
"middle" and "outside" portions of the bottle sidewall at Zone .::
were as stated in T~ble VIII.

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lO5Z965 TABLE VIII

Bottle From ORS (p. 8. i. ) Parison Specimen Inside Middle Outside 6 a 1207 1278 808 b 1015 1072 690 7 a 936 1061 545 b 1255 1144 570 8 a 890 1127 598 b 1077 1132 595 9 a 876 973 531 b 1015 1049 584 Avg. 1034 1105 615 From the data of Table VIII, taken as a whole, ror bottles fro~. p~risons 6-9, it can be seen that with respect to the "inside", "middle" and "outside" portions of the bottles' sidewalls, the maximum circumferential orientation release stress was no more than about twice as large as the smallest orientation release stress therein.
From the data of Table VIII, the "percentage full `, width ORS gradient" for each specimen can be determined in the -~ame manner as in Example 2. The resultant gradients, in percent `~ per mil, are presented in Table IX, together with the respective -~ -` center-line to center-line distance, in mils, for each specimen.
.,. , :

TABLE IX

Bottle From Center-Line Percentage Parison Specimen Distance ORS Gradient i 6 a 15.0 2.42 b 14.2 2.47 7 a 15.1 3.06 b 15.2 2.47 8 a 15.2 2.20 ~ ;
b 15.4 3.35 9 a 15.0 2.91 b 15.0 3.26 Average 3.03 The data of Table IX illustrate that parisons which - ' :.

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.

themselves possess a ~iven a~ount of axial orientation in the sidewall prior to blowin~ m~ be heat-treated in accordance with ` the present invention to impart a temperature gradient to the sidewall thereof whereby the sidewalls of the bottles blown therefrom have substantially the same full width ORS gradient as to bottles made from essentially unoriented parisons.
Blow-molded articles made from parisons heat-treated according to the present invention have a substantially more uniform circumferential orientation from the inner to the middle 10 portions of the sidewall thereof than do articles made from radi-ally isothermal parisons. In an axial zone of the sidewall, the circumferential ORS in the inner portion of the sidewall is be-~ tween about 75 and about 125 percent of the ORS in the middle `` portion thereof, and, preferably, is between about 90 and 110 ;~ percent of the ORS in said middle portion.
3 The instant invention is applicable for any bottle æidewall thickness, but is-especially useful for thicknesses between 5 and 60 mils, and particularly between 15 and 35 mils.
The invention is aiso applicable for any parison which at its 20 thickest part, exclusive of closure finish, is between 100 and 300 mils thick.
Bottles blow-molded by the method of this invention can be produced from any glossy,~essentially non-crystalline, thermo-plastics which can be biaxially oriented. Examples of such ~-materials are polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, acrylonitrile copolymers and methacrylonitrile copolymers.
The molecular orientation temperature range of an -essentially non-crystalline thermoplastic polymer useful in the practice of the pre~ent invention is that temperature range 30 above the glass transition temperature, and below the softening temperature, in which the polymer is rubbery or leathery. The highest degree of molecular orientation is obtained by stretching ., : "
;- ...... .. . . . . ..

the polymer when it is in the leathery state, viz. where it~
behavior is retarded, highly elastic, which is evidenced when the polymer is subjected to a stress and undergoes a small, instantaneous strain and then a much larger strain over a rela-tivelv long period of time. The orientation temperature range of the polymer described in Example 1 is from about 170F to about 275F.
: It is thought that the invention and many of its attend-ant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description;
and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts of the article and that changes may be made in the steps of the method described -and their order of accomplishment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages.

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Claims (11)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A method for making a self-supporting biaxially oriented container having a substantially uniform high degree of orientation radially of the sidewall of the container com-prising the steps of forming a parison having a tubular sidewall with inner and outer surfaces from a glassy, essentially non-crystalline thermoplastic polymeric material which is capable of being biaxially oriented during blow molding, temperature con-ditioning the parison to establish between the inner and outer surfaces of the sidewall of the parison outwardly radially de-creasing temperatures within the orientation temperature range of the polymeric material, the decreasing temperatures being related to the radially outwardly decreasing degree of blow molding induced stretch so as to achieve substantial radial uniformity of orientation and blow molding the temperature con-ditioned parison to stretch the polymeric material of the parison to the container shape and to biaxially orient the material.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the temperature decrease in degrees Fahrenheit from the inner surface to the outer surface of the parison is in the range from about 25 ([SR(i)/SR(o)]-1) to about 150([SR(i)/SR-(o)-1) where SR(i) is the ratio of the inner diameter of the blow molded container to the inner diameter of the parison from which it is blown, and where SR(o) is the ratio of the outer diameter of the blow molded container to the outer diameter of the parison from which it is blown.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the temperature de-crease in degrees Fahrenheit from the inner surface to the outer surface of the parison is in the range from about 75 ([SR(i)/SR(o)]-1) to about 125 ([SR(i)/SR(o)]-1) where SR(i) is the ratio of the inner diameter of the blow molded container to the inner diameter of the parison from which it is blown, and where SR(o) is the ratio of the outer diameter of the blow molded container to the outer diameter of the parison from which it is blown.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the polymeric material is prepared by polymerizing a major portion of an olefinically unsaturated nitrile and a minor portion of an ester of an olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acid in the presence of a preformed rubber copolymer composed of a major proportion of a conjugated diene monomer and a minor proportion of an olefinically unsaturated nitrile.
5. The method of claim 3 wherein the polymeric material is derived from (A) about 60 to 90 parts by weight of an alpha, beta-olefinically unsaturated mononitrile having the structure CH2=C(-R1)-CN where -R1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, and lower alkyl groups, (B) about 40 to 10 parts by weight of an ester of an olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acid having the structure CH2=C(-R1)-C(O)O-R2 where -R1 is as defined above and -R2 is an alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, (A) and (B) together comprising 100 parts by weight, polymerized in the presence of (C) about 1 to 20 parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 60 to 80 percent by weight of moieties derived from a conjugated diene monomer and about 40 to 20 percent by weight of moieties derived from a mononitrile having said CH2=C(-R1)-CN
structure.
6. The method of claim 3 wherein the polymeric material is derived from 73 to 77 parts by weight acrylonitrile and 27 to 23 parts by weight methyl acrylate, polymerized in the presence of 8 to 10 additional parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 70 percent by weight butadiene moieties and about 30 percent by weight acrylonitrile moieties.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the temperature de-crease in degrees Fahrenheit from the inner surface to the outer surface of the parison is determined according to the formula: 100 ([SR(i)/SR(o)]-1) where SR(i) is the ratio of the inner diameter of the blow molded container to the inner diameter of the parison from which it is blown, and where SR(o) is the ratio of the outer diameter of the blow molded container to the outer diameter of the parison from which it is blown.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the polymeric material is derived from 73 to 77 parts by weight acrylonitrile and 27 to 23 parts by weight methyl acrylate, polymerized in the presence of 8 to 10 additional parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 70 percent by weight butadiene moieties and about 30 percent by weight acrylonitrile moieties.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric material is prepared by polymerizing a major portion of an ole-finically unsaturated nitrile and a minor portion of an ester of an olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acid in the presence of a preformed rubber copolymer composed of a major proportion of a conjugated diene monomer and a minor proportion of an olefinically unsaturated nitrile.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric material is derived from (A) about 60 to 90 parts by weight of an alpha, beta-olefinically unsaturated mononitrile having the structure CH2=C(-R1)-CN where -R1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, and lower alkyl groups (B) about 40 to 10 parts by weight of an ester of an olefinically unsaturated carboxylic acid having the structure CH2=C(-R1)-C(O)O-R2 where -R1 is as defined above and -R2 is an alkyl group having afrom 1 to 6 carbon atoms, (A) and (B) together comprising 100 parts by weight, polymerized in the presence of (C) about 1 to 20 parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 60 to 80 percent by weight of moieties derived from a conjugated diene monomer and about 40 to 20 percent by weight of moieties derived from a mononitrile having said CH2=C(-R1)-CN structure.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric material is derived from 73 to 77 parts by weight acrylonitrile and 27 to 23 parts by weight methyl acrylate, polymerized in the presence of 8 to 10 additional parts by weight of a nitrile rubber containing about 70 percent by weight butadiene moieties and about 30 percent by weight acrylonitrile moieties.
CA300,542A 1972-12-29 1978-04-06 Blow molded, oriented plastic bottle and method for making same Expired CA1052965A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US05/319,380 US3934743A (en) 1972-12-29 1972-12-29 Blow molded, oriented plastic bottle and method for making same
CA185,069A CA1030085A (en) 1972-12-29 1973-11-05 Blow molded, oriented plastic bottle and method for making same

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