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
  • B65D1/00—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, by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
  • B65D1/02—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures, designed for pouring contents
• • 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—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, 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
• • 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—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, by deep-drawing operations performed on sheet material
  • B65D1/40—Details of walls
  • B65D1/42—Reinforcing or strengthening parts or members
• • 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
  • B65D2501/00—Containers having bodies formed in one piece
  • B65D2501/0009—Bottles or similar containers with necks or like restricted apertures designed for pouring contents
  • B65D2501/0081—Bottles of non-circular cross-section

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a very light weight container for beverages.
• Very light containers for beverages are known in the art that are made for example of a semi-cristalline polyethylene terephtalate (PET) for good transparency and processability properties. Such containers are typically blown from an injected preform.
• PET polyethylene terephtalate
• Such very-light containers can have a wall thickness, at least in the middle- height region of the container body, inferior or equal to 100 ⁇ m.
• Such containers have been developped to be manufactured with a substantially lower amount of plastic material compared to containers of similar contents volume made out of "classic" processes. These light weight containers are therefore cheaper to produce, and are also particularly environment-friendly.
• Such prior art very-light weight containers described for example in International Patent Application WO 03/033361 A1 or WO 2005/047120 A1 , are known to be of generally ovoid or spherical shape which provides for good ratio volume / weight.
• the sides of body of such containers are very flexible and a risk exists that once the container is open, the contents splashes outside when the consumer grabs the sides of said container. If the contents is a milk-based product, such splashing can be particularly inconvenient for the consumer.
• the present invention addresses the problems set out above with a container for a liquid or viscous product, comprising a substantially ovoid or spherical container body having a diameter D1 , and a neck having a diameter D2, said neck comprising a dispensing opening and means for allowing closing means to be attached thereto, D1 being greater than D2, said container being made out of semi-cristalline PET, the walls of said container body having a thickness inferior or equal to 100 ⁇ m at least in the middle-height region of said container.
• said container is characterized in that the container body comprises at least two flatten or embossed surfaces.
• flatten or embossed it is meant that the surfaces are either completely flat, or slightly convex or concave.
• the container body comprises at least two opposite flat, substantially vertical, surfaces, and a flat, substantially horizontal, and forming a bottom side.
• the neck is located on the surface symmetrically opposite to the bottom surface.
• the neck is located shifted relative to the vertical axis of the container.
• the container body comprises four flat, substantially vertical, surfaces that are opposite to one another by pairs.
• said vertical surfaces are disks.
• Adjacent flat vertical surfaces are preferably in contact which one another at least in one point, and/or the vertical flat surfaces are preferably in contact with said bottom flat side.
• the vertical and horizontal flat surfaces have equal area.
• the ratio of D1/D2 is comprised between 1.2 to 15, preferably 2 to 5.
• the bottom flat side comprises reinforcing ribs and / or grooves.
• the content product can be selected from the group consisting of water- based or milk-based products.
• the container according to the present invention has preferably a weight inferior or equal to 5g, preferably 3g, and a total contents volume of at least 25 cl.
• the closing means of the container can be a peelable membrane sealed on the top end of the neck, or a screw cap with threads that cooperate with corresponding threads of the neck.
• Figure 1 is a perspective bottom view of a container according to the invention ;
• Figure 2 is a perspective top view similar to figure 1 ;
• Figure 3 is a bottom view of of a container of the invention ;
• Figure 4 is a side view of the same container ;
• Figure 5 is a top view of the same container.
• the very-light weight container 1 comprises a substantially spherical container body 2 having a diameter D1.
• neck 3 having a diameter D2
• said neck 3 comprising a dispensing opening 4 and means 5 for allowing closing means 6 to be attached thereto.
• the means 5 comprise a flat horizontal flange at the top portion of the neck 3. This flange 5 is adapted for receiving a peelable closing membrane (not represented in the drawing).
• the diameter D1 of the container body 2 is greater than the diameter D2 of the neck 3.
• the ratio of D1/D2 is about 4.
• the container is made out of semi-cristalline PET.
• the walls of the container body have a thickness inferior or equal to 100 ⁇ m at least in the middle- height region 7 of said container.
• This container 1 is made by blowing a PET preform, that is itself made by an injection forming process.
• the generally spherical container body 2 further comprises four opposite flat, disk-shaped, substantially vertical surfaces 8 that are opposite to one another by pairs. It further comprises a flat, substantially horizontal, surface 9 located opposite the neck 3 and forming a bottom side.
• the bottom flat side 9 comprises reinforcing grooves 10 to improve its rigidity, shown in figures 1 and 3.
• adjacent flat vertical surfaces 8 are preferably in contact with one another along a contact line 11. Said vertical flat surfaces are also in contact with said bottom flat side at contact lines 12.
• the vertical 8 and horizontal 9 flat surfaces have equal area.
• the content product can be selected from the group consisting of water- based or milk-based products.
• the container according to the present invention has a weight of 2.9 g, and a total contents volume of 25 cl.
• a splash test was conducted to compare the rigidity of the side walls of the container according to the present invention, and a similar container having an ovoid shape.
• This test consisted in applying a transversal load to the handling zone of the bottle (filled but not closed), and then measuring the increase in liquid level. All measured containers had the same content volume.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Containers Having Bodies Formed In One Piece (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Thermally Insulated Containers For Foods (AREA)
• Table Devices Or Equipment (AREA)
• Packging For Living Organisms, Food Or Medicinal Products That Are Sensitive To Environmental Conditiond (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=35759357

Family Applications (2)

Family Applications Before (1)

Country Status (15)

Families Citing this family (15)

Family Cites Families (22)

• 2005
  • 2005-10-20 PT PT05109806T patent/PT1777164E/pt unknown
  • 2005-10-20 EP EP05109806A patent/EP1777164B1/fr not_active Not-in-force
  • 2005-10-20 ES ES05109806T patent/ES2309665T3/es active Active
  • 2005-10-20 AT AT05109806T patent/ATE399718T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2005-10-20 PL PL05109806T patent/PL1777164T3/pl unknown
  • 2005-10-20 DE DE602005007909T patent/DE602005007909D1/de active Active
• 2006
  • 2006-10-17 WO PCT/EP2006/067492 patent/WO2007045648A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2006-10-17 JP JP2008536043A patent/JP2009512599A/ja active Pending
  • 2006-10-17 EP EP06807339A patent/EP1954573A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2006-10-17 KR KR1020087009290A patent/KR20080068021A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2006-10-17 CA CA2626719A patent/CA2626719C/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2006-10-17 CN CN2006800394153A patent/CN101291850B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2006-10-17 US US12/090,953 patent/US20080245757A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2006-10-17 RU RU2008119818/12A patent/RU2432305C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2006-10-17 BR BRPI0617722-0A patent/BRPI0617722A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
• 2008
  • 2008-05-19 ZA ZA200804297A patent/ZA200804297B/xx unknown
• 2014
  • 2014-10-24 US US14/523,369 patent/US20150041424A1/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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