EP2050677B1 - Pouch bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

The bottle (100) has a thinnest portion in which wall thickness of the bottle is less than 0.1 millimeter, and a grip portion (105). A volume portion (106) forms largest circumference of the bottle, and the grip portion is provided with a smaller circumference than that of the volume portion, where the ratio of the volume portion circumference to the grip portion circumference is greater than 1.4. The grip portion is spaced apart from an area of a bottle closing thread (102) provided with reinforcement structures. An independent claim is also included for a method for producing a bottle.

Description

The invention relates to low-weight bottles and a method for producing such bottles.

In beverage packaging, the weight of the packaging or the material consumption for the production of the packaging plays an important role. Especially in the case of disposable packaging, it is essential to pay attention to low material consumption in order to save raw materials and costs.

One way to minimize material consumption is to package drinks in bags. However, this has the disadvantage that bags are not dimensionally stable in both the empty and filled state. This can be z. B. cause when grasping a beverage bag whose contents accidentally leaks.

In contrast, bottles, such as. Glass bottles, dimensionally stable, d. H. an unintentional compression of the bottle is not possible or difficult. However, glass bottles are relatively heavy even when empty.

By choosing suitable materials for the production of the bottle, such. For example, PET plastics ("PET" is the abbreviation for "polyethylene terephthalate"), PLA, PP ("polypropylene"), PS ("polystyrene") or PEN ("polyethylene naphthalate"), it is possible to contrast the weight of the bottles Clearly reduce glass bottles. It is known from the prior art that the PET bottles can be produced with relatively low dead weight; however, the wall thickness is generally the same over the substantial area of the bottles (except for the mouth area).

A blow molding process for the production of very thin-walled plastic bottles with a wall thickness between 0.02 to 0.05 mm in the area of the cylinder belly is in JP2001-122237 A shown.

A process for making a biaxially oriented polyester bottle having an average wall thickness of about 0.05 to 0.2 mm is disclosed in U.S. Pat WO 2007/083396 A1 described.

A plastic container with a basic structure that allows significant absorption of vacuum pressures so that other parts of the container are not unintentionally deformed is disclosed in US Pat WO 2006/118584 A1 shown.

A blow molded PET bottle having the features of the preamble of claims 1 and 10 is known WO 2006/055979 A2 ,

The invention has for its object to further reduce the weight of bottles or material consumption in the production of bottles, the handle portion of such a bottle should be particularly well suited to grab the bottle in everyday use by hand.

This object is achieved with a bottle according to claim 1 and a method for producing a bottle according to claim 10.

Preferred embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims.

A bottle according to the invention is characterized in one embodiment in that the bottle has at least one thinnest region in which the wall thickness is only a maximum of 0.1 mm and preferably a maximum of 0.05 mm. With these features, a bottle according to the invention comprises at least one very thin area, for which only a small amount of material is needed in the production.

The thinnest area is the area that has the largest circumference.

Although such a bottle in the thin region can be easily pressed, but the bottle is still sufficiently dimensionally stable. In this connection, therefore, a preferred embodiment of the invention provides that the bottle has a grip area. The grip area is typically characterized by the fact that the bottle can be held in this area. The grip area is provided with structures to prevent the surface from slipping out of the hand. Preferably, the circumference of the grip area is chosen so that the bottle can be comfortably gripped with one hand.

It is further provided that the bottle comprises a volume region which forms the largest circumference of the bottle, and a grip region whose circumference is smaller than the circumference of the largest circumference of the volume region. The bottle according to the invention has a ratio of the volume area circumference to the handle area circumference of greater than 1.8.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottle is a PET bottle. Furthermore, a bottle of this invention typically has a volume or liquid capacity of 0.5 liters. However, depending on the application, this volume may be larger, but the wall thicknesses of the bottle must be adjusted accordingly.

A bottle according to the invention can take many forms, for example, the cross section can be round, square or polygonal with either rounded or not rounded corners.

The wall thickness of the bottles is smaller at larger scale locations than at smaller sized locations. As a result, such a bottle in the area of the bottle mouth and in the grip area typically has a greater wall thickness and thus greater stability than in the area with the largest circumference. Depending on the type of bottle filling, an additional reinforcement may be provided in the area of the bottle bottom.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottle comprises such a bottle bottom that the bottle can be placed. The bottom of the bottle may be, for example, a champagne (or still water) floor with or without reinforcement or a petaloid floor. The choice of the bottom of the bottle depends mainly on the use of the bottle.

According to the invention, the grip area of the bottle is provided with reinforcing structures, such as grooves or spirals. The reinforcing structures prevent the bottle from slipping out of the hand when holding it. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the grip area is spaced from the bottle closure thread by at least 1 cm. The circumference of the bottles in the grip area is substantially uniform (apart from the grooves or spirals). In a typical embodiment of the invention, the proportion of handle area volume to the total volume of the bottle is about 20%. In order to be able to use the volume of the bottles more effectively, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the grip area in the filled state of the bottle is partially or completely filled with liquid.

Preferably, the bottle of this invention is filled with still water or juice. However, there are other fillings such. As carbonated drinks or nitrogen-pressurized drinks, possible.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottle in the filled or unfilled state is dimensionally stable, d. H. the bottle retains its original shape if the bottle is not subjected to additional forces (such as when squeezing a bottle). This dimensional stability is also helpful when it comes to stacking or storing the bottles in bottle packs. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottles are arranged in a bottle container to save space so that the bottle mouths show alternately up and down or to the left and to the right or to the rear and to the front.

The method for producing a bottle comprises a blow molding method, which according to the invention has a maximum area stretch of greater than 20 when expanding the bottle material. The bottles produced in this way have the same or at least similar properties as described above.

Fig. 1a

eine schematische Ansicht einer Flasche

Fig. 1b

eine schematische Ansicht einer Flasche gemäß einer möglichen Ausführungsform der Erfindung;

Fig. 2a

eine schematische Ansicht eines Champagnerbodens;

Fig. 2b

eine schematische Ansicht eines Petaloidbodens;

Fig. 3

eine schematische Ansicht eines Flaschengebindes;

Fig. 4

den Ablauf eines Formblasverfahrens.

Other aspects of possible embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the figures. Showing:

Fig. 1a

a schematic view of a bottle

Fig. 1b

a schematic view of a bottle according to a possible embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2a

a schematic view of a champagne ground;

Fig. 2b

a schematic view of a Petaloidbodens;

Fig. 3

a schematic view of a Flaschengebindes;

Fig. 4

the course of a blow molding process.

FIG. 1a shows a bottle 100. In the upper part of the bottle is typically the bottle mouth 101 and optionally thereafter the thread 102, if the bottle is provided with a screw cap, a locking ring 103 and a support ring 104. The locking ring 103 and the support ring 104 are mainly in the case of mechanical handling of the bottle. In general, it is changed from a clamp that grips the bottle to the next clip, with a clip below the support ring 104 engages and another clip above this support ring 104, between the support ring 104 and the retaining ring 103. Alternatively, there are also Bottles that have no or only a rudimentary indicated support ring 104. In cases where there is no support ring 104, the locking ring 103 is used as such.

Below the support ring 104 is typically the handle region 105. This region is particularly well suited to grip the bottle in everyday use (by hand). This will happen in the case of Fig. 1a facilitated by grooves 108. The areas above and below the grip area 105 are preferably used for labeling the bottle. The volume range 106 of the bottle is characterized in particular by the fact that a large part of the bottle filling finds space in this area. Therefore, typically, the area with the largest circumference is part of the volume area 106. The optional bottle bottom 107 allows the bottle to be set up.

A possible embodiment of the bottle 100 according to the invention is shown in FIG Fig. 1b outlined. This bottle 100 comprises similar elements, however, the handle portion 105 is stabilized by means of spirals 109, which also allows for better gripping of the bottle. In addition, in this example, the proportion of the handle area volume to the total volume of the bottle is less than in the example of Fig. 1 a.

Possible bottle bottoms 107 are based on the Fig. 2a and 2b explained. Depending on the application (eg type of bottle filling), a champagne base 201 or a petaloid bottom 202 is better suited. The advantage of the champagne flute 201 is that, with the same wall thickness, less material is used for this than for the petaloid bottom 202, since the champagne fl oet 201 has a smaller surface area. The petaloid bottom 202 has the advantage that it is very stable if the bottle is under high pressure (eg if the bottle is filled with a carbonated beverage). Depending on requirements, additional reinforcing elements can be used both in the case of the champagne base 201 and the petaloid base 202.

In Fig. 3 a bottle package 300 is shown. In this example, the bottles 100 are arranged alternately with bottleneck opening upwards and with bottleneck opening downwards, whereby a space-saving storage of the bottle is possible. Furthermore, by suitable choice of the bottle shape, additional space can be saved during stacking.

In Fig. 4 A blow molding method 400 will be explained. In step 401, a preform (bottle blank) is heated, whereby the preform becomes deformable. In step 402, the preform is expanded within a mold by means of, for example, air pressure. Depending on the extent of expansion, the bottle material is area-stretched by a factor of> 20 (1 cm ^{2 of} the preform is expanded to an area of over 20 cm ² ). At the same time, the wall thickness decreases during area stretching. In the case of bottles 100, this generally means that a correspondingly large bottle volume is generated by large area stretching.

Claims (13)

1. Bottle, in particular a PET bottle, having:

   a volume region (106) which forms the largest circumference of the bottle; and

   a gripping region (105) having a circumference which is smaller than that of the volume region, the gripping region having an essentially uniform circumference, and being provided with reinforcing structures such as grooves (108) and/or spirals (109), for example, and separated from the region of the threaded bottle closure (102) by a distance of at least 0.5 cm, wherein the wall thickness of the bottle is less at locations with a larger circumference than at locations with a smaller circumference,

   characterized in that

   the wall thickness of the bottle in the region of the thinnest wall thickness is less than 0.1 mm, preferably less than 0.07 mm, particularly preferably less than 0.05 mm, and

   the ratio of the volume region circumference to the gripping region circumference is greater than 1.8, preferably greater than 2.4.
2. Bottle according to Claim 1, wherein the bottle may hold 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, or 2.0 liters of liquid.
3. Bottle according to one of Claims 1 through 2, wherein the bottle (100) includes a bottle bottom (107) for standing the bottle up, and the bottle bottom (107) [is] a champagne bottom (201) with reinforcement, a champagne bottom without reinforcement, or a petaloid bottom (202), for example.
4. Bottle according to one of Claims 1 through 3, wherein the gripping region (105) is separated from the region of the threaded bottle closure (102) by at least 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cm.
5. Bottle according to one of Claims 1 through 4, wherein the proportion of the gripping region volume to the total volume of the bottle is in a range of at least 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, or 40%, and is 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, or 50% maximum.
6. Bottle according to one of Claims 1 through 5, wherein the gripping region (105) is partially or completely filled with liquid in the filled state of the bottle.
7. Bottle according to one of Claims 1 through 6, wherein the bottle may be filled with uncarbonated water and/or juice and/or carbonated beverage and/or a beverage pressurized with nitrogen.
8. Bottle (100) according to one of Claims 1 through 7, wherein the bottle is dimensionally stable.
9. Bottle container (300) containing bottles (100) according to one of Claims 1 through 8, wherein the bottles are positioned next to one another with the bottle mouths (101) pointing up and down in alternation.
10. Method for manufacturing a bottle (100), in particular a PET bottle, in the blow molding process (400), the maximum bottle stretching which occurs upon expansion (402) being greater than 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50, and the manufactured bottle having a volume region (106) which forms the largest circumference of the bottle, and having a gripping region (105) with a circumference that is smaller than that of the volume region, and the gripping region having an essentially uniform circumference, is provided with reinforcing structures such as grooves (108) and/or spirals (109), for example, and is separated from the region of the threaded bottle closure (102) by a distance of at least 0.5 cm, wherein a bottle (100) is manufactured whose wall thickness is less at locations with a larger circumference than at locations with a smaller circumference,
    characterized in that
    the wall thickness of the bottle in the region of the thinnest wall thickness is less than 0.1 mm, preferably less than 0.07 mm, particularly preferably less than 0.05 mm, and
    the ratio of the volume region circumference to the gripping region circumference is greater than 1.8, preferably greater than 2.4.
11. Method according to Claim 10, wherein a bottle (100) is manufactured with a champagne bottom (201) or a petaloid bottom (202).
12. Method according to Claim 10 or 11, wherein a bottle (100) is manufactured with a gripping region (105) which is provided with reinforcing structures such as grooves (108) and/or spirals (109), for example, which allow the bottle to be held and/or lifted.
13. Method according to one of Claims 10 through 12, wherein the bottle (100) is manufactured in such a way that it is dimensionally stable.

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