ES2527189T3 - Stackable bottle with handle - Google Patents

Abstract

An assembly comprising at least a first and a second stackable bottles (1), in which each bottle (1) is made of a material such that the bottle (1) can be made by blow molding, and in which each bottle (1) comprises an upper part (12) that is mounted around a bottleneck (4) and extends to a peripheral part of the bottle (1), in which the upper part (12) is sized so that in a stacked position of the first and second bottles, the upper part (12) of the first bottle is placed against a peripheral base part (7) of the second bottle, in which a handle (31) is connected with said upper part (12) within said peripheral part of the bottle (1) and at a distance from this peripheral part of the bottle (1), wherein said upper part (12) comprises an annular element (15) with means fixing (16) inside the annular element so that the upper part (12) is capable, from a bottle opening, of being pushed with the amular element (15) over the bottleneck (4) in order to join the upper part (12) to the bottle, and is able to offer resistance to movement in the opposite direction, characterized in that said handle (31) is directly connected to said annular element (15).

Description

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DESCRIPTION

Stackable bottle with handle

The invention relates to a set of at least one first and second stackable bottles, in which each bottle is made of a material such that the bottle can be formed by blow molding, and in which each bottle has an upper part which is mounted around the bottleneck and extends to a peripheral part of the bottle, in which the upper part is sized so that in a stacked position of the first and second bottles, the upper part of the first bottle is supported against a peripheral base part of the second bottle, wherein a handle is connected with said upper part within said peripheral part of the bottle and at a distance from this peripheral part of the bottle, said upper part comprising an annular element with means of fixing inside said annular element so that the upper part is capable, from a bottle opening, of being pushed with the annular element on the bottleneck in order to attach the upper part to the bottle, and is able to offer resistance to movement in the opposite direction. The invention further relates to a stackable bottle of this set. Throughout the patent memory a bottle or a stackable bottle is going to be constructed as a bottle comprising a top piece.

Such bottles are known from WO2009 / 095109, which is considered the closest to the prior art. This document describes a stackable bottle with a top piece. This document describes how the upper part facilitates the handling and stacking of the bottle.

A disadvantage of the known bottle is that during the lifting of a full bottle, deformation of the upper part occurs.

The objective of the invention is to obtain a bottle that is easier to handle.

For this, a bottle according to the invention is characterized in that the handle is directly connected to said annular element. Because the handle is connected to the upper part, the bottle can be easily lifted through this handle and can also be manipulated by it on a non-flat floor. By connecting this handle to the base part within the peripheral part and at a distance from this peripheral part, the handle has no disadvantageous effect on the rotating nature of the bottle. Also the bottle remains stackable, that is, the handle does not protrude at any point because it is located inside the peripheral part of the bottle. In this way you get a bottle that is both stackable and easier to handle. In this way, the handle is attached to the upper part as close as possible to the neck of the bottle, that is to say the annular element comprises fixing means on the side and is connected to the bottle neck by means of these. By joining the handle directly to the annular element, the distance between, firstly, the point of attachment of the handle to the upper part and, secondly, the point of attachment of the upper part to the bottle, is as small as possible. . This prevents, during the lifting of the bottle by the handle, great moments of force occur in the upper part. If, in particular, the handle was attached to the peripheral part of the upper part, during the lifting there could be a momentum force in the bottleneck that would have to be absorbed by the upper part. By joining the handle to the annular element, the upper part only needs to absorb the forces that occur due to stacking, specifically the downward directed pressure. No forces need to be absorbed at the moment by the upper part, so the upper part does not need to be extra strong sized.

Preferably, the upper part is attached to said bottleneck by snap fit. The assembly of two parts snapping together is simple and automatic. As a result, a bottle and an upper part are obtained that can be assembled in a simple manner with an assembly machine. In addition, unlike screwing, for example, snap fit does not require that the bottle and the upper part can rotate relative to each other. For example, a large rectangular cross-sectional bottle can be easily fixed with a corresponding rectangular top piece by snap fit.

Preferably said upper part and said handle is made of a piece of plastics by injection molding. Making the top piece and the handle a piece, it does not require any assembly stage to join the top piece and the handle together. Furthermore, such injection molded parts may have widely varied shapes and properties of the material. Additional advantages are the low cost and simplicity of mass production.

Preferably, said handle extends in the plane that is substantially perpendicular in relation to the longitudinal axis of the bottle. In this way, the ace extends into the upper part, which consequently facilitates stacking. Specifically, a handle that does not extend into the upper part therefore protrudes outward from this upper part, which makes stacking the bottle more difficult. The handle protrudes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bottle only if no external force is applied to the handle. When an external force is applied, for example when the bottle is lifted through the handle, due to the internal effort the handle can be deformed and thus can be extended in another direction, for example upwards.

Preferably said upper part extends towards said peripheral part of the bottle, at least partially coming into contact with a shoulder part of the bottle. Because the upper part is placed in contact with the shoulder part of the bottle, the force exerted on the upper part can be transmitted to this shoulder part of the bottle. In particular, when the bottles are stacked, a bottle that is placed on top by

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Its own weight exerts a downward force on the bottle below. This downward force is applied to the upper part, specifically the bottle on the upper part is standing on it, and the upper part transfers this force to the bottle. By bringing the upper part into contact with the shoulder part of the bottle, such forces can be easily transferred through the stack.

Said upper part comprises an annular element with fixing means inside the annular element so that the upper part is capable, from the opening of the bottle, being pushed with the annular element on the bottleneck in order to join the upper part of the bottle, and is able to offer resistance to movement in the opposite direction. Such fixing of the upper part to the bottle is very simple and therefore cheap. Furthermore, pushing a ring formation with fixing means on the bottleneck is very easy to automate, which is an advantage in the production process of such bottles with a top piece.

Preferably said handle comprises two legs and a gripping part, in which the two legs are each connected with a first end to the respective end of the gripping part and each with a second end to said annular element. By providing two legs, the handle can be joined with the annular element on both sides. In this way the grip point of the bottle, during lifting, is located closer to the center of gravity of the bottle, which in symmetrical bottles is located on the longitudinal central axis. This simplifies the elevation and leads to a uniform distribution of force in the annular element.

Preferably, said legs are connected to said annular element so that a first distance, measured between the longitudinal axis of the bottle and the tip that is furthest from the longitudinal axis in said grip portion, is smaller than a second measured distance between said second end of a stop and said point that is located farther from the longitudinal axis in said gripping part. In lifting the bottle, the upward force is applied to the gripping part. In this way, the legs of the handle, the gripping part of which is eccentric in relation to the longitudinal axis of the bottle, bend upward in the direction of the longitudinal axis. As a result, the gripping part, in particular the gripping part where the fingers are located during lifting, approaches the bottleneck and the bottle cap. This displacement of the grip part may result in the fingers being caught between the grip portion and the bottleneck or the bottle cap in this new position. This problem is solved because each of the legs at its ends extends into a ring part that carries the legs towards each other and has a diameter largely the same as the outer diameter of the annular element, and because both legs are attached to the annular element by one end of its ring part. As a result, the distance between, firstly the fixation points of the legs with the annular element, and secondly the grip part in which the fingers grasp below, so that the radius on which the legs increase is increased They can be folded under load also increases. This increase in distance keeps the grip part away from the bottleneck and the bottle cap during bottle lifting, preferably even causing it to bend over the bottle cap.

Preferably a bottle according to the invention has a capacity greater than 5 liters, preferably greater than 10 liters, more preferably greater than 15 liters, and a capacity of less than 35 liters, preferably less than 30 liters, more preferably less than 25 liters . Bottles with such capacity have external dimensions that make them handled without difficulty.

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the examples shown in the drawings.

The drawings show:

Figure 1 is a cross section of a set of stackable bottles according to the invention in a stacked position;

Figure 2 is a cross section of a stackable bottle according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a top piece seen in perspective;

Figure 4 is a top view of an upper part;

Figure 5 is a cross section of fixing means of an upper part in a stackable bottle according to the invention; Y

Figure 6 is an effect of different embodiments of a handle in the upper part on a bottle according to the invention.

In the drawings, the same or similar elements have the same reference numbers.

Figure 2 shows a bottle 1 that is produced linearly symmetrically about a longitudinal axis 2. The bottle 1, seen from top to bottom along the longitudinal stop 2, comprises an optional top of bottle 3 (shown in the figures 5 and 6), a bottleneck 4, a shoulder part 5, a body part 6 and a base part 7. Preferably the bottle 1 is produced by means of blow molding from a material that can be molded by blowing, preferably polyethylene terephthalate (PET). As an alternative material

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which allows bottle 1 to be produced by blow molding is polylactic acid (PLA). The bottle 1 according to the invention further comprises an upper part 12 attached to the bottleneck 4.

The bottle cap 3 is preferably attached to the bottleneck 4 by means of a screw connection, wherein the bottle cap 3 and the bottleneck 4 have corresponding threads. However, other systems such as fastening systems can also be used to attach the bottle cap 3 to the neck. The bottleneck 4 further preferably comprises a collar 8 which makes it possible to grip the bottle 1 in a simple manner, in particular during the blow molding of the bottle 1. For this purpose the shoulder part 5 extends mainly in one direction radiates and downwards out of the bottleneck 4b having a first diameter, to become the body part 6 of the bottle 1 having a diameter greater than said first diameter. This provides a slightly curved upper surface that extends largely perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 2 of the bottle in said shoulder portion 5.

The base part 7 of the bottle 1 closes the body part 6 on the lower side so that the bottle 1 is suitable for containing a fluid. Preferably the bottom side of the bottle is largely flat. Because the bottom side is largely flat, the bottle can be placed directly on its bottom side on the floor without help. In addition, to blow a flat bottom side, unlike a bottom side with a recess, less material is required. As a result, the bottle, compared to a bottle with a lower side with recess, is lighter and cheaper.

According to a further embodiment of the stackable bottle according to the invention, the bottom side of the bottle is convex (not shown) and the bottle also contains a bottom piece (not shown) that is attached to the bottom side of the bottle for make the bottle have a stackable convex bottom side. To blow a bottle with a convex bottom side, less material is required at least on the bottom side of the bottle, than for a bottle with a flat bottom side. This makes such a bottle lighter and cheaper. The lower part, however, must be produced, which entails an additional cost, but this lower part can be reused in the next stackable bottle without intensive cleaning treatment. Preferably, the bottom piece has a shape that is complementary to the shape of the top piece 12, which makes such bottles stackable.

Figure 1 shows a set of a first bottle and a second bottle in a stacked position in cross section. Figure 1 shows how the bottleneck 4 and the bottle cap 3 (shown in Figures 5 and 6) extend centrally and higher than the shoulder part 5 of the bottle 1. The bottom side of the bottle is in large flat. To make this possible, in a stacked position with an upper bottle in a lower bottle, for which the upper bottle is stably positioned against the lower bottle, an upper part 12 is arranged. Without an upper part, the bottleneck 4 and the bottle cap 3 of the lower bottle would prevent a top bottle with a largely flat bottom side 7 from being stably placed on the bottom bottle. The upper part 12 is joined in at least the lower bottle and causes this bottle to have a raised shoulder part 30. In relation to the raised shoulder part 30, the bottleneck and the bottle cap do not protrude upwards or to the less stand out less. As a result, the bottle 1 with a large flat bottom side 7 can be supported on this raised shoulder portion 30 without the bottleneck 4 and the bottle cap 3 avoiding this. The dimensions of the upper part 12 are such that the bottleneck 4 and the bottle cap 3 of the bottle in the stacked position are bridged in the height direction, with the result that the upper bottle can be placed so stable in the upper part of the lower bottle.

Figures 3 and 4 show an upper part 12 with the handle 31 of the bottle 1 according to the invention. In accordance with the invention the upper part 12 is attached to the bottleneck 4. To this end, this upper part preferably has means ring fasteners 15 which are preferably centrally arranged in the upper part 12 and on a lower side thereof are fitted with the counter-hook fingers 16. The ring fixing means 15 with the counter-hook means 16 allow the upper part 12 is pushed on the bottleneck 4 in the direction of the shoulder part 5 while preventing the upper part 12 from being able to move on the bottleneck 4 in a direction away from the shoulder part 5. Preferably the annular fixing means 15 with the counter-hook means 16 and the collar 8 on the bottleneck 4 are complementary in that the counter-hook means 16 can be pushed on the collar 8 in the direction of the shoulder part 5 and avoiding an opposite return movement on the collar 8. For this, the counter-hook means 16 may comprise hinged lips 16 which, as shown in Figure 5 seen in the assembled position of the upper part 12, they form an acute angle α with the longitudinal axis 2 towards the base part 7 of the bottle 1.

The handle 31 is attached to the peripheral edge of the upper part 12. Thus, the handle 31 does not protrude outside the upper part 12, whereby both sides and the upper side of the bottle 1 with the part 12 are not influenced. by the handle. In this way, the bottle can continue to rotate and be stackable. Preferably, the handle 31 extends in said part 12 in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 2 of the bottle 1.

The handle 12 also has a gripping part 17 which at each end is fixed with a leg 18 and 19, so that it forms a U-shaped whole comprising the handle and the two legs. Preferably the two U-shaped legs 18 and 19 have a mutual distance largely equal to the outer diameter of the annular fixing means 15. Preferably the legs 18 and 19 both are attached to the annular fixing means 15. If the legs

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18 and 19 U-shaped are short, there is a small space 20 between the grip part 17 and the annual fixing means 15 to insert the fingers into the space 20 and grab the grip part 17, whereby the handle 12 It is hard to grab. If the U-shaped legs 18 and 19 are long, a large space must be left between the gripping part 17 and the annular fixing means 15 and it will be easy to grab the gripping part 17 with the fingers. However, if the legs 18 and 19 are too long, the grip part 17 will protrude out of the upper part 12. Additional space must be left in the upper part 12 for a handle 31, which requires structural adaptations and therefore the upper part 12 will deviate in an ideal symmetrical way. The longer the legs 18 and 19, the more extensive the structural applications. For the above reasons, the length of the U-shaped legs 18 and 19 of the grip portion 17 is optimally selected in the sense that they are as small as possible but large enough for the fingers to be easily inserted into the space 20 between the grip part 17 and the annular fixing means 15. Preferably the distance with the reference number 20 between the grip part 17 and the annular fixing means 15 is at least 2.5 cm, more preferably at least 3 cm Preferably the distance with the reference number 20 between the grip part 17 and the annular fixing means 15 is a maximum of 4 cm, more preferably a maximum of 3.5 mm.

It will be found that the grip portion 17 and the legs 18 and 19 of the handle 12 can deviate from the pure U-shape as in the case of Figures 3 and 4. In a further embodiment as shown in Figures 3 and 4 , the grip portion 17 of the handle 12 is formed as a circle arc.

A further problem arises in the lifting of a full bottle 1 according to the invention with a handle 12 in which the length of the U-shaped legs 18 and 18 of the grip portion 17 is optimally selected. This problem is illustrated in Figure 6. Applying an upward force F to the gripping part 17 which is eccentric relative to the longitudinal axis 2 of a bottle, the U-shaped legs 18 and 19 of the gripping part 17 of they will bend in the direction of the longitudinal axis 2 as illustrated in the dotted line 21. As a result, the grip part 17, or in particular the part of the grip part 17 on which the fingers are positioned to lift, will be more near the bottleneck 4 and the bottle cap 3. This displacement of the grip part 17 can lead to the fingers being caught between the grip portion 17 and the bottleneck 4 or the bottle cap 3 in this new position, as illustrated in Figure 6a by distance 24. This problem can be solved by making the U-shaped legs 18 and 19 longer, whereby the gripping part 17 is further away from the annular fixing means 15 and therefore also further of the bottleneck 4 and the bottle cap 3, which is disadvantageous as described above. However, this problem can also be solved by allowing the U-shaped legs 18 and 19 to extend their ends inside a ring portion 22 (Figure 4) that bridges the legs 18 and 19 towards each other and has a diameter largely equal to the outer diameter of the annular fixing means 15, and by both legs 19 and 19 which are attached at one end of the ring part 22 to the annular fixing means 15. As a result, the distance between firstly, the fixing means of the U-shaped legs 18 and 19 in the annular fixing means 15, and secondly, the part of the gripping part 17 where the fingers are gripping, whereby The radius over which legs 18 and 19 can be folded below the load increases. Due to this increase in distance, during the lifting of the bottle 1, the grip portion 17 will remain farther from the bottleneck and the bottle cap 3, preferably it can be folded over the bottle cap 3, as shown in Figure 6b

A handle 12 with a circular grip portion 17 in the above solution will have the additional positive effect because the legs 8 and 19 of the grip portion 17 will have a spring effect during the application of the force F. The grip portion circular 7 will deform under the force F to an ellipse shape whereby the distance between the fixing point of the grip part 17 and the place where the force F is applied is further increased and therefore more space is left for the fingers

Preferably, the upper part 12 has ribs 32 (shown in Figures 4 and 5) extending from said annular fixing means 15 to a peripheral edge of the upper part. Preferably this peripheral edge of the upper part, when attached to a bottle, is located in the extension of the body of the bottle. The ribs 32 are preferably flat, whereby the plane is parallel to the longitudinal axis 2 of the bottle, and extends radially outwardly relative to this axis 2. These flat ribs, on a lower side of the upper part, preferably have a such that in the joined position of the upper part, the ribs 32 are placed against the shoulder part 5 of the bottle. The flat ribs 32 preferably have, in the upper part of the upper part, a shape such that the ribs 32 in the stacked position are placed against the lower side of the upper bottle. The upper part with the ribs shows a structure similar to a bicycle wheel, where the outermost edge of the wheel, the peripheral part of the upper part, is connected by rays, the ribs, to the lower element, the annular fixing means.

The handle 32 is preferably located between two successive ribs 43. However, it is also possible that a rib 32 is arranged below the slab 31, where the shape of this rib 32 at the top of the upper part deviates from the shape of the other nerves.

The upper part 12 can prevent evacuation by pouring from the stackable bottle according to the invention. Preferably the bottle according to the invention contains evacuation means, preferably a pump, to evacuate the bottle without it having to be tilted. In a further embodiment, the upper part comprises a pouring spout 33. The pouring spout 33 is in the form of a tubular segment that is

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extends between the annular fixing means 15 and the peripheral edge of the upper part 12. The pouring spout 33 is disposed in the upper part of the piece12, preferably opposite to the handle 31. By tilting the bottle 1, the substance, preferably liquid, from inside the bottle it goes out through the bottle opening. This substance enters the pouring spout 33. This pouring spout 33 ensures a controlled movement of this

5 substance towards the peripheral edge of the upper part 12. In this way, a controlled pouring of the stackable bottle 1 according to the invention can be achieved.

Preferably, a bottle 1 according to the invention has a capacity of more than 5 liters, more preferably more than 10 liters, most preferably, more than 15 liters. Preferably a bottle 1 according to the invention has a capacity of less than 35 liters, more preferably less than 30 liters, most preferably

10 less than 25 liters.

Claims (12)

5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 35 40 E11711659 12-29-2014 1. An assembly comprising at least a first and second stackable bottles (1), in which each bottle (1) is made of a material such that the bottle (1) can be made by blow molding, and in the that each bottle (1) comprises an upper part (12) that is mounted around a bottleneck (4) and extends to a peripheral part of the bottle (1), in which the upper part (12) is sized so that in a stacked position of the first and second bottles, the upper part (12) of the first bottle is placed against a peripheral base part (7) of the second bottle, in which a handle (31) it is connected with said upper part (12) within said peripheral part of the bottle (1) and at a distance from this peripheral part of the bottle (1), wherein said upper part (12) comprises an annular element (15) with fixing means (16) inside the annular element so that the upper part (12) it is capable, from a bottle opening, of being pushed with the amular element (15) over the bottleneck (4) in order to join the upper part (12) to the bottle, and is capable of offering resistance to movement in the opposite direction, characterized in that said handle (31) is directly connected to said annular element (15).

2.

An assembly according to claim 1, wherein said upper part (12) is attached to said bottleneck (4) by snap fit.

3.

An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said upper part (12) and said handle (31) are made of a plastic part by injection molding.

Four.

An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said handle (31) extends in a plane that is largely perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (2) of the bottle (1).

5.

An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said upper part (12) extends to said peripheral part of the bottle (1), at least partially being in contact with a shoulder part (5) of the bottle .

6.

An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said handle (31) comprises two legs (18 and 19) and a gripping part (17), in which the two legs (18 and 19) are connected each one with a first end to a respective end of the gripping part (17) and each with a second end to said annular element (15).

7.

An assembly according to claim 6, wherein said legs (18 and 19) are connected to said annular element (15) so that a first measured distance between the longitudinal axis (2) of the bottle (1) and the point furthest from this longitudinal axis (2) in said grip part (17) is smaller than a second distance measured between said second end of a leg and said point furthest from the longitudinal axis (2) in said grip part ( 17).

8.

An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said handle (31) is connected to said upper part (12) so that the fingers of a human hand can grip said handle (31).

9.

An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said handle (31) is largely formed as the arc of a circle.

10.

An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said bottle (1) has a capacity greater than 5 liters, preferably greater than 10 liters, more preferably greater than 15 liters, and a capacity less than 35 liters, preferably less than 30 liters, more preferably less than 25 liters.

eleven.

An assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said material is polyethylene terephthalate.

12.

A stackable bottle (1) of the assembly according to any of the preceding claims.

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