FR2470059A1 - Blow moulded cask with retractable coaxial neck - for ease of mfr. to allow stacking - Google Patents

Abstract

Blow moulded cask is made with a coaxial spout having a reduced wall thickness at the top and the base of a bulbous neck so that the neck can be inverted to depress the top of the spout to a level below the rim of the top of the cask. Used for mfr.of stackable casks. The spout profile is more easily made, in circular or non-circular sections, than outlets formed on the sidewalls of a blow-moulded flask, yet the top still provides a substantial load-bearing area for stacking. The spout can be extended to above the top of the cask for discharging.

Description

 The present invention relates to a plastic container, produced by blowing.

Various types of plastic bottles or flasks are known which are obtained by blowing, in particular a container whose neck or neck is blown laterally. This neck is made so that its upper edge is located at the same level as the upper face proper of the container, a gap is made between the neck and the rest of the upper part of the container, in order to allow a stopper to be placed on the eol.

 One can thus carry out the stacking of cans of this kind one on top of the other.

The invention aims to aeeroître the surface offered for the stacking of these cans, and therefore to increase the rigidity of this stacking, as well as to distribute the blown material more homogeneously than in the known embodiment. In fact, this distribution cannot be really homogeneous because the blowing of the material takes place laterally to the bottle, which correlatively slows down the production rate.

 According to the invention, the plastic container has a neck or neck blown in the central area, modulated by the parison, and retractable inside the container, to allow stacking of a similar container.

In the use position, the neck of the container projects outside of it, and is retracted inside when the containers are to be stacked on top of each other.

After retraction of the neck below the level of the upper part of the container, it can be seen that the surface offered for stacking is substantially greater than that of the aforementioned known embodiment, which increases the rigidity of the stacked assembly. In addition, blowing in the center of the bottle makes it easy to make any shape other than circular.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows. In the accompanying drawing, given by way of nonlimiting example, an embodiment of the container according to the invention has been shown.

 - Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view with cutaway of a container according to the invention, the neck of this container being removed for use.

 - Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the neck in the retracted position inside the container.

- Figure 3 is a detail view showing in section the upper part of the wall of the retractable neck, as well as the corresponding plug, on an enlarged scale.

 the container shown in Figures 1 to 3 is made of plastic and blown by a process known per se.

This can comprises a ccrps 1, which may for example be cylindrical, surmounted at its upper part by a ccl or neck 2 blown into the one certrale of the can, modulated by the parison coaxially with the vertical axis XX thereof, and retractable inside the body i, as shown in Figure 2, to allow stacking of a similar container.

The neck 2 consists of a central part 3 approximately in the form of a truncated cone, connected to the body 1 by an intermediate annular part 4 of reduced thickness and modulated with respect to the thickness of the body 1 and of the part 3. The neck 2 is provided with an annular upper part 5, around which a thread 6 is arranged arranged to receive a closure plug 7, having a thread 8 corresponding to the f f-letage g 6.

 the neck 2 thus produced and provided with the plug 7 can take two positions: on the one hand an exit position, in which it projects relative to the body 1 and which allows the use of the container, and on the other hand a position retracted, illustrated in FIG. 2 in which the container can be stacked with similar containers for storage.

 Indeed, once the neck 2 retracted inside the body i as well as its plug 7, the upper surface of the latter is substantially at the same level as the annular band 9 forming the upper part of the container, so that the bottom of a similar bottle can rest on this annular band 9, as well as on the cap 7 during stacking. Compared to the previous embodiment with lateral neck, the container according to the invention increases the surface area offered for stacking, which improves the rigidity of the stacked assembly.

In addition, the blowing of the material in the central zone of the bottle allows a more homogeneous distribution of the material, and faster than with the side blowing.

We can consequently increase the production rate of the bottles and therefore reduce their cost price.

Another advantage of the container according to the invention resides in the fact that, with a volume equivalent to the volume of a known bottle with side blowing, the size of the bottle according to the invention is lower. Indeed, the unused volume between the side neck and the rest of the bottle can be recovered for the most part, which, at equal volume, slightly reduces the required height of the container.

 To pass from the retracted position shown in FIG. 2 to the position of use illustrated in FIG. 1, the user need only introduce his fingers into the annular space 11 reserved between the plug 7 and the central part 3 from the neck, the container being dimensioned in such a way that this space 11 is sufficient to allow easy extraction of the neck 2 by pulling upwards on the plug 7.

 reducing the thickness of the connection zone 4 located at the base of the neck 2 improves the elasticity of the shoulder formed by this zone 4 downwards or upwards.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described and may include variant embodiments. Thus, the geometry of the container can be arbitrary, and not just cylindrical, to tend towards a rectangular shape or an ideal square shape.

Claims (2)

 1 - Plastic container produced by blowing, characterized in that it has a neck or neck blown in the central zone, modulated by the parison and retractable inside the container to allow stacking of a similar container.  2 - Can according to claim 1, characterized in that the neck is connected to the body of the can by an intermediate part of reduced thickness, and modulated, facilitating lteseamotage of the ccl below the level of the upper edge of the can.