GB2136273A - Interconnecting plastics and glass articles - Google Patents

Abstract

An article of plastics material, e.g. a handle (2), is connected to an article of glass, e.g. a jug 1, by using an intermediate member 23 which is permanently bonded to the glass article. The use of the intermediate member extends the range of materials which may be used for the articles of plastics material. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Interconnecting plastics and glass articles This invention relates to methods of and to arrangements for the interconnection of glass and plastics articles.

In particular the present invention is concerned with the interconnection of plastics articles, elements or the like to glass bodies.

Such glass bodies can include glass in sheet form and hollow vessels. A common requirement in relation to hollow vessels is the mounting or securing of carrying handles to the body of the vessel.

In the case of hollow vessels a particular form thereof requiring a carrying handle is commonly termed a jug, and frequently glass bodied jugs are used as the liquid containers of electric coffee or tea making machines.

For convenience, the following description will be concerned with the connection of plastics handles to jugs suitable for use with such machines. It is important however, to bear in mind that the principles of the invention as discussed in relation to such jugs are not restricted to application only to such jugs.

It is known to provide jugs for coffee and tea machines with plastics handles. Some such jugs have handles of, for example, plastics secured to the side of the jug body by means of circumscribing metal straps or tension bands.

Other known securing means includes the use of resilient clasps or clips extending around the jug.

In both of these constructions it has been found dirt can easily be deposited under the handle securing bands, clasps, clips or the like.

Also it has been found that the above forms of connection are expensive to produce and that the range of possible handle shapes is restricted.

Furthermore, in use it has been found that tension bands can work loose with the consquential disadvantage that they have to be occasionally tightened.

In a further known form of securing a handle to a jug body the handle is moulded from glass and is subsequently secured to the glass body by a reheating operation. This arrangement is likewise expensive.

In the case of other known forms of connecting handles to jug bodies the handle is stuck by means of adhesive directly to the glass body. Whilst this mode of connecting handles to jugs is cheaper to produce than those above mentioned the effectiveness of the adhesive connection is very dependent upon the properties of the adhesive and the two elements to be secured together. For example, plastics materials are very difficult to stick one to the other or to other materials.

This means that different adhesives may have to be used for different handle materials during manufacture.

In German Patent Specification No OS 31 03 759 there is disclosed a jug having a stuck-on plastics material handle which is secured by means of an adhesive plate by positive anchoring means. This jug has the disadvantage that the jug, which is made of glass and which is much more voluminous than the handle, has to go through the manufacturing process at least twice, i.e., once for sticking on the plate and once for fastening the handle.

This double handling during production increases the work and space required and thus increases the cost. in addition, there is also a risk of a greater breakage rate for the glass parts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for and arrangements for securing plastics articles to articles of glass; a particular object being the connection of plastics handles to glass vessels such as glass jugs.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of securing an article of plastics material to an article of glass including the step of incorporating with the plastics material article an adhesive member.

Preferably, the adhesive member is formed by a plate adapted for or arranged for attachment to the plastics article, the plate intended to cooperate with a layer or the like of adhesive for subsequent adhesion to the glass article.

According to a further aspect of the invention a method of connecting a plastics material handle to the body of a vessel such as a jug, includes mounting to the handle an adhesive plate such that a layer of adhesive is able to co-operate with the jug body when the handle is offered to the body for the purposes of securing the handle to the body.

According to a further aspect of the invention an arrangement for connecting a plastic article to a glass article includes an adhesive plate mounted to the plastics article before the plastics article is offered to the glass article for the purpose of connecting the articles by adhesive.

Preferably the glass article is the body of a glass jug and the plastics article is a handle for the jug.

Preferably, the adhesive plate is incorporated in the handle and is formed from a material which is able to ensure a firm adhesive connection. The plate is preferably relatively small, since its size depends only on the required strength of adhesion, allowing for the size of the jug and the strength of the adhesive. Consequently, even if an expensive material is used for the adhesive plate, the plate accounts only for a small part of the total cost of the handle. The handle can be made of cheaper material, provided that the material satisfies all of the normal requirements for such handles.

An advantage arising from the use of the invention is that the jug body and the handle can be assembled to form the finished jug in one manufacturing operation i.e., cheaper than a multi-operation assembly.

The adhesive plate can be joined to the handle in a wide variety of ways. In one embodiment of the invention, positive anchoring of the plate is preferred.

In a further embodiment the handle and the adhesive plate are joined non-positively, for example, by screwing.

The adhesive plate can be made of any suitable material for example, plastics, glass, ceramics or metal. In practice, whatever the material it must be suitable for permanent bonding to glass.

A further important advantage of the invention has been found in large scale manufacture i.e., industrial applications, in that a wide variety of jugs can be secured to a wide variety of handles using only one combination of materials, thereby greatly reducing costs and materials handling.

For a better understanding of the invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a part sectional side view of a glass jug having a handle attached to the body of the jug by means of a first embodiment of an attachment arrangement of the invention; and Figures 2, 3 and 4 are each part sectional side views of a jug having its handle attached by a different embodiment of an attachment arrangement of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in each of the Figures the jug shown therein is intended to be suitable for use as the jug of an elastic coffee or tea making machine.

Figure 1 shows a fragmentary part of the glass body 1 of a jug having a handle 2 of which only a fragmentary part is shown. In particular, the part of the handle shown is one of the parts that is to be attached to the jug body 1. As will be seen the handle part is recessed at 3 to provide a chamber for receiving an intermediate element or plate 1 3 forming a plate by which the handle is to be bonded to the glass body. For convenience the plate 1 3 is called an adhesive plate.

The recessing of the handle is such as to form within the recess an inwardly directed rib 5 which is intended to engage within a peripheral groove 6 provided in the edge region of the plate 13. It will be seen from the Figure 1 that the formation of the groove 6 in the plate effectively provides inner and outer ribs 6A and 6B around the edge region of the plate 13.

The mutual inter-engagement of the rib 5 in the groove 6 and the ribs 6A and 6B firmly secures the plate 13 within the handle 2.

In the arrangement shown in the plate 1 3 is intended to be mounted or secured in the handle whilst the handle is being manufactured i.e., the plate can form a mould insert within the handle forming mould whereby the plate is effectively moulded in situ.

The relative dimensions of the handle recess 3 and the plate 13 are such as to provide a space 4 for receiving an adhesive by means of which the plate 13 is secured that is bonded to that portion 4A of the glass body that co-operates with the adhesive plate when the handle and glass body are relatively positioned as shown in the Figure.

It will be appreciated that the dimensions of the chamber will be related to the nature of and the properties of the adhesive to be used for bonding the plate 13 to the body portion 4A. In practice, the essential characteristic of the adhesive used is that it should be capable of affecting a permanent bond between the plate 1 3 and the surface of the glass body.

Referring now to Figure 2 this illustrates an embodiment in which the intermediate or adhesive plate 23 is constructed so that it can be connected to the handle after the moulding of the latter, by a hook-like attachment arrangement formed by the provision of an inwardly directed lip or rib 8 on the wall 10 of a chamber 12 provided in the structure of the handle 2. The adhesive plate 23 incorporates a flange part 14 projecting from one face thereof and adapted for entering the chamber 12 and having an outwardly directed rib 7 which is intended lockably to engage with the rib 8.

A second flange part 1 5 extends from the opposite face of the adhesive plate 23 thereby to define the chamber 4 for the adhesive.

In use, the adhesive plate 23 is engaged into the chamber 12 so that the ribs 7 and 8 interlock.

If desired the plate can be bonded to the handle 2.

The adhesive plate 23 is then secured to the glass by a suitable adhesive.

An advantage of the embodiment of Figure 2 is that as the plate 23 can be fitted after the moulding of the handle combinations of materials may be chosen for the plate and the handle which do not have to satisfy the requirement that the material of the plate 23 has to be suitable for forming inside the handle during the moulding of the latter. Furthermore, it is also readily possible subsequently to secure or bond the plate 23 to handles having any desired colour or shape.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3 the plate 23 is positively connected to the handle 2 as is the case of the embodiment of Figure 2. In the case of the Figure 3 embodiment of the plate 23 is a smooth fit into the chamber 12. An inwardly directed lip 9 provides a mechanical constraint on the disengagement of the plate. The plate 23 is bonded in its mounted position by, for example, an ultrasonic bonding operation. It will be noted that the plate 23 is totally housed within the chamber 12.

The relative dimensions of the plate 23 relative to the handle part leads to the formation of the chamber 4 for the adhesive.

In Figure 4 the plate 33 is of a shape generally similar to that of Figure 3. However, the plate 33 is not permanently secured in place; and is releasably i.e., non-positively secured in place by one or more screws 11.

In the Figure 4 arrangement it will be understood that there are no limits to the choice of material for the plate, subject to the requirement that the plate has to be permanently bondable to the glass surface involved.

As has been previously indicated the concepts of the invention are not restricted to the bonding of handles to the glass bodies of jugs or the like; but are of use for the bonding of all kinds of plastics elements, fittings, articles or the like to glass surfaces. For example, the mounting of knobs onto glass covers for pots and pans or for all other similar glass plastics materials combinations.

Claims (14)

1. A method of connecting an article of plastics material to an article of glass including the step of incorporating with the plastics an intermediate member which is to be subsequently bonded to the glass article to which the plastics article is to be secured.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, and in which the intermediate member is connected to the plastics material article during the production of the latter.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the intermediate member is permanently secured to the plastics material article after the production of the latter.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, and wherein the intermediate member is non-positively connected to the plastics material article, whereby the intermediate member can be secured to the article of glass before or after the connection thereof to the article of plastics.

5. An arrangement for connecting an article of plastics material to an article of glass, wherein an intermediate member is adapted for attachment to the article of plastics, and is additionally arranged for permanent bonding to the article of glass.

6. An arrangement as claimed in claim 5, wherein the plastics article is provided with a recess or chamber for receiving at least a part of the intermediate member, the arrangement being such that the intermediate member is able to provide a surface which is permanently bondable to the glass article.

7. An arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the intermediate member is totally housed within the recess or chamber, and wherein the relative dimensions of the intermediate member are such that a second chamber is provided for receiving bonding material for bonding the intermediate member to the glass article.

8. An arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein both the intermediate member and the plastics material article are adapted to provide a mechanical interlocking, or hook-like interconnection with each other.

9. An arrangement as claimed in claim 6, 7 or 8, wherein the intermediate member is adapted for connection to the article of plastics material during the manufacture of the latter.

10. An arrangement as claimed in claim 6, 7 or 8, wherein the intermediate member is adapted for connection to the article of plastics material after the manufucture of the latter.

11. An arrangement as claimed in claim 10, wherein the intermediate member is connectable to the plastics material article by moulding or jointing.

12. An arrangement as claimed in claim 10, wherein the intermediate member and the plastics article are adapted for non-positive connection to each other.

13. An arrangement as claimed in claim 12, wherein the non-positive connection is a screwed connection.

14. An arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 13, wherein the intermediate member comprises a member of plastics material; glass; ceramics or metal.

1 5. An arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 14, wherein the glass article is the body of a jug or the like vessel and the article of plastics is a handle for the jug or the like vessel.

1 6. An arrangement for connecting an article of plastics material to an article of glass, substantialjy as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1, 2, 3 or 4 of the accompanying drawings.

1 7. A glass vessel, jug or the like having a handle or other article of plastics material connected thereto by the method or arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.