GB2174669A - Handle for a plastics bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

A plastics bottle is fitted with a handle which is screw threaded onto the bottle. The handle includes at least one screw threaded fixing ring (11, 12) screw engageable with corresponding screw threads (19, 20) on the bottle body (18) and/or neck (17). The handle grip (13) may be formed separately from the fixing rings and snap engageable therewith or formed integrally therewith. The invention has application to bottles for carbonated drinks produced by bi-oriented stretch blowing and solves the problem of such bottles being resilient to bonding to form integrally formed handles. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION The provision of handles on vessels moulded by bi-oriented stretch blowing The present invention relates gernerally to the provision of handles on blow moulded vessels and in particular but not exclusively to the provision of handles on vessels produced by bi-oriented stretch blowing.

For at least five years since the prevalent use of PET bottles (POLYETHYLENE TERE PHTHALATE BOTTLE) in place of traditional glass bottle typically used in the bottling of cider and other kinds of cola, soft drinks, it has been extensively accepted in the industry to manufacture hard containers by employment of coordinated orientation made possible through bi-oriented stretch blowing method.

The advantages made possible with the bioriented stretch blowing skill applies not only to PET, PVC, OPP and PAN, but also to PS, ASS and PC.

Bi-oriented out-stretching, that is, orientation controlled in two contrary directions, in a hard vessel, is accomplished in the machine in the process, it incorporates essentially- the following steps: (1) preparation of a pre-form, known as parison, shorter than the vessel intended, but of smaller diameter. The operation procedure of the pre-form includes injection, ejection transfer-after-injection and other similar moulding processings.

(2) after being heated to a pre-determined temperature, the pre-form is blown to dilate radially and stretch axially to build such mechanical, optical, physical and chemical properties as appropriate to the profile of a bottle produced by heat melting. The axial extension must be guided mechanically so as to maintain the concentricity essential to the formation process, in practice it can be guided by the pull of a grasp rod, or else by having an externally centered pin connected to the outside of the bottom of the pre-form as the blowing operation proceeds, or else by having a pull bar inserted into the pre-form for axial progression concurrent with the blowing processing.

(3) at the pre-determined temperature mentioned in the last paragraph the pre-form is enlarged to its final form, cooled down, and removed from the process.

The so called bi-oriented stretch blowing method referenced hereinbefore is the well known manufacturing method of the PET Bottles, such a method is extensively accepted in the industry because it can produce hard vessels having excellent mechanical, optical, chemical, and physical properties. A disadvantage of this known method is that the molecular structure of the blown material is modified during the stretching and heating process such that it is no longer possible to effect satisfactory bonding with a handle of like material, the modification to the structure being associated with ordered orientation of molecular alignment.On the otherhand using the extrusion blow moulding method, ordinary non bi-oriented stretch plastics such as PVC, PE, pp can be built with an integrated handle because of the relatively lower orientativity of molecular alignment which makes possible the bonding of the constituent materials. In respects of mechanical, optical, physical and chemical properties the materials used in the bi-oriented stretch blowing method appear to be more advantageous however. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of providing a vessel moulded by bioriented stretch blowing with a handle.

According to the present invention a vessel of a plastics material manufactured by bi-oriented stretch blowing includes a handle removably attachable thereto, which vessel includes male screw threaded means and which handle includes female threaded means whereby the handle is attachable to the vessel by screw action.

In a preferred embodiment the vessel is a bottle having a body and neck and the female threaded means of the handle includes a fitting ring co-operating with a male threaded portion of the neck.

Preferably the female threaded means includes a second threaded fitting ring co-operating with a male threaded portion of the bottle body.

Preferably the handle includes a grip portion which is formed separately from and is engageable with the female screw threaded means.

Advantageously the grip portion is snap engageable with the female screw threaded means.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is disclosed a method of producing a vessel of a plastics material as hereinbefore disclosed and including the steps of bi-oriented stretch blowing a bottle and attaching a handle thereto by screw action.

An advantage of the present invention is to provide, in view of the many disadvantages found with the use of a conventional PET bottle such as those outlined hereinbefore in the text, a design of plastic vessel through bioriented stretch blowing method and handle thereof that will accommodate more ease of use and convenience of handling.

As embodiments of the invention take the form of a plastic vessel moulded through bioriented stretch blowing with a removably mounted handle section, so a futher advantage of the invention is provide such a plastic vessel permitting convenient use and handling without additional space requirements.

A further advantage of the invention is to further promote the re-use value of itself, that is, recycling compatibility with a view to im prove disposition of plastic vessel refuses so as to help to solve the problem of energy shortages.

Particular embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a layout of the moulding tools used in the manufacturing of the subject plastic vessels with associated flow charts; Figure 2A is a perspective exploded view of a vessel having two fitting rings and a snap engageable grip, Figure 28 is a similar view of a vessel having a single fitting ring and a snap engageable grip, Figure 2C is a similar view of a vessel having a fitting ring and grip of integral construction, Figures 3A, 3B and 3C are perspective assembled views of the vessels of Figures 2A, 2B and 2C respectively, and Figures 4A, 4B and 4C are partially sectional elevations of the upper portions of the vessels of Figures 3A, 3B and 3C.

Referring to Figure 2A it is seen that the plastic vessel and handle section according to the invention are not integrated altogether, but moulded separately such that the vessel and the handle can be united together on a removable basis so that the handle can be removed from the body if deemed appropriate by the user. The plastic vessel being made of materials like PET, PVC, OPP, PAN gone through bi-oriented stretch blowing methods; the handle section being made from common plastic materials like PVC, HDPE, HIPS, GPPS, LDPE, PP gone through the most extensively used Injection Moulding skill known in the industry which is omitted from further description.

Referring to Figure 1 it is seen that the plastic vessel that is the subject invention embodied in execution is produced by bi-oriented stretch blowing methods, the method involves drying treatment of plastic raw materials 1 comprising pelletised or crushed PET, delivery of same material to a heating room 3 through a funnel 2, heat-softened to a flowable state, for injection into a cold metal mould 5 by means of a rush bar or screw lever 4, to produce a pre-form of the PET bottle professionally known as Parison 6, which is allowed to cool and removed to come out as a semifinished blank thanks to the bi-oriented stretch blowing processing, an example of this blank 6 is shown in Figure 1.

By continuing to refer to Figure 1 it is seen that such a blank 6, is further heated to a pre-determined temperature 7, then put into mould 8 for blowing by blowing stem 9 to enlarge and in the meantime stretch out axially till reaching the final maximum shape by expanding in all directions to yield the profile of a bottle mould, after cooling off, the mould 8 is removed from the process.

On the bottle body of the mould 8 and the neck thereof are provided a number of screwin teeth, as shown in Figure 1 to accommodate engagement with the handle section. The handle section is provided with correspondingly shaped female threads forming an annular ring which forms a threaded means engagable with a grip 13 the assemblage can be any of the three embodiments disclosed hereinafter.

Referring to Figure 2A, Figure 3A and Figure 4A it is seen that the handle consists of the upper fixing ring 11, the lower fixing ring 12 and 13, on the periphery of both fixing rings are provided slot 15 to permit insertion of both ends of the grip 13, on both ends of the grip are each provided an inverted hook 16 to accommodate insertion of said slot for fixing purposes. To assemble both ends of the grip are each inserted into the slot of the upper ring, the lower ring respectively, but note that the upper fixing ring 11 that is the smaller one should be fitted to the top of the grip, this is because the diameter of the bottle neck 17 is smaller than the bottle body 18.Once the grip is snap engaged into the fixing ring the inverted hook 16 on the grip will resist removal that is, the grip becomes firmly engaged with the fixing ring to form a portion of the handle that is to be rotated unto the plastic vessel relative to the bottle screw teeth 19 in relation to the bottle neck screw teeth, whereupon a plastic vessel having removably mounted handle section, through bi-oriented stretch blowing processing is produced.

Referring further to Figure 2B, Figure 3B and Figure 4B it is seen that in this execution it is pretty much identical to the preceeding execution in construction, but that in this instance only one upper fixing ring 11 is provided on the handle, no inverted arrow-like hook is provided on the underside of the grip, but is provided with a smoothrun edge 22 instead, that no screw teeth are provided by molding on the upper section of the bottle, but that a screw tooth 20 is provided on the bottle neck to account for a fixed point execution, it has been shown experimentally that one fixed point alone will suffice to take care of the bottle at full load conditions, this is because the grip is designed to give an 'I' profile on the crosssection to improve the structural stress of the body at large.

Referring to Figure 2C, Figure 3C and Figure 4C it is further seen that the fixing ring 11 and the grip 13 forming the handle section are integrally moulded rather than separately moulded, fixation of the handle 24 to the bottle is done similar to the preceding example by rotation.

Basically, the handle is fitted to the bottle relative to the screw teeth thereon by tightrotation, so as to form a bi-oriented stretch blown plastic vessel altogether, in the two previous examples it is also permissible to ro tate the upper, lower fixing rings for fitting to the bottle and suspend laying of the grip into the slots on fixing rings till serving is needed, such an operation applies favourably to packaging and shipping practices without incurring additional space reguirements whatever.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles, for example, using other profiles of the handle section, and alternative engagement between the grip 13 and the fixing rings may be used.

Claims (15)

1. A vessel of a plastics material manufactured by bi-oriented stretch blowing and including a handle removably attachable thereto, which vessel includes male screw threaded means and which handle includes female threaded means whereby the handle is attachable to the vessel by screw action.

2. A vessel as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vessel is a bottle having a body and neck and wherein the female threaded means of the handle includes a fitting ring co-operating with a male threaded portion of the neck.

3. A vessel as claimed in claim 2 wherein the female threaded means includes a second threaded fitting ring co-operating with a male threaded portion of the bottle body.

4. A vessel as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the handle includes a grip portion which is formed separately from and is engageable with the female screw threaded means.

5. A vessel as claimed in claim 4 wherein the grip is snap-engageable with the female screw threaded means.

6. Design of plastic vessel as claimed in claim 1 manufactured through bi-oriented stretch blowing and handle removably integral therewith, characterised in that a number of screw-in teeth are moulded onto the bottle body and neck in the course of said bi-oriented stretch blowing processing to permit attachment thereto by the handle section provided with complementarily engageable counterparts, such an execution achieves ease of use and convenience of handling, carriage in comparison with all existing type of like products.

7. The plastic vessel and handle device according to claim 6 characterised in the provision of a number of screw-in teeth one the periphery of the bottle and neck to facilitate rotative fitting by the handle section, easy assembling and easy removal at all times.

8. The plastic vessel and handle device according to claim 6 characterised in that the handle section is composed of an upper fitting ring, a lower fitting ring and the grip, and the provision of like number or unlike number of screw-in threads on the interior periphery of both rings; in the provision of slots on the external periphery of the ring to permit let-in engagement of both ends of the grip; of an arrow-like inverted hook on either end of the grip shaped like the figure 7 to permit insertion into said fixing rings to security integral with the bottle body.

9. The plastic vessel and handle device according to claim 6, characterised in the provision of an upper fixing ring on the handle section, also of a number of let-in screwing threads on the interior side of the periphery of the upper fitting ring; of slots provided on the externai rim of the same ring to permit engagement by the upper section of the grip; also of an arrow-like inverted hook on top of the grip shaped in the form of the Figure 7 to permit insertion into said upper fitting ring, in the omission of any supporting whatever down the lower section of the grip so as to achieve in fitting to the bottle neck integral with the bottle at large by the upper joint only.

10. The plastic vessel and handle integral therewith according to claim 6, characterised in that the handle section is moulded to yield an upper fitting ring having a number of screw-in threads and the grip having the shape 7 integral with one another to form a handle that is removably and reliably fitted to the bottle neck by a single supporting point through rotation.

11. The plastic vessel and handle device according to claim 6, characterised in that the handle section is fitted by rotation to the bottle proper.

12. A method of producing a vessel of a plastics material as claimed in any preceding claim and including the steps of bi-oriented stretch blowing a bottle and attaching a handle thereto by screw action.

13. A vessel as hereiinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1, 2A, 3A and 4A of the accompanying drawings.

14. A vessel as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1, 2B, 38 and 48 of the accompanying drawings.

15. A vessel as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1, 2C, 3C and 4C of the accompanying drawings.