GB2286380A

GB2286380A - Plastics bottle with handling sleeve

Info

Publication number: GB2286380A
Application number: GB9502038A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Israel David Rosenberg
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-02-11
Filing date: 1995-02-02
Publication date: 1995-08-16
Also published as: GB9402643D0; GB9502038D0

Abstract

A tight fitting tube or sleeve is placed onto a soft walled plastic bottle to aid pouring. The tube or sleeve is made from material which is either rigid or which has limited flexibility. When in position the sleeve allows controlled pouring from the plastic bottle with one hand. Typical examples of soft walled plastic bottles are those generally used by soft-drink manufacturers which contain 1 litre of liquid or more. The sleeve may be made from metal, plastics, wood, cardboard, glass or ceramic material. <IMAGE>

Description

Backaround of Invention.

Many liquids, e,g beverages and soft drinks, are sold in large cylindrical plastic bottles which are quite flexible by nature.

The bottles are only sturdy and relatively rigid when full and sealed.

Once the top is removed, however, the flexibility of the bottle is then restored and the controlled pouring of the contents then becomes difficult. In particular, it is generally impossible to carefully pour out the contents holding the bottle with one hand, especially with bottle volumes greater than 1.5 litres.

The purpose of this invention is to describe a tight fitting sleeve or tube which when placed onto the bottle allows the controlled pouring of the contents with one hand.

Prior Art.

The problem of contolling pouring from plastic receptacles has been known for some time. Generally, however, the problem has been approached by designing a plastic container with an associated receptacle.

French patent application, FR 2013654, describes a container which has projections for engagement with corresponding holes in the external supporting shell. European patent application, EP 498123, describes a plastic bottle moulded with a mounting position for a handle. The European patent application, EP 525908, describes a container with projections which is inserted into a box-like rigid supporting shell which then grips the container. US patent 4629598 describes a method for forming a plastic bottle with an integral handle.

In each case the prior art attempts to solve the pouring problem by linking the shape of the container with the support.

The present invention does not require that the bottle be manufactured with the associated support. The sleeve or tube described in this invention allows the pouring of the contents, for example, from the commercially available 1 litre to 2.5 litre plastic bottle types, with one hand. The ability to pour the contents of the bottles in a controlled manner is achieved without the necessity to modify the container. Pouring from plastic bottles which are currently available, e.g those containing soft drinks, are adequately controlled by using this invention.

Tubular plastic sleeves, primarily for use in labelling bottles, are mentioned in US 4325762 and US 4302275, for example.

However, these sleeves do not support the plastic container to enable pouring. Whilst the sleeve or tube of the present invention can obviously also be utilised as a label or printed with advertising or any other such informative material, the purpose of the present invention is to ensure controlled pouring and not to be purely a sleeve label.

Summarv of the invention According to this invention controlled pouring with one hand is enabled by fitting a tight fitting tube or sleeve over the commonly available re-cyclable soft drinks plastic bottles. The invention aids pouring from bottle sizes containing, in the range, 1 litre to 3 litres of liquid. The larger the volume the more difficult the bottle is to hold with one hand when full, however the invention is still useful for these larger bottles as the contents diminish. The sleeve or tube is to have the same internal diameter as the external diameter of the bottle. It must be close fitting when placed on the bottle. It can be placed on the bottle before opening, or preferably, it is placed on the bottle after the internal pressure is released by loosening the cap. It is re-usable, for the same bottle size. It can be plain or decorated in some way, e.g. with a company logo or other advertising material.

The invention can be fashioned out of materials which are rigid, such as wood, plastics, glass, ceramics or out of materials with some limited flexibility but which are still sturdy, such as metal or cardboard.

The height of the tube or sleeve can be any convenient measure, but it has been found useful for the height to be approximately about one handsbreadth.

Examples, which in no way limit the invention are: A 1.5 litre soft drink cylindrical recyclable plastic bottle is supportable and pourable using one hand by a metal sleeve with an internal diameter of 8.8 cms. and a height of 7.5 cms.

A 2 litre soft drink cylindrical recyclable plastic bottle is supportable and pourable using one hand by a metal sleeve with an internal diameter of 9.9 cms. and a height of 9.5 cms.

Claims

1) A sleeve or tube which enables controlled pouring with one hand of a liquid from a cylindrical soft walled plastic bottle.

2) A sleeve or tube as claimed in claim 1 which is made from any convenient rigid or semi-rigid material.

3) A sleeve or tube as claimed in claim 2 which is tight fitting to the bottle by having an internal diameter equal to the external diameter of the bottle and which has a maximum height approximately corresponding to the label length on the bottle.

4) A sleeve or tube as claimed in claim 3 with a height of between 7 cms and 11 cms.

5) A sleeve or tube as claimed in claim one made from either metal, plastic, wood, cardboard, glass or ceramic.