GB2572581A

GB2572581A - A containing device

Info

Publication number: GB2572581A
Application number: GB1805491.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Evans Adrian
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-04-04
Filing date: 2018-04-04
Publication date: 2019-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 2038-04-04
Also published as: GB201805491D0; GB2572581B

Abstract

A containing device 99 comprises corner walls 5 and main walls 4 between a base 3 and an opening 1. The opening has a sealing closure 18 (such as a screw cap) and the walls 4, 5 comprise multi-planar substantially rigid bellow faces. The walls 4, 5 are arranged to move from a first extended position where two adjacent faces are separated by an oblique angled joint to a second collapsed position where two adjacent faces are separated by an acute angled joint. The walls may comprise upper and lower faces and the upper faces of the main walls 4 may fold against upper faces of the corner walls 5 into the second position.

Description

The present invention relates to a containing device, in particular a device formed of recyclable material; more particularly but not exclusively a thermoplastics container for fluids.

Background

Increasing awareness is prevalent in many societies of the requirements of sustainability and the environment. However many items in many societies are more conveniently packaged in materials such as thermoplastics, for example mineral water or soft drinks.

In particular, many users wish to recycle or reuse goods and items as much as possible, and/or significant societal structures and incentives are in place to accomplish mass recycling, particularly for thermoplastics.

This is seen as preferable to placing single- or limited-use items into garbage or incineration. However, some items that are in fact recyclable readily, such as drink bottles, typically formed in PET (polyethylene terephthalate), after use may be difficult to compact, either therefore discouraging compacting by the user, and often thereby discouraging recycling, or causing significant wastage of space and energy caused by processing of the items.

Prior Art

KR 2007 0 096 271 (HIGUCHI) discloses a PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottle capable of being expanded or contracted in a vertical direction to reduce its height of by children or old persons. The PET bottle body is made of resin material with flexibility such as PET resin and provided with an inlet unit formed at the upper end. The side peripheral part of the PET bottle body is formed into a horizontal or oblique bellows shaped part. An upper of a cross section of each crease forming the bellows part is formed straight and a lower side is curved downward.

JP 09 301 371 (NISHIKAWA) discloses a container with a body part of a cylindrical container main body made of a synthetic resin, a bellows part which can be compressed in the vertical direction. The bellows part is formed on the body part excepting the top and the bottom parts of a PET bottle-form container main body in which a beverage such as juice, soft drink and sport drink, is housed. This bellows part is formed extending to the approx, total length excepting the top and the bottom parts of the container main body, and by the existence of the bellows parts, the container main body can be compressed in the vertical direction. The container main body normally keeps the bellows part stretched, and is filled with a specified amount of a beverage. After the beverage in the container main body has been drunk, the bellows part may be placed into a compressed state by depressing the container main body from the top and the bottom by hands, etc.

US 4 790 361 (JONES) discloses a collapsible carbonated beverage container formed with a plurality of collapsible corrugations which allow collapse of the container. The corrugations include planar regions which provide a surface for attachment of a label, and which serve as a hinge about which the corrugations collapse after the contents have been removed. The structure of the corrugations provides axial stability to prevent flopping-over. After liquid is removed from the container, the container is axially collapsed and the top resealed, thereby preserving carbonation in the beverage.

The present invention arose in order to overcome problems suffered by existing devices.

Summary of the Invention

According to the present invention there is provided a containing device comprising corner walls and main walls, between a base and an opening, the opening having a sealing closure and the walls comprising multi-planar substantially rigid bellow faces, wherein the walls are arranged to move from a first extended position where two adjacent faces are separated by an oblique angled joint to a second collapsed position where two adjacent faces are separated by an acute angled joint.

In some embodiments the device comprises a flexible sleeve arranged to fit over at least some of the faces and provide a surface for display of information.

In some embodiments the adjacent faces are substantially coplanar in the first position.

In some embodiments the adjacent faces are substantially parallel in the second position.

In some embodiments the device comprises main walls and corner walls for example wherein the corner walls comprise narrower walls and the main walls comprise wider walls. In some embodiments the main walls are parallel or perpendicular, for example in a square or rectangular section device.

In some such embodiments the corner walls and main walls comprise different characteristics, for example strength required locally to collapse the faces to the second position. This may be in addition to or as a result of width or depth of wall, for example in some embodiments the corner walls may comprise thicker material, and/or different material.

In some such embodiments the main walls and corner walls may share material, for example wherein an ‘inner’ face of a corner wall may comprise an ‘outer’ face of a main wall, and vice versa.

Advantageously in this way the arrangement of the device enables a different collapse speed or style at the main walls and at the corner walls, such that a collapse does not continue along or affect more than one plane or side of the device at any time automatically, whereby the corner walls serve as breaks in the main wall collapse and as a consequence the walls may be collapsed sequentially, with greater control.

Advantageously this may enable the device to be moved from the first to the second position smoothly and evenly, wherein circular section cylinders may tend towards uneven crumpling.

In some embodiments where the walls are separated by vertical corners, the corners may comprise sufficient material weight to define a joint strength difference between the wider main walls and narrower corner walls and thereby provide structure to the positions, and/or a different collapse characteristic to the corner walls.

In some embodiments the sleeve is wholly displaceable, for example for recycling separation purposes.

The sleeve may be recyclable material, such as cardboard or pulled paper or fibre.

The device may comprise PET (polyethylene terephthalate), or other recyclable opaque, translucent or transparent material.

The sleeve may comprise the same or similar material, for example in order that the device may avoid separation for recycling.

The device may comprise walls that are multi-planar and multifaceted and arranged to stretch from adjacent the opening to adjacent the base. In this way the device may be easily and effectively minimised in height.

The sleeve may be adhered or bonded to the walls, for example in a number of places. The adhesive may be applied in a support or spot arrangement.

The walls may be formed with a corrugated pattern or otherwise comprise raised and lowered portions, wherein movement from the first to the second position comprises rearrangement of the planes of the raised and lowered portions towards parallel wall faces into the second position.

In some embodiments the walls are biased towards the second position, where the device will contract when empty.

The walls may comprise a plurality of spaced apart horizontal outer joints and joint channels for increasing lateral wall strength of the device.

The device may thereby comprise at least two transversal joints and/or channels, located in the walls and defining the faces, optionally with at least some of the joints or channels being each equipped with at least two or more collapsing locations.

Some embodiments may comprise a neck, and some embodiments may comprise a pumping or valve neck, for example such as a sports bottle.

In some embodiments during use, as the liquid flows out of the device through the opening, it may be envisaged that the device gradually collapses axially reducing its volume with respect to its original shape, wherein the collapsing occurs as result of the force generated by atmospheric pressure due to the difference between external and internal pressure.

In some embodiments the device may have a partially collapsed third position when said consumable material is partially depleted and a fully collapsed configuration when the consumable material is nearly depleted.

It may be envisaged in some embodiments that a sufficient hand force axially applied may collapse the device so that a level of fluid remains proximate to the opening and therefore easily extracted from the expandable device.

In some embodiments the base may comprise an indent, which may extend upwards from an annular peripheral basal part defining a contact plane, and which indent may enable the devices to be stacked in some embodiments.

The opening may be provided centrally, with a neck providing a slope to the top of the walls.

In some embodiments the walls reach from adjacent the neck or at the perimeter thereof to the adjacent the base or at the perimeter thereof, so as to provide a minimal height in the second position.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the Figures in which:

Brief Description of Figures

Figure 1a shows a first embodiment of the device according to the present invention, in a first extended position;

Figure 1b shows the embodiment of the device shown in Figure 1a, in a second collapsed position;

Figure 2 shows a reverse isometric view of the embodiment of the device as shown in Figure 1a;

Figure 3 shows a reverse isometric view of the embodiment of the device as shown in Figure 1b;

Figures 4 show isometric views of corners of a second embodiment of the device according to the present invention;

Figures 5 show a detail isometric view of a corner of a third embodiment of the device according to the present invention, and a detail isometric view of two corners of the third embodiment, respectively;

Figures 6 show diagrammatic isometric views of a corner of the embodiment shown in Figure 1;

Figures 7 show a diagrammatic view of the angles associated with embodiments such as an octagonal embodiment, respectively;

Figures 8a shows a diagrammatic view of the angles associated with embodiments such as a hexagonal embodiment and Figure 8b shows a diagrammatic top down view of an octagonal embodiment;

Figures 9 show sketches of a square embodiment’s corner, a hexagonal embodiment’s corner and an octagonal embodiment’s corner, respectively;

And

Figure 10a shows a sketch of an isometric view of an octagonal embodiment of the wall of a device according to the present invention and Figure 10b shows a sketch of a top view of the embodiment shown in Figure 10a.

Detailed Description of Figures

With reference to the embodiment shown in Figure 1 there is generally shown a containing device 99 comprising corner walls 5 and main walls 4 between a base 3 and an opening 1, the opening 1 having a sealing closure 18 and the walls comprising multi-planar substantially rigid bellow faces, wherein the walls are arranged to move from a first extended position where two adjacent faces 44, 45 or 54, 55 are separated by an oblique angled joint 13 to a second collapsed position where two adjacent faces are separated by an acute angled joint 33 as shown in Figure 1b.

In particular reference to the embodiments shown in the figures the device comprises an opening arranged with a screw thread collar 15 for standardised size screw threaded caps 18, as known in the art. The embodiments are formed in PET thermoplastics, being ideally readily recyclable in many societies.

The device of the embodiment is of a substantially square shape, arranged to extend at a fixed width from the opening 1 to the base 3 and having radiused corners when viewed in plan or section.

The base 3 of the device comprises a flat lower surface on its bottom.

In this way a middle section of the device between the opening and base has an axially compressible zone comprising circumferential parallel joints 13.

Each joint 13,33 of the main walls has an upper fold face 55 which widens out funnelshaped downwards, and a lower fold face 54 which widens out funnel- shaped upwards.

Each joint 13,33 of the corner walls has an upper fold face 45 which widens out funnel-shaped downwards, and a lower fold face 44 which widens out funnel- shaped upwards.

In all three embodiments the device comprises corner walls and main walls, wherein the main walls are arranged as two orthogonal sets of parallel walls, and the corner walls comprise two sets of parallel substantially narrower walls, which are arranged vertically extending along planes at 45 degrees to the main wall planes.

In the first embodiment the action and composition of collapse is combined between the corner and main walls. In particular as shown in Figure 6 the main wall faces 54, 55 tuck into the, and substantially against the, corresponding corner wall faces 44, 45 when the embodiment moves to the second position.

In this way the collapse of the corner walls differs from the collapse of the main walls. As a result the walls are arranged to allow collapse in a more regulated manner. In this way the device may be more easily and effectively collapsed.

For example, such a collapse does not continue along or affect more than one plane or side of the device at any time automatically, whereby the corner walls serve as breaks in the main wall collapse and as a consequence the walls may be collapsed sequentially and/or with greater control.

In reference to the second embodiment the main walls are substantially planar and the corner walls are multi-planar, comprising transversal collapse locations with acute angled faces every other joint, creating double width channels.

The vertical corner between the corner walls and main walls comprises a substantially vertical plane, orthogonal to the channels of the corner wall.

In reference to the third embodiment the corner has faces that comprise a substantially vertical plane, at 45 degrees to the channels 12 of the corner wall.

The corner comprises a joint 31 extending between the corner walls and the main walls, wherein said joint comprises upper faces and lower faces, arranged at 45 degrees, with 135 degree folds.

With reference to Figures 7 to 10 there are shown differing forms of construction of the corners, walls and faces, comprising different numbers of planes and the associated angles. Two control angles Θ1 and 06 are specified wherein 01 controls the distance of corner tips moving centrally into the second position and 06 controls the number of corners and the length of chamfered corners, and the ratio of this number to side length, in part.

In order for the part to form a closed loop when looking top down the sum of angle changes at 03 total 360 degrees, and for each corner the sum of angle changes is 2(90-03). Thus, 3601 2(90- 03) must equal an integer in order to correctly close the loop. The integer value will dictate the number of corners in the embodiment. Thus, in a four corner embodiment, 360 12(90- 03) = 4 implies 2(90- 03) = 90 degrees and so 03 = 45 degrees. Thus, 2 03+ 06 = 180 degrees which implies that 06 = 90 degrees for an embodiment that is four sided square with corners chamfered.

In this way a system of formation of the embodiments may be constructed in a range of shapes, following these rules.

By applying logic, namely that angles at a straight continuous edge must total 180 degrees, and interior angles of a triangle total 180 degrees the following equations may be formed:

1) 90 degrees + 01 + 02 + 03 = 180 degrees therefore 01 + 02 + 03 = 90 degrees

2) 02 + 04 + 01 + 02 + 035 = 180 degrees

3) 90 degrees 01 + 07 = 180 degrees therefore 07 = 90 degrees - 01

4) 07 + 04 = 180 degrees therefore following 3) above, 04 = 90 degrees + 01

5) 203 + 06 = 180 degrees

6) 2 05 + 06 = 180 degrees

7) Thus, following 5 and 6 above, 03 = 05 = 90 degrees - ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7}Λ 06

8) And combining 1 and 7 above 02 = 90 degrees - Θ1 - Θ3 = 90 degrees - Θ1 (90 degrees - ¹/2 06) = ¹/2θ6 - Θ1.

In this way be equations 3, 4 and 7 above it is possible to reduce the variables in system 02, Θ3, 04, 05 and 07 to simplify dependant functions of Θ1 and 06, with the added constraint that 06 > 2 Θ1 in order to maintain a common sensical condition that 02 must be positive.

The invention has been described by way of examples only and it will be appreciated that variation may be made to the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the scope of invention as defined by the claims, in particular but not solely combination of features of described embodiments.

Claims

1. A containing device comprising corner walls and main walls, between a base and an opening, the opening having a sealing closure and the walls comprising multi-planar substantially rigid bellow faces, wherein the walls are arranged to move from a first extended position where two adjacent faces are separated by an oblique angled joint to a second collapsed position where two adjacent faces are separated by an acute angled joint.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the walls comprise upper faces and lower faces.

3. A device according to claim 2 wherein the upper faces of the main walls fold against the upper faces of the corner walls into the second position.

4. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the walls are arranged along discrete linear planes.

5. A device according to claim 4 wherein the corner wall plane is arranged at 45 degrees to the main wall plane.

6. A device according to any preceding claim comprising a flat base.

7. A device according to any preceding claim that is square with radiused corners in a substantially continuous horizontal section.

8. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the sealing closure comprises a screw thread collar and cap opening.

9. A device according to any preceding claim substantially or wholly formed in recyclable thermoplastics.

10. A device according to any preceding claim with a flexible sleeve arranged to fit over at least some of the faces and provide a surface for display of information