WO1995009112A1

WO1995009112A1 - Container and building block

Info

Publication number: WO1995009112A1
Application number: PCT/DK1994/000349
Authority: WO
Inventors: W. Claus Silfverberg
Original assignee: Envirodan Aps
Priority date: 1993-09-27
Filing date: 1994-09-20
Publication date: 1995-04-06
Also published as: DK108393D0

Abstract

Container and building block having interlocking sections and at least two sides fit together through a fitting device, which fitting device may be double-coated and self adhesive tape with a peal-off tape or hooks.

Description

Container and building block

Objectives of the invention

The primary object of the present invention is to add va¬ lue to a product by designing its container, for a minor extra cost, to function as a building block.

After the product is consumed the container may thus be used as a toy, made into sheds, walls, chairs, tables, displays or the like constructions. The added value is expected to increase consumers* preferences and loyalty, and thus increasing retail sales.

The second object of the present invention is to provide a preservation aid to the public. Reducing the milk, jui¬ ce, and other containers trash on a national basis, can reduce the amount of solid waste disposal.

The third object of the present invention is to reduce the need for wrapping products standing on a pallet, to reduce the space storage requirement, and level of brea¬ kage at the distribution, retailing and consumer level.

Other objects of the present invention are to create a container design which is easy to recognize, which makes the product look bigger than it actually is, and repre¬ sents a more permanent advertising media.

HEET State of the art

An environmental building block container system is known from the United States patent number 4,624,383. This in¬ vention is based on a tongue and groove construction of a pair of opposing sides, combined with top and bottom mounting means and special corner pieces. This allow the containers to be built into semi-rigid structures.

This system is, however, rather expensive to manufacture. The tongues and grooves risk provoking the containers to stick together by accident at the filling and the distri¬ bution level. The tongues and grooves are likely to pro¬ duce a considerable amount of friction when pushed into one another, and thus making the building blocks difficult to play or work with.

Special advantages related to this invention

Without any of the disadvantages just mentioned, this in¬ vention produces containers which, at a minor extra cost, may be reused as easy-to-use building blocks for erection of bonded and joint-free constructions, e.g. construction toys for kids.

The invention fulfils the objectives mentioned above.

Means to achieve the special advantages

This invention obtains its special advantages through the application of the following 3 principles:

SUBSTITUTE SHEET 1) the container has tops and bottoms with interlocking sections with practically the same size and shape. See fig. 1 and 2.

2) the container has a minimum of two sides fitting toge¬ ther or which may be brought to fit together through the intervention of a separate mechanical fitting. See fig. 1 and 13 respectively.

3) the container is fitted with double-coated self- adhesive tape, and/or with a separate mechanical fitting with hooks. See fig. 5 and 13. The double-coated self- adhesive tape may be applied to the container as an integrated part of a peal-off type label.

Effects of using the 3 principles

When these 3 principles are applied to a container, then the empty containers may be re-used as building blocks for the erection of do-it-yourself, jointfree and bonded constructions, e.g. construction toys for children. Please refer to fig. 1 to 6.

Principle 1 makes the containers capable of stacking in a compact and stable manner. The male part of the container may be placed either in the top or in the bottom of the container. See e.g. fig. 1 and 11.

Principle 2 and 3 permit the containers to be transformed into building blocks by making them stick together, either by means of the self-adhesive tape or by means of the se-parate mechanical fitting. See fig. 6 and 13.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET Two or more empty containers are assembled to one perma¬ nent, easy-to-use building block - with two or more tops and bottoms fitting into one another - by removing the peal-off label, exposing the double-coated self-adhesive tape, and by pressing the containers against one-another, possibly using a desk surface and a wall as holds.

The tops and bottoms of the containers are not necessari¬ ly the tops and bottoms of the building block. The tops and bottoms of the containers may become the fitting si¬ des of the building blocks.

The building blocks may be of many sizes and shapes. With 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. tops, angles, crosses, bends - depending on the form of the original container.

The small building blocks, consisting of e.g. 100-150 ml containers, may be used for small size model construc¬ tions. The big building blocks, consisting of e.g. 250 ml-1500 ml containers, may be used for indoor or outdoor con-struction of full-size objects, e.g. full-size play houses, sheds, interior walls, stools, tables, and dis¬ plays. See figure 7. For more permanent constructions the building blocks may be glued together.

The individual container may also be of any size and sha¬ pe - from quite small containers (e.g. 100 ml) to quite big containers (e.g. 200 litres) - e.g. bottles, jars, boxes, cups, pails, and drums. Given the indicated mini¬ mum 2 fit-ting sides, the shape of the container may be of any kind, e.g. triangular, round, elliptic, or even zigzag.

SUBSTITUTESHEET Various production processes based on new and regenerated materials may also be used to manufacture the containers, but primarily by injection blow-moulding, injection moulding, blow moulding based on PET, PE and PS plastics. Fig. 8 to 13 show some examples, but first a brief description of what the drawings represent.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET Brief description of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of a container having an interlocking top (1) and matching sides (2) mounted with a peal-off label (3) covering a double-coated self-adhe¬ sive tape.

Fig. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the container of Fig. l showing an interlocking bottom (4) .

Fig. 3 is a cut-through side view of the container of Fig. l showing the top (1) and bottom (4) interlocking sections.

Fig. 4 is a top perspective view of the container of Fig. 1 showing the label (3) being pealed off, revealing the double-coated and self-adhesive tape (5) .

Fig. 5 is a top perspective view of a cut-through, combi¬ ned double-coated self-adhesive tape, and peal-off label, which consist of a silicone-coated liner (6) , a double- coated film (7) with water-based acrylic adhesive, and a single-coated label (8) .

Fig. 6 is a top perspective view of 2 containers of Fig. 1 showing how they stick together and transform into a buil-ding block with 2 interlocking tops (1) and bottoms (4) , by the use of double-coated self-adhesive tape (5) .

Fig. 7 is a front perspective view of a number of building blocks forming a jointfree (9) and bonded (10) construction.

SUBSTITUTESHEET Fig. 8 is a top perspective view of a draft for an oc- tago-nal bottle or jar, and a piece of construction made from this type of container.

Fig. 9 is a top perspective view of a draft for a round container with a cut-out half moon permitting the assem¬ bly of two bottles to one building block, and a piece of a construction made from this type of containers.

Fig. 10 is a top perspective view of a draft for a smaller container having a small plastic and/or aluminium coated hole (11) in its top. Before consumption the folio covering the hole is perforated by a straw (12) .

Fig. 11 is a top perspective and cut-through view of a draft for a box with a "female" lid and a "male" inter- loc-king bottom.

Fig. 12 is a top perspective view of a draft for a cup with a "female" top opening and a "male" interlocking bot-tom, and an example of a construction made from this type of container.

Fig. 13 is a top perspective view of a draft for a round container assembled by means of a separate fitting (13) mounted either with double-coated self-adhesive tape or with mechanical hooks penetrating the sides of the two containers forming a building block.

Fig. 14 is a cut-through side view of an octagonal, injection blow-moulded, 0.5 litre, PET bottle with a double cap (14) .

SUBSTITUTESHEET Fig. 15 is a cut-through side view of an octagonal, injection blow-moulded, 0.5 litre, PET jar with a double cap, showing the plane sides (15) of the container.

Fig. 16 is a bottom view of the fig. 14 and fig. 15 con¬ tainer showing the octagonal form (16) and the 3° angle edges (17) of the container.

Fig. 17 is a cut-through side view of an octagonal, injection blow-moulded, 1 litre PET bottle with a double cap, showing the interlocking system (18) , the horizontal feet (19) and "shoulders" of the container, as well as the click system consisting of a hole in the bottom (20) and a matching knot (21) on the top of the interlocking system.

Fig. 18 is a draft of a cut-through playhouse made from building blocks according to this invention. The drawing also shows accessory elements such as a bookshelf (22) , a desk- or stooltop (23) , a window (24) , a roof (25) , a door (26) , and a floor (27) . The elements may be made from sin-gle or laminated vacuum formed plastics.

Fig. 19 is a draft of play-car made from building blocks made according to this invention. The drawing also shows two accessories: a support (28) and wheel (29) element, and a steering- wheel (30) element. The support element has the same shape as a building block, only is it made from a stronger material than the normal containers, e.g. ABS or PC.

Fig. 20 shows containers with an accessory packaging sheet (31) .

SUBSTITUTESHEET A Few Examples of Possible Embodiments

Fig. 8: Octagonal bottle or jar, suitable for products to be consumed over a period of time. Made with e.g. PET pla-stic. Suitable for e.g. soda water, milk, chocolate- milk, drinking yoghurt, lemonade, juice, spreads, marmalade, and paint.

Fig. 9: Round container with a cut-out half moon, permit¬ ting assembling of two bottles to one building block. Instead of a cut-out moon, one may also have a cut-out zig-zag shape. Same applications as Figure 8. This type of container could also be produced as an aluminium can for beer and soda water.

Fig. 10: Typically smaller containers in PE or PET, with a small opening in the top, covered by plastic folio to be perforated by a straw. Suitable for one-time consumption of liquids are for instance milkshakes and juices.

Fig. 11: Box with a "female" lid, typically in injection moulded plastic - suitable for liquids and non-liquids to be consumed over a period of time , e.g. paints, candies, cookies, snacks, and chips. This type of container could also be manufactured as an aluminium can for beer and soda water. Once the lid is removed, the open top container will function as a normal drinking glass.

Fig. 12: Small, open top container, e.g. made by injection moulded plastic, and to be covered by a folio. Suitable for one-time consumptions, e.g. ice-cream or yoghurt.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET Fig. 13: Ordinary round, stackable bottle with separate, e.g. injection moulded fitting, permitting two bottles to be assembled to one building block.

SUBSTITUTESHEET A detailed description

Other positive effects of this invention will appear from the following detailed description of a family of speci¬ fic containers manufactured on the basis of this inven¬ tion.

Before explaining the disclosed embodiments of the speci¬ fic family of containers in detail, it is to be under¬ stood that the invention is not limited in its applica¬ tion to the details of the particular arrangements shown, since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used is for the purpose of descrip¬ tion and not of limitation.

Fig. 14, 15, and 16 represent a family of octagonal, in¬ jection blow-moulded PET containers with double caps, and where the family members are inter-stackable, as contai¬ ners and as building blocks.

Fig. 14: 0.5 litre bottle, suitable for e.g. soda water, milk, chocolate-milk, drinking yoghurt, lemonade, and juice.

Fig. 15: 0.5 litre jar, suitable for e.g. spreads (choc¬ olate, peanut butter) , marmalade, candies, and coffee. Recycled PET may be used for the production of e.g. paint-pails.

Fig. 16: 1 litre jar, suitable for e.g. yoghurts, or a 1 litre bottle, suitable for e.g. milk, chocolate-milk, soda water, limonades, and juices.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET All family members have the following characteristics:

The octagonal form shown in Fig. 15, (16) makes the con¬ tainer:

a) easy to produce with little risk of important varia¬ tions in the thickness of the material (approx. 0,2 mm) .

b) a stabile construction with limited amount of material used.

c) more ergonomic than a square or rectangular container to lift, hold and to pour from.

d) have an unusual design which, after some time on the market, will signal to the consumer that this product's container may be re-used as a building block.

e) have stiff and plane sides which are ideal for making the double-coated self-adhesive tape function as a way to make two or more bottles stick together and thus be transformed into a building block.

f) a creative form to play with, i.e. you may make not on-ly the 90° turns which are possible with rectangular shapes but also 45° turns.

The 3 mm sharp radius on the edges (17) of the octagonal form shown in Fig. 16 result in:

SUBSTITUTESHEET a) a stabile construction with limited amount of material used - a top load of minimum 12 kg is guaranteed with the 0.5 and 1 litre containers shown.

b) a building block where it is not too easy to separate the individual containers by squeezing your fingers in between.

The manufacturing process and plastic resin used, i.e. in-jection blow-moulding and PET, makes the container:

a) flexible with respect to applications - e.g. soda water, drinking yoghurts, and concentrated lemonades.

b) light weight, approx. 40 gr., and thus less expensive to transport and handle than e.g. glass bottles. In those countries where the environmental taxes are based on wei¬ ght, the light PET bottles have an extra cost advantage compared to glass. In case the empty building block is too light for construction purposes, especially outdoor, the building brick may be filled, partly or fully, with

, water, isolating expanded foam, an old newspaper, earth, sand, or cement.

c) nice to look at and to touch, due to its smooth and brilliant surface without any scars from the production process. The PET resin may have nearly any colour desi¬ red.

d) less breakable, compared to a glass bottle.

e) have the possibility of the matching (plane) sides (15) , permitting 2 or more containers to be transformed into one building block by means of the self-adhesive tape.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET f) easy to clean before assembling as a building block. Especially containers having been used for milk product, should be thoroughly rinsed before being transformed into a playtoy.

g) stabile from -30° to +70-80° C.

h) a possibility of integrating crash-lines in the con¬ struction, along which the container may be collapsed to take up lesser space during recycling. The crash-lines should only function when the container is exposed to a weight from a different angle than those from which the container is normally loaded.

The basic dimensions, W 78 mm x H 125 mm, make the con¬ tainer:

a) fit exactly with 10x15 or 150 bottles per layer on an Euro-pallet measuring 80x120 cm; and fit in a normal size hand.

b) constitute a family of products: , 1, and 1% litre, all stackable and matching together, e.g. in the consu¬ mer's refrigerator, cupboard, and once emptied, as build¬ ing blocks for construction purposes.

c) possible to construct within reasonable time full-size objects such as playhouses, sheds, interior walls, stool- s, tables, display systems, etc. Complementing construc¬ tion and playtoy elements may be offered for sale to con¬ firmed consumers - returning pealed-off labels.

SUBSTITUTESHEET The steep angle and the small top radius of the top and bottom interlocking system (18) combined with the horizontal "feet" and "shoulders" (19) of the container, make the product:

a) lock sideways and stack in a very robust and compact manner - and thus save space and reduce need for wrapping material. The risk of breakage anywhere during the life- cycle of the product and the empty container is also re¬ duced.

b) appear bigger than it actually is, due to the hole in the bottom.

The holes in the bottom (20) and the matching knots (21) on the cap produce:

a) a "click" sound when the containers or building blocks are placed on top of one another, and thus secure the con-sumer everything is alright.

b) a controlled friction in the interlocking system, avoi-ding e.g. sand from the playground increase the friction to a point where two building blocks may not be separated by a small child.

c) a small contribution to the stability of the stacked containers or building blocks.

The big size, double cap (14) increases:

a) the flexibility of the size of the container opening and thereby the number of applications within one family.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET b) the stability of the stacked containers or building blocks.

The bottle's combined label and self-adhesive tape is:

a) just as easy to position on the container as any other label.

b) completely odour-free and unpoisoning, as a solvent free, water-based acrylic adhesive is used.

c) drying up on its inner side towards the container be¬ fore the product is consumed, and only after the peal-off label is removed on its outer side, making 2 or more con¬ tainers stick together as one permanent building brick, i.e. errors in assembling a building block may be correc¬ ted shortly after it has been executed. A few days after the assembling of a building block, the outer side of the self-adhesive tape has tried up as well, and the building block will permanently remain one inseparable unit.

d) easy to recycle as the double-coated self-adhesive film is made from the same material as the container, i.e. po-lyester/PET. In order to absorb irregularities in the sur-face of the container, the adhesive film should not be too thin.

The high quality containers and easy-to-use building blo¬ cks, resulting from the above instructions, create:

a) as indicated above, a huge amount of applications for the re-use of containers, which until now, most frequent¬ ly has been disposed of as solid waste.

SUBSTITUTESHEET b) a new, much more permanent in time, advertising media, right at home with the consumers.

c) a basis for a new industry producing and selling com¬ plementary products, e.g. packaging material and playtoys shown in fig. 18, 19, and 20.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET

Claims

1. Container comprising a housing defining a top wall, a bottom wall, and a peripheral wall interconnecting said top and bottom walls and together therewith defining an inner chamber for receiving a solid, fluid, particulate, or powdered material, said top and bottom walls having male and female connector means for cooperating with fe¬ male and male connector means, respectively, of a housing of a further container positioned above or below said housing of said container for establishing a non-perma¬ nent connection to said housing of said further contai¬ ner, and said peripheral wall defining an outer surface segment comprising means for establishing a permanent connection to a housing of a still further container po¬ sitioned ad-jacent to said housing of said container.

2. Container according to Claim 1, said top wall con¬ stituting a top wall of a lid component of said contai¬ ner, and said peripheral wall and said bottom wall con-

, stituting a peripheral wall and a bottom wall, respecti¬ vely, of a container body, said lid component and said container body together constituting said container.

3. The container according to any of the Claims 1 or 2, said peripheral wall constituting a cylindrical wall, an ellipsoid wall, a polygonal wall, such as an octagonal wall, a hexagonal wall, a triangular wall, or a quadran¬ gular wall, or the like.

4. The container according to any of the Claims 1-3, said male connector means being provided at said top wall and said female connector means being provided at said bottom wall.

SUBSTITUTESHEET

5. The container according to any of the Claims 1-3, said male connector means being provided at said bottom wall and said female connector means being constituted by an opening of said housing opposite to said bottom wall.

6. The container according to any of the Claims 1-5, said means for establishing said permanent connection being constituted by mechanical connection means such as a con¬ nector cooperating with a similar connector of said housing of said container positioned adjacent to said housing of said container, a connector cooperating with a separate connector body, or an adhesive layer for ad¬ hering to said housing of said container positioned adja¬ cent to said housing of said container or combination thereof.

7. The container according to Claim 6, said adhesive layer being constituted by an adhesive layer initially covered by a label of said container.

8. A building block comprising two or more elements, each being constituted by a container comprising: a housing de-fining a top wall, a bottom wall, and a peripheral wall interconnecting said top and bottom walls and together therewith defining an inner chamber, said top and bottom walls having male and female connector means for cooperating with female and male connector means, re¬ spectively, of housings of a further building block positioned above or below said housings of said two or more elements of said building block for establishing a non-permanent connection between said building block, and said housings of said containers of said building block

SUBSTITUTE SHEET being connected together in a permanent connection esta¬ blished through means provided at outer surface segments of said housings of said containers.

9. The building block according to Claim 8, said building block constituting a construction toy.

10. The building block according to Claim 8 or 9, further comprising any of the features of the container according to any of the Claims 2-7.

11. A label for use on a container, comprising an adhesive tape including a support foil provided with adhesive coa-tings for establishing permanent connection to an adjacent container surface, and a label foil constituting a release foil of one of said surface coatings of said adhesive tape.

12. An accessory element to be used in connection with a plurality of containers comprising any of the features of the container according to any of the claims 1-7, cojn- prising: a plate element defining a circumferential rim, and two or more connector elements for cooperating with said connector means of said containers, said connector elements being provided at said rim, or alternatively compri-sing: a support element, a wheel element supported by said support element, and a connector element suppor¬ ted by said support element for cooperating with said connector means of one of said containers.

13. an accessory element according to claim 12, said plate element constituting a packaging sheet or plate, a shelf, a wall, a window, a roof, a door, a floor, or the like, or combinations thereof.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET