WO2014185800A1

WO2014185800A1 - Set comprising bottle with straw and false bottom and method for making a drink with gel flavour balls using it

Info

Publication number: WO2014185800A1
Application number: PCT/PL2014/050024
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jan ZARĘBSKI
Original assignee: Nata Teresa Zarębska
Priority date: 2013-05-15
Filing date: 2014-05-13
Publication date: 2014-11-20
Also published as: EP2996962B1; ES2650289T3; PL223971B1; EP2996962A1; PL403893A1

Abstract

The subject of the invention is a set comprising a bottle with straw and false bottom, with a cavity in the bottom part of bottle (1) body covered from the outside by false bottom (2) which, once mounted on bottle (1) creates space (6) to place a container with additional, solid, soluble drink components. The bottle (1) contains a vertical groove (1) along the entire height of its cylindrical surface to hold a straw (3). False bottom (2) includes circumference pocket (5) to hold the bottom section of straw (3), so that bottle (1) with false bottom (2) can accommodate a straight straw (3) with length exceeding the depth of bottle (1), the entire bottle (1) with straw (3) and false bottom (2) is protected using shrink wrap foil (7) with perforations and/or a tape connecting along the entire circumference where bottle (1) meets bottom (2). The invention also includes a method for manufacture of the drink with gel flavour balls for retail distribution making use of bottle with straw and false bottom set.

Description

SET COMPRISING BOTTLE WITH STRAW AND FALSE BOTTOM AND METHOD FOR MAKING A DRINK WITH GEL FLAVOUR BALLS USING IT

The subject of the invention is a set comprising a bottle with straw and false bottom as well as a method for making a drink with gel flavour balls using the bottle with false bottom and straw set intended for drinks with gel flavour balls distributed within the scope of retail trade.

Drinks with gel flavour balls known as "bubble drink" have recently become very popular. They usually constitute tea based drinks with special flavour additives in the form of balls in a gel coating known as "tapioca" These balls found at the bottom of the drink and are sucked up together with the drink using a straw large enough to let the balls pass through and then chewed in the mouth. This creates a unique flavour combination, particularly attractive for children and teenagers due to the opportunity of combining two different flavours and an original format of the drink. In its classic form the drink with gel balls is prepared in cafeterias and should be consumed within 30 minutes of the balls being combined with the liquid as after that time the gel coating softens up and the contents of the gel balls will dissolve in the drink, diminishing its attractiveness. The specific form of the gel balls prevents the sale of the drink together with submerged balls in retail shops and is only available in cafeterias. Packaging is sought which will facilitate selling the drink together with the balls packaged separately and which could then be combined with the drink directly before consumption. Such packaging should also include a straw of appropriate diameter and length so that the balls could be sucked up from the bottom of the container together with the drink. Patent US2012 / 0298676 describes a container for sports drinks or food with an additional space for additional accessories. There is no embodiment of this invention with a facility for a straw through which the drink with gel flavour balls could be consumed. On the other hand patent application US2004 / 0226904 refers to a drink container in the form of a bottle. The bottle includes a cavity in one wall for an additional container within which a snack could be placed. In this manner the customer is provided with a drink and a snack in one packaging. The cavity in the drink packaging reduces bottle capacity which reduces the potential quantity of the supplied drink. Furthermore, the bottle does not include a straw. Utility model protective specification PL19044 refers to a bottle with a surprise which is filled with children's drinks. The bottle with a surprise in the lower section of its body includes a cavity covered from the outside, with a snap opening and closing bottom with a hollow. Once the bottom is sitting in the body of the bottle a hollow is created to hold surprises - toys. When sold, the bottle is covered with a shrink wrap foil which needs to be removed prior to opening the bottom of the bottle. Such a bottle structure does not include a facility for a special straw for a drink with gel balls. Patent application US2012/0145571 presents a plastic bottle, with a groove on its side which forms a space to hold a straw. The groove is constructed so that the entire straw fits inside and no part of the straw extends beyond the outline of the bottle. Such a solution protects the straw against damage during transport in collective packaging. However, this solution does not include a second container which could be used to supply the drink's gel balls. Furthermore, the straw length would not be sufficient to reach the bottom of the bottle which is necessary for the correct consumption of the drink with gel flavour balls. Patent description US3332567 presented a drink container in the form of a cup or bottle which includes an indent for a straw. The indent on the cup runs along its side and bottom. The straw placed in the indent has a section running along the container wall and a section in the bottom. Where the side wall meets the bottom the straw is at a 90° angle. Such a construction allows for a straw longer than the depth of the container to be included without extending beyond the container outline which reduces the risk of it being damaged during transport in collective packaging. However the container does not include space for providing drink components in the form of gel flavour balls. The 90 ⁰ angle of the straw presents an obstacle to sucking up gel balls from the bottom of the drink.

A technical problem which remains to be solved is the provision of such a container set for a drink with gel flavour balls and a method for the manufacture of the drink with gel flavour balls appropriate for retail distribution which would include a separate space for the gel balls, would be supplied with a straw of appropriate diameter and the straw would be stored in the bottle in such manner as to prevent damage during transport in collective packaging and furthermore would be of appropriate length and would be straight, without kinks and perforations. Unexpectedly these problems have found a solution in the presented invention.

The first subject of the invention is a set comprising a bottle with straw and false bottom, with a cavity in the bottom part of the body covered from the outside by a bottom which is a false bottom with which, once mounted on the bottle creates a space to place a container with the additional, solid, soluble drink components and the bottle contains a vertical groove along the entire height of the cylindrical surface to hold a straw of diameter d, and the set comprising the bottle with straw and false bottom is shrink wrapped (perforated) or held together with tape running along the entire circumference where the bottle meets the false bottom, where the false bottom includes a circumference pocket to hold the bottom section of the straw, so that the bottle with the false bottom can accommodate a straight straw with length exceeding the depth of the bottle with the middle and top section of the straw sitting entirely within the groove in the false bottom bottle.

The second subject of the invention is a method for the manufacture of the drink with gel flavour balls for retail distribution which comprises the following actions: a) the bottle with the vertical groove running along the entire length of the cylindrical surface is stretch blown into the mould on a bottle moulding machine, b) the drink is poured into the bottle in a bottling machine, c) the bottle is closed with a screw on cap, d) the straw is placed in the vertical groove of the bottle, e) shrink wrap foil is placed over the bottle which is then sent to the thermal tunnel where the foil undergoes thermal shrinking, f) drinks with gel flavour balls in the bottle with straw and false bottom sets are then packed into multipacks, where between steps a) and b) the false bottom is stretch blown into a prepared mould which includes a circumference pocket on the inside, between steps d) and e) a closed container with gel balls is placed in the false bottom and the false bottom is connected to the bottle with the straw.

The bottle with straw and false bottom set as per the invention due to its design allows to provide a drink with solid, soluble flavour additives in the form of gel balls. The false bottom includes a container with gel balls which are combined with the drink immediately before consumption. The groove in the bottle side wall and circumference pocket on the inside of the false bottom is adapted to hold a straw with a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the gel balls. The groove stretching along the bottle and the bottom circumference pocket are able to hold a straight straw which is longer that the depth of the bottle which means that it is able to reach the bottom of the bottle during consumption. Furthermore the straw does not extend beyond the outline of the bottle in the supplied set which mitigates the risk of it being damaged during transport in collective packaging.

Examples of the invention are shown on the drawing with fig. 1 depicting a frontal view of the bottle with straw and false bottom set, fig. 2 depicting side view of the cross section of the bottle with straw and false bottom set, fig. 3 depicting a front view of a shrink wrapped bottle with straw and false bottom set and fig. 4 depicting an isometric view of a shrink wrapped bottle with straw and false bottom set.

Example 1

Bottle 1 with straw 3 and false bottom 2 set in an embodiment of the invention presented in fig. 1, 2, 3 and 4 was made out of PET plastic and is of a cylindrical shape with a vertical groove 4 running along the entire surface of the bottle's cylindrical surface 1. Groove 4 is designed to hold straw 3 of appropriate diameter. The upper section of bottle 1 was crowned with a wide, 38 mm diameter neck. In lower part of bottle 1 a notch was located running along bottle 1 circumference, with bottle 1 bottom including a semi circular cavity facing the inside of bottle 1. Such a structure means that bottle 1 despite the flexible material and very thin walls made out of PET in stretch blowing technology had a relatively rigid bottom. Thanks to this, despite a small amount of PET raw material used for its manufacture, bottle 1 was stable when placed in an upright position and was appropriately prepared to connect it to plastic false bottom 2. False bottom 2 designed and made so that in its upper section it had a notch running along the inside of its circumference. False bottom 2, contained circumference pocket 5 separated by a wall running along the circumference of the inside which held the end part of straw 3 found in vertical groove 4 of the cylindrical part of bottle 1. The groove in the exterior lower part of bottle 1 and notch in the upper, interior part of false bottom 2 were designed so that once false bottom 2 was aligned with bottle 1 it snapped into place to create bottle 1 with straw 3 and false bottom 2 set. The snap mechanism was designed and made in such a way as to facilitate easy removal of false bottom 2 from bottle 1, as false bottom 2 held a special container with attractive flavour additives in the form of juices, extracts, jellies etc. contained in gel coated balls. To protect the contents of false bottom 2 against accidental, unwanted opening, entire bottle 1 with straw 3 and false bottom 2 was shrink wrapped 7 providing additional protection against false bottom 2 falling off. For shrink wrap foil 7 protection to be fully effective, bottle 1 with false bottom 2 is shaped so that it narrows from the coupling of bottle 1 with false bottom 2 to base of bottle 1 with false bottom 2. To facilitate the removal of false bottom 2 from bottle 1, shrink wrap foil 7 where bottle 1 meets false bottom 2 was perforated or joined with special tape along the entire circumference. Removal of joining tape or perforations of foil 7 covering bottle 1 made removing false bottom 2 easy in order to extract the container with gel balls placed therein. This structure, on account of false bottom 2, held a container for gel flavour balls added to the drink immediately before consumption which made it possible for this drink to be sold in shops. Structure of bottle 1 ensured that straw 3 did not extend beyond outline of bottle 1 which protected it against damage during transport in collective packaging. Circumference pocket 5 for straw 3 in false bottom 2 meant that straw 3 was of appropriate length allowing to reach gel balls on the bottom of bottle 1. The specially prepared groove 4 in bottle 1 and false bottom 2 allowed for placing a straw 3 of appropriate diameter length and one which was straight without kinks and perforations facilitating consumption of the drink with gel flavour balls.

Example 2

A method for the manufacture of the drink with gel flavour balls making use of bottle 1 with straw 3 and false bottom 2 set for retail distribution comprised the following steps: a) bottle 1 with vertical groove 4 running along the entire length of the cylindrical surface is stretch blown using PET plastic into a mould on a bottle moulding machine, b) false bottom 2 with circumference pocket 5 was stretch blown from recycled plastic into a prepared mould, c) the drink is poured into bottle 1 in a bottling machine, d) bottle 1 was closed with a screw on cap, e) straw 3 was placed in vertical groove 4 of bottle 1 during the application cycle by the use of an application robot, f) a closed container with gel balls was placed in false bottom 2, g) false bottom 2 was connected with bottle 1 with straw 3 automatically by the use of a connecting robot, h) shrink wrap foil 7 was placed over prepared bottle 1 with straw 3 and false bottom 2 set filled with drink and holding a container with gel flavour balls, and then it was sent to a thermal tunnel where foil 7 was subject to thermal shrinking, i) drinks with gel flavour balls in bottle 1 with straw 3 and false bottom 2 sets were then packed into multipacks.

The drink prepared in this manner held a separate container for gel flavour balls in the form of a false bottom 2. Flavour balls were added to the drink immediately before consumption which meant that the gel coating did not soften or dissolve. Straw 3 supplied together with the set, on account of the structure if bottle 1 with false bottom 2 was longer than depth of bottle 1 with the drink which meant that it was possible to suck up gel balls from bottom of bottle 1. Furthermore, straw 3 did not have any kinks or perforations which would have made it difficult to consume the drink with balls. During transport in a collective packaging straws 3 were not damaged due groove 4 stretching along bottle 1 and circumference pocket 5 in false bottom 2.

Claims

Patent claims

1. A set comprising a bottle with straw and false bottom, with a cavity in the bottom part of body of bottle (1) covered from the outside by bottom (2) which is a false bottom (2) which, once mounted on bottle (1) creates space (6) to place a container with the additional, solid, soluble drink components and bottle (1) contains vertical groove (1) along the entire height of the cylindrical surface of bottle (1) to hold straw (3) of diameter d, and the set comprising the bottle with straw and false bottom is shrink wrapped (7) (perforated) or held together with tape running along the entire circumference where bottle (1) meets false bottom (2), characteristic in that where false bottom (2) includes circumference pocket (5) to hold the bottom section of straw (3), so that bottle (1) with false bottom (2) can accommodate a straight straw (3) with a length exceeding the depth of bottle (1) with the middle and top section of the straw sitting entirely within groove (4) of bottle (1) with false bottom (2) .

2. A method for the manufacture of the drink with gel flavour balls for retail distribution which comprises the following actions : a) bottle (1) with vertical groove (4) running along the entire length of the cylindrical surface is stretched blown into the mould on a bottle moulding machine, b) the drink is poured into bottle (1) in a bottling machine, c) bottle (1) is closed with a screw on cap, d) straw (3) is placed in vertical groove (4) of bottle (1), e) shrink wrap foil (7) is placed over bottle (1) which is then sent to the thermal tunnel where foil (7) undergoes thermal shrinking, f) drinks with gel flavour balls in bottle with straw and false bottom sets are then packed into multipacks, characteristic in that between steps a) and b) false bottom

(2) is stretch blown into a prepared mould which includes circumference pocket (5) on the inside, between steps d) and e) a closed container with gel balls is placed in false bottom (2) and false bottom (2) is connected to bottle (1) with straw

(3) .