Bottles and jars – Attachment or adjunct – Container support
Reexamination Certificate
1998-01-30
2001-05-08
Weaver, Sue A. (Department: 3727)
Bottles and jars
Attachment or adjunct
Container support
C215S396000, C220S771000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227393
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a biaxially stretched bottle in which a carrying handle injection molded integrally with a preform on the side of a lower neck portion thereof is applied as-formed as a handle of the bottle.
2. Background Art
A biaxially stretched bottle represented by a bottle made of polyethylene terephthalate, so-called PET bottle is formed by stretch blowing an injection molded preform from a lower portion of a neck portion thereof to a bottom portion thereof in length and width so as to have a thin wall. From these reasons, unlike a thick-wall bottle formed by blowing a parison made by extrusion molding, it is considered infeasible that a body portion thereof is transformed in part to a handle on blow-molding using a mold, or as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,441,172, a carrying handle is formed integrally by pressing on a shoulder portion of a bottle.
Therefore, usually when a bottle is stretch blow molded, a handle is inserted into a lower neck portion of a preform, or a handle separately injection molded is inserted into a blow mold to attach to the side of a body portion thereof.
In some cases, apart from integration of a handle and a bottle by inserting, a handle is attached to a bottle by using fitting means after a bottle is formed. However, in both cases, compared with common method of production of a bottle having no handle, facilities cost is increased because a preform and a handle have to be made separately and problems remain unsolved with respects to yield.
These problems can be solved by forming a handle integrally with a preform. However, there still remains other problems in which the position where a handle is formed is limited within a lower neck portion, the shape of which does not change on forming of a bottle, and the shape of a handle is also limited because as mentioned earlier, on stretch blow molding a preform is stretched along its axis except for a neck portion.
For example, the handle described in WO82/02369 is belt-shaped and integrally formed horizontally on one side of a lower neck portion of a preform at the same time when the preform is injection molded, and has elliptical holes to enable plural fingers to be inserted thereinto. Accordingly, this is only a simple handle for carrying a bottle, rather than a handle for supporting a bottle firmly in a lateral portion.
A bottle having such a simple carrying handle is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,454. However, the known carrying handle is made thick to have a certain strength, and finds difficulty in bending because, unstretched together with a neck portion it is hard and lacks in flexibility, especially when a material resin is polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The carrying handle would not bend vertically even when provided with a groove for folding, and a bottle hangs obliquely.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, arm portions of a carrying handle are formed on the both sides of a neck portion of a preform extending across a neck portion, though like well-known carrying handles it is formed integrally with a neck portion at the same time when a preform is injection molded. This makes it possible that a carrying handle rotates up and down around a border with a base portion as its axis, while it is formed horizontally together with a base portion. Thus, the present invention provides a novel biaxially-stretched bottle having a carrying handle, wherein change in the position of a gripping portion of a carrying handle, while difficult in a conventional handle made by integral forming, becomes feasible even in a bottle made of a material resin which lacks in flexibility, and in addition to hanging a bottle in almost vertical position, natural change in the position of a gripping portion of a carrying handle is feasible according to the tilting of a bottle on pouring its content.
By thinning a joining portion between a base portion protruding on both sides of a neck portions and arm portions connecting to both portions, the present invention solves a problem that a portion from arm portions to a gripping portion lacks in flexibility, though a carrying handle is integrally formed long sideways on the side of a neck portion. At the same time, the present invention provides a novel biaxially-stretched bottle having a carrying handle, a joining portion of which is toughened by thinning to withstand repeated bending.
Furthermore, it becomes possible by the present invention that the direction of a bottle is naturally defined for pouring even in a large-size bottle used for a container of water or oil by specifically defining the position of base portions to be integrally molded with a preform. Also, the present invention provides a novel biaxially-stretched bottle having a carrying handle, in which on pouring a corner of a bottle is positioned downwardly by specifying the direction of a carrying handle in case of a bottle with an angular-shaped body portion.
For the above purpose, the present invention provides a biaxially-stretched bottle made of a thermoplastic resin having a carrying handle formed by integrally injection molding on the side of a lower portion of a neck portion of a preform at the same time when the preform is molded and applied as-formed as a carrying handle of a thin-wall bottle formed by stretch blow molding, wherein the above carrying handle has a gripping portion and a pair of arm portions formed integrally in U-shape, a pair of the arm portions are formed integrally to continue with base portions composed of protruding pieces which are formed in a symmetrical position on both sides of the neck portion and are made longer than the neck portion in axial dimension, thereby extending outwardly across the neck portion, and joining portions of the base portions with the arm portions are locally contracted its thickness into thin wall, thereby providing flexible joining portions which enable to fold up and down.
In addition, the above base portions are formed off center line of the bottle in symmetrical positions on both sides of the neck portion, and the deviation of the positions of the base portions makes the bottle so slightly tilted when hanged that the edge of a mouth on the neck portion opposite to the carrying handle provides a pouring side. Furthermore, the gripping portion and a pair of the arm portions possess flexibility due to molecular orientation of a resin on forming of the joining portions by contracting borders of the above base portions and the arm portions.
Furthermore, when a body portion of the bottle is formed in angular shape, the above carrying handle is formed toward a corner of the bottle so that a corner opposite to the carrying handle provides a pouring side.
The above bottle may be made of a thermoplastic resin comprising polyester resins such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and thermoplastic resins such as polypropylene. In case of a biaxially stretched bottle made of a polyester resin, flexibility due to molecular orientation of a resin by thinning of the above joining portion is endowed to a carrying handle even when as injection molded. Thereby, the joining portions as well as the gripping portion and arm portions increase in bending strength and impact strength and find difficulty in breaking. Furthermore, in case of polypropylene, its flexibility is further enhanced.
In such a biaxially-stretched bottle having a carrying handle, since a carrying handle formed across both sides of a neck portion can be folded up and down at thin-wall joining portions the carrying handle is naturally bent around the thin-wall joining portions due to the weight of the bottle when hanged making the carrying handle in a vertical direction by rotating upwardly with the joining portions as its axis, though the carrying handle is positioned sideways and thereby the bottle can be hanged.
Furthermore, it is easy to judge that the edge of a mouth on the neck portion opposite to the carrying handle is a pouring side because the base portion of th
Ibe Nobukuni
Takeuchi Setsuyuki
A. K. Technical Laboratory Inc.
Weaver Sue A.
Weingarten, Schurgin Gagnebin & Hayes LLP
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