Card – picture – or sign exhibiting – Check – label – or tag – Bottle-carried indicia
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-04
2001-05-22
Davis, Cassandra H. (Department: 3628)
Card, picture, or sign exhibiting
Check, label, or tag
Bottle-carried indicia
C040S427000, C215S366000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06233856
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to containers that have a three dimensional design as a part of its structure. More particularly, this invention relates to containers that have decorative films contained therein, the decorative films having designs that are complementary to designs on other surfaces of the bottle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There is a continuing need to provide better decoration for containers, and in particular for bottles. This is commonly achieved through the use of labels that are attached to one or more of the exterior surfaces of the container. It is necessary to attach the labels to the exterior surface of the containers when the containers are opaque or nearly opaque. However, when the container is transparent, or essentially transparent, the label and other decoration can be placed within the container. This is more so the case when the liquid in the container is transparent or essentially transparent. In such cases labels and other decoration can be attached to an interior surface of a bottle or may even float in the liquid in the bottle. In addition, there may be a cooperation between a label on one surface of a bottle and a label on another surface of a bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,647,175 discloses a container that has a decorative object that is attached to the bottom wall of a bottle. This decorative object is fully contained within the bottle. U.S. Pat. No. 716,759 discloses a container with a label on two interior walls. Each label can be seen through the wall to which it is attached. U.S. Pat. No. 635,098, U.S. Pat. No. 2,305,890 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,939 disclose labels that are attached to two of the exterior surfaces of bottles, but which have a cooperative relationship. That is, the labels contain information or decorative features which interrelate when viewed.
Another type of label or decorative feature is one that is suspended within the container. That is, it is not attached to the wall of a container. Such labels are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 713,606 and U.S. Pat. No. 956,937. A related label is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,356,399 where the label has essentially the shape of the interior of the bottle. A medical label that is within a container but not attached to a surface of the container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,077. A related decoration is disclosed in Japan 404201853A with the additional disclosure that the decoration can be three dimensional.
The structure of labels or decorative items within containers was addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,842,987 where it is disclosed that the decorative part of a label or decoration is covered with a vehicle which is not soluble in the material contained in the container or in the alternative, the label or other decoration is interposed between two films. This patent addresses the stability of the design on the label or decoration and discloses ways to protect the design from deterioration by the substances within the container.
In the present containers there is used a film, and preferably a laminate film, to provide a decoration within a bottle. The decoration preferably interrelates with a decoration on one of the major side surfaces of the bottle. The bottle preferably is a plastic bottle and the laminate is likewise a plastic which can be the same plastic. On a further preferred embodiment the laminate, except for the decoration, should have essentially the same refractive index as the contained liquid. In this way the laminate, other than the decoration, disappears in the contained liquid. In a further preferred embodiment, the plastic that comprises the container should likewise be the plastic of the laminate. Additionally, the laminate can be stabilized within the container by a particular structure of the container.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a decorative film insert label within a transparent or essentially transparent container. This is a container wherein at least one surface is transparent. The container can be of essentially any shape but usually will be elliptical to rectangular in shape. In one embodiment the container has an upper opening that is significantly less in diameter than a cross-sectional dimension of the container. In another embodiment the container has a pump mechanism which extends from the upper opening to adjacent the bottom of the container. The decorative film can partially or fully surround the dip tube of the pump mechanism. In a further embodiment the container has means such as grooves or projections on the inner surface to stabilize the decorative film within the container.
The decorative film insert is preferably a laminate and is elliptical to rectangular in shape. It also can be a coated plastic sheet with the coating protecting the decoration on the film. The laminate in a preferred embodiment has rounded lower edges to provide for ease of insertion into the upper opening of the container. In pump containers it can have a notch at the upper edge to laterally stabilize the film against the pump dip tube. The decorative film in a further embodiment has a generally similar refractive index as the contained liquid which then results in the portions of the film not carrying a decoration disappearing in the liquid in the container. The design has the appearance of floating in the contained liquid.
The film insert in one embodiment is made of the same plastic material as the bottle. These plastic materials can be polyenes such as polyethylene, and polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonates, polyacrylates, cellulosics and polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate and polybutylene terephthalate as well as other plastics suitable for making containers. By using the same plastic materials the visual affect is enhanced by the refractive index of the container and the laminate being esentially the same. Further the plastic that is chosen must not be affected by the liquid product within the container. In a further embodiment the container is comprised of one plastic and the insert of another plastic. For purposes of this disclosure a laminate of two different plastics is considered a different plastic even though one layer of the laminate is the same plastics as the bottle.
The film insert will have a thickness of from about 0.02 mm to about 0.4 mm. The laminate form is comprised of two or more layers, and preferably two layers. The base layer can be of from about 0.02 mm to about 0.3 mm and the top layer and any adhesive layer the remainder of the laminate thickness. The laminate can be formed by direct thermal bonding or adhesively bonding the layers. When an adhesive is used, it must not be affected by the liquid in the container, otherwise there will be delamination. Useful adhesives are pressure sensitive adhesives, heat cured adhesives, ultra violet cured adhesives and electron beam cured adhesives. The film insert can have a length of about 50 to about 100 percent or more of the length of the container and a width of about 75 to about 125 percent or more of the width of the container.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2305890 (1942-12-01), Moore
patent: 4871077 (1989-10-01), Ogden et al.
patent: 4-201853 (1992-07-01), None
Docken Scott
Haugk Peter
Losier Donald
Pavlak Teresa
Prochaska Rodney
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Davis Cassandra H.
McGreal Michael J.
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