Method of making a container from a bottle

Details Method of making a container from a bottle Method of making a container from a bottle

1995-04-21

1998-10-06

Czaja, Donald E.

Glass manufacturing

Processes

Glass preform treating

65 36, 65 56, 65DIG10, 4289033, 215387, C03B 2100, C03B 2326, C03B 3300, C03B 3308

Patent

active

058171622

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

THIS invention relates to a method of making a container from a bottle, and in particular to a method of forming a goblet from a glass bottle of the type having a base, a cylindrical body portion extending from the base and converging towards a neck which terminates in a lip.
Most glass bottles are non-returnable, in that they do not attract a deposit after they have been used. As a result, they create a significant pollution problem, which is exacerbated by the fact that most discarded bottles are eventually broken so as to form hazardous shards of glass.
With the recent increase in environmental awareness, recycling of non-returnable bottles is taking place. Most of these bottles are not used in their existing form, but are melted down, with the resultant amalgam of relatively low quality glass only having limited uses. Furthermore, considerable energy is involved in the recycling process, which involves melting the glass and removing various impurities.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of forming a goblet from a glass bottle of the type having a base, a body portion extending from the base and converging towards a neck which terminates in a lip defining a mouth, the method comprising the steps of severing the base from the body portion along at least a first severance plane which is proximate the base and normal to a central axis of the bottle, and affixing the mouth of the bottle to a centre portion of the base so as to form the goblet, with the base of the bottle forming a foot of the goblet, the neck of the bottle forming a stem of the goblet and a body portion of the bottle defining a bowl of the goblet.
Preferably, the method includes the steps of removing a waste portion of the body along a second severance plane which is parallel to the first severance plane.
Conveniently, the first severance plane is a predetermined distance from the base of the bottle and the second severance plane is a predetermined distance from the mouth of the bottle.
Typically, the mouth of the bottle is affixed to an uppermost interior surface of the base of the bottle.
Alternatively, the mouth of the bottle is affixed to a lowermost exterior surface of the base of the bottle.
In one form of the invention, the method includes the step of forming an annular indent in the centre of the upper-or lowermost surfaces of the base, the indent being profiled to seat the lip of the bottle in a complemental fit.
The method may include the step of plugging the neck of the bottle with molten glass so as to form a solid stem.
In one form of the invention, the method includes the step of affixing at least one handle to the bowl of the goblet.
The base may be severed from the body by forming a score line around the outer periphery of the body, and subjecting the score line to a thermal shock in the form of a temperature differential so as to cause the body to crack along the score line.
The temperature differential is typically applied by heating the body in the region of the score line using a flame or a hot fluid, and subsequently cooling the body using a relatively cold fluid.
Alternatively, a high resolution cutting flame may be used to sever the base from the body, the cutting flame simultaneously smoothing the exposed edges forming the rim of the bowl and the outer periphery of the foot.
An abrasive saw or a laser cutting device may also be used to sever the base from the body.
The mouth may be glued to the base by using an ultra violet curing adhesive.
Alternatively, the mouth is affixed to the base by heating the glass to at least the fibre softening point of the glass and fusing the mouth and the base.
In a further form of the invention, the mouth is mechanically affixed to the base by a screwing or bolting operation.
The method typically includes the step of forming a flattened rim of the glass by flattening an edge of the body of the bottle which is exposed as a result of the severing step.
The method may include the further step of

REFERENCES:
patent: 2074784 (1937-03-01), Games
patent: 3839005 (1974-10-01), Meyer
patent: 5338327 (1994-08-01), Ohga et al.
Popular Mechanics Do-It-Yourself Yearbook; pp. 138-141, Book Division, Hearst Magazines, N.Y., 1974.
Money-Making Formulas; pp. 260-268, Angus and Robertson, Halstead Press Pty. Ltd., Sydney Australia, 1949.

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