Plastics bottle that, when empty, is collapsible by axial compre

Details Plastics bottle that, when empty, is collapsible by axial compre Plastics bottle that, when empty, is collapsible by axial compre

1996-09-19

1998-05-05

Weaver, Sue A.

Bottles and jars

Sidewall structure

Contoured sidewall

215382, 215900, 220666, 220672, 220907, B65D 102, B65D 140, B65D 2300

Patent

active

057463395

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a plastics material bottle intended, in particular, to contain a beverage such as mineral water, for example, and which is collapsible when empty by applying axial compression so as to reduce it to a residue of small volume.


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In French patent application No. 94 01811 the Applicant has also proposed bottles of that type in which the cylindrical body is formed with transverse V-section fluting having local outwardly-directed projections constituting fold starters that enable the open and empty bottle to be collapsed more or less completely when an axial compression force of less than 10 daN is applied thereto, such bottles nevertheless presenting good strength in axial compression when they are full and closed, thereby enabling them to be transported in the form of palletized loads and stacked loads.
The bottles described in the above-specified prior application are of circular cross-section, and the fold starters are uniformly distributed in the fluting and are angularly offset by .pi.
from one fluting groove to the next, where n is the number of fold starters per fluting groove, and generally lies in the range 3 to 20.
Those dispositions are not directly applicable to cylindrical bottles of substantially polygonal cross-section in which the edges of the wall of the bottle constitute zones of greater stiffness, such that much greater axial compression force needs to be applied to the empty and open bottle in order to collapse it, with the edges of the wall also impeding uniform or regular collapsing of the bottle.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aim of the invention is to provide a solution to this problem that is simple, effective, and cheap.
An object of the invention is to provide bottles of plastics material that are generally cylindrical in shape being of substantially polygonal cross-section, e.g. rectangular or square, which, when empty and open, are easily collapsed by applying an axial compression force of relatively low value, which are nevertheless transportable when full and closed in stacked and palletized loads, and which are capable of being manufactured by conventional injection blow-molding or extrusion blow-molding techniques.
To this end, the invention provides a plastics material bottle that is collapsible when empty by applying axial compression, the bottle comprising a cylindrical body formed with substantially V-section transverse fluting grooves and with outwardly-projecting fold starters formed locally on the bottoms of the fluting grooves, the bottle being characterized in that the body is of polygonal cross-section with rounded corners and in that the fold starters are formed in the immediate vicinity of the rounded corners of the polygonal section of the body.
The presence of fold starters in the immediate vicinity of the rounded corners of the polygonal section of the body of the bottle promotes and facilitates collapsing thereof (when empty and open) on application of a small axial compression force, by reducing the rigidity (when empty) of the rounded edges of the body of the bottle.
Preferably, the fold starters are angularly offset from one fluting groove to the next, being formed alternately on one side and on the other of the rounded corners of the section of the body.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the number of fold starters per fluting groove is equal to the number of rounded corners in the polygonal section of the body.
In a first embodiment of the invention, the body of the bottle is substantially square in section and there are four fold starters per fluting groove which are formed at 90.degree. intervals relative to one another in each fluting groove.
In another embodiment of the invention, the body of the bottle is substantially rectangular in section, with convex curved sides, i.e. the concave faces of the sides face the inside of the bottle.
Each fold starter may be defined by the intersection of the fluting groove and a circular section cylindrical surface whos

REFERENCES:
patent: 2720998 (1955-10-01), Potter
patent: 3083877 (1963-04-01), Gash
patent: 3872994 (1975-03-01), Hyde
patent: 4316551 (1982-02-01), Belokin, Jr.
patent: 5174458 (1992-12-01), Segati
patent: 5201438 (1993-04-01), Norwood
patent: 5632397 (1997-05-01), Fandeaux et al.

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